Crash Into Me

trickle down his neck. He wouldn’t be much good to Carly if he passed out the instant he hit the water. On the other hand, if he waited longer, he wouldn’t be any good to her at all.

With a low groan, he heaved his body over the rail.

The first contact with cold water was a shock to his tender skull. He couldn’t help but cry out in pain, sending a flurry of bubbles to the surface. White spots flashed behind his eyes, and he almost inhaled a lungful of seawater in his panic. Fortunately, he broke through the surface and sucked in air, clearing his head.

The water was alarmingly cold. Menacingly black. More bubbles appeared on the rippled surface, giving him a surge of hope. Praying for strength, and lucidity, he took another deep breath and dove down. The pressure was agonizing; his ears felt like they were going to explode. Salt water stung his eyes and cut into his scalp.

Somehow he found her. He knew she was still alive because he could feel movement in her body as he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her toward the surface.

They came up together, panting.

“I can’t get my hands free,” she choked.

“I’ll do it.” Fumbling at her wrists, he tugged on the end of the knot. His fingers were so clumsy it took several tries to release her, and when he was done, he felt exhausted, as if he’d been wrestling sharks.

Speaking of sharks…

He eyed the dark water with trepidation, aware that his scalp was bleeding profusely. The contrast between warm blood and cold sea was marked.

Carly frowned at him, rubbing her sore wrists. Her wet hair was clinging to her cheeks and neck, and he could see her breath, puffing out in the crisp night air.

“Why did you jump overboard?” he said in a low voice, glancing back at Destiny. He couldn’t make out JT, but he was having trouble focusing. “Jesus Christ, Carly, that was…” He swallowed back his nausea. “That was…”

“Stupid?” she finished for him.

Treading water, he stared at her, trying to keep her in his sights. His limbs felt heavy, as if his clothes were weighted with bricks.

“James?”

Her voice sounded so far away. Although he struggled to stay there with her, the dark water lapped up over his head, beckoning him to oblivion.

Sonny slammed her hands against the dash, desperate to bring some feeling back to the useless appendages. There was a utility knife hanging by a scabbard above the dash. If she could just wrap her fingers around it…

On the deck, Carly launched herself at JT. A bold move, and a stupid one, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Unfortunately, JT had the devil’s own luck.

The girl missed him and fell overboard. To her certain death.

Sonny slammed her hands down again, tears of panic and frustration scalding her eyes. If she didn’t get out of these cuffs, she couldn’t help Carly. Or James. And to get out of the cuffs, she had to defeat JT.

Her fingertips tingled but it wasn’t enough. Her hands wouldn’t work and her rib cage was on fire, burning with every intake of breath. She couldn’t pull the knife from the scabbard-or maintain a grip on it, in any case.

“What’s this?” JT asked, coming into the cab. Pushing her aside with humiliating ease, he pulled the short knife from the leather sheath and looked at its wicked blade. “I was going to save the cutting for Carly.”

Staring at the serrated edge, Sonny backed away slowly, moistening her dry lips.

He tucked the gun into the back of his jeans, then tested the blade’s sharpness with his fingertip. “Ouch,” he said with a grin.

Outside, there was another splash. James!

JT flinched at the sound. “That sneaky son of a bitch,” he murmured, looking out into the dark and clucking his tongue in appreciation. “Well, now they’ll both drown.”

Sonny flexed her fingers, feeling blood returning to her cuffed hands. The pain was fierce and she smiled, relishing it. Carly and James were alive, God willing, and although they couldn’t climb aboard, or swim back to land, they could tread water until help arrived.

Which would be soon, as long as Grant had sent someone to look for her.

Now was the time to stall rather than fight. She retreated until her back hit the wood siding at the edge of the cab. “Did you have an affair with Olivia?”

“Yes,” he said, his cold eyes sweeping down her body once again. “And unlike you, she was a luscious piece.” He reached out and grabbed the chain between her wrists, holding her hands out of play while he touched the blade to her cheek. “Not that I won’t enjoy having you screaming and begging beneath me.”

She laughed at the idea, but it hurt so much she stopped. “What about Sheila?”

He studied her face, not amused by her bravado. “I may have”-he slid the tip of the knife down her chest-“thrown her a bone.”

Sonny focused on regulating her breathing. Every time she inhaled, she felt a sharp stab in her side. He may have bruised a few ribs when he kicked her. “Did she pretend you were Ben the whole time you were in bed together,” she panted, “or only when she came?”

JT’s eyes returned to hers. With a deft movement, he sliced her sweater in half, exposing her bra. “You’re a ballsy little bitch,” he murmured, nodding his approval. “It will be a pleasure to break you.”

Sonny drew in another shallow breath. JT was planning to rape and torture her before he killed her. It was her worst nightmare, but she would endure him. And when the time came, she would overpower him.

“Ben is your best friend,” she said as he traced the edge of her bra with the tip of his knife. “Why did you kill Olivia? How could you do that to him?”

“She was a cheating whore. I did it for him.”

Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place, something she should have considered before. “Did you lie to the police for him, too? Claiming to be his alibi?”

“Of course.” He slid the blade down her stomach, skimming over her flesh. “Those fools took forever to find O’Shea.”

“How did you know he’d confess?”

“I didn’t,” he admitted. “That was just a stroke of luck.”

“What about the others? What did they do to deserve being brutally murdered?”

“Worthless sluts,” he said with a sigh. “I did the world a favor.”

“You’ll never get away with this,” she gasped, struggling for air. She didn’t have to feign her fear.

He shrugged. “It hardly matters. I knew it was over for me the minute I saw you standing in my bedroom.”

“You won’t make it out alive.”

He cut away the front of her trousers, nicking her hip. “Neither will you.”

CHAPTER 25

One moment they were punching it through the increasing fog, catching up with Destiny, and the next she was gone.

“What happened?” Ben asked, searching the horizon.

“He cut the lights,” Stephen said, reaching up to do the same. In an instant, they were cloaked in darkness.

Fear gripped him. “Why?”

“Either he realized he was being followed, or he stopped to…”

Ben’s chest tightened like a vise. “Go faster.”

“I can’t. In these conditions, we’d be right on top of them before I had a chance to react.”

Ben tried to stay calm, but it was impossible. He couldn’t bear the thought of Carly in danger. “I’m going out on deck,” he said, figuring he could see better from there.

“Good idea.”

Adrenaline rushing through his veins, he walked to the bow, eyes straining to see through the mist. When he