undo your hands with my mouth, and then we can work our way from there.”
Hope flourished throughout her body. “Do you think you can do it?”
“I’m going to give it a try.”
#
Michelle was on top of the world as she drove down the hilly landscape toward the lake at the bottom of the property. In a few minutes, she would be rid of Josie forever and her transformation would be complete.
“Who’s a lost cause now?”
She chuckled. “You just can’t give me credit for pulling this off, can you?” Her laughter deepened. “It doesn’t matter. Once I get to Rio or something and find a new quack doctor to prescribe my lithium pills, I’ll be rid of you, too.”
“Are you talking to us?” gorilla number one asked.
Michelle’s eyes narrowed. “Did I call your name?” Not that she knew it.
The high cackle reverberated throughout the walls of her brain.
“A lot you know.” Michelle gritted her teeth and swerved to miss a bush.
The men in the car stared at her again.
Michelle slowed, not that she agreed with her inner voice, but because they had reached the lake. “This is it,” she whispered, and an anxious smile ballooned on her face. Stopping a few feet from the lake, she and her men climbed out of the car. “Are you sure this is such a hot idea?” the gorilla challenge. “What if the lake isn’t deep enough?” “It’s deep enough,” she assured him. “What if the car doesn’t sink?” She stared at the clueless man. “And why wouldn’t it sink?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Luther?” Luther hunched his shoulders. “All I know is that D’Angelo didn’t say anything about killing nobody.” “I’ll pay him later for the favor.” Luther shook his head. “Those type of things need to be negotiated up front.”
“Fine,” she hissed. “I’ll do it myself.” She stormed back to the driver’s side door and pulled out the Glock they’d confiscated from Josie. She shifted the car into drive, and then moved out of the way when it started to roll into the lake. When it passed her, she aimed the gun at the trunk. “Watch and learn,” she said, slow like freshly sapped maple, and fired two shots.
#
“Gunshots fired! Gunshots fired!” Tyrese shouted as he still huffed toward the mansion. He dropped the phone and reached for the gun at his waist. He was still too far away from the house let alone from whatever was going on in the back.
Behind him, two pair of headlights appeared. He turned and instantly recognized the police vehicles rushing toward him. The first one slowed long enough for him to open the back door and jump inside.
“Something is going on in the back,” he shouted.
The car sped off and within seconds crest the hill in back and then accelerated even more toward the three figures by the lake. Each stared up at them like deer caught in headlights. # “What the hell!” Michelle lifted the gun at the first car and fired straight at the driver. The car swerved off course and her next shot missed the person sitting in the passenger seat. Suddenly, the night was alive with gunfire. D’Angelo’s men found themselves caught in the crossfire. Luther was the first to go down.
Michelle didn’t see what happen, nor did she care. She was too busy scrambling behind the bushes. She heard a splash and peeked around to see the car she’d shot at hit the water, but she also caught sight of a tall Asian woman rolling away from the lake.
“Shut up!” She glanced around, spotted another bush, and made a mad dash for it. After another glance, she saw the man she’d referred to as
Michelle rubbed the gun against her head. “Shut up!” Her gaze found the house off in the distance. “I just need to make it up the hill.”
#
An unfathomable terror swarmed through Josie as she kept her head above the water that poured in around her. “William, where are you?”
She struggled against her ropes and tried to flip over. Was he hit? Was he dead?
“Dear God, help us,” she said through short, asthmatic like pants. She wiggled some more, hoping to at least feel William body somewhere near her, but she was caught off guard when her hands unraveled from the rope. William’s head splashed above the surface, though it was clear that he’d swallowed a good dose of water. “Hurry up and undo me.” “Are you okay?” “Hurry.” His head slipped back under the water. Seconds later, both were submerged in the dirty, silty water as the car plunged to the bottom of the lake.
Chapter 37
The moment Ming had hit the ground and rolled away, she realized only she and Tyrese escaped the car. “Jorge didn’t make it out,” she shouted to her partner. “I’ll get him. You go after Andrews!” She climbed to her feet and sprinted for cover. Tyrese dived into the muddy lake water like an Olympic diver.
A bullet zinged past Ming’s left ear. Stunned, she cupped her ear with one hand and shot at her attacker with the other. Her first bullet took one of the muscle-bound men down; the second one missed his partner.
The other two officers sprayed the perimeter with bullets, though just like a bad movie, somehow they all missed.
The initial numbness in Ming’s ear morphed into an excruciating pain. Determined it wouldn’t slow her down, she sprinted into the long line of short-cropped bushes and struggled to make out Andrews. It was hard to see anything while trying not to lose a chunk of her backside.
Michelle had to be headed toward the house, Ming deduced, and ran that direction.
#
Josie was never good at holding her breath for a long time, but tonight all that changed. It seemed like forever undoing the tight knots around William’s wrists. Afterward, she immediately reached for the .22 at her ankle. She had less than a second to worry about ricocheting bullets before she placed the nozzle against the trunk’s keyhole and pulled the trigger.
The water pressure prevented the trunk from springing open; Josie rolled onto her back and pushed her legs up with all of her might. Her head started to spin from lack of oxygen, and her body begged for her to breathe. She couldn’t tell if the trunk had open, she was too worried whether her lungs would explode.
An arm wrapped around her waist and suddenly she was rising. However, they weren’t reaching the surface fast enough, she needed oxygen
Josie gasped just as her head broke the surface.
She coughed, sputtered, and coughed again as her chest rose and fell with great heaving breaths. Beside her, with his arms still tight around her waist, William went through the same process to clear out his lungs.
Josie wanted to ask whether he was okay, but talking was an arduous chore. Belatedly, she became aware of short pops that sounded like firecrackers.
Someone was shooting.
She lifted her right hand and was grateful she still held the .22. She glanced at William, but neither risked speaking or drawing attention to themselves. Silently, they waded to the edge of the lake with the hope that the large blue car parked there would aid as cover.
William pressed a finger to his lips and then boosted her out first. Yet, when it came time to pull himself out, pain blasted through the left side of his body. Suddenly, the shooting stopped. “William, what is it?” In an instant she forgot about the surrounding danger and focused on him. He groaned and struggled again to get out of the lake. The task appeared to be too difficult. “Here, let me help.” Josie set the gun down and grabbed one of his arms and
