"Absolutely!" Ginny said.
Allie half listened to Stacy. She hoped she wasn't harassing the crew members. She made a mental note to give the men a generous tip.
"Let's go that direction," she heard Stacy say. "That’s the boys' boat! I want to surprise them!"
The boat was going at a fast clip, and then Allie was thrown off the chair as the boat turned hard to the right.
The captain didn't seem as if he knew what he was doing, Allie thought. She had been on enough boats in the swamps with Bryce to know that you didn't want to make sudden motions.
Just as she thought, as the captain turned the boat, the engine choked, and they careened into Carter's yacht. Allie cursed as she was thrown into Kate when the boat lurched.
Picking herself up, she heard screams coming from the guys' yacht.
"Oh no!" Kate exclaimed as she and Allie hurried to look over the side of the boat. The bow of their yacht had impaled the guys' yacht. Allie looked around frantically as their boat tipped dangerously and she heard the rushing of water.
52
Carter
"We've been hit!"
"Where are the life vests?"
"We need to get out! Up! Up!" Finn yelled, tugging at Carter's soaked shirt.
"The women!" Carter yelled back.
The water was pouring in dangerously fast. He took a breath and swam for the door the two topless women had disappeared behind. He could hear garbled screaming on the other side.
He wrenched it open and dragged one girl out then the other, passing her to Finn. They swam through to the stairs. The boat lurched, something fell in front of him, and the lights cut out. It was pitch black now. Carter could feel Finn tug him, and he followed him to the breach. Finn forced his way through, dragging the girl behind him. Carter pushed his girl through and wriggled after.
The boat that had crashed into them was taking water. He saw several figures on the deck and… was that Allie?
"Kate!" Grant yelled, treading water.
No one was wearing a life vest.
The girls' yacht lurched, and Allie was thrown overboard; Carter watched her hit her head then tumble into the water.
He swam over to her and grabbed at her. Before he had a good hold, however, she was caught in a current and pulled out to sea. Without thinking, Carter pushed off after her. It was unnerving, being tugged by the current as if it were a living thing. After a few heart-pounding moments, he was able to catch up with Allie's limp form.
Carter struggled to keep his and Allie's heads above water. He cursed Fernando and Brandy and the crew. He was jolted out of his thoughts as something sharp cut into him. There was a rough rope wrapped around his neck and torso. He feebly pulled at it and gasped for air. His hand hit a buoy.
"Must have been a crab trap," he said. He voice sounded hoarse, and he licked the saltwater from his lips.
"Help!" he called out. He and Allie were far out. He could barely make out the lights of the shoreline.
"Don't panic," he whispered to himself. "Oh God, we're going to die out here. Allie," he said.
She blinked away the water and coughed as Carter slapped her cheeks.
"Think.You're not dead yet." He looked around. They were still drifting, and he didn't know if the Coast Guard would be able to find them in the dark. He also wasn't sure if Allie would make it until morning. She was breathing in little gasping breaths.
"I have you," he said.
"How are we going to get to shore?" she murmured.
"Kick off your boots," he told her. "We're swimming."
