Her only conscious thought was, hold your breath, hold your breath, hold your breath.
Finally, her lungs burning, she was pulled back up, her head breaking free of the water. Shaking her hair from her face, she drew in a sputtering breath, filling her lungs. She swayed in the air, her body gently bumping the side of the boat. Stinging salt water trickled painfully into her nose, making her sneeze.
Brenda and Robert were laughing above her. Hatred and rage filled her, spurting through her insides like black ink spilled across a page.
“Take another breath, little froggy,” Robert called down. “You’re going down again.”
Once again, she was plunged into the icy water, deeper this time, until half her body was submerged. The ropes pulled at the cuffs around her ankles, causing them to cut painfully into her skin. As before, she kept her eyes tightly shut, her mouth pressed into a tight line. More salt water went up her nose, making it sting. She fiercely resisted the urge to sneeze.
As the seconds ticked by, she thought about just taking in a lungful of water. Drowning wasn’t the worst way to die—at least it would be over quickly.
Then, suddenly, the tension was gone from her ankles. She sank deeper into the water. It took her a second to understand what had happened. Robert must have dropped the ropes that held her up. Was it on purpose? Or had Brenda jostled him again?
Even as her brain asked these questions, her body got moving. Though she couldn’t use her hands, her feet were kicking wildly. It wasn’t long before she bobbed to the surface. She drew in a deep breath of fresh, wonderful oxygen. Adrenaline shot through her, giving her the strength of a super hero.
Free! You’re free! Go, go, go!
She could hear the pair shouting behind her. The ropes were still attached to the cuffs on her ankles. They hampered her ability to kick, but not enough to stop her. Without looking back, Jane kicked her legs in a steady rhythm for all she was worth, the ropes whipping along behind her under the water. She’d always been a powerful swimmer, and even without the use of her arms, she was making good speed away from the boat.
It didn’t matter that there was no way she could possibly reach a shore before she tired. All she wanted to do—needed to do—was to swim as far away from the boat as she could, as fast as possible. Nothing else mattered.
When she heard the splash behind her, another spurt of adrenaline powered her forward. Catch me if you can, motherfucker, she silently screamed.
For several long, wonderful moments, it actually seemed as if she might make it—she might get away from her tormentors. Maybe another boat would appear and she would be rescued. Holding her head above the water as best as she could, she kicked her legs as if her life depended on it.
The splashing behind her grew louder. Then her foot made contact with something hard as she kicked back, and she heard Robert grunting and gasping behind her. She tried desperately to sprint away, but she was no match for him. His strong arm wrapped around her throat from behind, momentarily pulling her under the water. He dragged her up again and clutched her tight to his chest as she sputtered and coughed.
“You fucking little cunt,” he snarled breathlessly. “You’re going to pay for this. Big time.”
Despair fell over Jane like a net. As Robert hauled her back to the boat, warm tears coursed silently down her cheeks, mingling with the cold, salty water of the sea.
Chapter 12
With Brenda’s help, Robert got the girl up and over the side of the boat. He climbed up the metal ladder and flopped down on one of the padded benches, winded, his chest heaving. Brenda had the dripping, shivering girl caught in a chokehold, her arm hard across Jane’s throat. Jane was shaking, her teeth chattering, water sluicing from her body, her lank hair plastered to her head. She looked like a half-drowned rat.
He expected Brenda to praise him for his quick action in retrieving the frog. Instead, she snapped angrily, “Get up and help me get this little bitch down to the cabin. Hurry up.”
Robert got to his feet, his muscles wobbly with fatigue. He was still processing the fact that Jane had tried to get away. She couldn’t possibly think she would get very far, but she had tried. In spite of himself, he felt a bit of grudging admiration for the girl’s courage and spunk. At the same time, he knew she was going to pay a very heavy price.
They got her down the stairs and onto the bed, face down on the mattress. Brenda sat on her while Robert unknotted and tossed aside the heavy, wet rope still attached to her ankle cuffs. Leaving her arms bound behind her back, he clipped her ankles together as well.