by Anise Eden
I opened my eyes when I heard Ben say, “Phil, you got a flashlight?”
Ben was crouched on the deck near the steering wheel, trying to get a look at the engine. Phil had lifted up one of the benches and was rummaging around in the storage area beneath. He produced a thin, cylindrical object. I guessed it was a small flashlight, until he pulled a cap off of its top and I saw that there was no beam of light coming from it.
What’s that? In my confusion, time slowed almost to a stop. Phil wasn’t handing the object to Ben, either. Instead, he appeared to be aiming it at Ben’s neck.
Time rushed ahead again at full speed. I leapt off of the bench and charged toward them, yelling, “Ben, look out!”
When Ben turned, Phil stuck the object into his shoulder, pressing in a plunger at the end. I heard a plastic-sounding click. Ben crumpled to the ground like a sheet torn off a clothesline.
“Ben!” I screamed, lunging forward. But Phil was ready for me. Simultaneously, he threw his arms around me in a vice-like hold and tripped me. He lowered me onto the deck, sitting on me with his knee in my back. I turned my head and saw Ben just a few feet away, barely awake, eyes glazing over. Desperately, I fought Phil, kicking, clawing, and writhing with all my might. He must have had some kind of special training, though, because my wrists and ankles were tied together in no time flat.
Phil stood up and touched his face; his hand was bloody when he pulled it away. “Dammit, Cate, I’m not going to hurt you! I’m just going to stick you with a needle.”
With some satisfaction, I saw that I’d managed to make a couple of deep scratches on his face. But that wasn’t going to help Ben. “Phil, what is going on? What have you done?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Damn, they’re here already.”
I heard the sound of another engine approaching. “Who is here? And how are we going to be fine? You just knocked Ben out! What did you give him?”
“The same thing I’m gonna give you. It’s just a sedative. Once these guys pick up Ben and are well on their way, I’ll take you back to the lodge. Hey!” Phil called out to the approaching vessel.
“Hey, Phil!” someone called back in a thin, reedy voice. “You ready for us?”
“Yup!” They threw Phil a rope and he caught it, tying it to a metal fixture.
I took advantage of Phil’s absence, inch-worming my way over to Ben so that our heads were nearly touching. His eyes were closed. “Ben! Ben! Wake up!” He moved slightly, and I heard him moan. He was alive, at least. My heart thudded hard. “Ben, wake—aarrrgh!” I groaned as Phil grabbed me by the feet and dragged me away to the far side of the boat.
Two burly men in baseball caps climbed aboard. Panic crept up my throat as they shifted Ben out from behind the steering wheel and put plastic ties around his wrists and ankles. Could these men be Lonzie and Clayton? Had they betrayed us? If so, that meant no one was coming to our rescue.
Ben must have cut his head when he fell. Bright red blood was dripping down his cheek and onto his shirt. “Ben!” My call came out as a strangled cry. “Phil, he’s bleeding!”
“What, you didn’t drug her yet?” asked one of the men.
“I was about to when you rolled up!” Phil replied, then turned to me. “It’s only a little cut. Head wounds just bleed a lot.”
Rage bloomed inside me as the two strangers lifted Ben, one at his shoulders and one at his feet, and carried him toward their vessel. He moaned again, but didn’t show any other signs of regaining consciousness. “He better not be injured!” I yelled. “I swear to God, Phil, if you know what’s good for you, you won’t be around when these ropes get untied!”
“You’ll be knocked out cold when that happens!”
Helplessness clawed at me as the men laid Ben down on a thick net and used it like a stretcher, lowering him from the speedboat into their vessel. “And you bastards!” I screamed at them. “If you harm a hair on his head, I will hunt you down and kill you myself!”
The reedy voice called from the other boat, “Would you shut her up please? She’s gonna wake up Sleeping Beauty, here.”
“That’s it. Where’d that other needle get to?” Phil went back and rummaged around in the storage bench.
“All right, we got him,” one of the men yelled. “Unhitch us.”
Phil gave up his search for the second syringe, untied the other boat’s rope, and threw it down to them. “Go, get outta here!”
“I just hope you gave him enough. He looks like a mean bastard.”
“Don’t worry, he won’t wake up for a while.” Phil waved as the other boat’s motor revved. The sound faded as they headed away from us.
I tried to fight through my desperation so that I could think clearly about the situation. Phil began rifling through the storage bench again. I reached out to him with my empathic senses. I picked up that while he wasn’t uncomfortable with violence, in that moment he felt a pang of regret. I got the impression that he liked Ben and me. We’d had a good conversation on the way out to the yacht. Phil was following someone’s orders, but I could tell he was ill at ease. Maybe his usual violent activities didn’t involve women.
I decided to stay still and silent for a little so he would think he’d scared me into submission. As the minutes passed, his discomfort grew. He gave up his search for the syringe and began pacing around the boat. He lit a cigarette and only smoked half, tossing it into the water. Then he took his seat by the steering wheel and opened a compartment near the engine. “There it is!”
“Phil?”
“What?” he snapped.
“I don’t understand what’s happening. Aren’t you going to be in trouble when we get back to the lodge and everyone finds out about this?”
His laugh was small and bitter. “That won’t happen.”
I swallowed hard. “I thought you said you weren’t going to hurt me.”
“I’m not,” he said defensively. “I’m just giving you the same drug I gave Ben. When you wake up, you’ll be in your bed at the lodge, and you won’t remember this at all. Your trip to the yacht might even be a little foggy. Aside from a headache, though, you’ll be fine.”
Oh no, no, no, I thought. That would not do. I had to keep him talking. “What about Ben?”
“He’ll live. Far as I know, they just want to ask him some questions.”
“Who does?”
Phil leaned down and squinted at me. “Honestly? I got no idea. I just do what my boss tells me, like everybody else in this world.”
“Your boss—Skeet?”
Phil spit on the floor. “You ask a lot of questions. Look, Ben’ll be fine—as long as he doesn’t try to kill somebody, that is. Beyond that, there’s nothing I can tell you.” He reached down and pulled a first aid kit out of the compartment.
I was running out of time. “How are you going to explain the bruises on my ankles and wrists? There are going to be rope marks.”
He took a syringe out of the kit and pulled off the plastic cap. “I guess they’ll be looking to Ben for answers about those. After all, he’s your fiancé, right? Who knows what kind of crazy shit you two got up to out there in the woods.” Phil held up the syringe and stood. “You might feel a pinch.”
“So help me, Phil, I swear to God, if you touch me, I’ll kill you!” I rolled away from him and towards the back of the boat, then twisted around so I could track his movements.
“Would you please stop movin’ around, already?”
Suddenly, a third voice pierced the night air. “Hey, Phil!”
Phil jumped, looking around. “Who’s there?”
“It’s just us, Lonzie and Clayton.”
Lonzie and Clayton? So they hadn’t betrayed us! I prayed that I’d heard correctly.
Phil held the syringe behind his back with one hand and waved to them with the other. “What, did you row up here? I didn’t hear you coming.”
“We’re trying not to scare the fish,” one of the voices said. “Unlike you—I heard someb
ody shouting up there. Is that Cate Duncan?”
“Yes!” I cried out. “It’s Cate!”
“Shut up!” Phil hissed, kicking the bottom of my foot.
“Are you Pete’s friends?” I called.
“Yeah,” one of the voices said. “I’m Lonzie. He told us to come get you.”
“Who’s Pete?” Phil was beginning to look extremely annoyed. “And how do you know Cate? Look, you guys, I was just getting ready to take her back to the lodge. Following orders, you know.”
“Yeah, we know,” Lonzie said, “but unlike you, we don’t answer to Tucker.” This statement was followed by the distinctive click of a gun being cocked.
Phil froze. “You’re not gonna shoot me, Clayton. We’re family.”
“Not by my choice. But you’re right. I’m not gonna shoot you—long as you hand the girl over.”
“Don’t let him get close to me,” I pleaded. “He has a syringe, he’s trying to shoot me up with something!”
“You heard her,” Clayton said. “Back away, Phil.”
I could see in Phil’s face the very moment he decided that he didn’t really want to hurt me, and that it certainly wasn’t something he wanted to risk dying over. He held up the syringe, showed it to Lonzie and Clayton, and tossed it into the water. I breathed for what seemed like the first time in ages. “I wasn’t going to hurt her,” he said.
“Good. Still don’t move, though.”
I heard a loud clunk as two multi-pronged metal hooks flew over the side of the boat and onto the deck, then slid back until they were gripping the railing. A few minutes later, a man’s head appeared. He looked at me, scowled, and said with disgust, “You tied her up? Not cool, Phil.”
“Just take her and get out of here,” Phil muttered.
“Keep the gun on him, Clayton.” Lonzie climbed into the speedboat and came over to me. He had a hard, lean look about him, but his voice was kind. “Hey, Cate.”
“Hi.” My heart skittered—was I really going to be rescued? I thought I could trust Phil. How did I know I could trust Lonzie and Clayton? “I’d shake your hand, but…” I smiled and wiggled my fingers.
He chuckled. “All right, look. I’m gonna pull out a knife, but just to cut off these ropes. I know you don’t know me from Adam, but Pete told me to tell you, he’s been listening to everything that’s been happening since you left the yacht on that high-tech radio phone Ben’s got.”
“Oh, thank God!”
I felt the back-and-forth tug of the knife as Lonzie worked to free my hands. “We got a little confused when it sounded like Ben was being kidnapped, but his GPS tracker stayed put.”
My heart sank as I looked up and saw Ben’s jacket still sitting on the bench. “It’s there, in his jacket,” I whispered, trying not to cry. “Can’t you use his phone to track him somehow?”
“Calm down, now,” Lonzie said. I rubbed my wrists and pushed myself into a sitting position as he made quick work of the ropes around my ankles. I saw that his hands were gnarled, probably by arthritis, but it didn’t seem to slow him down at all. “They disabled the GPS on his phone, but we were expecting that. Don’t worry, we’ll find him. Stay here for a sec.”
Lonzie walked towards the boat’s engine.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Phil cried.
Pulling open the panel door, Lonzie said, “We can’t have you following us.” He reached in with his knife and appeared to be slicing a few things inside. “And I wouldn’t call the maritime police if I were you. We know the guys who are on duty tonight.”
“Goddammit, Lonz!”
“Consider it payback for marrying my sister!” Clayton shouted from the other boat.
Lonzie grinned as he came back to help me up. “C’mon, Cate, let’s go.”
Looking over the side of the speedboat to the skiff rocking below, I suddenly felt dizzy. Lonzie seemed to know enough about Ben’s kidnapping that I could trust him. But the fact was, I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
“Hey, Cate!” Clayton called. He had a round, boyish face, and he smiled warmly—even as he kept his eye and his shotgun trained on Phil. With his free hand, he held up a walkie-talkie.
“Cate, honey!”
I nearly fell into the water with relief at the sound of Kai’s voice.
“Are you okay?”
Clayton pushed a button and spoke into the receiver. “She’s scared to get in the boat with us—not that I blame her.”
“Oh, lord,” I heard Kai say. “Cate, get in the boat already. We need you back here. Pete and Asa have gone off looking for Ben, and Eve, Vani and I are having a hell of a time here at the lodge, trying to make it look like everything’s normal!”
They were out looking for Ben. That was all I needed to hear. I climbed down the ladder as fast as I could in my sundress and sandals. “Phil!” I yelled up as Lonzie followed behind me, carrying Ben’s jacket. “You’d better pray that I never see you again!”
Phil just cursed, shook his head, and slunk back away from the side of the boat.
Clayton kept his shotgun trained on Phil as Lonzie started up the outboard motor. It roared to life, and before I knew it, we were speeding towards the shoreline.
Chapter Twenty-One
Pete’s blue eyes shined brightly under the brim of his camo baseball cap. “Well, would ya look who’s here.”
“Hey, Cate!” Asa scrambled to his feet and gave me a quick squeeze.
With my arrival, it was crowded in the small lean-to shed, which looked like it was about ready to lean all the way over. There was no floor, but the bed of pine needles beneath us was dry. A couple of large canvas bags lay on the ground, filled with equipment. Pete had set up a small radio, and he was listening to its output through a pair of headphones pressed against one ear. Pete and Asa wore full camo and had applied some kind of black makeup to their faces. Asa handed me a small jar and indicated that I should put some on, as well. I’d changed into a black sweater, jeans, and heavy duty hiking boots before leaving the lodge—as close to camo as I could get.
“How’d you get away from Kai?” Asa whispered as I smeared the makeup all over my face.
“After Lonzie and Clayton dropped me off at the lodge,” I whispered, “I joined the others upstairs. They tried to get me to stay, but they seemed to be handling things just fine. Obviously, I was going to come look for Ben. When they realized I was leaving, they wanted to come with me, but I told them that we needed someone to stay at home base. Kai was really angry. He couldn’t come out because Ben made him promise to evacuate Eve and Vani if an emergency came up. And while we’re not to the point of evacuating yet, this is definitely an emergency.”
Pete shook his head. “I shoulda known you wouldn’t stay put at the lodge—like I asked.”
I glared at him. “Like I told you early on, I’m not a Marine, and I don’t take orders.”
“No kiddin’,” he said, grinning. “So you found us here, how?”
“Well, you gave your location to Lonzie. I just convinced him that I needed it, and then asked Owen to bring me over.” I smiled. “I told Owen we were playing a secret midnight version of capture the flag, since we had to leave the paintball game prematurely the other day. He totally bought it.”
“He did,” Asa confirmed. “I made a point of listening in on his thoughts when he dropped you off outside. But he doesn’t know we’re in here.”
I shook my head. “I told him this was my hiding place until I got the ‘go’ code.”
“Good thinking,” Asa said with a grin.
“Oh, and Lonzie said you might need this.” I pulled Ben’s jacket out of my bag and handed it to Pete. “I don’t know why. It has Ben’s GPS tracker in the pocket.” I blinked back tears, remembering how my heart had been sliced out of my chest as I watched Ben’s kidnappers lower him into their boat.
“Hey, Cate,” Pete whispered, “Isn’t Harris that lawyer guy? One of the owners?”
“He’s with Ben, him and some other guy who’s takin’ orders from him.”
“Are you kidding me? Harris?” I had a hard time imagining the mild-mannered estate attorney involved in something as gritty as a kidnapping. “What are they saying?”
“Harris hasn’t said much yet, but this other guy’s a real weasel. They’re trying to get Ben to talk.”
“Ben’s awake? Why didn’t you say something?” I jumped up on my knees and reached for the headphones.
But Pete moved away quickly. “Hey, take it easy!”
I sank onto my heels and pleaded, “Can’t you put it on speaker or something?”
“I can,” Pete said, “but I gotta keep the volume down, so stay quiet. And if I need to listen closer, I’m puttin’ the headphones back on, no arguin’. Got it?”
Asa and I both nodded. Pete flipped a switch on the radio and twisted a knob.
There was nothing but light static for the moment. Pete leaned over to me and whispered, “Is Ben hurt? I only ask ’cuz he sounds a little…tired.”
I closed my eyes and tried to keep panic at bay. “Our speedboat captain drugged him with something. He cut his head when he fell, but I’m not sure how badly.” The memory of that moment made my stomach lurch.
“Was he unconscious?”
“It was hard to tell. He moaned and moved his head, so I knew he was still…you know.”
I looked up at Pete, and he nodded. I figured that as a medic, he was trying to determine how bad Ben’s situation might be. He and Ben had fought closely together in the Marines. If anyone could tell how Ben was really doing just by listening to his voice, it was Pete. But that didn’t do us any good if we didn’t know where he was. Despair howled through me, threatening to bring me to tears. “I could check on him—through the portal, I mean.”
“No, no,” Pete said. “Probably best you don’t. You need to stay focused.”