Page 81 of Hostile Saint
Seeing that my Lucey couldn’t swim, I sprinted toward the water that my father had once taught me was safe. That all changed after seeing how water could kill. I had never gone back in the pool after that. Now, I either surrendered to the fear or let that liquid take Lucey, too.
Into the water, I went…
Dagger slammed his ringed hands over his face. “I can’t believe this is happening. It’s like you relived it, right in front of us.”
Also in disbelief, I nodded, remembering that water on the way to Serenity.
Because of my father’s expertise, I was swimming as a baby and able to support another body by three. That is why I swam around her and wrapped my arm over her chest from behind, then started kicking us back to shore.
She was panicked, but Luce—as her older self continues to do—had full trust in me. Her gasping body let me lead the way. Her little red shoes floated up to the surface as her cold hands held on to my arm around her chest.
Again, I was taking us straight into another trap. The cloaked man was on the shore, holding his bleeding nose, waiting for me to bring her in.
Instantly, I switched directions, swimming away from him. That’s when I saw more cloaked men appearing on different sides of the lake. There were at least four more men.
The original one I had helped Luce escape from yelled, “He has mine!”
The men entering the water, to stand in the shallow parts, all tried to encourage me to swim to them. There was no way I was giving them this little girl, so I swam to the center of the lake, pulling her along. She was crying but didn’t protest my actions. It was a huge risk, but what choice did I have? Anywhere I swam us to, they would have beat me on foot and captured her.
“Get back here, you little bastard!”
“How did you not tire in the middle of the lake like that?” asked Dagger.
My hands were trembling. “Crash course in floating.”
Lynx shook his head in awe. “She trusted you and listened.”
I treaded water, keeping Luce’s floating body right next to me. She was breathing hard, understandably so, but on her back, staring at the sky.
It ended up my efforts were in vain. Two men in a rowboat came paddling toward us.
Even though outswimming the boat was never going to happen, especially at the age of seven while dragging a body, I tried anyway, dragging Luce’s floating body wherever I went.
Wham! A paddle hit me on the top of the head… “And everything went black.”
Lynx sunk back against the couch. “I… Jesus. Who the fuck are these men?”
Dagger squinted his eye. “The embankment. Where Lynx showed you Lacey’s footmarks. What’s the connection there—in your memory?”
I swallowed. “It was still dark when I finally woke up, half in and out of the water, tied to the boat. Next to me, in the mud, were her little shoe prints, leaving the lake behind.”
“She got away?” Lynx practically yelled, desperate for a happy ending.
“No.” My eyes filled with water. “Large prints were next to her little ones.” I took a deep breath, trying to gain the courage to handle these recovered memories. “On the way to Serenity, I saw her adult bare-toed markings.” Overwhelmed, I shrugged. “Pretty Girl was making new footprints.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Surrendering Hearts
Still sitting on the couch, anxiety slowly drifted away like a storm simply passing by. There may have been some destruction left about, but it was over. That’s what I learned that day. Every storm will pass. Now, it was time to pick up the pieces. I had many to collect.
Mine and my wife’s.
Next to me, I stared at Lynx and spoke with peaceful exhaustion. “I am so sorry that I have turned out to be so challenging. You tried to help a young man who is now revealing a lot of baggage. If you need to back away, Lynx, for your sanity and the sake of this club, I swear I will understand.”
It was weak, and as peacefully worn as me, but Lynx slightly smirked. “I bet you would, Saint.”
Sitting across from me in a chair, Dagger rested his elbows on his thighs. “Baggage? Pup, we found you in a pool of blood. We had a clue you would be a ‘challenge’.”
