She tried to imagine how long it would take them to drown. Would they suffer in the process, as they fought to get to the surface, or would it happen quickly?
She swallowed against a rising tide of panic and despair. How was she going to get out of this situation?
Perhaps the most important thing was to try and loosen her wrists.
The truck’s cab was dark now as the sun had dropped below the horizon.
With all her strength, but trying not to let Zinaida see, May wrestled with the ties, doing her utmost to loosen them.
She wriggled as hard as she could, trying to undo the seatbelt and turn around to work at the knots holding her hands behind her back. She had to stop this woman before it was too late.
“Zinaida, please,” she begged. “Please. Listen to me. I know you’re hurt. I know you’re angry. But you don’t have to hurt anyone else. I know it’s not what you want. You wanted to kill one man, not many people. You didn’t want to hurt anyone else.”
“You are wrong,” Zinaida said. Her voice was shaking, but she sounded angry now. “You have no idea what you are talking about. I want to kill everyone I can get to.”
May guessed she hadn’t been able to get through Reed’s security cohorts. Zinaida had picked her battles.
“I know, but you can’t kill this man,” she pleaded. “The police need him to get to the people who did this. To make sure everyone is punished. Even Reed,” she added persuasively.
The woman hesitated for a moment, but then shook her head.
“I do not trust the police. You can be bribed. Juries are not predictable. This man deserves to die. He will suffer in the lake. He will drown. They will find him, and they will know what happened.”
“No! You don’t have to do this!” May pleaded. “I know you loved her. But you don’t have to kill yourself too. There must be another way.”
Zinaida did not reply. Her face was set like stone. She was driving fast, and the truck was bouncing over the bumpy road. In a moment, she would reach the end of the road and make a sharp turn.
“Zinaida, you can’t do this,” May said. “Please. Stop the truck. Rethink this. Let him suffer in prison. He will do that, I promise you.”
For a moment, she felt the woman hesitate. She knew her words had gotten through to her. The truck’s careening progress slowed.
“It’ll be the right thing. Let me arrest him,” May implored.
She wished she could see Zinaida’s face. Hopefully she was close to making up her mind.
“Please,” May said, hoping she was having an effect and that this terrifying ride could end before the truck reached the waters of the lake.
The truck slowed still further.
May felt a leap of hope. She’d done it. She’d managed to get Zinaida to rethink. They would all be saved. The truck would be stopped.
But then, Zinaida shook her head.
“Stop trying to make me change my mind,” she yelled. “I will do what I need to do!”
She looked firmly ahead. And then she mashed her foot down on the accelerator. The truck leaped forward, engine screaming as they headed down the straight, downhill road to the lake.
“No!” Now May was the one shrieking in terror, fighting the ropes that held her arms behind her with all her might.
And as they flew over the rutted road, finally, May realized she’d done it. Her bonds were loose enough for her to tug her arms free. But the truck was already hurtling down the last stretch of road. In front of her, May could already see the point where the lights ended and the darkness of the water began.
She had just a few moments to try and save everyone from the disastrous consequences. She knew she had to do it. It was her only chance of sparing the lives of everyone in that truck. Even if it cost her own.
She put her hand down, reaching for her gun, deciding that she would threaten the other woman and if she had to, shoot her in the arm.
But her gun wasn’t there. Zinaida had removed it.
With no more options left, May snapped open her seatbelt and lunged for the steering wheel.