by Dawne Knobbe
It was another still morning with no wind, and the sun was already beating down hard. He would be nervous until they returned. Antsy, at least, until the Coast Guard ship appeared.
Kat was resourceful; she’d be okay, he reassured himself.
“Hey, Natey!” Tanya yelled as she leaned against the rail of the sailboat, her cleavage bursting over the top of her microscopic bikini. “Come and have coffee with me, honey. I’m lonely.”
“I’ll be right there,” Nate called back. “I just have to grab something at camp.” Any of the guys back home in Vancouver would have given their right arm to be him right now, but his heart was with Kat, and it was full of fear. Tanya and Stef weren’t attractive to him anymore; they seemed as fake as their boobs.
He grabbed the small plastic bag he’d sealed the night before and stuffed it down the back of his shorts. He had a backup plan in case things didn’t go as he and Kat had planned.
“Permission to come aboard,” Nate called as he tread water behind Charmer.
Tanya giggled as she positioned the ladder for him. “Permission granted,” she said.
He glanced quickly at the lettering below the boat’s name before hoisting himself out of the water. Goose bumps popped up along his arms, and he shivered as his mind registered the words: “Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.” He no longer had any doubt. They were smugglers, and they were dangerous.
As he stepped aboard, Tanya held a steaming mug toward Nate. He plastered the most vacant and flirtatious smile he could muster across his face. “Wow, this boat is really something,” he said. “Do you guys own it?”
“I wish,” Tanya said, matching his smile. “It belongs to some friend of Jimmy’s.”
“Nice of him to lend it to you.”
“I think so,” she said, sitting beside him and sliding her hand down his leg.
“Will you give me a tour?” he asked.
“Maybe later,” she said.
He took a swig of coffee and promptly spit it all over the deck. “What’s in this?” he asked, trying to wipe the taste out of his mouth with the bottom of his wet shirt.
“Just a little brandy. Gives me a bit of a jump start in the morning.”
He handed her the mug and headed for the opening that led down into the cavity of the boat. “Let me grab some paper towels and clean this mess up.”
“Okay,” she said. “They’re on the counter, but be quiet. Stef’s still asleep.”
“Right,” he said, heading down the stairs. He spotted the paper towels right away. They were in a holder on the counter beside the pink cell phone. He was tempted to pick it up and make a call, but who could he get through to? The girls would be on him before anyone answered. No, he would stick to his plan.
“Found them,” he called as he tore off a few sheets.
Tanya lay on some cushions with her eyes closed and didn’t bother to open them as he wiped up the coffee. She probably had a hangover. “Garbage under the sink?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she mumbled, still not opening her eyes.
Nate tossed the dirty paper towels into a bin and then glanced around the inside of the boat. There wasn’t much room to move between the built-in table and the tiny galley. Up toward the bow there were three doors. He figured a couple of forward bunks, a main cabin, and a head. If Jimmy was smuggling drugs, Nate was sure they were well hidden. Maybe sealed behind the paneling. Nate wasn’t about to go snooping. The girls seemed harmless, but that could be an act. His eyes zeroed in on something black behind the cushioned benches around the table. The back of his neck prickled. It was the butt of a gun.
He tried to convince himself it was a good thing. If the gun was here, at least it wasn’t in the sailboat with Kat.
He was halfway up the ladder when one of the doors opened behind him. “Morning,” Stef called sleepily. Nate slipped his blank grin into place. He’d look as weathered as Jimmy if he had to keep this up all day.
“Morning to you too,” he said. “Ready for your cup of java?”
“Oh, yeah!” She maneuvered her bikini-clad body into the kitchen. He watched her pour half a cup of coffee from the pot, filling it the rest of the way with a good measure of brandy.
“I see you need a little kick start in the morning too,” he said before climbing back onto the deck.
Stef soon followed, a cigarette dangling from her mouth, coffee in one hand, bottle of brandy in the other. At this rate, Nate thought, both girls would be plastered by lunch.
He was right. By noon both Tanya and Stef were giggling, swearing, stumbling messes, and they kept pawing at him.
“Ladies,” he said, swinging his feet over the edge of the boat, “I’m sure Jimmy and Kat will be back soon. I’ll check in with you later.”
As he slipped into the water, Nate hung on to the rail with one hand and pulled the plastic bag containing the phone out of the back of his shorts with the other. He stuck it squarely in his mouth, then, like a dog with a bone, paddled to shore, keeping his head above water and his back to the boat.
Nate watched Kat’s sailboat approach the harbor. It was almost four o’clock, and he’d been pacing the beach for more than an hour. No other boats were on the horizon.
“Not good,” Nate muttered. “This is not good.” Something had gone wrong. He could feel it.
Kat was heading for the back of the larger sailboat. That was okay. They needed to transfer the fuel containers, but he still sensed something was wrong. Nate ducked into the cover of the trees and made his way to the side of the bay closest to Charmer. He chose a tree with lots of branches and shimmied up for a better view. Not a breath of wind disturbed the glassy bay.
Kat sat in her usual place at the back of the boat, but Rye was between Jimmy’s knees. There was a rope twisted around the dog’s nose and neck. Jimmy gripped Rye’s collar with one hand, and the other held a knife against the dog’s throat.
Kat turned off the engine and her boat bumped alongside the larger sailboat.
“Tanya, Stef!” Jimmy hollered, his words echoing clearly across the bay. They didn’t answer, so he hollered sharply again.
“What?” Tanya called groggily as she sat up at the back of the boat.
“We’ve got a little problem,” Jimmy said. “Help our guest here aboard.” He pulled the dog in closer then gestured with the knife for Kat to climb onto his boat. “Go on.”
Kat clambered aboard.
“Get some rope and tie her hands behind her back,” Jimmy shouted at the girls. “And I don’t mean no sissy job. Tie ’em tight. This one’s quiet, but crafty.” He never moved from his threatening pose over Rye.
“Shit,” Tanya said. “What’s going on?”
“Shut up and do as you’re told!” Jimmy said.
Kat placed her hands behind her back and let them tie her.
“Put her in the bunk room till I figure out what to do with the little bitch,” he said.
“Don’t hurt my dog!” Kat blurted out.
“Go on,” he growled, lunging toward her and flashing the knife. He shoved the fuel cans onto the deck and pulled himself over the rail, kicking Kat’s sailboat off as he went. “Adios, Kujo,” he called. “Hope you’re a water dog.”
Nate watched, helpless, as Rye drifted away while Jimmy’s sadistic laugh ricocheted across the water.
Jimmy set to work right away hooking the fuel tanks to his engine.
“Where are you hiding that little asshole?” he asked when Tanya and Stef stepped back out on deck. They both seemed surprisingly sober, at least from Nate’s perch.
“Nate swam ashore hours ago,” Tanya said.
“Damn it you two! I thought you said you could handle him.”
“Well, Jimmy, you didn’t exactly tell us what ‘handle’ meant. Did you want us to hit him over the head and feed him to the fish, or what?”
He stepped toward Stef with his hand raised. “Don’t get snappy with me, bitch, or I’ll leave you here to rot.”
“Goddamn it, Jimm
y, what happened?” Tanya asked, stepping between them. “I thought you said they didn’t know a thing.”
“Yeah, well, I was wrong. Thought I better keep an eye on Dorothy and her little dog, just in case. Caught her trying to make a phone call.”
“She get through to anyone?”
“Sure did, but I cut her off right after she told her grandfather she was at the marina.” He laughed. “Should keep him busy for a while, searching over there.”
Nate heard the starter cord on the engine snap and held his breath, hoping it wouldn’t start. But it fired up with a loud roar. Jimmy revved it twice then turned it off.
“Let’s get out of here, ladies,” he said.
“What about the girl?” Tanya asked. “We can’t take her.”
“We’ll take her for now. She might come in handy or, who knows, maybe we’ll tie the anchor around her feet and give her a burial at sea.”
“Be serious, Jimmy. She’s just a kid, and her little boyfriend’s real sweet.”
“Yeah, you’ll think he’s real sweet if he manages to set the cops on us. Should have offed him yesterday.”
Nate had heard enough; he had to do something. Jimmy was pulling up anchor. They would be gone in a flash—with Kat. He scrambled down the tree and stumbled over the rocky shore.
“Hey, Jimmy!” he hollered. “I’ve heard everything, and I’m ready to make a deal!”
Jimmy finished pulling up anchor and then focused on Nate. “Well, if it isn’t the little shit,” he said. “You want to make a deal? What have you got worth bargaining for?”
“I can identify all of you, and I’ll get off this island sooner or later.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’ve got something you want. I’ll trade you it for Kat.”
“What’ve you got?”
Nate reached into his pocket, pulled out the pink metallic cell phone, and held it in the air. “I haven’t called anybody yet, but there’s plenty of charge left.”
“Son of a bitch!” Jimmy snarled, swinging to face the girls. “You idiots. He swiped your damn cell.”
Tanya and Stef cowered against the far side of the boat. Then, something about Jimmy seemed to change.
“Well, go get her, ladies,” he said in a dead calm voice.
Nate didn’t like it. The guy was psycho for sure, and Nate already knew Jimmy hated to lose.
The girls scrambled away, then reappeared dragging Kat. Her hands were still tied behind her back. Nate couldn’t read the look on her face.
Holding the phone above his head, Nate waded into chest-deep water toward Charmer. “Let her go,” he shouted.
Jimmy laughed, a deep sadistic rumble exploding out of his chest. “You think you hold all the cards, buddy? Well, you better think fast.”
He grabbed Kat by the arm and shoved her to the side of the boat. “You can have the phone or the little bitch. It’s your choice. I don’t need either one,” he said, and shoved her overboard.
The instant she disappeared under the water, Nate dropped the phone and swam, both arms digging, feet kicking as hard as he could. He heard Jimmy laughing again and the engine rumble, but Nate didn’t stop. He had the spot where Kat had disappeared focused in his mind. How long had she been under, a minute? Longer? He reached the spot and opened his mouth to gulp in air for the dive.
Kat broke the surface in front of him, sending a wave into his open mouth. Nate reached to hold her up as they both coughed and spluttered, trying to rid their lungs of the stinging seawater.
Charmer swung back toward them. What the hell was Jimmy gonna do, run them over?
“Take a breath,” Nate yelled. “We’re going back under.” He wrapped his arms around Kat and dove just in time. They watched from below as the boat passed overhead and circled the bay. Nate pushed off the rocky bottom and propelled them sideways toward shore. Kat kicked her legs, trying to help.
This time they surfaced soundlessly, but Jimmy spotted them from across the bay and again turned the boat toward them. Nate pulled Kat onto his stomach and swam as best as he could with one arm, both of them kicking frantically. Jimmy’s engine slowed just as Nate and Kat reached shallow water and stumbled to shore. That’s when Nate heard the gun shot.
Kat screamed, her white T-shirt exploding near the shoulder. Red gushed out and ran down her arm.
“Nobody makes a fucking fool out of me,” Jimmy shouted behind them.
“I’m shot,” Kat whispered to Nate, tripping forward, her hands still helplessly bound behind her back.
Nate grabbed for her, glancing over his shoulder as he propelled Kat forward into the trees. Jimmy was trying to untie his rowboat with one hand and waving the gun around with the other.
As he and Kat scrambled under the bushes, Nate pulled at the rope twisted around her hands.
“I can’t get it undone,” he said. “I need my knife.”
“There’s no time,” Kat wailed. “We have to hide.”
“The Dino Egg,” he said.
“It’s too far. Leave me.”
“Right,” Nate snorted, and then swung her over his shoulder, fireman style. She didn’t resist, and that worried him more than anything else so far.
He could hear Jimmy clanging around in the rowboat and yelling obscenities. He hadn’t made shore yet. They might just have a chance.
Nate ran to the other side of the island as fast as he could, heart beating hard, trying not to jar Kat. He wouldn’t have made it halfway at the beginning of the summer. Now his shoulders barely felt her weight as he jumped to the beach and barreled toward the cave.
He thought he heard rocks falling behind him and half turned but saw no one at the trailhead yet.
The tide was high and still coming in. If they could make it to the cave . . .
“We need to go through the water,” he said, gently putting Kat down beside him.
He held her up as they waded in beside the huge sandstone slabs just past the sandy stretch of beach.
“There,” he said, pointing to the opening not more than a foot above the waterline. The tide was so high they had to swim for it. Nate hauled himself through the opening and then gently guided Kat into the cave. They collapsed side-by-side on the sandy floor, breathing hard.
With less-than-steady hands, Nate worked the knot that held Kat’s hands in place.
“How bad is your shoulder?” he asked.
“Not sure,” she said. “It burns.”
The knot gave, and Kat was able to lift her hand to gently touch her wounded shoulder.
“Shit!” she said, pulling her hand away. It was smeared with blood.
Nate took off his T-shirt, tore it into strips, and carefully lifted the edge of her T-shirt, which was plastered in place. Fresh blood oozed out, making it difficult for him to judge how deep the wound was. He softly padded at the blood.
“It doesn’t look too deep,” he said, more hopeful than truthful. “I think it just grazed you.” He folded up a piece of his shirt to place against the wound and wrapped another around her arm to hold it in place. “I think the bleeding’s mostly stopped,” he said.
Kat shivered, rubbing her raw wrists. “You think he’ll keep hunting us?” she asked. “We’re sitting ducks here.”
“God, I hope not. He’s out of his mind.”
Kat pointed to the entrance of the cave. “Or, maybe we’ve survived Jimmy only to suffocate in here.”
“Nah, the tide’s higher than I’ve seen it, but the line’s still a couple of inches below the opening. No watermarks past there. If anything, the high tide has made this cave about impossible to find.”
Kat shivered again. “I’m so cold.”
She was pale, and Nate wondered how much blood she’d lost. The water had rinsed a lot of it out of her shirt.
“How long do you think he’ll look for us?” Kat asked, propping herself against the wall.
“Don’t know. If he were rational, you’d think he’d take his drugs and get out of here quick
. I’m sure your grandfather’s already raised some kind of alarm, and if anyone finds Rye floating around out there . . .” He stopped talking as Kat sobbed.
“I’m sorry,” he said, kneeling beside her. He lifted her chin. Her eyes seemed glazed, unfocused, which he knew was not a good sign. “You think you might be in shock?”
“Let’s see,” she said, holding her wounded arm close to her body. “So far today I’ve been held at knife point, had my dog assaulted and set adrift, been tied up and thrown overboard to drown, been rescued—thank you very much, by the way—then nearly run over by a boat. Oh, and I’ve been shot.”
“Hey, I finally got my turn at playing the knight in shining armor,” Nate said, relieved that she could still be sarcastic.
Kat hugged her shivering knees and smiled weakly. “I’d give you a bad time if you hadn’t turned out to be so good at it. Still, I’m really not the damsel-in-distress type, you know?”
“Yes, I know. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use a helping hand from a friend once in a while.”
She sighed. “True enough.”
Nate pushed himself against the wall. “Come sit in front of me and I’ll warm you up. Your lips are turning blue.”
Kat lay against his chest, and he gently wrapped himself around her, trying to share any warmth, even though he was soaking and freezing too.
He’d have to go back out. He needed to get help, and soon. Kat’s face looked like white wax, and her breathing seemed shallow. He needed to get her warm. He needed to get her to a doctor.
21
“Kat?” he whispered, trying to stretch the kink out of his neck without shifting her bad shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open.
“I’ve got good news and bad news.”
“Give me the bad first,” she whispered. “That way I’ll have something to look forward to.”
“Okay,” he said. “That wasn’t Jimmy’s phone I dropped into the water. It was yours.”
“Thanks,” she said. “You tried to ransom me with my own phone?”
“I swiped their phone and switched faceplates. I planned to put your dead phone back in place of their charged one, after you guys got back to the boat.”
