“I’m a very popular artist in the United States of America. I sell award-winning paintings that are collector’s items. Do you get my drift?” I asked, and they shook their heads in confusion and turned to go.
“What I’m saying is, I’m a millionaire and the daughter of a billionaire. I can pay you two off enough money that will take care of you and all your family in Haiti. All you need to do is help us escape before your boss returns. What do you say to that?”
They looked at each other and Mr. Grumpy was about to decline. I couldn’t let that happen because they would turn to go and see Jason who was picking up a fire extinguisher from the floor to hit them with. So I said quickly, “I’ll pay you a million dollars each.”
They looked at me in shock. They probably knew nothing about me being kidnapped, but they were intrigued.
“How we know you’re not lying to us?” Lee asked.
“Because your boss is kidnapping me for the same reason and I’m certain he won’t pay you the amount I just offered. So what do you think?”
They stood to discuss it, when Jason hit Lee in the head with the fire extinguisher. He fell to the floor and was out on the spot. Mr. Grumpy was faster and threw a punch, but missed Jason slightly. Jason kicked him in the shin as he fell forward due to the impact of the punch he missed. He toppled in pain. Jason hit him in the head with the fire extinguisher and he was out as well. He then came over and cut the ropes binding my hands. I hesitated when he pulled me to stand and he looked at me; he really looked scary, but I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.
“Your arm is bleeding too much. Is it safe to escape now?”
“If we stay, we either die, get beaten bad, or get mutilated, or you get raped. That’s just a list of a few things that can happen to us, Mandy.”
I was more scared at the look on his face as he spoke than by getting caught again.
“But how will we get out of here, how long will we race before we’re caught again? I don’t want to be caught, but escaping would not make much of a difference. We should stay and wait for the coast guard or wait to be caught again…” I didn’t know what to say.
Jason sighed and bent down to tie Lee and Grumpy up.
“Make up your mind, by the time I’m done with this task I will carry you on deck whether you like it or not. I would rather try than stay here and stew. What if we try and succeed?” he asked as he went about binding the pirates properly.
When he was done, he looked for the weapons the pirates had confiscated. He tucked a small pistol in his shoe and a pocket knife in his socks. He put one of the pistols in his pants and looked up at me.
“Are you coming or am I carrying you out by force?” There was a tic in his cheek as he asked the question. He was barely holding himself together.
“Fine, let’s go,” I said tiredly, walking past him and getting out of the cabin.
“All that fight, just to capitulate this easily? What a waste of time. I was looking forward to carrying you over my shoulder and spanking that pert ass a little, again,” Jason said from behind me. Then I heard and felt a loud spank on my ass anyway. I just wished we were outside and away from all this.
“You’re just looking for someone to pick a fight with, since Ti Jean didn’t give you the satisfaction. I won’t indulge you, mister. Lead the way to our escape,” I said, intent on not giving in to fighting with him.
He passed by me to check the speedboat tied to ours. He jumped into it, looking for the keys to start the boat. The keys weren’t there, so he came back on board to go search the knocked-out pirates. He came back looking really pissed.
“That bastard Ti Jean took the keys with him, I’m sure. I’ll have to try to force starting it and waste more time here, but that will probably save us some yards.”
He swore as he went back on the speedboat and disappeared under the cockpit, pulling out some wires and trying to start the boat. I heard the sound of approaching boats some miles away and started growing alarmed again.
I was tired of existing between tensions and fighting. I just needed some normalcy even if it was just for a few seconds. I wanted to go back home to my mom, my absentee stepfather, my job and boring life in which I couldn’t seem to get a boyfriend. I swore to never pull a prank like this again. I swore to never let kidnappers I didn’t know, or even ones I knew, assist me in carrying out such an outrageous plan. I swore to never climb on a boat again and finally I swore to learn how to shoot a gun so I could shoot Jason when he came up with stupid plans like this one, risking our lives.
The silver lining in all of it was the sex with Jason and how I felt about him. If anything happened to him, I didn’t want to imagine what I would do. I now understood why my mom was fighting to save her marriage. If she felt this way about Michael, then… I understood.
“Earth to Mandy, you’re wasting valuable time daydreaming, woman. I hear boats coming, so you either join me or…?”
I looked up at the prompting. Jason seemed to be done, and was waiting for me with an eyebrow arched. I joined him in the speedboat and he started it again. We took off, and I didn’t look back to see who was chasing us or what was coming behind us. He was going so fast I was scared I would tumble off the boat.
“There are four speedboats chasing us. Shots will be fired again soon, so remember to duck,” Jason warned me.
“How is your arm? Does it hurt?” I asked, still worried about him.
“Just forget about the wound. It’s not that bad. I’ve seen worse, experienced worse, honestly.”
“If you say—”
Before I could finish, a bullet hit our boat. I screamed reflexively and ducked. Jason sped up and went around, weaving circles, enjoying the chase instead of being scared of what could happen now that we were on a faster vehicle. I found another flare gun in a small cabinet and fired it into the sky again. If the guards hadn’t gotten the first signal of distress, then they would get this one.
I checked the time on the board. It was only forty-five minutes since we were captured. It felt like days, even months for me since we were there. Two speedboats passed our boat, or the stolen boat we were escaping on. Two flagged us from behind. The other two turned around after going some distance and then started closing in on us. They pulled out their guns and fired at our boat, but were very careful not to shoot directly at us. At this point I suspect Jason was tired and had given up even though it didn’t show on his face. He slowed down the boat and sighed in exasperation, to my alarm.
I looked at him and said, “I told you this would happen.”
“You had a fun ride. Put your hands up and surrender before they shoot you.”
I did as he said, but not without telling him, “I’m never climbing on another speedboat, yacht, cruise ship, or anything that has to do with the sea or ocean. I’ve had enough to last me a lifetime.”
“We’ll see, darling. We will see,” Jason said as we were ushered into the other speedboats. We had been caught again.
Chapter Twenty
Jason
I was getting tired and impatient over what was going on, and to think that it wasn’t even up to an hour since we were caught. The cat and mouse game was exasperating, but there was no harm in trying, although this situation was different. I climbed the fishing boat again after Ti Jean’s second in command, the pretty pirate boy called Marcel. He kept turning back to ogle Mandy and when he caught the deadly glare in my eyes, he just smiled. He marched us to Ti Jean who was seriously scolding Lee and Mr. Grumpy, who seemed to have been awakened with jugs of water. They still looked unstable and when they saw me they hissed in fury, ready to attack me, but Ti Jean stopped them and turned to me.
“I’m tired of this cat and mouse game you keep playing. Just accept that there is no escaping till we are done with you. And please stop hurting my men in the process. You will force my hand to hurt you,” Ti Jean warned me.
“It was self-preservation; can you really tell me that if you were in my shoes you wouldn’t attemp
t to escape? I tried and maybe I failed, but I won’t fail again,” I told Ti Jean as he forced me to sit down.
Adrenaline may have been pumping through me making me not feel the pain in my arm too much, but this inactivity and constant binding of hands behind my back was taking a toll on my arm muscles and the wound was really causing me pain. I looked over at Mandy who was too quiet for my liking. She looked scared, tired, and weak.
“Hello, big guy.” Marcel came over again to talk to me.
“What do you want?” I asked, more irritated than annoyed. The guy was either ogling Mandy or trying to gain my attention.
“Calm down, I just want to say I admire you. You’re really good and have led us on a merry chase. I’m surprised we even caught you. If I ever leave piracy or this stocky guy…” He tilted his head in Ti Jean’s direction. “Can I come work for you or with you?” he asked.
I couldn’t help laughing, first at the expression on Ti Jean’s face, and second his reaction to what Marcel had just said. I replied with a smile just to piss off Ti Jean.
“We’ll see. But it’s not as exciting as pirating, plus I work best alone. I don’t need distractions.”
“Oh, we will see, big guy, we will see.”
That was all Marcel said, mimicking what I said to Mandy before, as he walked toward her with some bottled juice. Immediately, I was on the alert, even though it bit me that I couldn’t do anything about it.
“That is if I make it out of here alive, and I don’t kill you in the process,” I yelled at him, angry because he was going near Mandy again, and I knew I hadn’t imagined the looks he was giving her.
“You will survive. But let’s wait and see what happens,” he replied and bent to talk to Mandy. I strained to hear what he was saying to her.
“Drink this, sweetheart, you look like you have nothing in your system. You could collapse and we can’t risk anything happening to you, lovely bird.”
“If you call me lovely bird one more time, I will kick you in the balls. I will incapacitate you,” she threatened him, some fire returning in her eyes, though her voice remained weak.
I was so fucking proud of her.
“Ah, still feisty. You look prettier when that fire comes into your eyes. I love it, I just love it,” Marcel said, smiling at Mandy who was gulping down the juice as he helped her.
Though I didn’t like him being so near her, I was grateful. That should improve her blood sugar and give her some energy.
“Do you flirt with everything in a skirt, or all ladies you kidnap, or is just me? Because I get the feeling that you think you are some lothario who can have any woman, but you are not my type,” Mandy told Marcel in a no-nonsense voice.
“To answer your first question, I don’t flirt with anything in skirts, just the pretty ones. Second, we rarely, if possible, ever kidnap ladies, and third, I am a lothario, you are just not interested in me because of that big guy over there. But I can change your mind if you give me the chance.” Marcel smiled as he said this, and I growled.
Ti Jean’s voice with a warning note in it caused Marcel to leave Mandy alone. The guy was too cheerful, but those kind of guys were always the most dangerous, so we had to watch out for him.
“Where is Taggart, Ti Jean?” I asked Ti Jean.
“He’s on his way here,” he replied without looking at me.
“I hope he is coming with a larger boat because if one more person gets on this one, we will all be thrown into the sea, and I just might escape again.”
Ti Jean laughed and looked at me. The guy had a look of respect in his eyes and I was guessing it was for my efforts to escape. He looked at my arm and smiled again.
“You wouldn’t get far with that arm, and here comes my boss and our ride out of here. Hope that boat is big enough for you.”
I looked at the approaching boat; it was really big and could probably accommodate fifty people. Taggart and the rest of Ti Jean’s pirate crew were on it. Now I understood why they had so many speedboats at their disposal. The main boat could house quite a number of them. As the boat drew near to ours, a ladder was being lowered by the side. Ti Jean climbed first, Marcel cut my bindings and I followed, Mandy came next, then Marcel, who I could bet was admiring Mandy’s ass as she climbed the ladder.
The other four pirates who were with us climbed up last. We were taken to the large deck where most of the pirates were gathered, all standing. They took their guard posts. Ti Jean went to get Taggart, who arrived with a huge smile on his face. He laughed when he saw me and laughed even more when he noticed my bleeding arm.
“How the mighty Jason DeLaCoeur has fallen! This is so amazing. You really thought that after all my plans you would get away from me?” He laughed some more and came closer to me. He circled me and smiled devilishly, then walked toward Mandy. He cupped her cheek firmly as she tried to resist him. “And what do we have here? She is lovely, Jason, almost lovelier than my Suzie,” he said, a glint in his eye.
My heartbeat changed, grew rapid despite my attempts to calm down, because I could already guess his intentions.
“Get your filthy hands off me, bastard!” Mandy shouted at him, still struggling against his hand.
“Feisty as well, I like her, Jason. She can take Suzie’s place. A compensation for what you did to me,” Taggart said thoughtfully.
Alain and Marcel looked at Ti Jean who seemed indifferent. Then Marcel’s eyes met mine, and I could read what he was thinking in that one glance, and his buddy, too. They both knew how cruel Taggart was, and couldn’t stand him laying his hands on the soft Mandy.
“Does she know about Suzie? Did you tell her you fucked my wife and then ran away with her, embarrassing me in front of my whole town?” He turned to Mandy and asked, “Did he?”
“Yes, he did, he told me everything about the cruel bastard you were and still are, and how your wife couldn’t stand to be with a nasty man like you,” Mandy shouted.
He slapped her so hard that she landed on the deck.
I was already up and going for Taggart’s throat when his men held me down and started punching. One of them squeezed my gun wound and I shouted, but I didn’t stop the struggle. Three of them were holding me down, but I threw them off and kicked one in the shin. It had been a fucking bad move to untie me, and I wondered if Marcel had counted on that.
The other tried to clobber me with his gun, but I ducked and punched him hard in the stomach, making him double over and fall in a dead faint. Someone fired a shot, and I held the unconscious attacker as a shield, and the bullet hit him instead. I didn’t stop to check if he was dead. I dropped him and turned to see Ti Jean approaching with more of his men, except Marcel and Alain. Alain seemed to be trying to calm Marcel down from attacking Taggart, who stood over Mandy with a gleeful expression in his eyes.
Ti Jean threw the first punch, hitting me in the gut. Man, the guy could pack a punch, even with his short frame. We circled each other, his men forming a circle around us. We started fighting, and my height gave me the advantage of dodging some of Ti Jean’s punches aimed higher, but when he went for my legs, I needed all my fighting expertise. I threw a punch aiming for his jawbone, and I could feel it crack as my knuckles collided with it. He howled in pain, but my knuckles hurt as much as his cracked jawbone. Was the guy built out of steel?
We continued our combat, throwing punches and missing, and when I got distracted by Mandy’s scream, Ti Jean cracked my ribs with a punch. I was in so much pain I could barely see clearly. He ordered his men to pick me up and sit me in a kneeling position, and to make sure they held me in place.
Taggart was holding Mandy by her hair and saying some fucked-up stuff to her. Even Ti Jean looked disgusted, as did some of the pirates who seemed to have little or no liking for Taggart. When he looked around and his eyes fell on me again, he laughed out so loud I felt like putting a bullet in his mouth.
“If you want the ransom, then stop hurting her. Her family will certainly not pay when they see a video of
her looking battered, you bastard,” I said the only thing that I knew would stop him from hurting Mandy more than he already was.
“I don’t care, so long as you manage the ransom. After all, her stepfather has been communicating with you. So you will handle that and you will tell me where Suzie is,” Taggart threatened without a care.
“I’ll do no such thing. She’s been erased, and you know what happens when someone has been erased. It means no records, no information, nothing to find. Even if you hire the best and spend the rest of your life searching, you won’t find her.” My words broke a little as I was in pain, but I didn’t stop.
“Do your men even know why she ran? Do they? Even as pirates I’m certain they have a higher standard of morality than you do. You beat your wife so much that she couldn’t walk at times. On how many occasions was she rushed to the ER? I didn’t need to convince her to run. She looked for me and begged to go away. If you hadn’t kidnapped Malcom’s daughter and blackmailed us to work with you, none of this would have happened. But I’m happy it did, because I have more reasons now than ever to kill you.”
The pirates were all looking at Taggart, most of them with disgust in their eyes, especially Marcel, Alain, Ti Jean, and Lee who were already angry that he hit Mandy. Pirates with values; that was definitely a new joke.
Seeing the disgusted looks he was getting, Taggart reminded them who was paying and marched to me. He punched me again and told his men to beat me up. I heard Mandy screaming as I was being beaten, but I tried to fight back. Taggart went back to her and pulled her up. He started touching her and kissing her neck and cheeks and was tearing at her clothes in front of his men. She was hysterical now as she fought against him.
Taggart just laughed like a fucking maniac.
“Fight, sweetheart! I love it when you fight! Fight me some more. You are going to suck my dick till I tell you to stop, bitch.”
Mandy screamed again in horror, kicking out at Taggart. When I saw her fighting so hard, I managed to stand, even with the guards pressing me down. I threw two off, struggling to break free, but I had little luck as more of them fell on me, hitting and punching.
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