Page 97 of Cup of Lies

There’s no time to think it through. Like the time Theo was chasing me, I hurry into the chute and launch myself inside it. Caius grabs for me, but I don’t bite him.

“Meet me down there,” I hiss. “Let go now.”

To my surprise, he curses but then releases me.

The descent is more painful than I remember. Each time my elbow hits the sides of the metal chute, skin is rubbed raw. I’ll have bruises galore. It’ll be for nothing if I don’t nail the landing.

I smell the chlorine and know I’m close. As I’m shot from the hole, I tuck my legs in and suck in a breath of air.

The plunge into the warm water sends adrenaline spiking through me. My butt hits the bottom of the pool, but I don’t injure myself like the first time. Since I know what to expect, I push up from the bottom and swim toward the surface.

Like before, the water glows red like blood from the lights they’ve installed. Sitting in a chair by the shallow end is LuLu, body pinned by a rope.

When she sees me, she bursts into tears with a mixture of shock and joy. Orion comes into view, holding a handgun at his side. His grin is wolfish.

“Ahh,” Orion says, voice echoing in the cavernous indoor pool room. “Look who came to visit, Calista.”

I swim over to the ladder and quickly pull myself out of the water, keeping my eye on Orion the entire time.

How can I distract him long enough for Caius to get down here with the guys?

“Her name is LuLu,” I tell him. “Why do you have her?”

He points his gun at her and then at me. “It’s called tying up loose ends. This ends tonight.”

“For you,” I tell him boldly. “Our lives are just beginning.”

Orion starts for me and I freeze. He might be old, but he’s still a man. There’s no way I can take him in a one-on-one fight. Still, I square my shoulders, preparing to defend myself.

Then there’s the creak of a door.

“Dad!”

Orion whips around as Theo enters the room. Both his hands are up as he approaches us. I’m forgotten as Orion starts for him instead.

“You just had to go chasing after your brother,” Orion bites out, pain in his voice. “I really thought I had you broken from those reckless emotions. You disappoint me, Son.”

Theo deflates. “Just let the girls go, Dad. It’s over. All of this is over.”

Orion chuckles, the dark, evil sound echoing in the air. “For her it is.”

I watch in horror as he shoves LuLu’s chair into the water. Since she’s strapped to it, she’ll drown.

Theo charges his father. A gunshot goes off, piercing my ears from the sound of it. All sound is muffled when I dive into the water after LuLu. She’s already at the bottom, struggling in her chair, bubbles flying around her. Her panicked eyes meet mine.

I quickly try to untie her, but the knots are too complicated. She’s light, but I don’t know that I can get her and the chair to the surface. I’m exhausted from all the running and my adrenaline is fading.

Hang in there, LuLu.

Grabbing onto the chair, I try to swim to the top with it. It’s a bulky, cumbersome poolside lounger, so it’s not exactly easy to move when someone is tied to it. She slips from my hold, dropping back to the bottom. I resurface, suck in air, and dive back down.

Something splashes beside me. Orion and Theo are struggling in the water. Crimson blurs the water in front of me. It’s not the lights. It’s blood.

A bullet whizzes past me in the water.

Oh my God.

Someone’s been shot.

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