Play Along

by T L Swan

  He is here for revenge.

  My eyes search his, and he knows that I know. He looks away angrily.

  I stand. “I’m tired. I’m going to get going. See you all.” I glance at Stace. “You coming?”

  He nods and without a word follows me. We walk to the room in silence and he opens the door. We walk in and he slowly closes the door behind us.

  “You’re here for revenge?”

  He nods once.

  “You’re going to try and kill him?” I whisper angrily.

  “Yes.”

  I shake my head. “Stace, no. He will kill you. He has guards.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “What?” I shriek. “What do you mean you don’t care?”

  “I don’t care if I die. That’s why I got you off the ship. I don’t want you here to see this.”

  My face falls. “Stace, no.”

  He stands solemnly, as if resigned to his fate. “I have waited on this fucking ship for six months to get my chance and I’m taking it. I can’t get him on the mainland but here…” his voice trails off.

  I shake my head nervously. “Let’s just go. We can start somewhere new.” I grab his two arms as I try to talk sense into him. “We can run away and…” I fake a smile and pause as I try to sweeten the deal. “And your mom can come with us.”

  “No,” he says flatly. “He died because of me, my brother died while trying to get me off this ship. He stupidly thought he could bring him down. But I know the only way he can be brought down is by his death. I’ve made my decision. He’s going to pay. An eye for an eye.”

  My eyes tear up. “What about me?” I whisper.

  His eyes hold mine and he brings up his hand and gently cups my face. “I’m grateful that I met my person before I die,” he whispers.

  My tears break the dam and roll down my face. “Stace, no.” I shake my head. “Please, for me… don’t do this.”

  He wraps me in an embrace.

  “Don’t make me lose you, too,” I sob into his shoulder.

  He holds me for an extended time and eventually he replies, “Baby, I’m not yours to keep. He owns me. I have nothing to lose.”

  * * *

  I sit in the dawn light alone at the desk in the cabin. Stace started work at 5am this morning in preparation for Vikinos’ arrival at 10am.

  I’m soul searching, praying to my mother to save him. He has forbidden me to leave the cabin today and has already brought me back enough food for a week.

  As if I can eat any of it. I feel sick.

  I can’t imagine what is has been like for him, to live on this boat knowing its owner murdered his brother when he was trying to save him.

  The guilt he must feel.

  * * *

  He takes the knife and slices her neck and she lets out a garbled wail.

  My eyes widen in horror. “No,” I cry. “Stop it, stop it. Let her go!” I scream as the tears run down my face. I slam my head from side to side frantically as I try to break free from the ropes that tie me to the chair. The chair rocks as I try desperately to escape.

  “You, animal. Let her go!” I scream. I shake my head harder. “No, no, no, no, Mom. Mom, look at me. Look at me,” I cry. “Mom, hang on. Just hang on.”

  Her stare becomes vacant and I screw up my face in pain. The room starts to spin as my eyes drop to the sea of her blood that runs down her body and onto the floor.

  “Mom. Mom!” I cry. “Let her fucking go!” I scream. “Kill me. Kill me,” I cry. “No, you can’t do this! Please, don’t do this,” I sob.

  “This is what happens when you disobey me, my Roshina.” His deep voice growls.

  She shudders as she tries to say something.

  “I love you, Mom,” I cry.

  A trace of a smile crosses her face and then her head drops as the last of her life drips out.

  I turn to the Devil. My father. “I hate you. I fucking hate you. I will kill you!” I scream as I go ballistic and try to break free from the chair.

  His hard hand hits me across the face.

  * * *

  I lick my bottom lip like I can still taste the blood from his hits.

  My eyes fill with tears at the horrific memory, and six years later, I can still feel my beautiful mother’s life drain from her body.

  I know what Stace feels. Better than anyone, I understand.

  I stare at the wall for hours until eventually I know what I have to do.

  I need to do this for him today.

  I need to kill Vikinos.

  * * *

  The sun dances on the water, and the reflection from the metal railing is off putting. I stand up against the wall on the far end of the walkway.

  The women are hidden, the men are all at their stations, and Stace and another two men are on the deck flagging in the chopper.

  I can hear it hovering above the ship and I close my eyes as I prepare for what I am about to do.

  All hell is about to break loose.

  I slowly close my eyes, and when I reopen them, I am at my mother’s murder.

  Kill or be killed.

  * * *

  The chopper slowly comes in, and as soon as they pass where they can see me, I walk forward and lean my rifle on the handrail to look through the glass eyepiece.

  I rearrange my finger on the trigger and I wait. I have gone over every possible scenario in my head a million times, and I honestly believe this is the only way I stand a chance to catch them unaware. If I wait, I risk Stace trying to take him out first and then it may be too late. This is the only way I can guarantee Stace’s safety.

  Ten years of practice in a shooting range and it all comes down to this.

  If I miss, I’m dead.

  If I hit, I’m also dead.

  But Stace will be alive, and he will know that I love him.

  My eyes cloud over and I shake my head to remove the fog.

  Focus.

  I stare through the lens and I count three men in the chopper. The pilot, a guard and then him.

  I take aim and watch as the pilot goes through the shut down technique.

  “Just get out of the chopper,” I whisper.

  I tighten my grip on the trigger as my heart hammers heavily in my chest.

  “Kill or be killed,” I breathe.

  Stace approaches the chopper and then opens the door and I narrow my eyes as I steel myself.

  Holy… fucking shit.

  The guard gets out and shakes Stace’s hand, and I follow his head with the gun. I go back to the chopper and follow the next head. Wearing a dark, clearly expensive suit, he slowly gets out and shakes Stace’s hand.

  I narrow my eyes. “Just a little to the left,” I whisper as my hand shakes nervously. He moves over a little. “That’s it.” He moves to the left and I take aim and pull the trigger. I miss and confusion sets in. The men all start to run.

  Fuck.

  I take aim again and with my heartbeat furiously pumping, I pull the trigger, and this time, the man in the suit falls to the deck.

  I take aim at the guard and shoot him in the thigh. He also crumples in a heap.

  I did it.

  With adrenaline pumping hard, I sprint down the metal stairs.

  The alarms start to sound and I know everyone is watching. With my gun in my hands I run across the deck toward them.

  Stace looks up at me in horror.

  “Rosh!” he screams. “No!”

  The pilot grabs a handgun and I lift my rifle and shoot him in the leg.

  “Get in the chopper!” I scream.

  “What?” Stace yells.

  “Get in the fucking chopper!” I scream over the sirens.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” he yells.

  “Saving your life.” I point to the chopper with my gun. “Get in.”

  I look down and frown. What the hell? I kick over the man in the suit so I can see his face and I step back as horror dawns.

  Oh my God!

  Oh my
fucking God!

  With renewed panic, I point the gun at Stace. “Don’t make me fucking kill you, too, asshole. Get in!”

  “No!” He screams. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  The sirens are screaming over us and I know I have minutes before backup is here.

  I shoot the ground only inches from Stace’s feet. “I swear to God, get the fuck in.”

  He shakes his head and climbs into the chopper and I climb in after him.

  “Take us up.”

  He frowns. “What?” he screams.

  “Fucking go. We are about one minute away from being killed.”

  He scratches his head in a panic and starts the chopper, and I slam the door behind me. We shakily lift off just as two of the crew appear on the deck with guns.

  We lift higher and higher and higher, and I hear bullets zoom past us.

  He takes off and we fly into the clear air and I put my head in my hands and screw up my face in panic.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” he screams over the engine.

  I pant. “I’m saving your life, asshole.” I run my hands through my hair. “You are most welcome, by the way.”

  He shakes his head and drags his hand down his face.

  “That wasn’t Vikinos you killed,” he screams.

  “I know!” I yell back in frustration. Oh my God, how could I be so stupid?

  He frowns as his eyes flick over to me. “How do you know that? Who are you?”

  I look him square in the eye.

  “My name is Roshina Vikinos. I’m his daughter.”

  15

  Stace

  My eyes widen before they flicker to her, and then back to the sky, then back to her, and then back to the sky, again and again.

  “You are fucking who?” I scream over the engine.

  “You heard me,” she yells.

  I shake my head in disbelief. “His… his… his daughter?” I stammer. “You are Vikinos’ daughter?”

  She nods.

  “I don’t believe it,” I cry as we fly higher and higher.

  “Y-you think I can?” she stammers.

  Realisation sets in and I put my head into my hands. The chopper dips a little.

  “Stace?” she yells.

  I grab the control lever and lift the chopper back up.

  My eyes flick over to her angrily. “So you set us up. This whole thing was a set up to get to him.”

  “What?” she yells. “You took me, you idiot! How could I have set this up?”

  “You really expect me to believe that this is a coincidence.” I shake my head. “I’m not that stupid.” I sneer.

  “Apparently, you are,” she fires back.

  I glare at her, and then we both turn to stare at the sky in front of us. The engine is loud and drowns out all other noise.

  She turns and looks over our shoulder at the disappearing ship in the distance. They would be calling for backup right now.

  “What would possess you to shoot three people in front of everyone?” I fume.

  She shrugs. “I thought it was him. I thought I was going to just knock him off before there could be time for it to go wrong. I’m not giving him the chance to kill you.”

  “It wasn’t him,” I snap.

  “I know!” she yells in frustration. “It was my uncle.”

  My face falls in horror as my eyes flicker to her again. “You shot his brother?”

  “Like he tortured yours. Stop acting all fucking innocent. It was kill or be killed and that guy I shot is just as evil as my father. I have no remorse. None!”

  Good point.

  I stay silent and turn to look over my shoulder at where we came from.

  The sound of the chopper blades rings loud through the cabin.

  “You said you were going to kill him. You said you thought you were going to die. I couldn’t let that happen!” she yells over the engine.

  “At least you would have been safe!” I bark angrily.

  “Who are you kidding? I will never be safe as long as he is alive.”

  I run my hand through my hair in frustration as my brain begins to go wild.

  “What now?” she asks.

  I don’t answer. I just keep my eyes on the sky.

  “What are we going to do, Stace?” she yells in a panic.

  “Shut the fuck up and let me think!” I yell back.

  I stare out at the sea below us as we fly way up high. Such a beautiful, tranquil setting and yet we are in the midst of a nightmare. I turn around and look over my shoulder again, half expecting a chopper to be chasing us. I know they don’t have the resources, but my military training leaves me on stand by every time.

  “Why wasn’t it him? Why wasn’t he on the damn chopper?” She runs her hands through her hair in frustration.

  My angry eyes flick to her. “Something you could have checked before you raised hell.”

  She glares at me. “You are a fucking wimp. Do you know that? Drop me off. They saw me point the gun at you. Go running back and beg for forgiveness.” She shakes her head. “Blame me.” She seems to come to a decision before she lets me speak. “You need to get away from me, anyway. You are in more danger with me around.”

  I shake my head with fury. Unfucking believable.

  “I mean it,” she yells, her eyes continually switching between the sky in front of us and back to me.

  My face remains solemn and emotionless.

  “I made a promise to your mother,” she snaps.

  My eyes fall her way and I screw up my face. “What?”

  “I told your mom that I would look out for you.”

  “That was just a figure of speech,” I snap. “She didn’t mean for you to literally look out for me.”

  “Yes, she did. I know she did.” She pauses for a moment. “What were you going to do? What was your brilliant plan, huh?” she yells over the loud sound of the blades above us.

  I shake my head. “When I got him alone, I was going to break his neck or smother him or something less fucking dramatic than your Lethal Weapon strategy. He trusted me, and I could have killed him when I got him alone, but you have fucked up every chance of that happening, haven’t you?” I tap the side of my head angrily. “So stupid.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Oh yes, that sounds really safe. Like his guards would have let that happen. You would already be dead if it were up to your plan.”

  “At least I would have targeted the right person.” I sneer.

  She fakes a sarcastic smile.

  We sit in silence for twenty minutes and I continually glance behind us at the ocean.

  Nobody is following us, but I know it’s a false sense of security. The storm is brewing.

  “What are we going to do?” She sighs.

  I shrug and we fly for a while longer as I troll my brain for a logical plan. If I bring us down on the water, we have more chance of not being found, but then I have to get Rosh to dry land safely which would be risky. If I fly directly to the mainland we will continue on the radar of the ship. I know they can still see us now and know exactly where we are. I have to fly up the coast for at least a couple of hundred kilometres and then go inland. There is no other choice. I glance over my shoulder and finally come to a decision. I hit the satellite navigation system and wait for my coordinates. They come up and I make a turn to the right.

  “We will land and hide the chopper. There is another small chopper on the ship, but there isn’t another pilot on board and you took out the other one. We have about an hour, I reckon, before someone can get in the air to look for us.”

  She watches me intently.

  “There is probably a tracking device on this one.”

  Her eyes widen in horror and she starts to look around frantically.

  “You won’t find it, but they will know where we land.”

  “So we land and run?” she asks.

  I nod as I remain deep in thought.

  “Where are we landing?”

  I f
lick some switches and put the headphones on as we veer even farther to the right. “Columbia.”

  * * *

  An hour later.

  “Brace yourself,” I warn her as she holds onto the straps of her seatbelt.

  She closes her eyes.

  “Easy… easy,” I woo the chopper.

  She grips the belt with white-knuckle force. We have been flying over land for a while now as I looked for somewhere safe to land.

  This looks as good a place as any. It’s deserted, nobody for miles, with a relatively flat paddock.

  “Woo, girl,” I murmur to the chopper.

  The chopper hovers above the ground and I gently place her down. Rosh drops her head into her hands in relief. “Thank God,” she whispers. “How the hell do you do this for a job when it’s scary as Hell?”

  I reach over and undo her seatbelt before I take mine off.

  We wait for the blades to stop. I open the door and then climb down to go help her out.

  “Hang a second, let me grab my backpack.” She bends down and grabs her backpack and handgun.

  “You brought a backpack?” I frown.

  “Yes.” She shakes her head. “Do you think I’m stupid?” She jumps out onto the ground.

  “No comment,” I mutter dryly as I walk off.

  She hurries to keep up with me. “I have your two passports and mine and our wallets and your phone.”

  I narrow my eyes at her. How does she know I have two passports? I turn and begin to run. “Keep up,” I snap.

  “I am,” she bites back.

  She’s a ballsy little bitch, I will give her that. I turn and take the backpack from her and put it onto my back. “What’s in here?” I ask as I flick the long grass out of my way.

  “Just what I told you,” she calls. “Oh, and I bought you a sweater,” she adds from behind me.

  I stop still and turn to her. “You brought me a sweater?” I frown.

  She nods quickly.

  I smirk.

  She smirks back. “It does seem kind of ridiculous now, come to think of it.”

  I burst into laughter—deep, bellyaching laughter. This fucking woman will be the death of me.

  “You don’t think twice about shooting your uncle who you thought was your father, but you remember to pack me a sweater.”