by T L Swan
My face drops. What the hell? I jump out of the car. “Joshua, get in the car now.”
People are staring but this is getting seriously out of control. “Ben, do something,” I scream. Ben runs his hands through his hair in frustration.
“Stan, get in the car!” he yells.
“That’s it!” I scream. I start to storm toward the road and hold my arm up for a cab. I’m not putting up with this shit. He hasn’t even given me a chance to look at the photos properly and make sense of them. Two of the guards run after me.
Joshua turns. “Natasha. Get in the fucking car,” he yells.
“No,” I scream. “I’m not putting up with this.” My angry eyes flick around to the guards who are all following me out to the road, unsure what to do.
“Don’t make me come and get you!” Joshua furiously yells across the carpark. The people who are standing around all gasp. Oh god, this is embarrassing but I’m too mad to care.
“Come and get me, asshole. I’m not putting up with this shit,” I yell as I continue to storm out toward the road.
“You fucking guards are hopeless. Control her!” he yells. He turns and starts to sprint after me and I run. “Get the car,” I snap at Ben and he nods, realising I have just run to get Joshua’s mind off following Max and onto chasing me.
I continue to hotfoot it and Joshua catches up to me. “Where do you think you’re going?” He staggers as if dizzy and I frown.
“Away from you, asshole,” I snap. He must be drunker than I thought.
“Get in the car. I’m taking you home,” he snaps
“To LA?” I scream, hurt that our lovely night has been ruined once again by the twisting paparazzi and their lying cameras.
He shakes his head. “No, to the boat.” Ben pulls up in the car and Joshua grabs my arm and pushes me inside and I fall into the seat and he climbs in next to me. He puts his head in his hands in anger. I drop to my knees in front of him.
“Joshua, this isn’t true. They have just twisted the photographs.”
“I told him not to touch you,” he murmurs angrily.
“Joshua he hasn’t, I swear to you. Since you told me no touching we have been completely unfriendly. They have twisted the photos. They could be photoshopped for all we know.”
Joshua runs his hands though his hair.
“Joshua, you have just made a ridiculous scene over nothing. There is nothing to be suspicious of. You know how they twist photographs. They do it to you every day. Why do you think they wouldn’t do it to me?”
He stays silent as he watches me and my heart aches for him. He actually thinks I would be romantically attracted to Max. I smile sadly.
“Josh, I love you. You are the only drama queen around here.” I sigh as I climb onto his lap.
He blows out a deep breath. “Fuck,” he whispers as he seems to regain his composure.
“Josh what the hell was that?” I whisper. “You just made us look like idiots,” I whisper. “Everyone was watching us.”
His eyes meet mine. “And you think I don’t look like an idiot with those photos on every newsstand tomorrow?”
“Oh baby.” I pull his head into my chest. “People are manipulating this situation to make it look bad.”
He gently kisses my upper arm next to his face. “It makes me crazy thinking of you with someone else,” he whispers.
I kiss his forehead. “I know but it’s Max. He’s my friend.”
He shakes his head angrily. “He’s going and I don’t care what you say about it.”
I nod sadly. I know that tonight the point of no return has been crossed with Max and our time together is over. Sadness brushes over me.
We sit silent as the driver makes his way to the boat ramp. Ben and the other two guards get the boat ready in silence and we get onto it and make our way out to the luxury liner. We didn’t even say goodbye to the others. The situation went from zero to ten in about thirty seconds. Ben is furious. I can see the steam shooting from his ears and Joshua is still breathing heavily from the adrenaline in his system. We arrive safely at the yacht and Joshua stands quickly, then nearly falls over, and Ben grabs his arm for support and shakes his head at the other guards. He is so much drunker than any of us thought.
He helps me to stand and I gingerly climb up the stairs and the porters on the boat help me on board. “Thank you,” I whisper. I don’t even have my phone on me. It’s on the table back at the wedding in my handbag. Joshua gets onto the boat behind me and Ben behind him. Ben starts to check the boat as Joshua goes directly to the bedroom, obviously embarrassed.
“Ben, can you ring the girls and get them to take my bag and Joshua’s jacket please?” I ask.
“Yeah. Are you ok?” he asks softly.
I nod as I blow out a deep breath. “What was that?” I sigh.
He shakes his head. “Crazy bastard.”
“Did you see the photos?” I ask.
He frowns. “No, what?”
I shake my head embarrassed. I don’t want to go into this shit with him.
“We are just going to go to bed. Go back to the party and go out with the gang. The other guards are staying nearby in the next boat.”
His eyes flick to the boat moored 200 metres from ours. “The porters don’t stay on this boat overnight.”
I smile. “It’s ok, Ben. Go and guard my sister. We have enough guards out here.”
He nods. “I’m just going to say goodbye to Joshua.”
I smile softly. He wants to check on his friend. We walk down to the luxury bedroom, I open the door and Joshua is out cold, asleep on the bed. He frowns and looks at me. “I didn’t realise he was so drunk.” He sighs.
“Me either,” I whisper.
I walk over and take his shoes off and he continues to sleep.
I smile at Ben and shake my head. “Not the night I had in mind, Ben.”
He smiles. “I bet. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” he asks.
My eyes flick to Joshua. “There is absolutely nothing going on around here,” I mutter dryly. “Go and have fun.”
Joshua
The sound of the water lapping on the side of the boat awakens me. It’s still dark but the sun is just coming up. It’s cold. I roll over and put my arm out for presh… she’s not in bed with me. She must be in the bathroom. I doze back off to sleep but wake again half an hour later, freezing. Fuck it’s cold. Wind whistles through the room and I frown and sit up.
“Tash,” I call out. No answer, just the sound of the water gently hitting the side of the boat. It’s dawn. She must have left the door open.
“Tash, baby, come back to bed. What are you doing?” I call again. Fuck, she’s pissed at me. No wonder, I carried on like a lunatic last night. I don’t even remember going to bed. Christ, I didn’t even drink much. I slowly get out of bed and look down at myself. I’m still in the clothes I wore to the wedding. I must have been wiped out. I never sleep with clothes on. I shake my head in disgust and head into the bathroom.
“Tash,” I call.
Again, no answer. My eyes go through the kitchen and to the door that goes out onto the deck. It’s open. That’s why it’s so fucking cold in here—she’s really pissed and trying to freeze me alive. I rat through my bag and grab a sweater and head for the door. As I walk through the kitchen I step in something, my feet slide from under me and luckily I catch my fall. My eyes go to the floor to see what I slipped in.
A huge puddle of blood is on the floor… what the fuck!
“Natasha!” I scream as I run for the door. My eyes shoot around the cabin. “Natasha!” I call again.
Dear god, where is she? “Natasha!” I scream frantically as I run out onto the deck. My eyes widen and I gasp in shock. Blood is all over the deck and drag marks lead to the side of the boat and over the edge. A knife lies on the floor covered in blood.
“Ben!” I scream. “Help, somebody help!” I run to the side of the boat and look over the edge into the water… nothin
g.
“Natasha!” I scream. “Natasha, where are you?” I call frantically. My phone rings and my eyes dart around to look for it. It’s on the cushion on the seat at the side of the boat. I scramble to answer it. It’s Ben.
“What’s wrong?” he asks. He obviously heard my calls for help.
“Where’s Natasha?” I scream as I hold my breath.
“What do you mean? She’s with you on the boat,” he snaps.
“No, she’s not.” My heartrate feels like I am about to have a heart attack. “There’s blood, Ben. Blood is everywhere,” I cry.
“On my way.”
I run to the side of the boat where the drag marks lead and dive overboard into the water. “Natasha,” I call as I flap on the surface. I take a huge breath and go under the water to see if I can see her. My head frantically looks around. I can’t see anything—the water is too dark. I can’t breathe and my heart starts to thump in fear in my chest. I break to the surface and gasp for air as the rubber dinghy comes flying through the water towards me. Three of the guards dive into the water next to me.
“Ben, there’s blood all over the deck,” I gasp into the water as I half drown.
Ben’s horrified eyes meet mine and he jumps off the dinghy and climbs the ladder onto the boat.
“Oh my god!” he screams. “She’s in the water!” he yells frantically. “Find her,” he yells to his men.
We all go back under the water frantically. Oh no, Tash, where are you baby? What’s happened? The water is too cold and I am unable to move anymore and Ben drags me from the water and then dives in himself as I stand on the boat, frozen with fear.
“Natasha!” I yell. “Natasha, where are you?” I scream. I hold my head in my hands and start to hyperventilate. I can’t breathe and I start to cough uncontrollably as my eyes dart around to the shore.
Where are you, presh?
I’ll ring her. I race and climb the ladder onto the boat and fall as I miss the last two steps and I climb again and scramble to my phone. Oh my god… there’s so much blood. The tears start to run down my face and I grab my phone and dial her number. It rings as my heart races. Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up.
“Hey Josh,” Bridget’s happy voice travels down the phone.
My heart drops. “Is Tash with you?” I stammer hopefully.
“No. Why? I have her phone because she left her bag at the reception last night after your tanty.”
“Do you know where she is?” I snap.
“No, what’s wrong, Josh?” she answers. “She should be on the boat with you.”
The lump in my throat closes over and I can’t speak… oh my god.
“Josh. What’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”
My eyes fill with tears and I shake my head. “I don’t know, Didge,” I whisper. “I woke up and she was gone from the boat.”
“What?” she shrieks. “Were you still fighting?”
I clutch my head with my hand. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“What do you mean you don’t think so? You were or you weren’t,” she yells.
I put my hand on top of my head. “No then.”
“Didge, there’s blood… there is a lot of blood on the boat,” I sob.
She stays silent on the other end of the phone.
“Josh. What happened?” she whispers.
“I don’t know,” I cry, suddenly panicked. How could I not know? “I don’t remember anything. I was asleep and then I woke up and she was gone.”
”Where were the guards? They must have seen something,” she cries.
I shake my head in fear.
“What did the police say?” she stammers.
“Yes. I will ring them. Get over here now!” I yell and hang up and I dial 911.
“Hello, fire, ambulance or police?” the lady’s voice casually speaks.
“Police!” I yell.
“Hello, this is the police,” the police officer’s voice is calm.
“This is Joshua Stanton. My fiancée, Natasha Marx, and I are staying on a boat. There’s blood everywhere and I can’t find her,” I cry frantically.
“Whose blood is it, sir?” the officer asks calmly.
“I don’t know,” I cry as my eyes dart around at the men all combing the water. “I awoke and she was gone and blood is everywhere,” I sob. I put my hand over my mouth and dry-retch. I run to the side and vomit over the side of the boat. I put the phone down onto the table and hold onto the side of the boat to stop myself from fainting as I cry in fear. Ben gets out of the water and climbs the stairs. “I need to ring the police,” he murmurs, devastated.
My face screws up as the tears run down my face. “They are on the phone,” I whisper as I point to my phone. Ben picks up the phone and starts to tell them our coordinates. I start to shake as my body goes into shock and I continue to throw up.
“Natasha!” I cry as I lean over the side of the boat. “Natasha… dear god, no!” My voice is hoarse. “Naaattttaaassshhhhaaa Noooooooo!” I cry as I fall to the floor on my knees. “No, baby. Come back to me. You can’t die. I need you!” I scream as I burst into full-blown sobs.
Ben drops onto the floor beside me and grabs me in an embrace as I scream. “Natasha, no. We need to find her. Please don’t stop looking. Please keep searching.”
Ben’s body heaves as he holds in tears and the men all pull themselves onto the boat too exhausted and freezing to carry on.
“Ben, no!” I cry. “They’ve got her. They’ve got her,” I sob as I start to hyperventilate once again and begin to choke. The guards are all visibly upset and I lie on the deck next to my love’s blood.
“No. This can’t be happening.”
Ben cradles my head in his lap as he tries to console me and I sob into his chest. Dear god, this can’t be happening.
Beep… beep… beep, a machine sounds and a nurse quietly comes into the room.
She smiles warmly. “You’re awake, Mr Stanton. Welcome back.”
I frown and my eyes dart around the room. “You are in the hospital, sir. You have been sedated for the last two days,” she tells me sadly.
I frown. It’s real. It wasn’t a nightmare. “Natasha?” I whisper.
She stands still and puts her hand on top of mine. “I’m sorry.” She drops her head. “They haven’t found her.”
Bile rises from my stomach and burns my oesophagus. I shake my head as tears threaten. “Unhook me please. I need to find her.” I start to struggle to get the tubes out of the back of my hand. “Please,” I whisper.
The nurse opens the door out to the corridor. “Dr Stanton,” she calls. “He’s awake.”
Cameron walks in and his haunted eyes meet mine. He has an air of resignation about him.
“Josh,” he whispers as he cradles my head up against his chest.
“Where is she, Cam?” I whisper, distraught.
He continues to hold me as I try desperately to make sense of this.
“We need to find her,” I whisper.
“We are doing everything that we can,” he whispers. “Josh, the police are here. They need to ask you some questions,” he says quietly.
I pull out of his embrace. “Of course.” I wipe the tears from my face with my hospital gown and nod. Cameron goes out of the room for a moment and returns with two policemen.
The two officers shake my hand. “I’m Detective Miller and this is Detective Stevenson.”
I nod nervously. “Have you found her?” I stammer.
They exchange looks. “No, I’m sorry we haven’t.”
My face screws up in pain.
“We need to ask you some questions about what happened on Saturday night.”
I nod. “What day is it?” I frown.
“It’s Monday afternoon, sir. You were so distraught that you were admitted and sedated against your will. You were starting to endanger your own life when you wouldn’t stay out of the water in the freezing conditions.”
I drop my head
as my foggy brain brings forth the horrific memory.
“Tell us about the evening.” One of the officers gets out his pen and notepad ready to take notes.
I frown. “We were at a wedding.”
“Yes.”
“And I got a text.” I frown again as I remember what was sent to me. “Max,” I whisper. “Have you tried Max? He might know where she is,” I say hopefully and my eyes flick to Cameron.
“Yes, we have questioned Max at length, sir,” the officer replies. “He says he doesn’t know where she is.”
My face falls again and Cameron puts his hand reassuringly on my foot.
“Go on,” the officer continues.
“I was sent a message that the story had just broken that Natasha was having an affair with Max.”
The detectives exchange looks.
I raise an eyebrow. “You knew that?” I reply flatly.
“Yes.” the detective mutters without lifting his eyes from his notepad.
I shake my head and close my eyes in regret. “I was angry and caused a scene so we went back to the boat.”
“Go on.” He keeps writing.
I look at the ceiling as I try to remember. “I don’t know. I fell asleep.” I frown as I try to piece the puzzle together.
“And then what happened?”
“I woke and it was cold.” I get goosebumps as I remember the quiet and cold of the morning. My eyes look straight ahead as I visualise the blood on the floor and a lump forms in my throat. “Natasha wasn’t in bed with me,” I whisper.
“Where was she?” he asks.
I shrug. “I thought she was in the bathroom and I went back to sleep,” I whisper, mortified. “She could have been hurt then and I went back to sleep.” I hold my hand over my mouth in disgust at myself.
They stay silent as they wait for me to speak. “Cameron, where is she?” I whisper and he puts his hand in mine and squeezes it.
“I walked out to look for her,” I continue and then I frown and tears fill my eyes as I remember the blood… so much blood. “Are they hurting her?” I cry. “What if they are torturing her?” I scream. “It’s me… it’s me… it’s me.” I shake my head frantically. “It’s me they want. Tell them they can kill me.” I shake my head frantically as I imagine what they could be doing to her, and I start to rip the drip from my arm. “I need to find her. Let me out of here.”