Page 158 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

Tristan grabbed one of the dangling zip lines and sped down the wire holding on to the harness, but not taking the time to buckle up. I ran to the platform, fearing Jason had fallen all the way to the lake. Could he survive that?

When I reached the platform, I saw Jason barely holding on to the edge of the wood. I lay down and put out my hand.

“You can’t pull me up,” he panted. “Pull down the trolley, please! The thing that looks like handlebars.”

I saw it, did what he said. I pulled it down, but the weight of Tristan going across had the heavy line bouncing up and down.

“Now!” Jason cried out.

I pulled as hard as I could, getting the trolley within a foot of where Jason grasped the edge of the platform, and he reached up and grabbed the handle. Suddenly he was flying in the air down the zip line, completely out of control with no safety harness.

Paralyzed, not knowing whether I should run back for help, I watched as Jason sailed over the water. One hand slipped off, and I screamed as Jason wobbled precariously. Halfway across the lake, he lost his grip and fell. I watched him hit the water.

Without thinking, I grabbed the last trolley, held on tight, and followed him, praying he had the strength to swim to the shore and not be sucked down the waterfall. Had he made it far enough across? I didn’t know. I didn’t want to lose him now, not like this.

I screamed as the trolley rolled down the wire, gaining speed, clutching the handles because my life depended on it. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed and screamed and begged as I flew through the air, going faster and faster and faster... how the hell would I stop when I reached the other side? Was I going to crash into a tree?

Open your eyes!I told myself.

I didn’t want to, but I did, because I needed to see where I was going.

I was halfway across the lake. Suddenly, the weight of the line changed, and I bounced up so quickly that one of my hands slipped. I thought,This is it. I’m going to fall and die, splat on the water.

But I held on and was reaching the shore quickly. What had Brie told me when she explained zip-lining?

The line dipped down until I was almost touching the water. I could see the shore. It was only a hundred feet away and getting close fast.

“You just have to remember to disengage the harness and let go between twenty and fifty feet from shore.”

I had no harness, so I just let go.

I splashed into the water and went down. The lake was deep, even here fifty feet from the beach, and I fought to come back to the surface. Breaking through, I gasped for air. I was alive.

Jason. He’d fallen farther back than I had.

I swam to the shore, my arms and hands aching from the zip line. But I made it and collapsed onto the shore.

I heard moaning behind me.

“Jason?” I called out.

I half crawled until I could push myself to standing. It wasn’t Jason. It was Tristan. His leg was at an odd angle.

“My leg. It’s broken,” he said.

“Good,” I said. “I swear, if you killed Jason, I will make sure you get the death penalty, you bastard!”

I turned and looked out at the lake, searching for signs of life. The setting sun reflected off the cliffs, but the lake looked dark. I didn’t see him. I feared he really was dead.

Tristan was sobbing. “I did it for you, Ethan! She knew who you were. That’s why she came to me. She knew you were Ethan Valentine, and she would have spread it far and wide. It would have hurt you, destroyed what we built here on St. Claire! I did it for you!”

I couldn’t have heard that right.

Tristan was delirious.

Then I remembered his words before he ran. He had been looking at Jason when he said,“I did it for you, Ethan.”

Finally, Jason emerged from the water, staggered up the shore, and collapsed.