Then I realized I was probably dying one way or the other, so I began to scream at the top of my lungs, praying with all my might that someone was near, that someone would reach me in time. “Help! She’s going to kill me!”
All this did was make Diane even angrier and even more determined to kill me quickly. She hobbled back to her feet. “Thanks for making this so easy, Angie,” she growled with animal-like anger in her eyes.
We hadn’t reached the end of the pier, but apparently we were close enough. She kicked me in the ribs again and again, forcing me to the edge.
“No, please stop!” I screamed as loud as I could into the empty night.
Much to my surprise, Diane did pause for a moment, regarding me from above with not the slightest flash of pity in her eyes. “You had the chance to stop this, but you just kept digging into things that were none of your business. This isn’t my fault. It’s yours.”
And with that, she swooped down and pushed me with both hands. It was enough to send me rolling straight off the pier and into the unforgiving ocean below.
I sucked in a deep breath just before I hit the water, just before the darkness of the churning waves pushed me under.
Well, that settled that question. Now I knew…
I was definitely going to die.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Two near-death experiences within one week has got to be some kind of a record. Then again, time was ticking, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold on. No, I probably wouldn’t survive being pulled down into the undertow of Deadman’s Wharf. They called it Deadman’s Wharf for a reason, after all.
And if they ever did manage to find my body, it would be far from the first they’d recovered from this perilous stretch of sea.
Diane would be long gone by then.
I thrashed my arms and legs, but only sunk deeper below the waves. The salt of the ocean water stung all my fresh wounds, blinding me with a fresh onslaught of pain. I held my breath past the point of comfort, even as panic overtook me completely. I knew that the first inhalation of sea water would be the thing that ultimately killed me.
But I also knew I didn’t want to die.
No matter how much the odds were stacked against me, I had to keep fighting to survive. So I continued to thrash and hope against hope as the dark depths drew me deeper and deeper into their embrace.
As my brain began to starve from the lack of oxygen, the pain also started to fall away. My body felt lighter, warmer, almost as if it was rising back toward the surface. More likely, though, was that I had died without noticing the exact moment of my demise, and now God was lifting me to Heaven. I even saw a light shining right in my eyes.
And it hurt.
Which meant…
Was I safe now?
I finally gasped for air, unable to hold my breath for even a second longer. The overwhelming pain surged again. It was truly amazing the human capacity for pain. Somehow, I was still finding new ways to hurt, even in the final moments before my death.
I coughed and sputtered, expelling the mistakenly inhaled water in big bursts. A cold chill overtook my entire body when just seconds ago I’d felt warm and peaceful. Even though it felt as if they were weighted down by heavy blocks, I managed to open my eyes just long enough to notice I wasn’t underwater anymore.
Somebody pulled me up and onto the pier, and somebody else climbed up after. Had he been the one to pull me to the surface?
I didn’t have time to figure out their identities, because everything went dark again as I lost consciousness.
Yes, again.
Yes, that makes three times so far this week.
This was by far the worst, though.
My throat was on fire as I vomited lava onto the ground beside me. At least that’s what it felt like.
Nan’s voice was the first I discerned from the jumble surrounding me. “That’s right, dear. Cough it all out.”
I took her advice and coughed and coughed until it didn’t hurt quite so bad. When I opened my eyes to see who had saved me, I came face to face with a set of amber eyes glinting in the darkness as they regarded me with pity.
No, not pity. Fear.
Octo-Cat’s entire body shook, and I didn’t think it was from the dampness of his fur or the chilliness of the night. “I thought I’d lost you now, too,” he said between panicked kitty breaths.
“I’m okay,” I said, reaching out to pet him. My hand came away soaked, making me wonder if he’d jumped in after me despite his hatred of any water that didn’t come from an Evian bottle.
I continued to stroke him until his labored breathing became gentler and was ultimately drowned out by the beautiful, contented sound of his rumbling purr.
“Diane Fulton,” I ground out, sputtering even still. “Did she get away?”
A familiar pair of strong arms lifted me to a sitting position and wrapped a shiny insulated blanket over my shoulders. “We got her,” the police officer said with a reassuring smile. Seeing as he was just as drenched as I was, I assumed this was the brave man who had jumped in to save me before Deadman’s Wharf could claim me forever.
Nan appeared at my side, sitting right down on the pier and crossing her legs like we were at a slumber party and not a rescue mission. “That was good thinking, calling your iPad,” she told me, careful to leave out any direct references to Octo-Cat I noticed. “We were able to record our end of the line and gave it to the police as evidence. And her intention to kill you,” Nan revealed, rubbing my shoulder over the insulated blanket. “It was just awful to listen to, especially when the call went silent.”
My heart clenched, reimagining tonight’s events from poor Nan’s perspective. Luckily she was a tough, old kook, and I seemed to be okay now.
“Of course, you’re going to need to buy me a new iPad now,” Octo-Cat added, pushing his way under the blanket with me. “And seeing all you put me through tonight, you might have to make that two iPads.”
“You did the right thing,” the officer told Nan. “Your quick thinking saved your daughter’s life.”
“Oh, granddaughter, actually.” Nan giggled and coquettishly twirled a ringlet as she looked the officer up and down. The officer, who was way, way too young for her to be flirting with. “What’s your name again?”
Some things never changed, and thank goodness for that.
“Officer Damon Bouchard, ma’am.” He smiled kindly at her, but I felt Nan stiffen beside me at the polite nickname. Her crush had ended just as soon as it had begun. That was good considering we had enough to deal with already.
“Are you ready to get in the ambulance?” the other officer asked—a woman—approaching us from the pier.
“Can my cat come, too?”
Officer Bouchard shrugged and glanced toward his partner. “I guess he can ride over with us, but unfortunately he’s not going to be able to come into the hospital with us.”
“But…” I hesitated. After all we’d just been through, I didn’t want to leave him again especially so soon.
“It’s okay, dear,” Nan said, turning her full focus to me once again. “I’ll take care of him until you’re well enough to come home.”
“Could you just give me a moment alone with him?” I asked, knowing the request made me sound crazy.
“Um, sure,” Officer Bouchard said.
“We’ll just be over there,” the other officer said, pointing somewhere to the right, but I didn’t care enough to notice.
“You can stay, Nan,” I said as she began to struggle to her feet.
She settled back down and wrapped both arms around me, then we waited together until we knew we had the privacy we needed.
“Thank you for saving my life,” I whispered toward my chest, where Octo-Cat still sat nuzzled against me. “I’m sorry I scruffed you, and I’m sorry for all the times I was rude or didn’t understand. During this past week you’ve become my best friend… well, other than Nan, I mean… and I’m so glad you’re in my life. Can you forgive me?”