“Bullshit,” scoffed Cole. “That’s impossible.”
“I admit, it was awfully clever of you to hide her in the cave. But I noticed that one of the swan boats was gone. And right before you caught me, I sent Angel and Diablo to go get her.”
Cole gave me his cockiest smile. “Well that’s a shame, because while Diablo and Angel are paddling around in the lake, Chastity is sipping strawberry daiquiris on the roof of the clubhouse.”
“The roof? But the only way up there is to gothroughthe clubhouse.” I knew because we had considered it as a hiding spot for me. “So unless you’re going to try to convince me that she scaled the wall in these crazy heels, then she cheated! Ha! You’re gonna get disqualified.”
“Do you remember how good Chastity was at the salmon ladder?” asked Cole.
“Yeah. She was a total freak.”
“Well…earlier this summer they did a few renovations to the clubhouse. And I made sure to slip the builders some cash to get them to add a salmon ladder to one of the back walls.”
“You clever bastard.”
“Guilty as charged,” said Cole with a stupid grin.
“You’re not clever enough, though.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Look below us,” I said, pointing down into the lake below us.
Cole looked super confused. He shifted his weight and looked over the edge of the cliff. And I pushed him. He may have been over 200 pounds of pure muscle, but that weight just worked against him as he toppled over the cliff and into the lake.
I let out a sigh of relief when he bobbed back to the top. I’d been a little worried that he was going to hit his head and drown to death, but that seemed like a risk worth taking to avoid getting spit roasted.
Cole brushed some hair off his forehead and glared up at me.
“Sorry, sucker!” I called.
“What the fuck?!” he yelled back.
I held up the bug that Tanner had used to spy on Diablo earlier that day. “Ryder just heard everything you said. And as we speak, he’s probably telling everyone on our team where Chastity is hiding. So by the time you swim to shore…this game will be long over. Who’s the clever one now, bitch?!” I dropped the bug as if it were a mic, but it didn’t really have the desired effect.
My victory celebration lasted all of three seconds - exactly the time it took for Cole to swim to the cliff face and start climbing. And I meanreallyclimbing. I didn’t even know how it was possible to scale a cliff so quickly.
Shit!
This Is War - Chapter 28 - The Spit Roast
Saturday – September 23, 2023
I tried to kick off my thigh-high boots, but of course they wouldn’t come off. Apparently the locks on them were not just for show.
Oh well.There was no time to mess with them. I just had to run as fast as I could and pray that Cole slipped and fell back into the lake.
My progress was extremely slow. My heels sunk into the mud if I put any pressure on them at all, so I had to basically speed-tiptoe through the forest. I must have looked like a total weirdo, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was running away from Cole to give my team enough time to go get Chastity off the roof of the clubhouse.
About three minutes into my escape, I heard branches crunching behind me. A quick glance back told me everything I needed to know. Cole had made it up the cliff, and he was closing in on me. Fast.
I screamed and tried to run faster. It was no use, though. Any second, I’d be swallowed up in his soaking wet arms.
Damn it!When I’d seen him splash into the lake, I’d thought for sure I’d won. But now… I didn’t even want to think about what was going to happen to me.
I looked over my shoulder once more. Cole’s footsteps sounded like they were literally right behind me. Because they were. Hereached out and…stopped dead in his tracks. The LEDs on his armor blinked out as Cole looked down in disbelief.
“Raven!” called Tanner as he jumped off a golf cart, his laser gun still pointed at Cole.
