Chapter 4
Madeline's phone rang, but it was so noisy in the club, she didn't hear it. It eventually stilled, and the caller left a voice mail. "Mrs. Westen, we have Michael. I want one million dollars delivered to a boat moored at Dinner Key Marina by nine tomorrow morning, or Michael is dead. And if you care about his friends, include five hundred thousand each for Nate Westen, Sam Axe, and Jesse Porter. We'll throw Barry Burkowski and Virgil Watkins in for free, just for allowin' us to do business wit ya."
Martienne ended the call and swore under his breath. Then he scrolled through the listings again. He found one labeled CIA and smiled. Surely someone at this number would answer, and when they learned what he had, take action.
"Agent Pearce."
"Hello, Agent Pearce. Does a Michael Westen work for you?"
Her reply was guarded, and he knew the answer even before she asked, "Who is this?"
"My name is Jean-Luc Martienne. I am holding onto Mr. Westen until I receive one million dollars for his release. I also have his friends and his brother, and for another 1.5 million, you can have them too. So, what do you say?"
"I don't bargain to get my agents back."
"Really. I would think you'd want this one. You have until nine a.m. tomorrow to leave the money in a boat in slip sixteen at the Dinner Key Marina. If it is not there, they all die."
"I'm sorry, it would take awhile to get together 2.5 million dollars. If we even negotiate for Westen, not to mention whoever else you have. How do I know you aren't bluffing?"
"You are a smart lady. Fine, I give you proof of life in one hour, and you give me an answer that I want to hear." Martienne closed the connection and turned to one of his men. "Bring them all up here."
Their hands zip-tied, the pirates led Barry, Sam, Jesse, Nate, and Virgil up the stairs onto the deck and arranged them for a group photo. Michael, whose hands were also tied, found himself shoved into the edge of the group.
"You three, kneel down," Martienne ordered Barry, Virgil, and Nate. Jesse, Sam, and Michael were arranged behind them. "Now, everybody smile!" Martienne used Michael's phone to take the pictures. Once he was satisfied, he ordered, "Take them back downstairs. All of them. And make sure they're tied up good. Wouldn't want anyone to try to get away by swimming for it, would we? Not that any of them would make it." He laughed, but quickly sobered. "Keep in mind, gentlemen, anyone who attempts to flee will be shot. And my boys have been lookin' for a good bit of target practice, so don't tempt them if you value your life."
The six men were stuffed into one of the bedrooms with small portholes for windows, the door was locked, and they were left alone with a guard outside the door. Their hands and feet were bound, making escape difficult, if not impossible.
"Great, so now what do we do," Nate asked as he slid down the side of the bed to sit on the floor.
"Can't you guys shoot your way out or something," Barry piped up.
"No, because we didn't come armed. Contrary to what you might believe, Barry, we don't spend every waking moment with a gun strapped to us." Michael squirmed, trying to loosen the strap confining his feet.
"Mike, we should probably just try to get some rest," Sam suggested. "It's obvious the Coast Guard isn't coming to assist us. Virgil sent out a distress call. Didn't you, Virg?"
"Yeah, I did." He leaned in toward the others and spoke softer so that anyone listening in wouldn't be able to hear him from on the other side of the door. "I also set the automatic signal. Help should have been here by now."
"Unless these guys have the local Coast Guard in their pocket." Sam hated bringing it up, but he knew it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.
"Then why would they respond to my first call?"
"We don't know that was the Coast Guard. It could have been anybody," Michael said. "If there was a way for us to get up there and send another signal, maybe that would help."
Jesse nodded. "So we wait until they're asleep, and try to take out the guards as quietly as we can, confiscate their weapons, and then we'll have something to work with."
Sam agreed. "That's probably our best bet, Mike."
"We need to work on getting out of these bindings first." Michael stood and looked around the room for something that would cut through the plastic. Anything metal and sharp would do. He carefully stood and shuffled his feet over to the bathroom. Everyone watched and also kept an eye on the bedroom door in case it opened. Above, they heard footsteps on the deck.
"Hey Jesse, I've got an idea." Sam whispered.
"What is it?" Jesse leaned close and asked softly.
"It'll require sacrificing one of my favorite shirts, but I'll do anything to get out of here." Sam looked at one of the portholes. "If Mike can find something to untie us, we can take my shirt and let it hang out the porthole. The red will attract help, hopefully. Not now, but when it gets light."
"We've got a long time before dawn, Sam. And what if the pirates see it?"
"They won't, if we put it on the port side. They parked their boat on the starboard side, remember?"
Jesse nodded. "Okay, let's just hope Mike finds something to cut these things off."
"Hey, guys," Nate whispered.
Sam turned his head toward Nate and asked, "What?"
"I've got a knife in my pocket."
"What? How'd you manage to keep it? They searched us all for weapons," Jesse rasped.
"I know, but I've got this one pocket that is kind of funny, and things sometimes get lost in it." He smiled. "This is the one time I'm glad it happened. Somebody's just gotta reach in and get it."
Jesse and Sam looked at each other, then glanced at Virgil. "Oh no, fellas, I ain't that kind of guy!"
"Our survival depends upon it." Jesse coaxed him.
"Then you do it!"
"Oh for cryin' out loud. Nate, stay where you are." Sam backed up against Nate's side. "No, this won't work. You'll have to lay down or something so I can get in there."
"I think I can get up on the bed!"
Nate and Sam worked against the foot of the bed to rise and sit on the surface. Then Nate lay on his back and contorted himself so Sam could get his hands to the pocket that hid the knife. "This isn't going to work," Sam said after trying a couple of different angles.
Michael came out of the bathroom with his feet unbound and working on his hands with a dull scissors. "What are you two doing?"
"Trying to get to a pocket knife Nate's got hidden in his pants."
Michael rolled his eyes. "You mean I just spent ten minutes with a dull scissors from a med kit trying to cut through the zip tie holding my feet together, and you had a way to cut through just like that?"
"Sorry, bro."
"It's okay. Where is it?"
"My right pocket."
Sam scooted over to the head of the bed so Michael could get in and find the pocket knife. When he pulled it out, he cut his wrists apart first and then quickly unbound everyone else. They heard footsteps coming close and voices outside the door.
"Quick!" Michael exclaimed with a soft voice. "Everybody pretend you're still bound!" He tucked the pocket knife under the bed and covered it with the bedspread, then pulled his feet under the covering and held his hands behind his back.
The door opened, and Martienne poked his head inside. "It's nice to see you all behavin' yourselves. Nobody's called back on ya yet, but don't give up hope. They still have about ten hours left. Sleep well, gentlemen." He laughed as he closed the door and it was locked again.
When he was sure no one was coming back, Michael stood up and Sam joined him. "Mike, I came up with a plan to let anyone who passes by this boat know that we're in here. Look, I know it's dark, but if the Coast Guard is out there looking for us, and they shine a spot on the boat, they'll see my shirt hanging out the port hole and know we need help."
Michael glanced down at the bright red hawaiian shirt with birds of paradise scattered over the material. "It's the best thing we've got. Let's do it."
Sam removed his shirt and had a white t-shirt underneath. Michael found a tie in the closet among a few items of clothing and used it to secure the shirt.
"Okay, so now what?" Nate bounced nervously on the balls of his feet.
"We wait. Not much else we can do," Michael replied.
The queen size bed had enough room for two. By arranging the numerous bed pillows on the floor, they created two more places to sleep. They drew for the bed, and Nate and Sam won. Michael and Jesse took the impromptu beds on the floor, and Virgil and Barry sat in cushy chairs.
"I'll keep watch," Virgil said. "You all get some rest."
The lights were controlled by a dimmer switch, so Virgil turned them down enough to allow the others to sleep, but he also was able to see if anyone came into the room. He didn't like the idea of just laying down and taking this, but they really didn't have a choice. They had no weapons except for a measly pocket knife. Ten against six wasn't the worst odds, but still not good when the pirate leader had fellas with AK-47s and semi-automatic guns. He kept listening for the sound of a Coast Guard vessel, but there was nothing. He couldn't believe that something like this could happen. Well, he could. He just didn't want to believe it was true.
It was late when Maddie arrived home. Nate's driver was nice enough to walk her to the door and wait until she was safely inside. She thanked him before locking the door behind her, and she tossed her purse onto the dining room table as she went to the kitchen to get herself something to drink. She'd had enough alcohol. She needed water, or she'd wake up dehydrated and feeling like crap on her son's wedding day. After getting a large glass, Maddie headed for the stairs and noticed her phone laying on the table next to her open purse. The voice mail icon glowed.
Strange, I don't remember my phone ringing while we were out. She smiled, thinking that maybe Virgil had called. She knew he was taking the men out on a yacht he borrowed from a mutual friend of his and Sam's. Hopefully, he was calling to say he decided to stay overnight on the boat and would be attending the wedding tomorrow. She eagerly hit the button to listen to the message, but once she heard it, all thoughts of going to sleep that night went out the window.
"Madeline? Why are you calling?"
"Fiona...I just found a voice mail on my phone. Someone is holding Michael, Sam, Jesse, Nate, Barry, and Virgil prisoner! They want money, or they're going to kill them. Please, you've got to do something!"
"Where are they?"
"I don't know, somewhere out on the ocean! Virgil took them for a cruise and God only knows where they went!"
There was a long pause as Fiona shook off her knee-jerk emotions and focused on the problem. "I know someone at the Coast Guard. He might be able to help us find them. If Michael and the others are incapacitated, I'll need someone to help me attack their captors. Do you think you can do that?"
"I...I don't know. All I know is that someone needs to do something!"
"Okay, I'll make some phone calls. Come over to my place, and by the time you get here, I should have things in place to move forward."
"Alright. I'll be there soon."
"Oh, and change into some sturdy pants and a shirt. Something that doesn't matter if it gets ruined, because this could get messy."
Maddie heard the measured rage building up in Fiona's voice and he knew that if she managed to find them, the kidnappers were as good as dead. She quickly changed into more utilitarian clothing, picked up the shotgun, a handgun that Michael left at her house, and ammunition for both. The shotgun she stored in the trunk of her car, the handgun went into her purse, and she locked up the house and drove to Fiona's.
Fiona opened the door the moment she knocked and came out with a large duffle bag. "Are you ready? I talked to my friend at the Coast Guard. He wasn't able to help me much. Their communications officer picked up some coordinates that were broadcast from the yacht, but when the Guard went out to check on them, there was no sign of the boat."
Maddie sucked in a breath. "Did it sink?" She followed Fiona to the younger woman's car, stopping only long enough to pick up the shotgun.
Fiona smiled when she saw the weapon. "Maddie, you won't need that. Trust me, I'm well armed." She patted the bag that she dropped into her trunk and slammed the lid closed. "I have a friend with a boat. We're heading to the marina to get it and find the yacht."
"But how will you find it if the coordinates are wrong?" Maddie got into the passenger seat.
"I spoke with Pearce. She's attempting to locate Michael using CIA resources. Hopefully, when we get to the marina, she'll have a lead for us."
"Who are these people that kidnapped them?"
"Pirates, most likely. Believe it or not, they're a thriving lot around the Caribbean islands and the Atlantic between the Bahamas and south Florida.."
"The man on the phone said he wanted two and a half million dollars for Michael, Nate, Sam, and Jesse," Maddie told her. "We don't have that kind of money!"
"It's okay, we won't need it. We'll find the yacht, rescue the men, and teach those pirates a little lesson." Fiona's smile communicated her hope that whatever they did involved blowing something to kingdom come. "Did they give a deadline for when they have to have the money?"
"Nine a.m. tomorrow morning."
"It'll be okay. We'll find Michael before the deadline. And I have faith that Michael will find a way to get everyone out of there, wherever they are. God willing, we'll be around to help."
Virgil noticed when the sounds above deck stopped. He got out of his seat and went over to Michael, gently jostling him awake. "Mike, I'm not sure but I think the pirates left the ship."
"How do you know?"
"It's been awfully quiet up there."
"Did you check the door to see if it was still locked? If it is, the second you start rattling it, someone will come." Michael sat up, stretched and got to his feet. He reached out and patted Sam on the leg. "Sam, wake up."
Virgil moved to the other side of the room and woke Jesse. "Jesse, come on, man. Wake up. We're gonna go topside and see what's up."
"Huh? What about the pirates?" Jesse mumbled as he came to life.
"We don't know where they are, but they're bein' awful quiet right now. So we're gonna check it out."
Without his tools, Sam had no way to open the door if it was locked. Michael tried the knob and it didn't budge. Sam shook his head. Then Virgil handed him the pocket knife, which Sam was able to slip between the door and the jamb. With a little work, it unlocked and he was able to open the door, only a sliver at first to check what was on the other side.
"Crap, there's one guard," Sam whispered to Michael. "He looks like he's sleeping."
If they had some knockout drugs, they could just inject him and immobilize him immediately. Instead, Michael would have to rely on his martial arts skills to give the man a good long nap.
"You ready Mike?"
"Yes." Sam opened the door and Michael exited the room. The guard heard a noise, awoke, but he was too late. Michael dispatched him quickly and quietly. He waited and listened for sounds of more guards, but there were none. "Okay, let's go up. Jesse, you and Virgil stay here, make sure this guy doesn't cause any problems."
"Oh, it'll be our pleasure," Virgil said with a grin. He and Jesse worked together to tie and gag him. Barry and Nate were awake now, so they helped.
Michael held the pocket knife as a weapon, and Sam grabbed the guard's AK-47. Slowly, they climbed the steps to the deck, looking around and trying to see by the light of the dim lamps on deck and a half moon. The sea rolled casually underneath the vessel.
"There's nobody up here," Sam noted with surprise.
"The other boat is still tethered to ours. Let's go over the entire deck, and if there's no one here but us, we'll untie and get away."
"How? Not without turning on the engines and alerting them. And I guarantee their boat is a lot faster than ours. They'll catch up to us in no time."
"One step at a time, Sam."
They soon found that they were indeed alone, except for the one guard below. Sam and Michael met in the stern, and Sam spoke softly. "These guys are sloppy, Mike."
"Or just really clever. This might be a trap."
"I'm willing to take the chance that they're just stupid and try to get away. Are we taking that guy below with us? Maybe we can use him as leverage if things get tough."
"Yes. If we don't need him for that, at least one of them will be prosecuted for what they've done." Michael untied the pirate's boat from their yacht. "We'll have to work together to pull up the anchor without drawing attention to ourselves. Come on." They stole their way to the front, manually hauled up the anchor, and immediately the boat began to drift. Michael ran to the bridge and Sam followed, covering him with the gun.
Jesse and Virgil came up on deck. The boats slipped farther apart. Virgil picked up a pole with a hook that was strapped to the inside of the yacht's side and with Jesse's help pushed it against the bow of the pirate's boat, causing them to drift farther away.
"Hey! Dey gettin' away!" A pirate appeared on the bow and aimed at the men on the yacht.
Sam fired at him, hitting him squarely in the chest. He lost his grip on the gun as he plunged into the water between the boats. Jesse reached out and snagged their second AK-47 before it hit the water.
Two more pirates appeared on the other boat's deck and fired on them. It was two against two. One of the pirates ran up the deck toward the bow and leaped over the widening gap. He missed, let go of his weapon, and grabbed onto the rail.
"Virg, grab that gun!"
"Got it, Sam!" Virgil scooped it up and grinned as they suddenly had three guns.
"Virgil, get this boat started!" Michael took the gun from him and covered his ascent to the bridge.
Virgil kept his head down, because seven pirates were shooting at them, and the one that clamped onto the rail was climbing into the yacht. Sam swung the butt of his gun up and caught him under the chin, causing the pirate to fall backwards against the rail the moment his feet hit the deck. He drew a pistol and aimed at Sam, but Sam shot first and planted a foot into the man's chest to send him overboard. Nate picked up the gun from the deck and shot at the pirates on the other boat. It was hard to see, but he did the best he could. That's all any of them could do.
The yacht engines stirred and came to life, and Virgil opened up the throttle. Nate lost his footing and pitched toward the back rail. Michael saw him teetering, but he was too far away to do anything. "Nate!"
Sam and Jesse grabbed for him. Jesse caught his arm, and Sam the front of his shirt, and together they kept him from going overboard.
"Thanks, guys!"
"No problem." Sam said, and he and Jesse emptied the guns on the boat that was quickly becoming a small blot on the landscape.
"They're not following us," Nate said, his voice raised in elation.
"Don't get too happy. They're following," Barry announced as he hung onto the rail.
"Nate, Barry, you two get down below and keep an eye on our friend," Michael ordered them. "Sam, Jesse..."
"We're out of ammunition, Mike." Sam broke the news to him with an apologetic look. "We need speed, and hopefully Virgil knows where he's driving us, because I've got a feeling we're not where we started."
"No, we're not," Virgil threw over his shoulder. "But don't you worry, Sammy. I'm a good navigator! I'll get us to Miami." He turned back to the wheel and concentrated on steering them toward the mainland. Far off to the port side he saw faint lights on either an island or a key. There were too many of either in the area, and at this point, it didn't matter. Thanks to the GPS system he knew where they were and which direction to go to make it to the marina. Sam was right. The pirates had towed them several miles out of their way. It would take them almost two hours to return if they didn't have Blackbeard on their tails. Good thing I filled up on gas before we left.
"I sure wish we had some of Fi's C4 on board," Sam said. "We could have blown that ship to smithereens before getting away."
"Maybe we don't need C4," Virgil shouted down to the men. "Not when there's a well stocked liquor cabinet."
"He's right. Sam, come with me. Jesse, go down below and find as many rags as you can and matches or a lighter."
Jesse grinned. "I'm on it!"
Michael and Sam moved to the front of the yacht where a bar was set up with a sitting area. The two of them grabbed every bottle they could carry. "Man, this has got to be the best stocked bar I've seen on a boat that wasn't a cruise ship," Sam remarked as he carried his load hugged in two arms.
"This just might be what saves us," Michael said.
When they returned to the stern, Jesse sat ripping a sheet into strips. He glanced at the bottles that they set on the deck before him. "Wow, that's a lot of booze!"
"And there's more. At least one more armload," Sam said and turned back to the front of the boat to collect the rest. He stopped a moment to glance back at the sea behind them and saw the ship gaining. "They're faster than we are!"
"Then you better haul ass and get the rest of those bottles, Sam, and help us load 'em with rags," Jesse exclaimed.
Sam ignored the tension in Jesse's tone and raced back for the last of the bottles. He found a case of quality bourbon in a cabinet, mentally tallying up how much it must have cost. This is going to be one hell of a bar tab! He hurried back to the preparations for battle and picked up a pile of rags that were cut and ready to be stuffed into bottles. Before they were within throwing distance, the pirates shot at them. A bullet bounced off the deck and whizzed by Michael's head.
"Think they'd stop shooting if we brought their buddy up on deck," Sam asked.
"I wouldn't count on it," Michael replied. He glanced up at the ever decreasing distance between the two boats. "Another ten to twelve yards and we should be able to start lobbing these at them."
Jesse handed Michael a lighter. "I found two of these down there."
"Just give me a lit one and I'll keep passing off the flame to another bottle," Sam said as he held out a large full one with a rag dangling from the end. Jesse lit it and the flame quickly crawled up to the mouth of the bottle.
"Okay, let's do it," Michael shouted. They lit their first homemade grenades from their cover behind a bench seat. Sam let his fly and it landed on the bow, shattered, and spread flame across the fore deck. One pirate scurried out of the way.
Jesse and Michael threw their first bombs and backed up Sam's salvo. The flames caught on the pirate's pant leg, and he shook his leg trying to put it out, but it only made it worse. Panicking, he dove off the ship into the water. Whether he was alive or not made no difference, because the driver kept on his obsessed journey and left him behind.
"How many guys do they have left," Sam asked.
"I think it's six," Michael replied, "But it doesn't matter. We need to just stop them or take them all out at once."
They continued to throw their bombs while the pirates shot at them. A block of Swiss cheese would have looked in better shape than the seat back the three used for cover between throws. A bullet pierced the seat, and Jesse cried out.
"He's been shot, Mike!"
"I'm okay! Just keep throwing!" Jesse pressed his hand to his upper arm near his shoulder to stop the blood flow.
Sam and Michael picked up the pace. Michael threw one and a pirate caught it, then quickly threw it back. It crashed onto the deck and ignited some of the other bottles. Michael pulled a fire extinguisher from the wall and aimed it at the fire, putting it out. They just lost four good weapons, and he glanced around and noted that they only had a dozen more.
"Sam, we're not going to be able to stop them with these."
"Like hell we're not!" He threw a bottle hard enough to crack the windshield of the bridge, and quickly threw another in the same place. The cracked glass gave way and the flaming bottle shattered on the console. The driver jumped back, shrieking, his clothes on fire.
"Good aim!"
Sam grinned and nodded. They watched as the pirate boat turned in an arc that developed into a circle with no one at the helm. "That should keep them busy for a little awhile." He shouted up to Virgil. "Get us out of here, Virg!" He threw the last of his lit bombs into the back of the boat, setting upholstery on fire.
"Aye!" Virgil had pulled back a little to allow his team to have a shot at disabling the other boat. Now that they'd managed to do so, he kicked it up to full speed and turned them more sharply toward the Florida coastline. If they could keep them off their behinds for another half hour, the chances of catching a Coast Guard patrol would get a whole lot better.