by Dale Mayer
Just as she said that, she heard footsteps on the stairs.
Chapter 2
A click of a gun alerted her first.
Swearing softly under his breath, the man coming down the stairs froze. She could see the rifle barrel, just the tip of it, pointing downward. And then he slowly backed up. And, just like that, the double doors to the hatch above closed down on top of them.
She swore under her breath. “What the hell gave us away?”
“Instinct. The fact that his buddy didn’t respond or return again likely,” Dr. Walker said. He looked around. “So we’ve got a kitchen, and we’ve got weapons, but he’s got all the rifles. Still you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight,” he snapped. “As long as we’re here, stuck, with them above us, you know we aren’t getting anywhere.”
Jasper climbed the stairs and put his shoulder and his back to the hatch. They could see it lift slightly but also saw the big lock on top, with huge wrought iron hinges, which had them locked in, and Jasper couldn’t lift it any higher. Grim-faced, they turned to look at each other.
“Next idea?” the men asked her.
But she was out of ideas. She took a look out the window and said, “There’s land behind us.”
They gathered around to see because, if they could reach land anywhere, they’d take that chance. Swimming would be a bitch if it was too far, and, if the weather turned on them, they could forget it. They were already up against some of the world’s worst predators in the water.
“We won’t make it,” Dr. Walker said calmly. He looked up at the sky. “A storm’s coming.
And, sure enough, even as he said it, they could see the clouds rolling toward them.
“So this is checkmate,” he said in a dour tone. “Unless you have any final moves, this is as far as we go.”
She stared at him. “I’m not giving up yet.”
Dr. Walker nodded. “Maybe not, but I’ve got a splitting headache, so I’m lying down. When you guys figure out what plan B is of this insane suicide mission, you can wake me.” He walked back to the small cabin area and collapsed on one of the bunks.
She turned to look at Tony and Jasper. “Any suggestions?”
One by one they looked at her and shook their heads.
“Nothing,” Jasper said. “We have to get upstairs. There’s not really any way to do that.”
Defeated and furious, she sagged into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “There’s got to be a way.”
“Maybe,” Jasper said. “But we haven’t found it yet.”
*
Vince was already on his phone. He stood at the dock, staring out to where the last boat-for-hire had just left. Supposedly there wasn’t another one he could rent for miles. He didn’t believe one word the locals were telling him. Somebody had paid a ton of money to keep them all quiet, and he didn’t appreciate that.
He was on hold, awaiting a talk with another one of the local government officials. Vince wanted one of their boats, and they weren’t having anything of it. They couldn’t be involved, according to them. Whatever happened had to be done quietly. There were enough factions here to contend with that, if it looked like the US government was helping one, the authorities here would get shit from the others.
“And what about the pirates who potentially have taken a US research ship?”
“But you can’t prove that, can you?” said the next man in line at the other end in that officious voice. “We’ve lost contact. A storm is brewing. For all you know, the team has just been caught up in the storm. Maybe their batteries ran out. Maybe one of them has been injured, and the others are hiking, out looking for help. There are all kinds of scenarios and not enough time for anything to have been determined.”
“Which is why I’m trying to find them,” he snapped.
“And we wish you well,” the man said. Click.
Vince stared at his phone. “That officer’s an idiot,” he said. “Just a little desk operator who doesn’t want to get his hands dirty, wants it all to go away so he can check a little box on his paperwork to say done, as long as it didn’t have anything to do with him.”
“That’s what desk jockeys are,” Johan said. But his voice was lighthearted, almost laughing.
Vince turned and frowned at him. “Did you find a boat?”
“Not only did I find a boat,” he said, “but I found a nice sailboat.”
“Where is it?” Vince turned to study the marina.
“It’s coming,” Johan said. “Bullard had a friend—Lexi—who was already down here. He’s quite happy to lend it our way. Apparently pirates gave Lexi a run for his money on a different trip, and, if there’s anything we can do to take out one group, he’s more than willing to help us. And, if it costs him his boat, it’s insured.”
Vince’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously?” At Johan’s chuckle and nod, Vince just shook his head. “Some people have more money than God.”
“Yeah, that’s Lexi,” Johan said. “He made it in the dot-com era before the crash, and, since then, he’s on easy street, living off his investments.”
“That’s the life,” Vince said. On the other hand he didn’t think he could do it himself. A life without purpose for him would be one long endless boring day.
“He’s pretty damn happy about it,” Johan said. “We’re a little short on supplies though.”
“It’s almost like the pirates pay better than we do,” Vince complained good-naturedly.
“They do. It’s the only way to buy silence around here. It’s either pay better or the punishment is worse.” He pointed at several boxes he had stacked beside him. “I figure we got enough for a couple days. If we’re picking up the science team, we could run into trouble. So, if we can get a line on more foodstuffs, it would help.” His phone rang just then.
Vince waited as Johan spoke to whoever was on the other end.
When he hung up, he said, “Lexi’s boat left the marina. It’ll be here in about thirty minutes.”
“And what about the other issue?” Vince asked. “Did Bullard have any luck with that?”
“No, but Levi came through. In places like this, you can buy anything,” he said, “and guns are no different. We have a delivery coming soon.”
“We’re trusting an awful lot of local people,” Vince said cautiously.
“Look,” Johan said. “I know you are lead on this op. But have you ever been here before?”
“Nope,” Vince said with a headshake.
“So I hope you don’t mind if I take the lead on some things, since I know the area and have some local contacts. Just tell me if you think I’m out of line.”
“Agreed,” Vince said, and the guys shook hands.
As much as he liked this guy Johan, Vince didn’t know him from Adam. But, so far, it was just the two of them. Then again, Vince had said he would go, even if just the two of them, because a small stealthy team was better in some cases. Two men didn’t make as much of a ripple as four. And, when going after something like this, the smaller the better.
Levi had reluctantly agreed, but only because he was sending two more as soon as he could get it to happen. They were coming, would sit in waiting, ready to help Vince and Johan in any way as they tied this up. On that note, Vince and Johan had each taken off as fast as they could with multiple hops—Vince from Houston and Johan from who-knows-where—and, when they’d arrived in Galápagos, they’d met up and had pulled together their supplies.
That was when they ran into trouble. First off, they couldn’t find a boat to rent. Then they couldn’t get supplies. But it seemed like they just needed to sweeten the pot with a little more money to grease the local wheels. Particularly as Vince and Johan needed weapons—and not just one or two. That was nonnegotiable.
“So our gun shipment is being delivered here?” Vince searched the docks. This was not a delivery he wanted in a public location or done in broad daylight.
Johan nodded. “I think it’s coming in the boat.”
<
br /> Vince’s expression cleared. “That makes sense.” He waved his arm to the busy market just behind them past the marina’s docks. “I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to get deliveries through that place.”
Johan chuckled. “Well, there’re ways, but this is a subtler one.”
“Good,” Vince said. “I’m not getting anywhere with the bloody government officials.”
“Screw them,” Johan said. “We don’t need anything from them. Ice has contacted the rest of the families of the missing team. She just sent me a text to say nobody has heard from any of them. And while that worried them, they were all pleased to note that no demands for ransom had come through either.”
“So we’re looking for four missing persons for sure – possibly five as there seems to be some uncertainty here?”
Johan nodded. “So far, that’s the intel we are working on. George must be beside himself.”
“He is, but he also trusts Levi. So the sooner we can get this done, the better.” They still had a few things to check off. Vince said, “I’ll head to the market and see if I can get a bit more fresh food to take with us. We could be out there for a week, searching the Pacific Ocean for one lost ship.”
“Be back in twenty,” Johan said. “When the boat arrives, we won’t have a minute to spare.”
Vince took off running. He’d seen a fresh food and veggie market not far away. He wanted to make sure he and Johan at least had food supplies to last the two of them one week but also to feed the team members. Yet what he really wanted was to make sure they had medical supplies. As he wandered the market with an eye on the time, he picked up several items.
Then he stopped at what appeared to be a drugstore on the street. As he sought bandages, he quickly put together a first aid kit and packed it up.
When he walked back down the dock, right on time, he saw a beautiful white almost research-looking sailboat come into the marina. He stepped up beside Johan and asked, “Is this it?”
“It’s old, as in very old. The original owner was a scientist, but Lexi bought it off him. Lexi’s got a yacht too of course, for fun. He brought both boats down here with him, thinking he could rent one or just swap about between the two, should one need repairs or whatever. But he said this is the one you want when you’re heading into ugly weather. It’s also the one more likely to get past the pirates, so you can get to where you want to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t say no. We needed anything Lexi could give us.”
With that, the men boarded. Command changed hands as the captain and his first mate stepped off, and, without further ado, Vince and Johan pushed away from the dock and headed out.
“Did we check for fuel?” Vince asked.
“The captain fully loaded it, per Lexi’s instructions,” Johan said. “We’re good to go.”
Moving the supplies downstairs, Vince stopped in surprise. It looked like the owner had prestocked the boat. There were boxes of dry goods, huge restaurant-size canned goods sitting on the floor, some fresh food as well. They had enough food here for a month, from the looks of it. Vince chuckled when he saw the toilet paper. Something he hadn’t even thought of. He shook his head.
“Glad somebody was thinking.” He turned and headed toward the kitchen, opening the cupboards and putting things away.
When he got underneath the veggies, he saw two large crates. He knew what those were. He bent, popped one open and whistled. In front of him were four gleaming assault rifles, with clips, and one even had a belt. He picked them up, hefted them and stared in amazement. They were brand new. Where the hell had Lexi gotten these? In the second box were several handguns. And look at that—grenades!
Stowing everything nicely under the table, he crawled up to the top deck and said to Johan, “I don’t know what friend this is of Bullard’s, but, when he loaded us for bear, he loaded us for grizzly bear.”
Johan laughed. “That’s exactly what we need. It might not be bears we’re hunting, but it’ll be assholes nonetheless.”
Chapter 3
Vanessa and her team hadn’t heard anything since the hatch had been dropped and locked. No footsteps, no voices, nothing. Their captive also hadn’t moved. She didn’t know if Jasper’s blows to the head had done in the man or if she’d actually strangled him enough to have done some serious damage.
It was hard to feel sorry for him. This was how the kidnappers had treated her and her team. What did he expect? This was already a shit deal, and the last thing she wanted was any more of it. But she’d been checking the ceilings to see if there was any hatch or something loose, any way they could pry some of the ceiling boards out. The men had just watched her as she’d gone from board to board, testing each for a weakness.
When she’d asked Jasper to help, the two had repeated her efforts, yet found nothing. She had the porthole windows she knew she could get out of—if they even opened. She was the only one small enough to make it through. But she wasn’t sure she could swing around and get up on the deck. And, if they couldn’t open the portholes, once they punched a hole in the glass, it would alert whoever was above that their captives were coming. Not only that, if they ran into ugly weather, that broken window itself could end up causing their death, flooding them inside, if not capsizing the boat too. It wouldn’t be fun to sink in the sea.
The waves continued to slap against the side of the boat, although they seemed to be stronger and to happen more often. The only saving grace right now was they had access to the kitchen, and that meant some food. The men had opened cans of beans and what looked like peaches. They found a loaf of bread and what appeared to be rice. They’d eaten as much as they wanted, their stomachs still woozy and uncertain, but it had worked for the moment.
What she really needed was to find a way to open that damn hatch. Plus, Vanessa was worried about Laura. If she was up on deck, separated from the others, why? And what did these men want? What had happened to their research vessel? It was worth a lot of money. The university leased it out to other companies and universities for research trips. It would be insured, but still. All their research data was on board too.
She studied the wood of the hatch. If there was even an ax, she could chop it open. She didn’t give a shit if the kidnappers knew she was coming or not. Even if they heard her, and even if they fired into the hatch and shot her, no way the gunmen upstairs would come farther into the hull, the team could hide in enough places that the kidnappers wouldn’t know for sure where the three men were. The best thing for their captors would be to abandon ship and to sink it.
She winced at the thought. She surprised herself at the nasty turn of her mind if she was thinking that was the best avenue. But it was what she’d do if a ship was full of assholes, and she had no other way to lose them. She would sink the damn boat and all of them with it.
The boat listed to one side and then turned around. The men looked at her. She nodded grimly. “I know. I don’t think anybody’s piloting this thing. Or if it’s been abandoned.”
At the word abandoned, their eyes lit with hope, and then they frowned.
“Would they do that?” Dr. Walker asked.
“It depends how many are involved,” she said. “Think about it. If the kidnappers have a second boat, they could be on that boat and just watching us.”
“But we didn’t see one.”
“But we can’t see behind us,” she said. “So I’m not saying that’s what they’re doing, but it’s certainly possible.”
They nodded, but nobody was happy with her words.
“What’s the chance they’ll just sink us then?” Tony asked nervously.
“That’s what I would do,” she said honestly. “Think about it. If they can’t get in here without endangering themselves, then they have to get rid of us one way or another. Or they just leave us here to float. It’s not like we’re going anywhere. They can come back and collect us later.”
“You really do have a nasty mind-set, don’t you?” Dr. Walker said.
She chuckled. “It’s not the easiest place to be right now, but we’re free. We have food. We’re walking around. We’re dry for the moment. And, for all we know, we’re in a decent seaworthy vessel.”
“Well, we could be in something that’s ready to sink,” Dr. Walker said. “And then what?”
“Then what?” she said sadly. “What is it you want me to say? I have no better idea how to get up there than you do. We’ll have to ride out this storm and see.”
“None of us have our phones either,” Tony said.
“The kidnappers can’t get any reception out here in the storm,” Jasper said. “The best we can do is get into the engine room and see if we can send a message from there.”
She nodded. “In that case, it’s back to finding a way to open that damn hatch.”
“You’ll open the hatch and take a bullet?” Dr. Walker asked, bewildered. “Don’t you give a damn?”
“Not particularly,” she said, “because, if we sit here, we could take a bullet too. Either that or we could drown. Whether by the sea or by the gunmen, it’s drowning all the same.”
“Do you have any new ideas?” Jasper asked, dismissing the locked hatch above and instead staring at the wooden ceiling. “We could probably use the assorted kitchen knives to cut out a new hatch, but that’ll take forever.”
“That’ll only work,” she said, “if there is no second flooring above.”
“Which there will be,” Dr. Walker said. “Why don’t you rest a minute? There’s really nothing we can do.”
“So we’re supposed to just stay here adrift and wait until somebody decides to pick us up or to pick us off?” she asked in exasperation. “You do know that you have to help yourself and that you can’t just wait and hope that someone comes along in this vast ocean and rescues us, right?”