“I’ll take first watch,” I said.
“No, I’ll do that,” Jeremy argued, but I cut him off.
“We all need some rest, don’t deny it. I’m so tired, I don’t know if I could get up to take my shift if I fell asleep now. Better if I take the first watch.”
Jeremy nodded, a bit hesitant.
It didn’t take long for their breaths to even out.
Chapter 30
I jerked awake to someone pulling me up by my arms and twisting a rope around my waist and chest, binding me tight. I’d fallen asleep on my watch. He held me to him in a chokehold. It took me about two seconds too long to realize who had me. In that time, guards stepped behind me, restraining both Jeremy and Mikado who had obviously been sleeping just as hard as I had been. Gut-wrenching fear sliced through me. I was exposed, about to become Jericho’s plaything, and I had no way of stopping it. It only took Jericho three more seconds to have me at the door.
Jeremy called out, “Leave her alone. You heard what your boss said.” Both he and Mikado were on their feet moving toward me, pulling against the men who had them restrained. Two more guards stepped over to help keep them in check.
At that, Jericho stopped and gave a menacing chuckle, throwing his head back. “Oh, don’t worry. I won’t do anything that he’ll be able to see.” Then he licked my cheek.
Resisting the urge to gag, I hit my head into his with a sickening thud. He didn’t gasp. He hit his head back into mine, making me see stars as he said, “Ooh, I do like it rough.” Then he bit my ear. I screamed out. I tried to yank my hand up and feel if he’d removed a chunk, but the ropes held me firm. My breathing turned rapid and short as panic took hold of my heart.
“Yes, this is going to be fun,” he said in a breathy whisper. “A lot of fun.”
The sharp pain in my ear seemed to crescendo at his words. Both Jeremy and Mikado were having an epic battle with the men holding them, grunting as they fought for their freedom to help me. Jericho took two more steps, and we were outside on the deck of the ship. I took a deep breath of fresh air and tried to calm my mind enough to figure out a way out of the mess I was in. A prayer leapt out of my heart. A prayer that both calmed and reassured me. I closed my eyes and pulled hard on the brisk air as the guards pushed the door to the container shut and locked it.
Just as I was going to place the heel of my foot in Jericho’s groin, he moved me a couple feet away from him, and two guards took hold of my arms. A grotesque smile played on his face. He turned and headed for the stairs. The guards pushed me forward.
I would not have a chance to escape until I was untied. And that most likely wouldn’t happen until I was alone with Jericho. The thought of being alone with him shot furious dread through me. I fought hard to quell the terror and work on finding a way out of this. As I walked, I could feel the rope around me slacken little by little. As we tromped down the stairs, I purposefully shook with each step to help loosen it. With any luck, it would be loose enough for me to get the drop on Jericho.
I figured he was leading me to the living quarters, and I visualized how I would stop him from following through with his plans and hopefully detain him so that I could help Jeremy and Mikado escape.
We took the door leading to the bedrooms, and I focused. So much was riding on my ability to stay calm and execute my plan flawlessly. He opened the first door on his right, which increased my optimism. I would not have to run down the whole hallway and avoid anyone in it in order to escape. It would be simple to get to the stairwell door once I’d incapacitated him. This was going to work. I had to crook my arms slightly to prevent the rope from falling off me as I stood outside the door. I assessed the room, taking stock of every last thing that could help me escape.
My head throbbed at the spot where Jericho had hit me. I’d have a hefty goose egg for sure. Jericho walked into a room with a bed, a side table with a lamp, and a dresser. The guards pushed me inside, closing the door behind me as they left. Their job was done. Or would they act as guards outside the door? Jericho stood by the dresser, too far away from me to go through with my plan. I’d have to be patient. I just hoped he wouldn’t notice that the rope was no longer tight around me.
He turned on some music. Classical music rang out around us, and my throat tightened. He was setting the stage. “I love Bach.” He breathed in deeply through his nose and closed his eyes.
I stood still, waiting for him to come closer. My insides churned.
With steps that swayed with the music, he moved toward me. I rehearsed my plan in my mind. Two more steps, and I could see it through. One more step. The music hit a crescendo, and he took that last step.
It was time.
I let my tied arms fall to my sides, and the rope fell to the floor. I struck him first with my bound hands, under his chin, causing his head to fly back. I immediately twisted on one foot inside the puddle of rope and kicked with the other, the hit slamming into his groin with a vengeance. He leaned forward, gasping. I slammed my hands into his back, and he fell to the ground, his head hitting the leg of the bed. He didn’t move.
I quickly tied his hands to the bedframe and used a pillowcase to gag him. I only needed to delay him long enough for me to get back to the container and free my friends and then the other kids. From there, we could try to escape with another lifeboat. We’d have to find a way to disable the alarm. If we had known about that, we might be long gone by now. I cursed myself for that mistake. I searched Jericho’s pockets and retrieved the keys. I ran to the door and swung it open only to find the two guards right outside it.
I lunged at them before they knew I was there. I smacked one with my bound hands on the back, sending him into the opposite wall. As the other guard turned to investigate, I grabbed his shoulder and kneed him, and he bent over, calling out in pain. I slipped between the injured guards into the hallway and grabbed hold of the doorknob to the stairwell.
Someone grabbed my hair and pulled me toward him. I twisted and kneed him hard in his outer thigh, irritating all the nerves there. He let go of my hair and collapsed, screaming out in pain. As the other guard charged forward, I ground my heel into the arch of his foot, stopping his progress all together. He bent down and grabbed his foot, hopping around on the other one. That’s when my focus fell on Jericho, who stood just outside his door with a gun pointed right at my head. I froze. The two guards between us moaned in pain.
“That’s quite enough, wouldn’t you say?” Jericho’s voice was almost a growl. An angry red mark, darker in the center, stood out against the white skin of his temple.
I didn’t speak. I only stared. I had failed. He had me. This time I would not escape.
“Come along now. We have some unfinished business to attend to.” He beckoned me with his hand.
Cold and hot assaulted me all at once as pure fear sank into me. I was breathing hard from the fight. I refused to enter the room, and was rewarded by the guards shoving me in. Before Jericho could enter the room, however, a call came over the radio.
“What is Jericho’s location? Please advise.” It was Kozlov’s voice.
I suppressed the hysterical snigger of relief that bubbled up inside me.
One of the guards spoke into the radio through clenched teeth. “He’s in his room, sir.”
“Well, wake him up. I need him on the bridge. Right now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jericho huffed before turning to me and saying, “Don’t worry, darling. We’ve got almost two weeks to see this through. We don’t need to rush it.” He turned to the guards. “Well, you heard him. Get her back to the container. I’m needed.”
They pushed me into the container, and I stumbled inside, landing in Jeremy’s arms.
“What did he do to you? I’ll kill him.” He glanced in my eyes before shifting to look at my bloody, sore ear. “Good grief, he almost bit it off.”
My relief was so great at being back with him, I couldn’t speak. He’d gotten out of his zip ties again, dee
p gouges of blood and bruises ringed his wrists. He’d fought hard to get them off. He took off his shirt, exposing his firm, muscled chest. Even in the dim light, it made my heart race. He bit into the shirt, tearing a strip from the bottom edge. He wrapped it around my head, securing my ear tightly to it.
“Did he touch you? If he did—”
“No. He didn’t.” My words felt hollow. I’d simply been lucky. “He got called to the bridge. It was a close call.”
I felt hot, stinging tears rise up in my eyes so I turned away and looked up, hoping to stop them.
“I’m sorry I let him take you.”
“Don’t be sorry. You did everything you could have. You couldn’t have stopped it. And it all turned out okay…but he promised to come for me later.”
“I won’t let that happen.” The earnest way he looked at me left no doubt he was speaking the truth. “The next time someone comes to that door, we will be ready.”
We came up with a plan and moved toward the door so we could be ready. Mikado slept, but Jeremy and I kept watch, holding hands against the darkness.
Chapter 31
An hour or so later, the lock on the door rattled softly. Jericho was back. Cold permeated my heart, and it thudded a hard, slow rhythm. Using the wall, I stood. Jeremy did too, rousing Mikado, who got into position.
A sliver of light shone through a small crack in the door. Every muscle in my body was set to spring. The beam widened as the door opened. Before we could act, someone spoke.
“Don’t attack me. I’ve come to get you out.” Kozlov’s thickly accented voice echoed through the container as he stepped inside, pulling the door shut behind him.
Warm relief filled me.
“You must get off this ship, now. I’ve got Jericho and the others busy with other things. You’re going to have to get to the back of the ship and jump from there. I hope your people know where you are, Jeremy. I can’t send you with a boat, but there are suits in a compartment thirty feet from the point of the stern. Don’t activate the light until we are out of view, or you hear your people arriving. If you’ve messed this up for me, Jeremy…” he let that hang out there. Jeremy and I moved toward the exit, but Mikado stayed.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“No. This is the end for me.”
“You don’t want to reach the destination they had planned for you, Mikado.” Kozlov’s voice was harsh. “If you want to hurt yourself, there are better ways. Just throw yourself into the propeller or something. But don’t stay here.” He held his arm out for Mikado to exit the prison.
“Don’t you dare,” I said, glaring at Kozlov. How dare he make it seem that Mikado had nothing to live for. “You are going to live, Mikado. Free from the bratva. Free. You and your family. Now get it together.”
Kozlov shrugged.
“She’s right,” Jeremy said. “Fight it. Don’t let Alexander take another life. Reclaim yours.”
Jeremy looked out the crack in the container and motioned for us to come. Something felt wrong. It was so quiet. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was wrong. He only opened the door just wide enough for us to slip through.
My spidey senses flared, sending my heart racing. “Are you sure?”
He looked again. He nodded, taking a step out.
I followed. With hesitant steps, I checked the area, holding my hand out behind me, urging Mikado and Kozlov to wait. My chest felt heavy, and my body screamed for me to step back into the container. Jeremy was already five feet onto the deck and nothing had happened. I was being paranoid. I pushed past the fear and took a couple steps out, looking all around.
“What’s this?” A familiar voice grated over me, sending a spasm up my back as I looked up toward the voice. I shook my hand behind me, warning them not to come.
“Amber.” He tsked. Jeremy froze. “I’m not sure I understand what is happening here, but it doesn’t look good.” Alexander, the brigadier, peered over the edge of the triple-stacked containers. Four guards’ rifles pointed right at us.
I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“Don’t worry, myshka,” he said. “I will come down and give you the chance to tell me everything.” He started down with two guards while the other two remained, guns still pointed at us. “When Kozlov sent me the pictures of the man who had been sent to save you, we searched all our databases for his face. Interestingly enough, he didn’t show up anywhere. That made me wonder. What kind of a man would be skilled enough to get onto my ship and get his hands on my prisoner and not show up in the databases? I knew it could only mean one thing. He was a spy of some sort. I had to come to meet this spy and be a part of his interrogation. And the interrogation of my little myshka, because if he was a spy, it followed that my myshka must also be one. We have an exciting day in front of us.”
Jericho burst out of the stairwell where we had been headed, only he came from the bridge above us. Shock played all over his face as he spotted Jeremy and me, but it turned to utter fear as his eyes lit on Alexander emerging from the containers with his two guards.
“Jericho, my boy. I’m glad you’re here. I needed you to tell me why myshka here was roaming freely about my ship when Kozlov told me he had her secured to meet a fate worse than death. This hardly seems to fit. And where is Kozlov? I have interesting news to tell him.”
Jericho looked at the container. “It was locked,” he cried, moving past Jeremy, causing him to move back toward me, closer to the container. He turned to Jeremy. “How did you get out? How?” His face turned dark red, and he clenched his teeth as he pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at Jeremy.
“You’re a little late to the party, Jericho. Don’t you think?” Alexander waved his hand at the guards beside him, who had their rifles pointed at us. The other two guards came up behind those two and spread out, two on each side of the brigadier.
“I didn’t know you were coming, sir,” Jericho said, his eyes shifting to Alexander. “It’s an honor to have you here.”
“Lip service will do you no good at this point. You are a failure. I asked you where Kozlov was. I think it might be a good idea to have him here right now.”
Jericho pulled a radio out of his pocket and called for Kozlov. I closed my eyes. This would give Kozlov up if he had a radio on him. I doubted he would have thought to turn it off before coming for us. I took a deep breath, but I didn’t hear a sound from the container. Had Kozlov really left his radio somewhere or thought to turn it off? What luck.
Crew members spoke back through the radio, saying Kozlov had headed to his room. “His radio must be off. Could you send someone to his room and tell him Alexander is waiting for him by the container.”
“Which container?”
“He’ll know. Just tell him.” He was fighting to keep control. He licked his lips and looked at me like a man who had lost his last cent in a poker game.
“Mikado. Is he still secure or is he also running around the ship?” Alexander’s piercing stare even made me cringe.
“He was in there,” Jericho said, waving the gun toward the container.
“We should check and see if that’s still the case, don’t you think, Jericho?”
“I’m sure he’s still there.” He stalked forward. Alexander and his men took a few steps forward also, until they’d created a semi-circle, with us on the end of one side and two guards on either side of Alexander. Two guards’ guns were trained on Jeremy and me; the other two guards shifted their guns and pointed them toward the slightly ajar container door. My stomach ached in anticipation, and my hands began to sweat. Jericho pulled on the door, swinging it out.
Out of the darkness, Mikado leapt, kicking the gun from the guard closest to Alexander, forcing him to sway and hit into Alexander. He fell back. While still in the air, Mikado twisted, punching the second guard next to Alexander in the face, sending him flailing in the opposite direction. At the same moment, Kozlov emerged, chucking his radio at the face of one of the o
ther guards, who dropped his rifle and threw his hands up to deflect the blow. Kozlov then slice kicked the final guard, taking his feet right out from under him and sending his face into the deck.
I was closest to Jericho now that he’d moved the door, so I kidney punched him, then locked my arm around his neck and yanked. He didn’t give in, however. Instead he rolled, whipping his hands around my neck and squeezing the air out of me. I leaned over, trying to get my hands back on him.
Jeremy was on top of one of the downed guards, trying to extricate the rifle from his grasp. Mikado fought one of the other guards, and Kozlov fired a rifle at a third guard who plagued him. The man fell back and remained. Kozlov then aimed the gun at the final guard, who was pointing his gun at Kozlov.
Alexander had righted himself against a wall and pulled a knife out of his boot. I leaned my head back and head butted Jericho. He staggered back, but bared his teeth and came at me again, but not before I had the chance to shout out a warning, “Knife! Alexander!”
Everyone turned their attention to Alexander, including Kozlov, who turned the gun on him, waving it back and forth between the guard and the brigadier. It took my attention away from Jericho just long enough to give him the opportunity to grab hold of me again. I hit his arm with mine, and his gun shot across the deck.
We both flew to the ground for the gun, our arms outstretched. I pushed with my feet and snagged it before Jericho could, and I rolled, the gun pointing directly at his face as he twisted toward me. It didn’t stop him. He kicked my leg and then clamped my legs in his, effectively stopping me from moving.
I still had the gun pointed at his head. Kozlov, Alexander, and the guard were in a showdown, and Mikado had finally knocked the guard he’d been tangling with. He sprung to his feet and froze, taking in the situation. Jeremy snatched a rifle from one of the three downed guards and without a moment’s hesitation, shot the guard challenging Kozlov, freeing Kozlov to send a slug into Alexander just as he released the knife. It stuck into Kozlov’s leg, and he cried out.
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