Page 78 of Corrupted Lies

Carrying her through the water along with him, Jake paused at the boat and lifted her up, setting her inside. Then he set the gun beside her. Its presence made her feel a little better, because now they at least had a way to protect themselves.

Jake retrieved the other weapon and passed it to her, then he found one of the bodies and dragged it out of the water and along the sand to the trees. Alannah felt a moment of panic whenhe disappeared into the woods, but he was out of her sight for barely a few seconds before returning.

After locating the other body and dumping it along with the first, Jake was back in the boat with her, and they were finally ready to leave. The memories she had of the island weren't all bad, in fact, some of them could be considered to be the highlights of her entire life, but she was still glad to leave.

Alannah wanted to get back to civilization. She wanted clean, dry clothes, a warm bed to sleep in, and a nice hot meal of comfort food. Then she wanted to join the rest of the Charleston Holloway family. As badly as she needed to keep her business going so she could support herself after this mess was finally cleared up, the cost of staying close and putting her gym above anything else was too high.

Risking Jake’s life wasn't an option.

He’d been ready and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for her, and she would never forget that. If she had to rebuild her livelihood from scratch once the threat was eliminated, she’d find a way to do it. She’d much rather do that than lose the very best friend anyone could ever ask or hope for.

“Ready to get out of here?” Jake asked as he leaned over to get the motor started.

“More than ready. I can't stop thinking about how amazing a steaming hot shower will feel, and wearing clothes I haven’t worn for days that are all filthy and salty. And the food … mmm … I don’t even know what I want to eat first, I just know I'm going to eat way too much, and when I finally climb into a cozy bed, I'm going to lie awake for ages because I'm too full.”

As wonderful as sleeping in a bed with soft pillows and warm blankets sounded, she couldn’t deny she’d miss the feel of Jake’s body snuggled against hers. When you compared the two, maybe sleeping on the hard ground with Jake won out a little above the cozy bed.

“Why aren't we going?” she asked, looking over at Jake, confused as to why he hadn't got the motor running so they could get moving.

“Because the motor must have been hit by a stray bullet and won't start. Looks like we won't be going anywhere after all.”

Chapter

Eighteen

October 20th

3:19 P.M.

Damn it.

Once again, Jake had been so close to getting Alannah out of this mess only to fall short at the last moment.

He had weapons, they had a means of transport, and yet it wasn't enough.

The damn motor had been destroyed by a bullet.

Feeling the weight of failure and defeat resting heavily on his shoulders, Jake looked over at Alannah who was watching him with an expression he couldn’t read.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, wishing she knew just how deeply. He was supposed to protect her. Why couldn’t he for once in his life actually follow through on that vow?

Crawling across the bottom of the boat, Alannah rested a hand on his knee. “Jake, you don’t have to be sorry. You literally saved my life. Again.”

“I keep failing you, sunshine.” Not allowing himself time to think about it and second-guess his instincts, Jake reached out a hand and palmed her cheek. “I always fail you.”

“How do you figure that? Because you couldn’t stop my parents from being the terrible human beings that they are? That is not your fault. You were there for me. Always. No questions asked. If I called, you came. When I was sad, you cheered me up. When I needed advice, you gave it to me honestly, no beating around the bush, telling me what you thought I wanted to hear, or sugar-coating things. When I started my business, you were my biggest cheerleader, making me believe in myself even when I doubted I had what it took to make it work.”

Alannah shifted closer, and her other hand reached out to grab hold of his.

“When I’ve made bad choices in relationships, you’ve always helped me pick up the pieces. When you thought I might be in danger because of the people after your family, you stayed away to protect me. You saved me in the fire at my gym and again in my building’s parking lot. It was because of you we weren't on my yacht when it blew up, and without you, I would have drowned in the ocean in the storm. You found this island, made us shelter, found us food and water, and kept us alive. And you saved us again right now, killing two people before they could hurt me. How can you possibly think you’ve failed me? From where I'm standing, I'm basically the mess you somehow manage to keep alive and functioning.”

The smile she shot him and the teasing tone of her voice eased some of the weight crushing him down. While he wasn't sure he believed what she’d just said, it helped to know thatshebelieved it.

“And, Jake, you gave me a precious gift on this island, you made me see that I wasn't broken, only banged up a little. Youhelped me smooth out those dented pieces and heal a little more of my childhood trauma. Thank you.”

Moving up onto her knees, she rested her hands on his shoulders, squeezed lightly, and then feathered her lips across his before rocking back onto her heels and shooting him that determined look that he recognized.

“Now, the Jake I know doesn’t give up that easily. I know we’re both exhausted, worried, and scared, but we have a boat. Who cares if it doesn’t have a motor? At least it’s seaworthy. If we’d wound up building a raft it wouldn't have had a motor either. I say we grab ourselves some branches for oars and we get the heck out of here.”

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