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It didn’t budge.
Tears blurred her vision as the water leaked through the frame. Chills raced up and down her goose-pimpled flesh, and her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. She smashed her finger against the button to lower the window, but it didn’t move.
“Bill! What are we going to do?” She glanced at Bill, and ice filled her veins.
Bill slumped over the steering wheel, blood trickling from a wound on his temple. Wide, lifeless eyes stared back at her, and she swallowed the bile sliding up her throat.
Her hand trembled as she clicked the release of the seatbelt she’d thankfully secured. If Bill had thought to do the same, his outcome would have been much different. Sadness she didn’t want to feel weighed down her heart. Bill had wasted his life on drugs and bad decisions. He could have done so much more.
Adrenaline ripped through her.
She wouldn’t die like this—not when she had a beautiful baby who needed her. Not when she’d finally found a man who made her feel worthy of love.
Fisting her hands, she beat them against the window. Pain shot up her arms. Sobs shook her shoulders and the icy water rose—skimming her legs and collecting onto her lap.
She couldn’t go through this again, couldn’t feel the cold water sweep over her and steal her breath. No one should have to live through such a nightmare twice. Filling her lungs with air, she tried to calm her racing heart and figure out how to get out of the death trap before the car became completely filled. She rifled through the glove box, searching for something to break the glass.
Nothing.
The rain stopped and the moon peeked through the black clouds overhead, the bright light filtering through the windshield bounced off something shiny on Bill’s lap.
The gun!
She grabbed the smooth metal, pointed the barrel at the window and pulled the trigger. Her ears rang as the bullet crashed through the glass, and water gushed through the hole, making the glass splinter until it shattered.
Water poured in with the force of a flash flood, filling the car with alarming speed. Marie lunged for the window. She gripped the edge of the car and hefted herself through the opening, but wave after wave pounded against her, pushing her back inside. The dirty river swallowed the inside of the car, consuming her.
She sputtered against the invasion against her face and drew in one last, deep breath before becoming completely submerged in the inky swirl of dirt and debris and water.
Her lungs burned and fatigue weighed down her limbs, but now that the car was filled and the pressure even, she had her chance at escape. She pushed her feet against the edge of the driver’s side headrest and swam through the narrow window. The brown water impeded her vision, but she pressed her feet together and pumped them back and forth, raising toward the surface. She broke through the water and gulped in as much fresh air as her lungs would hold.
She bobbed in the river, continuing to kick her feet to keep her head above the rushing water. The current carried her downstream, and she swiveled her head back and forth to try to find the closest riverbank. The moon cast a dim light around her, but she couldn’t lift herself high enough to gain a sightline on the shore. Running on instincts and adrenaline, she picked a path and swam, pushing herself past exhaustion in a fight to stay alive.
Thunder boomed, and the storm intensified. Fear stole Owen’s breath, but he couldn’t give in to it—couldn’t let it muddle his brain and cloud his judgement.
Renee stared up at him with wide eyes, her quivering mouth pressed in a straight line.
He glanced behind him. Officer Steele scanned the area with his gun poised for use. “Lower your weapon. I need you to look after this girl and the baby in the backseat.”
Officer Steele dropped his arms and screwed his lips to the side. “Where do you want me to take them, sir? Inside the house?”
“No.” Owen gestured toward the police car parked in front of his rental. “Is that your cruiser?”
Steele nodded.
“Sit in there. I don’t want her to see what’s in the house. Call the Jackson Hill police station and let them know we found Renee Robinson.” Owen crouched down and focused on Renee. “Renee, I’m Owen, and I’m a friend of your sister’s. I want to make sure you’re all right, but I don’t have time to waste. I need to go after Marie. Do you know what way Bill went? What kind of car he drove?”
“He’s in a small blue car, but I don’t know what kind. He mentioned heading back home.” She set her jaw and kept her gaze locked on his.
“Okay. Take Nora and go with Officer Steele and wait in his car until I can get back. Tell him everything that happened. You can trust him, I promise.”
He waited for Renee and Nora to get safely inside Officer Steele’s vehicle then jumped into his own car. The engine still purred from when he’d left Marie earlier. Throwing the car in reverse, he shot toward the end of the driveway.
He scooped his phone from the passenger seat and called dispatch. “This is Deputy Wells. I need all available officers on the lookout for a blue sedan. Murder suspect—Bill Flanders—has kidnapped a young woman. He’s considered extremely dangerous.”
“Yes. sir.”
Owen didn’t respond, just disconnected, peeled out of the driveway, and took off toward the end of the road where red taillights had blazed moments before. Bill couldn’t have gained much ground, not with the rain thundering down and water flooding the roads.
