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door and felt in the ignition, above the visor, on and under the
seat, but no keys.  Shit!   Okay, think.   Her side hurt and there
was blood coming through the bandage, but she had to get out of there.  If it
had to be on foot, so be it.   She headed away from the house, staying off the
road by the trees, trying to ignore the sticks and rocks that were poking her
tender feet.
    Niki couldn’t
sleep so he went back to the kitchen to make coffee.  He had just turned on the
machine when he spotted the girl out the window, heading towards the beach. 
    He hit the
intercom, “Heads up!  We got a runaway.” 
    Niki bolted
out the door after her, taking the path that went below the trees, which would
put him almost even with her when she got to the beach. 
    Stacy’s
abused body was rebelling. Her side was killing her and she didn’t know how
much farther she could go, but she pressed herself to move on.  She came to the
end of the trees and out into the open and slammed right into Niki, knocking
them both to the ground. 
    Stacy was
stunned.  “Get away from me!” she yelled, and she pounded him hard in the
chest. 
    Niki tried to
grab her arms but she was back on her feet, this time flying with adrenaline
racing through her veins.  He took off after her.
    Carlos and
Eli had made it to the beach and were watching the action with amusement. 
There was no place for the girl to go, unless she had been able to get to the
boat.  That could  have been disastrous, but since that wasn’t going to happen,
they stood back and watched the show.
    “Stop!” Niki
yelled, as he gained on Stacy.  “There’s no place for you to go.”
    “Fuck you!”
Stacy yelled back at him, and she ran for her life.
    Niki caught
up with her, and after unsuccessfully trying to grab her around the waist, he
tackled her into the sand. They rolled and ended up in the water, where once
again she was up and running, this time out into the surf.  
    Niki was
right on her heels.  He lunged, grabbed her, put her in a bear hug, and almost
managed to subdue her, but she was fighting like crazy.  Niki was amazed by the
girl’s stamina; she was incredibly strong for someone her size, and she had
taken a bullet!  He dug his feet into the sand and held on to her.  They were
breathing heavily trying to catch their breaths, as waves crashed up over
them.  The dried blood and grime from Stacy’s body and clothes had turned the
water a reddish brown all around them.
    Eli and
Carlos stood at the edge of the water.  “Shark bait,” Eli said knowingly, and
Carlos nodded.
    Niki locked
his arms around her so she couldn’t get away.  He turned her around and walked
her out of the water.  Stacy was too tired to fight and went with him.  Her
lungs burned,  she felt like she had a knife in her side, and the salt water
was burning the wound.  They got to shore and walked up to where Eli and Carlos
were standing. 
    “Don’t run,”
Niki said, trying to catch his breath.
    Stacy didn’t
have a choice; she was exhausted.  She had given everything in her attempt to
escape and she had no energy to spare.  Niki let go of her and Stacy fell to
the sand breathing hard.  Her hair was dripping pink droplets from the ends,
but her body was clean.  If she hadn’t been so tired, she would have felt
invigorated by the water.  She loved the beach.  It was her favorite place to
be.  Stacy looked around for the first time and was stunned.  It was
beautiful.  As beautiful a spot as she had ever seen in all her travels.  The
water was an incredible turquoise and the sand was white and fine.  My
captors brought me to paradise , she thought.
    Stacy was
exhausted and barely able to speak.  “What do you want with me?” 
    She was
determined not to let them hear fear in her voice.  Stacy looked up at Niki for
the first time and her jaw dropped.  He was gorgeous. Drop dead.  Over
six feet tall, with a brown loose curls, and a deep golden tan.  And