The Power Trip

This wasn’t a TV show. This was real life. Guy knew that the smart thing to do was absolutely nothing.

If they didn’t give the pirates any trouble, help would surely come. He had to keep the faith.

Chapter Eighty-Six

The side of the boat was wet and slippery. To Flynn’s relief the rain had stopped, the storm seemed to be over, and the sea was almost calm. Slowly and surely he lowered himself down the side of the yacht with the help of strong ropes he’d found in a utility cupboard. He kept going until he landed on the terrace that led to the master suite.

The glass doors leading inside were locked. He could see Aleksandr. Urgently he banged on the glass with his fists until Aleksandr turned around, saw him, and hurried to open the doors.

‘Jesus Christ!’ Aleksandr exclaimed. ‘What is happening, Flynn? Do you know?’

‘Pirates,’ Flynn answered quickly. ‘They’ve taken over the boat.’

‘You can’t be serious?’

‘Dead serious, I’m afraid.’

‘This is a disaster,’ Aleksandr said, shaking his head. ‘What do we do?’

‘Is the door to this room locked?’

‘No. Someone’s secured it from the outside, I can’t get out of here.’

‘Lock it now,’ Flynn said sharply. ‘They’ll be coming for you any minute.’

‘Why me?’ Aleksandr said, frowning.

‘’Cause they’ll be needing you to speak to your business people. They’ll want you to order them to pay the ransom immediately.’

‘How do you know this?’

‘Trust me, I have knowledge of the way they work.’

‘This is some fucked-up situation,’ Aleksandr said, his face grim.

‘It is, but we’ll do our best to deal with it,’ Flynn said, trying to inspire confidence. ‘Where’s Bianca?’

‘I put her in the safe room,’ Aleksandr said, moving over to lock the door from the inside.

‘Where’s that?’

‘Behind the shower door in my bathroom. It was a last-minute decision to incorporate it into the plans. Thank God I listened.’

Flynn nodded. ‘How many people does it hold?’ he asked.

‘Five or six.’

‘We need to get all the women inside,’ Flynn said, speaking fast. ‘Is there a working phone in there?’

‘Satellite,’ Aleksandr said.

‘Call the Coast Guard. Summon help,’ Flynn said. ‘Do you have a gun?’

‘Yes.’

‘More than one?’

‘Someone took the revolver I kept by my bed.’

‘You think they were in here?’

‘Not as far as I know.’

‘They might have a person on the inside. Maybe one of the crew.’

‘How should we handle this?’ Aleksandr asked, thankful that Flynn was aboard.

‘You put in a distress call to the Coast Guard, while I try to reach the others. They’ve probably got no idea what’s going on.’

‘How can you do that?’

‘Same way I got in here. Who’s in the suite below this?’

Aleksandr thought for a moment, his mind going stubbornly blank. ‘The footballer,’ he said at last. ‘Be careful.’

Flynn nodded, and headed for the terrace. ‘I’ll be back,’ he said confidently. ‘Go make that call.’

* * *

‘You should have put them all together in the mess-hall,’ Mercedes complained to Cruz. ‘It’s not safe to keep them in their rooms.’

‘Why not?’ Cruz said, dragging on a cigarette, then spitting out fragments of tobacco. ‘They’re secure. They don’t got nowhere t’go.’

‘Ever think they could jump overboard and swim for help?’ Mercedes said. ‘You never know.’

‘My little idiota,’ Cruz said with a benevolent chuckle, flashing his two front gold teeth while exhaling a stream of thick smoke. ‘Who’s gonna risk swimming to a deserted island in the middle of the night? You locked ’em in. There’s nothin’ they can do ’cept wait.’

‘What if the ransom takes days?’ Mercedes insisted. ‘You lettin’ them starve to death?’

‘Why you so concerned?’ Cruz asked, giving her a what-are-you-hiding look.

She bit down hard on her lower lip. He knew her so well that it was difficult to hide anything from him.

‘I was thinkin’ I could go through their rooms, see if there’s anything worth takin’,’ she said, keeping it casual.

‘Were you now?’ Cruz said with a knowing smirk. ‘As if you haven’t already picked out what you’re after.’

‘What if I did? I think I deserve a bonus after all the work I’ve put in. It’s not much fun bein’ stuck on this boat with a bunch of rich fuckers ordering me around.’

‘You spotted something good, chiquita?’

Cruz rarely used words of affection toward her. She kind of liked it.

‘Oh, just clothes an’ stuff,’ she answered vaguely. ‘These spoiled putas have a ton of nice things.’

‘Tell you what,’ Cruz said amiably. ‘Amiin’s taken the Captain to bring Kasianenko back here. Once I get the Russian to make it clear to his people they gotta pay up or he ends up on the bottom of the ocean, then we’ll move ’em all downstairs. That make you happy?’

‘Thanks, Poppa,’ she said, already picturing her future.

‘Don’t call me that,’ Cruz snapped, his mood abruptly changing.

She’d forgotten for a moment that he didn’t allow her to call him Poppa. It made him feel old in front of whatever whore he was banging.

‘Sorry… uh… Cruz,’ she muttered. ‘It won’t happen again.’

* * *

Since he seemed to be getting nowhere with Guy, Den began canvassing other members of the crew. None of them was prepared to make a move.

‘So we just sit here,’ Den said, staring them down. ‘Y’know what that makes us? Nothin’ but a bunch of bloody wankers. Why stay still when we could rush ’em? C’mon, mates, there’s only three of ’em against all of us.’

‘Yes, and get our heads blown off for the trouble,’ the chef, a stocky Englishman, said. ‘We sit here quietly and wait for the ransom to be paid. That’s what we do. I’ve got a wife and three kids to think about.’

Den was frustrated. The pirates were getting drunker by the minute. If the rest of the crew co-operated, he was sure they could turn it around.

Shit! It wasn’t in his nature to sit back, do nothing and be a victim. Besides, he was still worried about Renee and Mercedes; they could be in deep trouble.

* * *

Never the heaviest of sleepers, Taye was instantly awake when he heard tapping coming from the direction of the terrace doors.

He jumped out of bed, bare-assed, which was the way he always slept — and padded over to the doors where Flynn was standing outside.