“You know I will. How about some real Caribbean rum?”
“That’s what I’m talking about! Medicine to deal with the kids!”
§
I’m a stickler for details. Before I left the house, I triple checked to make sure I had everything I was supposed to have. I have my driver’s license, my birth certificate, my passport, and social security card. I know that it’s overkill, but I wanted to make sure I had more than what was required so there wouldn’t be any unexpected problems. After the hour-long drive from the airport to the port, I went through my purse to fish everything out. My ticket was nowhere to be found. I don’t know if it I dropped it on the table next to the front door or if it fell out along the way. I’m sure I had it when I was getting all my paperwork together. This is just great! First vacation I’ve had in a long time and I lose one of the most important things I need—my ticket!
I was so embarrassed when I got up to the agent and had to explain my predicament to her.
“I don’t know what happened. I could have sworn that I had my boarding information when I left the house but now it’s just gone,” my face flushed with embarrassment. I could practically feel the heat radiating from my cheeks to my forehead.
“Ma’am, you were instructed to bring all the required documentation for a reason,” the hefty woman said, obviously annoyed. “Let me see what you have. I’ll figure out if there’s anything I can do for you.”
She took the documentation that I brought with me and punched some things into her computer. After looking up at me with disdain, she walked to an older woman in the back and started speaking to her. The original agent made no secret that the conversation was about my situation as she kept pointing in my direction. After what seemed like an eternity, she returned to the counter.
“Well Miss Wheeler, it looks like it’s your lucky day. I didn’t think there was anything we could do for you but my supervisor said we can bend the rules. Since we can see that you have a booking with us, we’re going to let you board the ship.”
“Oh good, thank you so much,” relief began to wash over me as my body relaxed.
“Don’t get too excited yet Miss Wheeler. I’m able to see that you have a booking but without your information, I can’t see exactly what you booked. This is a full ship so I can’t risk putting you in a cabin that someone else reserved. We’re going to have to put you in one of our overflow cabins. It’s the best I can do. Take this over to security and they’ll get you boarded,” she looked to the left of me and yelled, “Next!”
Standing in awe, I looked at her as if she were crazy. I’d paid damn good money for what I’d reserved. Now they want to put me in an overflow cabin? The woman glared at me.
“I said ‘Next’, ma’am. You’ll need to move out of the way so I can help the couple behind you,” she blurted.
I took the boarding ticket from her and made my way over to security. The line was long and looked like it was standing still. The only movement was coming from my left as a long line of ship employees boarded without having to go through these scanners. As much as I hated waiting in the long line for my overflow cabin, I kept reminding myself it was a minor setback. In just a couple of hours, I would be in the middle of the ocean with a drink in hand and well on my way to relaxing on a beach.
§
An hour and a half later, I was standing in the security line. It amazed me how many adults could not grasp what could and could not get through a metal detector. I witnessed several people have to go through four or five times before they finally got it right. Of course, most of the people having problems were older so I’m willing to give them a pass.
Once I was finally able to board the ship, I sought out a cute Mexican guide to help me find my room. He spoke quite a bit of English, though it was hard to follow his accent. I was a bit disappointed when he took me below deck and into an inner hallway. My original reservation was for an upper deck suite with its own balcony. I wasn’t going to complain, though. It was my own fault that I didn’t ensure I had my boarding pass. Besides, how much time was I really going to be spending in my room anyway? I planned to mingle and have fun. My goal was going to hang out by the pool, go to the casino, see a live show, visit a couple of the clubs, and just meet some people. Doing all the things Jeremy would never allow me to do made my inner Goddess smile.
My room was located at the end of the long hallway. Upon opening the door, it was clear that it was an extra room. It was also obvious that it hadn’t been used in quite some time. The air reeked of a stale, pungent odor. The attendant who helped me find the room told me he would send someone in to freshen the room up for me. He also said that once everyone was boarded and in their rooms, we’d be able to figure out what my original room assignment was supposed to be and, hopefully, place me in it.
I thanked him and handed him a $10 tip. I wasn’t sure what was proper as far as tipping went, but I intended to tip everyone as I wanted the best service possible. It would still be a little while before everyone boarded so I was going to check out the room, use the restroom and go up to the deck to wave at all the people I don’t know before the ship set to sail.
CHAPTER 3
BEAST
As soon as I came up to the port, I knew I was fucked. I had serious doubts about whether I was going to make it onto that ship. There were a few stops you had to make before you could even board. First, you had to go check in with some broad to show her your ticket and shit. Then you had to go through security. After that, there was more security. The whole place was crawling with fucking guards. I had to figure out what to do and figure it out fast. I had half the mind the get out of dodge and hitchhike over to the East coast. The plan was decent but then what? I had pigs looking for me everywhere. The only thing that would save my nuts is getting the fuck out of the states and laying as low as possible. I had to find a way onto that ship.
I sat back, watching the people go by as I tried to come up with a plan. Everyone was so damn happy. Their lives were just so fucking perfect. These people with their fake smiles and happy-go-lucky lives are exactly the type of people that have always annoyed me. Now I envied them. I begrudged them so fucking much. They didn’t have a care in the world and there I was, sitting with my hat pulled down over my eyes and my cut shoved into a duffel bag. As I sat there figuring out my next plan of action, I saw the opening I was looking for. I saw a line of people filing into one of the back rooms in their street clothes. Slowly, they emerged wearing red uniforms. It was the crew that would be working the cruise. I waited until a fairly large group started going into the back room and made my move.
The back room was actually a locker room. It was just like we had in high school, only bigger. There were also no asshole jocks who thought they were hot shit. Most of the crew were foreigners and hung around in big groups. That wouldn’t work for me. I had to find someone who was there alone. Someone who didn’t really talk to anyone. Someone who might not be missed. It only took me about five minutes to find the guy. He walked in alone. He showered alone. He grabbed a locker at the complete opposite side of the room, and was roughly my size. I walked up behind him, wrapped my forearm around his throat and put him in a rear naked choke.
“Nothing personal buddy. You’re just gonna take a little nap.” I whispered into his ear. Once I choked him out, I slid him into a supply room that was right next to the locker and locked the door from the outside. I couldn’t risk him waking up before the ship left. I took a look around to make sure there were no accidental witnesses to what had just happened. When I knew I was in the clear, I grabbed his red shirt off the hanger in his locker and slid it over my black t-shirt. I stripped off my jeans and threw them into my duffel bag, sliding his God awful pants on instead. They were a little loose on me, but the belt made them work. I didn’t plan on wearing them long anyway.
Fully dressed, all that was left to do was wait for the rest of the people in the group to exit so I could blend in with them. The other group in the locker room mu
st have known each other because they stood around blabbing forever. I wanted to walk over to them and tell them to hurry the fuck up, but the last thing I wanted to do was bring any attention to myself. Instead, I just stood there and clenched my teeth while listening to them talk about God knows what. I couldn’t understand a fucking word any of them were saying. Finally, they all gathered their things and started making their way towards the door. I followed closely behind, giving the impression that I was just another person in the group.
§
Getting onto the ship was much easier than it had any right to be. If you sit and think about it, it should make you uneasy. We wonder why terrorists are able to breach security to pull off attacks on our country. Well, it’s doing simple shit like I just did. We might as well have been invisible. There were massive lines of passengers having to go through a couple of different checkpoints and metal detectors. All of us, on the other hand, simply walked along the side of the wall and nobody batted a damn eyelash.
Once I was on the boat, I was completely fucking lost. These things look huge from the outside but they’re like a whole other world once you’re inside. It felt like being downtown in a big city that you’ve never been in before. All I could do was stand there and look around, trying to figure out my best option to hide. I must have looked out of place because some preppy dude in a white blazer walked up to me.
“Hi there. Is everything okay? You look a little confused,” he sounded concerned. I had to think fast.
“Oh yeah, I'm all right. I’m new here. This is my first day and I’ve never been on one of these before. I’m just taking it all in before everyone else starts to get on,” I fought the urge to knock him out.
“That’s understandable. I did the same thing when I first started. These things are amazing. Well, if you need anything, feel free to come find me. The name’s Benjamin.”
He stood there waiting for me to introduce myself, but I had already made myself more visible than I had wanted to. I needed to get out of sight and stay that way. I knew that these boats had lower levels that went far below the water and figured that’s the last place people going on a cruise would want to hang out. I set out in search for some staircases and descended down them as fast as I could.
The doors at the bottom couple of floors were old and dingy. I didn’t open them as I suspected they went to boiler rooms or something like that. If anything were to happen on the ship, it would be one of the first places people would come. Didn’t need that. Three levels up from the bottom, there was a door with a small window. Inside was a hallway with a series of doors on each side. That was the type of place I was looking for.
Upon entering the hall, it occurred to me that the rooms on each side of me were guest rooms. I found it funny that people were spending so much money on this cruise and this hallway looked like an ordinary hotel hallway. Glancing back and forth, each door had to be opened with an electronic key card. I hate that shit because I don’t know how to pick them. All the doors in the hall were the same. I thought I was going to have to go up to the next floor when I spotted a door to my right. There was no key card access there. It used a regular key in the doorknob. It took me about ten seconds to get inside, locking the door behind me.
When I turned on the lights, I was surprised by what I saw. Since the door was so different, I figured it would lead to a broom closet or storage space. Instead, it was an actual room. Granted, it was dusty as fuck and hadn’t been used in ages but it was still a room. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that the fact it was dusty was a good thing. It must have been a room that the cruise line kept just in case they should ever need it. I figured they probably had dozens more just like it. It smelled like it had been sitting empty for months, which was exactly the type of privacy I was looking for.
The best thing about the room was the bed. I knew it would take a couple of days before the ship got to Honduras but didn’t figure I’d have a bed to sleep in until I got there. The trip from Arizona had exhausted me and I planned to sleep as much as I could until the ship docked at the next port. I stripped off the ship employee’s clothes and threw them into my duffle bag. I pulled on my blue jeans that I’d worn before I choked out the dork at the locker. I didn’t want to get too comfortable. You never know what is going to happen and I had to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. I climbed into bed and fell right to sleep.
§
I had only been asleep for about twenty minutes when I heard the last sound I wanted to hear. It was the distinct sound of keys jingling as they were being placed into the doorknob. I jumped out of the bed quick as shit, grabbed my bag and ran into the bathroom. The only place to hide was the shower so I climbed in and closed the curtain behind me.
For some reason, I was holding my breath. I figured the best case scenario was someone had seen me go into the room and knew I wasn’t supposed to be there. If that were the case, I would deal with that fucker later. Snitches get stitches. The worst case scenario would be the cops discovering where I was hiding out and coming to make an arrest. I listened closely, making sure I was ready in case I needed to fight my way out of the mess.
I didn’t hear anything at first, but soon heard a woman’s voice. I thought she was having a discussion with someone but it turned out she was only talking to herself. She was thinking out loud about how dusty her room was. I kept listening for a male voice. I figured most women must take cruises with their significant others but no other voice spoke. She was all alone.
As she was busy putting her things away, I peeked out of the shower to size her up. She was a small girl, especially in comparison to me. I’m not big on becoming physical with a lady but I would be able to overpower her easily. I would make sure she wouldn’t be a problem for me.
§
Waiting for the right opportunity, I watched her finish unpacking her bags before walking into the bathroom to put her toothbrush and shit away. While she was facing away from the shower, I threw the curtain open and grabbed her from behind. She started to scream so I covered her mouth with my right hand.
“Shut up! Shut the fuck up!” I said, trying to control her as she wiggled around, attempting to escape from my clutches. She looked up into the mirror and caught her first glimpse of me. I don’t know if it was my size or what but she stopped struggling almost immediately.
She had a look of horror and confusion in her eyes. It was a look that I had seen a million times before. A combination of fear and trying to figure out exactly what the fuck is happening. From out of nowhere, she started shaking and I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes.
“Look, lady, the last thing I want to do is hurt you. I won’t hurt you unless you leave me no other choice. Do you understand?”
She nodded her head.
“Good. I’m going to take my hand off your mouth. If you scream, things are going to get dangerous very quickly. Are you going to cry if I take my hand off your mouth?”
She shook her head back and forth.
“Okay, I hate to be the one to ruin your little vacation but you’re gonna be in this room a while. Nobody goes in or out that door until we get to Honduras. At that point, I’m getting off this ship and you’ll be free to do whatever the fuck you want.”
CHAPTER 4
PAIGE
Holy shit! That was the only thought that my mind could make any sense of. Sure, there were plenty of other things happening inside my brain but it was all just a blur at this point. This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. It was supposed to be my reward for dealing with years of being treated like shit by the man who was supposed to love me. Now I had to wonder if I was going to meet a far worse fate. I had no idea who this man was or how he got into the room I was going to be staying in. All I knew for sure is that he was huge and I didn’t want to do anything to anger him. I remained as still as humanly possible, not wanting to alarm him. The last thing I wanted to do was make an sudden involuntary movement that would freak him out and cau
se him to do something drastic.
“I promise I won’t scream. I’ll do whatever you say. I don’t want to cause you any problems. Please, just don’t hurt me,” I pleaded with him.
The realization hit me. When you see these types of situations on television or think about them in your head, you always tell yourself you would act differently than the person being attacked. You also think that you wouldn’t just sit there and take it. Normally, you’d say to yourself that you would refuse to be a victim and that you would fight back against the attacker. Things change when you are actually in the situation. All I could think to do was be a good girl and follow his directions. Hopefully, he wouldn’t hurt me—or worse, kill me!
After telling him I wouldn’t be a problem for him, he held onto me for what felt like an eternity. He was staring me in the eyes through the mirror. It was like he was trying to get a read on my body language and figure me out. I must have sounded sincere enough because he led me back out into the main part of the room and released me from his death grip. I was so scared, but I was determined not to show it. If I had any chance of surviving this, I would have to act like what was happening wasn’t a big deal. I know that sounds ridiculous now, but that’s the way my mind was working.
BEAST (A Coyotes of Mayhem MC Novel) (Motorcycle Club Bad Boy Romance) Page 2