Due Process Read Online Free PDF Page B

Jenny.
                  Without giving it much thought she hurried outside and untied the guy ropes, threw them on deck, jumped aboard and started the engine.  There was no way she was staying at the dock now.  She would go down river and find a quiet spot to moor for the night whilst she decided what to do.  It was only as she was chugging away that she looked back and saw her car.  Without that they were stuck.
                  “Damn it,” she said, her hands shaking as she steered the boat out onto the open river.  They had to get away; she would decide what to do later.  Her first priority was to keep Jenny safe.
                  “Where are we going, mummy?”
                  Amanda turned quickly to see Jenny in her plaid pyjamas, clutching her teddy and looking so, so vulnerable.  Amanda reached out and the little girl hurried forward and took her mother’s hand.
                  “Just a little boat trip,” Amanda explained in a soft voice.
                  “But it’s nearly dark.”
                  “Yes, I know,” Amanda replied quickly, “isn’t it exciting?”
                  Jenny climbed on to her mother’s lap and peered into the gloom ahead.
                  “I can’t see very much.”
                  Amanda plopped a kiss on the crown of her daughter’s head.
                  “We’re not going far.  Just down the river to a little dyke I know.  We’ll stay there tonight and come back in the morning.”
                  “I mustn’t be late for school,” said Jenny in a quiet voice as she began to rub her eyes.
                  “No, I promise you won’t be late,” soothed Amanda, “now why don’t you go back to bed and I’ll come and tuck you in again when I have moored up.”
                  “Okay.”
                  As Jenny wandered back to the cabin Amanda searched the river ahead looking for the little dyke that she knew veered off to the left.  They would often take the boat there for picnics in the summer.   She just had to remember exactly where it was.
                  A low mist hovered above the water, giving it a surreal appearance.  She could hear the owls calling as the dusk settled.  Sometimes the river was a beautiful place, but at the moment with fear in her stomach it was a place of foreboding.
                  Suddenly out of the gloom another boat appeared.  It was on the wrong side of the river and heading straight for them.  Amanda gasped and yanked the wheel over to the right so that the boats passed within inches of one another.  Jenny let out a squeal as the boat began to rock in the wake.
                  “It’s alright, Jenny, just another silly boat.”
                  Amanda unzipped the side flap and listened.  She could hear the boat returning.  Fear began to creep up her spine like a hunting tarantula.
                  She increased the speed to maximum, not caring if she missed the turn off for the dyke.  She had to move quickly.  She could hear the other boat’s motor getting louder and louder and then there was a mighty crash and something hit them from behind.  Jenny screamed.  Amanda was knocked from the seat and fell heavily to the floor, catching her arm on the steering wheel as she tried to grab something.  The wheel veered to the right and as she pulled herself upright, wincing at the pain in her shoulder, she could see the river bank looming.
                  She dove for the wheel and with two hands jerked it to the left, and the boat turned full circle.  She saw the boat behind her then.  A high powered boat with two men aboard.  They looked straight at her as she passed them, and she knew she would never be able to outrun them in the cruiser.  Still at maximum speed