by Hannah Pearl
‘I’ve found an extra stock of sick bags,’ Lily said, exploring the contents of the cupboard again.
‘That wasn’t what I wanted you to look for, but it sounds useful, we’d better take half a dozen. But would you please now watch for her to come back? I don’t want to get caught hacking her system.’ If searching on a computer that had been left logged in and unattended counted as hacking. Ben would have scoffed at the idea, but this was probably just about my skill limit when it came to computers. I tapped a few more buttons and found myself looking at a list of crossings that the boat had made over the last few weeks. I clicked on that day’s date and was greeted by a list of numbers. ‘How does Ben do this?’ I muttered, cursing as I clicked on the first one to see what happened.
‘Hurry up,’ Lily hissed. ‘She might be back any second.’
‘I’m not being slow on purpose,’ I spat back. ‘I don’t exactly want to get caught and locked in the brig.’ That thought gave me pause. ‘What are we going to do with Erin once we find her?’
‘That assumes we ever do,’ Lily said. I shot her a look. ‘Oh, don’t look at me like that. Of course we’ll find her, and Ben. Any minute. And hopefully before the lady comes back.’
‘These numbers relate to the cabins. Look, this is yours. Ooh, I know Taylor’s full name,’ I squealed.
Lily put down the box of ferry-line branded toothbrushes and peered over my shoulder. ‘No wonder he uses his surname.’
I found mine and Eli’s cabin next. I carried on clicking down the list as quickly as I could. ‘Here,’ I said, pulling Lily over to stare at the screen next to me. ‘They’ve been two doors down from me all this time!’
‘Let’s go,’ Lily said, picking up the towels.
‘Let me close this screen so that she can’t tell what we were looking at’ I said, pressing a few more buttons and cursing as the screen turned black. ‘What the hell?’
The door to the bathroom opened and Niamh returned, heaving herself along hand over hand against the wall. ‘Did you get everything you needed?’ she asked.
‘We did,’ Lily assured her.
‘But I’m afraid I accidentally leant on your keyboard,’ I lied. ‘I’m not exactly sure what I pressed but I think I’ve switched it off.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she said, waving me away. ‘Stupid thing does that all the time. I might use it as a good excuse to close up and have a little lie down behind the desk. There isn’t much more I can do here anyway.’
We came out from behind the counter and she took our place, dropping the counter back to its original position before pulling down a metal shutter and closing up shop.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
‘That was lucky timing,’ Lily said. ‘If we’d got to Niamh’s desk any later she’d have shut the office and we’d never have found out where Erin is. So now we go and knock on Erin’s door and beat Ben’s whereabouts out of her.’
‘Yes,’ I confirmed. ‘If we were characters in an action movie. But we’re not. So we’d better come up with another plan.’
‘I don’t know why,’ Lily muttered, put out that I clearly wasn’t planning to kick any doors down. ‘Everything else that we’ve done so far has pretty much been down to luck.’
‘Not to mention our great people skills,’ I added, hoping Lily wouldn’t be offended by my sarcasm.
‘Hey,’ she replied. ‘I do have great people skills. I’m telling you, there was hardly space to swing a cat in the stock room and I still managed to make Aidan pretty happy. I’ve got a few little things in my bag that helped of course.’
I nudged her to move her on before I had to think any more about what she had said. ‘What exactly have you brought with you?’ I asked.
We went via Lily’s room to retrieve her handbag, sneaking in so that we didn’t wake Taylor. Pausing in the hall outside, we looked through it to take stock of our supplies. It didn’t take long. ‘Are you sure we shouldn’t wake the guys to come with us?’ Lily asked.
‘Given how rough they’ve been feeling I’m not sure they’d be much use. Plus they’re spending too much time bitching at each other,’ I told her. ‘We’ve got this far on our own.’
‘Apart from driving hundreds of miles. Taylor and Eli did that for us.’
‘But we’ve found all the evidence that guided us to get this far. We don’t want to freak Erin out and have her try and run all over again. Not that there is anywhere to go on this godforsaken boat. But it took us this long to find her once.’
We passed the door to the room where Eli was sleeping, and stopped two cabins down. I knocked gently, pressing myself to the wall on the left, as they do in every cop movie I’d ever seen. I was completely unsure what I would do if Erin were to open it up as I was severely lacking in the gun department. Action heroes never had to storm an entry carrying only a bottle of glittery body spray.
‘What am I doing with this?’ I hissed to Lily.
‘When she opens up, threaten to spray her with it. She won’t know what it is and she’ll step back, we force our way in, rescue Ben …’
‘And spend the next few hours hiding in our own cabin until they get the engine re-started and we can get to port,’ I finished.
Lily rolled her eyes at me. All our planning, what little of it that we’d managed to do, was in vain as there was no answer to our knock. ‘What if she’s not in there?’ Lily asked.
‘We searched the ship already,’ I reminded her. ‘There’s nowhere else she can be.’ I tried the handle but the door was locked. I’m not sure why I thought it might be open. If I was kidnapping someone and taking them to another country, I’d be sure to keep them locked in. ‘We should have searched for a master key when we were behind the counter,’ I moaned. ‘There must be one. I bet people get locked out all the time.’
Lily gasped, and I turned to ask whether she was okay when she reached into her bag and withdrew a small black velvet pouch. ‘I can get us in,’ she said, excitedly. ‘You’d be amazed the things my customers get themselves locked to. After the millionth time I had to saw someone out of their handcuffs, I took a course.’
I stepped back so that she could get at the door. She withdrew a long silver pick from her bag and hunched over the lock. I hoped it worked quickly because to me it seemed far too obvious what we were doing to be easily explained to any passers-by. The ship rolled under our feet and it seemed like we were getting some help from the universe. I could hear groaning coming from several of the cabins and no one seemed willing or able to leave them. There was more cursing from Lily too, and finally a delicate click. She stepped back, and I rested my hand on the door. ‘Are you ready? I’m going in.’ I threw the door wide open, and charged into the room, spray can held out in front of me. ‘We’re here to rescue Ben,’ I shouted.
No one answered. Lily entered the cabin so close behind me that when I stopped abruptly, she bumped into my back. Ben was lying on the bed, snoring. The room was shadows and shade, but there was no mistaking the guttural sound. The relief that he was okay washed over me, and I dropped a kiss on his forehead. He brushed me away and turned over without even opening his eyes. It wasn’t a lot of gratitude to show for the hunt that we had been on, especially one that had gone on over several days and a good few hundred miles, but given that I’d spent a chunk of it distracted by the sight of his best friend naked, I couldn’t really complain. The light in the bathroom was on and I crept to the door, expecting Erin to emerge any second. I peeked into the room, sweeping the shower curtain outside and spooked myself when the cubicle was empty.
‘You thought she was lurking like a stalker, didn’t you?’ Lily whispered in my ear. I jumped hard enough to knock my head on the shower rail. ‘You need to stop watching horror films like Psycho and start buying some from me. I bet I could find something that would float your boat.’
‘After this I will happily never get on a boat again,’ I told her.
Behind us we heard a muffled groan. I pushed past Lily to get back t
o my brother. I brushed his hair from his face and felt his forehead with my lips to check if he had a temperature. I had a gut memory that my mum used to do this to us when we were sick, but I couldn’t remember any specific examples. He felt cool.
‘Erin?’ he moaned. ‘I’m sleepy.’ He turned over again and resumed snoring.
‘I don’t mean to be rude, but are you sure she kidnapped him?’ Lily asked. ‘He doesn’t seem unhappy to be here.’
‘You didn’t hear the scream,’ I told her as I shook Ben’s shoulder and tried to wake him. He stirred but didn’t open his eyes. ‘Why won’t he wake up?’
Lily sat next to me on the bed and lifted one of his eyelids. ‘Daisy, look. His pupils are dilated. He’s stoned.’
I hunted around the bathroom to see if I could find what he’d taken, or perhaps been given, but there were no bottles. Returning to the bedroom, I hunted for any sign of a bag but was unsuccessful. ‘I bet she left everything in the car. She wouldn’t have known how rough this crossing would be or how long it would take. Maybe he’ll wake up soon. Now we need to get Ben out of here and then we can come back and beat the crap out of her for scaring me like this. Not to mention putting Eli through hell too.’
I looped my arm around Ben and tried to lift him but he was too heavy. Lily copied me and took his other arm. Between us we got him sitting up, his head lolling forward onto his chest. ‘On three,’ I said, counting up. When I reached three we both stood, but Ben was a deadweight, and we collapsed back onto the bed.
‘Let’s go and get Taylor. He could carry Ben no problem,’ Lily suggested.
‘I’m not leaving him.’
‘You stay,’ she said, jumping to her feet. ‘I’ll be back in a sec.’ She made for the door and opened it, before slamming it shut and pressing herself against the wall, her hand over her heart. ‘Shhh,’ she cautioned. ‘Erin just came round the corner. I don’t think she saw me.’
We hurried into the bathroom, and for lack of a better idea hid behind the shower curtain. The cabin door opened and closed again. I held my breath, waiting to think of my next move. Fabric swished and the bed creaked. Erin must have sat next to Ben. I heard the gentle sound of her kissing him and whispering his name. Her voice was quiet and tender. Lily motioned towards the door. I’d come to hate Erin over the last few days, but now I could hear the affection in her voice, I waved Lily back.
She began to sing him a lullaby, her voice hauntingly soft in her native Gaelic. I couldn’t understand a word, but I didn’t need to in order to experience the emotion. She loved him, I could tell. The tune ended, with her humming the last few lines. She kissed him again, and this time when she spoke I could hear every word.
‘We’ll be home soon,’ she told him. ‘Then we can start over. Just you and me. Away from that slut of a man you call your best friend.’ Her voice grew harder and she spoke of Eli, the anger spilling out. I knew how it felt to be angry with Eli about his womanising ways, and it made me realise how much my feelings for him had changed. This was no time to hope that his had too though, because when Erin spoke again I lost my temper.
‘And your sister,’ she continued. ‘She thinks she’s so cute, with her little shop selling its stupid scented candles and overpriced chocolate. As if that’s real romance. It’s what card companies want us to think we need Valentine’s Day for, that’s not real love. Not like we have. And she doesn’t even have a fella herself.’
I threw myself round the corner and flew at her, knocking her off the bed and landing on top of her on the stained and threadbare carpet. She screamed as I knocked the air out of her. I felt pretty winded myself, but not enough to give me pause. I was so angry that I wanted to slap her, but I’d heard the way she spoke to my brother and I dropped my hand. I was angry at her, probably more angry than I’d ever been with anyone except Eli, but if Ben did love her then I couldn’t hurt her.
Turning her over, I pulled one arm up behind her back and pinned it as I straddled her. ‘Lily,’ I shouted, ‘I’ve got her, quick.’ Lily burst into the room, clutching a toothbrush as if it were a knife. I stared at her. ‘It’s not a dental emergency. She doesn’t have sweetcorn trapped between her teeth. Get me something to tie her up with.’
Below me, Erin twisted and bucked. I jacked her arm up higher until she groaned but held still. Lily upended her handbag onto the bed and began to paw through the contents. ‘I’ve got tampons, fifty pence in change.’ She swept her hand on the bed as she sorted more. ‘Tights?’
‘Perfect, tie her arms together,’ I instructed.
‘Even better.’ Lily uncoiled the ball of tights to reveal something metallic, trimmed with pink fake fur. ‘Handcuffs.’
Quickly we secured Erin, using the cuffs on her arms and the tights to bind her legs. I sent Lily to fetch Eli. I sat next to Ben while I waited, stroking his hair and checking his eyes to see if the medication had worn off at all. It hadn’t, and as Erin rolled on the floor, cursing at me, he continued to snore.
Lily was back within minutes. Eli pushed past and ran to Ben. He swept up his sleeping body and hugged him. Ben was unresponsive, and Eli lowered him slowly back to the bed before going to stand and glare down on Erin. ‘If you’ve hurt him, I will end you.’
‘And I’ll help,’ said Taylor from the doorway. He was leaning against it and still looking pretty grey, but the glare in his eyes was unmistakable. ‘I’ve done it before. I know where to hide bodies.’
After that Erin stopped struggling. ‘So, what do we do now?’ Eli asked me.
I was about to answer when the floor began to vibrate and the air was split by a mechanical groan. The engines had started again.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
‘We need to find Ben a doctor,’ I said again.
‘He’ll be fine,’ Taylor told me, ignoring the daggers that I shot at him with my eyes. ‘I’ve had training about subduing unwilling travel partners.’
‘You mean you’ve been trained to kidnap people?’ I asked in disbelief. ‘What are you?’
Behind him Eli grunted. I took it to mean that I didn’t really want to know.
‘My point was, I’ve seen people sedated. Ben will be fine. His pulse is steady and he’s breathing well.’
‘Then we should call the police. I’m sure the captain can radio to shore. They can have someone waiting to arrest Erin the minute we reach land.’
‘And risk Ben losing his job?’ questioned Eli.
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ I asked, amazed that he was even considering letting Erin get away with capturing Ben.
‘Think about it,’ he said, his voice patient but firm. ‘Ben has access to very secure data. If the boss finds out that he was kidnapped …’
‘By a girl,’ Taylor interjected. Lily whacked him. ‘I meant, by a woman.’ Lily smacked him again. ‘Ouch, okay, by Erin, who was previously assumed to be the quietest person in the office, it doesn’t really look good for him does it? They’ll get scared of how easy it would be for him to get picked off in the future.’
‘Do you want me to hit him again?’ Lily offered. I did, but I shook my head. I figured that I ought to try and act like a grown-up, though it was hard to feel like one, with six of us crammed into a tiny cabin, including one person still asleep on the bed and one trussed up on the floor. Erin grunted and wriggled, trying to free her feet from the tights, not that she would be able to get very far. Taylor was so broad he basically blocked the door without really trying. I glared at her and she lay still and quiet again.
‘So what do we do?’ I asked Eli.
‘Get Ben home, then work out what do with Erin,’ he said, decisively. For want of a better plan I agreed with him.
‘Next question,’ Lily said, as she packed the remnants of her crap from the bed back into her handbag. ‘How do we do that? We can’t exactly stroll up the desk, announce that we’ve changed our mind about our holiday and can we please stay on the ferry to go straight home?’
‘I for one, want off
of this godforsaken ship,’ Taylor said.
‘We’re not getting off the ferry,’ I told him. ‘I know you’re a muscle head, but seriously, how are we going to get Ben out of the cabin? You going to carry him to the car? How are we going to explain that? We’re going to have hundreds of witnesses and there goes any chance of keeping this quiet.’
‘Fine, we stay on board,’ Taylor accepted, throwing his hands in the air in surrender. ‘But no one touches my car.’
‘And what about Ben?’ I shouted, the frustration getting to me.
‘What about me?’ Ben asked, sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes. Eli and I both leapt over to hug him, knocking him flat on the bed so that he had to push us off in order to breathe. ‘Where the hell am I? Why is the floor moving? Am I drunk? Why are you all here, and why is my girlfriend wearing pink fluffy handcuffs?’
‘We’re here to rescue you,’ I told him. He rubbed his eyes again as if to clear them, but still looked confused so I filled him in with the details of our search. When we finished, he asked for his laptop. We searched the room but couldn’t find it anywhere. Erin ignored him asking her repeatedly where she had put it, so we threatened to throw her overboard until she admitted that it was in her handbag. Lily glanced at us nervously. She wasn’t keen on hurting Erin, but Eli, Taylor and I would have had no problem with it. Even Ben looked distressed until he was safely back behind a screen again.
He typed away on his keyboard. ‘I’ve booked us on to the return journey, and logged into their cabin booking system so that they won’t hire this room out again,’ he announced.
‘What about my car?’ Taylor asked. Eli appeared to squirm at his tactlessness, before admitting that he too wanted to make sure that his car also made it home safely. ‘They’re going to get in the way when they start unloading the ferry once we reach shore.’