vnNeSsa1 (13 page)

It’s pretty obvious on the drive home that Tink and I are partied out. Tink’s yawning is outpaced only by the number of times she’s checking her cell for texts. I’m tired, but my mind is still relentlessly reviewing the evening. Victor’s intensity. Josie’s worrying. Tink’s news. Ian and Jennifer. Just as I pull into my apartment complex and Tink yawns for the hundredth time, I decide to shake it off.

Whatever
, I say to myself, determined not to think about it anymore.

Chapter 17

The music is too loud in my Z4. I’m also driving too fast, but it’s hard to tell because the road is straight and the desert scenery doesn’t change. Tink and I are on our way to Lake Mead near Boulder City
, about forty minutes southeast of Las Vegas. We’re having freak hot weather at the end of fall. Ian got an idea early this morning to get a group together and spend the day on a houseboat before we go to work. Tink had to come over and wake me up because my disposable cell is dead. Piece of crap.

Tink doesn’t want the air
-conditioning on. Instead, we have the windows rolled down, our hair whipping all over the place. She is slumped down in her seat, her foot out the window, singing loud and off-key. She looks about as happy as I feel. I let out a big whoop. Tink looks over at me and laughs.

By the time we get to the lake, Ian’s already rented the houseboat, a huge craft at least fifty feet long with a double deck. There’s even a slide coming off the top deck for swimmers. Most of the others have arrived already. A couple of the dancers designated to get supplies are stocking the boat.

“What took you guys?” Ian shouts, his smile taking up half his face. He has only board shorts on. I see his body every night because of the shirtless numbers the male dancers do, but with the sun backlighting him, he looks especially good. He notices me looking and his smile gets even bigger.

“Savannah refuses to get a real cell phone so I had to physically pull her out of bed,” Tink says in mock disgust
. “Then my cell wanted us to go to the wrong side of Hoover Dam, or something. Anyway, we’re here now.”

We find Lily and Jennifer onboard. They look fresh and energized despite the early hour. Jennifer hands me a cup of coffee. It seems almost like a peace offering. I accept it with gratitude. Jennifer has been gradually growing warmer to me, which may be due to my efforts to go out with her and Lily more often.

“Hey, Ian,” I yell. “You need help?”

“No, we’ve got it,” he shouts back. “We’re leaving in about five minutes.”

Tink and I strip down to our bathing suits as everyone else has done by now. The day is already very hot and we pass around the sunscreen. We have to work tonight and mesh tights on a sunburn is murder. Someone turns up the music and Tink starts dancing on the deck.

“That girl has more energy than anyone I know,” Jennifer says, taking a drink of her coffee.

“Yeah, and she lights up a room whenever she walks into one,” I say, thinking about how she and Victor share that quality.

“We’re not the only ones who appreciate her,” Lily adds. “Remember how that bald man who bought out the house stared at her through the whole show? And just last night, there was this other guy in a suit who couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Did you notice? She gets the award for…”

Lily says more, but I don’t catch it because my eyesight is in serious question. That couldn’t be Victor’s Audi pulling up to the dock right now, could it? But, it is, because there goes my heart slamming away in my chest. He steps out of the car and the sun glints off his glossy dark hair. He turns his face up, eyes closed, to meet the glare for a moment. The outline of his profile and neck are so achingly beautiful my breath stops altogether.

“Oh, good; Vic’s here,” Jennifer says, as though she’s expecting him. She jumps up gracefully, runs to Victor, and takes him by the arm possessively. She leads him away from Lily and me to a corner of the lower deck where she stands too close to him while talking. What the hell?

“It was Jennifer’s idea to invite the Latin lover,” Ian says just behind me. “I wasn’t too thrilled about it, as you might imagine.” I jump at the sound of Ian’s voice.

“Oh, well. The more, the merrier.” Why am I always saying dumb things like this to Ian? To his credit, he just grins and tousles my hair.

“Time to go!” he yells and several people move to help him untie the ropes holding the houseboat to the dock.

I try to keep the conversation going with Lily, but it’s hard with one eye fixed on Jennifer and Victor. Jennifer’s making me nauseated. She’s actually helping him take his shirt off. His mom taught him how. He can do it himself. Oh, now she’s feeling his biceps. Now, the pectorals. Wonderful.

“Savannah, are you listening?” My brain isn’t registering a thing Lily is saying.

“I’m sorry, Lily. Jennifer is making me sick right now,” I say, speaking the truth. To be more accurate, she’s making me near violent right now. Lily turns her head and watches them.

“I see what you mean,” she says, but she’s laughing. Easy for her to laugh. She’s not feeling as if she wants to choke someone. Someone with big old cow eyes.

When Jennifer starts feeling his abs, my limit’s been reached. With a mumbled excuse to Lily, I jump up and nearly run to the opposite side of the lower deck, as far away from Jennifer and Victor as possible. I slump down on one of the long bench seats, lay my head back and close my eyes to shut everything out. Within five minutes, there’s another body pressed up against mine on the seat, the feel and smell of him instantly familiar.

“
Como estas, Bonita?”

“I’m trying to overcome nausea at the moment.” Keeping my eyes firmly shut, I wonder
whether he hears the cranky edge to my voice. But Victor seems to find this all enormously amusing.

“You are even more beautiful when you’re jealous.” Yep. A one-eyed inspection tells me he’s sparkling away.

“Now you’re making me even sicker,” I say, but damned if he isn’t putting me in a good mood. “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“I tried, but couldn’t get you,” he says, tracing a lazy figure eight on my leg. Both eyes are open now, inspecting him. He’s right; my phone died. “I didn’t want to be apart from you all day. Don’t worry. I’ll be good. You can keep your friends and you can keep me, too.” He moves the figure eight finger to my lips and traces their shape. My eyes close again. I want to tell him to forget the whole charade we put on for my friends’ benefit. If I have to sacrifice my friendship with Jennifer, so be it.

His finger is off my lips and there’s a change in the air. When my eyes open, Jennifer is standing over us.

“There you are,” she says to Victor in an overly bright voice. An instant later, he’s gone. Before my mouth can form words of protest, she’s dragged him half the boat’s length away.
Oh, no you don’t
. I’m up on my feet and moving swiftly down the deck after them when Ian grabs me by the waist and spins me in the air.

“What can I get you to drink?” he asks, setting me down with practiced ease.

“Do you realize you’re always getting me drinks?” I ask, exasperated. “One, I don’t want a drink. Two, let me get
you
a drink once in a while.” I push right past him, full of purpose.

The other side of the boat yields a surprising picture. There’s Victor in the middle of no less than four female dancers fawning over him. How long did that take? Three minutes?

“I’ll take that drink now,” Ian says, apparently following me.

“Fine.” Taking him by the hand, I get sodas for us and pull him up the steps to the top deck, far away from Victor and his entourage.

The houseboat chugs slowly to the middle of the lake. It takes time for me to calm down. Ian’s chatter and the sun’s melting warmth help. The morning drifts into afternoon. As long as I avoid thinking about what’s happening on the deck below, my mood stays even.

It’s scorching now. A hot wind kicks up and the blue-black lake forms choppy white caps. A couple of people are using the slide and swimming to cool off. The water looks really deep here in the middle of the lake. I stand at the deck’s edge, watching the swimmers without feeling any desire to join them.

“Thinking of going in?” Ian slips his arms around me from behind.

“Oh, no. It looks…” A shudder runs through me and Ian’s arms tighten. The water seems to be pulling me in. It’s hard to break my stare. Ian’s lips on my neck bring me back to reality. I’m about to step away when Victor’s voice makes me freeze.

“Let her go,
Niño
.” His voice is low, but something about it causes several people to turn their heads. If anything, Ian tightens his grip, and he turns his head slowly toward Victor.

“Go back to your groupies,
Señor
Cruz.” He turns back to me and very deliberately places leisurely kisses along my neck. I try to pull away, but he holds me firm.

“I said, let her go.” Victor’s voice definitely sounds dangerous and I struggle harder. Ian is strong. He holds me with one arm and pivots me with the other until I face him. A crowd is gathering, with a couple of dancers trying to talk the two men down. Ian’s never looked like this before. His normally friendly face is set in hard, determined lines. He puts his hand on the back of my head and forces my face to his lips. He kisses my cheeks, my chin, finally increasing the pressure with his fingers until my mouth is on his. He forces his tongue through my resisting lips.

What’s the matter with him? I’m pulling hard and struggling, strangled sounds coming from my throat. Victor is cursing in Spanish and charging our way like a bull, no longer keeping himself in control. I give a huge yank just as Ian releases me to meet Victor’s rush. The momentum carries me over the side of the boat into the water far below.

The water slaps me hard on my face and side. I’m underwater and immediately fighting to the surface. It’s all right; I can breathe now. The water heaves menacingly around me. Men are fighting above…
men are fighting
.

“It’
s him. Oh, dear God, it’s him.” I feel horror contort my face. I see recognition dawn on my father’s face. My own, sweet daddy’s. He can’t hear me above the roar of the river, but he knows what I’m saying. “Tell me it’s not true. What does that make me? He’s a pig!”

“I’m sorry, honey
.” I see him mouth the words. Pain slices through me, wanting a denial, not an apology. Staggering over to him, unsteady on the raft, grabbing his life vest in my fists…Oh God, I don’t know. I don’t know. Pain inside, rage, so much rage, spray in my face. I’m horrified to see him go over the side.

“Get him
! Why aren’t you moving? He might drown! Save him!”

Me, instead, b
lack water, slamming, cold. Nose stinging, poker through my head. White water, frothing, rushing. Swallowing it. Green. I can’t see him. There! Daddy.

But my arms are too
weak against the strong current. They don’t get me there in time. They freeze. My legs freeze. My heart freezes when the river guide reaches my father first and deliberately pushes his head under the water, holding it there. Dadd
y
is
struggling hard. Fight, Daddy, I’m coming!

Move! Get to him!
Get away from him! Can’t get to him fast enough. Stop! You’re killing him. You’re killing him. Oh, no, no. I can’t breathe. Can’t see him. The water. It sprays and froths and moves faster and faster. We’ll go over the falls. Oh, God. Where is he? I can’t see him. I can’t see him anywhere. He’s gone. No! It’s not possible. Not my father. He’s invincible.

T
he water churns. No helmet at all. Just water.

I feel like giving up,
floating past the green trees and up into the blue sky that I see when I lay my head back. We’ll be over the falls soon, anyway. It’s over.

The bastard
is working toward me, coming for me next. Try to make it to shore. But I can’t fight the water. It’s so insistent. The falls are coming. Can’t stay up any longer. I’m not going to make it.

“Get away, you bastard! You murdering bastard!”
Can’t get away. The water. Someone’s screaming. So loud in my ears. Again and again.

“You drowned him! You goddamn bastard! I’ll kill you!”
Got to get away. Oh my God. He’s gone in the water. Can’t make it.

“Bonita! It’s OK, now. I’ve got you, my love.”
Who? Where? Victor? It’s a weird feeling, like waking from a dream. Everything looks different. There are no trees here and the water isn’t rushing. I struggle with what’s real.

“Are you OK? Did he hurt you?” But, wait, it wasn’t Victor who was hurt, was it? “Victor, what happened?” Panic is closing off my throat. I don’t know what just happened.

“Let me get you out of this water, Bonita. It’s OK.”

My body is being dragged through the water by powerful arms. I’m shaking uncontrollably, my limbs useless. Arms reach out to help me into the boat. A towel is thrown around my shoulders. My friends are among those helping, with Tink especially fussing over me. As soon as Victor is out of the water, he brushes people aside and takes me in his arms.

“Bonita, come over here and sit down.” He leads me to a bench seat and smoothes my hair from my face. He kisses my forehead, and then my lips. “You’re shaking, still.” His eyes look worried.

“Victor, what happened?”

“You were in the water and you panicked,” he says, pulling me close to him, hugging me tighter. My shaking lessens a bit.

“I thought someone was trying to hurt you, or…hurt someone. I was trying to get away.” The shaking gets bad again. He starts stroking my head, making comforting noises. “Victor, it was like I wasn’t here. I was someplace else.” The last is said in a whisper for fear he’ll think me even crazier than he probably already does.