“Yes,” he said between kisses across her collar bone.
Cindy went still. All of the blood in her body rushed to her head, causing it to roar with pain while the rest of her body mourned the exquisite sensations of a moment ago. In her mind a small part of her screamed with joy. Yes! He loves me! But the realist in her knew it wasn’t that simple. He loves the girl from the ball, he doesn’t know it’s me. He’s lying here about to make love to me telling me he loves me, but he doesn’t know it’s me. He thinks it’s a different woman.
Mustering all the strength she could to keep her voice steady. “Then what are you doing here with me?”
He must have heard the anguish in her voice because he stopped his trail down to her chest leaned up over her. His eyes were unreadable.
A tiny red dot appeared in the center of his forehead.
“Cindy, I…”
Without thinking Cindy placed her hands on Sebastian’s shoulders and pushed as hard as she could. She rolled with him until she was covering him as the world exploded around them. Wood splinters flew as bullets hit the pier around them.
“Hold on to me!” she yelled in his ear to be heard over the gunfire. As soon as his arms went around her she put her knee between his legs and pushed hard, rolling them both over and into the lake.
They splashed into the water, between the dock and the Cessna, just missing the pontoons that kept the plane afloat. Sebastian came up sputtering and Cindy pulled him back down under the water just as a bullet punctured the wing directly above the spot his head had been. She pulled him over just enough so that the next time he came up he was under the pier.
They both came up for air, gasping for breath.
“Holy fuck! They are really shooting at us.” Sebastian gasped out.
“Yeah, that generally happens when there is a contract out on you.” She bit out. “Come on, we’ve got to get out of here. Are you hit? Can you swim?”
“Not hit. I can swim.” He gulped in huge amounts of air between sentences.
“Okay, we are going to the boat house. When we get there, stay in the water between one of the boats and the dock. Do NOT get near the windows or the opening? Got it?” Cindy ordered.
“Got it.”
“Ok. Let’s go.” She sank beneath the water and swam beneath the dock and into the opening in the floor of the boathouse. Within seconds Sebastian was beside her.
The boathouse was bigger than some apartments Cindy had lived in. It had boat slips separated by a narrow wooden dock. One slip housed a powerboat that looked to be about fourteen feet long, the other was the aluminum boat with a small outboard motor Sebastian and Jack had fished in the day before and a dinky rowboat that looked like it had seen better days. Both walls were lined with shelves and hooks teeming with boating and fishing supplies. The two windows were high enough that she could stand without being seen.
“Wait here.” She slid out of the water and crouched on the floor. She motioned for Sebastian to do the same and stay low. It was dark, the only light was that streaming in through the windows and boat opening from the security lights outside. She didn’t dare turn on a light, the shooting had paused for a moment and she knew it would only be seconds before they figured out where they were. The shooter may not venture out into the open, especially with Jack and Gus out there shooting back, but the thin boathouse walls wouldn’t stand up very well to a barrage of bullets. She hoped Jack and Gus could buy enough time for her to get Sebastian clear.
She glanced around in the dark room, her mind racing. The logical choice would be to try to escape in the motorboat.
She glanced at Sebastian crouching on the dock. “Is that thing pretty fast?” she asked, nodding towards the boat.
He grinned. “It’s not built for speed, but it should get us out of here pretty quickly. It’s built for shallow water, so if we got into the shadows we could hug the shoreline to stay hidden.”
“Can it be rigged to go on its own? Can the steering be tied?”
“Yes, but…” Sebastian started, his voice easily conveying his confusion.
“Do it. Stay away from the windows.” She barked her orders, all business. For a moment the memory his body pressing into hers on the pier invaded her mind, but she shook it away. She had to get them both out of here alive, then they could discuss whatever it was between them.
To her surprise, he didn’t argue. He went right to work gathering the materials he needed from the walls and a large storage chest in the corner. While he worked Cindy headed to the back of the dock to the door that led into the front living area of the boathouse. There was a set of bunk beds, a small sofa and a dresser with a small TV and mini fridge.
Being careful to stay low and out of the line of the windows she worked quickly. She lay flat on her stomach and reached under the bottom bunk. Just as she suspected both Jack and Gus had stowed their emergency gear there. She pulled out two black gym bags. She opened and rifled through each of them in turn. She turned up three handguns with a box of ammo each, two knives, two flashlights, and sundry other survival gear.
Unfortunately there weren’t any spare cell phones in the gear. They both had theirs on them. Cindy pulled hers from her pocket, praying for a break, but water dripped from it and it wouldn’t turn on. Useless. She tossed it aside. Her gun must have fallen out in the water, but it probably would have been just as useless as the phone.
She stuck her head back into the boat room. “Do you have a waterproof bag?”
Sebastian, who was in the floor of the boat tying off the rope, wordlessly pointed to the corner chest. She rummaged through it, found what she needed and ran back into the bedroom. She put everything she thought she could carry into the bag, including a couple of bottles of water from the mini fridge. She grabbed a couple of pillows and blankets and went back into the boat room.
Just as she stepped onto the dock the windows in the bedroom shattered behind her.
“Shit!” She screamed. “They found us. Are you done? “
“Almost.” He yelled back over the sound of bullets pelting into the wood outside. While he finished rigging the boat she threw the blankets and pillows into the boat and arranged them on the seats. Outside she could hear four distinctly different guns. The barrage on the boathouse slacked up a little as the shooters defended themselves against Jack and Gus’s return fire.
“Done. “ Sebastian said.
“Good, grab that deflated life raft and throw it over here.” He did as she asked and they arranged it over the seats.
“What the hell are you doing? The bright yellow of the raft will make us easy targets.” He said.
“No, it will make those pillows easy targets, but it will look like we are trying to keep them from getting a clear shot. “ She said, climbing out of the boat.
“It will look like we are crouching beneath the raft to stay out of their line of site, but we won’t actually be in the boat,” he said slowly as if he were beginning to understand it even as he spoke. “We are swimming out of here.”
It wasn’t really a question, so Cindy didn’t answer. Instead she took the gun she’d kept out of the bag and went to the boat opening and leaned out as far as she could without falling. She took careful aim and with four short pops the boathouse and surrounding dock went dark as she shot out the security lights.
“Okay, start the boat.”
Sebastian did as she said and hopped onto the dock just as the boat sped out into the open water towards the middle of the lake. Immediately a barrage of bullets hit the boat. They’d taken the bait, but Cindy and Sebastian weren’t out of the woods yet.
“Come on,” Cindy said into the dark. “We’ve got to get out of here before they figure out we are not on that boat. Take your shoes off and put them in here.” She held the waterproof bag out to him. She followed suit and tucked her shoes and gun into the bag and tied the long strap around her waist. They eased into the water.
“We need to get somewhere secure to hide. Do you thi
nk you can make it across the lake?” She asked Sebastian. Though she knew he was a very strong swimmer she wasn’t sure how tired he might be.
“Yes, but we shouldn’t have to go that far. There is cave about a quarter of a mile to the east. If we get past the house we can stick close to the shoreline. The mouth of the cave is just a few yards off the edge of the lake, but hidden. If you don’t know it’s there, you will never find it.”
“Okay. You lead the way, stay in the shadows as much as you can. Swim underwater in the lighted areas.” She ordered.
They began swimming. They’d only gone about twenty yards when the night exploded with sound and light. Stifling the instinct to scream, Cindy stopped and looked back. Out in the middle of the lake Sebastian’s speedboat was a fireball, bits of burning wreckage floating around it.
“Oh my God!” Sebastian said, stunned. “I really liked that boat.”
The whir of a boat motor broke them both out of their stupor. Someone was out on the lake and on their way towards the wreckage. They had no way of knowing if the inhabitants of the boat were friend or foe.
“Swim!” Cindy urged in a forceful whisper.
Sebastian immediately began gliding through the water in strong, powerful strokes. Cindy followed as closely as she could so she didn’t lose him in the murky darkness. Though she was a strong swimmer and in good shape, she wasn’t used to swimming so far. She was about to throw her pride to the wind and call out for Sebastian to rest a moment when he stopped and pointed to an almost hidden cove a few yards from them.
“Here we are,” he said.
They swam over and found a sandy stretch of beach they could crawl up on. Though she knew they needed to keep moving, Cindy collapsed sand. Her muscles screamed and her lungs ached. While they rested they put on their shoes and Cindy armed herself.
“How far is that cave? Can you find it in the dark?” she asked. Though her eyes had adjusted to the dark, the area they were in was heavily wooded and darker than it had been in the middle of the lake. Though they were quite a ways away from Sebastian’s house and the shooters, she still didn’t feel safe turning on the flashlight out in the open.
“It’s just over there,” he said, pointing into the trees. “I can get us there. Can you walk?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” She said, but let him take her arm to help her up and didn’t protest when the held on to her hand as he led her deeper into the woods. They walked just a few yards until they were in front of a rocky outcropping that blocked them from going any further.
“Here, watch your step,” he said. From the looks of it there wasn’t anywhere to step, but then he took a step and he half disappeared. Cindy strained her eyes and realized he’d stepped down. She followed, they were standing in a very narrow crevice. He shuffled to the side until he was at a junction where the rock hit another facing of rock, then he stepped forward and disappeared completely. Cindy followed and found herself in complete darkness. A moment of fumbling and she flipped on the flashlight she’d gotten out of Jack’s emergency pack and looked around.
They were in a small cave. The ceiling was low and Sebastian had to crouch just a bit. “Just a minute, “he said.
Then she heard the strike of a match and the next thing she knew the room was illuminated. It truly did look like a room, not a cave. It was about eight feet wide and ten feet long with a neatly swept floor with a round rag rug in the center. There was a small shelf of books against one wall, a cushioned rocking chair and small table in the middle of the room. On the table was the gas lantern Sebastian had just lit and against the back wall was a small army cot with a pillow and quilt neatly folded on top.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Surviving the Night
“What the hell is this place?” She asked, full of shock and a little anger.
“This is my sanctuary. I found it when I was a little boy. I used to come here and read. When my mom got worried about me disappearing and was going to forbid me from going into the woods alone, I showed it to her and my father. It was safe enough, so they let me keep coming. Even though I’m grown up now and I live in the lake house when I’m not in the city, sometimes I still need to get away. This is where I come when I need time to myself. Other than my parents I’ve never showed it to anyone. “He sounded a bit like a little boy showing off his secret hideout to his new best friend.
“You know, you really should have told me about this earlier. Someplace like this would be a perfect place for an assassin to set up camp.” She wanted to feel like it was special that he brought her here, but it wasn’t. They were running for their lives. She had to remember that, had to remember her job. She’d been distracted out on the pier and they’d both nearly been killed.
He ignored her annoyed tone and began taking off his shirt. “Look, this place wasn’t a risk. You have to know what you are looking for to find it. I wasn’t worried. And see, it’s just as I left it. No assassins. We are safe here.”
Cindy stared at his bare chest. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting dry.” He tossed the blanket from the cot. “I suggest you do the same. You also might want to turn around.” Without further warning he turned his back to her and stripped off his jeans.
Cindy whirled around. Get it together, Ashe! She chided herself. Now was not the time to go weak kneed. He was right, they would be more comfortable dry and they were safe enough now that she could take a little time to figure out what to do.
She stripped off her shirt and sweatpants, but opted to leave on her underwear. They’d dry fast enough. She wrapped the blanket firmly around her and turned around cautiously. Sebastian was lounging on the cot, his back against the cave wall. He was wearing a clean, dry pair of jean shorts and a faded and holey black t-shirt with “Star Wars” printed cross the front in faded, barely readable letters. He laughed at her puzzled look. “I keep clothes in that,” he pointed to a footlocker she’d missed earlier. “I camp out here quite a bit. Here,” he tossed a t-shirt to her.
The t-shirt was light faded blue, but had clearly been darker in its early years. There had been lettering on it at one point, but it was so faded it was impossible to tell what it said. The shirt had seen better days. “I guess you stay rich by not buying new clothes,” she quipped.
“Hey, don’t knock the clothes. They are a hell of a lot more comfortable than the crap I have to wear in public.”
“I get that,” she said. And, she did. She hated wearing suits and dresses for high profile assignments. She was most comfortable in jeans or cargo pants, a t-shirt and boots or sneakers. “Besides, I doubt looking like a Star Wars geek would be good for your millionaire playboy image. Now, close your eyes so I can put this on.”
He shot her that thousand watt grin. “I’m a man of many layers. “ Then he did as he was told and closed his eyes. She quickly pulled the t-shirt on. She was so much smaller than him that it fell to her mid-thigh, so she tossed the blanket back on the cot and let him open his eyes.
Sebastian lounged on the cot while she emptied the contents of the waterproof bag on the small table. In addition to the guns and ammo she’d grabbed four energy bars and two bottles of water. Not much in the way of survival gear, but hopefully they wouldn’t need much.
With any luck the Bauers thought Cindy and Sebastian had died in the boat explosion and wouldn’t be searching for them. Unfortunately, that also meant Jack, Gus, and Faye also thought they were dead, assuming Jack and Gus survived the firefight. Cindy’s cell phone had been in her pocket when they rolled into the water. It was useless. Even if she could dry it out, there was no way she’d be able to pick up a signal inside the cave. They had no way of finding out what exactly had happened at the house or of letting anyone know they were alive.
She slipped outside to do a quick recon of the area. She was happy to note that once outside she couldn’t see the light from the lantern, no matter where she stood, and as long as they kept their voices low sound wouldn’t travel out either. Even if s
omeone ventured right next to the rock wall, they wouldn’t know anyone was inside.
As much as she hated to admit it, Sebastian had done the right thing by bringing her to the cave. If they’d swam across the lake, as she’d intended, they would have been out in the open with nowhere to rest or hide. The old sawmill was much further away than the cave, and probably wasn’t safe to spend the night in. They would have had to keep moving and tried to make it several miles to a populated area. The safest thing for them to do now would be to stay in the cave until dawn. She had no way of knowing if the shooters would still be out there, but at least daylight would give them a fighting chance.
When Cindy stepped back into the cave, Sebastian was still sitting on the cot, his face a little pale. She tossed him an energy bar and bottle of water. “Eat that, but ration the water. It has to last you until sometime tomorrow. We will rest here tonight and then try to get back to the house in the morning. “
Sebastian took the food, wordlessly, and began eating. Cindy grabbed an energy bar and the other bottle of water for herself and settled into the rocking chair to eat it. She had to admit, he had made a comfortable little area for himself, though she couldn’t imagine how he’d managed to get the furniture into the cave.
“I can’t believe they blew up my boat.” Sebastian said, flatly.
“I’m sure you can afford a new one,” Cindy shot back. Seriously? They had nearly been killed and were still in danger and he was worried about his boat.
“They blew up my boat. They thought we were in it and they blew it up,” he continued, as if he hadn’t heard her.
Cindy turned and looked at him, really looked this time. He was still sitting in the same position he’d been in since they had changed clothes. He sat with his back against the cave wall, the water bottle rested against his thigh, and stared straight ahead at the wall opposite without appearing to really see it. He was ashen under his tan.
Unmasked (Godmother Security Book 1) Page 11