She continued, “The guy I was with pointed out each beach. It was hard to hear him with the noise from the Jet Ski, but I made out some of it. It seemed like they were showing us sights, like they said they would.”
“When did you start to feel uncomfortable?”
“We started moving away from the coastline. Away from the beaches. I asked where we were going. The guy—I think I was with J.J., but honestly I’m not sure—said something, but I couldn’t make out his words.”
“I see. And then?”
“We kept going, and when I couldn’t see any land at all, I got really nervous.”
“Is that when you jumped off the Jet Ski?”
“Not yet. I tried to get Juliet’s and Lisa’s attention. But they were laughing and having a great time. They didn’t seem worried at all.”
“But you were.”
“Yes. My father taught me to trust my intuition. He was a cop too. He’s dead now.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. It was two years ago. I still miss him. He was a great dad.”
“Sounds like he really was. He gave you some good advice.” I patted her forearm. “What happened next?”
“I can’t be sure. But I thought I saw…”
“What?”
“We were still so far away, but I thought I saw a ship in the distance. We seemed to be going toward it.”
“A ship? Or a boat?”
She shook her head. “I can’t be sure. It was so far away, and maybe I was seeing things. At that point I was really freaked out. I didn’t know what to do. I’m a good swimmer. I swam in high school and college, so I made a rash decision. Even though I couldn’t see a coast, I jumped off the Jet Ski into the water and started swimming as fast as I could. I had no idea which direction to go since I couldn’t see any land. All I knew was that I had to get away. I swam so fast because I feared J.J. would come after me.”
“But he didn’t?”
“No.”
“Thank goodness.”
“I can’t be sure how long I was in the water. Once I realized he wasn’t coming after me, I calmed down a little, but I still had no idea where I was, where the coast was. And the waves were strong. I treaded water for a while and then began to swim as best I could, but the waves got to be too much.” She closed her eyes, inhaling. “I swallowed some water. Started to have trouble breathing.” She choked on her words.
“It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe now.”
“I know.” She broke into sobs. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. You have every reason to cry. It’s okay.”
She nodded and gulped. “I thought for sure I would drown, actually became resigned to it, and then a motorboat arrived. They dragged me on board. For a second I thought it was the boat that J.J. was heading toward, and I figured I was dead anyway. But it wasn’t. It was four locals, two men and two women. One of them gave me mouth-to-mouth until I coughed up a bunch of water. They calmed me down, told me they were friends. I wasn’t sure if I could trust them at first, but what did I have to lose? They brought me back to the resort.” She shook her head. “They are heroes. I’d be dead if it weren’t for them.”
“Did they tell you their names?”
“Yes. I have it all written down.”
“Did they ask you what had happened?”
“They did, but I wasn’t in any condition to speak at that point. I didn’t get the whole story out until I was back here, talking to security and then the police.”
The security guard walked toward us then. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but the shuttle is at the front of the resort to take Ms. Thomas to the airport.”