Kate

My whole body hurt after Doug raped me. He had been such a nice guy to me and someone who seemed to be really in love with me. Not someone who would do something like this. After his business he had simply gotten off the bed, whispered something degrading to me and left the room, just as angry as he was when he had entered it. I was afraid someone else would get a go with me now and would come down any minute but the seconds turned longer and longer and I didn't hear anyone come down. My problem wasn't over yet. We were in the middle of the ocean and there was no place for me to run to, nor anywhere to hide. Cavanaugh had recognised me and finally figured out it was me who had passed on valuable information. He was having a go at Doug right this minute. I could hear Cavanaugh scream at the top of his lungs but where were Al and Frank and what were they doing right now?

I was still curled up on the bed, too hurt to be able to move, and all I could do was listen to what was going on upstairs. The screaming had stopped and was replaced by a deafening silence. This was even more frightening because whatever was going to happen now I had no clue. The thought of Al or Frank or even worse, Cavanaugh coming down and doing the same thing to me as what Doug had done made me sick. I tried to sit up, forgetting the pain it caused, and slide off the bed to go to the bathroom. I reached the toilet bowl just in time to empty my stomach above it. The bad taste in my mouth was the least of my worries but also the one I could easily fix. I pushed myself up on the sink, trying not to feel the pain in my body. Suddenly everything seemed to be hard to do and even turning on the water tap was more difficult. I let out a sob and mistakenly looked in the mirror. Doug had been pulling my hair and strands of it were hanging loosely halfway down my shoulders.

Carefully I removed the loose pieces of hair after I looked at my image in the mirror once again. Several bruises were already forming in my face and my lip was cut. Softly I touched it before I cleaned it with a cloth and some cold water. I so wanted to take a shower and clean myself completely but I knew that wouldn't be wise. I needed to go to the hospital where they could perform a medical assessment to determine Doug's DNA on my body. I hoped I would ever make it to the hospital in the first place because I wasn't so sure I would. Doug had once told me that if I ever became a liability he would have to kill me. Cavanaugh knew from experience what would happen if you let eye witnesses live. My only chance would be that the feds and the navy would show up pretty soon. The navy. Mike! He would never want me after this even if he knew I had put up a fight and tried to stop Doug. The feds. The cameras! I had to get out of the bathroom because that was one of the areas where there wasn't one and they couldn't see me anymore.

I stumbled back towards the bedroom where I sat down on the bed. I didn't know where the camera was exactly but this was the same bed they had once filmed me on while I was fooling around with Mike. Mike. I tried to sit a bit differently because my lower abdomen hurt while I was in this position. Then I remembered I had my phone in my back pocket. I took it out and dialled the number I knew so well. It rang a couple of times before I heard the voice of the man I loved. "Kate," he said happily. "Are you back in town? Did you get my text?" he asked me. Suddenly I didn't know what to say anymore. Hearing his voice was enough. "Kate?" he asked. "Mike," I said although it was barely more than a whisper. "Kate? Where are you? Is everything alright?" he asked me. I started to cry. No not everything was alright! I was out in the middle of the ocean with a bunch of angry crooks and – "I'm hmm rrraped," I uttered. "Mike, he-" I tried but a sob took over. "Oh God, Kate," Mike said tenderly. "Where are you?" he asked again. "Mmm Mike, th- th- they're g-g-g-oing to k-k-kill-" Mike didn't let me finish. "No! They're not! The feds are nearby there's a patrol boat nearby. If you're out at sea help isn't far away," he assured me.

I wondered if he could see me on his radar or if he was just trying to comfort me. It was almost working until I heard footsteps coming down. "Oh," I sobbed. "I love you. Mike I love you," I said. "I love you too and we're on our way. Hang on a little longer," he said before I pressed his call away. I needed to hide the phone somewhere but the idea that someone would come down any second and would let me go through everything again made me freeze. I wanted to get up and stand tall but I couldn't find the power to do so. The phone slipped out of my hand and fell on the floor. I was just smart enough to kick it under the bed before Cavanaugh opened the door and stood there as a fearless leader.

"Kate, Kate, Kate," he kept repeating my name while he came closer to the bed. I was scared he would strike me as soon as he was in reach or he would throw me backwards on the bed and take me but he just came closer step by step and finally sat down next to me as if he was a good friend who was about to comfort me. "You've got yourself in a bit of strive, haven't you," he said in a friendly tone. My breathing was irregular and I felt my muscles spasm throughout my body. "You should have known better than to work for cops and think you could get away scot free," he said without waiting for a reply from me. "You could end up like Doug," he said while he pointed at a window. My breathing became heavier but I was still unable to reply. "Oh you see. Doug has become shark meat. I don't like people who forget to do their job while they're working on their personal interests. He slightly forgot the goal of our job while he was fooling around with you," he quietly stated. I looked at him and saw the cool and collected drug boss he was. One wrong word and I would be shark meat as well.

Cavanaugh stroked the bruise on my cheek and then put a strand of my hair behind my ear. "It's such a waste of a pretty woman you know," he said while he kept stroking parts of my body. "You know you look like someone I know from my past?" he asked me. I wanted to vocalise my answer but didn't come any further than to shake my head. "Well you do," Cavanaugh said gently. "We were engaged. She looked just like you. Blonde hair, green eyes, slim body. Brains and beauty combined in one," he said remembering the woman he was describing. "Her name was Maggie and she was the most wonderful person I've ever known but you know what?" he asked me sounding already a bit harsh. I shook my head again while Cavanaugh continued. "The cops killed her," he said, making every word short and hateful. "It's strange to know someone as similar to Maggie was about to turn me in to the cops. Well, you understand I can't let that happen," he said, sounding gentle again.

I knew it. My final hour had come. I closed my eyes and thought about a happy place and being around the people I love. I was waiting for Cavanaugh to get his gun ready and kill me but nothing happened and when I finally opened my eyes I looked into his smiling face. "You thought you were getting off this easily?" he asked me seriously. I still wasn't able to say much and shrugged. "Hah. You thought you could tell the cops about my operation and get a simple bullet through your head? Are you serious?" he asked me. I shook my head and wondered what else he had in store for me. I love you too and we're on our way. Hang on a little longer. The words of Mike kept ringing in my ears. I had to hang on. I shouldn't give up. I was not going to let myself be killed. Not without a fight! "Before you get your ending I need some answers," Cavanaugh said to me.

Suddenly we both heard footsteps on the stairs and Cavanaugh turned around to see who was entering the room. "Frank," he said cheerfully when he saw the ginger top man enter the room. "What do you think? She isn't as pretty as she was a couple of hours ago but would you still have a go?" he teased the man. The knot in my stomach tightened a little bit. Cavanaugh was talking about me as if I was a sex toy. It was the first time in minutes I was able to move and the first thing I did was place my hand in front of my chest. "No," I uttered. Cavanaugh looked at me and started laughing. "She thinks she has a say in it," he said to Frank. "Well, I'm not going to have her. If Al wants her he can. She just doesn't do it for me," he stated. If the men thought they were insulting me they were wrong. For once I didn't care about what a man thought about me. "Well, he has to wait until we're done asking her some questions. Did you bring the stuff I asked you?" Cavanaugh asked Frank.

I looked at the younger man and wondered what he had been asked to bring along. I hadn't paid attention to it before but now I saw he had tape and rope in his hands. He showed it to Cavanaugh and stepped forward towards me. "Well, tie her up," Cavanaugh ordered. Frank put down the tape and pulled the rope. What was he going to do with the tape? They wouldn't tape my mouth shut if they wanted me to talk. Frank had almost reached me and was about to grab my arm but whatever they were going to do to me I wasn't going to allow it. I had to try and get away so I stood up and moved away from the two men. "You're finally going to put up a fight?" Cavanaugh asked while he got up himself and grabbed my arm.

I screamed out in pain since he pressed the exact same spot where Doug had held me down. Cavanaugh pulled me back on the bed and got hold of my chin. He pressed his fingers firmly into another bruise which was forming on my face and I could do nothing else but shriek. "Please," I begged. In one violent go Cavanaugh let go of me which made me go off balance. I ended up on the mattress, face down, and felt how one of the men pulled back my arms to be tied on my back. I kicked and fought myself back up and was able to crawl further onto the mattress, away from the men. "No," I screamed.

Not much sound came from my mouth but enough so the men knew I wasn't agreeing. Not that they cared. While Frank pulled a wooden chair from the corner Cavanaugh pulled me at one of my legs until he had his face right above mine. "You want me to ask Al to come down?" he threatened. I knew what he meant with that but I wasn't going to show him it scared me. "Now, sit down," he ordered me while he pulled me towards the chair. One more time I tried to get away from him but then he hit me hard in my face. "Sit," he shouted at me. I wanted to comfort the burning cheek and Frank took advantage of that by pulling that hand behind my back and tie it to my other hand. Not long after that I was tied to the chair and pulled towards the bed where Cavanaugh sat down across from me. "Let's start from the beginning," he said calmly. "You're a navy chick who's spying for the cops. Am I right so far?" he asked me.

Frank was standing behind me and I saw Cavanaugh signalling towards him. I just couldn't figure out what they meant until he pulled me backwards at my hair. "Ouch," I yelled. The hairs still attached to my scalp had had enough pulling for one day. "Ok, ok," I said hoping Frank would let go of my hair. "It's true," I admitted. Frank let go of my hair but it wasn't over yet. "You told them about the plans," Cavanaugh said. He wasn't very specific and I needed to try and stall some time somewhere. The feds must be on their way right now. It wouldn't be long for sure. "I told them about Doug," I said, knowing the man was history already. "And?" Cavanaugh asked me. I tried to shrug which was hard being all tied up. "What else is there to tell?" I asked him. "I can't tell the cops anything I don't know," I challenged him. Cavanaugh thought for a second but then pulled his arm back and hit me hard in my ribs. "That wasn't smart Katie dear," he said while I tried to catch my breath.

My ribs hurt like hell and breathing suddenly was very hard but Cavanaugh didn't stop. "What else did you tell the cops?" he barked at me. Even if I wanted to answer his question I couldn't because I was in too much pain to say anything. I felt tears falling down my face and I couldn't stop thinking about what he would do if I didn't answer him quickly. "I," I tried to say but nothing else came out. "Answer him," Frank said while he kept tapping my head with his knuckles. "I. I t-t-told th-them about the island," I answered. I ended up with another blow towards the other side of my ribs. I even thought I heard something crack and by the amount of pain it could very well mean a broken rib or two. "If you told them about the island they know about the drugs. They know about this trip, don't they?" Cavanaugh wanted to know. I was out of breath and all I wanted was to comfort my battered body but I couldn't. Cavanaugh let me catch some breath and waited a little longer than the previous time before he leaned forwards to intimidate me. "Are you going to answer me?" he dared me.

My arms were hurting from the position they were in. My head was hurting from the blows Doug, Frank and Cavanaugh had given me and the hair pulling they used to get me to answer. My ribs were bruised and broken and pressing against my lungs which made it harder to breath. My stomach hurt from Doug's rough handling and my thighs must be bleeding. They felt warm and sticky but nothing of that was going to stop me from fighting to stay alive because I knew my rescue was near. I had to hold on just a little longer. "OK," Cavanaugh said, breathing in my face. "This is how it works. I'll ask you a question and you provide me with an answer," he said. I nodded and wanted to say something when Al came running down. "The navy!" he said, sounding scared. "They're coming."

If I could I would have smiled. It wouldn't be long now before I would be in a wardroom, being taken care of and on my way to hospital. Cavanaugh looked alarmed and seemed to forget me for a second. He walked around me and left the room to go and see my arriving colleagues for himself. Frank stayed behind with me and took Cavanaugh's place. "How did they find us so quickly?" he asked me aggressively. I didn't answer him. I just had to hold on for a few more minutes. "How?" he demanded before he hit me in my face. The chair tilted slightly but came down on its legs again. "One more time. How did they find us?" Frank yelled at me. I looked him in his face and smiled. "Because they're a lot smarter than you will ever be," I answered him. It was my first full sentence I could speak but it aggravated Frank so much that he hit me until the chair lost balance and I hit the floor. It all went black and the sounds I heard were far away. I did see two feet standing next to my face. Not very clear because I couldn't seem to open my eyes properly. "Stupid moron. Now she's dead," I heard Cavanaugh say before he pushed Frank away from me. The pain started to subside and it felt good. "I'm not taking the blame for that," one of the men said. I couldn't figure out who it was. "You killed her," the other said. The last part I could hardly hear. No I'm not. I'm not dead yet was the last thing I thought before it all went completely black.