“Thank you,” I said. I slid the backpack off and slung it toward Rachel. “Rachel, if you could take out a bundle and give it to this man, please.”
She quickly unzipped it and pulled out a bundle of ten-thousand dollars.
“That is for you,” I pointed at it with my gun.
He just stared at me and didn’t respond.
“You go first, Rachel.”
There was no contest from her, just the metallic cling of the ladder against the hull, followed by a splash.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” I said, and slowly lowered my gun into my backpack.
“I don’t have to,” he laughed. “I’m already watching ya’ll do that.”
I didn’t respond. I just zipped my backpack closed.
“Thank you,” I called back to him and jumped into the icy water. The shock took my breath away. Rachel was treading water a few feet ahead of me.
“Thanks for the cash. Watch out for them gators!”
We were splashed by the wake from the boat as he pulled away.
“Alligators!?” Rachel shouted.
The fear of encountering one of those massive creatures was nothing short of terrifying. I could see the shore. It was maybe a half to a quarter mile away. We had to get to land—fast.
“Just swim. Let’s get out of here.”
I put my face just below the water and swam as if I were a swimmer doing laps. I would take a breath every few seconds and see how far away the shore was, and how far Rachel was from me. My backpack dragged me down significantly. Every time I took a breath and looked around, it felt like I hadn’t even moved a foot or two.
The tide was still coming out.
I tapped Rachel’s arm as we were swimming and she picked her head up.
“What?”
“The tide is still going out. We need to swim as fast as we can to get to shore. Give it all you got.”
She nodded, panting heavily. I put my head down and swam so fast my arms and legs began to burn. Every breath I took, I made sure Rachel was still beside me. Minutes went by. With every glance, we grew closer to the swampy shoreline.
Suddenly, my feet scraped against something sandy as I swam. Then my arms. I pushed upwards with my hands to see we had reached it. I tried to stand on the gunky, swampy ground. It was difficult, but not impossible. I pulled Rachel onto the porous ground and she just lay there, completely out of breath. I sat down with her until she regained herself.
“That…that…was the most cardio I’ve done in a year,” she gasped.
I laughed, and she began to laugh with me.
“I feel your pain,” I said. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
She pushed herself up onto the ground and looked at me with a smile that began to fade. She was looking over my shoulder. I turned around in curiosity.
Endless swamps. That’s all that laid ahead.
“Let’s go,” I said.
She didn’t respond, she just followed me. If we took a wrong step our feet would sink into the sludge-like ground beneath. It felt so slimy, and it made the most grotesque squishing noises when we tried to pull our feet out. I had no idea where we were going. The sun was somewhere above the gray blanket of clouds. The rain wasn’t helping any. It caused us to slip around on the sections of mud we didn’t sink into.
I heard a raspy growl and the snapping of teeth.
“Ahh! Run! Shit!” Rachel shrieked. She was in front of me in an instant.
I looked behind me and saw an alligator ten feet away, just sitting there with its scissor-like jaws open. My heart jumped in my chest. It wasn’t chasing us, but seeing it a few feet away was too close for comfort. I struggled to keep my footing on the muddy terrain. Rachel was now twenty or more feet away.
“It’s not chasing us! Slow down!” I yelled.
“I don’t care! If there’s one, there’s more. We need to get out of—”
She lost her balance and yelped. Her face smacked against the mud. For a moment, she didn’t even move. She positioned herself into a pushup, and I could actually hear a suction noise when her face peeled away from the mud. When I reached her side I couldn’t help but laugh. Her face was covered with a layer of mud so thick her features were indiscernible.
She used her hand to wipe off the big slab that covered her eyes and nose, then she did the same with her forehead and mouth. I knelt down and gently used my thumb to brush off the remainder, and then she looked into my eyes. I felt something, something I hadn’t felt in years looking into the eyes of a woman. It wasn’t just lust, or chemistry. It was something more.
“Excuse me while I blow the mud out of my nose,” she said with her voice stuffy.
“Be my guest,” I laughed.
She turned her face away and rid her nose of the dirt. When she turned back around I was standing, and I offered her my hand.
“Thanks,”
I nodded.
My body felt fatigued. Although, the constant adrenaline was keeping me going, numbing me enough to survive. Once we were safe…if we were ever safe…I would crash. I knew to my right was the north, and to my left was the south. We had to keep our original destination in mind. Orlando—but how would we get there? Willpower was one thing, but having all the odds stacked against us made it nearly impossible to do anything.
We crossed rivers. We waded through swampy fields of cutgrass so tall it sliced our hands and arms. The light behind the clouds was beginning to fade. Dusk was approaching. In the distance, I saw acres of trees. As we approached, I could tell they were oaks. Spanish moss draped the thick branches. It was the same type of flora you might find at an abandoned plantation in the South. The ground beneath my feet was becoming firmer. We had slowly retreated from the coastline.
“There,” I said, pointing ahead. “We will rest there.”
Rachel nodded. “About time.”
We reached the edge of the woods and cautiously entered them. I hadn’t seen any houses. The last thing we needed was for someone to blow us to smithereens for trespassing.
“Here,” Rachel announced and changed direction. She led me to a massive tree. The trunk had a natural curve at its base. We plopped down and scooted backward to where our backs leaned against the trunk.
It was so relieving. I exhaled, and tried to expel some of my stress along with it. There were times since we had left the boat that I thought I had heard a helicopter. It could have been my imagination, but regardless, they were out there, somewhere…trying to find me. Despite that fact, I felt safe. I was still free.
“I could not move an inch for the next week and be completely fine,” Rachel said with a sigh.
I turned to her. She looked exhausted. Dried mud caked her hair and the edges of her face.
“Same. Unfortunately, we can’t stay.”
“Why not? This spot is perfect.”
“No, it’s not. We are too close to our wreck.”
“I feel like we’ve done a triathlon.”
“I do too. I’m impressed, actually.”
She cocked her head and gave me a smirk.
“Why, because I kept up with you?”
“Well, not only that, but just your willingness to do it in the first place.”
“This story is important to me,” she answered matter-of-factly.
“It seems so. Most women I know wouldn’t crash their fancy foreign cars into a bridge.”
“I’m not most women.”
Her brown eyes oozed affection. Physically, it was subtle. She kept it hidden, but I could still feel it. I knew it was there.
“I can tell.”
“So, if we can’t stay here, can we at least take a nap? I can barely move my arms and legs. That swim was unreal.”
“Mine are dead too,” I agreed. “Yes, let’s rest until nightfall. Then we can keep moving.”
“All right.”
A few seconds of silence passed. Then, her head leaned up against my shoulder, and she snuggled against my body. Just feeling
her hair tickle the skin on my arm gave me chills. Who was this girl? Rachel Flores jumped into my life less than ten hours ago, yet it felt like I had known her for longer. By whatever slim chance I had of meeting her, I was glad she was here, by my side. I wasn’t alone.
“Owen, wake up. Wake up.”
Rachel’s voice pulled me from my sleep.
“Mhmm…” I mumbled incoherently.
“Wake up. It’s been two hours. Let’s go.”
Two hours.
I opened my eyes and rubbed them. Rachel was staring, just waiting for me to come to my senses.
“You awake now? Come on, get up.”
She grabbed my hand and helped drag me upright.
“All right, all right. I’m up.”
“So, where to, Mr. Criminal Mastermind?”
I pointed to the left.
“South.”
We meandered our way to the exit of the woods and trudged through unkempt grass. I was still lethargic. Our nap had passed in an instant. It was one of those black, dreamless sleeps. Rachel and I didn’t talk, we just forged our path farther south. Minutes felt like hours. The land was flat and vast. It looked the same in all directions. There were palm trees that lined every wooded area. I wasn’t the best at geography…but as far as we had gone since the boat, we had to have been in Florida.
“We still could have been sleeping, you know.”
I didn’t even turn to look at her. I was so exhausted.
“I know. It isn’t safe to stay put.”
“I disagree. Look how out in the open we are. If anyone was looking, they’d find us.”
“We will be fine. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worrying,” she said. “I’m a realist.”
“Are you suggesting I’m not?”
“No, we are both tired. I’m just saying we could have really rested. I shouldn’t have woken you up.”
“Well, that opportunity has passed. Look, all I’m saying is the CIA and FBI are going to be all over the area where we crashed. The farther we are away from them, the better.”
“True.”
More time passed. The land became even vaster with little to no trees around. Just flatlands surrounded us. I had seen a house tucked behind some woods a few minutes back. Hopefully, if anyone was home, they weren’t keeping a close eye on their property.
“Do you hear that?” Rachel asked. She grabbed my arm.
My senses heightened as I stood still to listen. It didn’t sound too far off, whatever it was. The ground beneath me was vibrating slightly. The sound was rhythmic. It churned and pulsed, yet was mechanical and deep.
“It sounds like a train,” I said.
“I wonder how far away it is.”
“Come on, let’s go. Run!”
I began to run in the direction of the sound.
“What? Wait up!” Rachel called from behind me.
“Hurry!”
She made it to my side and we both ran across the flatlands. I was breathing heavy, but the sound was growing louder. We were close.
“Why are you running?” she asked, her voice bouncy and struggling to speak. “If it’s a passenger train it’s pointless.”
“It sounds too slow to be a passenger train.”
We kept running, and then I saw it. It was a black freight train…and it was going south. I sped up, and as I neared the track, I looked to the right and saw the last railcar come into view.
“Rachel! Sprint!”
I pumped my arms and used every last bit of energy I had to keep up with the train. It was sliding past me, railcar after railcar. Suddenly, the caboose passed my side. The thought of losing the train pumped adrenaline through my veins, and with one final surge of energy I launched myself into the air. I grasped onto the metal rungs of a ladder and turned around to see Rachel just feet behind me.
“Come on!”
She strained and pushed herself harder, trying her best to speed up.
“I can’t!”
I held the rung with one hand and made sure my feet were on the ladder firmly. I extended my left hand as far as I possibly could. My arms were stretched out to the full length of my wingspan.
“Rachel, you can do this! Give it all you got and grab my hand!”
Her face was beet-red and she pumped her arms up and down in a final sprint. She neared my hand, and I knew it was now or never.
“Jump!”
She leaped into the air and wrapped her hands around my forearm. I clutched her and swung her up into a half-hug. She panted in exhaustion. Her breath was hot against my neck. I glanced down at our feet, and they were squished together on the thin, metal rung. I hoped it would hold our weight.
“Grab the ladder!” I yelled over the raucous sound of the train.
She used one hand to latch on first, then released her grasp from my neck with the other. Once she was secure, I began to study my surroundings. To my right, there was an iron door.
I clasped the door handle with my four fingers. Once I gripped it with my other hand, I planted my feet on the body of the train and used my strength to tug at the door. It was unbelievably heavy. I continued to pull, and suddenly it swung open. It threw me backward and my legs swung like noodles as I held onto the door handle with all my strength. My struggle was far from over. Now wide open, I had to find a way inside without closing the door.
I rocked back and forth and pushed the door closer to the closed position. I swung my left leg around the underside of the door and straddled it like a monkey would a tree limb. I rocked harder, to the point where my head was slamming against the iron frame. All I needed was for—
My butt cheek caught the surface of the floor, and that was it—solid ground. I used my left hand to keep my balance, dropped my right leg beneath the door, and pulled it inside. I had made it.
I quickly stood up and opened the door, peering up to my right to see Rachel still clung to the ladder. Her hair whipped wildly around her face.
“Rachel!” I called to her.
She turned and looked at me.
“Do what I did! Climb down and jump!”
She nodded. I caught fear in her expression.
When her feet hit the last rung, she looked down at the track moving fast below us. She was hesitant.
“You got this! You’ve made it this far!”
“Jump!”
“Ahh!” she screamed and stretched her arms skyward. I lunged for her and grabbed her wrist. My abs quivered from trying to keep balance. It took all my strength not to fall forward with her weight.
“Don’t let go! Please!” she cried.
I felt vibration through her arms. The tips of her shoes were dragging across the tracks. My eyes widened at the thought of what kind of pain she might have been in.
“It hurts,” she winced. “Pull me up, please!”
“When I pulled her up, I would slip closer to the edge. She was literally in my hands. Our weight was linked and I couldn’t adjust my position.
“I need you to push! Push with one foot! I will pull you in!”
“They are numb…” She cried. “The pain…”
“I need you to push, Rachel! Now!”
I felt the motion of her moving up a few feet. I used the momentum and threw myself backward into the caboose, slinging her in by the wrist. I collapsed onto my calves, and my body folded onto itself like a lawn chair. Rachel lay on top of me, crying and panting.
“Thank you,” she sighed. “Thank you…”
She was on top of me. We were chest to chest. Our breath was in sync, and although I was in pain from halving my feet wedged underneath my body—it felt nice. I didn’t want her to move.
“We made it,” I said. My voice was shaky. I was still catching my breath.
“Your heart,” she blurted, with her head atop my chest.
“What about it?”
“It hasn’t slowed down a bit. It’s still beating just as fast.”
It sped up even more as she said that.
“It’s going faster,” she added.
I smirked and tried not to laugh.
“What is your diagnosis, Dr. Flores?”
She chuckled. “I think you have a case of the butterflies.”
I craned my neck up and looked at her.
“You really do wear a lot of hats in life.”
She shook her head at me.
“When was the last time you had a woman on top of you?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“You dog!” she scolded.
“She wasn’t nearly as beautiful as you, though.”
I felt affection as her eyes met mine. I had hit a soft spot.
“I have to admit,” she began. “You are mighty charming if I do say so myself.”
“Oh really? I thought I was a douchebag that needed to grow up.”
“I don’t know who that Owen was. It definitely wasn’t the same guy I’m with now.”
“I’ll give you that…”
“You’re actually not half bad to be around,” she teased. “You act no different than you do in all your interviews.”
“I strived to be an honest politician. I had nothing to hide.”
“What an oxymoron,” she laughed. “Honest politician.”
“No joke.”
“It showed, though, those times I saw you on TV. Everyone knew you were genuine. It is something this country has lacked for a long time.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Funny how the media can turn on me so quickly. One day I’m a hero, and the next day I’m a villain.”
“Now that’s what I am here for.”
“To expose the truth,” I repeated her words from earlier today.
“Of course. A truth will erase any well-executed lie. Especially if the evidence is tangible, and from a credible source, that will make a story irrefutable. That is what I aim to do.”
I admired her intellect. It was so mesmerizing.
“Rachel, that plan sounds just as good as it did this morning…but, my legs are numb. Do you mind?”
She slid off of me and I strained to slide my legs out from underneath of me. They were deadweight. Once separated, everything was different. I could feel other sensations besides the warmth of our bodies together. The air was temperate and humid, but there was a slight chill in the caboose. She sat a few feet away and stared at me silently.
The Gambit Page 15
