As they got into their respective cars and pulled out of the parking lot, Charlotte was reminded that Audrey and Michelle lived just down the road from Marin, because she and Marin ended up following them out of downtown Middleton and onto the winding series of rural roads that led toward their houses.
The rain had really picked up now, making the already muddy roads even worse. Charlotte truly hated mud season in Vermont. What a mess. Luckily Marin’s Outback had all-wheel drive and enough ground clearance to make it through unscathed.
“Dinner was fantastic, but I hope you’re nottoofull.” Marin glanced at her with a coy smile.
“Why’s that?” Charlotte asked, although the warmth in her stomach said she already knew.
“Because I’d really like to take that dress off you when we get home.”
“I’m fully on board with that plan,” Charlotte confirmed.
The sun was setting to their right, although it wasn’t much to see this evening through the heavy rain, just a hazy golden blob over the mountains. Ahead of them, the red taillights of Michelle’s BMW were just visible in the gloom.
A pickup truck came over the hill in front of them, careening down the muddy road. Charlotte opened her mouth to make a comment about careless drivers, but before she could speak, the truck swerved directly into the BMW’s path. For a moment, it looked like the two vehicles would hit head-on, but then the BMW turned sharply. It lost traction in the mud and veered off the side of the road onto the steep embankment.
“Oh shit!” Charlotte exclaimed as adrenaline punched her in the stomach. The black BMW plunged through a gap between trees and disappeared from view.
“Oh my god.” Marin’s voice sounded high and tight as she slammed on the brakes, bringing the Outback to a stop at the side of the road.
“Fuck.Fuck.” Charlotte looked around wildly, trying to see where the car had gone. Through the trees, she glimpsed a lake below. A big lake. As she watched, the BMW careened down the bank and splashed into its dark depths.
This was bad. So bad. Charlotte fumbled for her seat belt, yanking at it with frantic hands. Vaguely, she was aware of Marin punching the button for the hazard lights before they both scrambled out onto the muddy roadside.
Marin had her cell phone in hand. “No service,” she said grimly.
“Fuck,” Charlotte cried again. It was hardly surprising on this rural road. The mountains around here often blocked cell service, but it was extremely unfortunate during an actual emergency. Charlotte spun in the road, blinking cold rain from her eyes. The pickup truck had stopped at the bottom of the hill. Its driver, a middle-aged man, was just stepping out of the cab.
“Go find cell service and call 911,” Charlotte shouted.
He nodded and climbed back in his truck.
Mud sucked at Charlotte’s boots as she grabbed Marin’s hand and started half climbing, half sliding down the rain-slick embankment toward the lake, following the trail of destruction left by the car. The BMW’s red taillights were still illuminated. The rear of the car stuck up almost vertically out of the water now, but it was sinking fast. Were Audrey and Michelle okay?
Charlotte’s knees shook, and tears pricked her eyes. She and Marin skidded down the muddy slope, tripping over rocks and tree roots to the water’s edge, just as the BMW’s taillights disappeared from view, slipping below the surface of the water.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Marin pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart was pounding so hard, she feared she might go into cardiac arrest for the second time in her life. Her legs had turned to granite because the car ... the car ...
Only bubbles remained on the surface.
“I’m going in.” Charlotte stepped toward the edge of the lake, her boots sinking into deep mud with a horrible squelching sound. Cold rain beat down on them. Charlotte’s blond hair was plastered to her face as she waded into the lake. In seconds, she was up to her knees in the water, skirt clutched in one hand.
Marin couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. The lake must be ice cold. She was freezing just standing on the bank. Frigid rain ran down her face and soaked through her clothes. Now that the sun had set, the temperature had dropped sharply. Charlotte was up to her waist now, arms out in front of her.
With a splash, Charlotte dove under the water, leaving Marin alone on the bank. She tried to force herself to move, but her legs might as well have turned to ice. They were frozen, like the rest of her. Everything about this moment was cold and unforgiving.
She blinked, and she was back on that snowy Manhattan street, feeling the impact of the car as it slammed into her, the agony of broken bones as she lay prone on the pavement. The cold. The crushing pain. Charlotte holding her hand as her life slipped away.
Help.
Marin screamed internally. She blinked again, trying desperately to free herself from this mental prison. Raindrops blurred her vision, and she still couldn’t move. Then ... a head broke the surface of the lake, right where the car had gone under. And a second head!
There were two women clinging to each other in the water now. Marin choked on her own breath.Oh thank god.Audrey and Michelle were alive! They’d made it out of the car. Charlotte was swimming toward them, all three of them bobbing in the lake.
Someone was crying. It might be Marin. She wasn’t entirely present in her body right now, still vacillating between the muddy lakeshore and that slushy Manhattan street. Terror swamped her senses, paralyzing her.
The three women were together now, swimming toward shore. Charlotte’s pink-and-green scarf floated around her head like a mirage, a tangible bridge between this moment and the day Marin had almost died.
