Chapter 29

 

 

Annie’s back was facing us. Now I had to take my chances and go up there and tackle her. I’d probably lose the fight. She was taller and I guessed much stronger than me, but nevertheless, I’d make an attempt. I might be petite, but I packed a powerful punch when faced with a dangerous situation. I’d fight for what I had.

I motioned for Morty and Dorothy to stay seated. No matter what happened I didn’t want them to be tossed overboard. If anybody was going overboard it would be Annie. Maybe if I got Annie down on the boat’s floor I could use some of that rope to tie her hands together. It would have to do until I could handcuff her. I’d need Jake for that.

I eased up from my seat, trying to keep my balance as the boat rocked from the choppy waters. Reaching over, I grabbed at some of the rope. I stumbled forward, but somehow managed to remain upright. With the rope in hand I moved forward. This was life or death. My heart thumped wildly.

Annie had no idea that I was stepping closer and closer to her. It was hard to keep my balance as the boat swayed back and forth. I was shocked that Annie hadn’t even looked back to see what we were doing. For all she knew we could have jumped overboard. This was a flaw in her plan. I was the one who always had flaws, but now she was the one making the mistakes. I just hoped she didn’t notice me right behind her. I was getting awfully close now. The closer I got, the more nervous I grew. This was the most stressful thing I’d done since last night when I’d almost been hit by the car. I ran through different scenarios in my mind, trying to come up with the best option. I would grab her with the rope from behind and pull backwards. I wasn’t sure what would happen to the boat when I did that.

I was right behind her now. Raising my arms up over my head, I gripped the rope tightly. On the count of three I would toss it over her and pull back. How could this possibly go wrong? Once I had her in the ropes Dorothy and Morty could help me subdue her.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to carry out this plot. Annie turned around and realized what I had planned. She immediately lunged at me. We fell to the boat’s floor. I’d wanted her on the floor, but not like this.

What had she done with the gun? It could be in her back pocket or waistband for all I knew. I hoped Annie didn’t have easy access to it. I tried to get up from underneath her, but she had me pinned. I struggled to breathe.

I hoped that Morty and Dorothy would stay put, but that wasn’t the case. Morty jumped onto Annie’s back as if leaping onto a pile of just-raked leaves on a sunny fall day. Dorothy was pulling on my arm and trying to free me from underneath Annie.

“Dorothy, I’m not a stretch toy,” I said breathlessly.

Morty was a slight man with cataracts and he used a cane most of the time when his arthritis was acting up. I wasn’t so sure that Morty was helping matters. Bless his heart. He was actually pushing Annie down and crushing me even more. With every passing second I felt as if I couldn’t breathe.

“Morty,” I panted. “You have to stop pushing down on her.”

Where was Dorothy? Couldn’t she help me get Morty off? There was no way he’d get up from the floor without help. He was stuck on top of us like a water bug on its back. Annie reached back and tried to smack at Morty.

“That’s enough,” Dorothy yelled.

When I looked to my left I spotted Dorothy with the gun in her hands. Of course, her hand shook and the gun’s aim was all over the place. Add to that the back-and-forth movement of the boat and I started saying a silent prayer. My life flashed before my eyes. This was a recipe for disaster.

“I’ll shoot if you don’t get off her right now,” Dorothy said.

“Dorothy, don’t shoot me,” Morty said.

Now that the gun was aimed his way Morty managed to roll off Annie. But he certainly wasn’t up from the boat floor. Annie climbed to her feet. And then I followed. I ran over to Morty and helped him get up and over beside Dorothy.

“Okay, Dorothy, I’m going to get this boat back to shore. Don’t take that gun off her. Don’t take your eyes off her. Don’t let Morty do anything either.”

This was a lot of orders for her to follow, but it was important that she not let Annie work her way out of this.