Chapter 24

Deserted Island

Jennifer Smith stood frozen for a moment.  She couldn't believe what she had just seen.  Her men were standing at the edge of the cliff.  She walked over to join them.  She looked down.  Luke and Laura were nowhere in sight.

"It's over Miss Smith," said Charles.  "There is no way they could have survived."

Jennifer nodded.  She was in shock.  She still wanted to marry Luke.  She couldn't believe he was really gone.

At the bottom of the cliff, Luke and Laura were treading water behind a large bunch of boulders.  They made sure they were well hidden from view of the cliff.  Luke peeked around the boulder and saw that Jennifer was no longer standing at the edge of the cliff.

"Ok, lets move, but stay low," he whispered to Laura.

She nodded.

They climbed out of the water and slowly made their way along the shoreline.  At last the beach, where they had been staying came into view.  Luke looked around to make sure they weren't being watched.  No one was in sight.  He took Laura's hand.

"Come on!" he yelled.

They ran toward their campsite.  They began throwing all their things into Laura's bag.  Luke struggled to get it into the life raft.  They climbed in and shoved off.

"We did it Angel.  We got away!  We should be safe now.  Jennifer thinks we're dead."

She smiled at him.  She knew they were still in danger.  They were once again at sea, not knowing which way to go to get home.

Suddenly Luke pulled her down into the bottom of the raft.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"There's a boat coming.  I don't want them to see that someone is in this raft until I make sure who it is.  Just stay down."

As the boat came closer, Luke could make out people standing around the edges of the boat.  They seemed to be looking for something.

"Laura, do you have any binoculars in that bottomless bag of yours?"

She nodded.  Without raising up, she carefully unzipped the bag and rummaged through it.  She pulled out a pair of binoculars and handed them to Luke.  Luke shook his head in amazement.

"I should have know," he said.

He focused the binoculars on the boat.  He saw Hutch standing on the starboard side.

"We're saved Angel!" he yelled.  "It's Hutch!"

She raised up and smiled.

"Over here!" they yelled together.

The boat made its way over to them.  Hutch lowered a ladder over the side.  Luke helped Laura to climb onboard.  She saw Lesley and flew into her arms.

"Mom!"

"Oh Laura, you're safe," said Lesley.

Everyone onboard hugged Laura and shook hands with Luke.

"Mom, where's Lulu?" asked Laura.

"She's fine.  She's with Lucky."

Luke turned to Hutch.

"How did you know where to look for us pal?"

"Just a hunch."

Bobbie came over and gave Luke a hug.

"I called the police.  They are going to arrest Jennifer and her friends as soon as the helicopter lands.  It's over."

"Thanks little sister," he said.

Luke took Laura's hand and they walked into one of the cabins on the boat.  They sat down on the bed.  Luke leaned over and kissed her.

"We're safe Angel.  We're safe and we're going home."

"I love you Luke," she whispered.

Luke kissed her again and lowered her onto the bed.

"I love you too," he said.

Later that evening, Laura lay awake with her head on Luke's chest..  Luke was sound asleep.  She was so happy.  They were safe and they were going home.  Best of all she was right where she always wanted to be.  She was in Luke's arms.  Everything was right in her world again.