Rebun Island
She was out of breath and the scar on her stomach ached as she arrived at the landing. She looked at the water and noticed another ferry coming to the island. She hoped it was the one with Nolan and Charlotte. Curiously she stopped and waited. Not for nothing she could find out soon.
"Emily, my God ... it's really you!" Charlotte burst out, putting her arms around her.
"Did you think I lied to you?" Nolan asked. "I told you she was on the island." He hugged Emily as well after Charlotte had released her. "Hey, Ems! Good to see you!"
"I'm glad to see you." Emily was struggling to hold back her tears. She couldn't believe they were all reunited, even if the circumstances were not exactly perfect.
"How are you?" Nolan looked at her worried.
"Good." She nodded. "But I have to go now ..." She looked at the two with a serious face. "Daniel is on the island, too. I told him to wait at the hostel."
"Then I'll come with you," Charlotte said firmly, taking Emily's arm.
"Can I accompany you?" Nolan grinned. "I hope Daniel didn't throw the keys to my car away. I would like to have it back."
"He's here with the private jet," Emily explained. "I think your car is still at the hangar at Grayson Global."
"Yes, I can confirm that," a voice suddenly said behind them.
"Danny!" Charlotte ran towards her brother. "I should be really angry for not telling me about your plan to rescue Emily."
"This wasn't really planned," he admitted. "I reacted more spontaneously." He glanced at Nolan with an apologizing look. "I'm sorry! I hadn't intended to steal your car. But the keys were just there, and I didn't know how to get to the hangar."
"With a taxi maybe." He rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter now. We are all here together."
Emily looked around anxiously. Just what she had wanted to avoid. She hoped that Aiden hadn't followed her. She took Daniel's arm. "I told you to wait at the hostel! Why didn't you listen to me?"
"Hey, it's okay." He gently put his arm around her shoulder and frowned as he noticed how tense she was. "What happened?"
"Aiden was in the room when I came back," she confessed hesitantly. "I tried to talk to him again, but he didn't want to listen. Instead, he tried ..." She stopped the sentence in the middle as she realized what she almost had said.
"What did he try?" Nolan picked up the sentence and looked at her, sharply.
Emily lowered her head. "Nothing," she lied.
"Did he harm you?" Charlotte tossed in. When she got no response from Emily, she looked at her shocked. "Oh no ...!" she gasped.
"He ... he just tried to kiss me. That's all," Emily tried to play down the facts. She could see at their faces that they didn't believe her. She felt Daniel's grip tighten around her arm.
"If he did something to you, he'll pay for it!" he threatened.
"We're all together now," Charlotte interjected. "Don't we want to wait for the next ferry and then get out of here?"
Nolan nodded. "No bad idea." He looked at Emily to get a confirmation from her. "Ems?"
"We can take the business jet," Daniel offered.
"Or Nolan's Cessna," Charlotte chimed in. "Anyway, I think it's time to get out of here before anyone else realizes what we're up to."
Nolan looked at Emily with a thoughtful look. "You're so silent. Everything okay?"
"If I go now, I can never return," she said unhappily. "I can't even say goodbye to Ava. And Aiden ..." She stopped and looked at Nolan with a sad look. "I don't know how things could get so out of hand that we're now enemies and no friends anymore. After everything we've been through together ..."
"... you owe me something." Aiden stepped out from behind a bush, holding a gun in his hand.
"Aiden ...!" Emily gasped in shock. The diffuse feeling of fear that she had felt the whole time had been confirmed. He'd actually followed her. She should have known. She knew him and his methods well enough. She had put herself and all the others in mortal danger!
"Put the gun down, Aiden!" Nolan said calmly, reaching out for him.
"Do you think you can still give me orders, Nolan? You are just an imposter as our little friend here ..." He pointed to Emily with his gun. "Nobody makes any conditions here except me." He grinned diabolically. "Because it's my turn to decide what will happen to all of you."
Emily glanced anxiously at Daniel, hoping that he was not so unreasonable to prove to Aiden that he was also armed.
"Please Aiden, let us go!" Charlotte looked at him imploringly.
"Of course," he said casually. "When I've finished, why I came for." He raised the gun and aimed at Nolan. "Should I start with you, or rather with you?" He changed the direction and gestured with the gun at Emily. "Or better," he corrected. "I think I'll start with you, Daniel!"
Emily felt her blood freezing in her veins. She remembered her conversation and the threat that he had made. He had never forgiven Daniel that he had shot him. But even more serious was probably that he had supposedly stolen his girl from him. She acted impulsively when she stepped in front of Daniel to guard him. "I'll go with you wherever you want," she said with a trembling voice. "But please, Aiden, don't harm him!"
"Really touching, how you whine for his life!" Aiden hissed scornfully. "That shows me that I made the right decision." He took a few steps around Emily and pointed his gun at Daniel. "This is because you didn't take my warning seriously to keep your hands off her! I told you you would regret it if you stayed married to her! You wouldn't listen, so you have to feel now ..." he said, smiling coldly and pulled the trigger.
She didn't think but reacted spontaneously when she threw herself in front of Daniel, hoping to catch the bullet. She knew how it felt when the projectile smashed into the body, the pain spreading inside and how life slowly vanished. She was ready to die and closed her eyes. But when she heard a horrifying scream and opened her eyes, she realized that the bullet had found another target...