As Tamara crouched outside the gruesome bathroom, she hugged herself tightly. Her stomach churned at her most recent decision. She was supposed to protect life, not take it. That was the one thing she never liked. When she became a cop, all she thought about was putting away bad guys for the rest of their lives so they couldn't destroy any more families. If she shot anyone, it was a non-fatal shot to incapacitate them until the situation was under control.
Here, without much other recourse, she was left with no choice. They had to take back the ship, and there was no way she could get him down to the brig without being seen. If she just let him go, it could have caused more harm to the passengers. Gah! She was never going on a boat again.
Standing up, she wiped her hands on her pants as she tried to decide what to do. She knew the announcement was about her and the big kahuna would be on the bridge. It was a place where he'd be well protected behind a large metal door. One that was impossible to break into like a cockpit door.
If she could make them believe that she was the only one out here, then hopefully she'd be able to keep Logan, Jason, and Darla safe, and by them more time to rescue everyone. Slowly but surely she made her way up to the bridge deck. Standing at the railing, she stared out over the turquoise coloured water. On one hand, she wished they could abandon the ship and just disappear into the sunset, but she couldn't leave a ship full of people behind for her own selfish reasons.
Tamara pushed away from the railing and began the walk down the hallway to the door of the bridge, her body rigid. There was no telling her runaway heart to settle down nor was there any reassurance she could give herself. This was a suicide mission that she had no choice but to complete.
Everything inside her was telling her to run and don't look back. That eventually the bad guys would leave and they'd be fine, but her warrior spirit knew better. If they didn't stop them, they would just keep doing the same thing over and over. It had to end with them.
Tamara walked to the door, tilted her face up to the camera, and narrowed her eyes, wishing she could take them out with a death stare. "I'm here."
When the door opened, a man grabbed her arm and dragged her across the room to Captain Lockheart who had taken up residence in the captain's chair. "So the prodigal captive returns."
She tried to jump at him, but two of his men held her back. "You aren't going to get away with this."
Captain Lockheart stretched out his hands as if to say, 'look around. "In case you haven't already noticed, I have already."
"Men like you will always get what's coming to them," she replied, spitting at him. "You're a frickin' asshole."
The captain got up quickly and walked over to her. When he was in reach, he took a handful of her hair and yanked it back. "Mind your p's and q's, lady, or I'll make use of your own asshole."
"Just try it. I'll make sure you never use your sorry excuse for a dick again."
"Feisty one, aren't ya? I think I like you."
"Can't say the same, sorry!"
He just gripped her hair tighter, pulling her body back even more. Tamara tried hard to keep her balance as she fought to get her hands loose from the men holding her.
"Where's your friend?"
"She's dead," she snapped. "Let me go, damn it!"
Captain Lockheart ran his finger across her cheek. "Why don't I believe you?"
"I'm alone, aren't I?" Tamara pointed towards the crew sitting off to the side. "Let them go."
He whacked her across the cheek. "Don't tell me what to do."
Tamara refused to cry out in pain and instead bit her cheeks as she waited for the sting to subside. "Is this what you do, hit defenceless women?"
She had to keep him talking, keep him distracted until Logan and Jason found some way to free them all. She knew how to egg him on and keep him busy. It was her specialty. That was probably why none of her relationships ever went anywhere. Either that or she just had really bad choice in men, except Logan. He was an amazing soul and she wanted their relationship to work. And this man wasn't going to ruin that for her.
"Take her to the captain's corridors," the man ordered. "And make sure she's naked."
"Oh, hell no!" she brought her foot down hard on one of her captive's feet, and he released her as he hopped on one foot. Spinning, she went to bring her elbow up into the other man's throat. When suddenly there was a gunshot. Everyone screamed again as they watched the captain fall over, blood spreading across the chest of his shirt.
"Now be a good girl or I'll kill another."
Her spirit deflated as she watched the man gasp for air, his hands clawing at his throat. "Damn you." She jumped at him, but his men had recovered enough to grab her again.
Captain Lockheart walked over to one of the stewardess's and hauled her up to her feet, pressing the barrel of the gun against her neck. "Do what I say or she dies."
This was not at all what she envisioned would happen when she got here. Now she understood why she was passed up for the promotion. They were right about her not being ready. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a cop. "Fine. Fine! Just let her go."
The men led her into the captain's quarters and handcuffed both her hands to a pipe on the side of the room and then ripped her clothes from her body. The cool air from the open window made goose bumps rise up from her skin. Fear rushed through her like a stampede. There was no getting away this time.
"Logan!" she whispered, her voice cracking as she watched the men's eyes feasting on her naked body. Tamara pulled her legs close to her chest, trying to shield as much of her body from them as she could.
The Captain soon appeared at the door with a predatorial look in his eyes, like a cat hunting his prey. "Leave us!" he ordered to his men.
"Aw, can't we have fun with her ,too?" they begged.
"Go pick your own women!"
They shut the door behind them. Her body shook at the realization of what was about to happen. And she couldn't do anything. Pain stabbed her in the chest. She should have listened to Logan, and then she wouldn't be in this mess.
"You know, my wife stopped having sex with me a long time ago."
"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" she asked coolly, trying to slip her hands through the cuffs.
"They are tied securely. You aren't going anywhere."
She had to change her tactic. If she kept this up, she would be the next person to visit a therapist as a rape vicitim. Tamara took a deep breath and tried to imagine a nice calming pool somewhere in the middle of a forest as she tried to bring her heart rate back down.
"You know, this could be enjoyable for us both if you release me," she said, raising her voice an octave, bringing out her flirty persona. "I could give you a blow job like no other."
"Nah, I'm good. I like my women tied up and helpless."
"I'll make it worth your while," she purred.
"It's already gonna be worth my while."
She cried out in pain when she tried to pull her injured hand out of the cuff. Please come on! She tried again but to no avail. Slowly, the man removed his own clothes. Snake and skull tattoos covered three quarters of his body.
"I will do anything you want if you release me," she tried again.
"I don't need anything from you but your body. I wanna see how tight your ass hole is."
Acid rose up in her throat as bile filled her mouth. Oh god. She was going to be sick. Leaning over the side of the couch she spewed the food from her stomach on the floor. All her self-defence training was for not. She had nothing. No one to help her.
He reached for her and flipped her onto her stomach, half her body resting over the arm of the couch. "Don't do this!" she begged.
He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back hard, grazing his teeth against her neck. "I'm going to do what I want, how I want, and you can't stop me."
He probed between her butt cheeks with his finger as tears burned in her eyes. She was as helpless as a kitten. "Logan, please!" she cried under her breath.