He tripped over something on the ground and crashed against the open car door. His hands, finding purchase at the base of the wound-down window, kept him on his feet as his momentum slammed the door shut. He dared a glance into the car, lit by the internal light. Empty.
He attempted to calm his rampaging heart. That was good. Just because Cassie and Rachael were here, didn’t mean Susie … He bent to the ground to see what he’d tri— Graham?
He was rolling around clutching his privates. He grabbed him by the collar. ‘Tell me Susie wasn’t with you!’
‘She’s in the car with Graham,’ Rachael Jones snapped. ‘But we’re leaving now and taking her with us and you will never—’
Her words froze as she spotted Graham.
‘She’s not in the car!’ George roared.
‘She flaming well is, not that you’re getting anywhere near—’ She’d reached the car. ‘Noooo!’
Cassie was at her side. It took her a moment to take in the situation before she cried, ‘Oh God! Oh God! No!’
Susie ran blindly.
There was no conscious thought other than if she perhaps went far enough, quickly enough, she could outrun it.
A broken sob escaped from somewhere. She stumbled and her ankle jolted painfully. She couldn’t see where she was going. It was pitch black. But her tears would have blinded her day or night. Loss … desolation …
Betrayal … She welcomed her old friend back. Why hadn’t she listened to her head? It had known. It had always known George would destroy her.
‘Turn on the car lights!’ George cried. ‘And torches. We need torches!’
He couldn’t lose it here. He couldn’t give in to the terror. Oh dear God help me!
Nobody was moving and he went to Cassie and Rachael, standing motionless and staring blindly. ‘This is your fault!’ he screamed at them both. ‘The least you can do is help me find her. Help me NOW!’ And then he was begging, ‘Please!’
He shook his head trying to get a grip on himself. He took deep breaths and attempted to clear his mind of everything but what he needed to do to find Susie. But the flashbacks were coming thick and fast, entangling with his consciousness. He painfully tugged at his hair in an attempt to clear his head, but they wouldn’t budge. Not now Freddie, please not now. He had enough of his own fears and anguish in the here and now and needed no reminder of how the night could end.
‘Torches,’ he managed to mutter. He raised his voice, ‘Torch—’
‘We’re onto it,’ Cassie finally said, squeezing his arm before rushing away. They were going to help. He glanced up at Porsche, standing immobile halfway down the steps.
‘Get security. Get Todd and Herb up here now. Get them to call anyone, everyone. We need a search party!’
She slowly shook her head. ‘Don’t you think this is extreme? If I must, I’ll explain there was nothing to—’
‘You don’t remember!’ he cried, shaking his head. And why should she? ‘She’s going to drown in the damned lake if …’
His voice broke. He couldn’t go there. He spun around and flung himself to the ground, hauling Graham up.
‘Graham, you have to help me! I need every last piece of lighting equipment and the floodlights! I need it trained on the lake and all around it. You see Susie anywhere near it, you do whatever is necessary to stop her going in. Do you understand that?’
‘We understand,’ Cassie said at his side, shoving a lit torch at him. ‘Go and find her.’
The path forked and as a branch crashed down on the route before her, Susie lurched to the left, taking the less trodden path.
Her head saw nothing but George and Porsche … together. The scene played over and over. He was half-dressed, Porsche in nothing but a coat. Susie had wound down her window … heard his words …‘I care … No talk of Susie … Come back inside.’ Porsche was giggling and in his arms …
There had been no meeting with Francis. It had been a lie so he and Porsche could meet. It had all been one huge lie.
She couldn’t believe a word he had ever said to her.
As she ran, she ran in tandem with Hannah. The flashbacks to Hannah’s heartbreak and flight, merging with her own. Oh Hannah. Kindred spirits when it came to betrayal, because George had lied about that, too.
George called her name. She forced her legs to move faster.
‘Susie! Susie! You can hear me, I know you can!’ George cried, crashing through a bush at the perimeter of the woods to momentarily scan the area around the lake. She wasn’t there.
The whole area was now floodlit and people were spread out intermittently around the body of water. Cassie, Rachael and Graham had been rejoined by Porsche and with her Todd and Herb. On being spotted, Herb jogged towards him.
‘Here,’ Herb called, throwing a walkie-talkie which George fumbled to catch. ‘We can keep in touch with these. Just press that button right there. The others are on their way. Nobody will get anywhere near the lake.’
George made himself focus on what was being said and look at what was being pointed out to him. He then returned his gaze to the lake. Porsche. He couldn’t trust her. But Cassie evidently had that covered because she stood at her side. He dove back into the woods.
George began running again, but on a changed course as debris blocked the path he’d been intent on following.
‘Susie!’ he cried afresh, shaking his head against the memories of that night and attempting to block Freddie out, but it was as if they were merged. Each step was his and Freddie’s. Each desperate thought an echo of the other. This was not going to end as it had before. ‘SUSIE!’ he roared with all his physical might and with all of his and Freddie’s combined anguish and fears.
He attempted to get more of a grip on himself and paused to lower his hands to his knees and to breathe through the panic. ‘I need you to think here, sweetheart,’ he cried out in between gasps for air. ‘I know what it must have looked like, but remember … Please remember. Remember Prudence and Matthew and now Porsche and Michael. It wasn’t real. I swear to you, it wasn’t real! This is me, George and I will never lie to you. Ever … We’re invincible remember, you told me that! Our trust in each other makes us invincible.’ Taking several gasps of air he stood upright and bellowed, ‘Well where is it Susie? Where is your trust?’
George paused to listen for any response or signs of movement. His heart pounded in his head and the white noise shrieked. He heard nothing else bar the torrential rain that had now started to fall.
The only sounds Susie heard were her own sobs. And Hannah’s. And the pounding of her heart that still seemed to beat. Betrayal … And then she was slipping, her feet were out from under her and Hannah was tumbling with her. The only pain they felt as they continued to fall was in their one beating heart. Loss … desolation … But it would stop. Finally it would stop …
‘SUSIE!’ George roared as he heard the splash. Susie … He hurtled in the direction the sound had come from, leaping over fallen trees and ploughing through undergrowth. It had come from deeper inside the woods. It wasn’t the lake. There was other water! Where? Dear God, where?
‘SUSIE!’ he screamed. ‘SUSIE!’ It was dark and he couldn’t see a thing. All his torch was illuminating, whichever way he swung it, was vegetation and more damned vegetation and rain that was now falling in sheets. He made himself pause to listen. Was that another splash? He couldn’t be sure but he changed his course. He reached into his pocket for the walkie-talkie, but he must have lost it somewhere along the way. ‘Don’t you dare drown on me! If you die, I’ll die. Do you understand that Susie? Do you understand? I’ll be in there right behind you! You are not leaving me!’
He blindly wrenched brambles away as they tore through skin and clothes. Then he was slipping and sliding downwards on the now muddy ground.
Susie clutch
ed on to the overhanging branch for dear life. She couldn’t risk going under again. What the hell was she doing in the water? She hated water! And this stuff was freezing and up to her neck. She repositioned her feet to get a firmer foothold as they started to slip out from under her.
She heard him. Oh George. She was so going to do her best not to drown. But what was he talking about coming in after her? He hated water, too and if he had any idea how cold it was in here …
She still didn’t know how she’d got here. It was as if she’d been on automatic pilot, not completely sure of what her body was doing, where it was taking her.
She winced as that image of George and Porsche flashed into her head. For a moment there she’d seemed to lose her senses, completely overwhelmed by what she saw before her, the words spoken. She gritted her now chattering teeth. Evidently her senses were back. She wasn’t sure she’d needed quite such cold water to bring them back. Or that initial immersion. Surely one of the two would have been enough? She shook her head. The idiot man. The stupid, stupid, idiot man. How on God’s earth had he managed to get himself in that situation – again?
It wasn’t real. She knew that. This was George. Her George. She trusted him. She adjusted her hold on the branch above her head as her grip had been slipping. She saw again the truth and sincerity in his eyes as he reassured her after Porsche’s performance on the show. He couldn’t lie to her. She’d know. And there’d been love in them too, so much which travelled throughout her being along that special internal highway that existed only for him. There may have been nagging doubts there for a while … Events had definitely been playing to her insecurities. But she did trust him. She really did. Whereas she absolutely did not trust Porsche. The scheming witch.
Bloody hell, though. She had to find her way out of this water. Was it a lake? She hoped it wasn’t because they’d have a field day with that one. A pond would be that much more preferable. But not as preferable as a puddle she reflected as her feet began to slide out from under her again. She had to remain calm here and get out of the water without killing herself in the process. She needed to find George before he ended up doing something really stupid.
Even more stupid than letting Porsche into his arms.
The black vegetation all around blew in a squally gust and her face was stung by lashing rain. How much worse could this night get? She took a deep breath and took a tentative step forward. And was instantly submerged.
Oh God! She thrashed and flailed, momentarily managing to get her face above the water to take another breath, but her hands couldn’t find the branch. ‘George!’ she spluttered before going under again. Oh God, George!
‘SUSIE!’ George screamed. Susie …
He sped into the water, determined to keep his momentum going, but the water swallowed up his speed as its icy temperature did his breath. He was wading forward. Freddie was wading forward. They pushed towards their target, but it was taking too long; the black ominous depths, thick and dragging.
Too late. Too late.
Freddie’s desperate thoughts were as one with George’s own. His footing was lost and he found himself within icy clutches. I am not too late! He managed to break free and was back on his feet and surging onwards.
George ditched the near useless and now flickering torch, the water too much for it. His eyes had adjusted to the night in any event. He kept them fixed religiously on the splashing up ahead. As long as she was splashing … He swiped his eyes repeatedly to clear his blurred vision. But it was futile …
Freddie’s tears were relentless and the accompanying sounds of his sobs, torturous.
But George knew they were his, too.
George shook his head frantically. He was losing the terrifying battle with Freddie’s flashbacks. They were merging with the present and – the splashing had stopped!
She wasn’t floating face down in the water, her dress all around her. She wasn’t! He silently screamed. She was ….
‘I’ve got you, sweetheart, I’ve got you,’ he choked out as his desperate lunge forward found Susie just as her head disappeared under the surface again. His arms wrapped around her as he raised her out of the water. Clutching her to him with one arm, the other held her head and face so gently against his shoulder.
But it was as then.
Freddie’s agony was his own.
She was still.
Her skin, cold and wet.
Her eyes closed.
His breath came thick and fast.
He reverently smoothed away smears of mud from her pale cheek.
He moved sodden strands of hair so gently away.
He covered her cold, still face in the gentlest, most tender of butterfly kisses …
He rocked her backwards and forwards in his arms. Oh my angel, my dearest, darl—
But there was warmth …
Now there was warmth. Susie … Oh dear God, Susie … Warmth trickled over the skin of his hand upon her cheek. Silent tears he realised as he followed their tracks with his lips. And now … now she moved. She moved, nestling her face into the palm of his hand.
Susie …
He felt her heart beating so strong and fast against his own. Felt her warm breath against his skin.
The feather-light touches of his lips became desperate, frenzied open-mouthed kisses as the full force of his emotions found their release. And she was responding in kind.
Her eyes opened. They connected. His whole body shook and he couldn’t find his voice.
His mouth found hers and her taste provided him with the laced adrenaline shot he so needed.
She was alive. Oh God, she was alive. And now so was he.
‘Never let me go, my love. I beg of you,’ she sobbed, clutching on to him tightly as her arms wrapped around his neck.
I’m never letting you go. Ever.
He was wading out of the water with her in his arms. His legs were trembling, but he had to get them out of there. As they reached land, George’s shaking legs crumpled. He clutched her even more closely to him if that were at all possible.
She’s safe, Freddie. Now she’s safe.
He was kneeling upon the ground. He had her face cradled between both of his shaking hands. He stared into her eyes, getting yet more of that fix and reassurance he so needed.
‘You idiot. I’ve not told you that yet have I?’ It was half sob, half rasp.
He shook his head as he attempted to calm his heart, still not ready to release those eyes, that connection providing him with his life fuel. ‘No. But tell me again. I need to hear your voice right now.’
‘Idiot. Idiot. Idiot man!’
‘More please. More.’
‘There’s more. But … but … tell me this is a pond!’
‘It’s water. That’s all you need to know, baby.’ His forehead dropped to rest against hers.
‘A lake wouldn’t be—’
He temporarily silenced her words with his mouth. She was alive. Dear God she was alive. Not that he could see himself ever recovering from this. Ever getting enough reassurance as to that fact. He scooped her up into his arms and stood. The primal stuff mercilessly screaming at him would have to wait. She was freezing and her teeth chattering. He had to get her dry and warmed up. If she caught pneumonia he’d—
‘It’s over, George. It’s over.’ Her warm breath whispered against his neck.
He swallowed hard. ‘How about you try to convince me of that in Peru?’
Rachael moved into the coppice of trees to the side of the lake. ‘Suse?’ she called. She’d heard a noise and definitely had one of her feelings. It was a real ring-a-ding-ding one, too. She prayed it didn’t mean something awful has happened to Suse. That Fate had—
She tripped. And was slipping and falling down a slope of some kind and— ‘Crap!’ Th
e cold water hit.
She so wasn’t a fan of history repeating itself! And how could she have possibly known there was a body of water just here? Deep water. She couldn’t get a foothold at all and there was nothing for her flailing arms to grab on to. Cold water. So, so cold. She struggled relentlessly against its downward pull.
Was Suse okay? Oh God. Please let her be. She’d failed her that night, too. Tessa had followed. She’d seen Hannah plunge into the lake. She’d gone in after her and tried to help, but her skirts had got tangled around her legs and weighed her down and—
Why had she decided to wear a long maxi dress tonight? The exact same thing was happening to her now and it had seemed to trip her up.
She closed her eyes. The pain in her lungs. She didn’t think it had been painful last time. Hadn’t she just felt herself sinking into … oblivion? Or perhaps she’d simply chosen to forget the pain? Flaming Nora. This time … oh crap it hurt.
She tried to move her legs but they weren’t cooperating. The fog in her head was becoming a blanket. She needed to breathe …
The cold water engulfed her inside and out.
But she wasn’t falling any more. Why wasn’t she falling? And there was a touch. A blazing touch that spread warmth through every atom of her body. She embraced it, wallowing in its familiarity … Oh my God how good did that feel? It felt so much more than … life. Was this heaven? No, that feeling was too sinful for heaven, but …
‘Breathe, Rach! Damn you, breathe!’
Rob?
She was on her side, emptying her lungs of water. She felt crap. But there was that touch again. It made all the pain go away. Oh God, that touch …
She was on her back and staring up into Rob’s traumatised eyes. Water dripped from his hair and his lashes.
‘Rach?’ He gently moved a strand of her own sodden hair from her face and as his shaking fingers brushed her skin … How could a single touch be soothing, comforting, heavenly … yet hotter than hell?
‘Rachael …’ His voice … There was reverence in the way he said her name but its sound was a caress, inside and out. It reached so deep.
Romancing the Soul Page 35