Page 77 of Corrupted Lies

Blue eyes let out a frustrated roar and lifted his weapon, aiming it at Jake.

Fear for her best friend chilled her more than the water ever could.

Despite her intentions of staying out of the way, Alannah couldn’t help a small scream falling from her lips before she could stop it from happening.

Her strangled scream had blue eyes turning in her direction.

That one moment of distraction was all Jake needed.

A few more shots echoed through the air, and the next thing she knew, blue eyes dropped down into the water as well.

Was that it?

Was it over?

Were the two men dead?

As much as she wanted to believe they were safe now, Alannah was having a hard time trusting what her eyes had just seen. What if the men were faking death? What if they were going to pop back up and start shooting? Blue eyes still had his weapon even if Jake had bored man’s.

And what if there were more of them on the island?

Or in a boat nearby?

Even if these two were dead, it wasn't like she and Jake were safe. At best, they’d had a reprieve, but she wanted the threat against them to be gone completely not just temporarily.

“Sunshine.”

Another scream fell from her lips when she blinked and saw a figure standing before her. It took her shock-addled brain a moment to process what it was seeing and realize that it was only Jake.

Throwing herself at him, when his arms closed around her, she finally felt a semblance of calm wash over her. Jake was there so she was okay. Jake, her hero, had just killed two men and given them at least a chance at surviving.

How many times did that make now that he’d saved her life?

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” he asked, and she could hear the worry in his voice. It grounded her and reminded herthat she had to stay strong. Jake was counting on her to be able to hold it together.

“You stopped them before they could hurt me,” she assured him. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine.”

“Are you sure? For a moment, I was worried one of the bullets had hit you for real and you weren't faking being dead,” she admitted, tightening her hold on him to assure herself that he was there and real.

“I didn't get hit, just had to wait for the perfect moment to strike.”

“What did you do to him?”

“Got him where no guy wants to be hit,” Jake said with a smirk.

“They’re both dead, right?”

“Both dead.”

“And we have the boat.”

“We have the boat.”

“Which means we have a way off this island,” Alannah said, excitement shoving away most of the shock. Sooner or later, she was sure they would have discussed building a raft to try to leave, but this was so much better.

“We sure do.” Jake’s smile had her smiling back and relaxing further. “I’m going to put you in the boat, then I’m going to get the bodies and hide them in the trees. Don’t want anyone to see them too quickly when someone comes in search of them.”

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