Christmas Captive, page 5
She wasn’t a rookie. And she almost told him so, but he interrupted her.
“There are a lot of people on this ship who care about you.” He turned away but spun back before adding almost as an afterthought. “And Elaina.”
After she locked the door that he shut behind him, Amy let out a soft sigh and looked around the suite. It was furnished in the same muted colors as her own cabin. Only this one had three times as much space—and that was just in the living area. Two couches faced each other, and she checked behind each. Then she opened every interior door. The closets were empty save for the standard ironing board and hotel hangers. The kitchen pantry contained a small basket of pre-stocked food items.
Everything was in its place.
Which didn’t account for the nagging sense of unease that was tingling at the top of her spine. But since she saw nothing out of place, she had to believe she was just being paranoid.
So she had laid down on the sofa and stared at the ceiling, waiting for Michael’s return. Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty minutes passed.
But the low buzz of anticipation still hummed through her, and she pushed herself to her feet, wandering the room and checking the locks again.
She moved to Elaina’s door and pressed her ear to the center. All was silent on the other side, so she turned the handle and opened it a crack. Elaina lay in the center of a queen bed, her arms stretched out to each side and her dark hair wild across her white pillow.
Suddenly a bump against the exterior door made her jump. It was soft, almost like someone had tried to muffle the sound.
She held her breath and waited.
Lord, let that be the creaking of the ship.
Something bumped again.
And the door handle gave a gentle jiggle.
Heart suddenly hammering in her throat, Amy ran for the door, peeked through the peephole and nearly swallowed her tongue. A giant black shoulder hunched in her view, the man’s face turned away. She wanted to scream, but discipline held the noise in. He was clearly working on the electronic keypad as another shadow fell across the hallway behind him.
The dull thrumming of the ship dissolved until all she could hear was the rushing of blood through her ears.
They were back. They were coming for Elaina.
And Amy was the only person standing between them and the little girl.
Racing across the living room, she reached the far side of a sofa and shoved at its end. It didn’t even budge. She leaned against the armrest with her shoulder and gave another hard push. Nothing.
The furniture was probably bolted down in case of severe waves.
She huffed and spun around, searching for anything that might not be screwed to the floor that she could use to barricade the door. The four chairs around the dining room table looked too flimsy to hold the door in place, and the wooden credenza along the far wall didn’t even tried to hide the bolts holding it in place.
She gave another frantic spin. Made another desperate search.
Finally her gaze landed on the mahogany coffee table between the couches. Its legs were ornately curved, but the rectangular top was solid and nearly two inches thick.
Dragging it across the carpet, she stumbled, lost her grip and fell hard on her rear end. But she wasn’t getting points for style.
All that mattered was Elaina and her safety.
After several attempts, she got the table into place and shoved it beneath the door handle. It sat at a good angle, but it wouldn’t keep the men out indefinitely.
And then what? Then she’d have to face them. At least two of them. Maybe more.
She’d fight for that little girl until she died.
But then what would happen to Elaina?
She couldn’t even consider it, so she gave the table another shove, smacking the wood against the metal handle of the door. The crack must have alerted the men on the other side, as they dropped any pretense of subtlety. A shoulder or foot slammed into the door without preamble.
She needed help. Fast.
She ran across the room and snatched up the receiver for the suite’s phone. It was dead. No dial tone. Nothing. It had been working thirty minutes ago, so they must have cut the phone lines. Maybe the ones between all of the rooms. Maybe just this room. It didn’t matter.
These men knew that Elaina had been moved to a new suite. And they’d cut her new room off from the rest of the ship.
Except for maybe Wi-Fi.
She yanked her cell out of her pocket. There was only one person she could think to text, so she whipped a message out to him.
They’re back.
At the crack of the splintering door frame, she nearly dropped her phone. But the metal security lock was still in place and its rattle filled the room right along with the grumbles of one of the men on the other side. He cursed long and low in a language that was both foreign and somehow familiar.
As she sprinted toward the bedroom door, her phone buzzed in her hand.
Hide. Now. On my way.
She could almost hear the growl of Jordan’s voice.
With each step she took, the lock rattled. The table shook. She flinched.
And getting to Elaina wasn’t going to save her. Not if these men were armed.
“Break it down.” The heavy accent couldn’t disguise the man’s sinister intent.
“I’m trying,” his comrade said.
Just as her hand reached the cool knob of Elaina’s room, wood fractured and Amy dove into the bedroom.
“Aunt Amy?” Elaina sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. “What’s happening?”
“Shh.” Pressing one finger to her lips, she scooped the little girl up with her other arm and whisked her toward the closet. “We have to be very, very quiet.”
“But—”
Amy pressed her hand over Elaina’s mouth briefly and shook her head hard. She mouthed the word quiet and prayed that her niece would understand, even in the darkness that covered the room.
Elaina squirmed in her lap as Amy squatted inside the confines of the closet, peering through the wooden slats into the blackness of the room. For a moment the only sounds were Elaina’s strangled breaths and fidgets and rustling.
Then came a grunt and something that sounded like a copper pot being ripped in half. The security lock had been breached.
Where are you?
Her phone lit up, bright enough to illuminate Elaina’s wide eyes and quivering lips, and Amy hated the fact that she’d been forced to leave her service weapon at home. She hated that she’d sent Jordan away.
In the closet. Elaina’s room.
Are they inside yet?
Almost.
Suddenly something crashed to the floor. It had to be the table she’d put in place. It was followed by more swearing and some stomping.
They’d given up even pretending to be subtle or quiet, either because they didn’t fear the ship’s security or because they didn’t believe security would come.
Stay put.
She flipped her phone over, pressing the screen against Elaina’s back to keep the light from reaching into the room beyond, revealing their location. But the men weren’t in the bedroom yet. Their footfalls circled the living room as she pulled Elaina closer, tucking baby-soft hair under her chin. She pulled the phone away from Elaina’s back to pass along one more message.
They’re here.
Tell me everything you know.
A weight settled on her chest, and she had to fight for her breath. She knew what that meant. Jordan wasn’t going to arrive in time. And he needed every bit of information she could give him.
Lifting Elaina into the farthest recesses of the closet, Amy whispered, “Stay put and stay silent. No matter what.”
Elaina nodded, and Amy settled a plush terry-cloth robe over the girl with a quick prayer. “Lord, protect my sweet girl.”
“Aunt Amy, too.”
The hushed prayer made her eyes burn, and she looked heavenward with only one prayer on her heart. God, save us. Please. Please. Please.
And then she made her thumbs move as fast as they could across her phone, forgetting punctuation and spelling.
Two men at least
Wearing blck
Thick accent probably MidEast
Dark hair
Suddenly the bedroom door slammed open, and a dark form yanked the blankets off the bed, growling when he found it empty. “Where is she?” he yelled to his friend in the other room.
Not afraid loud
The man’s form turned around the room then marched toward the bathroom. It was empty. Next he’d check the closet. She knew that without a doubt.
Amy had only one option. Abandon her spot and try to distract them to keep them from finding Elaina.
Leaving her phone at her feet, Amy stood slowly, taking several deep breaths through her nose and releasing them slowly, silently.
The rings on the shower curtain hissed as they were wrenched across the metal bar.
It was now or never. Her only chance.
But no matter how much training and experience she’d acquired over the years, her hand shook as she twisted the handle and pushed the door open. Stepping out of the closet, she closed the door silently behind her, pressing her back against the smooth wallpaper.
The heavy step beside her interrupted her prayer.
Time to go.
She launched herself at the man, hitting him well below his center of gravity and knocking him back against the wall. His head cracked against the door frame, and he screamed.
But it didn’t stop his meaty paw from slamming into the side of her face, setting off fireworks in her line of sight.
Suddenly there were two of him in front of her, and she swung at one, only to realize he was the result of double vision.
Then her arm was snapped behind her back, her shoulder blade wrenched as the man’s companion joined the fray, wrapping an arm around her throat and tightening it. She sucked at the air, clawing against him, but even when her nails dug into his flesh, he didn’t let up.
A kick to his companion as he pulled himself up from the floor didn’t help. It only earned her another fist to the head.
The room spun and her already limited vision blurred even more.
No. No. This wasn’t...
God, save Elaina.
Right before the entire world went black, she heard the wild cry of her niece.
FIVE
Jordan had never run so fast in his life. The muscles in his legs cried out for a break like they hadn’t since his last week of BUD/S. And the wooden deck might as well have been beach sand for all the progress he was making.
He just couldn’t move fast enough. He couldn’t get from his sister’s room to Michael’s suite in time.
Risking a glance at his phone, he checked for another text from Amy.
She’d sent a string of texts, giving information on the men that had been only a few feet away from her. Armed and dangerous. And inside the suite.
And there had been nothing since then.
His mind immediately filled with images of Amy facing those thugs. She’d fight. She’d fight like a bobcat to protect Elaina. But as strong and well-trained as she was, the odds were sharply against her.
Had he given her a bad direction? Would she have had a better chance catching them off guard by attacking from the start? Or should he have sent her to hide elsewhere—would there have been better weapons available in the kitchen?
His heart skipped a beat.
He jumped out of the way of a couple meandering along the deck and hurdled a deck chair that had been left in the open lane.
God, let me get there.
Why had he agreed to check on Neesha and Rodney on the very opposite side of the ship? They were fine. Oblivious—which was just what he wanted for them.
So he’d taken himself out of the fight. For nothing.
Don’t think about it. Don’t dwell on it.
He had to keep reminding himself of that or he’d go crazy. He’d learned early in his training that if he got too far inside his own head, his body would falter. And right now, Amy and Elaina were counting on him to stay strong.
Snatching one more breath of sea air, he spun into a stairwell and bolted up the steps.
Around every corner and at every crossing, he expected to see Amy and Elaina. Perhaps it was only wishful thinking.
But surely they were being toted away from the scene.
And if they were, he was ready to fight for their freedom. His muscles tensed, and he made a stiff fist as his arms pumped to keep him moving. He was ready.
Unless she’d been...
Could she have been killed? Dean had been willing enough to shoot at her earlier. And while the men had mentioned capturing Elaina, that didn’t mean they would leave her aunt alive.
Bile rose in the back of his throat as he raced down the hallway, mere steps from the ambassador’s new suite. The one the captain had promised was secure. He was thirty yards away. Twenty. Ten.
So close. But everything was silent, save the droning of the ship.
There wasn’t a nosy neighbor poking his head out of his cabin. No steward cleaning up. No security patrolling. And there certainly wasn’t a peep coming from inside the suite. Which meant that Amy was gone...or dead.
If she’d been able to contact him, she would have.
His stomach heaved again as he crashed through the doorway, past the cracked frame and into the ransacked living room. He nearly tripped over a destroyed coffee table, two of its legs ripped clean off.
And then he realized what he was seeing. The table had been wedged against the door to keep the intruders out for as long as possible. She’d done just what he would have.
Good girl, Amy.
He took careful, silent steps around the carnage on the carpet toward Elaina’s room. It, too, was silent. Only the signs of a struggle had been left behind. The ripped shower curtain in the bathroom. The overturned lamp. Amy’s phone smashed as if it had been stepped on.
He knelt to pick up the pieces at the door of the closet, giving it one more cursory glance before letting out a loud sigh through tight lips.
“Elaina!”
Jordan jumped up and raced toward the cry, knowing what he’d find.
Michael Torres’s eyes were wild as he surveyed the wrecked room from the doorway. When Jordan caught the ambassador’s gaze, Michael flinched. “Where is my daughter? I...I didn’t mean to be gone so long.”
The pleading in his voice was too much, and Jordan could only shake his head.
“And Amy? Where’s she?”
Jordan took a quick breath and blinked against a strange burning at the back of his eyes. “She’s gone, too.”
* * *
Amy woke, clawing at her neck, but the arm that had been there was gone. And her breathing, while rapid, wasn’t painful, though a swallow nearly set her throat on fire.
She blinked against the light from above in an attempt to calm the throbbing behind her eyes and rose onto her knees. Grabbing at the lip of the metal panel on the wall, she pulled herself to her feet, swaying with the motion of the room. But whether the ship was truly rolling or it was all in her head, she couldn’t tell.
Squeezing her eyes closed, she leaned into the unmoving wall.
And then it all slammed back into her. The attack. The men. Elaina’s screams.
“Elaina!” Her cry was hoarse as she launched herself at the metal door. It didn’t budge, even when her shoulder slammed into it. She crumpled to her knees again, hanging on to the handle that refused to turn.
Elaina. She had to find her niece. Now.
There was no telling how long Amy had been out or when they’d been separated. She didn’t even know where she was.
With her eyesight still slightly blurry, she took quick inventory of the room where she’d been left. It was actually more storage closet than room. Two of its walls were lined with metal shelves at least six feet high. Big plastic jugs of pink and blue cleaners filled every inch of wall space, leaving about four square feet for her to maneuver. Just enough to spin around and find exactly nothing helpful. There were no tools, no exits and no phone on the wall.
Nothing.
She heaved a sigh and turned one more time, just for good measure.
The room smelled of disinfectant and seawater, and she immediately tried to figure out where she could be in the ship that would make the saltwater smell strong enough to push the odor of cleaning products to the background. But she couldn’t picture it.
Suddenly someone on the far side of the door bumped against it.
Scrambling for a place to hide, she pressed herself into the corner closest to the door, nearly tripping on a metal doorstop. The door swung out to open, but at least she could be in the last corner they’d see.
And then what?
She needed a plan, but her mind was still cloudy, still rolling with every wave. And the throbbing on the left side of her face was an ever-present reminder of the fist that had hit its mark at least twice. All the same, she concentrated on holding herself together, dealing with the moment.
Maybe there’s only one.
Watch the door.
When he opens it, slam it into his head.
Great idea. If she knew for sure there was only one or had any clue what was waiting for her on the other side.
Before she could take another breath, she had her answer.
“What are you doing?”
The words were said by a nasally voice with a heavy accent.
“Checking on her.”
And he had an American buddy, which meant there were at least two out there.
She gasped for a breath and held it, waiting for the door to open, trying to prepare her trembling muscles to fight back. But her arms felt heavier than an anchor, and when she brought her knee up in a practice kick, she barely managed to lift it to her waist. Everything inside her felt limp and weakened.
