Page 65 of The Girls in the Lake
She felt herself being dragged out of the water by two pairs of strong hands. The next thing she knew she was lying on the deck next to the girl who had almost drowned. They looked at each other; both of them had come close to death.
The woman was shouting at them. ‘Huddle together, your bodies might warm each other up.’
Beth shuffled towards the girl and wrapped her arms around her, then the woman began to throw everything she could find on top of them: foil blankets, pieces of tarpaulin; she stripped her own coat off and threw that on top.
The boat was turning around, and Beth knew he was going to look for who she assumed was Ethan Scales. For a fleeting second she wanted to tell him not to bother. He didn’t deserve rescuing. But who was she to make that judgement call? She wasn’t God. Instead she clung on to the girl and whispered, ‘You’re okay, you’re going to be just fine.’
And then she closed her eyes. It was far too difficult to keep them open. She needed to sleep.
Seventy-Six
When Josh took the turning into the drive of the freshwater site, he saw Beth’s car. The gates were locked; he revved the engine.
‘Hold on,’ he shouted.
Putting his foot down, he did the only thing he could think of and drove straight towards the gates. Sam screeched and he heard Paton swear from the back seat. They didn’t have time to waste climbing over; he didn’t know how far the lake was from here. It could be miles. The van hit the gates and there was an almighty crash. The windscreen cracked as a piece of white gate post smacked it and bounced off. He could still see though, and carried on driving fast down the narrow winding road.
When he saw the lake, he also saw the boat and two heads in the water nearby. Instinctively, he just knew that Beth was one of them. Abandoning the van, they all jumped out, but Sam was already streets ahead of them, screaming ‘Grace!’
Paton looked at him in horror, yelling, ‘I can’t swim!’
Josh ripped off his shoes and coat, and was about to dive into the lake when he heard the engine of a motorboat coming close. Recognising the lake warden’s boat, he had never felt such relief in his life as he watched Karen and her son Cal speed towards the girl by the boat.
Sam had a tight hold of Josh’s arm. ‘Oh, my God. What is she doing out here? Why is she here?’ He couldn’t answer that; he wanted to know the same thing about Beth.
They watched in relief as both of them were dragged from the water, then in horror as the boat turned around to go back for the person responsible for at least four deaths that they knew about, plus an attempted murder. The boat shone its spotlight onto the water as it circled around and around, to no avail. There was no sign of the man who had gone in head first.
After a few laps, Cal finally turned the boat around and headed to where Josh and Sam were waiting next to the landing dock along with two ambulances that Paton had requested. They rushed to the boat, and Josh held Sam back to let the paramedics get to Grace first. She was shivering, her lips were blue and her eyes were barely open – but she was alive. Once a paramedic had slipped an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, Sam rushed towards her, hugging her daughter tight. Josh stepped back, giving them a moment. There were so many questions to ask, but they could wait until later.
Beth was brought off the boat next; she was barely conscious. Josh looked in horror at the paramedic who was dealing with her.
‘She’s okay, mildly hypothermic; it makes you sleepy. She’ll be right as rain once we get her body temperature back up.’
As if on cue, Beth fluttered open one eye and looked at Josh. She tried to smile but faltered. He kissed the top of her head.
‘You’re so much trouble, Beth Adams, but I love you.’
This time she did manage to smile just in time for Josh to see it before she was whisked into the ambulance.
Josh turned to Sam. ‘Go with Grace, we don’t need you here.’
‘What about you?’
‘Beth will be fine. I’ll come as soon as I can. You can keep me updated on the pair of them.’
Sam blinked and he knew she was trying to keep back the tears, then she climbed into the ambulance that Grace had been put into. The doors were slammed shut and it sped off, closely followed by the second one containing Beth.
Josh lifted his eyes up to the sky. The storm had passed, the rain had eased to a slight drizzle now, and the thunder had moved on beyond the lake. The faint rumbles getting quieter with every clash.
He bent down, pulling his shoes back onto his sodden feet and walked to where Paton was standing staring at the water, trying to see any sign of Ethan Scales.
‘That was close, Josh.’
He nodded. ‘Too close.’
‘Do you think he’s drowned?’
Josh shrugged. ‘Hard to say, but it would be a turn-up for the books, wouldn’t it? Talk about rough justice, a killer who died in the same way he killed his victims.’
