Page 63 of One Night Years Ago

“Not like that. He took me from the school and put me in the trunk of his car. Next thing I knew, I was trussed up like a chicken and being carried around.”

He let out the breath he’d been holding.

“You don’t look so hot,” she said. “Are you okay?”

“You’ve looked better yourself,” he said, laughing.

“I mean you don’t look like you can even stand.”

He cradled his shoulder in his arm. His foot was also hurting, bad enough that he was sure he’d shattered some bones when he hit the water, but he wasn’t going to tell her that.

“We don’t need to stand. We’re going to wait right here until Natalie comes for us.”

“And how’s that going to happen? Do you have a phone?”

He fished in his pocket, bringing out a dripping rectangular shape. “I do, but it’s wet.”

“It’s not waterproof?” she asked, her voice curious.

“You tell me. It was the cheapest they had.” He sighed. “It never occurred to me to ask.”

She took it in her hand. “Did Roger sell you this? I hope it was almost free or else he conned you.”

He smiled. She still looked pale, but some color was coming back to her cheeks.

“Roger and I played football together in high school. He gave me a good deal.”

“Next time, call me and I’ll come with you. This doesn’t look like a good deal,” she said, handing over the useless phone.

“I guess I might do that,” Hunter said.

“I do owe you my life,” she replied.

He went quiet. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“Hey, don’t freak out. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stalk you from now until I can repay the favor or anything. But I am grateful.”

He didn’t say anything, and after a moment she went quiet again. He regretted not keeping the joke going a while longer.

“It’s going to be okay, Emma. Natalie will come for us.”

“He bragged about what he’d done to those poor girls. He said I was old and—” Her voice broke. She shivered, and this time it wasn’t just from cold.

“Come here,” he said. They were both dripping wet, but with his larger muscle mass he was able to generate a lot more heat than her tiny frame. He hugged her to him with his good arm.

Chapter 25

Natalie

Natalie ran along the dock on the beach and jumped into the patrol boat. Rob had done the impossible and gotten the boat to the cliffside in record time.

“This is insane, Natalie. We shouldn’t be out here in this weather.”

“Emma’s out here,” she reminded him. Rob’s usually amiable expression went hard. Like most single male Sharp’s Cove residents, Rob had been trying to get Emma to go on a date with him for years. As far as Natalie knew, Emma had always said no.

“Did Fowler really jump after her? All the way from the top of the cliff?” Rob asked, pushing the throttle handle back gently until it shifted into gear.

She nodded. She knew she’d be having nightmares about that for years.