The Tycoon's Seductive Revenge(58)

Alarm whipped through her. She’d let the most important person in her life slip away.

Leaping to her feet, Ellie tossed away the hammer. She ran to the front door, dragged it open and dashed out onto the porch. She ignored the deluge of rain and debris, shielding the wind from her eyes as she scanned the landscape searching for the helicopter.

Forty feet away, the rails of the chopper were just lifting off the ground. Without pausing to think, she raced across the path toward the air-born vehicle.

“Wait! Carter, wait—I’m coming with you!”

But the wind snatched her words as they left her lips. Her voice dissolved in the pouring rain and deafening whoosh of helicopter blades. The wind from the blades and the storm fought her progress at every step. She leaned into the strong winds and sloshed through ankle-deep puddles, sprinting to reach the love of her life before she lost him forever.

The chopper rose ten feet off the ground, hovering there a few seconds. A spark of hope ignited her determination.

Trudging forth, her movements picked up speed. When she was less than ten feet from her last opportunity, the helicopter dipped its nose and steered its course away from the island.

“No! Carter, I love you. I want to be with you. The hotel doesn’t matter anymore.” She ran faster. “Wait—wait!” she screamed.

But the chopper sped forward on a steady course toward the mainland.

“Please, no. This can’t be happening.”

Despite the imminent dangers, she ran after the helicopter. She plunged into the murky water that flooded the street. The rapids fought her every move, gaining force as the water level climbed above her knees.

She was losing her footing, as rocks and sand washed away beneath her feet. It was a matter of moments before she’d be unable to maintain her stance against the torrents. She glanced upstream and inhaled sharply.

A huge tree branch was headed right for her, its ragged point careening through the water like a weapon bent on death. Ellie shrieked, dodging it just in time. The weight and speed of the branch would’ve torn her to shreds. She grabbed onto the branch as it passed, letting it buoy her while she traveled the currents toward the opposite side of the road.

Suddenly the branch spiraled, plunging her into the rapids. She coughed and spluttered, pulling herself back up onto the makeshift floating device. She advanced quickly toward the mound of earth on the other side.

“You can do this,” she repeated several times, forcing herself to believe it.

At the last second, she let go and leaped up onto the marshy ground, clinging to tree roots and cattail reeds. Gasping for breath, she watched the branch tumble through the rapids, submerge, then reemerge just in time to collide with a stone wall. The branch splintered into a hundred pieces, and the entire wreckage was washed away.

Cold and drenched, Ellie dragged herself up to standing. The slight incline gave her a clearer view. She watched the helicopter that carried her dreams speed off toward the shoreline.

Teeth chattering, she forced herself to keep moving. Her soaked clothes made her descent to the beach an exhausting ambition. She ducked as a metal road sign flew over her head, nearly decapitating her.

“You can make it,” she urged her fatigued body. “You have to reach the dock.” There, she’d be more visible, if anyone looked back and saw her waving.

A jolt of strength welled up inside her. She raced through the storm to the beach. Waves crashed against the shore with ferocity that terrified her. But she stayed focused, even as the sand gave way beneath her shoes.

Just a few more yards. Hurry!

Her rush of adrenaline was fading fast. Exhaustion nearly overcame her, as she lunged up the steps to the dock. The wooden structure dipped and swayed, fighting to hold out against the crushing waves.

She raced toward the end of the pier, waving her arms, praying Carter might look back one last time and see her flagging him down.

“Carter, wait!” she cried. “I want to come with you. I want to spend my life with you.” Her voice faded to a futile whisper. “I love you.”

Her arms fell to her sides as the helicopter kept moving out over the ocean, becoming a speck in the gray-green sky. Then it disappeared.

Chin trembling, Ellie choked back tears.

“I’m sorry, Carter,” she said, unable to hold back a sob. “I’m so sorry, I realized too late…”

Everything you mean to me .

Hugging herself, shivering in the cold rain, she felt desolate. She’d lost her last chance to make things right. Now she’d never see him again.

Her heart shattered into pieces. The shards seemed to fling out from the center of her chest, tearing through her, shredding her insides. Tears and rain stung her eyes. The sky opened up and the rain pounded harder, as though mirroring the depths of her pain.