Chapter 48
Chapter Forty-Eight
Josie
Rose sits on the edge of the bed. Ropes secure me in place by my hands and feet.
They had no choice but to restrain me when I kept trying to run out of the house.
I don’t know how long I’ve been here like this, but the storm has come and gone.
Fading sunlight burns through the window.
The exhaustion must have knocked me out for a few hours.
Rose pats my leg. Something about the motion feels so familiar. Something about the way she’s looking at me does too. Those weird déjà vu feelings overtake me again. And now I know why.
“It was you,” I whisper. “That night they pulled me out of the ocean. You were there.”
Rose gives me a warm, confirming smile.
I turn my head toward the window, where Grim stands with his hands on his hips. Thankfully, he’s dressed in a gray suit now. “And you. You were the one who saved me. Then and today.”
Grim shakes his head. “I save no one, and if you ever tell anyone these lies, I will prove it.”
Rose scowls at Grim, then rises from the bed, goes to his side, and scratches something against his palm. He huffs and turns to face me.
“It was an accident the first time. I was merely pulling up a trap. This time . . . I only did it because she asked it of me. Thank her, little crab.”
He stomps out of the room, and Rose resumes her vigil at my bedside. There’s no point in trying to get anything out of her. Though she can communicate, she doesn’t often choose to with anyone but Grim, and I’m too tired to try right now.
Eventually, Rose leaves the room as well. The house is quiet, meaning we’re probably alone. I just need to get out of these damn ropes. But when I wiggle my wrists, I realize they aren’t as tight. Someone must have loosened them while I was sleeping.
Once I’ve freed my hands and feet, I slip out of bed on shaking legs and creep to the window.
The jet ski sits by the dock stretching into the lake behind the house.
Even if I could slip out that way and get to the jet ski, I don’t know how to get back to that place by water.
Blayne drove us out there by car, then rowed us to the platform.
He let the current take the small boat after that.
I close my eyes when I recall the way Ice Pick’s face fell when Blayne shoved me into the car.
He told the poor guy that they were playing a game, that he was tying him up as part of the event that day.
A fun little joke on his other friends. When Ice Pick saw my tied wrists and the way I struggled, he realized Blayne was no friend.
It broke him.
A tear drifts down my cheek. He didn’t deserve to be murdered by someone he trusted. King didn’t deserve to die, either, even if he felt it was the only way to help his sons.
I can’t take the not knowing anymore. If King is dead, I want to tell him goodbye. I never got that chance five years ago.
On silent feet, I grab a set of keys from the kitchen, then pad toward the front door while Rose has Grim occupied on the porch with a mug of something warm. She sees me through the window, then looks away.
Guess I know who loosened my restraints.
Outside, I climb into the RV and start it up.
King’s done all the driving thus far, and while I’m no stranger to driving a large vehicle, it’s been a while.
I don’t even have time to get my bearings, though, because Grim comes racing around the side of the house at the sound of the engine.
I peel out of the yard and into the driveway before he can reach me.
He shrinks in a cloud of dust in the rearview mirror, and I bump along toward the head of the driveway.
“I’m coming, King. Even if you’re gone, I’m coming to say goodbye.”
Roots snake across the ground as I pick my way through the forest, taking the same path Blayne led us down before. The vehicles can’t go all the way in.
I also want my arrival to be a surprise. If Jim ordered them to keep me away from here, he won’t be too pleased when he sees me. I’m not leaving until I see King, though, regardless of what state he’s in.
A light rain has started again. It’s not as intense as the earlier storm, but it’s enough to give me a chill. I brush water from my arms and push on.
The trees break apart at the clearing by the shore.
I stay tucked in the shadows while I assess the situation.
My eyes leap to the floating docks first. They’re empty, but not far from them, the little rowboat sits in the water, right where it was before.
Bennett is no longer in the tiny wooden vessel. Aven mans the oars now.
A sharp ache squeezes my heart. They’re still searching for someone.
“Come back to me,” I whisper into the rain. “I said I’d never say it again, but I’m begging. Come back.”
It isn’t Blayne they’re searching for. I spot him on the rocky beach, lying on his side with his hands secured behind his back. Dried blood mats his curls to his head, but his sides rise and fall. He’s still alive, that bastard.
A little further down the shore, the girls are huddled together, and it looks like they’re crying. It’s hard to tell from this far away, but Cat keeps swiping her eyes.
Jim and Bennett stand closest to me. They’re discussing something, but I can only catch snippets. I close my eyes and tune my ears toward them. King referred to them as satellites, and I only hope they work that well now.
“He won’t stop,” Bennett says. “Not until he . . . Ice Pick.”
A splash breaks the water, cutting off part of his sentence, and I look toward the little boat. King’s head rises from the surface like Poseidon. He grips the edge of the vessel and . . . Aven helps him inside?
I lean against the tree for support. My excitement at seeing him alive is dashed when King gives Aven a sad look and shakes his head.
“No,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes.
The crying. The way Bennett said King wouldn’t stop searching.
The fact that he’s nowhere on this beach.
They couldn’t save Ice Pick.
They’re looking for his body.
I place my hand against my stomach and shrink to the forest floor.
There’s no way I can rush out there with a smile on my face while knowing our friend is gone.
I can’t find any joy right now. My relief is crushed under the weight of a surprising amount of grief.
For only knowing him such a short time, he wiggled into my heart.
My eyes close, and I sniffle as quietly as I can. I’m about to turn back for the RV when I hear footsteps beside me. I don’t have the strength to look up and see who’s about to fuss at me for leaving the house.
“I told him he didn’t have to keep looking for it.”
My head jerks to the side. I open my eyes and rub them, not believing what I’m seeing.
“Ice Pick?”
He looks down at me. “Yeah. Who else would I be?”
I leap from the grass and wrap my arms around his thick neck. “I thought you were dead! I thought you drowned!”
“Me? Nah, I just stepped into the woods to take a piss.” He hugs me back, and I melt into his teddy-bear hold. I don’t even care if he couldn’t wash his hands out here.
I pull back and look at him as everyone else starts wandering over. “But if you’re here, then what is King searching for in the lake?”
“His ice pick,” Jim says. “It was in his pocket when he fell in the water, and now it’s gone. It’s very important to him.”
Ice Pick goes to turn out his left pocket to prove his point.
“Did you check your other pocket?” I ask.
He reaches into his right pocket, and everyone groans when pulls out the weapon.
“Sorry,” Ice Pick mumbles as Bennett gives him a death glare.
I turn to the girls. “What about all of you? Why are you crying?”
“These are happy tears,” Cat says as she holds out her hand. A large diamond sits on her ring finger. “Bennett just proposed.”
Odd timing, but okay.
Jim raises the radio and calls for Aven and King to return to shore. Since no one is forcing me back to the house, I go to the edge of the water and wait for my ship to come in. It’s slow going, but the little boat eventually makes it into shallow water.
King doesn’t wait for the boat to dock. He hauls himself over the edge and wades through the shallows until I can’t stand it another second. I rush out to meet him, and I jump into his arms.
He catches me as I press my lips to his. How he has the strength to hold me up after being in the water for so long, I’ll never know, but I don’t question it. The answers to everything will come. Right now, I just want to kiss my man.
“I love you, Josie,” he says as he pulls back.
I smile at him. “I know you do.”
When I kiss King again, I hear the girls gasp behind me. Then I hear Cat start blubbering again. I’m glad I told them about my little secret with myself. It’s nice to have friends who understand how meaningful these kisses are. I smile against King’s mouth.
Jim comes toward us, his face looking more sober than usual. “I hate to break this up, but I have some explaining to do. Let’s make our way back to the house.” He turns to Ezra. “You and your brothers grab Blayne. We’ll leave no questions on the table tonight.”