Escape (5 page)

Carrying the equipment outside, she dumped it all onto the floor of the truck with everyone else’s and pulled
herself
in after. She took her place on the bench running along the edges of the vehicle, squashed between Stacy and a big, overwei
ght guy who wasn’t wearing a shirt
.

“Hey, I’m Paulie,” the man introduced himself, holding out a large, meaty hand.

“Lucy,” she said, giving his hand a brief shake and trying not to react to his slightly sweaty grip.

A bar ran overhead, so
she reached up and grabbed hold.

The truck started up with a jolt and Lucy’s grip tightened on the bar. She hung on as the vehicle headed up the hill.

The wind b
lew her hair back from her face
and the sunshine warmed her skin. Everyone either chatted to each other, or simply watched the beautiful scenery go by. The atmosphere was relaxed and happy, and Lucy felt good to be part of it.

She clung on tight as the truck bumped and jolted over the terrible roads. A large bump
jumped her right off the bench
and she screamed with nervous laughter, joining the rest of them.

The truck headed deeper into the island. A canopy of lush green vegetation hung down around them, creating a thick shade, as though they were driving through the middle of the jungle.

Eventually, the vehicle emerged from the thick island vegetation, rising over a hill and heading down into the port. The main street ran up from the dock. A small supermarket, a bakery, numerous diving shops, and several clothes shops aimed at the super-cool, back-packing, surfer-types that were attracted to the island, lined the street. This road, at least, had been paved.

The port spread out before them and
,
docked in the water, was a beautiful, sixty foot motor boat. The boat was all white, except for the name, Turtle View Resort, painted
on the side in turquoise. A
tattooed turtle
had been painted
just above the name.

The boat bobbed gently against the pier
.

Lucy’s smile widened. It almost seemed a shame to have to jump off the boat. She would have been more than happy to pay the same amount of money to spend the day sun-bathing on deck. Of course, she didn’t intend on letting anyone else know that, especially not the two dive inst
ructors. She hated to look as though
she was out of her depth.

The truck pulled up in the small car park. Hauling the gear, they climbed out of the back of the SUV. Following Rudy, they all walked up the dock and climb
ed on board, each exclaiming about
its size and beauty. Th
e boat was as gorgeous up-close
as it had been from afar.

Rudy took the helm. Lucy found herself a spot on the bow of the boat and pulled some suntan lotion from her bag. She tried to preoccupy herself with covering herself in lotion, but she couldn’t help sneaking glances at Rudy.

He stared straight ahead, watching the expanse of water stretching out before them as he artfully guided the big boat. Wraparound sunglasses covered his eyes and Lucy took advantage of her own sunglasses to hide where her gaze landed.

She willed him to turn his head and smile at her, anything to show he had noticed her existence. There was no reason why he should; she was no different than any of the other women on the boat, most of whom would also love to have Rudy’s attention for more than a minute. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling he had noticed her.

Lucy shook her head and tore her attention away from him, looking
out to sea. It was stupid to lose
her head over some guy, but she found she looked forward to every glance, relishing every moment, every word
,
he offered her.

The shore grew fa
rther away
.
Lucy started to wonder if this dive was going to be in the middle of the ocean, but then Rudy swung the boat around and started to trace the coastline. All too quickly, they reached a quiet cove and moored the boat. The ocean change
d
color, a line drawn across the water, from a light turquoise to dark cobalt, where the reef started and the sand floor finished.

Rudy drop
ped
anchor on the sandy part and then walked back around to the small group waiting for him. Rachel followed him around, but Rudy didn’t seem to notice. Lucy still couldn’t help the little sparks of jealously when they had their heads bent together over t
he equipment and
laughed at a shared joke.

“Right, people,” Rudy said, straightening up from his equipment. “We’re in fairly shallow water and where we’ve moored is pretty close to the dive site. The reason we’ve dropped anchor here is because the dive site is a living coral reef and dropping anchor on it kills it. But there are other things that kill coral, such as divers breaking pieces off for souvenirs or standing on it. So keep your fins away from the coral, guys. The slightest touch can kill off whole colonies.”

The group started to get their equipment together and
the first flickers of nerves jostled inside Lucy’s stomach
. She hoped she wouldn’t panic underwater; she was prone to panicking in confined spaces.

Rudy approached her, a smile on his face. “Still excited?” he asked.

She pulled the weight belt around her waist and snapped it shut. “Sure. And a little nervous,” she admitted.

“That’s normal, but there is nothing to worry about—I’ll look after you.”

A little thrill of excitement hitched her heart. Was he flirting with her? Surely he was flirting with her. Her cheeks flushed and she looked down, pretending to adjust her belt.

“Do you need a hand with that?” he offered.

“No, no. I’m fine,” she said, flustered. The thought of his hands anywhere close to her body made her head swim. How did he affect her so much?

“So, do we have to do the whole ‘j
umping off of the boat backward
’ thing?” she asked. “I’m definitely nervous about that.”

He laughed. “No, not if you don’t want to. You can climb down the ladder or just step off the side.”

She bent down and started to pull on the cumbersome fins, but he stopped her
with a touch of his hand on her arm, sending goose bumps coursing down her skin
.

“Leave them off until the last minute. It will make your life easier when you’re walking to the side of the boat.”

Rudy crossed the boat to get his own gear. Rachel was immediately by his side and Lucy snuck in glances, noting the number of times she touched his arm or shoulder to get his attention, and how she stripped down to her tiny bikini right in front of him. How could he not fancy her? She had curves in all the right places. Lucy was all arms and legs and her chest barely filled out her swimsuit.

She forced herself to look away. She had no right to be jealous; she had no claim on him. The guy was just doing his job by looking after her. It wasn’t his fault she didn’t have any friends.

The people around her started to pull on air tanks; their buddies holding the weight that would disappear once they were in the water. They all ran through the safety checks necessary before each and every dive. Rudy was strong and used to the tanks, and had pulled his own equipment on easily enough, but he took the time to run through the safety checks with Lucy.

“We need to go first,” he told her as he guided Lucy over to the back of the boat, her fins under one arm. “That way one instructor is in the water and one is on board.”

“Oh, okay. Sure.”

She desperately wanted to look confident and elegant in the water, but it was impossible with this amount of kit on. Awkwardly, she sat on the edge of the boat and once again started to pull on the fins. Her feet felt tight and uncomfortable inside the rubber, but when Rudy asked her if she was ready she smiled and nodded.

Lucy got to her feet and shuffled toward him. He held out his arm to help her onto the side of the boat, but as she tried to lift her right flipper, it caught on the edge and she stumbled against him.

He caught her in his strong arms, her cheek resting momentarily against his warm chest.

“Hey, you al
l
right?”

“Yeah, of course.”
She straightened up, pushing herself away from him, still feeling like an uncoordinated penguin. His hand still touched her arm and it burned her skin like fire.

Rudy supported her air tanks. She climbed onto the side of the boat and he climbed up after her.

“You need to hold your mouthpiece in with one hand,” he
told her, “and just step off
the side. Don’t feel you actually have to jump. Okay?” Lucy nodded, trying to be brave. “I’ll go first so you’ve got someone in the water.”

Effortlessly, he twis
ted around and stepped backward
off the boat, plunging into the clear blue water. He submerged for only a moment, before bobbing to the surface again
. He
removed his mouth piece.

“Ready?” he called
, beckoning her down.

Not pausi
ng long enough to have time to think,
Lucy took a deep breath, held her mouthpiece in with one hand, squeezed her eyes shut and stepped off the edge.

The cool water hit her like a shock. Water rushed around her ears, loud and disorientating, and she thought she might sink to the bottom. But she kicked her legs, using the fins, and powered back up, bursting to the surface.

She pulled
off her face mask
and, treading water, wiped her eyes. Then she touched the top of her head, remembering the signal to show that she was all right after entering the
water. Up above
, others were lining up on the edge of the boat, waiting to take their turn. Rudy nodded at her and motio
ned to the dive
line about half
way down the side of the boat. Lucy swam over to it, getting out of the way.

The others splashed around
them
, all bobbing in the water. To stop her mask clouding up when she was underwater, Lucy spat in the mas
k and rinsed it out in the sea
.

Rudy was to go down first, with Lucy to follow. She c
ould feel her heart thumping
and she w
as aware of Rudy, facing
the rest of her body, as he pulled himself beneath the surface and down the line. She braced herself, took a few practice breaths through her regulator, and then pulled herself under.

Hand over hand, she went down the line and her head submerged. She concentrated on her breathing, taking slow, careful breaths in and out, once again fighting the natural
urge to hold her breath. A sharp pain pierced deep inside her ears and she did as she had been instructed and held her nose, blowing against it to
equalise
her ears. Already, small colorful fish darted in front of her eyes and they weren’t even over the reef yet.

At twenty-feet down, Rudy left the line and swam out. He turned back to her and held out a hand, beckoning her to follow. Behind him, the reef stretched upward, its tall coral structures protruding from the ground like some weird alien landscape.

Lucy let
go of the line and followed
. The fins gave her legs new power, driving her through the water. Rudy put his thumb and forefinger together,
okay?
She mirrored his sign back.

Shoals of bright blue, tiny fish swam before her eyes. Angel fish elegantly darted back and forth. Bright pink anemones’ tentacles swirled in the current, clown fish peeping out of their bodies.