[Escape 01.0] A New Life

by David J Antocci

  Grasping it tightly, she sprung from her crouched position and lunged at him, intending to sink the steel into his shoulder blade. He saw her coming out of the corner of his eye and sidestepped at the last second so that she fell into the wheel, sending the boat lurching to the right and throwing everyone off-balance. Eric sprung up at the same moment and landed a solid punch into Bryce’s gut. He barely flinched before connecting a left hook to Eric’s jaw. As Eric hit the ground, Bryce aimed his gun and fired two shots.

  Abby slammed into him from the side just as he did so, causing the bullets to miss—if only barely. Eric jumped up and tackled Bryce, sending him over the captain’s chair, his back landing on the throttle. The twin engines at the back of the boat roared as they redlined, and the nose of the boat pitched up sharply. Abby was sent toppling to the deck as Eric tumbled over the back of the boat and into the water. Abby screamed as he disappeared into the waves.

  Still holding onto her knife, Abby grasped the side of the boat, struggling to stand. Bryce was still over the back of the captain’s chair, struggling to get up. His back was against the wheel and the throttle. His legs dangled over the back of the chair, like a child’s legs dangling over the side of a swimming pool.

  Holding steady to the side of the boat, she brought her right arm over her head in a long arc, bringing the knife down and driving it deep into his left leg, just above the kneecap. Violently, she twisted her knife as his screams momentarily drowned out the roar of the massive engines. She felt the popping and twisting of his muscles and tendons. As he raised his right hand to fire his gun at her, she twisted again, harder. The pain overcame him, and his hand shook uncontrollably as he dropped the gun to grab his leg.

  Ripping the knife from his knee, she grabbed his short, blond hair and held the blood-soaked blade to his neck, commanding him to stand. He pulled himself up, tears streaming down his face from the pain. His skin was gray, having lost any bit of color it may have had. Abby let go of his hair momentarily to back the throttle down. As she turned back to Bryce, she saw the flashing lights of a police boat in the distance.

  She screamed in his face, “You get off on beating up little girls?!”

  He said nothing. He looked to be moments away from passing out.

  She didn’t realize it, but her firm grasp on his hair was about the only thing holding him up, and he collapsed to the deck in intense pain. She stepped on his injured leg and lowered her knife to his crotch as he screamed in agony. The police boat had stopped a few hundred feet away, but the lights reflected and bounced off the water and the gleaming surfaces of the boat.

  As she pressed the tip of her knife hard against his pants, she asked, “You see those lights? That’s the only reason I don’t cut off your dick right now, you sorry sack of shit.” She made him roll over and lay face down on the deck. Abby stood next to him, her left foot pressing down on his injured leg, causing as much pain as she possibly could while waiting for the police boat to pull up alongside them.

  Eric and Robert, followed by several policemen, jumped onto the boat. Eric grabbed her in a soaking-wet embrace. “Thank God, you’re all right.”

  The police tied a tourniquet to Bryce’s thigh and crudely bandaged the huge gash above his knee. By the time they lifted him to move him onto their boat, his eyes were closed, and he could only moan in pain. After the police loaded Bryce onto their boat, they said something to Robert in a language neither Abby nor Eric understood. Robert and one of the officers conversed for a few minutes.

  Robert turned to them. “He wants to know if I need to ride back with them?”

  Abby was silent as they floated there. She looked at the island behind them. The thought of being on the same island as her husband made her stomach turn. When she remembered the huge number of men he seemed to have working for him on the island, that sealed the deal. “You should ride back with them.”

  He thought about it for a moment. “You should come back with me. Stay for a few days. These men are going to have some questions for you.”

  Abby shook her head. “How badly are they going to want to ask me some questions?”

  Robert smiled. “I have a little influence around here. I think I might be able to help you with that.”

  “Then, I have to go with my gut, Robert. I’m not going back there.”

  Eric agreed. “Who knows how many guys he’s got with him? Why chance it?”

  “Where are you going to go?”

  Abby smiled. “I can’t tell you that.”

  “How long do you think he’ll be locked up?” Eric asked, gesturing toward the police boat.

  “Like I said, the laws are pretty lax around here. I know you don’t know much about your husband, Abby, but he is well-connected. I will do what I can, but if he spends more than a couple days in custody, I would be surprised.” He looked at Abby. “You remember those account numbers?”

  She tapped her head.

  “And, you have absolutely everything you need?”

  Looking at Eric, she answered, “Absolutely.”

  “All right, then.” He shrugged his shoulders, not sure what to say. His eyes were glazed over, as if he was struggling not to cry.

  Abby hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. For everything.”

  To their surprise, Eric did the same thing.

  Robert was back on the police boat, which pulled away and sped back toward the island as he watched from the back and waved to them one last time. After a few minutes, the sound of the police boat’s engine died out, and the flashing lights were nothing but a distant flicker. Abby and Eric were alone on their boat without another person in sight. They held each other for a long time as the boat bobbed gently in the water, and the sky began to lighten. As the sun crested the horizon and the orange, early-morning beams shone on their faces, it revealed a clear and cloudless sky.

  Eric fired up the engines, and they began cruising. They had no particular destination in mind, just away from where they had come. He stood behind the wheel with Abby by his side, her arms wrapped around him.

  “Where to?” he asked, smiling and looking out toward the endless sea.

  She looked up at him and smiled. “A new life.”

  Bringing him close, she kissed him as she ran her fingers through his thick, sand-colored hair.

  A new life.

  Epilogue

  ABBY AND ERIC lay in bed, their bodies covered by thin, silk sheets. The ocean breeze gently drifted through the French doors that opened onto the beach and the water in the distance. Since being hit in the head back on the island, Abby had been having dreams about her past. They were spotty and lacked detail, but were clearly lost memories, trying to surface. They revealed her life with Eric was better than any life she had ever had before.

  Ten months ago, after they’d parted ways with Robert, they cruised south for several days, stopping only to gas up the boat a few times, buy food, and purchase an inflatable raft. They drifted a few hundred yards off the coast of what looked like a fairly busy island one night, and over dinner, decided it would make a good spot to start their new journey. In the middle of the night, they inflated their raft, and Eric swam under the boat with an oversized screwdriver, removing the engine compartment plugs. They disabled the bilge pumps that had been keeping the water at bay—which had been trying to flood the lower compartments of the boat, since Bryce had sent two bullets through the deck and hull. The compartments flooded within a couple of hours, and the boat eased under the water to the bottom of the ocean as they watched from their raft.

  After paddling to shore and spending a few days on the island, they spent the next several weeks hopping ferries and water taxis from island to island. They were searching for a small, quiet place to call home. They landed in a small villa on an isolated beach, where they spent their days on an extended honeymoon. The locals were mostly farmers and families. There was one television in the village that only got reception on the clearest of days; otherwise, the
re was no connection to media. It was truly and completely off-the-grid. Given the lack of communication with the outside world, it was nearly impossible for anyone on the island to know who they were. If any of them did, no one ever let on.

  They had learned they were on one of the more remote islands of the seven-thousand that spanned three-hundred square miles. Although the chance of being found here was extremely remote, Abby still found herself looking over her shoulder and locking the doors for several months. Not anymore. She finally felt safe.

  Abby snuggled close to Eric, enjoying what had become their routine afternoon nap. She loved the feeling of being close to him. She often thought how lucky she was to have found herself on that island nearly a year ago, lost and afraid. She had grown into a stronger person and found the love of her life. It was a trial, that much was for sure, but well worth it.

  As she lay against his chest with her eyes closed, she felt him sit up a little.

  “No, I’m not ready,” she whispered. “Just a few more minutes.”

  Eric tapped her on the shoulder, and she opened her eyes.

  Standing at the end of their bed was a young boy they knew from the village. He was maybe twelve years old, and he worked in the small outdoor market where they bought their food. His pin-straight, black hair was a mess, his dark skin was soaked with sweat, and his black eyes were panicked. He was scared and out of breath. He held up a piece of paper with their photos on it. “A man in the village; a white man,” he said in English. “He is looking for you.”

  ESCAPE

  Past Sins

  Abby has put her past in the rearview mirror and carved out a life with Eric on an isolated island; their own personal slice of paradise. But after having her new life shaken to the core, Abby comes out of hiding to get her memory back and reunite with the part of herself she left behind – though nothing can prepare her for her forgotten sins and the dangerous men awaiting her return.

  Coming out of their self-imposed exile, Abby and Eric embark on a journey to the other side of the world. They have a plan to reclaim a piece of her past and forever bury the secret location of their new life, creating a peaceful future for themselves.

  Stalked on their journey by guardian angels and instruments of the devil alike, their plan comes to fruition, but at the ultimate cost. While she can run, Abby can’t escape her frightful past.

  Available NOW through Amazon!

  Author's note

  Thank you for reading my book! I would love to hear from you. You can email me from my website, www.Antocci.com, or follow me on Facebook and introduce yourself. I personally respond to everyone. You will also find news about my other books on both pages as it become available!

  I certainly hope you had as much fun reading the book as I had writing it. If you liked it, please tell a friend – or better yet tell the world by writing a quick review on the Amazon page. Even a few short sentences are helpful. As an independently published author, I don't have a marketing department behind me. I have you, the reader. So please, spread the word!

  Thanks again so very much!

  All the best – Dave

  Acknowledgements

  I need to thank my wife, Lisa, who is always supportive and encouraging, and gives me the confidence to tackle things like this... she also gets the kids out of my hair when she can so that I can have some writing time.

  To my beta readers, Nicole and Lindsay, thank you for helping me mold this story into something that makes sense to people who don’t live inside my head. As a man trying to write from the perspective of a woman, your insight was invaluable.

  A huge thanks is also owed to John Briggs, editor extraordinaire, who helped me to put the final polish on the story and taught me a great deal in the process.

  Also a big thank you to Rob Bishop who helped me to develop the book trailer.

  For the new 2018 edition of this book I had the pleasure of working with a wonderful proofreader, Abigail Stefaniak, who corrected copious amounts of of spelling and grammatical errors that have unfortunately been out there for years.

  Last, but not least, a HUGE thanks to you, the reader. As an independently published author, you are more important to me than you can imagine! Thank you for picking up this book and for spreading the word to your friends. – Dave