You don’t want to break her, do you? You want to help her see how well you could work together.
I don’t know where that voice came from but it’s easy to ignore. I’ve got a boat to pilot and a woman to rescue. Everything else can wait. Even the whispering voice that tells me that this is already about far more than just revenge.
5
Anna
I’m scooping water out with my hands, trying not to panic. The salt spray hits my face as the boat sinks ever lower in the water. As fast as I can bail, the boat is refilling with ocean water.
Could today get any worse?
I’ve gone from the edge of realizing my dream of finding and excavating a complete Gorgosaurus skeleton, to this.
Am I going to drown?
When water started to seep into the bottom of the boat, I thought I could still make it to the mainland. I looked behind me and saw the island. In front of me, the mainland, barely visible in the distance.
I chose not to go back.
That was a stupid decision. I was so sure I could pick up speed and get there before the leak became an issue. I might have made it as well, if it wasn’t for the engine cutting out and refusing to restart.
The boat’s now barely above the surface of the water and any moment it’s going to disappear and then what do I do? What can I do apart from drown?
Panic is rising up in me. If I could just get enough water out, I could try to get the engine going again.
I’m out of time.
A life preserver. I don’t know where it floated up from but it doesn’t matter. It might keep me alive long enough for someone to find me. Maybe a fishing boat. Perhaps the coastguard patrols these waters.
Leo said there are sharks but I’m certain he’s bullshitting. We used to swim around the island regularly and no one ever mentioned sharks back then.
I shove my arms into the life preserver just as my feet leave the deck of the boat for the last time.
A few bubbles wobble up and pop on the surf, the only sign the boat was ever here.
The water is freezing and I have to fight to stop my hands from shaking for long enough to clip the life preserver in place around my chest.
I float on my back, shivering uncontrollably, the waves rocking me up and down, shifting me ever further from the island. I turn my head to look at it. Could I swim that far?
Maybe if the water was warm but I’ll freeze to death long before I make it. Already my limbs are going numb, my teeth chattering.
What comes into my head isn’t what I would expect. My life doesn’t flash before my eyes. What I hear is the voice of Leo’s old family gardener. Down on the beach, taking cuttings from the wildflowers growing from the cliff, watching me as I run over to the boat. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he shouted. “You’ll be in big trouble if you take that boat.”
I ignored him. Barb watched me in silence, head tilted to one side as I untied the rope that held the boat onto the jetty sticking out from the beach.
I thought he might try to stop me, run over and grab me or something. He just watched, arms folded across his chest. “Bad idea,” he said as I started the engine. Then I couldn’t hear him at all over the noise as I chugged out into open water.
Barb paced back and forth at the tide-line, woofing loudly. “Sorry girl,” I shouted back to her. “I’ve got to go.”
Big trouble. That’s what Sergio said.
He wasn’t wrong. I’m definitely in big trouble now. The only question is how long it’ll take me to freeze to death.
Each blink is taking longer. It’s an effort just to keep my eyes open. I can’t swim anymore. My limbs are too heavy. All I can do is float and wait for the end to come. I’m not scared anymore. I’m fucking furious. I can’t believe this is the way I’m going to go out.
I’ve never had decent sex. Never flashed anyone. Never uncovered a complete Gorgosaurus skeleton. I’ve never owned my own place. Now I never will. All because of Leonardo Barone. I mean, I know he hates my family but this seems so unfair, it makes me boil with rage.
Shame the heat of anger can’t do anything about the ice in my bones.