by Kat Bammer
Somewhere behind her Anton cried out. Maybe he’d stumbled over the same root as her. She rounded the tree and moved away at an angle. Just keep moving.
Lisa made more of the zigzag movement, always around some big tree. At least that was what she thought she did until she stepped into a clearing. She could hear the waves, and the ground fell away right in front of her.
Fuck. She had just circled back to the cliff, not deeper into the forest.
Lisa spun around. She had to find cover. Anton would find her here in broad moonlight. She stumbled on, parallel to the edge until she found some rocks big enough for her to hide between them.
Lisa sank against the rock and grimaced. She couldn’t go on. Her breaths were short and shallow. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, they fell on the lights of the town in the distance. Home. She would never get there again.
Never again would she see her mother, talk to Claire, or kiss Peter.
Lisa’s breath shuddered, and she squeezed her eyes shut. That seemed to enhance her dizziness. She swayed then slowly sank down to her knees and fell to the side.
The roaring in her head, which began some time ago, got louder and louder too.
She couldn’t move anymore, not a single step farther; she would die up here. Here on that cliff with the view of home right in front of her.
Somewhere behind her Anton approached. His cursing got louder by the second.
Then the roaring in her head suddenly stopped. There was utter silence.
Maybe right before you die, everything else falls away and then, all that’s left is silence.
That’s when she heard her father’s voice.
“You’re strong, Lizzy. I’m so proud to be your dad. Always remember you can do anything you set your mind to. Anything!”
Her dad always believed in her. He taught her to never give up.
A single tear ran down her temple. She opened her eyes again, but she wasn’t strong enough to move. At least she would meet her dad again.
She closed her eyes.
That’s when she heard the voices deep down at the end of the cliff.
Was she hallucinating?
She heard the voices again but couldn’t discern what they were saying. But someone was down there.
Lisa pressed her lips together and stopped breathing. The pain nearly made her pass out, and she saw starbursts behind her eyelids when she pulled herself up into a half-lying, half-sitting position, propped up against the rock. If someone was down there, maybe she still had a chance.
But she needed to make her presence known to them. If she did it right now, Anton might still be far away enough to not hear her. She flopped forward and somehow managed to reach the edge of the cliff.
The moon was hiding behind a cloud and the water looked like a deep, dark hole. Lisa didn’t see anything, but she still heard the voices. Maybe it was all just a hallucination. Like the voice of her dad.
“Help, I’m up here, help me.” Lisa’s voice wasn’t loud enough—more a rasp than an actual sound. She tried again and this time, the voices down there stopped.
“Help, I need help, up here. Help me.”
Shouting ensued.
“Lisa.”
Lisa’s heart skipped a beat with Peter’s voice. He came to get her. Thank God.
She let her head drop down to the ground. Maybe they could somehow come up here. Lisa relaxed, too tired to crawl back to the rock.
Then there was this fiery pain on her skull again. She suddenly went airborne and gasped.
“There you are. Found you, bitch.”
Anton shook her like a puppet, and she cried out. Close, so close. But she had no fight left in her.
She looked back down the cliff into the dark abyss, closed her eyes, and threw all her weight forward.
“Wha—”
Anton didn’t release his grip, but the forward motion took him with her.
A lightning bolt of pain shot through her body before she sank down into unconsciousness.
39
Peter had Blake’s hunting rifle in position and looked through the scope up the cliff.
“Moon’s out in a sec.”
He exhaled then held his breath. Ready to take the shot. Lisa was right next to the guy, so he had to make it.
The moon came out from behind the cloud and illuminated the cliff. Peter adjusted his aim slightly to the left and pulled the trigger, while simultaneously Lisa pulled them over the cliff.
He jerked back. “Shit.”
For a second, they all watched, paralyzed with horror.
There was a crack, as if a coconut hit the ground, then the two bodies reached the surface.
“Go, go, go,” Blake shouted and everybody except Lucas got into the water and swam toward the point, where Lisa had hit the surface.
Peter shut down his emotions and let his training take over. He embraced the cold, black water until the pain in his chest kicked him into gear.
Lisa.
He broke through the surface and gasped for air before he adjusted his route to Lisa’s point of impact and dove back down.
Peter stayed down in the dark as long as he could. His heartbeat pounded in his ears while his hands plowed through the water.
He needed to find her. His life, his happiness, it all depended on it.
He came to the surface and dove back down. He couldn’t stop searching. And then, he touched someone.
Lisa.
Peter dragged her to the surface. The others were with him in an instant and Lucas maneuvered the boat slowly toward them.
Blake was the first one in, and he and Lucas grabbed Lisa and pulled her up.
Peter’s heartbeat raced. She was unconscious. Lifeless like a puppet.
He pulled himself into the boat.
“Lisa, come on, can you hear me? Open your eyes, sweetie.” Blake grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her.
No reaction.
Blake looked up at Peter and shook his head.
Peter scrambled to reach her head, tilted it, and lifted her chin. “Come on, breathe for me.”
But she wasn’t breathing.
Peter gave five deep breaths, filling her lungs with as much air as he could, willing her back to life. Blake took up the compressions after that.
Christopher held up a flashlight and Rey kneeled next to them, ready to relieve them, while Lucas steered the boat back to shore.
Tears were running down Peter’s cheeks and the saltiness mixed in with the wetness on Lisa’s lips.
Flashing blue lights cast over her body.
Somebody must have called them, but Peter didn’t care. His eyes never left Lisa’s face. Come on, baby. Come back to me.
Lisa vomited and Peter and Blake turned her in unison.
Peter cleared out her airway and his breath hitched when he watched her first shallow breath.
Rey grabbed Peter under his arms and dragged him away from Lisa.
“Hey.” He struggled but relaxed immediately when the EMT crew took over.
He watched them load Lisa on a stretcher and the boys helped to get her off the boat.
His knees gave up, when he saw the pool of blood on the boat, and Rey reinforced his hold on him.
“It’s gotta be okay. You got her back to breathing. She’s gonna make it,” Rey said with a low voice.
“Hey, Peter’s going with you.” Blake told one of the EMT’s, who nodded.
Peter bowed his head, nodded once, inhaled sharply, and locked his knees.
No time to break down and cry.
He patted Rey on the shoulder, disembarked, and walked to the ambulance.
The boys huddled around him.
Peter was lucky to have them as his friends.
“We’ll get there as soon as we can,” Blake said.
Peter nodded, before the EMT shut the door.
40
Peter sat back down. He was the only one in the waiting room.
Earlier there’d be
en a young couple with him, but a nurse had come and fetched them.
Time stretched on but none of the others had arrived yet, so it could be minutes, or hours.
“Mr.—” A doctor entered and looked down at her clipboard.
“Fisher.”
The doctor looked back up and grabbed her green cap and exposed her lush, black hair. “Oh, hey Peter. Are you here for—”
“Lisa Reynolds. I’m her fiancée. How is she?”
Dr. Michaels nodded and took a seat next to Peter. The ER of Whitebrook hospital wasn’t a big affair, so there were only three doctors on staff, who covered the night shift. Dr. Niki Michaels was only a few years younger than Peter. She was kind and friendly with a spine of steel and a special smile for law enforcement officers.
“Okay, here’s the deal. We don’t know yet. She’s got a bleeding wound on her back and a broken foot. We’re prepping Ms. Reynolds for surgery right now.”
Peter’s stomach hardened and he scrubbed his hand over his face. “What about the drowning?”
Dr. Michaels shrugged her shoulder. “She’s good right now, but we’ll keep a close look on that too. Complications can occur until forty-eight hours after the incident. But we’re more concerned about the amount of blood she’s losing, so we have to concentrate on that first.”
Peter nodded.
Dr. Michaels stood up and walked to the door but turned back at the doorframe. “You okay?”
Peter rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t okay. He wouldn’t be, until he could hold Lisa in his arms again. “I’m fine, just…Niki?”
“Yes?”
“She’s my life.”
Niki Michaels nodded and left the waiting room, and Peter was once again alone.
He stared into space. He still didn’t understand what had happened. Why her? How did he grab her and who the fuck was this asshole? His mind played a slow-motion recap of Lisa’s fall followed by the gut-wrenching reaction in his body. Again and again. She could’ve hit the rock. Did the doctors check her head? What if they had missed something serious?
“Pete.”
A hand landed on Peter’s shoulders and jerked him out of his negative thought pattern.
“Hey, boss.”
Sheriff Richard Travers took the seat next to Peter and looked at him. “You look like crap, so I guess no good news yet?”
Peter shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “She’s in surgery right now.”
“I hope she’ll pull through.”
Peter gave a nod. He wasn’t sure if he could even stomach the alternative.
“We’re on his heels. Got his car, got his name. FBI’s on the way to his house as we speak.”
Peter nodded again.
“I’ll come by in the morning. Keep you updated, ’kay?”
“Thanks, Richard.”
“No problem.”
Sheriff Travers left and Peter’s thoughts went back to Lisa. He groaned and rubbed his eyes. She’d been white as a ghost when they got her out of the water. The blood loss from her wound, on top of the drowning, must have made everything worse. What if she didn’t make it? What if the short time they had together was everything he’d ever get? Why didn’t they arrive a few minutes earlier? Could he have taken the shot earlier? Maybe it would have made a difference.
“Don’t go there.”
Peter looked up at Blake who stood right in front of him. He really must be off his game because he hadn’t even heard him coming in. “What do you mean?”
Blake took the seat next to Peter and handed him a steaming cup of coffee. “Don’t play the when, then game. You did what you could. You found the place he was holding her. You found her in the water. All the rest? You can’t beat yourself up about that. Nothing you could do about that.”
“I was too late.”
“Your woman’s a fighter. She made a decision; she acted on it. And she had enough faith in you to jump off a cliff and into the water.”
They fell silent for a moment. Just sat and sipped their coffee. Blake was right. Lisa trusted him enough to jump. She must’ve known she was injured, probably knew she wouldn’t make it on her own in the water. So she put her life in his hands.
“Did you tell Claire and Lisa’s mom?” Peter asked and Blake nodded in response.
“The boys are bringing them. Her sister too.”
They fell silent again until Lisa’s mother and the rest of the boys arrived. Claire, Holly, and Julie arrived just minutes later with Lisa’s sister Karen in tow.
Peter told them everything he knew, and after everyone settled down the room fell silent again.
Finally, an hour later Dr. Michaels appeared at the door.
She was still dressed in her surgery clothes and did a surprised double take when she saw the room full of people.
Her eyes met with Peter’s and he stood up. He helped Lisa’s mother up too and led her to the door and out into the corridor.
“This is Lisa’s mother, Mrs. Reynolds,” Peter told Niki.
“I’m Dr. Michaels.” Niki shook hands with Lisa’s mother. “Your daughter has a stab wound in her back. She lost quite an amount of blood, but we could stem the bleeding, and luckily neither her lungs nor her spinal cord were affected.”
Mrs. Reynolds slapped her hand against her chest and inhaled sharply.
Peter widened his stance and crossed his arms across his chest.
“Her leg was broken, but we fixed that in surgery, as well. Your daughter will be bruised and hurting all over for the next couple of weeks, but we expect a full recovery from those wounds. We don’t know yet if there are any aftereffects of the drowning. But she’s breathing on her own and her vital signs are good, even though she’s not yet fully awakened from the anesthesia.”
Dr. Michaels looked at Peter, then back at Mrs. Reynolds. “I gotta get back, but we’ll keep you posted, as soon as something changes.”
Mrs. Reynolds thanked the doctor and shook her hand.
Then Niki turned her eyes at Peter. “Lucky, you got her out of the water as fast as you did. I don’t think she would have made it otherwise.” She squeezed Peter’s forearm before she turned around and walked down the corridor.
“Thanks, for saving my baby’s life.” Mrs. Reynold’s voice was choked with tears. Then she too squeezed Peter’s forearm and walked back into the waiting room to tell the news.
Peter swallowed. He didn’t feel especially lucky or as if he had saved Lisa’s life. He just wanted her back in his arms. Healthy and whole.
* * *
The discussion of who would take the first shift at the hospital was settled by Mrs. Reynolds, who ordered everyone, including herself, to go home for the night.
Whether she knew or not, nothing would make him leave. Peter uttered a soft thank you and settled back down in his spot while the others departed, one group after the other.
Peter wouldn’t be able to sleep anyhow, and he wouldn’t leave Lisa’s side ever again.
Sometime, he must’ve fallen asleep because when the heavenly smell of coffee seeped up his nose he opened his gritty eyes and blinked into the face of his boss.
“News?”
Peter blinked, then sat up and took the cup. “Surgery went well, and she woke up sometime around five. But they wouldn’t let me see her yet.”
Richard Travers nodded and sat down. “We found his body—looks like he hit his head on the rocks during the fall. Most likely he was dead before he reached the water. His name’s actually Anton Smirnov. Immigrated as a child with his parents. We’re digging up records from his childhood—nothing as an adult. Possible abuse and neglect by his mother but we don’t know all the details yet. He’d also been in contact with a psychologist, but we don’t know the details yet. He was a cab driver, mostly here, but he lived halfway between Whitebrook and Moon Lake.”
“Could it be him?” Peter asked and looked at Richard.
“Could be.” Richard shrugged. “He would certainly fit the descrip
tion, but it’s too soon. Search of his house is still going on. Got delayed until his dog was taken care of. There are no relatives to question and neighbors don’t know anything. Who knew what he was up to? He’s a fucking cab driver. Nobody’s suspicious of a guy in a cab. She must have had no clue until it was too late. You know we have to question her as soon as she’s awake, don’t you?”
Peter nodded.
But Richard went on. “Don’t shield her from that. Don’t try to protect her from her memories. She needs to work it all out, and talking about it is the first step.”
Peter sighed and nodded again. He knew just how important talking about what happened would be for Lisa. As hard as it would be for him to hear it.
“So, now that we are on the topic of talking, I had a very interesting little chat with Special Agent Holt.”
Peter cocked his head to the side.
“You went behind my back in the investigation. I understand why you did it, but I don’t appreciate it.”
Peter’s stomach hardened. “I understand.”
Richard pressed his lips into a tight line. “I’ll mark this as special times, okay.”
Peter exhaled. “Okay.”
“And yesterday?”
“What about yesterday?”
“Why didn’t you call in? We’re a family, a team—the whole department would’ve helped. Instead you went on the hunt with your little group of merry men without calling reinforcements. That’s not how we operate, and you know it.”
Peter sighed and searched for eye contact. “I know, I had a hard time thinking straight. Made the wrong call. I’m sorry.”
Richard Travers held his breath, before he exhaled forcefully. “You’re good at your job, Peter, but you can’t bend the rules or forget the rules or take matters into your own hands.”
Peter nodded but didn’t flinch away. He deserved whatever reprimands were coming his way.
Richard Travers kept up the staring contest until he nodded once. “Special times. Okay, chap.” He tapped Peter on the thigh and then stood up. “Don’t pull something like this again. And keep me posted. I’ll send someone down here this afternoon for the statement.”
