by Jools Louise
“What’s wrong, luv?” He stroked my hair, pressing a light kiss to my mouth.
“I’m scared, Jackson. We have all these people that we’re responsible for. What happens when the bad guys come back? Are a few Special Forces guys really going to be enough?”
Jackson rested his forehead against mine, closing his eyes.
“They have to be. We’ve successfully helped nearly thirty people back to health. All of them are getting back to mainstream life again. The ones who aren’t employed yet are retraining, courtesy of The Foundation. We can’t let our hard work be in vain. I’m taking a stand. Everyone knows the stakes, and for the moment, until the turtles return, we’ll carry on as normal. All our evacuation plans are in place. We have a full-time squad of really tough soldiers here, and don’t forget Marcus, Louis, Riley and me are all ex-military. Plus the guys from last year who stayed are ex-army, too.”
The previous year, the island had been invaded by a group of brutal poachers, funded by a lethal group of people known as the Triads. A vicious organised crime gang, they had fingers in every illegal pie from the Orient, through the South Pacific and right over to Malaysia and Indonesia. Their reason for being on El Santuario? Turtles.
The black market in trafficking exotic animals, and particularly rare species, was huge. Billions of dollars’ worth of smuggling was conducted yearly, bringing the threat of dangerous diseases with it. Not to mention the wild population of sea turtles was already at a critically low level, and taking eggs out of the ecosystem would be catastrophic. Turtles took a couple of decades at least to reach sexual maturity. The chances of survival were slim as the hatchlings spent their childhood avoiding all sorts of predators in the oceans before returning to the beach where they had been born, and laying their own clutch of eggs.
El Santuario, our tropical paradise, had been chosen by Hawksbill turtles as a nesting site, and the poachers had come to collect. Their visit had turned bloody, as they had killed five of their own men when we had fired warning shot at them. Then three young boys, Bayani, Datu and Benji, had been left behind as the poachers had been taken into custody by our friends in the Australian Navy.
Intel from the Australian Government since then had us worried. We had just fought back against a gang of ruthless people who were not known for their forgiving natures. For years, the gang had been evading capture and were responsible for many murders, kidnappings and other crimes. Recent intel suggested that there had been increased activity around this area. Sightings of poaching gangs turning up on beaches were more frequent, almost like they were taunting us.
We had paused our treatment facility, fearing that having vulnerable patients on the island would make things much worse, should the gang return. I was angry at the turn of events. This was Jackson’s dream. He was a skilled psychotherapist and had years of experience helping people suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The fact that greed was preventing us from treating more people had me seething…and scared.
“Hold me, Jackson,” I whispered, nuzzling into the crease of his shoulder, inhaling the delicious scent of his skin, tangy with sex and drying sweat.
He rolled to his side, his softening cock slipping from my moist channel. Gathering me close, we lay for several minutes, kissing and cuddling.
Finally, I groaned reluctantly and moved away.
“We need to get cleaned up. I have a bunch of paperwork to get done this morning.” Jackson tried to grab me, but I laughed at him, slapping his firm ass before leaping out of bed. Actually, it was more of a stumbling hop than a leap. I was less than graceful. A three-legged panther was more athletic than I was!
Thirty minutes later, and finally cleansed, the pair of us left the villa, giggling and messing about like a couple of kids. Our new favourite game was called “Pinch-your-lover-on-the-bum…then run!” By the time we reached the café and my much-needed caffeine and croissant fix, my butt was feeling the effects. I’d need to ask one of my crew to spend some time kissing it better.
Gingerly sitting, I shared an amused look with Jackson as we both shifted uncomfortably on our seats.
“Sore ass, luv?” Max asked, a grin on his face as he watched our antics.
“As ever, Jackson won! He has hands like an octopus!”
“Nah! You’re just too slow, luv!” Max retorted, then gave my nipple a tweak as he went past.
I squealed, then grabbed him around the waist and dragged him closer. Laughing, he planted a hot kiss on my lips, his fingers caressing my face gently.
“You’ll have to give me a nice massage later, Maxi. My ass is feeling neglected.” I deepened the kiss, nipping on his lower lip and giving his crotch a squeeze, feeling his engorged cock fill even more with arousal.
“Now, now, kids, this is the breakfast table. No nookie here this morning. There are children about.”
I jumped as Michael’s deep voice rumbled in my ear, followed by his swift kiss to the side of my jaw. He joined in my kiss with Max, the three-way turning sloppy and sensuous as the two men plundered my mouth. Their tongues met mine and I moaned as I felt fingers cupping my breasts and teasing my nipples.
By the time the kiss ended, paperwork was the furthest thing from my mind and I was ready to jump the two right there and then.
“Morning, sunshine,” Michael gave me another kiss, smiling against my lips as his tongue dipped inside again. My hand went up, cupping the nape of his neck and kneading his firm, satiny flesh.
I heard a grunt, then a moan, and opened my eyes. Caleb had his arms around Michael, his cock grinding against Michael’s ass as he tweaked Michael’s nipples.
“Morning all.” I stared into Michael’s eyes, enjoying way the dark caramel colour blazed with desire. Our lover began to kiss Michael’s shoulder and up the side of his neck. Michael turned his head, latching onto Caleb’s lush lips, and I smiled as the two shared a hot lip-lock before parting and finding their seats.
“Is it me or did the temperature around here just skyrocket?” I giggled as I heard Dr. Sylvia Myers’s pert question, turning to see the woman fanning herself with a paper napkin.
“I like it hot,” I retorted, then took a sip of coffee as she rolled her eyes.
“Apparently! I never thought I’d be turned on by the sight of two men swapping saliva, but damn! You people are sizzling this morning!” We all laughed at the doctor’s teasing, since she was a dyed-in-the-wool lesbian who had been courting our new helicopter pilot, Cara, for several months.
I withheld my reservations about the pilot. Something about her set my teeth on edge. I was damned if I knew why. She seemed a little too perfect, and I had seen a look in her eyes a couple of times which had sent a chill down my spine. There was something dark in her soul, which flashed briefly if you happened to be looking at her at the right time. I didn’t think she was who she was pretending to be. Since it didn’t appear that anyone else had noticed anything wrong, I kept my thoughts to myself and watched her warily.
Dean and Marcus arrived, looking flushed and sexy. They were holding hands, with one of Marcus’s draped over Dean’s hip, squeezing Dean’s ass cheek.
The sound of children’s voices heralded their arrival and soon the entire staff and crew were slouched around the tables in the café, enjoying banter and breakfast.
Raphael sat with Riley, the pair obviously deeply in love by the looks they were giving each other. Louis joined my table, and Marty, the children, Cara, and everyone were scattered around. With no patients on the island, we could relax a bit, but we all felt the tension rippling beneath the camaraderie.
Jackson’s phone rang, and his expression turned serious as he looked at the caller ID.
The call was brief, and he looked both angry and scared when he looked up.
“That was Murphy. He just got a heads-up about our friendly poacher gang. It looks like they’re going to make another attempt at our turtle beach. Their ship’s been sighted about a hundred miles from here, then they just disappeared.
Murphy’s hunting for them now, but he thinks they’re heading here.”
I glanced at Cara as Jackson spoke, and saw her intense interest in what was said. The look in her eyes was almost feral and I glimpsed what I thought was a strange mix of satisfaction and pure rage before her usual calm demeanour reasserted itself. Our eyes locked for a second as she looked over at me and caught me watching. I narrowed my eyes, holding her stare.
“There must be dozens of sites with nesting beaches. Why does he think they’re coming here?” Dean asked, moving closer to Marcus. Marcus draped an arm around his slim shoulders, hugging him close and planting a kiss on the top of his blond head.
“Apparently they have someone working on the inside, a mole, who has managed to get intel out. The word is that the Triad bosses want payback and they are making plans to retaliate soon.
“We need to call a meeting…all staff and crew,” I said it flatly. If the poachers were heading here, then we needed to get our shit together. I broke the staring contest with Cara and made a mental note to watch her even more carefully in future. Something about her was definitely off.
Jackson and the guys nodded at me, looking grim as they got up to start rounding everyone up.
* * * *
An hour later, everyone was seated around the large table in the conference room in the admin building. Jackson took the meeting.
“Crunch time is here, folks.” His beautiful brown eyes were sombre as he looked around the room. I could see a mix of sadness and a kind of determined stubbornness in his expression. This was his dream, and now that we had firm intel about what the Triad poachers’ aim was, we had to make a decision how best to protect those on the island. If things got too bad, evacuation was the only safe course of action. We’d have to abandon the dream.
“We have a plane ready to go for those who want to leave the island,” Jackson continued. Jackson and I had agreed that anyone who wished to leave was certainly going to be able to do so. No one was going to be put in danger who didn’t want to be.
He looked around the room again, waiting for people to decide.
Doctor Myers stood.
“I will take the boys with me into the bunker. Cara is going to fly out anyone who chooses to leave, and then return. Marty has agreed to stay.” We all looked to Marty, our resident nurse, who wiggled his brows teasingly.
“Hey now, you didn’t think I’d let you all have all the fun, now, did you?” We all laughed a little.
Our support staff, including our second psychotherapist and three people we had hired to clean the guest villas, chose to leave. Also Ray, our baker. He said that he wasn’t much good in a fight, and he would prefer to spend some time in Sydney where Cara was dropping off the others. When we gave the all-clear, then we’d come and collect him.
Jackson gave orders for Cara to fly out early the next day, giving people time to pack up their stuff. The bunker was already set up with plenty of provisions, but we’d have to get bedding and the like in place, so I agreed to help Sylvia and the boys ferry gear down there.
Initially, there had been a plan to get the boys off the island, but we all agreed that they were safer hidden away in our bomb shelter than anywhere else. With the might of the Australian Navy backing our fight against the gang, we didn’t anticipate the battle would take too long. We had several contingencies, however, just in case things went completely pear-shaped.
We set to work.
Chapter Two:
Best Laid Plans Go Awry
My arms ached, shooting pains ripping through my shoulders whenever I attempted to relieve some of the strain by moving a little. My left eye was swollen and refused to open. My right eye merely opened to a slit. Every muscle in my body was sore, and I was probably bruised all to hell. I wasn’t sure why I was trying to open my eyes, since my prison was pitch-black anyway. No light anywhere, just the creaks and groans and smells of a ship past its prime. That was my prison. A dank, dark metallic box which stank of fish and mildew.
Perhaps my less-than-clever attempt at rescue had been a mistake. Hindsight was such a bitch. My part of the plan had been fairly clear. Hide in the bunker, ignore any sounds from above and then only leave when Jackson or one of the crew hailed me. Under no circumstances was I to leave the bunker otherwise. Hah! Since when had I ever listened to reason, especially when it came to those I loved? I was thinking I may be in just a tiny bit of trouble when I escaped.
Of course, now I was stuck in the hold of a ship belonging to a bunch of morons employed by the Triad gang, the same gang who had invaded our island a year ago. The same gang who kidnapped children from their villages and put them to work in all sorts of nefarious ways. Whoever thinks that slavery has been abolished really isn’t living in the 21st Century…in some parts of the world, it’s a thriving industry.
Datu, Bayani and Benji were three such victims. Taken from their families, they had survived their first few weeks of captivity. Stranded here when an attempted poaching party had gone wrong for their captors, they had experienced some horrors, for sure, but were great young twelve-year-old boys and, for the most part, well-adjusted.
Datu and Bayani were the reason I was imprisoned. I’m lying. I’m the reason since, for the life of me, when someone tells me to do as I’m told, I tend to ignore the advice when I see something which I think I can do something about. Like rescue two young boys from being kidnapped again.
Not only that, but Max was somewhere on this old freighter, and I couldn’t help but feel sick to my stomach at what might be happening to him. The boys were safe, but for all I knew, Max and I were due to be shark bait. Following the boys after I saw them being taken against their will by someone who should have been protecting them had made me killing mad. Common sense flew out of the window, so I tried to discreetly go after them. Unfortunately, stealth really isn’t my strong suit. I was seen, overpowered and captured.
Fortunately Datu and Bayani had gotten away. Unfortunately, Max had seen me leave the compound and had followed me, so he was in the same predicament. The last I had seen of him was under a hail of fists and boots, being punched and kicked into submission by three of the monsters while our erstwhile newest pilot, Cara, had stood by, laughing. My reaction had been violent and short-lived. A head-butt to my captor’s nose and a snap kick to a knee cap had been extremely satisfying…right up to the bit where the butt of an assault rifle smacked me across the skull, followed by sweet oblivion.
So here I was, their captive, strung up like a side of beef. Since my snarkiness had not gone down well initially, I had been beaten into unconsciousness. Now I was paying the price. I was fairly sure I had some cracked ribs—again—and I was a little concerned that my eye was permanently damaged. On the plus side, the brutes responsible had not raped me and didn’t seem particularly interested in doing so. Beating, yes. Sexual dominance, no. Apparently they thought men and young boys fair game, not overweight, homicidal women.
Of course, they could come back and just shoot me, but I was optimistic. They appeared to be more interested in asking questions about Jackson and Murphy than killing me—so far.
I heard a shuffling sound, which preceded the squeaky opening of the hatch above.
“Here, bitch! You have company!” The harsh, exotically-accented words were followed by a rattling sound as they threw something down the narrow gangway into the hold.
Whoever it was made no sound, other than the dull thud of a body hitting the dirty floor. I winced and cursed. I could barely see, squinting in the dim light. Blond hair, longish and falling across broad shoulders. Louis. Crap!
“Louis! Hey, stud, wake up!” I whispered, my voice hoarse from lack of water. The accommodations on this ship were not to my usual standards. Maybe I should complain to the management. I winced as pain shot through my shoulders again. The snarky little self-talk was to keep my spirits up, but I was scared. If they had Louis…
“Hey, sweetness.” Louis rolled slowly and then moved, crawling across the
floor to me. Then everything went black again as the hatch door was slammed shut. Crap! “These bastards are really starting to piss me off! Of course, they don’t know who they have here, do they?” His voice seemed to get closer.
Shuffling sounded, and I let out an involuntary squeal as something brushed against my foot. Was that Louis or the rat I’d felt earlier? I really hated rats.
“Sweetness, we’re going to get out of here, luv.” Phew! Nothing could be further from a rat than my lover Louis. I felt his fingers brushing my ankles then he made his way up until I could feel his moist breath against my cheek. “Damn, Jess, what were you thinking to leave the bunker?” He sounded upset, like he wanted to hug me but was refraining from doing so.
I had to clear my throat for a while before I could reply. I really needed water.
“I saw the boys, Datu and Bayani, on the monitor. They should not have been in the compound. Then I saw Cara. She had an assault rifle and seemed to be running from someone, but she had the rifle pointed at the boys. I had to help the boys.”
I cleared my voice again, shivering slightly since the hold was damp and my clothes were of little protection against the coolness. “Cara ordered her thugs to hurt Max. I don’t know where he is.” I could feel the burn of tears at what I’d witnessed. Max was the light in my world, the bright spark who kept me sane. I didn’t know what I would do if he had been killed.
“Cara was shot by Ray just as Marcus, Jackson, and I got to her. Apparently Ray’s been suspicious of her for a while, since he overheard a phone conversation a few weeks ago. He and Marcus took her back to the compound. Jackson is guarding her. Max is in a bad way, Jess. We got him as soon as we shot Cara. They were going to kill him, not bring him to the ship. Sylvia and Marty are treating him now.” There was a catch in Louis’s voice. He was hurting. I closed my eyes in relief that Max was alive at least.
I felt Louis’s fingers on my wrist, his touch gentle as he fingered the restraints which held my arms aloft. A thick chain ran through the cuffs and up to the ceiling. “I’m going to pick the lock on these, luv. This might hurt quite a bit. I’m sorry.” I felt his mouth press a soft kiss on my cheek, his breath hitching as he appeared to be trying to hold in his anguish.