Chapter 34
Laura had to cover her ears, because the sound of the alarm was deafening. She glanced towards shore and saw dozens of guards running towards the beach. They began scrambling to get the other boats untied. She knew she only had one chance of getting away.
She took a couple of deep breaths and jumped into the water and began to swim for shore. She made sure that she was swimming towards area where there were no guards in sight. It was a long way to shore and the swim was really tiring her out, but she managed to keep going.
Finally she reached the shore. She ran across the beach and hid in the bushes. She watched the guards go after the boat. It wouldn't be long before they found out that the boat was empty. Laura looked at her watch and knew that she wasn't going to be able to meet Lucky and Jessica in time. "At least I've given them time to get away," she thought.
The alarm abruptly stopped. "They must have turned it off," Laura said to herself. She saw that more guards were converging on the beach. Laura knew that it wasn't safe to stay where she was. She quietly crawled out the bushes, making sure to stay out of sight of the beach. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure that she wasn't being followed. There was no one in sight.
When Laura felt that she was far enough from the beach, she stood up to run. She had only gone a few steps when two of the guards stepped out onto the path in front of her. She stopped and stared at the guns pointed at her.
The bushes rustled again and a moment later Helena came into view. "Going some where Laura?" she asked with a sickening smile. She turned to the guards. "Take her away."
Laura sighed as the guards led her away. She hoped that Lucky and Jessica had made it off the island.
***
On the other side of the island, Lucky was getting nervous. The twenty minutes Laura had asked for had passed and there was no sign of her. "Where is she?" he asked as a worried look crossed his face.
"I don't know," Jessica told him. She looked at her watch. "We have to go."
"No! I'm not going to leave my mother!"
"Lucky we have to. It's what your mother wanted."
"I don't care what she wanted," Lucky said. "We can't just take off and leave her here. We have to try to help her."
"Laura knew what she was doing. She knew the risks. You and I need to get off the island and find Luke," Jessica told him.
"But…"
"We can't help Laura if we get caught. Now get in the boat!"
Lucky looked like he was going to argue with her, but he kept his mouth shut. He knew she was right. The only chance they had at saving Laura now depended on them finding Luke. He took a deep breath and looked in the direction Laura had gone. Finally he got untied the boat and got in. He picked up the oars and rowed the boat away from the island. "We'll be back Mom," he whispered.