Chapter 7
Janet sat down on the bunk and waited for Paul to come to the brig. She didn't have to wait too long before he showed up and sent the MAA away.
"That was sure a stupid stunt," Paul said as he stood outside the entrance to the brig. "But you did make my job easier because now I don't have to worry about you talking to anyone. I've convinced them you're a danger to everyone on board. Now as far as Lee is concerned, he'll pay dearly for your stunt."
"Please don't hurt him," Janet begged. "Please."
Paul turned around and walked away with a grin on his face. He ran into Jamie on his way back to his cabin. The admiral called him when he got back to his cabin and asked him to talk to Lee.
"Lee, let me talk to her. There must be something wrong, let me check her out."
"No, she'll be fine in there and Jamie I'm ordering you not to come in contact with her. There's no medical issue so you can't countermand my orders. Just a disagreement between a married couple."
"Lee," Jamie pleaded but Paul walked away and left Jamie standing in the middle of the passageway wondering what was wrong with him.
((()))
Paul returned to the cabin, got undressed and slid into the bunk. He needed to find out how far from the yacht was from the island, make sure the men were in place and get an update on Crane. He needed a reason to surface the boat. As he laid there he thought, I'll have Adam start a fire in the galley, they would have to surface so they could scrub the boat of smoke. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.
Janet laid down on the bunk and noticed the lights dim in the passageway to simulate nighttime. At least I don't have to sleep in the chair, she thought. But she was worried about Lee and what Paul would do to him. She fell asleep her eyes wet with tears.
((()))
Lee woke the next morning and could feel the heat radiating off his burnt body. He still had a headache, was nauseated and when he tried to stand up he almost passed out. He slowly sat back down on the mattress waiting for the dizziness to subside. He reached under the mattress for the bottle of water but it was empty. As he sat there, he heard the lock disengage on the door. Arnie and Howie were there with his breakfast of oatmeal, coffee and water.
"You sure are burnt," Arnie said to Lee as he looked him over.
"Too bad it's cloudy today or you could've gotten burnt on the back. It looks like a storm is brewing," Howie grinned.
"Can I please take a shower?" Lee asked knowing the cool water would feel good on his skin.
"Sure, why not," Arnie said as Lee slowly stood up and gathered his clothes as he never bothered to put them on the night before. He hid the extra water bottle in his shirt so he could fill it with water. The two men walked Lee to the small bathroom. He let the cool water from the shower cascade down his body. He had been in there a while when he heard pounding on the door.
"What the hell is taking you so long," Arnie yelled.
"I'll be right out," Lee replied as he slowly eased his dirty clothes over his burnt skin. He filled the bottle with water and hid it under his shirt. He walked back to the room and heard the door lock. Lee didn't eat the oatmeal but drank the coffee and water. He put the extra bottle under the mattress again. As he sat on the mattress, he could feel the boat starting to rock more than before. The storm Howie mentioned must be upon them. Lee laid down on the mattress and wondered how Janet was fairing with Paul. If he tries anything with her, he will be sorry, Lee thought. He was glad he was in the bottom of the yacht and not on top during the storm.
((()))
Paul awoke the next morning and looked at the door with the bullet hole. He was surprised at how calm Janet was handling the gun. If he hadn't lunged at her, she would have shot him. He showered, dressed and went down to the brig to check on her. She was curled up next to the bulkhead covered by the blanket and looked pretty harmless but he didn't trust her at all. She opened her eyes and saw him staring at her.
"What do you want?" she asked quietly as she sat up.
"Just checking to see how you are. After all you're a danger to everyone," he smirked. "I'll have Adam bring you some breakfast."
"Whatever you want," she replied. "Can I get out to take a shower?"
"Maybe later when I can escort you to the cabin. Don't worry sweetie you're not going to do anything to get sweaty so if you don't get a shower today, you can take one tomorrow," he quipped and walked away heading for the wardroom for breakfast. He knew he was going to have to face the admiral, Chip and Jamie regarding Janet.
Janet rested her back against the front of the bunk. Damn, she thought, there goes my escape plan.
((()))
When Paul arrived in the wardroom the only person in there was Adam who was putting out the coffee urn and cups. "Meet me at the brig in fifteen minutes and have a breakfast tray for Janet. I'll let you in and I need to talk to you."
"Yes sir," he replied loudly when Cookie came into the wardroom from the crew's mess.
"Sir would you like breakfast now or wait for the admiral and Chip and dine with them," Cookie asked briskly.
The whole boat had heard what took place in the captain's cabin last night and wondered why he locked Janet up in the brig instead of letting her go to sick bay. None of the crew would question what he had done but they sure didn't like it.
"Yes, I'll eat now. Please have a tray made up for Janet and have Adam take it down to her," he told Cookie.
"Yes sir, I'll take care of it right away," Cookie replied as he handed Paul a plate of french toast and sausages.
Paul took the plate and set it down on the table and returned to the coffee urn and poured a cup of coffee. He had just sat down to eat when Chip came in. He went to the sideboard and put some French toast and sausages on his plate along with a cup of coffee and sat down next to Lee.
"How is Janet this morning?" he asked as he took a sip of coffee.
"She seemed fine but still looked a little agitated when I saw her a few minutes ago."
"Lee, please let Jamie check her out. There has to be a reason why she 'snapped' as you said."
Rubbing his hand on his forehead Paul said, "Chip please let me handle this my way. You know Jamie can't give her anything as she has a bad reaction to drugs. I'm afraid she'll hurt someone else and I couldn't live with myself if she did. But thanks for your concern."
Discouraged, Chip replied, "Okay Lee, have it your way."
Paul finished his breakfast and saw Adam was waiting with Janet's tray. "I'll be in the control room shortly," he said to Chip, "I just want to make sure Janet gets her breakfast." Chip nodded and continued to eat his breakfast which suddenly didn't taste very good. He took his plate, scraped what he didn't eat into the garbage, and put the dishes in the bin and left the wardroom for the control room. Just as he was leaving the admiral and Jamie walked in.
"Where's Lee?" the admiral asked not seeing him.
"Bringing Janet her breakfast," Chip answered. "Don't ask him about it, he won't let her out."
The admiral and Jamie looked at Chip, shook their heads and got some breakfast.
((()))
Paul and Adam made their way down to the brig. Paul unlocked the door and Adam set the tray down on the small table next to the bunk. "I'll be back to take the tray," Adam said to Janet as he left.
"I'll stop by later to check on you," Paul told Janet as he locked the door. She just looked at him and didn't say a word. As they walked away Janet heard Paul tell Adam he needed his help.
"I need to contact the yacht and make sure the men are on Cole Island when we get there. I can't just surface the boat with no reason so I want you to start a fire in the galley. This way we'll have to surface to scrub the boat of smoke. I'll make up an excuse to go topside and call the yacht. Do you think you can handle it?"
"No problem," Adam said grinning. "Cookie was going to let me make the rolls for dinner but guess we'll have to do without them. I won't be able to take care of this until early this afternoon. I still have to straighten up the cabins and put fresh coffee in the cabins as well as help out in the laundry."
"This afternoon will be fine. Here's the key to the brig so you can bring her lunch and dinner. Also don't leave or give her anything. She'll find some way to use whatever you leave to bust open this operation. I can't believe she almost shot me," Paul lamented.
"You were lucky. I heard the captain's been taking her shooting so she knows how to handle a gun."
"She's really starting to bug me. I just may have to do something about it as she's actually getting in the way. I better get up to the control room before Chip sends out a search party. I can't wait for this to be over," Paul said seriously.
((()))
Adam returned to the wardroom to clean it up after the breakfast crowd and Paul went to the control room. The morning passed quickly. Adam returned to pick up Janet's tray and noticed none of the food had been eaten.
He knew Paul would be mad but would wait to say something until after lunch. When Adam returned to the wardroom with Janet's tray, Cookie looked it over and saw none of the food had been touched. He had orders from Jamie to let him know anytime she didn't eat her meals. He would wait to see if she ate lunch before reporting it to Jamie.
"Adam," Cookie said, "Get a move on, we need to bake the rolls for dinner."
"Yes sir," he replied and quickly finished setting up the wardroom for lunch. Cookie prepared a lunch tray for Janet. It had her favorite soup and a sandwich with a cup of tea. When Adam arrived at the brig, he noticed she was sitting on the bunk staring at the door. He unlocked the door and put the tray on the table.
"Please let me out," Janet begged.
"Not a chance," Adam replied as he locked the door and walked back to the wardroom.
Janet looked at the tray of food. She was hungry but knew if she didn't eat again, Cookie would come down to find out why. He would then report to Jamie that she wasn't eating. Hopefully Jamie would make Paul release her to sick bay, she thought.
