Page 75 of Corrupted Lies

“Are you sure you want to do this? I can probably buy enough time for you to get away.”

Her gaze was clear and shining with determination. “I'm positive. Let’s do this.”

With a single nod, he grabbed her wrists and dragged her up with him. Then they both started running again. The gunshots had temporarily stopped while they were both down, but they started up again, plowing into the sand as he and Alannah sprinted the last of the distance to the boat.

Like he’d told her to, she jumped right into it, then turned her big trusting eyes on him. She had no idea what her trust did to him. After what her parents had done to her, she had every right not to ever trust another person again, and yet here she was putting her life in his hands and believing that he could protect it.

Pushing the motorboat out into the water was easy enough, and when a bullet pinged right into the water beside him, Jake knew that was his chance.

Giving the boat one last shove toward the ocean, he dropped and went under. While he’d been in Delta Force and not a SEAL, he’d grown up playing in the ocean. He was confident in the water and a good swimmer. Holding his breath was easy enough and without moving too much to alert the men chasing them that he was alive and well, he maneuvered himself around to the other side of the little boat.

This was still a risky plan, but he was starting to feel better about it.

Above him in the boat, Alannah let out an ear-splitting howl of pain, that if he didn't know better, he would have thought she believed she’d just witnessed the death of her best friend.

Thankfully, the gunshots stopped, and he had to assume that the men hunting them believed that not only had they killed him, but they had easy prey to do whatever they wanted with.

Keeping low in the water, allowing just the top of his head to his nose out so he could breathe, he kept still and waited.

Didn't take long until he could hear the splashing sounds of the men approaching the boat.

“Don’t think about doing anything stupid, darling,” one drawled, and he wondered what Alannah was doing.

“You killed him,” she whimpered, and even though he couldn’t see her, he knew she was crying. She didn't have the skill to cry on command, but given how afraid she likely was, he wasn't surprised that she was crying or that the tears were real. They just weren't because she thought he was dead.

“He didn't have to die yet, he shouldn’t have tried to run,” the other man said, his voice lower, deeper, bordering on bored.

“Why are you doing this?” Alannah whimpered. They hadn't had much time to talk through a plan, so he was glad shehad figured out enough to know that keeping them talking was helpful.

This was only going to work if he got the timing absolutely perfect.

Even one second off and he’d be dead for real, leaving Alannah at the mercy of these two men who didn't even know the meaning of that word.

“Your boyfriend didn't tell you that his family is trying to ruin a man over something that happened over twenty years ago?” bored man asked.

“He told me what happened to his stepmom, and why you're after him, but I don’t understand what that has to do with me. I didn't do anything, I'm not part of this,” Alannah wept.

“You weren't until he made you part of it. Now you're right in the middle of it, darling,” the other man drawled.

The splashing had stopped, and he was sure the two men had reached the boat. If he was standing right now, the water would probably come up to his chest, the men were likely about the same height as him so it would give him a clear shot at taking them down.

Once he had one down and his hands on the weapon, he could eliminate the other. As much as he’d love to keep them alive, try to get some answers out of them, this wasn't the time. This little boat was more the kind that came with a bigger one than the kind you took out to travel long distances.

Chances were a whole army of these men was somewhere close by, and now that he had the means to get Alannah off the island, he was going to take it.

“D-don’t,” Alannah’s panicked voice hit his ears. “Don’t touch me.”

“What’re you going to do to stop it?” the drawler asked and then chuckled in a way that made Jake see red.

He knew exactly what these men had planned for Alannah, and there was no way he was going to allow it to happen. She’d only just learned that her body belonged to her, that the past and the way she’d been treated didn't have to affect how she saw herself, no way was he was going to allow her to lose that freedom so quickly.

This brave, strong, sunshiny woman deserved the world, and while Jake didn't know if he could be the one to give it to her, he did know that he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her. He was her protector, and he took that job very seriously.

It was now or never.

There wasn't going to be a better opportunity. The men were distracted by Alannah and the sick things they wanted to do to her. They were completely unaware of his presence, and they would remain so until he struck, and it was too late for them to do anything about it.

Taking a deep breath, Jake dropped completely below the surface and made his move.

---