Chapter 14
Nikolas and Luke were starting to get worried. It had been almost an hour since Gia had left to rent them a car and she had not returned. Mary had regained consciousness shortly after Gia left. Luke was afraid someone would find them and then they would have to explain why they were hiding in the bushes with a gagged woman whose hands were bound with Luke's belt.
"Do you think she had a problem getting the car?" Nikolas asked.
"I don't know. That rental agency isn't that far away. She does have an international driver's license doesn't she?"
Nikolas nodded. "She got it last winter when we went to Paris. I made sure she brought it with her."
Luke looked at his watch again. "Ok, it's been an hour, call her."
Nikolas pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He dialed Gia's number. There was total silence. He sighed and put it back in his pocket. "I guess my phone doesn't work outside the United States."
"Great there goes that plan."
"What if Helena caught her?" Nikolas asked.
Before Luke could answer, they heard the sound of footsteps coming towards them.
"Hold it right there!" said a voice behind them.
They turned around to see a cop standing there. "You're under arrest," he said.
Nikolas and Luke looked at each other and sighed.
***
A few miles away, Gia had rented a car and was getting ready to leave the rental agency. She had just tried to call Nikolas and had realized that her cell phone didn't work either. She got in the car and pulled out of the rental agency. At first it was difficult to drive on the left side of the road, but she quickly got the hang of it.
Gia glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a car coming up behind her. As it got closer, she saw that Lucky was behind the wheel. She knew that she couldn't lead him back to where she had left Luke and Nikolas so she turned and headed in the opposite direction.
After she had driven for about half an hour, she saw that Lucky was still behind her. Gia had driven out of the city of London and was headed out into the English countryside. She realized that she had made a mistake. She would have been safer if she had stayed in the city.
Lucky's picked up speed and ran into the back of the rental car. Gia tried to speed up to get away from him, but Lucky hit her car again. He caught up to her and smashed his car into the side of hers. The force of the impact caused Gia to lose control of the car. She hit the brakes, but the car skidded off the road and struck a tree.
***
Meanwhile Laura and the real Lucky were still swimming towards shore. Laura was getting tired, but she tried to keep going. Finally they reached the island. They stood up and waded the last few feet. Laura collapsed on the beach in exhaustion.
"Mom, come on," Lucky said. "We can't stay on the beach."
Laura took a few deep breaths and got to her feet. "Okay, let's go."
They headed off the beach into the shelter of the trees. They walked for about fifteen minutes. Finally they came to a clearing and sat down to rest.
After he had time too catch his breath, Lucky turned to Laura. "Do you think Helena really let us escape just so she could blow us up on that yacht?"
"I'm sure of it," Helena said stepping into the clearing. "I don't know how the two of you managed to escape from that boat, but I guarantee that you won't escape this time. She snapped her fingers and five men appeared pointing guns at Laura and Lucky.