Delanie half dragged, half led Sam back to the lagoon. At least the dinghy was tied to the little dock otherwise she'd never get him out to the sailboat.



He'd protested once, but the lack of energy on his part meant lack of conviction on hers. They wouldn't be going back to finish the guy off. She didn't want to die and she couldn't let Sam die.



"Sam, step down into the boat."



He groaned in response but she got no cooperation from him. She guided him to sit on the dock then she jumped into the dinghy, praying that Sam wouldn't fall into the water.



With as much force as she could muster, Delanie pulled Sam off the dock and into the small boat. The little dinghy rocked almost spilling them into the water. Sam couldn't swim in the condition he was in and she had no clue how the hell she would pull him up onto the sailboat. Maybe she could just leave him in the dinghy, but her knowledge of sailboats was non-existent. She'd never even faked it for a movie. If it were up to her to get them out of this lagoon she'd lose.



She untied the rope at the dock and shoved off. Maybe a little water would help Sam wake, but did she have time to stop and tend to him. She pointed the dinghy out to the sailboat. The water offered a small buffer of time, but the guy would probably be able to swim out to them. She'd clocked the guy upside the head, but she hadn't disabled him for good.



Once at the sailboat Delanie stood in the dinghy and grabbed onto the sailboat. She took the rope and tied a quick knot. At least now Sam wouldn't float away on the dinghy.



How the hell would she get him aboard? The sailboat deck was a few feet above the belly of the dinghy where Sam lay sprawled out. The situation would only be made worse by a storm, or if that guy showed up. Or both.



She checked out the sky, glad to see that weather wouldn't be a problem. The sun was setting and might slow them down, but Sam would know what to do with the sailboat in the dark. If only Sam would come around.



She had to get him moving. It would be cruel to poor water over his head, but that was all she could think would work. She reached down into the lagoon, cupped her hands and brought up as much water as her hands could hold. When the water hit Sam's face nothing happened. It always worked in the movies but she knew most everything in the movies was faked, this was just another thing that didn't work. Or maybe he was just a little more out of it than she though.



Any moment that guy could arrive at the lagoon, ruining any chance she had of escaping. Sam had to wake up now. Without hesitating she bent down and planted her lips against his. He stirred, moving ever so slightly. She ran her tongue along his lips, praying that the stimulation would jar him.



He moaned, opening his mouth. She slid her tongue between his lips. He tensed. Her hands strayed down his chest to his belly, when her fingers dipped below his waistband he moved. His fingers clenched her wrist. She pulled back, glad to see his eyes open even if they weren't focused.



"Sam you have to get moving."



"Hold on honey."



"Snap out of it, that guy is out there."



"Guy?" He sat up holding his head and wiping his hand down his face.



"Sam, get on your sailboat. I can't pull you up, you're too big."



"Sailboat."



"Damn it." Delanie dipped her hands into the water again and splashed some up into his face.



"Hey, what the hell was that for?"



"The guy in the house, he tried to kill us, we need to get out of here."



Sam shook his head, trying to clear the fog from his thoughts. What the hell had happened? Last thing he remembered was trying to fight off that crazy man. He looked around again. Somehow Delanie had carried him down the small hill to the lagoon, dragged him into the dinghy and steered them out to the sailboat.



He grabbed her face between both hands and kissed her. Pain erupted somewhere behind his eyes but he didn't care. She'd saved them. Without much success he stood then toppled down into the bottom of the little boat. "Crap, help me get in."



Delanie held him steady as he went from crawling to kneeling and finally climbing into the sailboat.



"What about this thing?" Delanie pointed to the gray dinghy she still sat in?



"Move it around to the back of the sailboat and tie a secure knot. We'll pull it until I can store the thing properly."



He tried to walk along to the deck to the front of the sailboat and almost fell overboard. Delanie would have to help him. He hated being weak like this, but he'd also never been hit like that guy hit.



"Delanie."



"What?"



"You done?"



"Yeah, am now."



"I need your help. Come up here. We have to get the sails up and I need your help pulling the anchor."



Thank God he'd actually untied the lines mooring him to the trees earlier. He doubted that they would be able to make it off the island if he hadn't of prepped the boat.



Delanie walked up and grabbed onto his shoulder. Her touch gave him strength. He felt better, much better. If only he could stand without feeling the entire world wobbling. "I need you to help me."



"Anything."



"Please help me wind up the anchor. I'll sit here and untie the sails."



She worked faster then he could even process. Before he could get the first sail untied she'd weighed the anchor and was helping him with the other sail.



She kept asking questions and he answered them as best as he could. They were moving out of the lagoon, her at the wheel. At some point he'd found a place to sit beside her. She asked and he answered, they worked together to form a pretty good team as far as he could determine.



They were clear of the island and his head cleared a bit. "Where are we?"



"Do you mean are we on your sail boat, or coordinates?"



"Coordinates."



"I'm not sure, but I'm trying to stay clear of land."



"You're doing great. I'm starting to feel better. Did I take an aspirin yet?"



"I gave you a pain killer before we left the lagoon."



"We need to drop the anchor tonight. It's too hard to sail here at night. Sandbars pop up all the time. I'll use the radio to call the authorities. Someone will meet us here in the morning."



"Okay. Does that mean we need to drop the sails."



He looked back over his shoulder, he could still see the island but it was a dot far behind them.



He told her what lines to pull, where to stand and what to touch. Delanie worked like an expert. "Have you done this before?"



"No, first time."



Impossible. It was like she knew exactly what to do and how to do it. After they had weighed anchor and everything else was done she plopped down on the deck beside him.



"Honey, you are either one of the best actors I've ever seen or you've done this before."



In the dim light of the crescent moon he could see a smile curve her lips making her cheeks plump out. "Thank you."



"What?"



"I am a damn good actress."



"Okay, I stepped into that one, but it was like you knew what you were doing."



"I'm a fast study. Have to be to act. Do we need to worry about anything hitting us?"



"No, we're out of the shipping lanes. We can turn on the lights so something smaller doesn't hit us."



"You don't think our little visitor back at the island will see them?"



"He might see our lights, but he doesn't have a boat. At least I don't think he did. It'll take him a while even if he has one hidden on the island."



"You sure about that?"



"Let's sleep up here tonight. That way we'll here any boats approaching."



Delanie grabbed his hand and squeezed, "I'll go down and get some blankets."



"No, you stay here. I need to go below anyways to use the radio. I'll grab the pillows and blankets. I know where they are anyways."



Sam worked his way down the stairs. His head still swam with pain bringing in a level of confusion he wasn't used to operating with. If the bastard attacked them tonight he probably wouldn't be able to defend them.



Maybe they should push on, but the number of sandbars in the area were too many for a novice to sail through at night, and his vision hadn't cleared enough to be of much help.



They should have put out an emergency call to the authorities earlier, but being free from the island and the man hell bent on killing them had been top priority. Sam flipped the switch on the front of the radio, nothing happened.



An icy cold swept over his body. He flipped the switch again. The radio was broke. The air in the small cabin grew thick, his lungs stilled. His brain grew fuzzy.



Sam pulled the radio out from the cubbyhole. No power line and the batteries had been taken. How? The guy must have come aboard and done the damage. The boom vang had been cut. The rope thrown overboard. The radio disabled. What else could be wrong?



He searched for more batteries but couldn't find any extra. Truthfully he had needed to make a supply run, but he could have sworn that he had extra batteries.



They needed to get help and alert the authorities. Sam stood, his knees wobbled and gave out. He sank to the ground, his head going fuzzy. He was in no shape to sail in the dark and Delanie didn't have the experience.



Hopefully they'd wake in the morning to smooth sailing and no stalkers. Tomorrow they'd make it to the main island and report the crime. He'd restock the boat and then he could take Delanie to another island. They could start up where they left off, only this time they'd be free of stalkers and other prying eyes.

Copyright Sara Thacker 2011