"Have you seen Tamara?" Logan asked Darla after camping at the door to their cabin for hours. It was the first place he thought she'd go. They had an extra bed in theirs. He didn't think she'd met anyone else on board as they'd been together the majority of the time.
"No, sorry," Darla said apologetically. "We've been in health conferences all day at the gym."
"Damn it," he muttered as he rested against the wall, running a hand through his hair. If they hadn't seen her, where could she possibly be? He was certain that the first place Tamara would run was to Darla. They'd become good friends.
Swiping her card in the lock, Darla gestured for him to come inside. "What's wrong?"
"She left me."
"Ouch, sorry bro!" Jason replied. "Hey, hun, why don't you go in and have a rest? I'll help him look."
Darla raised her eyebrow at him, her eyes filling with indignant fire. "Why don't you go in and have rest, I'll find her instead." When Jason opened his mouth to speak, she covered it with her hand. "If she left, do you really think she wants to see him right now? Let me deal with this. Woman to woman."
"But—" Logan started to say, but she covered his mouth, too.
"She needs a woman right now, capeesh? Now, go have a beer or something and leave it to me."
It didn't feel right to leave it to her. Something unsettling was rattling around inside him and he had no clue what it was. He had felt a foreboding ever since he saw the guy with the gun. He didn't like being apart from her, especially not right now.
"Seriously, boys, where is she gonna go? I'll take care of it, I promise," she said, patting them both on the shoulder.
And with that she walked away. Logan stared after her wondering whether or not he should do what she says or keep looking.
"I'd keep looking, bro!" Jason said. "If she gets her claws into her, you might be in for more trouble than it's worth."
"You think?" The last thing he wanted to do was make things worse and to be honest, he didn't know what would make the situation better. Since she didn't bring up moving to the East Coast, he assumed that that wasn't even an option. All her family lived on the West. And after hearing about what happened to her brother and his wife, discussing it was a moot point. There couldn't be any harm in sitting in the central hub of the boat and hoping that she'd walk by, right? "Come on, there's a bar at the plaza."
"Right behind ya!"
They didn't say much as they made their trek to the busy hub. It was the one place that you would walk through multiple times a day. It didn't matter which upper floor you were on, except for the top deck, all of them converged on the plaza. Not that they'd really be able to see anything on the other decks, but if she came up or down the stairs, they'd see her.
"Have you checked in with Customer Service?" Jason asked.
"That was the first thing I did, aside from waiting for you guys. They wouldn't tell me her room number. Something about confidentiality, blah blah blah."
After Jason took a sip of his beer and wiped the foam from his lips, he said, "That's bogus. You guys are married."
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that she told them not to tell me."
He still couldn't understand what flew up her butt. He was making the move of his own damn free will so they could be together. Why didn't that make her happy? It left him annoyed and hurt. Maybe she didn't love him as much as he loved her. Logan rubbed his stomach trying to ease the ache which was quickly growing.
"Hey, don't look so down. You'll get her back."
"I think I waited too long, man."
"What happened?"
"Something about not wanting to be the reason why I give up my job and move back to the West Coast."
"It's like they don't believe we make our own choices."
"It drives me insane. Why can't she just be happy that I'm willing to move back?"
"Women always feel responsible for everything. It's like they swallowed a responsibility pill in the womb or something."
"Well, I'm not letting her go this time. I'll plunk myself on her front porch and refuse to leave."
Jason shrugged his shoulders as he took another swig. "I wish I could offer you sage advice, but I got nothing."
"Gee, thanks," he muttered. Truthfully, he knew that no one could really help him but him. He got himself into this mess. Now he just had to figure a way out of it before the cruise ended. Even if he had to tie her to a bed until she came to her senses. Logan chuckled as the image of a few nights ago popped into his head.
Little did he realize, she was getting reacquainted with ropes as the two men sat there nursing a beer.
***
"Let me go, you jackasses, or I'll scream," Tamara snapped, tugging ungraciously at the ropes which bound her hands to the bed, burning her skin in the process. As soon as soon as she got free, she was going to whoop some ass and tie them to the bed. Her heart thumped against her rib cage as she struggled.
"Shut it, lady," the apparent leader of the pack said, taping her mouth shut. All her belongings were removed from her pockets and her suitcase emptied out on the bed. She growled her displeasure, her eyes blazing rings of fire. Who did the man think he was with his black dreadlocks, Medusa?
"I think we might have a problem, boss," one of the guys said, holding up her badge.
"Shit!" He growled, shoving all her stuff off the bed. "This was supposed to go off without a hitch. Damn it. Get me my son. Get him for me. Now!"
"Yes, sir. Right away!" the smallest of the crew took off running out of the room. No doubt to look for the kid.
She knew she was right when she saw the group on the dock. They were up to no good. But how the heck did she end up in their room? The guy never mentioned that anyone else would be sharing it with her.
If they wouldn't have got the drop on her, she would have kicked them all to hell. But her hands were full and before she had a chance to react, they'd already pounced on her. That was the second time this trip that she'd let her guard down and was paying the price for it.
The voice inside her head was ripping her apart. See. This is why you never got the promotion. "Shut up," her spirit shouted back. She was always being told to be aware of her surroundings. That had always been her one fault. Her mind kept on dragging her away when she needed to stay in the moment. They told her that that couldn't happen when she was in charge. She didn't want to believe it, but today she had no other choice. When one of the scrawny men, dressed in tattered jeans and a muscle shirt, came and ran his finger along her leg, she kicked out at him.
"This one has fire. I like it! Can I have five minutes alone with her, boss?"
Captain dreadlocks smacked the man up the side of the head. "If anyone has any alone time with her, it's going to be me."
Tamara glanced at the guns on the other bed and a pit opened up deep in her belly. They were in a hostile takeover situation and the only one who knew about it was her and those involved. She balled her hands into fists to try and stop them from shaking and closed her eyes. If she didn't remain calm, she had no hope in making it out of this alive. Who was she kidding? They weren't just going to let her go. She'd seen their faces.
The only good thing was that there was no way that they'd smuggle her through the ship without someone seeing them. God, why didn't she just stay with Logan? She'd still be having the time of her life right now. Instead, she was locked up with these stinky buffoons.
It didn't take long before the entire crew crammed into the tiny room, including the stewardess that she assumed helped them get on board. "Will someone tell me how the hell this bloody happened?" the captain roared, pointing to Tamara.
The young woman cowered behind Frank. "I'm sorry, sir. I must have forgotten to save the changes I made on the computer."
On one hand she felt sorry for the woman, but on the other, she was the reason that she was in this mess. If the girl would have properly booked them into the room, none of this would have happened.
"You forgot?" The leader's voice rumbled through the tiny room, making everyone cower. This was a man that had earned everyone's fear. Tamara's eyes widened as the man lifted the back of his jacket, pulling out a gun.
The man in front of the girl held up his hands. "Wow, Dad, hold it! Anyone could have made that mistake!"
Her brow furrowed and she narrowed her eyes. Dad? Man, that's quite the family business. But the kid's hesitancy to let the dad shoot the girl meant that he had soft spot. If one girl could get close to him, so could she. She knew what men liked. And with that thought, the black well of anxiety that was springing from her heart started to settle.
Suddenly, the pop of the pistol had Tamara screaming behind the duct tape as she watched the girl slump to the floor. Nausea bubbled inside her and she tugged wildly at the ropes anchoring her wrists to the bed. They killed her. They really killed her. Oh God. Using her shoulder, she scrapped at the tape on her face, frantically trying to get it off.
"Easy does it, princess," the man said, swinging the gun her way. "If you weren't a cop, I'd kill you right now, but lucky for you, I don't feel like spending my entire life in jail labeled as a cop killer. That doesn't go over well."
Tamara glared at him, trying to chill him with her eyes. When she got her hands on him, she was going to sit on him and twist his arm behind his back until he cried for mercy, and then bend it a little more. But given her present circumstance, she settled down. This wasn't the first time she'd stared death, and a gun, in the face.
"What the hell did you do that for?" the young man cried, tears welling up in his eyes. "She was the only reason we got onto this boat to begin with."
His Dad shrugged his shoulders, nonchalantly, like he's done this a hundred times. "Can't afford sloppy people."
The kid wiped his eyes and then stood right in his father's face, pointing to the dead girl. "Well, what do you call this? How are we supposed to hide a dead body on the ship? And what are we supposed to do when she shows up on the roster as missing?"
That was actually a very good question. It's not like they could just stuff it somewhere, staff came into all the rooms on a regular basis. Tamara would have smirked if she didn't have the tape on her mouth. They just tossed themselves up the creek without a paddle.
"Find a way to get it down to the incinerator." The man turned to her, shoving the gun back in his pants. "As for you, I haven't decided what to do with you yet."
The only thing keeping her alive was her badge, but she wasn't sure how long that was going to last. She was really beginning to regret not letting Customer service tell Logan where she went. Because if there was one thing she could count on, it would be him coming to look for her.
Now she was hooped and she didn't like that feeling at all.
Please, Logan, help me.