AllFreeNovel
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With agility I didn’t know I had, I leap from the dock onto the cushion seat at the back of the boat, bounce off, and land in a crouch just in front of the cabin stairs. Pressing my body flat, I hope to the heavenly gods he didn’t see me.
I count to ten, then peek above the vinyl seats, seeing nothing. He didn’t see me. Not taking any chances, I pull myself down the stairs, not stopping until I’ve hit the bottom.
As I close the cabin door, I scour the room for any resemblance of a key. Searching through drawers and under piles of clothes, I find nothing. I rip the cabin apart, cursing his name as I ransack the room. Nothing. Please, don’t let it be above deck. I can’t take the chance of his seeing me. I can try to wait it out, wait for it to get dark. No, when he doesn’t find me on the island, he’ll eventually look here, and there’s no fucking way I’m going to let that happen.
I take a deep breath and open the door just enough for me to see. When the coast reads clear, I creep, slow at first, up the steps toward the captain’s chair. Picking up speed, I crouch high enough to see, but low enough to be partially covered by the back cushions. I desperately search for a key and am rewarded when I find it in the ignition.
Just as I’m about to turn the engines over, a loud bang ricochets from behind me. Spinning around, I catch Evan jumping onto the back of the boat. Scrambling backward, I attempt to put as much distance between us as I can, but he reaches out, grabbing the back of my hair.
Pulling me back, I’m forced to look into his wild eyes. “I told you I would find you,” he says, sneering.
“You don’t have to do this,” I plead, trying to convince the Evan who once loved me to stop this madness.
Smacking me hard across the face, I fall forward, the side of my head bouncing off the side of the boat with a thud. “If I can’t have you, no one can,” he snarls. Curling up into a ball, I protect my head and pray the end is quick. His foot connects with my ribs and air explodes out of my lungs.
“Please, Evan,” I plead, wincing with every labored breath.
“No!” he screams, prying my hand away from my covered head. My hands are covered with blood from a gash on my forehead and I’m lightheaded.
I struggle against his grip as he drags my limp body off the boat and across the dock, back toward the cottage, but I’m too weak. The pain radiating from my shoulder is too much to bear and stars dance across my vision. Placing his hands around my neck, he squeezes tight. Pushing against his massive chest is useless; he’s too strong.
My lungs burn from lack of oxygen and I beat against his chest helplessly. Evan stands over me, blocking any air in or out of my lungs. My vision starts to darken, lingering on the edge of consciousness. Before it goes completely black, a blur appears and Evan is no longer on top of me.
Desperate to fill my lungs with air, I gasp and cough, and with each breath, my vision begins to return. With my breathing almost back to normal, I can focus on saving myself. Wrenching my body, I see movement in the dusk, but it’s the grunting and groaning that has my attention. Chase.
Struggling to stand, the sharp pain radiating from my shoulder causes me to collapse back onto the hard dock.
I drag my limp body toward the action, needing to be with Chase. As I get closer, I see Evan swinging wildly at Chase. Chase, seeming to have the upper hand, finds an opening, nailing Evan square in the jaw, knocking him down.
Chase grabs Evan by the shirt, dragging him back up. “C’mon, you Son of a bitch! Get up!” Evan staggers to his feet, swinging wildly, never even coming close to Chase.
“Fuck you,” Evan sputters, taking another swing.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” Chase growls low in his throat, throwing a right hook, landing across Evan’s left cheek. Spinning, Evan falls again, but this time, Chase dives on top. “I’ll kill you.”
“Chase,” I squeak out. He freezes, his fist in mid-air. Spinning around, he sees me. The look on his face frightens me, but I know it isn’t meant for me. It’s a look of sheer hatred, anger, and fear all balled up into one.
“Olivia,” he whispers, his expression changing to shock as he looks me over, “what has he done?”
“You found me,” I breathe, barely holding on to consciousness.
“Of course I did.” He reaches out to touch me, but I cringe. “Tell me where it hurts,” he asks, concern etched on his face.
“Everywhere.”
A single tear runs down his face and everything I’ve been through comes to the surface in a gut-wrenching sob.
“I thought—”
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Chase says, gently stroking my face. “I’m going to call for help.”
Standing, he pulls his cell phone from his pocket and dials. “Chase,” I call out, the darkness calling me.
“Yes, baby,” he says, running over.
“I have to tell you something.”
“Don’t talk. It can wait.”
