Rum Runner by Tricia Leedom

Author:Tricia Leedom [Leedom, Tricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ink Monster, LLC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Sophie closed her eyes and started to count to ten. She only made it to four. Her eyes flew open as the plane dipped sickeningly and dove toward the water.

Jimmy’s forearm muscles strained as the wheel vibrated like a jackhammer in his grasp. He cursed viciously, pulling back on the stick with all his might. The nose of the plane rose very slowly, but it did rise enough for Jimmy to bank the aircraft to the right. The engine rumbled and the plane rattled. A warning beep wailed as a red light on the control panel began to blink.

Memories from the afternoon Sophie had almost drowned flashed through her mind. The soupy blackness. The suffocation. The sick feeling as she clawed for the surface not knowing which way was up. She was suddenly floating in unanimated suspension like she had on that day. The air turned cold, so cold, she could see her breath when she exhaled.

The jarring impact knocked her teeth together and flung her head back against the seat.

A float broke off and the tip of the right wing caught the water. For several dizzying moments, the plane twirled like an ice dancer before finally settling on the smooth surface of the ocean.

Everything went quiet. Only the sound of Sophie’s labored breathing filled the cabin. A seagull squalled in the distance. Her stomach heaved and threatened to dispel the tea and toast she’d consumed earlier in the day. She took a deep breath through her nose, attempting to ease the nausea with an influx of oxygen. Then she squeezed her eyes closed, willing the dizziness to pass.

The world was sideways. Gravity was pulling her toward the passenger side door. Her cheek was smashed against the cold glass and something hard and knobby poked her arm. She opened her eyes and forcefully pushed herself upright, bracing herself on the door. All of the lights on the control panel had gone out. Something was blocking her view. One of the wings, she realized, flung across the windshield like an arm blocking the sun.

She looked to her right, out the passenger side window, for an explanation, but a green murkiness pressed against the glass. She looked over at Jimmy. His unconscious body slumped toward her. Blood trickled from a small gash on his forehead above his left eye. Behind him, light streamed through a star-shaped crack in the glass. Beyond the window, there was nothing but cloudless blue sky.

The fuselage had landed on its side and the green murkiness outside her window was the ocean. Tiny slivers of panic darted up her spine as she processed this information.

The plane let out a long ticking sound and then a wounded creak before it suddenly lurched hard, propelling Sophie into action.

Scrambling to unhook her seatbelt, she said, “Jimmy! Jimmy, wake up!” When she pushed free of the straps, she reached up and started on his. “You promised you wouldn’t let me drown! Wake up, damn you!”

The buckle snapped free and his big body slumped toward her.

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