-1The harpoon was aimed right at her stomach. Ashleigh stared in fascination at it, ignoring the burning sensation that was building up in her lungs. She waited, imagining the gun firing, seeing the man's finger on the trigger, a sudden flare immediately dampened by the surrounding water, water that would be disturbed in a series of ripples and bubbles as the harpoon began its deadly journey.

It would take seconds to reach her, only slightly slowed by the underwater resistance, and then it would be there, piercing through the rubber of her wetsuit, she would feel the point before it actually broke through the synthetic surface, it would bury itself deep within her abdominal cavity, tearing through her peritoneum, ripping through her liver, probably burying itself deep within her upper digestive tract. How long would it take to die in such a way? Would the blood loss kill her first, would shock help to numb the pain or would she be terrifying conscious throughout, feeling her life slip away from her, in this murky underwater realm.

So many people had lost their life here at her husband's hands, would she merely be another ghost to haunt this forsaken place?

The diver was raising the gun, and Ashleigh realised through her fear that she was a sitting target. She glanced upwards, trying to estimate the distance to the surface and just how much time she had left. It had been so long since she had practised holding her breath, now she had to make a snap decision.

Fight her way to surface too quickly, and risk a case of the Bends, or stare certain death in the face as she was doing now.

He was about to fire.

With a violent lunge she shot forward, feeling desperately slow and clumsy. The sudden attack worked, the other diver checked, and in his hesitation, she tried to grab the harpoon gun away from him. Curling herself around, she managed to ram her foot deep into the diver's stomach and knew then that if she paused now, there was no hope.

Lungs bursting, Ashleigh shot to the surface.

Only one thought flashed through her head.

Don't look back.

Lungs bursting, heart feeling like it was about to implode, Ashleigh broke the surface seconds later. Never had anything tasted so sweet as the mouthfuls of air Ashleigh forced into her chest at that moment.

She had no time to think. She lashed out, wanting nothing more than to reach the shore and get away from this godforsaken place, but twenty feet away, she stopped. Turning frantically, she looked for any movement rippling on the surface.

'Van Dien!' she screamed into the emptiness. 'Jasmin!'

There was no reply.

In frustration, Ashleigh slapped her palm down on the water hard, sending out a shockwave of ripples.

There was no time to dwell. She had to get away, she had to get away now.

The surface was close, about half a mile away. Ashleigh realised they hadn't swam far, but the distance had seemed greater once they had been beneath the surface. Reaching the edge, Ashleigh realised that she had no idea where she was, but the feel of the water on her skin was thick and greasy, and she didn't care, she just wanted out of there. She dragged herself from the lake, and collapsed panting on the bank. Her head felt like it was being dragged through glass, and she prayed it wasn't because of her fast ascent. The ground was muddy and slick beneath her, but it didn't seem to matter as she stumbled to her feet and stared out at the spookily still water.

'Jasmin!' she called again. 'Jasmin!'

Once more there was no reply. Ashleigh paced the edge, hoping against hope that she might see the faintest flicker on the water's surface and that suddenly, Jasmin's dark head would pop up, her curls plastered to her head and a look of pleased satisfaction on her slightly smug face.

There was nothing.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, Asleigh tried again. 'Jasmin! Jasmin! Are you okay?'

She jumped as there was a squawk of protest from the nearby trees and an indignant bird shot from its secluded perch. But still no Jasmin. Had she really seen the other woman's death? It didn't seem possible that someone as totally alive as Jasmin could be killed so simply.

Panic and nausea began to take its toll. She was so tired, but convinced that the divers were about to appear any time. She couldn't work out where she was, how far she was from the 4x4, or if she had even come in the right direction. Dense forest covered the area.

There was a distinct crack. The crack of a foot stepping on a twig.

Ashleigh froze. She jerked around, listening once more for any sort of noise. There was silence. Ashleigh strained, listening for any other sort of noise. There was definitely a quiet rustling coming from the forest.

Reaching down, she tore the fins from her feet and then she ran.

The faint trail was littered with leaves, small branches and hanging vines. Trees were packed close on either side, scratching at her face and arms. Her bare feet felt every single sharp pebble, every lump and bump on the forest floor. She ignored the stinging pain in her side and ran for her life. There was definitely someone coming after her, she could hear the steady thump of boots some distance behind.

She glanced back, to check her progress, to see if someone was following her, and in that moment of panic, she lost track of what was in front of her.

Her face hit something that felt like a warm, muscled tree branch and she hit the ground hard, winding herself. She lay there, stunned, and found herself staring up at the hard, black face of what she vaguely thought was a US marine, with a rather large, impressive weapon.

'Hi,' she managed to stammer. Relief made her feel giddy, at least this man was identifiable as an American, and potentially, her saviour.

He glared down at her, and she saw her own, slightly damp reflection in his mirror shades.

'Identify yourself,' the 'marine' barked in a crisp US accent.

Ashleigh squinted up at him. 'No,' she said shortly.

'Identify yourself, ma'am!' the marine barked again.

'I said, 'no',' Ashleigh drawled with all the arrogance that an English public school education could instil.

'Ma'am,' Ashleigh winced at the continued use of the pronoun, 'if you do not identify yourself, I will be forced to take action.'

'No, you won't,' Ashleigh said, pulling herself slowly to her feet. Her face ached, and she prodded her tender jaw with a cautious finger. 'You won't take any action, because your order is to detain me until your superiors arrive, not to take 'action' against me. And you Americans are so good at obeying orders.' Bluffing seemed like the best action to take.

'Ma'am, I repeat, you will identify yourself and you will stay in your current position.'

'Sod off.'

'Excuse me, ma'am?'

'I said 'sod off'. Its an English term. Short for 'sodomite' I believe. I am telling you, in other words, to piss off and leave me alone. I do not need macho, American, wannabe action heroes giving me orders. If needs be, I will discuss my situation with your superior but until he arrives,' Ashleigh pointedly glanced around at the trees which were trembling somewhat, 'I am going to ignore you. Do you understand?'

The Marine continued to glare at her. She saw his finger itch towards his trigger, before reluctantly pulling away. 'You are in no position to be refusing orders, ma'am, you are currently trespassing on US government property. You will give me your name.'

'I told you, I will talk to your superior. If he can be arsed to show his face.'

The trembling in the trees increased tenfold. Ashleigh laughed, mockingly. She had had enough of this. She was cold, wet and dirty, and in no mood for American jocks. She raised her chin, and said as haughtily as possible 'Either you detain me, or you let me go. You have ten seconds to make your choice.'

There was an awful lot of rustling coming from the bushes behind. Ashleigh turned on her heel, and swallowed.

You do not argue with eleven men with automatic weapons pointing at you. She turned back to the original marine. 'I take it you're detaining me.'

'Walk.' And then he added as an afterthought, 'Ma'am.'

'Twelve of you, and one of me?' Ashleigh shrugged belligerently. 'I suppose that's fair enough.'

The marine gave an audible, impatient sigh, and nudged her with the butt of his weapon. 'Walk.'