Thinking about it now, I realized how humiliating that was, not just for Taggart, but for me and Suzie, his wife. I was so arrogant then. Taggart wasn’t a good man, but I could have been more discreet about it. If I hadn’t erased her, Taggart would have killed her the second he was discharged from the hospital. I could still remember the gratitude I saw in her eyes when she got all her new identities, and funds I provided so she could start a new life as far away as possible.
That look in her eyes was the only thing that made me not feel guilty about what happened then and that was why I didn’t feel guilty about what happened even now. I was just worried because Taggart was coming for somebody I really cared about, and I could relate to what he felt back then. I shook myself out of my thoughts and before I could start explaining things to Mandy, the police arrived. Thank God our disguises were still in place. He asked Mandy questions and she answered patiently, then the concierge came after the cops to show me to a new room. I went to her room later on. She deserved to know the truth about what was going on.
“Did you tell anybody about the ransom?” she asked before I could start talking.
“No, I did not tell anybody.” It was, technically, the truth.
“But those criminals or pirates knew. How come?”
“Calm down, please. I’m about to explain,” I said, trying to ease her back down. Her anger was understandable, after all, after what she’d just gone through. “About five years ago, I partnered with a guy called Taggart Jones to do a job. He is a mean guy who enjoys hurting weak people, particularly women. We never really liked each other and barely agreed on our methods of working. He believed in killing senselessly and brutalization.” I paused and breathed in and out. I knew what I was about to say wouldn’t sit well with Mandy.
“What has he got to do with the pirates and everything that is happening?” she asked, wanting answers. Her plan and life were in jeopardy here.
“We had a serious falling out when I slept with his wife and she chose to run off with me.” I felt Amanda recoil from me, pulling away as she heard this. I could see the hurt expression in her face, and it killed me.
“I told you I wasn’t good and had done bad things. I also asked you not to put me on a pedestal, so you can be objective at a time like this.”
I was trying to apologize because I felt bad, but I didn’t know how to. She stood up and started pacing with a hand on her forehead while I continued my story.
“I’m not proud of what I did after. I gloated and threw it in his face. He was a woman beater and I was the only escape for his wife. I kind of boasted about it and word spread. He felt so embarrassed and bitter. I was late getting here today because he was waiting for me by the yacht with about five of his men. I couldn’t escape quickly, and I had to find out his plans so we don’t get into another trap like this one. He told me he was back for revenge, and to steal from me as I once did from him.”
Mandy was pacing faster now, her body vibrating with anger.
“So how did he find out about the ransom? How?”
“Apparently, he’s been tailing me for months even before you contacted me. He bugged my house, my phone, my car, the yacht; waiting for the right moment and the right job to steal. The boat was bugged when we stopped in Miami, I believe, to make some purchases. He knows everything as our internet traffic and phone calls were monitored. He wants you and the ransom, and he wants me to convince Michael to actually pay the ransom.”
“Oh, my God. I am fucked, all because you just had to go ahead and fuck your partner’s wife, and not just that, but you gloated about it! Who does that? Was sleeping with her not enough?” She threw her shoes at me, the pillows on the bed and anything she could lay hands on, raining insults as she did. I was trying to be patient, but she was focused on the wrong thing.
“I am not a good man and I told you so already. So, stop whining and think of your safety and that of your parents. I never promised to be perfect, or to come without a past, and I am sorry if this is painful to hear, or if it’s ruining your plans. But there is no time for drama now, Mandy. I need to get you out of here. We need to cancel all this. I don’t need the pay. I will return with you to America and set you free to your parents,” I told her calmly in my coldest voice.
“Why would you even accept the pay when you’ve already had me on a platter?” she said rhetorically.
I gritted my teeth. I was really trying to be patient and gentle, and maybe my method was not the best, but she kept saying stupid bullshit. With everything else, I was not up to dealing with her lip.
“What we have shared has been special, and I will caution you to respect it and stop being hysterical! I need to focus, and your hysteria will only waste my time and distract me. So, if you want to get out of Haiti alive, please fucking pull yourself together and start acting like the smart woman you are, not like a hurt dove.”
I didn’t mean to be harsh, really, but if that was the wakeup call or shove she needed then I would shove instead of cuddle her.
Everything was in jeopardy.
“How can an ‘intelligent,’ ‘smart,’ and the ‘best’ guy in the business be tailed for months without noticing? This really puzzles me. How come you didn’t swipe the boat even once for bugs? How come you didn’t notice we were being tailed? What kind of a professional are you?” she asked, voice set in a growl, still not calming down.
“One who is going to gag you soon if you keep shouting, and one who was distracted the second he laid eyes on you and forgot about caution. And now I’m going to pay for that because if they hurt you or lay a hand on you, I’ll kill them all. That means I’ll have to go underground for months so I don’t get caught after the fact. But first, we need to swipe for bugs in here and start making alternative plans for leaving.”
She finally sat on the bed and tears rolled down her cheeks. I knew if I tried to comfort her she would just push me away, and I knew she was feeling like she had failed, but we could fix this. I just needed her to get home safely without anything happening to her. It didn’t matter if I never saw her again as long as she was all right.
A police officer had been stationed outside her room, but I intended to spend the night with her.
“I should call my mother and warn her about this change of plans. We can book a flight to the USA tomorrow and go our separate ways once we land.”
I sighed. She was planning already, and all in the wrong direction.
“Don’t call your mom yet. If we warn her, Taggart will find out.” I swiped everywhere for bugs, and there were none among her things. I was going to check mine next. I reached for the handle of the door to go to my new room and check for the bugs. “I am sorry about this. My world isn’t safe, and these things can happen at any time, even without you offending someone. It wasn’t my intention to expose you to danger. If you believe nothing else I say, at least believe that,” I said before leaving her room.
I walked down the hall to my new room. I really felt like punching something hard. Very hard. I went through my gear and bag, and discovered three bugs, even the one in my burner phone. I carried my overnight bag back to Mandy’s room. As I walked in she looked up, scared.
“It’s just me. Don’t be frightened. I’ll spend the night here to make sure you’re safe,” I informed her as I dropped my bag at the foot of the bed.
“You don’t need to sleep here. There is a cop outside my room.”
“Do you think he’s any match for the pirates if they come back? The odds are better with me staying by you. I will be more vigilant, and I won’t let anything happen to you. I will protect you and make sure you are safe till we reach the US. So, try to sleep, you must be tired after fighting off the pirates. There was an ugly short man at the dock. He looked mean and menacing, I hope he had no partners like him.”
There was a moment of silence, then I heard a scoff.
“I kicked another guy called Ti Jean in the balls this evening. I guess he has a twin,” she said quietly
, then got under the covers.
She sighed and was fast asleep the second her head touched the pillows she had rearranged on the bed. I moved over to the bed and looked closely at her lovely face. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, I promised myself.
I backed off and made some phone calls to some old contacts around Haiti. I was going to need all the backup I could get.
Then I sat down beside her sleeping form, touching her soft blonde hair. I kissed her forehead then leaned against the headboard and slept for a bit, so I could be vigilant for tomorrow.
Chapter Fifteen
Amanda
I woke up that morning feeling just a bit drained, but well-rested. The events of yesterday came rushing back, but I was calmer now and simply frustrated because our plans and the whole scheme had to be cancelled. I looked around the room for Jason, wondering if he even slept at all. I kind of felt guilty for overreacting yesterday. If I was being honest with myself, I would admit that jealousy contributed to my anger last night more than anything else. I was already feeling guilty about the whole kidnapping thing and worried about my mom so calling it off wouldn’t be too bad, but was Jason ready to lose all that money?
While I was wondering, he walked in with a brown bag containing breakfast and two cups of coffee.
“Good morning. I hope you are in a better frame of mind today?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.
I blushed a little in shame, but I smiled slightly and nodded my head in agreement.
“Let me shower before we talk,” I said, standing to go the bathroom.
Jason looked hot and bothered at the mention of a shower. He was surely remembering all the showers we’d had together. I remembered them too, but this was not the time for that. I rushed to shower and joined Jason so we could finalize our departure.
As I entered the room, he was on the phone, so I got my coffee and started drinking while rummaging through the brown bag. I got out a doughnut and started munching. It tasted really delicious.
When he ended his call, I looked up at him and asked, “What do we do now?”
“I just finished making arrangements for transportation that will take us either to the airport or the docks depending on what is most convenient. I have some contacts around Haiti. A car should be here to pick us up any minute now.”
“You’re really serious about cancelling everything? Sans pay?” I asked.
“Yes, I am. What matters is your safety, and I need to get you out of here so I can deal with this, knowing you are well protected at home,” he replied.
I was really surprised; he was sacrificing a lot of money to ensure I was safe. Nobody had ever done that for me. My mom would do it, but a man has never done anything this nice for me. I stood up and hugged him tightly, relaxing into him when he hugged me back, feeling safe in his arms.
He kissed my forehead and said, “I’ll do anything to ensure your safety. Always remember that.”
“Thank you,” I said, hugging him once more before going back to my breakfast. “How do we handle it then? What about my boat?” I asked, remembering it was still at the dock.
“The pirates took over it. We can’t go back for it, they will be waiting for us and they have surely bugged every corner of the yacht by now. It’s risky going back to that yacht. My contacts are already looking for a different boat, so we can use it to travel back.”
I looked at him with my mouth open, not believing we were just going to leave my boat like that.
“No, we are not leaving on any other boat that is not mine,” I refused vehemently. “My mom and I poured a lot of money into it and it’s something we shared. I can’t just lose it like that. Plus, it’s like a memento of all that’s happened.”
Jason sighed in exasperation before saying, “You will have to let go of it if you want to exit Haiti as soon as possible without getting hurt or having to fight off more pirates. It will be too much chaos, Mandy.”
“I can’t just give it up. It’s the first thing I owned with my mom and she hasn’t even been on the boat, plus I’m more comfortable in its surroundings. It’s one of the few things I really own and a memento of this trip, so I say ‘no.’ I’m not letting the pirates ruin everything. They won’t get my boat.”
“Mandy, just forget about it and let’s get out of here as soon as we can. These people don’t operate like regular criminals. These people aren’t even human in the way they act.” Jason was pleading with me, trying to be reasonable.
But I was adamant. No pirate was taking my and my mom’s boat.
“I have put my foot down, Jason, so forget about reasoning with me. Contact your local friends and see what can be done because I’m not leaving without that boat,” I declared stubbornly.
I could see that Jason was really trying to be patient, it was the same look he had last night, but I could accept everything else except this. Finally, he sighed, pulled his phone out, and started speaking in a strange language. Probably a local language around Haiti.
After the call, he came over and said, “I’ve just assembled a local band of mercenaries to steal the boat and do a security sweep for bugs. It’s very risky and they may not make it out of there, so I can’t guarantee you getting back your boat. But you have to promise to do as I say after this. We can’t keep wasting time fighting when we should be doing something productive.”
I nodded in agreement. “I will do whatever you ask of me after this.”
He nodded back sharply. His lips were tight and he didn’t look happy, but he wasn’t outright complaining either. I tried not to act smug, knowing how tough the situation was. But like hell I would give up that boat. After how those bastards made me feel unsafe in my hotel room, being back in that boat would probably be enough to calm me back down. I only had good memories associated with it, and it was the closest thing I had to home at the moment.
“We need to change locations right now. We should change hotels as our ride can’t come again. They will be busy stealing your boat, so pack your overnight bag so we can go quickly,” Jason instructed.
I packed in five minutes, as I’d packed lightly when leaving the boat. I blushed as I remembered the flimsy and daring clothes I packed. We left the hotel a few minutes later wearing our disguises and joining the crowd of tourists moving around.
Chapter Sixteen
Jason
I was peeved and pissed off.
All the delays were irritating, plus it wasn’t safe to even be around. I had noticed earlier on that we were being followed and it wasn’t impossible for Taggart to hire pickpockets to bug us again and place tracking devices on us. We had to do another sweep once we’d lost the guys tailing us and found another hotel.
Dammit, Mandy, I growled in my head. You just had to be fucking stubborn about this one impossible thing.
When I spoke to her out loud, though, my voice was cold and polite.
“Mandy, look up at me and smile,” I instructed, my voice quiet, and she did as I asked.
Thankfully, she complied wordlessly.
“Let’s go into the coffee shop at the corner,” I told her.
She needed to act normal so that they didn’t realize we knew they were after us. We entered the coffee shop once we got there and chose a table away from the window. A waitress came over to take our order and I borrowed her pen quickly and wrote on a piece of paper, making sure she didn’t see the message, my hand moving quickly.
“We’re being followed by Taggart’s men and I think we have been bugged again. Act natural but say nothing that can disclose our knowledge. We will get out of our disguises to confuse the guys tailing us since they don’t seem to know what we look like out of our disguises.” I paused, then added as a postscript, “I get the thing about the boat, okay? But if we’re doing this, from here on out, you do everything I say, no questions asked.”
I passed her the note and she read, her body tensing.
“Relax and place your order,” I said, and I could see her visibly try to relax.
She got paper out of her purse and scribbled that she would go change and we should meet in the kitchen.
“I’m relaxed, but what if the pirates come again?”
“They won’t attack or try to kidnap you openly. I will wait here while you use the bathroom.”
A minute later, Mandy got up and headed for the back, to the bathrooms. I followed a few minutes later and changed out of my disguise.
We re-joined in the kitchen and pled with the chef to use their exit. We used the alley and joined the crowd of tourists in Port Morgan. I discovered a bug and a tracker in my bag while I was changing and decide to leave them there. I had a plan. It was risky, but Taggart was just stupid and revenge-driven enough to fall for it.
We walked toward Hotel Port Morgan, a beautiful hotel with a lot of foreigners thus high security. We booked a room there since we had to wait till the boat was stolen. I swept for bugs in Mandy’s bag and found two there as well. I took them to the bathroom to flush, mad that they were in her things in the first place but changed my mind at the last minute. We could use it to distract Taggart’s men later tonight. But they were not going back with Mandy’s things.
I went back into the main room and pulled Mandy to the balcony, where I was sure we could not be heard through the bug.
“I have an idea, and I think it’s our best chance,” I whispered, holding her close. “We could use the bugs to confuse Taggart’s men, so the mercenaries can steal the boat tonight. We will feed false information about the time the theft will be carried out.”
“Okay.” Her answer was immediate, and I was glad she’d decided to trust me on this. “I’m so nervous, Jason. I can’t even appreciate the beauty of this place,” Mandy said, looking over our balcony.
Her Captor Page 9
