Chapter One
Moira cocked an arched brow, the wind whipped through her hair sending tendrils of her ponytail flying across her face. The water surrounding her crested in miniature white capped waves as they crashed against the ancient wood she stood on. She anxiously pushed the strands away and stared at the man at the edge of the dock.
“You do realize that if you don’t jump I may push you off.” Moira grumbled as she inched closer, glancing down between the slats into the murky depths of the frothy canal below her. The old dock creaked, giving way under their combined weight and shifted to the side. She grabbed a pillar to steady herself.
Dustin Marks, the third, a man she’d been shadowing for months, did the same and used his other hand to reach past the column he gripped and drop the black bag he’d held into the dark water. He raised his head to meet her stare, a crazy glint sparked in his eyes.
“Good luck getting any proof now, bitch. It’s just your word against mine! Nobody’s going to believe you. I would never hurt any of my wives. I am simply the recipient of a horrible turn of luck.” His lips lifted in a smirk. “After I’m done with the defamation case I plan to file against you, I will own your ass.”
“Ya think. Dustin, you ignorant SOB, I’ve been collecting evidence on you for a while. Even if I don’t have the syringe or the drugs, per se, I have the receipts from the drugstore, dumb ass. I have the pictures of you with Alicia Newell, the future Mrs. Marks. I have the copies of insurance policies and I have no problem giving all that paperwork to the police.” She called out above the wind. “So you go for it. Meanwhile, I’ll be sitting at home while you and your cellmate get intimately acquainted.”
Dustin stared at her, his eyes wide in disbelief. “It’s all circumstantial. You have no fucking clue to what’s really going on.” He stepped back and onto the last plank on the pier. The quay moved again, dipping closer into the brown water. “I will have my freedom…one way or another.”
Moira eased back placing one foot behind the other. She surveyed the channel, gators infested these waters and she had no intention of being any creature’s happy meal. Glancing back to estimate exactly how far from the shore she’d come, she let go of the pylon and kept moving backwards. Dammit, why did she let him lure her so far from the outlet’s edge? “Dude, you do realize that gators reside just beneath the surface of this bayou, and are probably waiting for a tasty snack. A jail cell would be an infinitely wiser choice. Just saying.”
“There’s nothing you can do to me. But you’ll see, with me gone your pain is just beginning,” he screamed. Veins shown at his temples and the tendons in his neck strained. Dustin marched forward, the soles of his shoes slapping the wood. A thunderous crack rent the air and the structure tilted, aged wood started to pull apart in quick succession. Moira met his gaze, a knowing smile split his lips as he extended his arms and winked at her. Her heartbeat sped up as she watched in horror when his footing gave way and he fell back into the water. She took a few steps in his direction before she realized the rest of the dock was breaking up. Turning on her heel, she ran in the opposite direction, the sound of breaking wood following her.
Moira pumped her legs, sprinting for the shore. The mist of water sprayed across the back of her arms as more heavy planks fell into the depths. The unraveling dock was catching up with her, the boards disappearing from beneath her feet even as she moved from one to the next. With nothing left to lose and close enough to jump onto the rocky outcropping, she leapt. Wind milling her arms, she watched the rest of the small pier collapse, sinking sideways beneath the water’s surface. She exhaled and tensed at the thought of the beating her body was going to take as the shore rose up to meet
Moira cocked an arched brow, the wind whipped through her hair sending tendrils of her ponytail flying across her face. The water surrounding her crested in miniature white capped waves as they crashed against the ancient wood she stood on. She anxiously pushed the strands away and stared at the man at the edge of the dock.
“You do realize that if you don’t jump I may push you off.” Moira grumbled as she inched closer, glancing down between the slats into the murky depths of the frothy canal below her. The old dock creaked, giving way under their combined weight and shifted to the side. She grabbed a pillar to steady herself.
Dustin Marks, the third, a man she’d been shadowing for months, did the same and used his other hand to reach past the column he gripped and drop the black bag he’d held into the dark water. He raised his head to meet her stare, a crazy glint sparked in his eyes.
“Good luck getting any proof now, bitch. It’s just your word against mine! Nobody’s going to believe you. I would never hurt any of my wives. I am simply the recipient of a horrible turn of luck.” His lips lifted in a smirk. “After I’m done with the defamation case I plan to file against you, I will own your ass.”
“Ya think. Dustin, you ignorant SOB, I’ve been collecting evidence on you for a while. Even if I don’t have the syringe or the drugs, per se, I have the receipts from the drugstore, dumb ass. I have the pictures of you with Alicia Newell, the future Mrs. Marks. I have the copies of insurance policies and I have no problem giving all that paperwork to the police.” She called out above the wind. “So you go for it. Meanwhile, I’ll be sitting at home while you and your cellmate get intimately acquainted.”
Dustin stared at her, his eyes wide in disbelief. “It’s all circumstantial. You have no fucking clue to what’s really going on.” He stepped back and onto the last plank on the pier. The quay moved again, dipping closer into the brown water. “I will have my freedom…one way or another.”
Moira eased back placing one foot behind the other. She surveyed the channel, gators infested these waters and she had no intention of being any creature’s happy meal. Glancing back to estimate exactly how far from the shore she’d come, she let go of the pylon and kept moving backwards. Dammit, why did she let him lure her so far from the outlet’s edge? “Dude, you do realize that gators reside just beneath the surface of this bayou, and are probably waiting for a tasty snack. A jail cell would be an infinitely wiser choice. Just saying.”
“There’s nothing you can do to me. But you’ll see, with me gone your pain is just beginning,” he screamed. Veins shown at his temples and the tendons in his neck strained. Dustin marched forward, the soles of his shoes slapping the wood. A thunderous crack rent the air and the structure tilted, aged wood started to pull apart in quick succession. Moira met his gaze, a knowing smile split his lips as he extended his arms and winked at her. Her heartbeat sped up as she watched in horror when his footing gave way and he fell back into the water. She took a few steps in his direction before she realized the rest of the dock was breaking up. Turning on her heel, she ran in the opposite direction, the sound of breaking wood following her.
Moira pumped her legs, sprinting for the shore. The mist of water sprayed across the back of her arms as more heavy planks fell into the depths. The unraveling dock was catching up with her, the boards disappearing from beneath her feet even as she moved from one to the next. With nothing left to lose and close enough to jump onto the rocky outcropping, she leapt. Wind milling her arms, she watched the rest of the small pier collapse, sinking sideways beneath the water’s surface. She exhaled and tensed at the thought of the beating her body was going to take as the shore rose up to meet
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