Escape

by M. K. Elliott

  He sighed and ran his hand across his head. This was not like him and he knew his bad attitude had probably just set the refurbishments back another couple of weeks.

  His mind simply wasn’t on the job. Every minute, he struggled not to go and find Lucy. He told himself he was doing the right thing. The last thing he needed was another woman he couldn’t trust coming into his life. Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was only telling himself this because his pride got hurt.

  Rudy sighed again and put his forehead in his hands. He only had to get through the next couple of days and she would be going home to her life—and probably her boyfriend. Then he would do his best to forget about her.

  If he could.

  Letting her leave and get on with her life, was the best thing for both of them.

  If only he could get the memory of her face out of his mind, the way her hair spread across his pillow, how soft her skin felt. This whole mess tore him apart. Even if he went to find her, what future did they have? In a few days, she would be going home. Holiday romances never worked out, and London to Thailand was simply ridiculous.

  He had a list as long as his arm of people he needed to contact and things he needed to do, but he was only undoing any good work he had already done by speaking to people right now.

  Sudden banging on the office door made him jump. Before he had the time to turn around, or even speak, a couple of young guys burst through the door.

  “We need your help,” the taller one panted. “Our friend has gone missing. We think he took a boat out diving, but he’s been gone for hours now.”

  Immediately, Rudy focused and he leaped to his feet, “Who’s your friend and what makes you think he’s gone diving?”

  “He was bitching because none of the dives were running and he told us he’d found a local who would rent out his fishing boat to him. He said he was going to go to the caves on the other side of the island.”

  “But we didn’t think he was serious,” the other guy interrupted. “We just thought he was being Paulie—bragging and showing off. But when we woke up this morning, he was gone and he’s still not back.”

  “So he’s diving without a buddy?” asked Rudy, seriously concerned.

  “Yeah, and everyone knows that the conditions are still dangerous out there.”

  “The idiot!” Rudy said, furious. “What the hell was he thinking?”

  The two friends didn’t speak.

  “Come on,” Rudy said. “I know the caves. I’ll have to take the smaller boat out to get to them; you can’t reach them by land. Damned idiot!”

  The guy could easily be hurt. Those caves were a dangerous dive anyway, never mind with low visibility and with the currents the storm had stirred up. And the guy was alone. Anger stirred low in Rudy’s stomach. This was the last thing the resort needed right now. If someone got hurt—or even worse, died—while out on a dive, the news would hit all the papers. Turtle View’s good name would be marred and people would not bother to look into the circumstances of how the accident happened. They wouldn’t learn that the person injured went off alone in bad conditions. All they would hear is that someone was hurt while out diving and that was enough to keep tourists away.

  The consequences would have to be dealt with later. Right now he needed to concentrate on Paulie and how to get him back safely. There was a good chance he might be hurt, if he wasn’t dead already, and there was only one person Rudy wanted to have with him if someone was injured.

  Lucy tugged at the zip of her suitcase, all of her things stuffed back within its cracked shell. It was lighter now, having off loaded her ruined books, and the zip closed easily. She ran a hand through her hair and stood upright.

  A sharp knock came at the door and her heart leaped. There was something about the tone of the knock that immediately caught her attention.

  Rudy?

  She rushed to the door and swung it open. When she saw his familiar figure, arms folded across his chest, she wanted to cry with relief. But then she saw the expression on his face; his lips a thin line of worry, creases between his eyebrows. Two other men she vaguely recognized from around the resort stood just behind him, the same expression on their faces. Immediately, she knew something was wrong. This visit wasn’t about them.

  “What is it?” she said. “What’s happened?”

  “One of the guests has gone out diving,” said Rudy, “and he’s not come back.”

  “Who took him out diving? I thought they were all put on hold until visibility got better.”

  “They are. He persuaded one of the locals to rent him a boat and he’d already hired his equipment for the length of his stay.”

  “So he went out by himself?”

  “Yeah, and he’s been gone since seven this morning.”

  Lucy glanced at her watch. It was almost mid-day, so the man had been gone almost five hours.

  “What do you need me to do?” she asked.

  “Assuming we can even find him, he might be hurt. If you could come with us, your experience would be really appreciated.”

  Lucy grabbed her sandals and slid them on, “Let’s go.”

  The four of them ran back down the steps and jumped into one of the resorts four-by-fours. Rudy drove down to the port at breakneck speed, and Lucy sat shot-gun, clinging to the handle above the passenger door with one hand and hanging onto the side of the seat with the other.

  At the port, his small boat, Patience, bobbed up and down in the swell.

  “It’s a good thing I got it out of dry dock yesterday,” Rudy said, as he leaped from the vehicle. “We’d be screwed right now if it was still on dry land.”

  They ran up the jetty to where she was moored. As Lucy climbed on board, Rudy took her hand to help her. The contact sent sparks through her and they locked eyes for a moment. Flustered, Rudy looked away, breaking the moment.

  With all four of them on board, Rudy started the motor and skillfully guided the boat out of dock and around the other crafts moored in the port. The sun sat high above them, strong and relentless in a bright blue sky.

  As soon as they cleared the shelter of the bay, the waves grew higher, launching the small boat into the air for a moment of weightlessness, before crashing back down into the swell. The motion was sickening and every time the vessel fell, Lucy felt as if she’d left her stomach behind.

  The two other men stood on the bow, neither of them speaking. They wore identical expressions; pale faces and tight jaws.

  “What are your names?” Lucy called out to them.

  “I’m Chris,” said the stockier of the two. “This is Steve.”

  “And what’s your friend’s name?”

  “Paul,” said Chris. “But everyone calls him Paulie.”

  The name sent a shock through her. “Paulie? You mean big Paulie? Sandy hair?”

  “Yeah. Why, you know him?”

  Lucy remembered the argument in the back of the four-by-four and cringed. Why did she always have to get on the wrong side of people? One day she was really going to have to learn how to keep her mouth shut.

  “Yeah, I know him. Not well, but I know him.”

  “Then you’ll know what an idiot he can be,” said the other man, Steve.

  His friend shot him a look.

  “What?” he said. “We both know Paulie can be a total ass sometimes. Take this whole fiasco for example.”

  “Fine, but I’d rather we didn’t talk badly about him until we know he’s alive.”

  They all dropped into an uncomfortable silence. Spray hit their faces, soaking their clothes, flattening their hair. Salt stung their eyes, but it didn’t stop them from watching out for any sign of the missing diver.

  Just ahead, the headland protruded into the sea. Rudy turned around to yell, “The caves are just around the corner; we’re nearly there!”

  His words sparked a mix of relief and trepidation. Each person terrified about what they might find.

  Within minutes, the small boat roun
ded the bend. Cliffs towered above them, deep crevasses cut into the stone walls. Waves crashed dangerously against the rock and into the caves. Just outside the entrance, a small row boat had come loose from where it had been tied up. As the sea surged and lifted, it picked up the small craft and smashed it against the cliff face. There was no sign of Paulie anywhere.

  Lucy’s hand went to her mouth. Paulie could never have managed to get back to the boat, even with diving equipment.

  In the shadow of the cliffs, darkness swallowed the light. Rudy skillfully guided the boat around the rocks and stopped at a safe distance from the rock wall and the gaping maw of the caves.

  “I can’t risk getting any closer,” he said. “Not unless I want the boat going the same way as Paulie’s.”

  Lucy shivered.

  He put down anchor and started to pull on his own diving equipment.

  “Hang on a minute,” Lucy said. “You can’t go without a buddy. You could get in trouble.”

  “You’re right. Of course you’re right. One of the boys can buddy me.”

  “But what about if Paulie’s hurt? I’m the only one who has the experience to move him if he’s got injuries.”

  “Lucy, it’ll be easier if one of the guys come. They’ve got more diving experience than you.”

  “What if Paulie is hurt?” she insisted. “I’m the best person to have with you.”

  She didn’t understand her reasons for pushing, the last thing she wanted to do was go in the water. Though the sky above them was blue, the obvious danger from the rip and the waves scared her.

  “Okay,” Rudy said, relenting. “You come, but you promise to stick right by me. Don’t go doing anything reckless.”

  “I won’t, I promise.”

  “When we go beneath the surface you won’t feel the waves. We’ll have to surface in the cave, but it should be a bit calmer in there. The cliffs will dissipate the worst of the waves.”

  “What about us?” Steve asked. “What can we do to help?”

  “Wait here. Look after the boat.”

  “We should come as well,” said Chris. “Surely four people looking is better than two.”

  Rudy shook his head. “I need you here. If for some reason we get into trouble, we’ll need people in the boat who can help.”

  Rudy helped Lucy get into her equipment.

  She swallowed hard. Adrenaline fired through her veins, making her mouth dry and her heart thump in little trippy beats.

  Rudy stood close behind her, helping her with the weight of her tanks. She trembled against his touch and he leaned in and spoke against her ear.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you, Lucy. You can trust me.”

  She turned toward him, her eyes filled with tears.

  “You can trust me too,” she whispered.

  He didn’t answer her; instead he bent to pick up her weight belt and slipped it round her waist.

  Lucy didn’t say anything else, content just to have him close for now, despite the circumstances.

  Quickly Rudy pulled on his own equipment.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  He checked his divers watch. “We’ll be no more than fifteen minutes,” he told the two men. “If we’re not back by then, you’ll know we’re in trouble.”

  “What then?” Chris asked, his voice shaky.

  “Radio in for help. Don’t try to come in yourselves. If we’ve got into difficulties, there’s no point in you guys doing the same.”

  They nodded.

  Rudy went first, stepping backwards off the boat, plunging into the water below. He swam the few strokes to the dive line, but he didn’t hold onto it for the moment, simply allowing himself to rise and fall with the swell of the waves. He took his regulator out of his mouth and pulled his mask off.

  “Okay, Lucy?”

  Already with her mask and regulator on, she gave him the thumb and finger sign for ‘okay’. Holding her equipment tight to her face, so it wouldn’t be pulled off by the resistance of the water, she stepped off the side.

  The water sucked her under, and she fought against the pull, kicking her fins, powering back to the surface. She broke through and immediately a wave lifted her high up the side of the boat and dropped her back down again. Frantic, she twisted her head, searching for Rudy. The motion of the water disorientated her, but as her wave dipped and the one he rode on rose, she caught sight of his bobbing head.

  Rudy lifted a hand to her and she swam, as best as she could, through the waves, thankful for the face mask and breathing apparatus.

  As she reached his side, he put out his hand and caught her by the wrist.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  Lucy nodded, unwilling to try to take any of her equipment off, certain she would drop it and it would be lost to the ocean.

  “The quicker we go down the better,” he said. “The water won’t be so rough. Stick close to me. The visibility will be bad, probably only a couple of feet, and it can feel quite claustrophobic, so don’t panic.”

  She tried to smile around her regulator, but gave him the okay signal instead.

  Rudy pulled his own mask on again and plugged his mouth around his regulator, gripping it in his teeth. He raised his hand and gave her the thumbs down sign.

  With one hand, she held onto the dive line. Rudy, face to face with her, slid his hand down from her wrist and linked his fingers through hers. She gripped his fingers tightly, grateful for the contact.

  Together, they pulled themselves below the surface.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Churned up sand and torn pieces of seaweed floated in front of Lucy’s face. She could still see Rudy, but nothing beyond. Her breathing sounded loud and harsh in her ears. The current pulled at her limbs, and she clung to the line, terrified of having to let go and swim. At least the movement of the waves had disappeared. It was calmer down here, despite the current and the lack of visibility.

  As she pulled herself deeper, a pain pierced deep in her ears and she let go of Rudy’s hand just long enough to pinch her nose and equalize, before taking his hand again. He gave her the okay sign again, checking she was all right.

  She nodded, before remembering herself and flicking the sign back at him.

  At fifteen feet, they finally stopped and Rudy pointed in the direction they needed to swim. Side by side, they let go of the rope, but Lucy wasn’t about to let go of his hand. Using the power of their fins, they swam toward the entrance of the caves.

  The current grew worse, tugging at her limbs, threatening to drag her off course. She fought against it, trying to push down the panic clawing up at her lungs, forcing her to breathe faster.

  Rudy saw her struggling and shook his head. He put his hand out flat, motioning for her to calm down. Immediately her training came back to her, how she was supposed to relax if a current caught her, allow it to carry her and then swim once the current had ended. She did as she’d been told and, still clinging to Rudy’s hand, they were slowly pulled across the front of the cave’s entrance. Rudy yanked on her hand and, with a power of their fins, they broke from of the flow of water and into the more sheltered crevasse of the caves.

  With the rays of the sun no longer penetrating the already murky water, visibility was down to little more than a couple of feet. She could only just make out Rudy’s outline and her hold on his hand tightened.

  Rudy pulled a torch out from his diver’s belt and flicked it on. The diffused glow spread out before them, lighting their way. Grime and dirt filled the water. Even with the torchlight, they could only make out the shapes of the rock walls of the cavern rising on either side of them. Away from the warming sun, the water grew colder.

  The regulator made her breathing loud and hollow in her ears. It was all she could hear. That, combined with not being able to see even a few feet ahead, made her claustrophobic.

  There is no sign of Paulie, but he wouldn’t still be diving. His air would never have last
ed this long.

  Rudy grabbed her attention and gave her the thumbs up, the signal to ascend. They had obviously come to the same conclusion. If Paulie was in the cavern, he would be above water, not under.

  Slowly, they rose to the surface, stopping every couple of feet to avoid decompression.

  They burst through the surface of the water into the murky gloom of the cave and a weak shout grabbed their attention.

  “Hey! Over here!”

  In the strange acoustics of the cave, it was difficult to pin-point exactly where the voice came from. They spun around, Rudy using the torchlight to scan the interior of the cave. Jagged rocks jutted from the water. A foot above the water level, a narrow ledge ran around one side of the cave.

  It was to this Paulie clung. His body looked large and fleshy in the torchlight, his bright red swim shorts catching the light, his scuba equipment piled beside him.

  Thank God.

  Relief swept over Lucy and they swam over to the stranded man. His face was white and he shivered violently. Exhaustion hung on his features, but he otherwise seemed uninjured. Rudy climbed up onto the ledge beside him, and then helped haul Lucy, equipment and all, out of the water.

  “Am I glad to see you two,” said Paulie between his chattering teeth.

  “We’re glad to see you too,” said Rudy. “I want to kick your ass for being such an idiot, but there’ll be time for that later. Right now we need to get us all back to the boat safely.”

  “Are you hurt anywhere?” asked Lucy.

  “No, just really cold and I can’t stop shaking.”

  “That’s your body trying to deal with the cold and probably a bit of shock as well. As soon as we warm you up, you’ll be fine.”

  “First we need to get back to the boat,” said Rudy. “What’s your air like?”

  Paulie shook his head. “I ran out trying to get back to the boat,” he said, miserably. “When I saw the boat had come loose, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get back in it by myself. I used the small amount of air I had left getting back into the cave. If I hadn’t, I would have been bashed up against those rocks by now.”