by Dale Mayer
Chapter 9
Brenna woke, groggy and sore, her body aching in places she didn’t expect. She didn’t quite understand why, and yet, as soon as her consciousness returned and her mind flooded with the memories of what she just been through, she understood perfectly. That hard run in the dark over rough terrain and then climbing down the cliff had been hard on her, and, if nothing else, the fear, the panic, the gripping nightmares, and climbing up the ladder to get aboard this ship had hurt. But she was here, and she was safe—at least she thought she was.
Opening her eyes, she saw Jerricho across from her. Sleeping soundly. She smiled. At least he’d gotten some sleep.
Just then, his voice whispered to her, “You look better.”
She shifted closer and said, “You’re supposed to be still sleeping.”
“I got a few hours,” he said. “This is my second nap.”
“Oh,” she said, confused. “Did you change places with Killian?”
“I did,” he said. He sat up, yawned, and then stood up and stretched from the waist up, reaching to the ceiling and dropping back down, so that his hands were on the floor. Then he did it a few more times.
“Does that help?” she asked.
He chuckled. “It sure does.”
“Good,” she said, “I’ll try it.” She slipped out and tried to stretch as high as he did, but, of course, he was much taller, being over six-two, maybe even six-four. She could barely even remember. The size of him was just so hard to judge, as he was broad as well. She stretched down to the floor, groaning as her body complained at the movements.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I am,” she said, “just sore, stiff, and tired.”
“Yep,” he said, with a bright grin. “Goes with a life on the run.”
“Oh, happy days.” She laughed. “However, I have lived to see another day. I’m no longer a captive. I’m not on that little rickety boat that you guys took us away in. We’re on a big one. I don’t even know what you call this thing,” she said, “but it feels a hell of a lot more durable and safer than what we were on. Not only that but we have taken out several of the enemy, so maybe it’ll be a straight run home,” she said hopefully, looking up at him.
“We actually found one more,” he said and filled her in on details.
“That’s very disturbing. Imagine if he’d found us in the night?” she murmured.
“You certainly wouldn’t have woken up,” Jerricho said, with a hard smile. “He’d likely have sliced everybody’s throat, moving from one to another silently.”
She gasped and stared at him in shock.
He shrugged. “No point in hiding the truth,” he said. “Because, if you see another one somewhere along the line, that’s all they’ll be intent on doing. We found out a lot of information about the group involved in the auction,” he said. “So we’ve kept the one we captured alive. We’ll pass him to the authorities, when we hit land.”
At the word land, she cried out, “How long?”
“We should be just about there,” he said. “I know we were running a bit behind, but we should be docking within the hour.”
She wanted to race outside. But she also wanted to stay with Jerricho. “Is Killian okay?”
“He should be,” he said. “I did another full search last night, found no one else, and then came in and Killian took over.”
“Right,” she said, “that makes sense. I guess there’s food?”
“There is,” he said. “Not a ton of food but bread and maybe jam.”
“Even that,” she said, “with a cup of coffee, would be lovely.”
“There’s coffee,” he said, “a little, but it’s pretty thick and strong.”
“And again, even that,” she said, “would be lovely.”
He smiled. “In that case,” he said, “let me take you down to the galley.”
And together the two of them walked out into the hallway.
“Are all the other women okay?” she asked worriedly. “I’m particularly worried about Jessie and the woman whose leg was injured.”
“I did check in, but I didn’t see anybody, other than those sleeping,” he said. “I’m hoping that Killian will have had a head count. Otherwise we’ll do that when we’re up top.”
“He’ll need more sleep.”
“And he won’t get it,” he said.
“Because we’ll be docking soon, right?” she asked. “Well then, he gets the first nap next time.”
Jerricho chuckled. “We’re used to going on a no-sleep basis,” he said, “so don’t you worry too much about it.”
“I just know that I couldn’t do that,” she said. “All I want to do is go home now. I’m hot, tired, sticky, and this is definitely not how I expected my life to go.”
“Well,” he said, looking at her intently, “it seems like a lot of things that I used to know about you are no longer true.”
“No,” she said, “they are true. But like I said, I changed. I made a very concerted effort to become somebody I was proud to know. Somebody who wouldn’t get left at an altar like that ever again,” she said, her voice breaking softly.
He swore again. “I still want to punch his face,” he said. “That’s a shitty thing to do.”
“What a day it was,” she said. “But I certainly won’t harp on it anymore.”
He led her down to the galley, and there they found several of the women, sitting with Killian. Jessie hopped up and gave her a quick hug. Even in the other woman’s arms, Brenna’s gaze was on Killian and his bright smile, when he saw her.
Brenna walked over and gave him a big hug. “Thank you,” she said. “I’ll probably just say that every time I see you now.”
He burst out laughing. “Did you give Jerricho a hug?”
“Nope,” she said, “I didn’t.”
“Why not?” Jerricho joked. She walked over, gave him a great big hug. He kissed her gently and kept an arm wrapped around her shoulders, as they turned to face the rest. The other women looked at him with a knowing look. She just smiled, looked at Killian. “Where’s Annie? Is she okay? Is everybody accounted for?”
He nodded. “She is fine. And people are starting to relax a little bit.”
“What about the young woman with the leg injury?”
“She’s doing okay,” he said. “She’ll need medical attention, when we get her to land.”
At that, Brenna looked around and asked, “Are we almost there?”
“We are.”
Jerricho walked over, put on a large pot of coffee, and said, “We can have a cup hopefully, before we land.”
“I would like that,” she said.
One of the women said something, slicing big slabs of flatbreads. Brenna walked over, snagged two pieces, and smiled at the woman. Even though she didn’t know what language she spoke, she was so happy to see these women, and they were equally happy to see her. It’s like they’d all been given a whole new lease on life.
As Brenna thought about that, she realized that, not only was that true, but for her, it really was another lease on life. Another chance, another day that she could assess her life and could move forward. And it felt not quite as momentous but, in a way, was just as momentous. Back then Jerricho hadn’t been in her life. She had already split with him, but now here he was again. She’d made a concerted effort to change her ways, and here she was, looking at maybe a complete life change. Certainly a career change because she didn’t think she could stomach coming overseas again.
But did she want to just cover society pages? That would make her want to vomit. Somewhere along the line, she had to find a happy medium, and she knew it should be now—at this time, with the pressure right now, because of everything going on. It felt momentous, yet another milestone. As she stood here, pondering and chewing on her bread, Jerricho reached over, squeezed her shoulder gently, and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I am,” she said quietly, “just lots of thoughts.”
&nb
sp; “And thoughts are good,” he said. “No reason not to think about everything.”
“Have our families been told?” And, if they had, would they reach out to her? And, if so, when? Not to mention how? She sighed. Still such a long way to go, before her life returned to normal.
“Yes,” he said. “At least the authorities have been notified. I presume they passed on the news. The fact of the matter is, we still aren’t free and clear yet, but we’re getting there.”
“I know,” she murmured. And, with a cup of coffee, he led her back up on deck, the other women following behind, somehow knowing it was time to leave the ship. As she turned to look, Jerricho ushered the last of them up onto the deck with her. As they walked across the wooden surface, she saw land in a distance. She stood here for a long moment.
“How is it,” she murmured, “that just the sight of land makes our hearts uplift? I guess we weren’t intended to be water travelers?”
“We were always intended to be water travelers,” Jerricho said. “But that means traveling from one point to another point. And so much more is in our world that it’s all about getting to that next point.”
“What if you don’t want to do any more traveling from one point to another?”
“I think you get a chance to sit down and to relax then,” he said. “And, if that’s the point you’re at because you’re where you think you should be—or at least where you’re ready to stop and to reassess—then let it be,” he murmured.
She smiled, nodded, and said, “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“It would.”
She watched, huddling over her cup, a thick, rich sludgy coffee, as land approached, closer and closer. Finally she saw other boats and vehicles on the other side. “Are they here for us?”
He nodded. “Yes, for the women with some medical issues,” he said. “They’ll all go for treatment first. And we have government representatives for the masses of them.”
“Good,” she said. “I presume there’ll be a consulate for us.”
“Not a consulate likely in a small town but they are on their way. I believe,” he said, but an edge was in his tone.
She glanced at him. “Problems?”
“I hope not,” he said.
Instantly she felt the fear growing within her. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
He looked down at her reassuringly and said, “It’s fine.”
She took a long slow deep breath. “Then don’t scare me like that, please.”
He laughed. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep an eye on what’s happening.”
She watched, and very quickly they were docked. Officials came on board, and Jerricho basically explained what had happened. They already knew, and the women were immediately separated off, and the help that they needed was provided. Only nobody came for Brenna. She looked up at him. “What about me, Annie and Jessie?” Jessie was with a group of women off to the side. Brenna called out to Jessie, who turned and lifted a hand in a motion, as she headed to one of the vehicles. Annie was in a different one. “What’s going on?” Brenna asked.
“Do you want to go with her?” Jerricho asked, looking at her.
“Yes,” she said in surprise. “Do I have a choice?”
“No, really you don’t,” he said, laughing, and walked her to the group. The men had a conversation, but she was too busy checking in with Jessie. And it seemed they were being driven to the nearest town, which was only a few miles away, and they would be put up in hotels, while everybody got their paperwork in order. Brenna turned and smiled at Jerricho. “Are you coming?”
“Maybe,” he said. “We certainly need time to rest and for a shower and some food.”
She nodded. “You can come with us,” she said. “There’s lots of room.”
The men piled in the vehicle, along with her and Jessie, and very quickly they were on their way into the town. Brenna cried out, “I can’t believe that a shower is right around the corner.”
“I know,” Jessie said, “a shower and real food.”
“Hey, that bread this morning tasted pretty damn fine.”
Jessie shook her head. “I couldn’t do it,” she said. “My stomach was too upset.”
She looked at her. “How is the baby?”
Jessie glanced at the two men with a shuttered look, and Brenna said, quickly apologizing, “Sorry. I already told them.”
Jessie shrugged and said, “I think that’s why I couldn’t eat, just a little too nauseated this morning.”
“Which makes sense,” she said. “At the same time, we should be safe now.”
“I hope so,” Jessie said fervently. She looked at Brenna. “I don’t think I’ll go back to my job.”
Brenna stared at her friend and then slowly nodded. “You were talking about changing jobs anyway, once you found out you were pregnant.”
“Yes,” she said, “that’s a good way to look at it. And now I just don’t have the stomach for it.”
“Any idea what you want to do?”
“Change to photography,” she said, “maybe do something closer to home.”
“You do what you need to do,” Brenna said impulsively.
Jessie looked at her friend and smiled and said, “I will. It’s just a little odd right now. So I’m scared of making the wrong decision.”
“So maybe,” Brenna said, “don’t make any decisions right now. Wait until you’ve recovered.”
“Maybe. I’ll see.” At that, she sat back and looked as the town came upon them. “Almost there,” she murmured.
Brenna looked around the town and said, “Is this the closest place to where we were?”
Jerricho leaned forward. “Yes,” he said.
“Is it safe?”
“That’s one of the questions that we’ll have to look at,” he said. “We have to figure out if you’re safe here or not.”
She looked at him in shock.
He shrugged. “It’d be nice to consider that it is that way, but we won’t know for sure, will we?”
“So you’ll stay close for a while.”
“Until we get you home to the US,” he confirmed.
She immediately relaxed. “I would really not like to have anything else go wrong at this stage,” she said.
“No,” he said, “neither would we.”
And, with that, he sat back, until they pulled into the hotel.
Jerricho hadn’t wanted to scare her, but, at the same time, just so many unknowns remained in this case. A lot of women had been rescued, and they didn’t know if there would be any retaliation for that or if people would be totally okay and just happy that they didn’t get caught. As for their pirate prisoner, he’d been handed to the authorities, and, from the treatment he’d received on the way, the local men in charge of him were only too happy to have him in their clutches. But then a lot of women had been involved in the kidnappings, and people forgot that, although women were vulnerable victims, many times they had fathers, sons, and brothers who cared. At least Jerricho hoped they did.
As they walked into the hotel, they were assigned rooms, with him and Killian together. As soon as they got to their room, pointing to bags on the bed, Killian said, “Clothes and a few hygiene items. As much as I’d like a shower, I’ll crash first.”
“You do that. I’ll have a shower,” he said. “That saltwater is something else.”
“Especially here,” he said. “It’s really salty.”
Jerricho walked into the shower, quickly divested himself of his clothes, and stood under the hot water, moaning in pure joy as it ran down his back and head. Almost immediately he felt better. As soon as he had a shower, he dressed in the only other set of clothing he had, dirty too, and stepped back out into the room. He sat down with this laptop and contacted Diesel. Operation successful, he typed. We’re at the hotel.
Diesel immediately replied and typed Good job.
Anything new on your end?
Diese
l responded, No, all quiet. We’re still gathering intel and looking into exactly who is involved.
Don’t forget about the prisoner we brought back, he typed. Even though he’s not likely willing to share any more, he will have names, dates, and people within the network on his phone, laptop, banking records. Jerricho went on to explain to Diesel about how the auction system worked, what Jerricho had learned from the pirate leader.
Interesting, Diesel typed. So they didn’t do it very often, probably changed locations within a few hundred miles to keep the location secret.
Most likely, yes. But I think he has an awful lot more information that he’s not willing to give. And I’m worried about anybody local being involved.
Not even so much that a local might be involved, Diesel added, as much as it’s possible that any of the buyers may have come here or any of the agents could be in town. They may have found where everybody disembarked.
I guess buying that information is not that hard to do in today’s age, is it?
Nope, they’ll have eyes and ears everywhere, and the arrival of almost forty women in one small town will create quite a buzz.
Right, he typed, so we’re not out of danger.
I wouldn’t think so, Diesel replied.
Okay, I’ll go meet up with the two women, he texted, and make sure they’re okay.
Might want to talk to the local authorities to see if a guard is needed.
That’ll be hard to do with so many women.
Right, and they won’t be particularly worried about it because they’ll think everybody in town is safe now.
“Damn!” Jerricho said, as he closed the chat window with Diesel. He looked up to see Killian come out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his hips and another scrubbing his hair to dry it off. Obviously he’d chosen a shower first after all. “Diesel is a little worried that we’re not safe even yet.”
Killian nodded. “Yeah, I was considering that,” he said. “I won’t be happy until we get ours back home again.”
