Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Irina’s mind raced as Dale carried her across the pavement. As they moved, she pushed her tongue against the tape, trying to push it off. It had begun to loosen after Aster had yanked it off earlier, and tears of frustration welled when it refused to come free.
The palm fronds whipped against her face as they cut through the trees, and she felt the change in tempo as he sank into the soft sand.
She refused to go down like this. She had too much to live for—especially now.
If she could just get this tape off and get someone’s attention…
Summoning every bit of energy she had, she bucked wildly in his arms, squirming to get free.
Dale fumbled with her for a moment before losing his grip.
They tumbled to the ground, and she landed face-first in the sand.
The duct tape covering her mouth muffled her cry when something sharp cut into her forehead.
Forcing herself to move, she rolled to her back and kicked upward at Dale, aiming for his groin.
Her feet connected, and he let out a grunt as he bent over and covered himself.
She kicked upward again, this time aiming for his face, but he jerked out of the way just in time. He threw himself backward, landing hard in the sand, a mixture of anger and astonishment on his face. “Stupid bitch!”
She rolled her shoulder against her face, trying to lift the edge of the duct tape, but he was on his feet again before she could pull it free.
He lunged forward, batting her feet away and pressing them to the ground, then settled on her thighs so she couldn’t move.
She winced as he delivered a stinging slap to her cheek.
“You’re making it easier to kill you, you know that? ”
He hauled her to her feet. Still bound with duct tape, she stumbled and fell to her knees again before he grabbed her around the waist and yanked her against his side.
“I felt bad at first when Aster suggested it, but…” He stooped down and threw her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“I’m kind of looking forward to it now.”
It took a second for the words to sink in.
This was Aster’s idea? After the way she’d spoken earlier, the bitter resentment she harbored toward Irina, it shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did.
It hurt to know that the woman she’d considered her closest friend for the past few years had orchestrated this.
A trickle of blood dripped into her eye as Dale shifted her.
Blinking away the sweat and blood obscuring her vision, she tried to place their surroundings, but everything was almost impossibly dark.
The moon peeked out from behind a cloud, and the pier rose up in front of them as he cut across the sand.
His shoulder dug into her stomach, and she felt bile rise up in her throat with every jolting step. She closed her eyes and forced it down.
Dale’s heavy tread clomped against the wooden planks of the pier, and her eyes flew open.
Panic seized her chest. Oh, my God. He was going to throw her in the ocean.
She struggled in earnest, kicking her feet and throwing her body side to side.
Suspended over his shoulder, he had better leverage this time.
He clamped one arm tightly around the back of her legs and grabbed her hair with the other hand, effectively curling her around his torso and subduing her movement.
Her heart raced, and she pleaded incoherently from behind the duct tape for him to let her go.
Before she’d worked out a plan in her head, they’d reached the end of the pier.
Dale dropped her unceremoniously to her feet, and she stared up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She prayed he would take the tape off her mouth to at least let her speak.
Instead, he slipped his hands under her armpits and lifted her until she was sitting on the railing.
“You’re something else, you know that? So talented. Must’ve got that from my side.” He chuckled a little. “God knows your mama was never good for much.”
She glared at him, and he let out a soft exhalation as he stepped backward. For a glorious moment, hope bloomed in her chest. Maybe he would leave her here, giving him a chance to get away before the authorities found him.
“Sorry, Irina girl.” He almost looked remorseful as he shook his head. “But we really need that money.”
Her optimism was extinguished as he grasped her bound ankles and lifted, toppling her backward over the railing. Her scream came out muted, barely more than a squeak as she hurtled through the air. It felt like she was falling forever before her body hit the water and cold sliced through her.
All of a sudden, it was all around her, pulling her under, wrapping her in cold, inky darkness.
She became acutely aware of a stinging sensation as the salty water flooded the wound on her face.
Unable to use her arms, she bucked wildly, trying to propel herself toward the surface.
She couldn’t see a thing, and she hadn’t had a chance to drag in a breath before she’d gone under.
Her chest felt tight, and her throat began to burn with the desperate need for oxygen. Then the fear set in.
She thrashed and kicked, trying to get her feet under her, but the water curled around her, distorting her surroundings as it dragged her toward the bottom.
She knew she was supposed to allow her body to go limp so her mind could get its bearings, and it took every ounce of willpower to relax her muscles and stop fighting the pull of gravity.
She drifted slowly downward before landing shoulder-first with a gentle thump, sending up a hazy swirl of sand as her body displaced the silt layering the bottom of the ocean.
Her eyes burned, clouded by salt water and fatigue, and she fought to shift her weight so she could get her knees under her.
The sand shifted, throwing her off-balance, and she collapsed to her back, completely devoid of energy.
The last of her oxygen escaped her nostrils, rising in tiny bubbles to the surface, and her eyes followed their path. A shaft of silvery light danced above her, and she imagined the moon reflecting off the dark surface. Then, suddenly, it was gone.
A sharp barb pierced her heart as she thought of Roman—of everything they’d been through, of everything they’d never have the chance to experience. Sending up one last prayer to keep him safe, her eyes drifted closed, and water rushed into her lungs, ending her fight.