I had easily impressed Eric with my knowledge of knots. While I knew nothing about sailing, I did know my knots. Wiggling my wrists I was able to loosen the slim nylon rope, and with my teeth I pulled the cord through the knot until it slipped free. The ease of which it came off made me wonder how often Diamond might have used this same cord before and with whom. I shuddered to think of the consequences and tossed off the nurse’s cape, leaving it to fall in a heap on the floor, and went immediately to the door behind me. It was locked. A doubled-sided keyed lock, the likes of which I’d seen used on security gates around the radio station.
I surveyed the room. I had to find a key, or something. Bobby pins. Nail file. Anything I might use to pick the lock.
The stateroom was neat, a white-on-white décor with a minimal amount of furniture. In addition to one of the small chairs that I’d crashed into, there was a desk, a big screen TV and a full king-sized bed.
Across the room, a pair of French doors opened up onto a large, private balcony. I tried them and, realizing they were locked, started to shake them, hoping I might jar one loose, but it was no use. They were secured with the same type of double-sided lock as the entry door.
Next I searched the desk, pulling out the drawers, turning them upside down, dumping the contents onto the bed. There had to be a key somewhere. But still, nothing. The bathroom. It looked as though it had recently been used. There were water spots in the tub and the towels were damp. I opened the vanity and found a number of pharmaceutical prescription bottles all with his name on them. Abilify, Depakote ER, Risperdal. It was a virtual pharmacy. This was Diamond’s crash pad. It had to be. The apartment inside the W was for business purposes only. I closed the cabinet door and looked at myself in the mirror.
Behind me, hanging on the door, was a plush white terry bathrobe. I took it off the hook and ran my hand instinctively from the collar to the one of pockets, feeling for something. A phone, a key, anything that might help.
If he were here recently, maybe he left a key in the pocket. I’ve left things in the pocket of my own robe: my reading glasses, my cellphone. Just maybe he might have done the same thing. I reached into the pocket, praying I’d find something. Anything that might help me escape, or get word back to the station, or Sheri. I was desperate. And then I felt it: a long slim, piece of metal.
I took it out and stared at it. In the palm of my hand was a key, and not just an ordinary key, but a master key for the ship’s doors. He must have kept it in his robe so that he could wander into any room onboard, at any time he wanted. I didn’t want to even think about why he’d left it in the pocket of his robe, or whose room he’d visited the night before. Only that I was in luck. I had the key. I had my freedom.
I glanced at Sheri’s watch on my wrist. It was just almost five o’clock. Outside the sun was beginning to set and the sky was growing grey. Any time now Sheri would be wondering why I hadn’t called her about dinner. I had promised I’d be home. With a little luck she’d try to call me, and when I didn’t answer she’d realize I was missing and check her GPS locator on her computer. Once she discovered my position—in the middle of Santa Monica harbor—she’d know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that I was in trouble and wasn’t coming home. But until then, I was on my own.
I held my breath and put the key into the lock of the bedroom door and felt the tumblers fall into place. I breathed a momentary sigh of relief, opened the door, and glancing cautiously to my right and back to my left, entered the hall. It was empty. Carefully I tiptoed towards the clubroom, hugging the wall, praying no one would discover me. I was about to slip down a second set of stairs to the deck beneath me when I heard the ringing of ship bells.
I leaned against the wall and held my breath. When Holly and I had boarded, or been pulled aboard, I heard a series of bells that appeared to alert the crew to our arrival. I suspected it had been a warning, some type of security alarm, sending the girls back to their quarters. I knew this wasn’t the traditional ringing of bells to mark any change of shift for the crew. This was something else. Moments later Diamond’s voice came over the PA, asking for the ship’s captain and crew to join him on the upper deck. Immediately.
I took that as sign that the coast was about to be clear, at least for the moment. I slipped down the steps to the middle deck. I remembered as Holly and I approached the ship that this was the deck where the staterooms were and where I hoped I might find Leticia, Brandy and the other girls Diamond had kidnapped. I glanced down the hall. The doors were all shut. I tried the door closest to me. It was locked. I tapped lightly. I knew behind the door was some young girl, probably frightened, waiting for the all clear signal and afraid to say anything.
Quietly, I tried my passkey in the lock, and when it released I pushed the door open.
There on the bed like a frightened child, clutching her knees to her chest and looking at me as though I might be a hostile intruder, was Leticia. I recognized her instantly from her picture, her high cheekbones, her big eyes. She was too afraid to speak.
“Don’t be afraid.” I put my finger to my lips, shush. “I’m a friend, Leticia. I know your grandmother. I’m here to help.”
She didn’t move. I came over to the bed, sat down next to her and put my arms around her. In her lap was a small portable radio, the earbuds still in her ears. I took them out and whispered. “It’s going to be okay. Trust me. You’re going to get out of here. You’re going to be fine.”
Even as I said it, I wondered how I could promise such a thing. There was no phone in the room, no way I could call for help. She was a prisoner, and so was I.
“You know Nana?” Her voice was shaking, her hands trembling. Tears started to roll down her face.
“Yes, yes, and she’s looking for you.” I wiped a tear from her face and held her head between my hands and told her I was a reporter. But before I could explain how I knew her grandmother, the ship’s engines started to warm up. The heavy sound of the motor began to churn, like a thrashing machine, and the entire ship started to vibrate with noise. She fell into my arms and started to cry harder.
I grabbed her earphones. “What are you listening to?”
She told me she was listening to KISS, a favorite station with kids her age.
“You know what station your nana likes? She’s a big fan of Cupid. He’s on my station, KCHC. Why don’t we try and see if we can find it? You could listen to it.”
I quickly dialed the station’s frequency then turned the radio up so we could both listen.
I was shocked.
Sheri was on the air with Cupid. I could hear Cupid’s voice, loud and clear.
“So, you’re saying your friend, and our reporter, Carol Childs, is missing?”
“Yes. She’s been working on a story...”
I stood up and kissed the watch on my wrist. “Thank you, Sheri!”
Leticia looked at me like I was crazy. “What is it?”
“It’s Sheri, my friend. She knows where I am. Help’s on the way! Trust me.” I explained how Sheri had given me the watch and that there was GPS tracker in it. “And if she’s called the station, that means she’s also called the cops and the FBI, Eric’s friend, Agent Delfino and—”
I could see I was confusing Leticia. She had no idea who Agent Delfino was, or that he was Eric’s best friend, or who Eric was for that matter, or why that was important. But I did, and now I needed one more miracle.
I went to the French doors and unlocked them with the passkey. They opened onto a small balcony. It was too far to jump. I scanned the horizon.
The last time Eric and I spoke, he said he’d be home early, that he was running ahead of schedule. If Sheri had called Mark, and he had been able to reach Eric, and if Eric were close enough, there was a chance that the Sea Mistress might be coming into port right about now. And if she were, she’d have to sail right through this same channel to get to the harbor.
Just maybe we might be lucky. We only needed a little help. Just enough time to stall Diamond from leaving before the cops could get here to rescue us.
I focused on the horizon. The setting sun was making it difficult to see. Staring directly into it burned my eyes. But I refused to leave the balcony until I knew.
Like a black dot on the horizon, I could see the outline of a ship approach. I squinted, my eyes watering as I stared into the sun trying to make out the size and shape of the approaching vessel. Come on Eric. Please, God, let it be the Sea Mistress. But as it came closer, I could see it wasn’t slowing. Its port beam aimed directly towards shore.
A loud ship’s horn blared as it passed. My heart sank, but I refused to give up hope. The channel’s like a flight path. Maybe the next ship. I waited, my hands gripping the balcony, my eyes steadfast on the horizon. I never wanted to see the Sea Mistress so badly in my life. And then I saw her. In all her glory, with her sails full. The Sea Mistress was headed in our direction. My heart soared.
“Do you have a flashlight?” I turned from the door and looked at Leticia. I knew there had to be a life preserver with a flashlight and a whistle in the cabin somewhere. It’s a law all vessels carry lifejackets, and most include some type of flashlight with them.
Leticia got off the bed, ran to the closet and took out an orange life vest. Attached to it was a small flashlight, not much bigger than the size of my hand. But it was enough. I grabbed the light and began signaling.
S-O-S. S-O-S.
I was never so thankful that I knew Morse code. Never in my life did I actually think I’d need it. To date it had merely been a fun exchange of coded messages, little flirtations between Eric and me. Like that he sent for my birthday, miss those long slow curves.
But now, I knew it was a matter of life and death. Agent Delfino may have been able to get word to Eric that we were in the harbor somewhere. But where? We weren’t the only ship out here, and I couldn’t count on Sheri’s watch being that accurate. I flashed the signal, three quick flashes, followed by three long flashes then three quick flashes again. I continued until I saw a light flash back.
“Leticia, you think you can do this?”
She nodded and I gave her the flashlight.
“Keep doing this until I come back. And don’t answer the door. Not for anyone.”
I was about to hand her the radio. I knew she’d find comfort listening to Cupid. What I didn’t expect was to hear was Cupid, with a direct message for me.
“And Carol, if you can hear this, you’ll understand why this song’s for you.” I paused and listened. I Will Survive.
The song buoyed my spirits like a rocket. I told Leticia not to worry and left her in the room, frightened, but capable. Then locking the door behind me, I proceeded down the hall toward the stairway and into the bowels of the ship. I needed to find Holly.
CHAPTER 35
The orlop deck is below the water level. Eric had explained to me that it’s the deepest part of the ship with the engine room and, in some cases, the crew’s quarters. It was also where I suspected Holly would be. But with Diamond’s request for all hands on deck, I figured the engineer would be alone and too busy to notice me. At least for the moment I wasn’t worried about running into anyone, and with the belief that our rescue was somehow in the works, I proceeded down the stairs and towards the back of the ship.
Taking my heels off, I slipped by the engine room. The engineer was preoccupied, exactly as I suspected, checking instruments, adjusting valves for impending departure. Ahead of me was a heavy, grey metal, watertight door, behind it the hold. Holly’s hold, where Diamond had demanded she be taken and where the ship’s cables and cargo are stored. A dark, dank prison. The lock on the door was different than any other lock on the ship. This was an old, round metal wheel shaped contraption with a long lever, like a baseball bat. I leaned against the door. I could feel the cold like a block of ice through my thin t-shirt. I shivered as I pushed the lever down hoping the sound of the ship’s engines would mask that of my unlocking it. I felt the heavy hinges engage. I paused, waiting to see if the engineer had heard me, then shoved the door open.
It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light. I stepped inside over a watertight lip that secured the door’s mounting, and left the door open behind me.
“Holly?”
“Over here.” From within the hold I could barely make out her small frame. She was sitting on the top of an old steamer trunk with her arms tied securely behind her to a support beam near the stern of the ship.
“Are you okay?” Silly question. Of course she wasn’t okay. I rushed to her side and started to untie her. It was cold and dark and my fingers were stiff from the chill. I worked the knot as fast as I could.
“I’m fine. But Gabi’s not. She’s over there.”
Oh my God! Holly nodded to an area behind her, a crumpled figure that, in the dark, looked more like a sack of potatoes than a human being. She was heaped up against the ship’s wall, her hands and feet bound behind her.
“I thought I was alone until I heard her moaning. I tried to get her to speak, but she’s not making any sense.”
I finished untying Holly, fast as my fingers would allow, then turned around to help Gabi.
“Gabi? It’s me, Carol Childs. How are you?” I helped her to sit up. She felt weak and cold in my arms.
“Tell him I’m sorry. He has to know.” Her voice was thin and breathy. I could barely hear her. She turned her head in my direction. Her eyes looked glassy, like they might roll back into her head at any moment.
I patted her on the side of her face. “Come on, Gabi, stay with me. We’re going to get you out of here. Can you stand?”
She nodded, but as she stood her legs gave out beneath her and she slipped through my hands to her knees. I wondered how long she’d been here. It was freezing, and I regretted leaving the nurse’s cape in Diamond’s room.
“Holly, help me. We need to get Gabi upstairs.”
Holly looked at me like she was afraid to move.
“No way. Diamond’s up there. He catches us, he’ll throw us overboard. I can’t swim, and he’ll never let me go alive.”
“Holly, look at me.” With one arm around Gabi, I grabbed Holly’s face with the other and forced her to look in my eyes. “All you need to do is get Gabi upstairs to the poop deck. You know where that is?”
She nodded.
“She needs fresh air and water. I’ll go up with you to the mid-deck, but you’ve got to take her from there. The police, the FBI, they’re on the way. Diamond’s on the top deck, and once he knows what’s about to go down he’s going try to get out of here, and I can’t let him do that.”
Holly took one of Gabi’s arms and put it over her shoulder. I took the other. Slowly, we were making our way toward the door, when suddenly the engineer appeared in front of us.
“You,” he said. He glared at us, then quickly he turned his attention to a red emergency alarm button mounted on the wall, next to the door. If he pushed it, we’d all be done. It wouldn’t matter if Eric, the police, or the entire U.S. Navy were coming. If Diamond heard that alarm he’d come running down those steps and we’d be history.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I stepped forward.
“Oh yeah?”
I didn’t answer. Without thinking, I charged him. I’m not much of physical contact person; I don’t know where this sudden strength, or courage, came from. I only know that I charged him. Like I’d seen my son do during football practice, I lowered my body, tucked my head and, with my hands and arms around me, like I had a football beneath my ribs, I rammed into his lower quarters with all my might. He went flying over my shoulders, headfirst onto the floor behind me.
I heard his head hit first. Hard. Like a melon falling off a fruit truck, splat onto the street. I ran over to his body, splayed on the f
loor like a green Gumby and checked his pulse. He wasn’t dead. I propped him up against the steamer trunk; he moaned and looked as though he might be about to come to. I put his head between his legs, something my limited nursing skills told me might be a good idea and then tied his hands and feet together with a constrictor knot. A knot I knew he’d not be able to untie.
“You do that often?” Holly looked at me like I was some superhero.
“No,” I said. I double-checked the knot, and giving it one final tug, stood up. “In fact, I prefer to limit my confrontations to something a little more philosophical, but since he didn’t give me a choice, I just went with the flow. Must have been adrenaline.”
I took Gabi’s free arm and put it over my shoulder. Together with Holly we made it to the top of the stairs at mid-deck. I was about to leave them when four of Diamond’s men came running down the stairs and pushed past us like rats off a sinking ship. From the looks on their faces, they had no interest in stopping us. They were racing towards the poop deck to the lifeboat.
I knew instantly they were illegals. One of them was a cook. He still had on his apron, the other two yelling in Spanish behind him, “Esperame! Esperame!” Wait for me! I figured they must have seen the flashing light from the Sea Mistress, Eric’s Morse code response to my SOS, and worried the advancing ship was INS.
I took the steps two at a time up to the top deck. I had to get to Diamond.
I arrived, out of breath, and saw him, his back to me. He was standing at the bow of the ship, beneath the party flags, leaning against the railing, staring out at the Sea Mistress and the setting sun. Behind me were the stairs leading up to the bridge and to the helipad. With one quick move, if he turned and rushed me, he could knock me over, and if he made it up the stairs to his helicopter, he’d be gone. I’d lose him for good. I had to stop him.
Beyond a Doubt Page 21