Page 51 of Killer Summer
“Don’t let him ruin our vacation. Enjoy your drink and the landscape. If he comes over and doesn’t take a hint, I’ll kick him in the balls.”
“Lisa!” Dani said, snorting margarita up her nose. “You’re going to get us kicked out of Costa Rica.”
“Worse has happened.” Lisa shrugged and sipped on her drink.
Dani glanced at her phone and thought about Detective Owens. In the past nine months, she and the now-retired detective had grown even closer. She considered shooting her old friend a text asking to look up this Jens Bergen guy, but let it go. She was on vacation and deserved to be unbothered.
Dani stared out at the ocean and sipped on her drink as the events of the last year washed over her. The media circus that ensued after her attack. The exclusive interviews and book deals. Old friends from back home coming out of the woodwork. She was happy to be able to disconnect from all that for a change, and she would be even happier to resume whatever was brewing between her and Ethan when the time was right. There was also the matter of her screenplay, now finished and being optioned by a major motion picture company. Everything should have felt settled and done. And yet …
“‘S’cuze me, ladies. I just wanted to come over and see if you were enjoying your drink.”
A shadow passed over Dani and the blood in her veins slowed. She sipped the bottom of the cup and shook the ice. “It was delicious.”
“I’d be happy to buy you another round.”
“We’ll buy the rest of our drinks. Thank you.” Dani stared up at the man, flashing him her fakest, most impatient looking smile.
“Bitch.” The man scoffed, wobbled a little, and turned back to the bar.
Bitch.
Yes, she was. She was an alive bitch, and she was going to stay that way.
Dani watched Jens saunter back to his seat and bark an order for another rum runner to the bartender. He tried to sit and slid off his stool, crashing to the ground and cursing all the way. From behind the bar, the nice young man who had served her whispered something to the resort manager and pointed at Jens. The resort manager nodded and locked eyes with Dani before walking over to the sloppy patron.
“Ha! Looks like someone bit off a little more than they could chew.” Lisa sipped the last of her margarita and chuckled to herself.
The two women watched as the security guards took the drunk, indignant man away. So much for a restful vacation.
Dani leaned back in her chair, wondering what the future would really be like for her. No matter where she went, there would be men like Matt and Jens who thought they could just have anything they wanted. She took solace in the fact that there were good people like Detective Janet, Ethan, and the bartender out there too. The old Dani was too afraid to make connections with people; too afraid to show her real self. She reached down and touched the scar on her ribs where Matt’s knife had piercedthrough her flesh and remembered the price she paid for her freedom. She was changed by it all, for better and for worse. Now, she had nothing to hold her back, nothing to hide behind. What she made of her life from here on out was all up to her.
“I’m gonna go for a swim,” Dani said. “Be right back.”
“I’ll be right here,” Lisa said. “Go on. Have a good time.”
Dani stood, stretched and walked toward the shore. A sparkling infinity laid out before her, brilliant and blue and full of promise. She walked into the ocean, enduring the muck of the sea floor until she couldn’t touch the bottom and let the briny water support her. She dove beneath the surface, free and fearless and ready for whatever else the future would bring.
