Hey everyone,
Hope everyone's having a great Thursday, the weeks is nearly over, although I work Saturdays so really it's only Wednesday for me, sad face.
Lisa McCune's new series starts tonight so I'm celebrating with a new chapter.
Thanks to those who left reviews! Always makes me smile to hear the people are enjoying my crazy ramblings!
I've nearly finished this one and I'm a bit sad, I don't really want it to end! Lol
But I do have another one on the go, so this is my life now lol!
Anyway, on with the show, as always reviews are always appreciated!
20 Questions
Chapter 10
Pete turned round to the bar to order another drink, he glanced down at his phone sitting on the bar mat and noticed the multiple missed calls from Kate. He grabbed it and repeatedly dialled her number, there was no answer. He immediately knew something was wrong, he tried again trying to alleviate his fears, again no answer. Before he could act on his worry Kelly burst into the pub.
"Help! Please!"
Her husband ran over to her and held her in his arms.
"Kelly! Where's Grace?"
She tried to answer him through her sobs.
"She, she was taken, some men took her!"
Pete rushed over to them noticing their panic and the state that Kelly was in.
"Sir, Ma'am, are you okay? I'm Pete, I'm an officer with the Royal Australia Navy."
Pete led them to a table and sat them down, Kelly wiped the constant stream of tears from her eyes.
"Some men took my daughter... I... I don't know why... a woman came and helped me she said to come here and find her crew... are you it?"
"Did she tell you her name?"
"Ah, Kate?"
"Can you show me which way she went?"
She nodded, Pete stood up and rushed over to the crew.
"Bonding time is over, Kate's in trouble..."
The crew put down their glasses and were immediately ready for orders.
They stood at the edge of the jungle, Kelly pointed towards the north.
"She ran in there after them, I'm sorry I don't know where they came from..."
Pete looked in to the jungle, it was getting dark and the likelihood of finding them that night was fading. He turned back to the Wilkinson's trying not to make them more anxious.
"Okay, we will notify the authorities and send out some search parties, where are you staying?"
Garry pointed out to sea.
"Our yacht the "Grace Kelly" is anchored off shore..."
"Okay, probably best to head back there, we'll radio in if we find anything..."
They all headed back for the ship and got their gear. Pete addressed the crew as the put on their gear.
"Okay, Swain, 2Dads with me..."
Charge put his hand on Pete's shoulder.
"X, you can't go, if we need to sail and Kate isn't here you're in charge..."
Pete exhaled loudly, he was right.
"Okay Charge you go in my place. I want an updated every 10 minutes! I'll notify Navcom. Just keep trying her phone, we may get lucky and hear it..."
Charge, 2Dads and Swain set off, Pete went to the bridge to call Mike.
"Mike Flynn..."
"Mike, it's Pete, we have a situation..."
"What is it?"
"There's been a kidnapping on the island, we think Kate went after them, we can't raise her on the phone, I've sent a team out looking."
Mike was silent, he had a bad feeling about this operation from the beginning.
"Mike?"
"Sorry Pete, yeah just keep me updated, so you need back up?"
"Ah, I don't know yet, maybe?!"
Mike needed Pete to keep focused, Kate's life was in danger and he wasn't there to help.
"Pete, you can handle this, look, Just try and find out why they might have taken her, hopefully they're just after money and they'll give her back safe."
"What about Kate?"
"She's smart, hopefully she's just followed them and not got herself caught up in it..."
"Right Sir, I'll keep you updated..."
Mike hung up the phone and sat at his desk and put his head in his hands.
"Kate, please be okay..."
On the island 2Dads, Swain and Charge were crouched in some shrubbery trying to stay out of sight just in case. 2Dads took out his phone and dialled Kate's number.
"Okay, it's ringing...shhh!"
They heard a feint ring and ran towards it, they stopped as it got louder, Swain kicked around some leaves on the floor and bend down and picked it up.
"She must have dropped it..."
He looked around and the fading light.
"I don't think we're gonna find her in the dark..."
2Dads hit Swain on the arm.
"We can't stop looking..."
"2Dads what do you suggest we do? Stumble around in the dark? We can't see any footprints, we could be covering them up with ours. If we use flashlights we'll give away our position and they could panic."
He dropped his head disheartened, Swain pat him on the shoulder.
"We'll search first light..."
They returned to the ship and went up to the bridge, Pete was surprised to see them back.
"Did you find anything?"
Swain handed him Kate's phone.
"We found her phone but it was too dark to continue. We could be making foot prints or just going in completely the wrong direction."
Pete sighed, he didn't want to give up but he knew Swain was right.
"Okay, look if they've taken them hostage they'll make demands, they're not just going to kill hostages. Everyone get some sleep, we resume the search at first light..."
The team nodded and retired for the night. Pete sat in Kate's cabin and picked up the sat phone and called Mike.
"Pete, what's happening?"
"Mike, we found her phone but it was too dark to continue, we'll resume at first light..."
Mike sat down on the couch and sighed.
"Yeah okay, call me anytime if you find anything..."
He hung up and sat back on the couch, Emily shifted next to him sensing something was off.
"Everything okay?"
He was sure how he was going to tell Emily, he grabbed her hands and paused, Emily instantly looked concerned.
"Mike!?"
"Ah, Kate is missing..."
Emily jumped up from the couch.
"What? How?"
Mike pulled her back down to the couch.
"She was helping someone, their daughter had been taken by some men and she went after them..."
"What? Like kidnapped?"
Mike nodded, Emily was frantic.
"Well what are you doing about it? Who's out there? How are you going to find her?"
He held her hand trying to reassure her.
"We're searching Em, that's all we can really do."
"Can't you send more people out there to search?"
"Yeah, I was gonna make some calls in the morning..."
He could see Emily's mind work overtime, he hugged her trying to calm her.
"She'll be okay, I promise!"
The next day Dutchy arrived home from being crashed sailed. Sarah was pottering around the house, he swung the door open.
"I'm home!"
She ran up to him and leapt into his arms, he carried her back into the house. She kissed him as he put her down, she picked up the remote and put the TV on mute.
"I missed you!"
"You ready for date night?"
She smiled and nodded eagerly.
"I went out and bought a new dress..."
"Well, I might just have a nap, I've made reservation for 7 okay?"
Later that afternoon Dutchy was in the bathroom shaving, Sarah had got ready and was waiting in the lounge room. She stood as Dutchy entered the room.
"Wow, you look amazing!"
She smiled and twirled around.
The TV caught Dylan's eye, he peered over her shoulder and focused the news report, it was on mute but the headline on the screen read "Hostage situation on small island north of Australia"
Sarah frowned and turned off the TV.
"C'mon, no news, no work, we're going out!"
He smiled and turned off the TV and grabbed her hand.
At dinner Dutchy was distracted, he took out his phone and tried to Google the report. Sarah looked up from her dinner and frowned.
"What are you doing?"
He put his phone down realising her was being rude.
"Oh, I just wanted to see that news report, I bet the Cairns base will have to handle that..."
She rolled her eyes.
"Can't you stop thinking about the Navy for one minute?"
"Sorry, bad habits! I'm turning it off!"
He switched his phone off and put it back in his pocket, he reached over and held Sarah's hand.
"You have my full attention..."
She squeezed his hand.
"Good, so umm I did want to talk to you about something..."
"What? Sounds serious?"
"Ah, what happened between you and Kate?"
Dutchy was surprised she was asking.
"What do you mean?"
"Well you guys were connected at the hip and you haven't heard from her since we've moved here..."
Dutchy became defensive.
"How do you know I haven't talked to her?"
Sarah paused, she didn't want to upset him, not tonight but if they were going to have an honest relationship she had to know.
"Ah well, I don't know but you used to message her quite a bit, you're phone wouldn't stop buzzing and I haven't noticed it as much..."
Dutchy continued to eat his dinner and shrugged.
"Nothing happened, people drift apart...you know how it is..."
Sarah looked at him doubtfully, Dutchy raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, I though you said no work talk..."
Sarah faked a smile, why could she never get him to open up?
They arrived home from dinner and sat on the couch, Dutchy undid his belt.
"I'm so full!"
He turned on the TV, Sarah straddled his lap and started to unbutton his shirt, he kissed her but then looked back at the TV. She grabbed his face making him look at her.
"Dylan!"
He picked up the remote as the news came on.
"Sorry, just..."
He moved her aside and un-muted the TV.
"Repeating, breaking news, reports that an Australian girl and a Navy Commander are being held hostage in the small island of Samaru. Seven News was sent a video from the kidnappers with their demands."
Sarah sat next to Dutchy and tried to kiss him again.
"Sarah, please just stop for a minute..."
She sat there with her arms folded with an annoyed look on her face, Dutchy looked back at the TV. She shook her head and walked into the kitchen.
"Please be advised that the following footage maybe disturbing to some viewers."
They played the video.
It focused on a man holding a knife, he was in a makeshift shelter, it was dark and dirty.
"We want you to leave our island alone, we don't want more people here! Stop the hotel and give us 5 million dollars else the child and the Navy woman die!"
The video panned to Grace tied up in the corner of the room, she was crying. Kate sat there trying to comfort her, she looked up to them with a defiant look on her face.
"This won't work! They won't give in to threats!"
He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into a chair in front of the camera, he ran the knife along her neck and down her arm.
"Maybe this will change their mind..."
He suddenly stabbed it into her thigh, she let out an ear piercing scream and tired her hardest not to cry. He whispered in her ear.
"You brought this on yourself..."
He looked into the camera.
"You have 48 hours."
Dutchy sat there staring at the TV breathing heavily, tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Sarah had walked back into the lounge room just in time to see Kate's face.
"Was that..."
Dutchy didn't respond, he stood up and got out his phone and called Mike.
Mike and Emily were also sitting on their couch in shock after seeing the footage, Emily burst into tears, Mike wrapped his arm around her as his phone rang.
"Dutchy?"
"Mike! What happened?"
"I'm assuming you saw it?"
Dutchy paced the room in a panic.
"What are you doing about it..."
"Dutchy, you know I can't say anything..."
"Or is that code for 'I haven't got a plan?'"
Mike was frustrated at his tone.
"Dutchy, we haven't heard from you in months and suddenly you..."
He looked over at Emily, she gave him a pleading look to tell him. He sighed and paused for a moment.
"Dutchy, all I know is that she tried to follow the kidnappers, we hoped she was just lying low but it seems she was discovered by them first."
"So what's gonna happen?"
"I've gotta make some calls... I'll call you back later..."
"Mike, wait..."
It was too late, he had hung up.
Dylan continued to pace the lounge room, Sarah watched him puzzled about his reaction. He went into the bedroom and started to shove some clothes into a bag, Sarah followed him into the room.
"What are you doing?"
He kept packing and barley looked up at her.
"I have to go to Cairns and help..."
"What?"
He continued to pack his bag, she walked over to Dylan and held him by his shoulders.
"There's nothing you can do!"
He shut his suit case and looked up at her
"There's gotta be something..."
He headed for the bedroom door, she grabbed his arm and gave him a disapproving look.
"She's my friend Sarah!"
Sarah's blood boiled, what did Kate have that she didn't?
"Friend? You haven't heard a peep from her since you left! At dinner you said you had drifted apart..."
He sighed.
"It doesn't mean I don't care about her..."
She threw her arms in the air out of frustration.
"I don't understand, you won't take time off to spend time with me but you're just going to leave and go to Cairns for her? How are you going to get time off?"
He stopped for a moment and gave her an unimpressed look.
"I thought you said you were over this jealousy thing..."
She let out a frustrated huff.
"Can you see why I'm not?"
He knew it wasn't really the right thing to say but he wanted to try and make Sarah see reason without making her suspicions worse.
"Sarah this is different! She's in trouble!"
She started to raise her voice.
"Yeah and the Navy in Cairns are handling it!"
Dutchy was frustrated that she refused to understand.
"Sarah! Please don't make this about you!"
She stomped her foot like a child having a tantrum.
"It's never about me Dylan! It's always been about her!?"
He picked up his bag and walked out to the lounge room and picked up his keys and wallet.
"What are you talking about! I asked you to move with me, didn't I? I told you I loved you, isn't that what you wanted?"
She grabbed his arm and spun him round.
"What do you mean that's what I wanted? You moved here to get away from her! I heard your crew mates talking, you didn't get transferred did you? You asked for this posting didn't you?"
He broke eye contact, she knew what that meant. He sighed, he didn't have a response.
"Sarah, she was the one who got us back together, look I can't discuss this now!"
He headed for the door, she yelled out after him.
"Dutchy! We *need* to discuss this now..."
Dutchy stopped at the door and turned around, she was satisfied that she was winning, she ran to his side.
"Dutchy, she's got plenty of friends in Cairns looking for her."
He put down his suitcase, she exhaled with relief and rubbed her hand up and down his arm.
"I'm sorry! I love you, please understand where I'm coming from, we need to talk about these things Dylan."
He gave her a reassuring smile and hugged her, maybe he was being irrational, he felt bad he had lied to her about the reason for the move, he wanted to do the right thing, he didn't want to hurt anyone.
"I'm sorry..."
His phone rang, he looked at the caller ID, it was Mike, he answered immediately.
"Mike..."
"Dutchy, it's under control, we're sending back up, it's an island how far can they go right?"
Dutchy closed his eyes and hung up the phone, he could tell Mike was unsure, it was the tone in his voice. Sarah smiled and had a hopeful look on her face.
"See, Mike's it all over it right?"
He shook his head.
"I can tell that he's worried, I can hear it in his voice..."
He gave her a kiss on the forehead and picked up his suitcase, he took a deep breath in.
"Please don't hate me."
Sarah couldn't believe it, he was still going to leave, she tried one last time to make him see sense.
"Dutchy, if you go that's it, we're done."
She was shocked that the words had come out of her mouth, she tried not to look surprised and held her ground. Dutchy stopped and turned with a bewildered look on his face.
"Sarah, don't do this, don't make me do this..."
She gave him a cold stare.
"I'm not making you do anything..."
He dropped his head a little, he felt like a total asshole, he put down his suitcase once again. Kate had made it clear that they couldn't have a relationship so why was he still hanging on to hope? Why should he risk his relationship for someone who probably wouldn't do the same?
Sarah could tell he was having second thoughts, she reached out and picked up his suitcase and held out her hand.
"C'mon, I'll help you unpack."
Dutchy stood there frozen, he was torn when he knew he probably shouldn't be. He looked at Sarah's outstretched hand and then into her begging eyes, she gave him a hopeful look.
"Dutchy?"
End Chapter 10
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