Chapter 20 #2
Lee, Landon, and Justus are gathered around the kitchen table, discussing their plans for tomorrow evening.
Lee’s going to talk to the man he’s been told to kill and try to figure out who might want him dead.
Justus will go with him while Landon stays here with me.
It’s risky, and I don’t like it, but there isn’t much choice.
They’ve spent the last couple of days focused on tracking down the prostitute who got that loser to deliver the dress but haven’t had any luck.
We can’t just sit and wait to see what happens next.
It’s been a long day of work, so I excuse myself to go take a bath.
I love Lee’s bathroom. When he renovated it to add a standing shower, he kept the old clawfoot bathtub that’s wonderfully deep.
It’s become one of my favorite places to relax, and I’ve been looking forward to it for hours.
I even stopped on the way home to pick up some new bubble bath.
The weather has been swinging wildly from cold to warm, as it often does in Kentucky in December.
In some years, Christmas can be seventy degrees and others have us buried in ice and shivering through below zero temperatures.
Today was beautiful. Even after dark it’s still nice enough for me to open the bathroom window before I dim the light and inch my way into the steaming bath.
I sink lower in the tub until the water reaches my shoulders, letting the heat seep into my muscles and loosen everything.
The scent of wet leaves and earth drifts in, mixing with the faint smoke that curls up from the joint between my fingers.
I angle my exhale toward the open window, letting it vent out into the night.
From the front of the house, the guys’ voices carry.
I’m not able to make out words, but I hear Lee and Landon talking, then Justus’s laugh.
The sound of them is comforting. I sit up to extinguish the joint in the ashtray on the small table at the end of the tub, then lie back and close my eyes.
My head rests against the smooth porcelain, and my limbs feel heavy in the best way, floating and loose.
I let myself drift and their voices fade into the background. I’m not asleep but in that wonderful space just before it where thoughts blur and time loses its meaning. My breathing slows and my mind feels gloriously empty for once.
A sudden weight lands on the top of my head and hot water closes over my ears. All sound is cut off abruptly and replaced by a dull roar. Shock freezes me for a fraction of a second before my body jerks, and I clamp my mouth shut on instinct, holding my breath.
Shit, I fell asleep and slipped under the water. My attempt to sit up quickly kills that theory when the weight increases on my head. Someone’s holding me down.
No.
No no no.
I reach for the hand on my head, desperately trying to pry it loose, but it’s wrapped tightly in my hair, and another slams onto my shoulder.
Panic seizes me, and my eyes leap open to see nothing but a blur of soap bubbles that instantly burn.
My arms flail and bang against the edges of the tub while my feet scrabble across the slick porcelain bottom, searching for leverage, for anything to push against. The hands don’t budge.
They keep my face submerged, unyielding as I thrash and fight to get free.
My lungs start to burn within seconds and the muscles in my chest tighten, demanding air. The instinct to inhale is like a live animal clawing at me, violent and overwhelming. Terror like I’ve never felt grips me. I have to resist breathing in, or water will rush in instead and it’ll be over.
Conscious decisions are hard when my body is reacting on pure survival instincts.
I kick hard, my heel slams into the side of the tub, and pain shoots up my leg.
Twisting my hips, I try to roll over, hoping I can get my legs under me, but I can’t do it.
The burn in my chest becomes agonizing as my lungs spasm and beg for air.
Sparkles begin to shine in the darkness behind my eyelids, and I know I’m close to passing out. If I do, my body will breathe for me, and I won’t be able to stop it. That thought slices through the panic with terrifying clarity. My time is almost up.
Lee. Lee’s going to find me dead, killed a few rooms away from him. The horror of that lends me the smallest amount of self-control. Think.
I could hear their voices before so they should hear me if I can make enough noise.
I can’t scream, but I kick toward the small table at the foot of the tub that holds the large ceramic ashtray and my bath caddy, desperation giving me strength I didn’t know I had.
The sparkles grow brighter and my lungs seize in an involuntary spasm that almost makes me inhale.
I have to consciously fight it by clamping down and forcing my mouth to stay closed.
I can feel myself slipping, my strength draining, and my movements growing more difficult and sluggish.
One last desperate kick connects solidly with the edge of the table, and I feel it disappear a second before a muffled crashing sound reaches me.
The hands on me suddenly release, and my head jerks up out of the water. For a terrifying second, I can’t remember how to breathe. My muscles won’t obey, remaining locked down. I force myself not to try so hard, to let my body take over, and a few seconds later, it works.
The first inhale is full of razor blades but it’s the best feeling in the world.
I suck in breath after breath, choking and sobbing. My body folds forward as my lungs struggle to catch up and my throat burns. I’m dimly aware of water sloshing around me and Lee shouting my name as strong arms pull me out of the tub.