Read Online 44: Book Three by Jools Sinclair - Free Book Online Page B

weren’t that far away.
    I started singing Under the Tahitian Moon , pushing the paddle into the water to the beat of the music. I was grinning now. I didn’t care.
    I was going to make it! Freedom was within reach, right in front of me.
    I forgot about my strategy and started paddling harder through the water. I could feel the knots in my shoulders. Maybe my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen, but at that moment I felt that it had all been worth it. The pain, everything that I’d been through had brought me to this point. I felt that something out there, something larger than me, was on my side. Nothing was going to stop me now.
    And then I heard it.
    A faint buzz coming from somewhere behind me.
     

 
    CHAPTER 17
     
    I kept pushing the paddle through the water. The noise could be anything, anyone. For all I knew maybe it was the Coast Guard coming to rescue me. I wasn’t going to turn around to look. I had to keep going. Maybe it was someone from one of these other islands. A fishing boat getting an early start.
    It couldn’t be Nathaniel’s people. Even if they had noticed that I was missing, how could they find me out here in the middle of all this water? In the middle of all this darkness? There was no way it was Nathaniel.
    I put myself in their place. Even if they had somehow discovered that I wasn’t in my room, they would first search the house. And then maybe the guest house. And then all over the island. And finally, when they couldn’t find me, they might send the boat out. Search the stretch of water between the two islands.
    I was fairly sure that I hadn’t been spotted yet by whatever was back there. But just in case, I started paddling parallel to the island, away from where they might logically look for me.
    “Faster,” I said out loud. “Come on!”
    The noise was getting louder. I glanced toward my right and a moment later saw the bright lights of a powerboat veer sharply in my direction. It was almost as if they knew where I was.
    “Radar,” I whispered as the tears welled up in my eyes.
    The boat was heading straight for me. I had no doubt I had been spotted. At the speed they were going they would be on top of me in less than a minute. I had no way to be sure who was back there, but somehow I knew.
    I turned toward the lights of the island and kept paddling. There was nothing else to do.
    The water all around me lit up as my shadow stretched out in front of me. The roar of the boat motor died down.
    “Abby!” a familiar voice yelled out. It was Jack Martin. “It’s over. Give it up.”
    But I wouldn’t. It was almost quiet now, the sound coming from my lungs mixing with the gentle lapping of the water against the kayak. I took a deep breath and let it fly.
    “Help!” I yelled as loud as I could. “Help!”
    I knew that sound traveled farther over water and I was hoping someone on the island would hear my screams. A moment later the boat motor roared back to life, drowning out my calls. The boat started circling around me quickly, whipping up the water.
    It felt like I was in a whirlpool, waves coming at me from all directions. Someone jumped in the water and started swimming toward me. I was about to bring the paddle down on them when something caught me from behind. I turned around and saw Jack holding a long boat pole.
    “Don’t make me use this again,” he shouted.
    From the water, Phil pushed me toward the boat while Jack hooked the lip of the kayak cockpit and dragged me in.
    A moment later I was aboard.
    “That was incredibly stupid!” Jack said. “You could have died out here.”
    He grabbed me hard by the arm and shoved me downstairs into the cabin. He was angrier than I had ever seen him. Maybe he was in charge of security and knew he would face Nathaniel’s wrath. I didn’t know and didn’t care.
    I heard Phil cursing and felt the boat pick up speed.
    All I could think about was how close I had come. My nose was stinging, but I refused to cry. I couldn’t