Bayou Heat

by Georgia Tribell

  She let out a happy sigh as the phone was answered. “Nate, can you come get me?”

  Eris bit back a scream as the phone was jerked from her hand.

  Turning, she watched as Rob put it to his ear. “Cancel that ride, Nate, I’ve got Eris taken care of.”

  Rob ended the call then dropped the phone into his pocket. Crossing his arms in front of him, he propped one shoulder against the tree and glared at her. The look on his face was nothing but controlled anger.

  “I was—” Rob held up a hand, silencing her, and Eris let the words die on her lips.

  “Did you really think I wasn’t watching you?”

  “Your head was back, you looked to be asleep.”

  “Well, I wasn’t, and at the moment I’m so angry words elude me. I’m also fairly sure if I put my hands on you I’ll strangle you. I’m going to make a wild guess and assume this has something to do with your mother’s declaration.”

  “Mom told me the accident happens when we’re together.”

  “And you figured if we weren’t together, nothing bad would happen.”

  “I was hoping that would be the case.”

  “Did you ever consider I’d be in more danger running around in a panic looking for you?”

  “No.” Eris ran a hand through her short red hair. It really irked her to be wrong about a situation and called on the carpet for it. “You’re right. I didn’t think my plan through very well. It was a knee-jerk reaction to what Mom said. After finding Orbit and the woman in the alley, I don’t think I can handle another death. Especially if I know the person.”

  “We’ve already established I’m a professional and this is what I’m trained to do. Do you have some sort of freaky death wish you haven’t told me about? Because if you do, I’m having you locked up tonight.”

  Eris bit the inside of her lip to keep from crying. “No, I don’t want to die until I’m really old and really cranky.”

  Rob rubbed his forehead. “Then what the hell got into you?”

  Love.

  That one little word almost made its way past her lips but, thankfully, she managed to stop it before she made a total fool of herself. She was one-hundred-percent certain this time she was truly falling in love even though she’d been fighting it for days. Then this morning, when he’d so casually used the word fiancée, hope exploded inside her.

  It then took her the rest of the day to get her emotions back under control. Over and over she’d repeated Nate’s words, forcing herself to accept the fact Rob was not the type to stick around. There was no way Rob Jackson would ever willingly spend a lifetime with her. Even knowing that didn’t stop the love she felt or the fact she’d give her life to save his.

  “I’m used to finding lost people or inanimate objects. Certainly not dead bodies and especially not the bodies of friends, guess it’s going to take a while to toughen up.”

  Before he could say anything else she headed toward the car because if he looked into her eyes, he’d know every word was a lie.

  Normally the comfort of Rob’s car and the soft sounds of jazz music relaxed Eris, but not this time. She watched as a black sports car flew around them, almost clipping the front of the car. She sat stiffly and silently in the passenger seat, counting off the minutes until they’d be safely home. Questions tumbled through her head as they drove but she didn’t dare distract Rob, not after what her mother said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rob glance in his rearview mirror before muttering a curse.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He didn’t answer but instead checked his side mirrors and then the rearview mirror again. She watched as Rob’s demeanor went from relaxed to full alert in a fraction of a second. She looked over at him and noticed the tension that now radiated through him. She turned to look behind her. “What’s going on, Rob? Talk to me.”

  “Most likely nothing, but please face forward and check your seat belt.”

  She did as he asked then looked into the passenger door mirror. Panic filled her as the front of a semi-truck blocked even the sky’s reflection in the mirror. The truck continued to close in on them. “You might want to go faster.”

  “I can’t.”

  She pulled her eyes away from the mirror to see why Rob couldn’t go faster, only to find she was staring at the backs of two other semis. Looking out the passenger side window, she noticed the large truck in the lane next to her. “We seem to be boxed in.”

  “I noticed.”

  Tension filled Rob’s voice, causing her to wonder about how much trouble they were really in. “Are there any exits up ahead?”

  “I’m not sure, but it wouldn’t matter. All exits on this stretch of the road are from the right lane only and I don’t see them letting us over.”

  Eris glanced in the mirror and screamed as their car was tapped from behind. Instantly the vehicle started to fishtail wildly. To her amazement, Rob brought them back under control. She grabbed for her purse. “I’ll call 9-1-1.”

  “Unless they’re right behind us, it won’t do us a lot of good.”

  She called and gave the dispatcher what information she could, as she racked her brain for another option. “Can’t you drive down the side?”

  “The embankment is too steep. We’d roll and this car isn’t made for off-roading.”

  “That’s better than being turned into sardines.”

  They were tapped from behind again and the car shot forward, almost going under the truck in front of them.

  Enough, Eris thought as she leaned forward and grabbed her purse. She wasn’t going down without fighting.

  “I’ve got your cell phone in my front pocket,” Rob stated as the vehicle behind them closed in again.

  Eris tossed her purse back onto the floorboard. “It’s not my cell phone I want,” she responded as she chambered a round.

  “Eris.”

  “We don’t have a choice. Now drive and leave this up to me.” She glanced at the speedometer as she lowered the window and unfastened her seat belt. They were doing almost ninety and the wind whipped around her like a tornado. The sound from the wind and trucks was deafening.

  Eris turned so she was facing away from Rob and leaned out the window. Rob’s hand grabbed the back of her jeans, restricting her movement. “Let go!”

  “Hell no!”

  She got on her knees and stretched as far as she could.

  “Get back in here!”

  “No!” Two rounds were all she managed to fire before the truck behind them slammed into them again.

  The gun flew from her hand as the car swerved hard to the left onto the bumpy shoulder and then back to smooth pavement.

  Rob jerked hard on the back of her pants as she fell back into the car. “Don’t you ever fucking pull a stunt like that again!”

  He let go and put both hands back on the wheel. Rob swerved to the left onto the shoulder before pulling back to the right. “Get your seat belt on now.”

  Eris scrambled to do just that. “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s a bridge up ahead.”

  “We can’t go into the water. We can’t!”

  Rob glanced quickly over at her. It was obvious he didn’t miss the panic in her voice. “I don’t want to go into the water either but we might not have a choice. You can swim?”

  “I can swim.” She forced her voice to be calm and confident, hoping to mask the fact that any water other than the crystal clear kind terrified her.

  He swerved to the left then back to the right. “Roll up your window and brace yourself. There’s a short-paved shoulder just as we reach the edge of the bridge. As soon as we reach it, I’m going to move over and lock up the brakes. With any luck, the driver behind us won’t have time to respond before he’s past us.”

  She did as he said and prayed his plan would work. “I’m ready.”

  “Hang on.”

  Rob jerked the wheel hard to the left but before he could straighten the car out, they were hit hard from behind. Th
e driver’s side door slammed into a pole, sending the car into a skid. She watched him work to regain control of the car and for the briefest second she thought he would win. Then they were rammed from behind again but this time the truck didn’t back off, it kept pushing them forward. The concrete railing was coming straight at them and she braced for impact.

  At the last minute, Rob pulled the wheel hard to the left and the car barely missed hitting the bridge head-on. Metal ripped and the mirror on her side flew off as the car scraped against the back side of the railing. From the amount of noise, she thought her door might be torn away…

  And then there was no sound as the car went airborne off the side of the road toward the dark water.

  She felt them tilt downward and closed her eyes and then her stomach felt as if it were free-floating for about thirty seconds before they landed hard. It reminded her of riding a roller coaster, except for the landing part.

  “Eris, you okay?”

  Her eyes popped open at the urgency she heard in Rob’s voice. Dark, murky water surrounded them and slowly crept its way up the hood toward her. She scrambled for her seat belt latch. “We need to get out.”

  “Not yet.”

  “What the hell do you mean? We’re sinking!”

  “This isn’t so deep we can’t swim to the surface. It’d be better to let the car settle and then break a window. Then we’re not as likely to have the car land on us.”

  Eris watched in mounting horror as water covered the windshield. She heard a noise and looked over at the passenger door window. Cracks inched their way across the glass in a spider web fashion. Water found its way in and small trickles quickly became larger streams. Panic gripped her as water started to soak her shoes.

  “God, we’re going to drown.” Fear made her teeth chatter.

  Rob’s hand cupped her cheek and he forced her to turn and look at him, not the water pouring in on them. “You’re the strongest, bravest, smartest woman I’ve ever met. You managed to keep your head straight the other night as you were about to be run over and just now hanging out of the car. You are not about to let this swamp win. You can do this, princess. I know you can. Now focus for me, okay?”

  Eris took a deep breath. “Tell me what to do.”

  Rob smiled and she knew she could do anything. A cracking sound ripped through the car and water hit the back of her head.

  “The window’s not holding. In the glove box there’s a window punch. Do you know what that is?” Rob’s words were laced with an unspoken urgency.

  The water coming in through the window was now a hard stream hitting her in the face. “Yes.” With her eyes closed she felt around the inside of the box. Thankfully, she knew what one was and it was heavy so it couldn’t float off because the water was already covering her lap. Wrapping her fingers around the cool metal, she pulled it out and handed it to him.

  “Kick off your shoes and breathe quickly like you’re hyperventilating.”

  “Why?” She kicked her purse in the process of removing her shoes and moved it out of her way. The last thing she needed was to become tangled with the strap.

  “It’ll help you hold your breath longer.”

  She heard another popping sound and the stream of water became larger. Water was now to her waist, so it wasn’t hard to breathe rapidly.

  “Are you ready?” Rob’s words were clipped.

  No. “Yes.”

  “Once the windshield is out of the way, swim as hard as you can toward the surface. If you aren’t sure which direction to go, let a few bubbles of air escape and follow them. Whatever you do, don’t stop. Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “On the count of three. One. Two—”

  Eris grabbed Rob’s arm. “What about you?”

  “I’ll be right behind you.”

  She let go of his arm as the water reached her chest.

  “One. Two…”

  She took a deep breath and watched Rob take his.

  Rob shattered the glass and the water rushed in, covering them in a matter of seconds. Then Rob’s hands were on her, pushing her out of the car and toward the surface. Once free of the car, she knew Rob was right—she could do this. She looked back at the car to check on Rob.

  He wasn’t there.

  Rob! her mind screamed as she turned in a circle, checking all directions. The murky water only allowed her a few feet of visibility. Fear filled her every pore even as she swam back to the car.

  Her lungs started to burn and she feared she was going to have to surface soon. She pulled herself down over the broken-out windshield and almost cried out when she saw Rob tugging on his seat belt. She hadn’t noticed he was trapped in her near panic. His head jerked up and she saw the fear in his eyes before it disappeared and was replaced by anger. She started to move toward him to help with the jammed belt only to be shoved away.

  Rob pointed to the surface in an obvious effort to get her to leave. She gave him a negative shake of the head. Ignoring him, she swam back inside the car and grappled blindly for her purse.

  She thanked God for not letting it float away and pulled it up from the floorboard. Unzipping the outside pocket, she found the pocketknife she always carried. It wasn’t large but it was sharp.

  With one slice, the seat belt fell away, freeing Rob. She swam out of the car and waited for him to reach her. Side by side, they swam toward the surface together.

  Eris’ lungs burned to the point where she thought she wouldn’t be able to hold her breath any longer. Each stoke was a battle between life and death. Just when she thought she couldn’t keep going, they broke the surface.

  Rob circled her waist with one arm while they treaded water and gulped in large amounts of air. She watched as a kaleidoscope of emotions passed across his face. His eyes darkened and his arm tightened around her, pressing her more securely against him.

  He let go of her way too soon and pointed to the bridge. “I want you to swim over to the bridge pillars and stay out of sight. I’ll come get you once I make sure it’s safe.”

  She did as he said and it felt as if it took forever to reach them. Once there, she stayed close to one of the large concrete supports, treading water and worrying. Her legs and arms were starting to feel heavy and she wondered how much longer she could last before moving to dry land.

  “Eris.”

  She swung around at the sound of her name and was surprised to find him so close. He closed the short distance in a few quick strokes. Her breath caught in her lungs as she looked into his eyes and saw the depths of his emotions. For once he didn’t try to hide the feelings clearly visible on his face. “Is it safe?”

  “Yes, apparently the truckers kept moving.”

  She wasn’t surprised when his eyes dropped to her lips and wondered if he wanted her as much as she wanted him. Her fingers itched to run through his hair, down his back to his fine, hard butt, but she couldn’t do that. If she did, they’d sink. So she kept treading water as desire flicked through her veins like a drug and made her crave more. The wreck caused them to connect in a way she couldn’t explain.

  “What the hell did you think you were doing coming back down for me?” Rob’s words were short and crisp.

  Okay, so much for making a connection, Eris thought as her temper took over. “I thought I was saving your life.”

  His jaw clenched, his nostrils flared and then he blew out a frustrated breath. “Thank you, but you are going to shorten my lifespan considerably if you don’t start doing as I ask.”

  “What was I supposed to do, leave you down there?”

  “Yes!”

  “You’d be dead by now!”

  “I can be replaced, you can’t! Now let’s get to shore and find a phone.”

  Rob started toward the closest bank and she followed at a slow, steady pace behind the man who thought he could be replaced as easily as an old pair of socks.

  * * * * *

  Rob paced Eris’ living room like a caged beast, positive if he d
idn’t get out soon he’d explode into a million pieces.

  After making it out of the water, he’d flagged down a passing motorist and called LD. He’d been hoping to avoid an invasion by the DuBose family and was doing pretty good until the tow truck driver arrived.

  The man was like a twelfth cousin once removed of Eris’ and by the time they arrived back at her place, the entire gang was waiting on them. Rob wanted to take Eris straight to the emergency room to be checked out and have a deep slash to her hand and the lump on her head looked at, but she’d refused. Now she sat next to Lance as he performed his magic on her latest injury.

  Rob watched as Zane detached himself from the other brothers and made his way toward him. Mentally, he prepared for another round of promises of what would happen to him if any more harm came to their sister.

  “She wouldn’t be any safer with someone else, so stop thinking that.”

  Rob was certain his facial expressions hadn’t given away his inner turmoil. “I wasn’t—”

  “Don’t say you weren’t thinking it because I was picking up your thoughts on the second-floor landing. Right now you’re second-guessing every action you made today and you need to stop it right now if you plan on keeping her safe.”

  His lungs seized again as he remember the soul-crushing fear he’d felt when he thought he might actually lose her. He forced his breath out before he could continue. “I never meant to put her in danger.”

  Zane turned and studied him for a few seconds before giving his head a slight shake. “You didn’t make her come back for you, that was her decision. She has a mind of her own and pretty much does as she pleases despite the worry and gray hair it causes the rest of us. You do realize keeping that one out of trouble is an impossible task not many men would be willing to take on?”

  Rob looked at Zane. Eris had begged him not to say a word about her going back down for him. She’d been afraid it would upset her parents too much. “Did Eris tell you about that?”