Julian didn’t have the same luxury.
If he was captured, he’d be back in Tiverton, in solitary, with a list of additional crimes tacked onto his charges. In prison, the deal he’d struck with Adam Russell would be moot. Any hope he had of thwarting Dumay’s revenge, of getting back to his life with Mena, would be diminished to a sliver of a pipe dream.
He would not let that happen.
Loud pounding steps resonated behind him.
The cop had found the tunnel.
Julian pressed onward, his hands slapping against wet rock. The soft sound of water trickling through the cave grew louder. Quads burning, he recognized the shift of the terrain increasing in altitude.
Up ahead, a soft shaft of moonlight broke through, reflecting into the cave.
Julian quickened his pace, ducked and scrambled on his hands and knees to squeeze through the tight orifice, before dropping into a flat ledge below. A torrent of water about two feet deep rushed across his legs, soaking his clothes. The pounding of a waterfall roared in his ears. He looked left toward the sound. The dense water shown silver under the moonlight as it tumbled past an opening in the mountain.
To his right, a ragged crack stretched from the ceiling to the basin floor, revealing a picturesque view of the Valley of the Waterfalls. A lush area surrounded by mountains dotted with waterfalls. Adventurous tourists rafted the river below to get spectacular pictures of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Julian eased closer toward the waterfall. He didn’t know how high he’d climbed. How far it would be to the river below. His options were limited. Risky. Dangerous.
A loud splash erupted behind him. Steps pounded in the water, coming nearer.
Julian took another step toward the waterfall, so close that he could reach a finger out and touch the raging waters.
“There’s no way out.”
He knew that voice.
“There’s always a way out,” Julian responded, turning to face his good friend, Detective Kendrick Caillouet.
“Come on, Julian. Turn yourself in,” Kendrick pleaded.
Chuckling, Julian leaned against the cave wall. His friend looked exhausted, covered with mud. The police issued Sig Sauer pistol dangling at his side.
“I have to clear my name,” Julian said.
“Listen to me. More evidence has come in proving that Adam Russell was involved. We have him in custody and once we interrogate him, we’ll be able to figure out how Dumay set you up. You are so close to being free. Stop running and turn yourself in.” Kendrick took a step toward him.
Julian stepped backward, closer to the edge.
“Think about Mena. She’s going crazy worried about you.”
Pang pierced his heart at hearing her name. Everything he was doing was to protect the life that he wanted to share with her. The odds were stacked against him. Adam was right about Dumay having the upper hand. She’d spun a web that had them all trapped, and he had to get himself out before she devoured them whole. Working with the cops or the PIIB wouldn’t give him his freedom. He knew Mena would worry, but he also knew she trusted him. Believed in him. She would understand what he had to do.
“The only way I’m getting my life back is if you let me go,” Julian said. “I’m close to having real definitive proof of everything Dumay set in motion—”
“Good! Then let me help you. Share what you know with me and I promise, you won’t have to be in Tiverton for much longer. Julian, you need to do this the right way.” Kendrick placed his gun in the holster and raised his hands in the air, walking closer to Julian. “Come on, my friend. Come with me.”
“I can’t.” Julian turned and looked at the water rushing down from the mouth of the cave.
Closing his eyes, he stepped off the ledge and plunged into the waterfall.
Chapter Forty-Three
A vision of Mena filled his mind. The deep dark skin he caressed as he made love to her in every room, nook and cranny of the penthouse they shared. The look in her eyes when she moaned his name, gripping his back, and grinding against his erection. The way she whispered, I love you, in his ear after they climaxed. The safe place she’d created for him. Freedom to live again when he thought his life was over. The guilt he could live with now, encouraged to put the past behind him to build a future with her. The woman he’d die for. The woman he’d do anything to live for.
Rushing water slammed against Julian’s head, neck and back as he plummeted through the waterfall, arms and legs flailing. What should have been a quick descent seemed to pass in slow motion. Water pushed into his nose, burning his sinuses. He resisted the involuntary reflex to cough or breathe, protecting his lungs from filling with water. Pain like sledgehammers pummeled relentlessly as his body was tossed like a rag doll under the torrent of the waterfall. He tried to open his eyes, but the force of the water against his face pressed his eyelids closed.
The roar of water grew in intensity, then ceased.
