by Dana Mentink
“She said that?” His tone grew soft. “Then I didn’t totally destroy everything.”
Mia felt a spark of hope. “No, you haven’t. You could let us go. Then you would be able to see your children, maybe. Still be a father to them.”
He paused. “Thank you, Mia, for saying that, but it will be better for them if I disappear. I’m not going to withstand jail. I don’t have that kind of strength. I wish things could have been different. I sincerely do.”
“But...” She realized he was no longer listening. He moved aside, water splashing nearly to his waist as Susan staggered with Dallas to the ladder and they crowded up together. Mia reached out and eased Dallas as best she could into the attic space where he knelt, one hand on the wood for support, the other clutching his shoulder. Juno licked Dallas and turned in happy circles.
Mia immediately ripped off the bottom hem of her T-shirt and wadded it up, pressing it to the profusely bleeding wound. “Dallas, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
He looked up, gave her a tight, forced grin. “Not your fault. Is Gracie okay?”
“I’m okay,” Gracie said. “Didja’ get shot?” Her eyes were round as quarters in the darkening attic.
“Yeah. Forgot to duck,” he said.
“Silly,” she answered.
Susan stood at the attic access, staring down at Elias. “You won’t get away from me,” she hissed. “You will not go anywhere without me.”
He laughed. “Watch me.” Then he shut the trapdoor. The sound of scraping wood indicated he’d secured it from the outside.
Susan pounded on the hatch, screaming obscenities. “I knew you were a coward, Thomas. Deep down, I always knew it. That’s why I went to Cora’s house, to be sure you had the guts to follow through.”
Mia drew Gracie away and left the woman to her rant. It was more important to figure out how they were going to escape. Dallas was considering the same thing, eyeing the nailed plywood floor.
He ran his hand over the seams. “Try to find a spot where the boards have warped or broken.”
Though she didn’t want to tear her attention away from Dallas, she did as he indicated.
Gracie crawled into the low spots near the walls.
Splinters drove into Mia’s fingers, but she continued to search feverishly.
“I can hear the water,” Gracie announced, her ear to a crack between two boards. Dallas and Mia hastened over. Gracie had found a place where one of the boards had splintered away, leaving an inch gap.
“Good work, Gracie.” Dallas shoved his fingers into the gap and began pulling on the weakened board, the effort dappling his face with beads of sweat. When he’d lifted the board enough for her to get her hands in, Mia added her strength, yanking on the old wood until it gave way with a crack and a puff of dust.
“Okay,” Dallas panted. “Now we can pull up the other boards.”
Susan joined in and soon they had cleared enough boards away to create a small hole. Dallas lowered himself into the opening and kicked away the Sheetrock.
“There’s the water,” Gracie said. “I see it.”
The level was only a few feet below the attic floor. Mia shuddered.
Dallas sat at the edge, feet dangling into the opening. “I’m going to swim through the house and make sure there’s an exit.”
“Dallas...” But he was already done, dropping down into the water after sucking in a deep breath. Juno dove in with him.
Gracie peered into the water. “When’s he gonna come back, Mommy?”
Mia wrapped an arm around her girl’s shoulders, holding here there to feel the reassuring rise and fall of her breathing. “Soon.”
The seconds ticked into minutes.
“Do you think he drowned?” Susan said.
Mia turned on her. “Don’t say that. He’s doing his best to get us out of here in spite of all the damage you and Dr. Elias have done.”
Susan broke into a smile. “You love him, don’t you?”
Mia turned away from the crazy woman who had her own twisted version of love. Susan’s infatuation had turned into an obsession, and Dr. Elias a possession that she had to acquire.
Love wasn’t like that. It was an overwhelming desire to see the other person happy, healthy and thriving. She wanted that for Dallas with all the passion inside her. She wanted him to find a reason to put down roots and allow himself to have the family she knew he would treasure, with a woman who wasn’t on the wrong side of the law, mother to a child of a drug lord. He deserved more than that.
Susan would never understand. Love wasn’t holding on tightly. It was letting go, even when it hurt.
Dallas surfaced, sucking in a mighty breath of air. Juno popped up next to him.
“We have to get to the front door. I wedged it open. Can you do it?”
“Of course,” she said, but his eyes were not on her. He was considering Gracie. He reached out a wet hand for hers, wincing only slightly, voice husky with pain.
“Hey, Goldfish girl.”
Gracie giggled and took his hand. “You’re wet.”
“Yep. And it’s time for you to get wet, too. I need you to take a big breath and hold it and we’re gonna swim to the door down there. Okay?”
Gracie’s mouth tightened. “I’m scared to do that.”
“Juno will be there with you. You can hold on to his collar. How would that be?”
“Okay, I guess, but what if my breath won’t hold in that long?”
Dallas riveted his eyes to hers. “God made you a strong lady, like your mama. You’re gonna be okay and that’s a promise. We’ll get Goldfish after.”
“The pizza-flavored kind?”
He laughed. “Any kind you want.”
Gracie nodded. She sat on the edge of the plywood and stuck in her feet. “Cold, cold.”
Juno paddled over and rested his paws on her lap, which set her to giggling. Dallas switched on a button that made a red light blink on Juno’s collar. “Now you can see him. Ready?”
She nodded.
He turned to Mia and Susan. “Straight down and to the right. Give us a couple of minutes then follow.”
He held up an open palm, and Mia grasped it, pulling strength and comfort from those long fingers. Then she helped Gracie over the edge, heart pulsing with fear as she watched the water close over her daughter’s head.
* * *
I must be getting old. Dallas had been a tough guy, once. Recovered from stabbings, alcohol poisoning and even a snakebite, which had been worse than any of it, but now he felt weakened, the pain in his shoulder swelling with every arm stroke. Or maybe it was the added worry about escorting a tiny child through eight feet of water when her eyes were wide and terrified; panic beginning to set in on her face.
She clung to Juno’s collar as he swam. They bobbed up, skimming the surface just under the ceiling. Gracie pressed her face so it was nearly touching the plaster, sucking in fearful breaths along with some water that set her to coughing. When they reached the far wall, he called over the surging water.
“We’re going under now, Gracie. Only for a minute and then we’ll be out the door.
“No, no,” she said, choking on a mouthful of water. “I don’t wanna.”
Dallas was not confident that his calm reasoning skills were enough to counter Gracie’s growing fears. What would Mia do? She hadn’t yet caught up and there wasn’t time. In a moment, the gap would be inundated and Gracie would be breathing in water instead of air. No time, Dallas. What are you going to do?
He flashed on how his mother had handled things when Dallas or his brother had come home bleeding or with some sort of contusion. Quick and efficient, before there was too much time for fear to bloom.
He took Gracie around the shoulders. “All right. Deep b
reath with me. Ready? Go!” Dallas heaved in a breath in exaggerated fashion and Gracie did the same. Then he pulled her underwater and dove for the door.
It was slow going with one good arm and Gracie wiggling in terror, pressing on his bullet wound. Juno managed the dive ahead of them, and Dallas followed in the dog’s wake. He could make out nothing but the red blinking light on Juno’s collar.
Gracie’s movements became more frantic.
Don’t breathe in, he wanted to say.
She grabbed at his neck, then started to push away.
Time was up. She would be sucking in water in a matter of seconds.
He tightened his hold on her and made for the door, kicking as hard as he dared.
They surged through and rocketed out the other side. He propelled them both to the surface and nearly brained himself on the roof gutter which was inches from the crown of his head. He grabbed the edge with one hand and held Gracie’s head above water with the other.
For the longest moment of his life, she didn’t make a sound.
Terror balled in his stomach and shot through his nerves. “Gracie,” he shouted, giving her a shake.
Her head came up and she started coughing, vomiting up mouthfuls of water in between anguished cries. It was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
“Good girl, Gracie. You did great. The scary stuff is over now.”
She cried and clung to his neck. “I don’t wanna do that again.”
He laughed. “Me, neither. I’m going to put you up on the roof now and go get your mama.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to.”
“I heard you could climb up a tree.” He gave her a sideways look. “But maybe I remembered that wrong.”
“I can climb a tree,” she insisted, indignation stiffening her chin.
“Let’s see then. Pretend I’m a tree. Climb up on my shoulders and onto the roof.”
She did, setting darts of agony zipping through his wound. She got up on the roof and crouched into a little ball. “It’s scary up here. I don’t want to stay.”
“It will just be for a minute, and then your mommy will come.”
Dallas removed the blinking collar light and wrangled Juno out of the water and onto the roof. The dog immediately sat down next to Gracie and licked her all over.
“Be right back.” He sank back down in the water, hanging the red light to a nail that stuck out of the doorframe. He felt, rather than saw, the two women kicking their way down. He grabbed an arm, Susan’s or Mia’s he was not sure and dragged that person toward the door before he did the same for the other, orienting himself using the red light. For the second time he emerged, physically spent, just under the eaves of the submerged cabin. It was all he could do to catch his breath.
“Gracie,” Mia cried, scanning frantically, as she broke the surface.
He pointed upward, still gasping.
Craning her neck, she must have caught sight of her daughter. Tears began to stream down her face and she closed the distance between them, and kissed all the pain from his body.
* * *
Mia was not sure how they would escape from the rooftop, but she simply could not bring her mind to fret about it much. Gracie was there, safe and sound, her skinny knees tucked under her as she threw pine needles into the water below. Juno kept a watchful eye on her. Susan and Dallas scrambled to the peak of the roof.
“There he is,” Susan said.
Mia blinked out of her euphoric trance. “Dr. Elias?”
“Out in the lake,” Dallas grunted. “Must have had motor trouble because he’s rowing.”
“He never was much of a sailor,” Susan said with disgust.
Dallas peered into the darkness. “After all this. Can’t believe he got away.”
Susan continued to watch Dr. Elias make his escape. “We could have been together forever.”
Mia noted the revulsion that bubbled in Dallas’s eyes. “The police will arrest him,” he grumbled. “I’ll get my phone.”
Susan removed a plastic bag with a phone inside.
“No need,” she said, voice soft, fingers pressing the buttons. “I knew he was angry with me so I planned ahead.” She sighed. “Of course, I thought he would see reason. I thought I could convince him we were meant to be together.”
Mia flashed back to Peter Finnigan. “What do you mean you planned ahead?”
Dallas must have come to the same conclusion because he and Mia both lunged for Susan at the same moment. Too late. With a moonlit smile on her dreamy face, she pressed the last button. There was a deafening blast from out on the lake, and Dr. Elias’s boat exploded into a shower of golden sparks.
TWENTY
“What was that?” Gracie said, standing up so quickly she nearly toppled off the roof.
Mia closed her mouth, and Dallas was once again amazed at the strength of mothers to make every circumstance all right for their children. “It was a little explosion. It’s not going to hurt us.”
He could not comprehend Susan, the woman who had just blown up the man she purported to love, the man for whom she had committed multiple murders. Love and murder. How could they go together? There was not much time to mull it over as two Zodiac boats roared up to the flooded cabin.
Mia waved frantically, and he would have helped if his shoulder hadn’t been useless. As it was, he struggled to keep upright against the dizziness.
In a moment, one boat had peeled off toward the burning wreckage. The other was captained by Detective Stiving, who grabbed Antonia’s arm and forced her to sit.
“You’re going to fall out,” he snapped.
Antonia stood again anyway and screamed. “Mia, are you all right? Do you have Gracie?”
Mia was crying so hard she could not choke out a response.
“Yes,” Dallas called down. “Mia and Gracie are fine. Susan is here, too. She just blew up Dr. Elias’s boat.”
Stiving held up a pair of handcuffs. “We’re ready for her.”
With an elaborate combination of coaxing and lifting, Gracie, Mia, Susan and Juno were loaded into the Zodiac. Stiving wasted no time cuffing Susan. Dallas contemplated his useless arm. “I’m gonna jump,” he said. “Too hard to climb down.”
Stiving shook his head. “You always were a nutcase.”
With that endorsement ringing in his ears, Dallas plunged feet first into the frigid water. When he surfaced, Mia and Antonia dragged him into the boat where he collapsed.
Mia pulled a blanket around him.
He tried to protest. “You need it.”
She ignored him and opened Stiving’s first-aid kit. Antonia sat with Gracie held tight in her arms, crooning some soft endearments meant for the child’s ears only.
Susan sat in silence, staring out toward the ruined boat.
Stiving flicked a glance at Dallas. “Took one in the shoulder, huh? Not so agile as you pretend to be.”
“Apparently not.” He bit back a groan as Mia pressed a cloth to his shoulder. “And you’re not as thick-headed as you pretend to be, Stiving. Did Antonia finally convince you we were telling the truth?”
He grinned. “Nah. Actually I did some research, called some colleagues and interviewed Catherine Elias. I even discovered that Susan’s poor, drowned husband was a demolitions expert and his wife worked for the company. Interesting, don’t you think?”
“It explains her prowess in blowing people up.”
“So you see, I really am a good cop after all.”
“Good is a relative term.”
Stiving laughed. “Just be quiet and we’ll get you to a hospital, Black.”
He did remain silent for a while, the pulsing of the engine shuddering through him. Mia adjusted the blanket, fiddled with the bandages, and mopp
ed his face all the way back to the landing spot where Susan was transferred to Stiving’s police car. Gracie, bundled to the ears, was loaded into another official vehicle driven by a volunteer who gave Juno a skeptical look.
“Do I have to take him, too? His paws are muddy.”
Juno responded with a massive shake that sprayed the volunteer with water from head to boots.
Gracie laughed. “Come on, Juno. Get out of the cold, quick before you catch germans.”
Juno leapt into the car and settled himself on the backseat as the dripping volunteer grumbled his way to the driver’s door.
“There’s a National Guard rescue crew coming, but they’ll be another few minutes,” Stiving said. “Most direct routes here are flooded.” He raised an eyebrow. “You aren’t going to bleed out or anything are you? That would create way too much paperwork for me.”
“I’ll try to spare you that.”
Stiving nodded and went to speak to the captain of the other Zodiac, leaving Dallas propped on a plastic tarp, his back to a boulder, Mia kneeling next to him. She wasn’t crying, but her brown eyes were bright, water droplets glittering in her curling strands of hair.
“I can’t say the words,” she said, taking his hands in hers. “How can I tell you how incredibly thankful I am?”
His heart lurched inside. She was so beautiful, bedraggled, exhausted, bruised and utterly, incomparably beautiful. “We did it together,” he managed.
She shook her head. “I’ve been trying so hard to fashion some sort of life for myself and you know what? I figured out that I already have one.”
He stroked the satin of her cheek.
He heard her choke back a sound, the sort of vulnerable tiny peep that a chick might make when confronted with the edge of the nest.
“My whole life,” she continued, “is Gracie and...” She stopped, looked away.
Dallas, the man who had never been able to decipher the first thing about women, wondered. Could the tenderness he saw in her face match the love buried deep in his own heart that swelled and undulated like the flood? He took her hand and cleared his throat. Fish or cut bait. Take the chance, or let his heart fly away to Florida. “You and Gracie...” He sucked in a breath and started again. “I hoped that it might be you and Gracie and me.”
