Drake Sisters 04 - Dangerous Tides

the wind. Swearing, he reached for the rope. Libby could drown for all he cared. He was going to leave her there to die. If by some miracle she survived, well, she was trapped and he could come back and finish her off at his leisure.

    He couldn't find the rope. He stumbled around, fighting down panic, his arms spread wide, hoping to walk into it. The chamber was not that large. There was no rope and no Libby.

    Although noises seemed muffled in the fog, when he stood very still, he could sort through the various sounds. The ocean was building up its fury, the waves crashing hard, each one higher than the last. He heard soft, ragged breathing. Feminine voices. A siren's call to lure him to his doom.

    Sam remained still. There was something else. Footsteps above them, heavy, running. A voice calling out.

    Libby heard it, too. She had to warn him. Tyson had survived the burning house and he was looking for her. She broke away from the far side of the wall and ran for the middle of the chamber, uncaring that she put herself in danger. She would not let Sam kill Tyson. "Stay away, Ty! Stay out of here."

    Sam tackled her from behind, using her voice to guide him through the stinging mist. He covered her mouth with his hand, pressing hard, holding her down. "Down here, Ty. Libby fell and I can't get her out.
    She's hurt and the tide is rising fast."

    Libby bit his hand hard, but he held on grimly, refusing to let her warn Tyson. Sam managed to get to his knees, his hand clamped tightly on her mouth, the other pressed around her waist. She drove her elbow into his solar plexus, tried to snap a fist into his groin, but he twisted and the blow fell on his thigh.

    He began to walk backward on his knees, taking her with him, dragging her through the swirling mist toward the elongated hole in the cliff. The roar of the water hit them hard, this time knee deep, slamming through the cave, reverberating throughout loudly enough to hurt their ears. Because they were so low to Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    the ground, the force drove them both over, facedown, the water rushing over their heads and rolling them over.

    Sam never once let go, his fingers digging hard into her face. He tried to let the water carry them closer to the entrance as it retreated, leaving them both shivering with cold. Libby grabbed at anything she could to slow Sam down, kicking and fighting every step. He knew the direction now, knew exactly where he could hurtle her into the roiling sea in spite of the thick fog.

    "Libby?"

    She renewed her efforts to fight. Tyson was close. Too close. She was certain he had found the rope.
    She made as much noise as she could, struggling against Sam's strength. He lifted her right off the ground so that her feet dangled in the air. She kicked out toward the wall of rock, driving them over backward so that Sam fell, still clutching her to him.

    The hand came out of the mist. Fingers closed on Libby's arm and jerked hard. "Let her go, you son of a bitch. What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tyson's face emerged, skin streaked black, clothes covered in soot and smelling of smoke.

    "I'm trying to save her life," Sam snapped, shoving Libby so hard she slammed into Tyson, knocking him off balance so that he staggered backward.

    Tyson clamped his hands around Libby's waist and took her with him, thrusting her directly behind his larger body the moment he was stable. "I realized a couple of things when I was running through the house to get to you, Sam. Libby and I talked about being in the house I bought a couple of days ago right in front of you and you didn't say a word. You knew about the house before I told you." His voice almost broke.

    Tyson still didn't want to believe the truth, not even now, when it was staring him in the face. He looked at his cousin. Sam. The one person in his life who had truly loved him. Truly cared. The one person he had grown up counting on—and yes, loving back. It wasn't just his heart hurting. Everything hurt. His throat felt raw and tears burned behind his eyes. A part of him wanted to smash everything around him, and another part wanted to cry forever. "But more importantly, I found methoxyethanol in the lab. It's a solvent, but not one I've ever used. I didn't buy it, Sam. And it smells like chloroform and also garlic, both of which I smelled in the helicopter before I went out on the rope. It would take about half an hour to