AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We flew for over half an hour before the little island he was aiming for appeared on the horizon and slowly grew. It was late afternoon and it seemed he meant to arrive on the Australian coast around sunset. That meant instrument flying on the way back, I figured.
I’d told them over and over that I’d pay them back for fuel and other costs but Glass had only smiled and refused. I’d do it still, I vowed to myself. Somehow.
From the sounds of it, I’d be on the far north tip of the country. Catching a bus south would be the best idea. All the way to Brisbane, if I could, to make it less likely people would wonder how I’d ended up in far north Queensland.
Landing on the ocean in this plane must need low seas surely. Despite Pieter taking my hand, and running through some spiel about safety, I worried. The palm trees on the island grew in size as did a small jetty on one side, and a collection of low dwellings. The island was crescent shaped and we were heading for the more sheltered concave part of the crescent. The plane tilted, angling in, the engine lowering then roaring in tone when Glass adjusted the throttle. I clung to Pieter’s biceps.
“Here we go. Don’t worry. Glass has done this a hundred times. As long as the weather’s this good, with quiet seas, he can land without fuss. Years ago, a foolish entrepreneur tried making this a resort and failed. No one else lives here.”
“Why?”
“Why’d it fail? In storms, the place isn’t good. No water supply. A tsunami would sweep straight across it.”
Ugh. Thank god we weren’t staying long.
The plane shushed along in the water then purred its way to the jetty.
“Out we get.” He unlocked the door and swung it open before stepping down into the sea.
Smiling, I followed, jumping into a couple of feet of water and feeling the sand squish under my toes. This was a deserted island in the middle of the most amazing environment. Open space all around, sky, sea, and me...deep rolling ocean farther out. I needed a camera so badly.
The water was clear as the sky, like blue glass, and small fish, colorful as china ornaments, shot away when my legs pushed through the coolness. “This is paradise. Like serious holiday material.”
“Let’s get all the stuff unloaded that Glass wants to leave here.”
The small pile seemed to be most of his cargo. What the hell was left to take to Australia? It had to be drugs.
But before we left, I ran over to do a pirouette on the beach with my dress swirling out in what must be a revealing way. Who cared if they saw my panties? On the last turn Pieter stepped up and caught my hands, sliding down to hold my wrists. Odd. I frowned as his hold tightened.
“I’m glad you like this place, because you’re staying here with me, meisie, until I say we leave.”
What. The fuck. I blinked at him but before I could process that or say a word, he spun me around. Metal clicked on my wrists, circling them. Cold metal. Handcuffs.
“Pieter!” My mind batted back and forth for all of a second. What was going on? He couldn’t be... Not him. Heat and cold flashed and buzzed inside my head, running down my body in a paralyzing wash. “Why are you doing this?” My throat caught on the last word.
I’d been betrayed. By Pieter. And Glass. The men I’d thought had hearts. The breeze blowing across this little beach made me shiver. I tried to turn but he held my elbows, his grip so rock hard it hurt. Then he pulled me into his body.
I panted, still trying to squirm loose.
“Hello, Jazmine Foulkes.”
I stiffened.
“I know who you are. And that you’ve lied to me all along, and now I get to teach you why that was wrong. When I release you, you’re to kneel in the sand.”
His fingers, encircling my elbows, pulsed on my skin.
Then he let go. I stood there breathing hard, deprived of oxygen and dizzy. He knows who I am. He knows. Even if I escape, he will find me. Then I turned and sprinted for the sea. I’d rather drown than be his thing to play with. I couldn’t face more of this darkness.
He caught me in the shallow waves, and dragged me, sobbing, back to the beach.
“No. Fuck no. Let me go!” I whispered the words in a squeak. My tears and the seawater wet my face. My nose ran with snot and sand stuck to my face.
With his hand screwed in my wet hair he towed me forward and made me go to my knees, and he held me there.
I trembled, eyes puffy, heart pumping so hard it might burst from my chest.
A seashell decorated the sand at my knee. Perfect and delicate. And a monster had me, again. I waited for my sentence. I’d been so close to going home. So close! Home. My bed. My neighbor’s cat who came to visit. My garden. The café down the road. Almost, nearly, real, if only the plane had kept going. I jammed my eyes shut. But it was not to be.
