Page 21 of Wishful Thinking

“If I have to use it, I will. I don’t know who’s doing this, but they messed with the wrong girl.” She strapped it beneath her blouse and grabbed her phone. Checking the weather, she could see the lightning and rain off shore. The waves were turbulent. Getting into the cave wouldbe hard. Emerging with her gear, she ran into Lacey.

“What’s going on Belle? Did you find out something? Was there any news?” she asked, gazing at the note in Belle’s fist.

“No, sorry, Ihave heard nothing.Can you stick around here in casesomethinghappens? The crews willshow uphere first. I’ve got to go get Sal. Angel is staying at the Lug and I’ll be back shortly.” She hurried past Lacey and out the door.

The path to the caves was clear, the winds still not at maximum force. She searched for footprints heading to the cavern. The shore wasvoid of people.The water was high, waves smashed into the surrounding rocks and Belletread through the spray to get to the entrance. She crept as secretly as she could and listened. The silencebroke fromthe whistlingwind through the rocks. She paused, uncertain of what she was wandering into, merely knowing she had to save Philippe. Moving through the passage to the interior space, she heard a woman’s voice, followed by a giggle that made her hair stand on end. She checkedher blade;Itwas still in place.

Shoring up her resolve, shewalked in to the opening. She saw no sign of Philippe, and the unfamiliarwomanstood a few feet away, glaring at her.

“Where’s Philippe? I came alone, as you had requested. Who the hell are you and where is the boy?” The woman moved a few steps closer, eyeingBelle with a sneer.

“Sweetie, you’re not what I pictured. Nope, not at all. You haven’taged a bit since… He was right, you’re where he said I’d find you.” Confused, Belleobserved the woman, wondering if she could take her down.

“I don’t know who the hell you are, but I’m not saying another word until you show me Philippe.”

The woman smiled, her grin twisted, an evil line stretched across her face as she emitted another cackle. Her eyes were black pinpricks in the fading light and Belle feltuneasy. They were the eyes of a madwoman and it shook Belle to the core, she quivered, frightened.

“The boy, hmmm…? Let’s see, where did I leave him? Oh, he couldn’t make it to the cave. I tied the poor thing up. Not gonnadealwith two of you. You’re the one I want, not him. If you play nice, maybe I’ll even let him go when we’re done here. If not, I may just have to feed him to the fishes later. The surfwill getrough I hear, and tough to swim through when you’re a hog-tied light-weight kid. I suspect he’ll sink like a rock. Eh? We shall see, but you’ll never know.”

The woman moved closer and stopped when she was five feet away. Belle still could not place the woman. Shewracked her brain trying to remember who she hadpissed off enough to warrant this.

“Oh, you don’t remember me, do you? Well, let’s see if we can refresh your hole-riddled memory. You used to be Tink. You worked at a grocery called the Sav-A-Buk and you ruined the life of Dickie Stern. Ringing any bells, Tink?”

The woman moved from foot to foot as the water began rising. The storm was moving closer and high tide was closing in. Belle still didn’t recognize the woman.

“My name’s Berta, and Dick is my step-son, you bitch. You’ve ruined his life, and in doing so, ruined mine. He’s been wasting away behind bars because of your little lying ass, and when something happens to you, they’d look at him first. He will have an airtight alibi. That’s what apropermother does. We will rid the world of you, and we can rest easy knowing that you got yours. I love my boy and what you did wasn’t right. Dickiewould never do thevilethings you accused him of. Trust me, I love my boy and no one can touch him except for me. You hurt him, and in doing so, you hurt me. I’m not so forgiving, and youwill go to your death by the water you like so much. No one will be the wiser, they’ll just think you drowned like a poor little kitten. Damn, I’m so smart. Thought this up myself. Didn’t do so bad,did I?”

Belle felt the water roiling up to her thighs as Berta shifted forward, her arms reaching towards her. She sneered at her as she moved quickly and Belle gasped, not ready for the attack. Berta gained a tightgripon Belle’s hair and jerked her hard. She plunged forward into the water and Berta smashed her fist into her face.

Falling backwards her body sunk in to the brown churned upwater. Her cheekwas nowthrobbingdouble-time from the earlier assault. Berta had her hair clenched in her fist and she pulled her above the water. She wrapped her free hand around her neck and released her hair. Belle swung at her violently,but the water limitedthemomentum. Berta shoved her away, as they both slippedinto the depths. Belle feltthe frenzied woman's hands tightening around her neck and begandrawing in water. Not having taken a breath before being submerged, her feet shifted outon the current;She fumbled for her knife.

Finding the leather sheath, she unlatched it. Slipping the blade out, she thrust itinto the woman with as much force as she could. The resistance of flesh made Belle sick to her stomach, but she knew the moment was do or die. Berta let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the cavern. Belle drove the knife in once more,and Berta let go of her throat. Gasping for air, Belle tread water while scanning for the injured woman. The water was turning red with the blood and Belle wondered if the sharks could pick up the scent. She saw the mouth of the cave under water.

“Come on, you can do this. I’ve got to find Philippe. To do it, I need to live. Little lamp, if you can hear me, please, get me out of here in one piece. I beg of you, one last wish.”

Belle took a deep breath and plunged beneath the water. She feltthe current pushing her body toward the opening and she rode it as far as she could before it began reversing with the incoming waves. Her lungs burned, and she whimpered as she kicked her legs and struggled to rise to the surface. The air reached her as her head found its way out, and she choked, trying to inhalethe oxygen. The waves were rolling her back and forth. She could make out the shore in the distance and advanced towards it. The rip current continued dragging her out, and she moved parallel to the coast until she could escape. A figure on the beach was running back and forth and she lifted her hand.

“Help, please, help me” she cried as the body on shore moved towards the water. Running out of energy,exhaustedand out of breath, she felt herself losing the battle to survive. Tears spilled from her eyes, intermingling with the salt water and she squinted through the shower that now moved in, hunting for the soul on the sand. She feltthe strong arms wraparound her andrelaxed, her body limp as they drifted towards shore.

Belle awoke in her bed to a cool cloth cleansing her cheek, and sheopened her eyes. Sal sat beside her, tending to her wounds. She lifted her handsand saw the cuts and scrapes across her knuckles. Confused, she stared at his worried expression.

“We thought we lost you, sweetheart.What the hell happened Belle? Why would you go to the caves during astorm? Do you realize that it almost swept you out to sea?I’m glad thatI went looking for you when I did. Lacey said you were leaving to get me, but your car was still in the driveway, so I figured something was happening. I thought maybe you’d head down here and was shocked when I saw you out in the pounding surf. You were drowning. Christ, you scared the shit out of me. I thought I would lose you again.” Sal looked at her, touching her bruised cheek lightly, she winced as the pain connected and he pulled away.

“I’ll go get some ice to help take the swelling down, butI’m glad you’re okay. What the hell happened to you in that cave?”

Belle tried to sit up;Her head spinning with the effort. She coughed and felt the tightness in her throat. Shifting to the edge of the bed, she stood, her legs shaking with the effortas she moved to the mirror to see the damage she felt. The red marks on her throat were thick and ugly. It took her a minute, but she remembered the confrontation in the cave. The eyes of the crazy woman bore through her memories.

“Where’s Philippe? Did you find him? She had him, I went to the cave because she said she had him, but he wasn’t there. It was that bastard Dick’s mother, her name is Berta. Where is he, where is Philippe?” Sal moved behind her and held her close to his body.

“We haven’t found him yet, and it’s a good thing that he wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have made it out alive. Where is Berta? Is this the Berta who was staying next to me?” Belle shook her head.

“I don’t know where she is, I stabbed her twice and she let me go. I swam out of the cave under the water and left her there. She’s the only one who knows where Philippe is. Oh God, what have I done?”

The End….