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Something brushed past her arm, wet and slimy. She choked, desperately needing air, but unable to let go of Blossom and the knife. She felt dizzy and could feel her grip weakening. And suddenly she saw something next to her in the water. The waterlogged face of the little boy from the photograph.
* * *
LANDRY SPRINTED through the arch into the villa, fear propelling him like a rocket into the courtyard.
Through the pouring rain, he glimpsed the two forms struggling by the pool, heard the splash as the two fell in.
Blossom and Willa.
He ran and dove headfirst into the rain-dimpled dark water. It was pitch-black beneath the surface. He swam blindly toward the spot where he’d seen the two go under, shoving away limbs and leaves that had decayed in the pool, feeling as if he was swimming through a decomposing soup.
His hand brushed against something that felt like hair and he brought himself up short as he felt pain slice across his arm.
Blossom had a knife and appeared to be frantically trying to swim to the surface, but something was holding her down. He didn’t see Willa anywhere.
Hurriedly he swam around Blossom, staying out of reach of the knife she was swinging in a frenzied arch.
No Willa.
He could barely make out Blossom, who was fighting desperately to free herself from something he couldn’t see. Needing air, he surfaced, and in a rush of relief, saw Willa hanging on the edge of the pool, choking and gasping, but alive.
He swam to her, pulled her into his arms. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, blinking through the driving rain at him as he let her go and pushing himself out of the water, pulled her out beside him.
He took one last look into the pool as he helped Willa up the stairs. The water had stilled except for the rain falling on it. Just below the surface he could see the dim gleam of silver from the knife still clutched in Blossom’s hand and her hair floating around her pale face.
Landry turned away from the look of horror on her face and helped Willa into her apartment.
“You’re bleeding again,” she said, her voice sounding far away as she slumped into a chair.
“I’m fine.” He locked the door and stooped to pick up the contents of the first-aid kit. His arm wasn’t cut badly but he knew he had to get some disinfectant on it after being in that pool. “Come on.”
He helped Willa to her feet and undressed her and himself on the way to the bathroom. Turning on the shower, he regulated the water then climbed in with her. They stood, holding each other as the water washed over them. Slowly he began to soap her wonderful body, desire washing away the horror of what he’d seen in the pool, the terror of what could have happened if Willa hadn’t fought off Blossom and somehow escaped to the surface. How had she done that? he wondered.
Something in the pool had saved her.
He shook off the thought as she took the soap from him and began to lather it over him. He closed his eyes.
* * *
LATER, LYING IN BED, warm and dry and sated, his arm bandaged, his heart beginning to slow, he looked over at Willa. Her blue eyes were filled with tears.
Alarmed, he sat up and stared down at her. “What is it? Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head, her lips turning up a little at the corners as she looked at him. “You could never hurt me.”
He wasn’t so sure about that.
“So much death,” she whispered. “I have seen so much death.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “The storm is letting up. We have to leave here. The disk? I know you had it in your pocket. It wasn’t there when I undressed you. It must be in the bottom of the pool, huh?”
“I hid it in the bathroom.”
He let out a breath, not realizing how afraid he’d been that the disk had been lost, that all of this had been for nothing. “Then everything is going to be all right.” He drew back to look at her. “We survived it, darlin’.”
Willa looked into his dark eyes and cupped his cheek with her palm. Her heart felt as if it would break, she loved him so much. She’d been afraid in the pool. Not for her own life, but Landry’s. Willa had known she couldn’t fight Blossom off any longer in the pool. She was out of air, weak and losing hope.
