Rocky Ground

by Kaylea Cross

  It was dark and shadowy in the woods and she wasn’t sure where she was. She stifled a sob and kept running, almost blinded by the tears of fright. She had to get through this band of forest. Then she could find a path that would take her home. Aidan and Beckett would scare Brian away.

  “Get back here, you little bitch!”

  He was almost close enough to catch her now, crashing through the underbrush.

  A wave of terror broke over her. She put on a burst of speed, darting between the trees as fast as she could go. Her foot snagged on a branch and she tripped, falling.

  No! Brian was almost to her now.

  She scrambled up and took off in another direction.

  Please, no. Please don’t let him catch me.

  Maybe if she could put more distance between them she could find somewhere to hide and lose him.

  “I’m gonna get you!”

  She choked back another sob and kept going. It was getting brighter in here now, the trees thinning out. And just ahead, there, she could see the edge of the forest. There was a road.

  She broke from the trees and tore across it, searching around for a place to hide. There were no houses here but she recognized the area. The lighthouse was off to the right. It had lots of rocks around it. If she could get there, maybe she could hide.

  But she was getting tired, her heart and lungs ready to burst. She was slowing, and Brian was still behind her. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep going.

  It startled her when Aidan’s phone buzzed and rang in her pocket but she couldn’t risk slowing to pull it out to see who it was or ask for help. Aidan? Her mom? Her dad?

  Keep running.

  Thoughts raced through her mind. Her dad had seen what Brian had done, and tried to stop him. Maybe he’d called her mom, or even the police. Someone would come to help her if she could just get away from Brian.

  Panting, she raced for the path that led down the cliff to the base of the lighthouse. She knew all the paths down there. There would be plenty of places to hide, and once Brian gave up she could make it around the point and home using a path farther up the beach.

  She slipped and almost fell twice on the way down the sandy incline. The wind whipped at her, cutting through her clothes. Her teeth chattered, her muscles shuddering as she risked a glance behind her. Brian was at the top of the cliff now.

  He spotted her, charged down the path toward her.

  Ella raced for the rocks at the base of the cliff. The wind was even stronger here, icy and sharp.

  Gasping for breath, shivering all over, she climbed between a large group of rocks and crouched down, trying to make herself as small as possible. All around her the wind moaned through the rocks, cold water splashing up through the gaps every time a wave hit them. It sluiced over her tennis shoes and soaked the legs of her jeans, making her even colder.

  She stifled a whimper as Brian reached the rocks. He stopped, his head whipping back and forth as he searched for her, and the expression on his face was every bit as scary as it had been in the car.

  She huddled there, unmoving, hardly daring to breathe. She wanted to go home. She wanted her mom and Mac.

  Don’t let him see me. Don’t let him—

  Even though she hadn’t moved, something must have given her away because Brian’s gaze locked on her. A horrible, evil smile split his face and he started toward her.

  No!

  Ella shot to her feet and spun to flee, but it was too late. Her foot had barely touched the next rock when something caught her ponytail and yanked her head back. She fell. Brian grabbed her. Dragged her backward, his evil laugh sending chills down her spine.

  Her screams were ripped away on the cold wind, taken out to sea where no one could hear them.

  ****

  It took every bit of restraint Tiana had not to rip the phone from Aidan’s hand as he and Beckett stared at it. “Have you got her?” She was dying inside. Was frantic to find Ella and get to her before Brian did.

  “There.” Beckett pointed to a dot on screen.

  “She’s heading down the path that goes below the lighthouse,” Aidan said, and took off running. Tiana charged after him.

  “I’m getting a boat,” Beckett yelled back.

  Aidan raised a hand in acknowledgment but didn’t slow. He was way faster than her, his long, powerful legs outdistancing her in no time. But he was taking the wrong route.

  “Wait! Go this way!” she shouted.

  He looked back at her and she pointed to the right. “There’s another path here that goes down to the beach.” She started down it without waiting, and he soon caught up. Only locals knew about this one.

  The path was narrow and tangled with vegetation. Her shoes slipped a few times but Aidan caught her. Together they rushed down the steep incline, causing small landslides of sand and rock as they went.

  The lighthouse stood atop the towering cliff top to their left. Below them, the ocean roiled in the cold spring wind, waves crashing against the rocks at the end of the point.

  Tiana scanned the base of the cliff below the lighthouse, searching for a glimpse of her daughter. “Can you see her?” She had to shout to be heard over the wind. It whipped her hair around her like a fiery halo, obscuring her vision. She shoved it aside, jammed it inside the collar of her jacket, making her way down the path as fast as she could.

  “Not yet, but she has to be there.”

  Recent rains and the quake had damaged the path. It stopped halfway down, blocked by a steep ravine and a jumble of rocks that must have tumbled down the cliff.

  Aidan ran past her and leapt across it, landing in a crouch on the other side. He turned back toward her, held out a hand. “Jump. I’ll catch you.”

  Ella was in danger and needed her. That was all it took to make her jump.

  She backed up a few yards, took a running start and launched herself over the ravine, her gaze locked on Aidan’s hand. He caught her outstretched hand and yanked her forward just as she landed on the opposite edge, would have fallen backward into the ravine if not for his strength.

  “There, I see her!”

  She stopped breathing and wrenched her head around to follow his outstretched arm. There on the rocks at the base of the cliff, she spotted a flash of pink. “Ella,” she cried and started running, her legs like rubber.

  And then her blood iced over as Brian came into view. He lunged for Ella.

  “I’m going after her,” Aidan said, and took off.

  “Yes, go, go,” she urged him, her heart in her throat. She skidded her way down the loose sand, not even bothering with the path now.

  Aidan had already reached the bottom and tore up the beach. She stumbled when she hit the beach, but shoved up and sprinted after him, fear and helplessness choking her. Goddamn it, they were too far away. Too far away to get to Ella before Brian took her.

  The sound of a boat’s motor cut through the rush of the wind. Beckett was streaking across the water toward them, angling toward shore. He waved an arm at them, calling them to the boat.

  Tiana hesitated. Ahead of her, Aidan changed direction and headed for the water as Beckett came closer to shore, bringing the boat alongside an outcropping of rock.

  Tiana followed, clambering across the black basalt formations. Aidan reached back to grab her hand, hauling her over the largest one. Beckett had one hand braced on the rock nearest the boat, the other on the wheel.

  Aidan lifted her, all but tossing her over the side. She scrambled in just as he jumped in beside her and Beckett hit the throttle, cranking the wheel around to speed away from the rocks toward the base of Lighthouse Point.

  Tiana clung to the side of the boat and kept her gaze trained on Ella. “Oh God, baby,” she choked out. Brian had grabbed her.

  Rage and determination punched through her, making the hairs on her arms stand up. “Fight, baby. Keep fighting.” She would kill him for this. Kill him with her bare hands and gladly spend the rest of her life in jail as l
ong as her daughter was safe and he was gone.

  Aidan was poised beside her, both hands gripping the side of the boat. “She got away,” he yelled.

  A surge of pride swelled inside her as she watched Ella scramble away from Brian. “Yes, baby. Hold on. Hold on, we’re coming.” They were getting closer now. Maybe thirty seconds from reaching the rocks and Beckett wasn’t slowing.

  She saw the exact moment Ella spotted them.

  Her daughter froze, costing her precious seconds of lead time, and began waving her arms frantically. Her mouth opened and closed as she screamed something, and even from this distance Tiana could see the terror in her expression, her eyes so wide the whites showed all the way around.

  Agony splintered through her. The crushing pain of helplessness when the person she loved most in the world was in danger and there was nothing she could do.

  Brian lunged for Ella again. Caught her. “No!” Tiana cried, wanting to vault over the side of the boat and bash his head against the rocks. White hot rage blasted through her.

  I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him with my bare hands.

  Beckett slowed the boat slightly, angled the bow as they approached the deadly outcropping of rocks. “I’ll get us as close as I can,” he shouted back to them.

  Tiana didn’t look at him, totally focused on Ella.

  Her daughter slipped. Fell.

  Tiana sucked in her breath. Get up. Get up, baby.

  Ella managed to get to her feet. Brian was a step away, lunging for her.

  No…

  Time ground to a near halt, the scene playing out frame by frame as though Tiana was watching a movie at half speed.

  Ella’s head turned as she looked over her shoulder at Brian, then swung back around to stare at them in the boat. Her expression changed, filling with determination. And in that single heartbeat Tiana knew what her daughter was about to do.

  She clutched Aidan’s shoulder, fear rolling over her like a dark wave. “Oh my God, no, she’s going to—”

  Ella launched off the tallest rock and dove into the water.

  Tiana made a terrible, high-pitched keening sound, like something a wounded animal would make. Ella!

  She set one foot on the side of the boat and dove in after her without thinking. Aidan’s shout echoed in her ears a split second before she hit the water.

  The cold hit her like a thousand knives driving into her body, sucking the air from her lungs, momentarily paralyzing her.

  Her brain finally kicked back into gear and she aimed for the surface, sucking in a tortured breath of air when her head breached the water. She was a strong swimmer but the ocean was powerful and cold.

  A wave slapped her in the face. She choked, flailed in the water, the weight of her sweater and shoes dragging her downward.

  She clawed her way back to the surface, scanning desperately for Ella.

  “Tiana!”

  She glanced over her shoulder to see Beckett steering the boat toward her, his face grim. Aidan wasn’t with him.

  Ignoring the boat, she turned onto her belly and began swimming for the rocks as fast as she could. Ella. She had to get to her—

  A flash of pink caught her attention off to the right. A half-second later Ella’s blond head popped up above the surface.

  “Ella!” she cried, and started swimming for her. The current pulled at her, the cold turning her limbs numb and sapping her strength far too quickly.

  Aidan’s head broke the surface next to Ella’s.

  Tiana sobbed and kept swimming toward them.

  Beckett had angled the boat around. He was closing in on Aidan and Ella.

  Still swimming, Tiana watched as Beckett reached over the side of the boat, and Aidan lifted Ella toward him. Beckett pulled her daughter to safety and the towering wave of emotion crashed over Tiana, unleashing a torrent of tears.

  Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed a rock jutting out of the water. She swam for it. Grabbed hold and clung to it, panting and shivering.

  Ella was okay. Everything would be fine now.

  A gasp wrenched out of her when something grabbed her hair and yanked back with vicious force. A split second later she was underwater.

  Blindly she reached back to grab at whatever had caught her.

  Her flailing hand met a fist clenched around her hair. She twisted her head around to see.

  A jolt of terror streaked through her when she saw Brian’s enraged eyes staring back at her under the water.

  Chapter Twenty

  Aidan’s heart rate slowed a fraction as Beckett hoisted Ella over the edge of the boat to safety. She was safe.

  He slid back into the frigid water and immediately turned around to search for Tiana. She’d jumped in before he’d even guessed what she was about to do. But she was nowhere to be seen.

  His heart pumped desperately in his chest. “Where’s Tiana? Do you see her?” he called to Beckett.

  “Over there,” Beckett said, pointing to Aidan’s right.

  He bobbed in the water, searching. The wave in front of him bottomed out, and he glimpsed her red hair immediately. She was clinging to a rock sticking out of the water about fifty yards from shore.

  Thank you, Jesus. Pure relief sluiced through him. Finally able to breathe again, he began swimming toward her.

  He’d only taken half a dozen strokes when her head suddenly snapped back and she went under.

  Alarm shot through him. “Tiana!” What the hell?

  She didn’t come up.

  Fuck.

  He dove under, swam faster, and what he saw beneath the waves made his heart constrict in sheer terror.

  Brian. The bastard had her. Was trying to drown her.

  Adrenaline roared through him, giving him added strength.

  He kicked and pulled against the water with all his might, desperate to get to her. The water was freezing. His limbs were already numb, all his muscles shuddering in an effort to conserve warmth. He stayed below the surface to avoid the waves but the current was pulling him out to sea. And he and the boat were too far away from Tiana to get to her in time.

  Too. Fucking. Far.

  A roar of rage and denial built in his throat as he plowed his way through the water, fighting to get to her. She was kicking and twisting, desperately trying to throw Brian off her. She managed to break free for a moment, and his heart soared as she shot to the surface.

  He followed, took a breath of air with her. “Tiana!”

  Her blank gaze locked on him for an instant, then Brian surfaced and shoved her back under.

  Aidan dove back under and swam for all he was worth, the muscles in his legs, arms and back burning. Hold on, sweetheart. Almost there…

  He gave a hard kick and reached out with both hands, gripping her shoulders tight. With a guttural snarl he ripped her out of Brian’s grasp and drove his foot forward, ramming it into the bastard’s gut, knocking him off her. Then he shoved Tiana upward, kicking again, building momentum as he propelled her toward the surface to get her head above the waterline.

  His head broke through the water a split second after hers. He grabbed her other shoulder to steady her, his legs scissoring to keep them afloat.

  She clung to his arm, choking, thrashing. “Tiana,” he rasped out, holding her up so she could clear her lungs and get air. Beckett was nearby in the boat but they were too close to the rocks now for him to get to them. Aidan had to get her to land.

  “Mac! Over here!”

  At the shout to his right he glanced over to find Jase in the water, swimming toward them with strong, sure strokes.

  “Give her to me!”

  Aidan pushed Tiana in his direction, keeping one hand on her as he swam. He was numb, the cold quickly draining the strength from his muscles.

  Jase was there in a matter of seconds. “I’ve got her. Let go.”

  Only because Aidan was numb and exhausted and trusted Jase with his life, he did, releasing his death grip on Tiana’s arm. Jase took o
ver, immediately turning around to tow her to shore. Aidan followed, the cold sapping what was left of his strength reserves.

  But seconds into the swim he spotted Brian surface mere yards from the rocks on the north side of the point.

  An unholy rage swept through him, followed by icy resolve.

  You’re mine, ya slimy wee bastard.

  The growl was low and guttural in his head. Undeniable, shutting out all other thoughts. Brian wasn’t getting away. Not after everything he’d done.

  Without conscious thought he changed direction, dove under and swam for Brian, the cold and numbness fading beneath the tide of righteous fury pumping through him. He surfaced less than ten yards from the bastard.

  Brian’s head whipped around, his eyes bulging when he saw how close Aidan was. He spun back around and tried to flail his way to shore, but that wasn’t fucking happening.

  Aidan shot out a hand and grabbed a fistful of the bastard’s hair. Yanked as hard as he could, pulling him under the water. How’s it feel, you pathetic piece of shite?

  Brian reached back to claw at his hand but Aidan didn’t give an inch. He kept a solid hold on him, keeping Brian under until he thrashed with panic, on the verge of drowning. Aidan released him with a shove.

  They surfaced a second apart. Brian was flailing, choking. Panting, Aidan turned away and swam for the rocks, letting the arsehole fend for himself.

  A fist swung out toward his face. Aidan jerked aside at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the blow. Brian came at him again.

  Aidan spun around to face the bastard and blocked the next punch, then answered with one of his own, his knuckles slamming into Brian’s jaw. The waves battered them, crashing around them, sending them hurtling toward the rocks ahead.

  Brian took the brunt of the impact, his head ramming into the rocks. He jerked and stilled for a split second.

  Carried by the overwhelming power of the waves, Aidan crashed into him a heartbeat later, the force of it momentarily jamming the air from his lungs. As soon as he could breathe again he wrenched Brian up and forward, dragging his head above water.

  Blood spilled down the guy’s face from where he’d cut his head on the rock.