Vanishing Vacationers (Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series Book 5)

by Hope Callaghan

  Millie turned to Rick. “Surely there will be passengers onboard. Crazy guy here can’t take them all down.”

  Jay took a menacing step closer. How dare she call him crazy!

  Rick stepped close to Millie and gave Jay a warning look. Jay may have been holding a gun and been able to shoot Rick dead but not before Rick did some damage on the psychotic man. “Jimmy won’t bring the plane into the hangar until all of the passengers are off the plane and premises.”

  “Talking is over. It’s time for you to settle in next to your friends.” He waved the gun and motioned for them to line up on the other side of Cherelle.

  Jay reached into a black backpack near his feet. He pulled out a roll of gray duct tape and tossed it to Annette. “Secure your friends. I want their hands and feet bound tight. Don’t try anything funny,” he warned.

  Annette moved at a snail’s pace. She reached for the tape and slowly wound it around Millie’s ankles. After she finished taping them together, she reached for her friend’s hands. “I’m sorry Millie.”

  “It’s okay, Annette.” She shot daggers at Jay. “We’re gonna get out of this and he is going to pay for what he has done.”

  “Stop yapping granny,” Jay snarled.

  Millie clamped her mouth shut and glared at him. If looks could kill…

  After Millie’s hands and feet were secure, Annette turned to Rick. “Got any good plans?” she whispered in a low voice.

  Rick shook his head. “No mum. He took my gun. Maybe we can stall for time.”

  Annette glanced at her watch. It had been well over an hour since they had told Patterson they were checking out the hanger. She prayed help was on the way. It was their only hope.

  After Annette secured Rick’s hands and feet, she turned to Jay, who watched her like a hawk.

  “Tape your feet together,” he barked.

  Annette sucked in a deep breath and did as he instructed. She glanced into the man’s eyes. They were jumping around, flitting back and forth. Annette had been around drug users many times and judging by his actions, she was certain the man was on some sort of drug…meth if she had to guess.

  “Give the tape to Cherelle so she can secure your hands.” He reached out and Annette stared at his scab-filled arms. She was almost certain now they were dealing with a man high on meth.

  Annette reluctantly handed the roll to the young woman on her right.

  Cherelle ripped off a chunk of tape and wound the gray tape around Annette’s wrists. After she finished, she rolled the roll of tape to their captor.

  Now, all they had to do was wait…wait to be rescued or wait to die.

  Chapter 21

  Dave Patterson paced back and forth across the dock. It was 3:29 p.m. Millie was running out of time. The fact she promised to call as soon as she checked out the hangar and hadn’t, caused Patterson to question the wisdom of letting her go to the hangar in the first place.

  He himself had checked it out a couple hours earlier. The place was empty and there was no way in. It was as secure as Fort Knox. Had Millie somehow managed to gain entrance and stumbled upon something? Anything was possible, especially if it involved Millie and Annette.

  Patterson lifted his radio. “Oscar, do you copy?”

  “Go ahead boss.”

  “Round up as many men as we can spare and meet me near the gangway. We’re gonna have to track down the girls.”

  “10-4 boss.”

  Oscar showed up a short time later with not only a decent size group of men, but he had also managed to round up several golf carts.

  “Nice. This will make the trip quick.” Patterson eased into the passenger seat of Oscar’s cart. Several other crewmembers climbed in the back. “Stop by the police station.”

  Oscar nodded, pressed the gas pedal and sped off toward town.

  Only one police officer was inside the cramped office and Patterson gave him a quick report on where they were going.

  The police officer, Chief Bane, radioed his one and only other officer on the island, to meet the men at the entrance to the airport. “I hope we resolve the matter of missing visitors soon. It ‘tis not good to have so many go missing.”

  “I will call Manolo, Cherelle’s brother, to meet you at the airport. He can help with the search.” Manolo was familiar with the airport schedule and had flown with Jimmy many times. If nothing else, he could help the team of searchers scour the grounds.

  Chief Bane didn’t mention the fact Cherelle Flores was his second cousin and her mother and brother were worried sick after Manolo showed up at Cherelle’s house the night before and discovered the young woman was missing.

  Manolo had gone to the airport and, like Patterson, had tried to break in but the place was impenetrable. Chief Bane had met him there and had tried to find a way into the building, too.

  Cherelle…and Jimmy were the only two who had keys. Cherelle was missing and Jimmy was on the mainland.

  Manolo had contacted Jimmy to tell him Cherelle had never returned from the airport and Jimmy had tried to schedule an earlier flight to fly back but they didn’t have an opening. The earliest the airport could squeeze him in for takeoff was a 2:30 p.m. departure.

  Oscar stopped the small caravan of golf carts near the entrance to the airport. “You want me to get closer boss?”

  Patterson studied the gate and hangar closely. Nothing looked out of the ordinary or any different than it had when he had been there a short time earlier.

  A man stepped around the gate and approached the golf carts. “I am Manolo, Cherelle’s brother.”

  Patterson nodded. He looked at the small building nearby. “What is that?”

  “It is a small waiting area for passengers,” Manolo explained.

  Patterson climbed out of the golf cart and hurried over to the small building. He peeked in the windows. It was one small open space. Nothing looked out of place.

  He turned his attention to the hangar. Something was going on. He could feel it in his bones. He jogged back to the golf cart and slid into the passenger seat.

  “Pull off to the side, behind the bushes.” He pointed to a row of tall bushes that lined the fence.

  Oscar nodded and then waved at the other drivers to follow. The men drove the carts to the edge of the bushes and parked out of sight.

  Patterson slid out of the cart and patted his pocket where he had placed his 9 mm handgun.

  The rest of the men silently climbed out of the carts and gathered in a small circle.

  “I say the best plan we have is to surround the place.” Patterson glanced down at his watch. The pilot should be landing anytime now.”

  Patterson instinctively patted his pocket where he kept his gun. “The place is locked up tighter than Fort Knox. Cherelle and the other women may be inside.”

  Manolo nodded. “I talked to Jimmy on the radio. He is five minutes out. He know ‘bout the troubles and will meet us near the gate.”

  Patterson couldn’t shake the feeling Jimmy was about to walk into a dangerous situation inside the hangar. They needed a plan and they needed it fast!

  “How many weapons do we have on hand?” He did a quick count of the dozen or so men and discovered they had four guns…one to cover each side of the massive hangar.

  Off in the distance, the men could hear the faint hum of an engine…a plane engine. “He’s coming.” Manolo shaded his eyes and stared up into the sky.

  A dot appeared. The dot grew bigger. Soon, a twin-engine plane appeared. It circled the airport in a large loop, disappeared from sight and then reappeared.

  The men watched as the plane dropped lower and lower, leveled out and eased onto the narrow strip of asphalt.

  The wheels bounced off the runway. The second time the wheels made contact, the plane slowed and eventually crept to the far end of the landing strip where it made a sharp right turn and taxied back.

  The plane came to a complete stop. The plane’s side door popped open and lowered to the runway, revealing a set
of wide metal steps.

  Patterson turned to Manolo. “How many passengers can fit on the plane?”

  Manolo stared at the plane as he calculated the number in his head. “Eight max, not including the pilot.”

  Patterson counted as eight passengers disembarked. There were five adults and three children. They each carried a suitcase down the steps and followed single file as they made their way to the detached passenger building off to the side near the front gate, far away from danger and the hangar.

  The last person to emerge from the plane was a tall, thin man wearing a navy blue uniform and pilot’s cap.

  “There’s Jimmy.”

  They watched as Jimmy strode over to the small office, pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. When the passengers were safely inside the small building, he gave a quick furtive glance toward the entrance, pulled on the rim of his cap and started back to the plane…and the hangar.

  “He is waiting for the text now,” Manolo said.

  “Text?”

  “I send him message that we are ready for him to enter the hangar.” Manolo snapped his fingers. “I just thought of something. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?”

  He went on. “We have…what do you call it? An ace up our sleeve!”

  Chapter 22

  Millie’s ears perked as she picked up the faint hum of an engine…an airplane engine if she were to guess.

  Jay heard it, too. He strode out of the hangar to the small front lobby, giving the prisoners a warning glare and waving his gun as he passed by.

  Millie was certain the crazed man had every intention of killing all of them.

  She envisioned him lining them up and killing them execution style. Afterward, he would load their bodies into the plane and then dump them into the ocean.

  As soon as Jay was out of sight, Annette began jerking her feet back and forth in a desperate attempt to free her legs. She began wiggling her arms to loosen the tape on her wrists.

  The others followed suit…everyone that is, except for Cat who drifted in and out of consciousness.

  Millie prayed it wasn’t too late for her friend.

  “We’re only gonna have one chance to overpower him, when he’s distracted by Jimmy,” Annette hissed.

  The others nodded and continued to loosen the tape that bound their arms and legs.

  Cherelle tried too, but it was useless. She and Cat were chained to the wall by a thick black cable. The only way to get it off was to unlock the padlock using the key or cut the cable using a pair of bolt cutters.

  That left Annette, Millie and Rick to spring into action at the first opportunity, no matter how small.

  A faint noise, a thump from overhead echoed in the cavernous hanger.

  Millie’s eyes shot up and she stared at the ceiling.

  A creak followed the thump, as if someone was walking on the edge of the roof. She could hear Jay in the lobby, his feet shuffling on the hard cement floor.

  “Did you hear a noise?” Rick whispered.

  Jay hurried into the hangar to check on his captives.

  Millie eyed him nervously. She had managed to stretch and loosen the tape on both her hands and feet. She was far from free but now she had a little wiggle room.

  He took a menacing step closer.

  Millie closed her eyes. “Please God. Save us from this monster,” she silently pleaded.

  The massive metal door of the airplane hangar rattled. The sharp screech of the wheels grinding along the metal runners filled the air.

  The door slowly began to open.

  Jay darted around the side of a small, single engine commuter plane as he made his way toward the hangar door.

  “Now!” Annette screamed. She lifted her bound hands above her head and in one quick, powerful motion slammed them into her midsection, pulling with all of her might against the bindings.

  The duct tape ripped in two, freeing her hands.

  She frantically yanked the tape off her hands and reached for her ankles.

  Millie followed her lead, lifted her hands above her head and brought them down. The tape ripped in two, pulling the hair from her arms in the process.

  Rick quickly followed suit.

  Millie jumped to her feet.

  “Ugh!” It was the sound of a man caught off guard. Jimmy, if Millie had to guess.

  “Give…me…the…gun!” The voice did not belong to Jay.

  A sudden movement from the rafter above caught Millie’s eye and she looked up to see two sets of legs dangling through a hole in the roof.

  Two men, dressed in dark clothing, dropped onto the catwalk. One of them looked very familiar…it was Dave Patterson.

  Annette was already on her feet, rushing around the side of the building. Millie was hot on her heels.

  She watched as the two men…Jay and another man, struggled to gain control of the gun.

  In a flash, a small army of men surrounded the two men.

  “P-taff.” A gunshot rang out in the middle of the melee. Millie hoped Jay was on the receiving end.

  The women watched as several uniformed security wrestled with Jay. He fought hard. It was almost as if he had some super-strength.

  A gun clattered to the floor and slid across the floor toward the girls.

  Annette dove for the gun, snatched it from the floor and held it at arm’s length.

  Patterson and the other unidentified man raced across the hangar floor as the men were finally able to wrestle Jay to the ground.

  The man with Patterson whipped out a pair of handcuffs. He managed to get one cuff snapped onto Jay’s wrist but the lunatic fought like a tiger and it took one man sitting on his back, one man holding both feet, a third man gripping his shoulders and a fourth to force his hands together close enough to snap the second cuff in place.

  “Where’s the gun?” Patterson yelled.

  “Right here.” Annette held up the gun.

  Patterson looked at them with surprise. His eyes shifted from Annette to Millie to Rick. “Cat…”

  Millie pointed. “She’s over there. She’s in bad shape.”

  Patterson and Millie darted across the room.

  Millie dropped to her knees.

  Patterson lowered next to her. “Cat. Can you hear me?” he said.

  Cat lifted her head at the sound of Patterson’s voice.

  “Is there a doctor on the island?” Patterson yelled. He turned to Rick.

  “Yes mon,” Rick said, “but he does not have a proper medical clinic.”

  Patterson jerked his cell phone from his pocket, turned it on, scrolled the screen and pressed a button. “Gundervan. We need you at Kiriban’s airport hangar. Cat is in bad shape.”

  He disconnected the line and touched the black cable that bound Cherelle and Cat to the 2x4 attached to the outer wall. “We need to get this off the girls.”

  Tears welled in Cherelle’s eyes. “Please…” she whispered.

  Millie patted her arm. “We’ll get you freed in a jif,” she assured the young woman who had risked her life to help Cat.

  Annette looked around. “If I had a lock pick, I could pick the lock…or bolt cutters.”

  “I’ve got both in my tool box.” Millie hadn’t noticed Jimmy Salazar quietly make his way over. He raced across the floor and returned moments later with a small pointed tool.

  He handed it to Annette.

  Annette ran her hand along the thick cable until her fingers touched the padlock. She lifted the lock and turned it so the top faced her.

  She deftly inserted the tip of the tool in the lock and in one swift motion, slid the tool inside the lock and wiggled it back and forth until she heard it pop.

  The lock opened and Cherelle slipped free. Annette carefully eased the cable from around Cat’s waist. “Help is on the way, Cat. Hang in there,” she encouraged.

  No one dared move the woman. Her battered face made her almost unrecognizable. Every time she moved, she moaned and Millie feared she had in
ternal injuries or broken bones…maybe both.

  Millie clasped her hands and began to pray for Cat. Annette joined her.

  It seemed like an eternity before Doctor Gundervan arrived.

  Patterson, who had been standing near the door waiting, quickly hustled him across the room to where Cat sat motionless, still propped against the wall.

  Doctor Gundervan kneeled on the floor. He placed his fingers on her wrist. “Her pulse is weak.”

  Millie’s stomach churned. “Please God…” she whispered.

  Doctor Gundervan opened his large black bag, reached inside and pulled out a stethoscope. He popped the ends in his ears and placed the round disc against her chest.

  Millie held her breath.

  He pulled the earpieces from his ear and draped the stethoscope around his neck. “Her breathing is shallow.”

  Gundervan whipped his head around. “Bring the stretcher.” His eyes darted around the room. “We need to get her to the hospital.”

  Jimmy Salazar stepped forward. “Load her on the plane. I’ll have her to St. Rochelle in less than an hour,” he promised.

  Two security guards placed the stretcher next to Cat. Gundervan and Patterson gently slid Cat onto the stretcher. Gundervan glanced at Patterson. “I have to go with her.”

  Patterson nodded solemnly. “The ship will wait.” Millie knew they could not leave port without a doctor on board. The ship would simply have to wait until Doctor Gundervan returned.

  They quickly loaded Cat onto the plane.

  Gundervan scrambled up the plane steps, turned and waved from the doorway.

  The group somberly watched until the plane taxied down the runway and disappeared from sight before turning their attention to the most hated man on the island…Jay Beck.

  Patterson yanked Jay Beck to his feet. “We’ll need to secure him in the ship’s jail until we arrive back in Miami.” He dragged the man to the back of the golf cart, shoved him into the seat and settled in next to him.

  They drove the golf carts into town and stopped at the island’s only medical clinic. Manolo had called to tell the doctor they were on the way and the island’s only doctor was waiting near the curb when they pulled up.