Escape

by M. K. Elliott

  ESCAPE

  eBook Edition

  ISBN 978-0-9869354-4-2

  Copyright © 2011 M.K. Elliott

  RH Publishing

  P.O. BOX 651193, STERLING VA, 20165-1193

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

  Publisher’s Note

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Lucy Grey bolted upright in bed, gasping. Her fingers knotted in the plain white sheets, her clammy skin sticking to the material. Instinctively, she turned to the side, releasing the sheets to reach out beside her. Her hand dropped off the side of the single bed, not touching the warm body she’d expected to find beside her.

  Of course, she remembered, I’m not in my own bed.

  Lucy sunk back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling fan, which spun with a low thrum, washing tepid air over her body. The boy’s terrified face and the flash of the knife filled her head and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to dispel the dream.

  From outside came the bright twitter of bird song and the gentle shush of waves hitting the shore. Lucy took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She was so used to waking to the sound of London traffic; this acoustic background reminded her she was supposed to be in paradise. Bright sunlight streamed through the small window; another reminder she’d left the grey streets of the city far behind.

  The sheets were damp beneath her, her whole body coated in a thin sheen of sweat—a combination of the humid air and her nightmare. She needed to take a shower.

  Glancing at the small travel clock on her bedside table, the LED figures blinked 6:45. It was early, but her body clock still needed to adjust after the long flight and subsequent boat trip over to the island. Beside the clock, a pamphlet caught her attention. Pictures of colorful fish and people in scuba gear adorned the front cover.

  Her stomach flipped in nervous anticipation. She had booked her first dive lesson for that morning. This was the point of her trip—other than escaping her old life for a while—she planned to learn how to dive.

  Lucy rolled onto her side, fishing beside her bed for the bottle of water she had left on the floor. Her fingers grasped the plastic bottle and she unscrewed the top and took a long swig. Lukewarm water flooded her mouth and she grimaced at the taste. She needed to face the world and find something decent to eat and drink.

  But she didn’t intend on going out looking, and smelling, like this.

  Lucy climbed off of the bed and swung open her suitcase. She pulled out a change of clothes—a simple white vest-top and a blue printed skirt that was her favorite—and headed to the shower.

  The hot water tap did nothing to the frigid temperature of the shower, but she didn’t care.

  The cold water coursed down her hot skin, taking with it all of the dirt and grime of the last two days’ traveling. She’d gotten in so late the previous night, she’d only managed to check into the resort before collapsing into bed.

  Lucy lifted her face and let the water drum her cheeks and forehead and run through her hair. The shower was refreshing and exhilarating and she stepped out feeling more alive than she had in months.

  She dressed quickly, making sure she wore her swimsuit under her clothes, and ran a comb through her damp blonde hair, pulling it back into a top knot. Standing in front of the mirror, she rubbed concealer into the dark circles beneath her eyes, hoping the make-up would help disguise her exhaustion. Weeks had passed since she’d been able to sleep without nightmares propelling her into wakefulness and it showed on her face.

  Stepping out of her room and onto the stone balcony, she looked up and her breath fell away. The view was spectacular. A bright blue sea, only enhanced by the occasional white horse and a distant small fishing boat, met the equally blue sky. Palm trees stood motionless in the still air and the sun shone down, hot and white. The resort appeared to be deserted, most of the guests still asleep.

  It was exactly how she had imagined it when she’d spontaneously walked into the travel agency on the East London high street. The agency had a poster of the island hung on the back wall, advertising Thailand. With absolutely no idea what she was doing, she had pointed to the poster and told the young girl sitting behind the desk that that was where she wanted to go.

  “Oh, Thailand is wonderful,” the girl (who barely looked old enough to be out by herself, never mind having actually been out of the country) gushed. “The country is so diverse. You’ve got Northern Thailand, which is all forest and mountains for trekking, or you could go to Bangkok for a city break, or of course you could do the traditional beach holiday.”

  “I want to go there,” Lucy repeated, still pointing at the poster. “I mean that actual island. I want to go to that island.”

  Lucy knew what had drawn her to the place. Other than the small wooden dock and a few huts dotted around, the island looked deserted.

  “Oh,” the girl said, surprised. “Right.”

  She stood up and turned to the poster.

  “The photograph is of an island called Koh Toa,” she said, reading the small print at the bottom. “It’s not too far from the main islands, Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan, but it’s much smaller. It says here the island is a Mecca for divers.” She turned back to Lucy, the look of surprise still on her face. “Are you a diver?”

  Lucy couldn’t help laughing. “No! God, no.”

  But then she thought about it and realized it could be exactly where she needed to be; underwater, completely hidden from the rest of the world.

  So now here she was. One very long flight, one overnight train and one ferry later, she was in Koh Toa and her home for the next two weeks: Turtle View Resort.

  Lucy stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the place she had chosen to run to. The resort was less of a hotel and more of a collection of wooden huts on a hillside, surrounded by palm trees. Individual huts were nestled between the trees and steep steps were cut into the rock leading up to them. Each hut had its own little balcony, also cut into the stone. The effect was simple, but beautiful.

  With a lighter step, she made her way down the carved steps and headed down to the reception and bar area. Bamboo covered the roof of the wooden building and benches served as tables. The bar area ran down to a narrow beach of white sand. More benches stood on the sand, their sturdy legs sinking into the fine grains. The ocean lapped at the shore only feet from the tables.

  A young Thai man stood behind the bar, wiping glasses, and he gave Lucy a bright smile of white teeth. Lucy smiled back and found herself a table. A small plastic menu sat, propped up on the table in front of her. It had simple, traditional Thai food on one page—Pad Thai noodles, chilli prawns, fish cakes—and sandwiches, burgers and chips, on the next. She scanned the list of meals, smiling at some of the translations: ‘Coconut Braises the Chicken Leg’ and ‘Fried Beef Rice with Scorn’.

  Luckily, the breakfast menu translations were more obvious and, when the Thai man approached her to take her order, she opted for coffee, orange juice and an omelette.

  She had brought a novel with her for protection, but she didn’t pick the book up, admiring the view instead.

  Gradually, the restaurant started to fill up. The other guests were all
relaxed, with tanned limbs and flimsy clothing. Their easy laughter and care-free attitude made Lucy hurt in a strange, sickly way deep in her throat. She could have been one of these girls once upon a time, only now too much time had passed—too much life had passed—for her to go back to a more innocent time. Even though she was only twenty-eight, she suddenly felt impossibly old and frumpy.

  Her omelette arrived, gooey and cheesy, with buttered toast accompanying the eggs. After downing several cups of strong coffee, she felt stronger and more like herself.

  But the food didn’t stop her nerves about the induction. She only had another half hour before the class started and so she picked up her novel, hoping to lose herself in the story for awhile.

  “You’re new here, aren’t you?” a male voice asked her.

  Startled, Lucy looked up from her book. A man stood in front of her. He was tall, at least six-feet, with tanned, toned forearms and a broad chest. His brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight and he flashed her a grin that dimpled his cheeks and creased the corners of his eyes. Dark hair was shorn close to his head, and she knew if she touched his head it would feel as soft as mole skin.

  Wow, this guy was cute.

  A spark of excitement raced through her, quickly accompanied by a pang of guilt.

  “Errr, yes, I just got here yesterday,” she said, finding her voice. “Is the pale skin so obvious?”

  He laughed and something in her chest tightened.

  “Are you coming to the induction in the morning?” he asked.

  “Sure. Have you been to it yourself?”

  He grinned, “A few times. I teach it.”

  She took a long, embarrassed gulp from her glass of juice.

  “Great,” she said, though she was immediately haunted by images of herself floundering around in the swimming pool with a face mask and breathing equipment, and lumbering around with oxygen tanks strapped to her back. She had never been the most coordinated of people and she could only imagine how humiliating that was going to be.

  “My name’s Rudy,” he said, pulling out a chair and sitting down opposite her.

  “I’m Lucy,” she said, her cheeks flushing. She wasn’t used to getting attention. Being this gorgeous man’s focus made her nervous.

  “How do you like Turtle View?”

  She looked out toward the ocean, trying to ignore how her heart suddenly pattered in her chest. “It’s beautiful. What’s not to like?”

  For a moment she thought he was almost too perfect, but then she noticed the slight bump and scar across the bridge of his nose, the small gap between his front teeth, the lines around his eyes. She’d taken him for his mid-twenties, but on a second glace, she realized he was older, in his thirties, at least.

  They were interrupted by the roar of an SUV pulling up beside reception, the name of the resort painted on the side. A woman about Lucy’s age jumped out of the driver’s side.

  Her long dark hair was still damp and tousled from the sea water. She wore a red vest top with the name of the resort printed across her ample chest and a pair of cream, very short shorts. She was small, but perfectly formed, and she knew it.

  She spotted Rudy sitting at the table and lifted a hand in a half-wave, then headed over to them.

  As she approached, she gave Lucy a brief flick of her eyes and then stood at the end of the table, twisting her body around, so her back was to Lucy. She leaned with one hand on their table, the other lightly touching Rudy’s bare shoulder.

  “Hey, there you are,” she said. Lucy heard a strong Australian twang. “I thought you’d finally had enough and run off?”

  He looked up at her, his brown eyes squinting in the sun. “No chance of that.” He turned his attention back to Lucy.

  “Lucy, this is Rachel, one of the dive instructors,” he said. “Rachel, this is Lucy.”

  Rachel turned her head and gave Lucy a briefest smile, which didn’t quite manage to reach her eyes, and then turned back to Rudy. She reached back and pulled her hair around to the front, twisting it so her hair fell down one side of her body. Lucy saw the intricate red, yellow and orange Koi fish tattooed on the back of one shoulder.

  This was the type of woman that instantly intimidated Lucy. Rachel was gorgeous, confident and obviously knew her place in the world. In short, she was everything Lucy aspired to be.

  Rachel stuck out one hip and placed a tanned hand on it. “So I take it you’re coming tonight?” she asked Rudy.

  “Of course, don’t I always?”

  She smiled at him. “Great. I’ll see you later then.” And she sashayed away with Rudy watching her go.

  Lucy glanced down at the table, studying her fingers. Though obviously this guy had no interest in her other than a professional one, she couldn’t help but feel as if she shouldn’t be talking to him.

  Not that you are interested, she told herself. Not when you’re supposed to have a boyfriend at home.

  The guilt twisted inside her again and she thought back to the day, a little over a week ago, when she had come home with travel tickets in hand, to tell her boyfriend Max that she was going to Thailand for two weeks. When he asked when she was leaving and she named a date three days away, he pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at her as though he didn’t recognize her anymore.

  Then he simply said, ‘oh, right,’ as though she had told him she was going to take a shower instead of leaving the country without him for two weeks. He had barely spoken to her since.

  That had been the worst of it; the cold silence. There was none of the ‘but what about me? What about your job? What the hell do you want to go there for?’ Instead, he acted as though she had already left, and so she had done just that.

  She supposed he had seen it coming after the night she’d come home from the hospital. Maybe he’d seen she had changed—that they had changed—and he was expecting her to do something crazy.

  Except Lucy never did anything crazy.

  “If you’re not doing anything tonight,” Rudy said, dragging her thoughts back to the present, “there’s a bit of a barbeque going on down here on the beach.”

  “Oh, right.”

  Her words echoed those of her boyfriend’s a week ago.

  Was he telling her about the barbeque out of courtesy? Did he tell every guest? Or was the barbeque the thing Rachel had been talking about? Rachel had not actually been reminding him of the romantic little soiree Lucy imagined she had planned for him.

  “So do you think you’ll come?” he probed, searching her face for the answer.

  “Sure, I guess so.”

  “Great,” he said, getting to his feet. “Better get a move on. The class will be starting soon.” He gave her another smile and walked away, heading past the reception and into the office behind.

  Checking her watch, Lucy finished her juice and headed toward the hut where the induction was being carried out. Her heart picked up a beat and she tugged at her skirt and vest-top, knowing she was about to walk into a room with Rudy standing at the front of it.

  She walked in, not to find Rudy standing at the front of the class; but Rachel.

  Lucy offered her a smile, but Rachel ignored her.

  Gradually, the room started to fill up and Lucy found herself a seat near the back, sinking down into the cheap plastic. She wondered if she should have brought a note pad along or something, but then saw no one else even had as much as a pen.

  “G’day, guys,” Rachel started. “My name’s Rachel and I’m going to assume your presence in this class means none of you have any diving experience. Is that right?”

  A murmur went up around the class and heads were shaking.

  “Okay. Well, for the most part, diving is a safe sport, as long as you listen to the rules and do exactly as I say. If you’re planning on fooling around in my class, you can leave right now. I’m here to teach you to dive, but more importantly, I’m here to keep you safe. Got it?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “The first thing you need
to learn is your equipment. Once you know what everything is called, then you can learn how each piece works. Only once you know the basics, will I let you anywhere near the water.”

  The list of equipment seemed endless, but Rachel commanded the group’s attention. The men in the group watched her with their mouths hanging open, though the women they were with were not quite so welcoming. Lucy saw them delivering the occasional elbow nudge and stern stare to their men.

  Rachel moved onto buoyancy and the hand signals which were to be used beneath the surface, but Lucy found her mind wandering back to the broad shoulders and brown eyes that had interrupted her breakfast.

  Where was Rudy? Hadn’t he said he taught this class?

  When the group had a five minute break, Lucy plucked up the courage to approach Rachel.

  “Hey Rachel,” she said. “I thought Rudy taught this class?”

  She had hoped it would just sound like a casual question, but the woman turned to her with a flash in her blue eyes.

  “You can’t just come to the class hoping to pick up men,” she snarled. “Diving is about more than that.”

  Lucy reared back in shock. “No. That isn’t what I meant. I was just asking because he said...”

  But she wouldn’t let Lucy finish. Instead, she turned away, dismissing her as though she was a child, and then spoke to the group.

  “Right guys,” Rachel said, loudly, clapping her hands together. “You’re never going to know what it really feels like until you’ve been there. So if everyone is ready, I suggest we head to the pool.”

  Lucy felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. What had she done to deserve such a rebuke?

  “Are you okay?”

  Lucy turned at the sound of the voice, to see a girl she recognized from the boat trip over to the island, looking at her expectantly.

  “Sorry?” she said, surprised someone was talking to her. The girl was pretty—dark eyes and short dark hair. She had the kind of skinny, tanned look most of these travelers seemed to sport.