Saving Grace (28 page)

Anne mouthed the words;
I love you,
to which Grace nodded, giving her a look that said how she felt, before closing her phone.  No matter what happened, she knew she could not lose her sister again.

Zach’s tumble not only disoriented him, it re-injured his head wound, as he landed with a crash on the side of the boat.

He sat there for a few minutes, in pain, struggling to get up.  As he moaned from the throbbing that was again pulsing through his head, he could have sworn he heard something.  He cocked his ear to wind, but heard nothing that was out of the ordinary that would give him any clue to what it was.

Zach pushed himself up on the boat, and touched the back of his head, which had become a matted mess.  The bump felt sticky and rough, as the blood and sand intertwined with his hair.

He brought down his blood stained hand, and wiped the mess on the boat.  That’s when he heard it.

One simple sound … vibrating … and it was coming from below him.  It was then that he knew they were under the boat, and began tapping his fingers on the surface in sync with the rhythmic pulse of the phone’s vibration.

Anne’s eyes went wide when she felt her phone in her jeans pocket, which was lodged next to the boat. Although her phone was on silent … it was still set to vibrate and it reverberated through the wood around them. 

Grace reached out to grab her sister’s arm when she heard the buzzing sound filling the void around them.  She felt her sister struggling to get her phone, and started to panic. 

He’s going to know we’re here! Make it stop!
She screamed in her own head, knowing Anne couldn’t hear her but was thinking it all the same.

Please, please, please God.  Help us …
Anne prayed, as she pulled her phone from her pocket.  She saw Janie’s name on her caller ID and held her breath, telling herself,
Turn it off … maybe he didn’t hear it.

That’s what they both knew they’d been discovered, as the sound of Zach’s fingers started drumming in cadence over them.

Grace’s heart dropped as soon as she heard the tapping from above.  She crouched down, hoping that if she closed her eyes tightly enough – he would not really discover them.

Zach’s focus returned, and he stood and faced the boat, envisioning both girls inside.  Even with as off balance as he was, he still found himself able to do a little happy dance. 

“What do we have here?”  He laughed, and kicked the side of the boat.  “Why didn’t I think of this before?” 

Burke’s lungs screamed as he ran down the dark shoreline, stopping only to listen every few feet to call their names.  He heard nothing in return.

He spun searching the dark around him, with only a few stars to guide the way.

It was then that he felt the vibration in the back pocket of his denim shorts.  He grabbed for his phone and was never happier to see a text from Grace pop up, but once he read it panic set back in, knowing she was in immediate danger.

“The boat … she’s under the boat.”  He panted, and looked behind him back toward his house, realizing he was going in the wrong direction.  He quickly scanned his phone, to contact Chad, but he didn’t have his number.

Swearing under his breath, he took off once more only this time he knew where to find the girls.  He just hoped it wasn’t too late.

Chad was cursing himself for not wearing the right shoes.  He’d planned for a dinner date, not a race down the beach.  After running past a few houses, he knew he’d make better time going barefoot.

As he leaned down to discard his shoes, he heard someone coming up from behind him.  He looked up to see Burke blow by him at top speed, yelling, “She sent me a text.  I know where they are!”

Chad eagerly hopped on one leg, tossing off one shoe and then the other, and desperately ran after him hoping he was right.

Please help me save her.  Please God,
Burke prayed as he ran toward danger.

As Zach was outside taunting them, Anne knew that any words said now could be their last, and she didn’t want the last things her sister heard to be from a mad man.

She didn’t have to worry about giving their location away anymore.  She just needed to reassure his baby sister.

“I love you, Gracey,” she whispered and tightened her grip on her sister’s hands.  She heard her sister sniffle.

“I’m sorry I got you into this,” she whispered, as the tears flowed down her cheeks.

“No,” Anne said, reassuringly.  “Sweetheart, you didn’t do this. This isn’t your fault.”

“I love you, Anne.  Please know how sorry I am for all the time we missed.”

“We’re here now … together.  And I’m not going down without a fight.  I will protect you.”

They both jumped, and yelled in fear as they heard a large crash above them.  Zach had slammed his hands down on the boat in efforts to scare them, and it worked.

He chuckled when he heard their yells, from inside.

“Come on, Grace!  You know it’s time.  You think you can run from me … just like your mom ran from my dad?  She humiliated him, leaving him with nothing left over for anyone else!”

Zach turned his gun down toward the boat, and continued his tirade.

“Do you think I had it easy growing up … knowing that I was second best because he didn’t marry an Aundine and have little Aundine heirs running around?  No!  And that’s your mom’s fault and yours!” 

              Zach aimed the gun toward the middle of the boat, not sure who he’d hit first – but he didn’t care.  Either he’d hit Grace and free himself from the anguish she’d caused him … or he’d hit her friend, and Grace would watch her die a painful death.  Either way was a bonus for him.

Burke saw Zach lowering his arm, and knew he had to do something fast.  He leaped through the air, hoping he’d be able to take him down before the gun went off.

Zach’s fire barely missed the boat as he was hit from behind.  His gun flew from his hand, as Burke crashed into him and pounded him down into the sand.

Chad arrived split seconds behind Burke and heard both girls scream at the top of their lungs, in response to the sound of the gun.  Since it looked like Burke had the gunman under control, he leapt toward the boat to lift it up, only to be tackled by Anne, who was screaming at the top of her lungs.

After the gun went off, Grace felt the boat lifting up off them, and knew it was the end.  She didn’t know where the bullet landed, or if her sister was hurt.

Once the opening was big enough she watched her big sister hurl herself at their attacker, and then the boat dropped back down.  She screamed from underneath.

“Anne! Get away from him!” 

The next thing she heard was Anne’s voice, as she shrieked from outside boat.  To Grace, it sounded like her sister was either taking Zach down or being tortured – and it was killing her to sit by and allow anything to happen to her.  She pounded her fists above her, trying to lift it up but it was too heavy.  She sank down into the sand and screamed in desperation.

The next thing she saw was light streaming in as the lip of the boat was lifted.  Her heart sped up with fear, and she prayed it wasn’t Zach coming for her.  She looked out to see Anne’s smiling face above, as Chad was lifting the hull high enough for her to climb out from underneath.      

“It’s okay.  They found us.  It was Chad that I just attacked.”  Anne’s voice broke.

Grace scrambled free from her hiding place and rushed into her sister’s arms, thankful she was okay.

              From the corner of his eye, Burke could see that Chad had helped both girls from the boat.  Now, his only focus was getting Zach pinned down until the authorities could arrive.

              For such a thin man, Zach was a scrapper.  Burke, even with his weight advantage, was having trouble getting him pinned and subdued.

              As Grace stood free from her captive position, she saw Burke rolling through the sand with Zach.

              “Help him get Zach,” she cried to Chad.

              “I think he’s got it handled,” Chad chuckled, seeing that Zach had finally stopped struggling.  Burke’s strength was enough to take almost anyone down.

“Please.” Grace pushed.

“Okay, but stay here.”  He looked to both girls, needing their reassurance. 

He waited for them to nod, before jumping in to help.  There was nothing he’d like more than to give this guy a whooping of his own.

              Zach stopped struggling, hoping that it would signal his surrender. 

As dim moonlight pierced through the receding clouds, he could see where his gun had landed.  He knew if he could get loose for just one second, he’d be able to grab it and regain control.

Burke felt Zach’s body go limp, and sighed.  It was about time.  There was no way this kid was going to get away from him, and he was glad he finally understood that it was a losing battle.

As Burke let go, to stand them both up, Zach rolled to his side and reached across the sand.  He came up with his arm pointed at Burke, gun in hand.

“Who’s in charge now?”  He sneered at Burke. 

“Let him go,” Grace yelled, and started toward him, only to feel her sister’s strong arms around her, pulling her back.

Her voice was filled with anxiety.  “Let me go, Anne … I need to get to Burke.”

She struggled, but Anne was stronger and kept her sister at bay.

Zach expected Grace’s reaction.  He knew she’d try to leap to her man’s defense, just like she’d tried to protect her friend back at the beach house. He didn’t even have to look in their direction to sense the panic that had crossed her face. 

Zach smiled, with the expectation of watching Burke drop to his knees when he shot him. What he didn’t expect was to be hit again, from behind.

When Chad turned from the girls, he expected to help Burke wrap up the grizzly duty of teaching this guy a lesson.  What he didn’t see coming was Zach retrieving his gun and pulling it on Burke.

With no other options, Chad threw all of his weight into tackling Zach to the ground, hoping that the gun would get knocked loose.

As he went down, Zach curled his fingers around the handle of his gun.  He wouldn’t lose it this time, and knew he still held the power if he was in possession of it.

Only this time, he had two men on him … not one.  Burke immediately dove back into the battle, grabbing Zach’s hand, trying to pry the gun loose.

Anne and Grace held each other tightly, hoping that Zach could be stopped.  They watched the three wrestle in the sand for what seemed like an eternity until they heard the loud pop, as Zach’s gun fired.

Both girls jumped, forgetting everything but saving their men.  As they ran toward Chad and Burke, they noticed all three men lay eerily still.

“Chad!”  Anne dove down next to him.

Grace ran to Burke, and kneeled next to him, almost chanting, “God - please let him be okay. Please let him be okay.”

Both men slowly sat up not knowing who or if anyone was hit.  The sound of the gun was so startling that everything seemed to stop in time, neither knowing the outcome.

As they rose, they pushed at Zach’s listless frame, below them.  Chad rolled him over, while Burke kicked away the gun.

Grace watched the scene unfold, as if it were in slow motion, only to see headlights from a jeep pull up behind them.  She lifted her hand to her eyes, to see the television crew tumble out of the jeep and approach.  She was so caught up in the activity around them that she almost didn’t see the blood that had soaked Chad Chamber’s shirt.

“Chad!  You were hit,” Anne said, panicked and deftly lifted his shirt to check the wound.

Grace watched as he patted himself down, only to find that it was blood transfer.  Her sister quickly wrapped her arms around him, and drew him in. 

Grace leapt into Burke’s arms as soon as he could stand, and squeezed him, like her life depended on it.

“Whoa.  I got you.”  He whispered, grateful she was in one piece.  “I got you, babe.”

“You’re not hit either?” She buried her face into his chest. 

“No, we’re going to be okay,” he said with relief.

He wrapped her in his arms, and let her release all the emotions she’d had pent up.  He tilted his head back to look up to the stars, and search the heavens. 

Thank you,
he prayed never more thankful that God has heard his cries for help. 

As Zach lay unconscious, the rest of the world seemed to crash in, like the waves around them, as the police and EMSA started to make their way to the beach.

Burke let go of Grace temporarily to check Zach’s pulse.

“Is he alive?” Grace whispered.

“Barely,” he said in a gruff tone.  “He might make it.  He might not.”

Four sets of eyes stared down at the one man, who’d just put them through hell, wondering why he’d gone off the deep end.