The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession Book 4) (27 page)

“Richard! Richard! Please, I won’t tell!” she screamed.

But he didn’t answer. She could hear more splashing, but the sound grew progressively fainter as Richard abandoned her. Water continued to pour inside. It was half-way up her torso and seemed to be coming in faster now.

Shit
.
I’m going to die in here.

Nothing. There was nothing. Just more road and a bunch of fucking trees.
I’ve gone the wrong way
, Gio thought with a sickening pang. Should he turn around?

Indecision kept him going until he spotted a sign up ahead. He floored the car, shooting towards the sign and then slowing down to read it.

Old Anderson Quarry 1.2 km ahead.
Could that be it? Nothing else was near.

Driving faster than he ever had in his life, he raced the remaining distance to the quarry entrance.

There was a gate, but it looked old and was standing open. At first, he couldn’t see anything else. Slowing down so he could maneuver the tight turns of the path, he rounded a curve. Moonlight reflected off something shining up ahead. Was this one of those unused quarries that had been filled in with water? Why had Richard driven here?

The realization that he came here to dump the body followed instantly.
Don’t think about it
. Find them, he ordered himself.

His blood was throbbing in his ears. Reaching inside for the control his friends teased him about, he forced his chest to pump up and down evenly until the panic dissipated enough for him to think. They had to be along the water. If Richard was trying to get rid of the car there he’d want to be as isolated as possible. Which meant he would drive to the other side of the quarry.

Gio topped a rise in the road and saw something that would give him nightmares for the rest of his life.

The Chevrolet was half-submerged. Richard was at the open passenger door pushing it deeper into the water. Throwing his own car in park, Gio leaped out and ran into the lake. He barely registered its freezing cold temperature as he splashed toward them.

Richard saw him right away. Desperate panic twisted his face. He lifted something and there was a popping sound. Gio’s left arm stung, but he ignored it, putting his head down and charging like a bull at his enemy. The coward broke away from the car, streaking to the right away from him.

But the skinny Englishman was no match for the rage powering him. His opponent may have been a little taller, but Gio outweighed him with an additional twenty pounds of sheer muscle.

Using a move he’d only seen on television, he clotheslined the asshole, wrapping his right arm around Richard’s scrawny neck.

They fell in the shallow water near the shore. The rat underneath him twisted viciously, breaking his hold and scrambling away. Throwing himself forward, Gio leaped on him, punching and trying to shove his head under the surface of the water. Richard put up his hands to protect his face, using his legs to push him away.

In the distance, Sophia screamed, sending a shaft of pain down his chest. Roaring, he slammed his fist down onto Richard’s head with all his weight behind it. The force knocked the taller man backward toward the shore. Gio didn’t wait to see if he got back up again. He spun around and waded to the car.

In the distance, Sophia could hear Richard shouting something and the distant sounds of splashing. Was there someone else out there?

“Help! Help me!” she screamed, craning to keep her head above the freezing water. The level had risen to cover most of her torso, but it wasn’t rising as fast anymore.

Wait, wait
. This was her father’s car. It had some kind of pass-through, where the backseat folded down, allowing access to the trunk. Sophia stopped beating the lid and started pushing at the back panel.

It gave very slightly. Scrabbling at the edges of the seat, she searched for the catch mechanism, praying she would be able to reach it from the wrong side of the seat. In the darkness she couldn’t find it, but her movements rocked the seat back and forth. Twisting around and curling up her upper body to give her legs as much room as possible, she started kicking as hard as she could.

Years of soccer had made her legs powerful, but the mechanism on the other side must have been stuck. The thick muscles on her thighs strained and the car rocked with her effort. The creaking metal finally gave, but not all the way. A gap the width of her hand opened. Searching by touch, she felt around for the catch to release the seat.

Fuck
! The thing that held the seat up had wires wrapped around it. Her father had never fixed it. Instead, he’d wired it shut. Sticking her face at the opening she’d made, she took a deep breath and began to search for the end of the tangled knot. She needed to unwind it.

Wouldn’t her father have put the twisted ends in the front? Where were they?
Shit
. Had her kicking moved the ends?

Sobbing now, she started pulling, straining against the wire until her fingers bled.

“Sophia!”

“
Gio
?”

Oh, thank God! “Gio, I’m in here!” she called out, sticking her hand out of the gap and waving.

There was a lot of splashing and then the whole car rocked as Gio opened the back door and climbed inside. He reached for her hand and she took hold of his gratefully, gripping tightly.

His face filled the gap. “
Porca vacca
! I don’t have the key. Does this thing come down?”

“Yes, but it’s wired shut.”

“Fuck, I’m going after the trunk key!”

He climbed out of the car and ran off. An excruciatingly long minute later, he was back.

“Sophia, he doesn’t have the key on him.”

“Richard’s still out there?”

“Yes, but he’s unconscious. Where is this wire? We have to undo it.”

She stuck her hand out and put it over the catch. Gio reached back behind him to the roof and flicked on the overhead light. Able to see his outline more clearly, she cried out in relief.

“This thing is too taut. I need to put the seat up a little to give it some slack.”

“Okay,” she said, drawing back her hand and pushing away.

The trunk grew darker as the gap narrowed, but she could hear splashing as his hands loosened the restraint.

“I got it! I got it!” he yelled, pulling the seat towards him.

Her relief was short-lived. The seat didn’t go down all the way. But the gap was bigger, and Gio’s strong arms reached inside to wrap around her head before he retreated and took hold of the top of the seat.

Metal creaked as he pushed and pulled at the seat to try and free it. His movements rocked the entire car and then she felt something else.

“It’s moving!” The car slid forward, as if it was resting on an incline.

It was sinking deeper into the water, taking the both of them with it.

Gio froze as the car began to slide farther into the lake. His effort to pry the seat open wider had started a slow glide down the slope the vehicle was resting on.

Gasping, he jumped out and braced against the doorframe, using all his strength to stop its momentum. His feet slipped in the mud. Desperately, he pushed while the distant sound of another car registered.

Had Richard regained consciousness? Was he escaping?

“Hold on, Sophia,” he called to her when he heard Enzo shouting. “I’m over here!”

Flashlight beams swept over him, and multiple male voices called out as they ran into the water. “They’re coming,
mi amore
.”

“Hurry!” she cried, but it sounded garbled.

Despite his best efforts, the car had sunk more and the water level nearly covered the gap. Sophia had her face stuck in the opening, but there were little waves lapping up higher, and she was swallowing some water.

“Help me!” he cried when Enzo reached him. “He locked her in and threw away the key.”

Enzo ran to the other side and opened the door while two other men moved to the front of the car to try and stop it from submerging further.

A shout went up and one of the men, Linetti, splashed into view.

“We’re on a drop-off and the front wheels are over the edge!” he reported. “I almost fell in. If the car goes any farther, we won’t be able to stop it. It’s deep. Too deep.”

Fuck
!

“Brace it!” Enzo snapped.

Behind them, Linetti called the police and updated them on their situation.

“It’s going to be okay, Sophia,” Gio said, reaching into the gap to grab her hands.

He prayed he wasn’t lying. Beside him, Enzo moved up and down, looking for the obstruction that was keeping the seat up.

“There’s nothing blocking it,” he said. “It’s just stuck. We have to work it back and forth.”

“
Cazzo
. Sophia! Can you hear me?”

By now, the water had risen above her ears. He could still see her mouth at the gap, desperately spitting out water. Her face was almost completely covered. She didn’t answer them.

Gio sucked in a big gulp of air and stuck his face into the gap. Covering her lips with his own, he breathed into her, holding her hand the whole time.

“Gio, you have to move her back or we’ll slam this thing into her face. There must be an air pocket at the other side. That back edge is still above the surface.”

Madre di Dio
. He broke off and moved back

“Sophia, baby, we need you to move!” he shouted, but with her ears submerged he couldn’t be sure she heard them.

“Gio, we have to do this!” Enzo ordered.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He squeezed Sophia’s hand hard, and she squeezed it back.

His heart was threatening to burst open in his chest. Shaking, he took another breath and bent to give it to Sophia, expelling everything he had in his lungs before reaching into the trunk and taking hold of her shoulders.

Roaring in pain, he pushed her hard towards the back of the trunk.

He was almost blind with fear and rage, but he did what Enzo was yelling at him to do. Together, they rocked the seat back and forth while the other two men braced the car as best they could.

It was inevitable that the car slid farther down the slope. The water rose and submerged the opening. Every second that passed was like a dagger to his heart.

And then it got worse.

Ominous bubbles rose up in front of him from the gap. It was taking too long. Sophia was losing air. She was drowning.

“Pull, pull harder!” Enzo was yelling himself hoarse, but there was no point.

Gio was already at his limit, the muscles in his arms tearing as they pried the seat wider. It gave suddenly, sending his head slamming into the back of the front seat. Ignoring the flash of pain, he lunged forward, reaching into the water-filled space.

He caught hold of something and pulled Sophia out by the leg. He gathered her to him, positioning her head above the water, but she didn’t move.

“Gio, let’s go! Give her to me,” Enzo shouted at him.

Twisting around, he held her out, forcing himself to let her go. Enzo picked up Sophia’s limp body, moving away so he could climb out of the back seat. Behind them, the two other guys let go and the car slid deep into the water.

The front end went over the hidden edge below, upending the back like the Titanic before the whole thing slid down with a huge gurgle of escaping air.

The four of them turned and started for the shore. The freezing air filled Gio’s burning lungs as he struggled to reach the water’s edge.

Enzo laid Sophia down on the gravel bank, and Gio fell down next to her, working off his sodden coat so he could move better. Bending, he opened her mouth and breathed into it, but the cold had weakened him and he started coughing.

“Let me,” Enzo said, gently pushing him aside.

Nodding, Gio let the more experienced man work while he took Sophia’s cold still hand in his.

“Please, baby, please wake up,” he whispered.

Linetti and the other junior security guy crowded around them. He sat helplessly, watching another man try to save the love of his life.

Please, God, please let him save her
!

If he lost Sophia, he couldn’t go on. He’d spend the rest of his days reliving the moment where he pushed her away, drowning her in that water-filled trunk.

Sophia hadn’t moved in all this time. She lay there unconscious, her caramel skin pale yellow in the moonlight. Enzo continued chest compressions, periodically breaking off to administer air. Long minutes passed with no change.

There was no hint of movement, no rise and fall of her chest outside of what Enzo was forcing her body to do.

She was dead. Sophia was dead.

Gio sat on the rocky shore. Numbly, he stared down at Sophia’s hand in his. He tried to squeeze it, but he could barely feel it. Distantly he could make out the sounds of sirens and shouting, but it was a world away, one where there was still warmth and sunshine.