"So, what were you doing all the way out here?" JJ questioned, as Jimmy started the plane and began to maneuver it to take off.
"I got a little guide outfit in St. Vincent," Jimmy answered, "I was spotting fish."
"What were you spotting?"
"You know, the usual," he responded, "Wahoo."
Hearing the name of the fish Jimmy was supposedly spotting, Coral grabbed JJ's arm as he and John B exchanged a look. Shaking his head slightly, John B told them silently to keep quiet.
"I'd hang on to something," Jimmy told them, "Gets a little spicy on takeoff," he warned.
Clutching JJ, Coral closed her eyes as the plane took off. Once they were in the air she opened her eyes and eased up on the grip she had on JJ, "Should we talk about this now?" she whispered, catching the attention of the others.
"What's the matter?" Kie asked.
"Wahoo, don't run in October," Coral whispered.
"So, whoever this man is, he's not a fisherman," JJ added.
"Maybe the run just starts earlier out here."
"In the Caribbean?" JJ questioned.
"They're still running at home. They don't hit these waters for another month," Coral added.
"No, I know what this is," Sarah spoke up, "He's working for my dad, and he's probably been looking for us the entire time."
"All right, we gotta find out," JJ decided, "Start looking for some sort of clues," he told them, looking around the plane.
"JJ," Coral whispered, pointing to a bag hanging off the back of Jimmy's pilot seat, "John B, distract him."
While John B made conversation with Jimmy, JJ used the distraction to go through Jimmy's bag. Pulling out a bunch of papers and books they went through them quickly. Paging through a book about the loss of El Dorado, Coral picked up the picture that fell out. Gasping, she held it up for the others to see.
"The Coastal Venture," Sarah whispered, grabbing the picture out of Coral's hand, "This is the boat we were on. With Eberhimi and the cross."
"So he was looking for us," Cleo realized.
"Exactly."
"He's working for my dad."
"Hey, y'all better hold onto something," Jimmy called back, "We got some unexpected turbulence up here," he warned them.
"Guys, whatever it is, it's happening fast. Look," Kie told them, pointing out the window.
Looking out the window they could see a coastline coming up quickly, "That looks like Barbados. I've been there with Terrance," Cleo told them.
"Okay, there's seven of us, and one of him," JJ began, "You know my vote. We storm the cockpit."
"Who's gonna fly the plane, dumbass?"
"I've seen Pope fly simulators," he responded to John B.
"I crop dusted for my uncle," Pope said, "This is not the same."
"We don't have time to pretend that's a real option."
"Why don't we just wait till the plane lands somewhere safe, and then we sneak out," Coral suggested.
"I agree with Coral," Pope said, "And if someone comes to mess with us we mad-dog them," he added.
"I like the mad dogging part," JJ muttered.
"Just put all that back," Coral told him, gesturing towards the books and papers.
Nodding, JJ motioned for John B to distract Jimmy again. JJ was just putting the last book back into the bag when Jimmy caught the movement and turned, "Hey, man! What the hell are you doing?" he questioned, lunging at JJ.
Everyone began screaming as the plane lurched as Jimmy began fighting with John B and JJ instead of focusing on flying the plane.
"Fly the plane!"
"Fly the plane!"
"Please fly the plane!"
Realizing they were in trouble, Jimmy attempted to pull up on the controls to steady the plane, but it was too late. The plane was headed for a nose dive into the ocean below.
"Hold onto something!"
Hitting the water the plane bounced before hitting again. Stopping so suddenly the tail end went into the air throwing everyone towards the front. Immediately the plane began filling with water.
"Everyone, okay? We gotta go!"
Kicking the hatch door open, John B looked out, "Oh no. They don't look friendly," he called over his shoulder, seeing several men running down the beach towards where they landed.
"No, they look very unfriendly," Pope agreed.
"Come on. We gotta get out before it sinks!" JJ exclaimed.
Holding the hatch open, John B let the others out ahead of him, "Coral come on!" he yelled after JJ went out.
"I'm coming! Go!" she exclaimed, pushing her brother out before going back for Jimmy.
"Coral! Get the hell out of there!" she heard JJ yelling.
"Go! I'm getting Jimmy!" she yelled back, "Okay, come on Jimmy," she muttered, pulling the man from his seat, "Jimmy, wake the hell up," she cried, using her lifeguarding skills to pull him out the plane window.
Realizing she was on the opposite side of the plane from her friends, she swam she and Jimmy towards the shore. Reaching the sand, she dragged him as far as she could before a few of the locals helped her the rest of the way. Coughing, she crawled up next to him as he regained consciousness.
"You lied to us! Who are you?"
Hearing ATV's, Jimmy looked up towards the road before groaning, "Oh no. You should get out of here," he told her.
Seeing men coming on the ATV's, Coral looked back towards the water. Her friends were too far away, she'd never make it without alerting the men to their whereabouts, "Shit!"
Getting to her feet she ran up the beach. Realizing there were men coming in trucks too she slid to the ground and squeezed under one of the docked boats, "What the fuck is happening," she muttered as the men searched for her.
Taking her chances, she rolled out from under the boat. Standing, she started around the boat only to be grabbed from behind, "Get off me!" she screamed as two men dragged her across the beach to a waiting truck. Forcing her into the back of the truck she pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them watching the men with guns searching the rest of the beach.
"We lost the others. We'll keep searching," came a voice over the radio.
Seeing Jimmy approaching, she narrowed her eyes, "I saved your life," she reminded him.
"I know. I know. I'm sorry. I'm gonna try and help you, okay?" he told her, "I swear, I didn't know it was gonna be like this. Look if you don't fight, if you do what they say, these guys probably won't hurt you."
"What did Ward promise you?"
"Who?" Jimmy questioned, confused, "Hey, just take my advice, do what they say. Good luck," he said before turning and hurrying away.
Sucking in a breath, Coral watched as one of the armed men got into the back of the truck bed with her as the truck started, "All right. Let's go," he called to the driver, banging on the top of the cab.
Attempting to pay attention to the route they took, Coral kept her eyes directed at the roads and fields around them as they drove. She was fairly confident that if she got the chance to escape she'd make it back to where the plane crashed.
Turning up another road, she saw armed men move a barricade before the truck was allowed to pass, "Where are we going?" she muttered, twisting JJ's ring around her finger. As they approached the house where she could see more armed men patrolling the grounds she realized this wasn't Ward. This was something or someone different, and from the looks of it more dangerous.
"Let's go," one of the guards told her after the truck stopped.
Climbing out of the truck, she glared at the man when he grabbed her arm and marched her into the house, "I can walk on my own," she snapped. Ignoring her, the guard continued leading her through the house.
Wide eyed she looked around at the various artifacts, statues, and paintings within the house. Whoever lived here was very big on old and ancient.
"Take her upstairs. The Orinoco room," the housekeeper instructed.
"This way," another guard told her before grabbing her arm from her previous guard and forcing her up the stairs, "Inside," he instructed, opening a bedroom door and forcing her into it.
Turning back to the guard still standing in the open door she questioned him, "Why am I here? Who are you working for?"
"Dinner at eight," the guard responded, "I'd clean up," he told her before stepping out of the doorway and closing it.
"Just tell me what they want!" she cried going for the door knob only to find it was already locked, "Fuck!" Biting her lip, she looked around the room. Moving to one of the windows she looked out and found three armed guards patrolling the veranda below the window, "Well that's not an option," she muttered.
Sighing, she let the curtain fall back into place before moving through the room opening doors. Finding a closet with an array of dresses in it, she pulled the note off one of the hangers telling her to pick her size, "I feel like I'm in a murder mystery," she said moving across the room she pulled another door open and found the bathroom.
Deciding to take advantage of the hot water and plumbing, she slipped into the bathroom, and immediately stripped out of her dirty clothes. Once she was clean she found a dress in her size. Glancing around the room she noted there was no clock to tell her what time it was. Twisting JJ's ring around her finger in an attempt to stay calm she laid on the bed and waited.
She was just drifting off to sleep when the sudden knocking at the door had her bolting upright. Standing quickly as the housekeeper opened the door Coral looked at her wide eyed.
"He's ready," the housekeeper told her, gesturing for her to follow.
Clutching her hands together, Coral attempted to make them stop shaking as she followed the silent housekeeper down the stairs. Gesturing towards an open door, she looked from the woman to the door before making her way cautiously inside.
Entering the room she found a man with his back to her pouring himself a drink, "Um, excuse me," she called. Gasping, Coral narrowed her eyes at the man who'd turned around, "No, I knew you and Ward were behind this shit. Are you serious, Rafe? Now you've resorted to kidnapping?" she hissed.
"What are you talking about?" Rafe questioned, "What the fuck are you even doing here, Coralina? You and your friends better not be trying to weasel in on my deal," he responded, taking several steps towards her.
"Don't you fucking come near me, Rafe Cameron!" she exclaimed, stepping back quickly.
"No, you tell me what you're doing here," he demanded before another voice spoke from the other side of the room.
"I wondered if your little reunion would cause sparks, you know."
Turning at the voice, Coral blinked at the man standing across the room smiling.
"Who are you?" Rafe questioned.
"Me?" the man questioned, pointing at himself, "My name is Carlos Singh," he introduced, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cameron. And Miss Routledge, I do apologize for the rough tactics in bringing you here," he said, smiling at Coral, "But please, come. Sit down," he invited, gesturing towards two chairs.
Giving Rafe a nasty look, Coral crossed the room and sat down, "It's actually Mrs. Maybank," she told the man, smiling sweetly.
"Oh, for fucks sake you aren't married to that gutter trash," Rafe sneered crossing the room and sitting in the chair next to Coral.
"Actually, I am," she retorted, holding up her hand with JJ's ring on it. Smiling smugly, she turned her attention from Rafe to the man quietly laughing, "Are we amusing?"
Smiling, Carlos shook his head before raising his glass, "To young love. Now shall we get down to business we have a lot to talk about."
"Why are we here?" Coral asked quietly.
"Well, Mrs. Maybank, Mr. Cameron, we share certain interests, you know. Objectives."
"Is this not about the cross?" Rafe questioned.
"It is," Carlos acknowledged, "Tangentially, it is about the cross, but it's also about something much, much bigger than the cross. By orders of magnitude, the completion of a grand quest. You see, the story goes that 450 years ago, a Spanish soldier came out of the Orinoco Basin with a few gold beads. And when they asked the Spanish soldier, "Where the beads came from," the Spanish soldier replied he got them from a peaceful indigenous tribe who lived in a city of gold. El Dorado," he told them, "And for the next 450 years people tried to find that gold, you know. They tried. Conquistadors, knights, captains of ships, tribes, entire nations. All fighting each other in a race for the end of the rainbow. Thousands of lives laid on the pyre of gold fever. And it falls to me, you know. It falls to me to complete the task. To bring full circle a quest that has gone on for almost 500 years. Perhaps, perhaps the greatest quest in the history of the western hemisphere, you know. And you two, you two are going to play a part in that. What about you, Mrs. Maybank? Are you interested in history?" he questioned.
Swallowing, she eyed the knife Carlos had picked up during his impassioned speech, "I'm more of a future person," she responded.
"Yeah, I didn't listen to a word you said, okay?" Rafe spoke up, clearly irritated, "How much you gonna keep philosophizing?"
Smirking, Carlos laughed quietly, "You are direct, aren't you, Mr. Cameron?"
Shifting uncomfortably as the two men stared at each other, Coral broke the tension, "What do you need from me?" she questioned.
"I've come to believe that you and your friends are in possession of something that can help me get what I want."
"Which is?" she prompted.
"An old manuscript," he answered, "A diary, actually."
Glancing at Coral, Rafe shook his head, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Neither do I," Coral said, "I mean this is ridiculous. You kidnap me because you think I have some diary?"
Pressing his lips together, Carlos looked between the two before focusing on Coral, "But how else could you have learned that the cross was on the Royal Merchant?"
"My dad studied every shipwreck known to man. I know stupid facts about every single one. I can't help you. I don't know anything about a diary," she responded.
"I was hoping you wouldn't say that, you know," Carlos sighed, "Because unfortunately, I don't believe you. You and your friend here couldn't have found the cross without it."
"He's not my friend," she retorted.
"Look, this is ridiculous. Okay? I'm out," Rafe said, standing up, "I don't know anything about a diary," he said over his shoulder as he crossed the room to the door, stopping short when an armed guardsman stood in his way.
"Do I look like a fool to you, Mr. Cameron?" Carlos questioned as he too stood, "You have the cross. She and she friends had the cross at one point," he said, pointing towards Coral, "So one of you has the diary. And if you really don't know, then I suggest you convince your friend to tell me. Once I have the diary...you'll be free to leave," he told them, "Come along then."
Taking a deep breath, Coral let it out slowly before standing and following both Carlos and Rafe from the room. Walking up the steps she was conscious of the armed guard directly behind her. Entering the room she'd been in previously, Carlos gestured widely, "Enjoy the grounds during your stay. I must warn you, though. I'm not a man of infinite patience. You have one day," he told them, "Go to the window for a little demonstration. I think you'll enjoy it," he said, patting Rafe's shoulder before striding from the room.
Hearing the lock click once the guard shut the door, Rafe went to the door, "Hey!" he yelled, shaking the doorknob.
"It's locked," Coral told him, rolling her eyes as she moved towards the window. Moving the curtain aside she looked out curious to see what Carlos had to show them.
Furrowing her brow, she recognized the man down below being escorted by one of the guards.
"Who the hell is that guy?" Rafe questioned, coming up behind her and looking over her shoulder out the window.
"I know him," she responded, "His name is Jimmy Portis. He found us on the island and brought us here. I saved his life and then he tried to help me," she told him watching as Carlos came out of the house and looked up at the window at them.
Sucking in a breath, when he pulled out a gun from his waistband, she reached back and found Rafe's hand. Clutching his hand, they watched as Carlos walked further down the veranda where Jimmy had been taken out of sight.
"What do you think?" she began to question before the sound of a gunshot interrupted her. Dropping Rafe's hand, she stumbled away from the window, not able to catch her breath. Knowing she was going to be sick she somehow made it to the bathroom before throwing up into the toilet.
"Hey, you okay?"
"He just killed that man," she whispered, looking up at Rafe bleary eyed.
Grabbing a washcloth from the sink he wet it before kneeling next to her, "This diary. No bullshit, Coralina. Do you have it?" he asked, handing her the washcloth.
Taking the washcloth, she wiped her face, giving herself time to regain her composure before looking up at him and answering, "No."