Promise To Love Me, Even When You Hate Me.
Chapter 31
Lisa awoke feeling her body rock from side to side, at first she thought it was the consequences from the previous night's drinking session, but as she willed her eyes to open she soon discovered she wasn't in her bed. Rubbing her eyes, she attempted to sit up. Reaching out beside her to steady herself she placed her hand on something squishy, a deep moan startled her, and she turned to find Dylan laying beside her. Her hangover was the last thing on her mind as her eyes focused on her surroundings, they were in a small room, wood paneling made up the walls, and she smelt the ocean, instantly she knew they were on a boat. She frantically shook Dylan's shoulders tying to wake him.
"Dylan, wake up!"
He muttered under his breath and turned himself over, she tried again, this time with more force.
"Dylan! Please! Something's wrong."
He bolted up right and grabbed his forehead letting out a pained groan.
"What?"
She waited for him to discover what she had moments before, he dropped his hands as he felt the rocking of the boat realising something was off.
"Ah, where are we?"
Dylan scrunched up his face trying to focus.
"What the hell happened last night?"
Lisa scrambled to the port hole trying to decipher where they were, she could only see the horizon, she tried the door next, but it was locked. Dylan looked around completely confused about the situation.
"Did we go out and think it was a good idea to rent a boat?"
He lay back on the bed and placed a pillow over his face, Lisa rolled her eyes and continued to try to find a way out.
"Sure, then we locked ourselves in here!"
"So, are we assuming its a good thing we're on this boat, or a bad thing?"
She stepped back and fell on to the bed as she heard footsteps and the lock unlatch, the door swung open, and they couldn't help but gasp seeing Warren standing in the doorway. Dylan leaned in towards Lisa and whispered.
"Bad, definitely bad…"
Warren smirked as his eyes darted back and forth from Lisa to Dylan.
"Nice and cozy are we?"
Dylan attempted to rise from the rack, but as he stood his hangover took over and he stumbled backwards. Warren laughed watching him fall back onto the bed.
"You gotta be more careful about how much you drink, or rather, whom you drink with! Never know what they'll slip into your drink, and where you'll end up!"
He let out an evil cackle and left locking the door behind him, Dylan glanced over to Lisa waiting for her to react to Warren's comment, but she didn't seem phased. She continued to fiddle with the door handle, Dylan cleared his throat trying to get her attention. She let out a hiss, she was ignoring him, she knew what he was trying to imply and turned back to face him.
"What? Seriously, you think I'd do something like this to you, again?"
"Well, that only leaves…"
She waved her hands and shook her head dismissing his accusation.
"No, there's no way, Shaun is like a father to me and…"
"Well, it's either him, or you."
She turned back to the door and pulled on the handle harder.
"Would you stop, he's just said that to mess with our minds, don't you see?'
Dylan rose from the bed and pulled on her shoulder making her face him.
"No, I don't see, the only thing I see is my life being a complete mess, because of you!"
He turned away from her and folded his arms over his chest, she ignored his childish actions but deep down his words still hurt, she thought they were making progress.
"Can we just try to figure this out, you can continue to hate me later, okay?"
Dylan's arms dropped, he sighed as he turned back to face her.
"I don't hate you…"
She gave up on the door and sat back down next to him, they caught each other's eye for a moment, Lisa quickly looked away, she needed to focus, if there was any chance of her and Dylan sorting things out she needed to get them out of this mess first.
"Well, umm, have you got your phone?"
Dylan patted his pockets, they were empty.
"Nope… lets just take him out and get back to shore."
She threw her hands in the air frustrated at the simplicity of his solution.
"Oh, sure, he's only been planning his revenge for what, a year, or more, so he's just going to give up, cos we tell him too?"
He let out a growl and moved closer.
"Can you just work with me here? I know you're not used to having a partner, but we need to work together."
2Dads clunked around the kitchen looking for the sugar, Mike walked past the galley window and frowned hearing 2Dads muttering to himself. He made his way round to the door and stood in the doorway waiting for 2Dads to notice him. He jumped not expecting to see Mike and spilled his coffee down his front.
"Shit, ah, sorry, Boss."
"Leading Seaman, what's got you in a mood?"
2Dads looked away not wanting to explain his frustrations, Mike stood close waiting for him to explain.
"2Dads!?"
He sheepishly glanced back up at Mike then back down at his coffee.
"Ah, in private?"
Mike gave him a nod, and they made their way to the senior sailors mess. Mike handed him a towel to clean up the coffee from his shirt.
"Thanks…"
"Now, what's going on?"
2Dads let out a sigh and sat down.
"The ships not the same, Boss. it's just, the new guys, I know it's not their fault but, it's not the same!"
"2Dads, there's always going to be changes to the crew, you know that's inevitable."
"Yeah, but, I mean, Dutchy was with us for ages, and I know she did some crappy things but Kate, I mean, Lisa, she was becoming a part of the family too."
"Look, I know it's hard when people move on, and I guess this was such a strange situation, but you'll get used to Perry and Dawson, just like you got used to Dutchy and Lisa."
"Yeah, I guess, the other thing is that he's not replying to my messages. I know he may have needed a fresh start, but he didn't even say goodbye, to any of us, don't you think that's a bit weird?"
"You know Dutchy wasn't good at feelings."
"Yeah but, Boss, seriously, just to leave, without a word? We deserved a goodbye, something!"
Mike nodded, he felt the same, although he hadn't expressed his true feelings to anyone.
"Yeah, if I'm gonna be honest, I was a little hurt too."
"Could you maybe find out where he went? Where he was posted? I just wanna have a chat, that's all. "
"I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks, Boss."
Mike exited the room as XO Dawson entered sat opposite 2Dads.
"Hey…."
2Dads barely looked up from his coffee.
"Hi…"
"So umm, haven't had much of a chance to chat since I arrived…"
Mike hovered at the door, he peered back in and gave 2Dads a slight nod of encouragement.
"Yeah, it's always pretty full on, I guess…"
"So, umm, I'm assuming you and the guys that left, were mates?"
2Dads nodded slightly while taking a sip of his brew.
"Look, I know I've technically replaced them but doesn't mean we can't be mates…"
"Yeah…"
"Well, why don't you tell me about them? Dutchy was it? And ah, Kate?"
"Look, I know you're trying to be nice, but it's a long complicated story and…"
Dawson picked up his mug and rose from his seat knowing that he wasn't going to get very far.
"Okay, well maybe another time."
Back on the boat Lisa and Dylan continued to butt heads on how to deal with their situation. Dylan's stood awkwardly on a chair, his ear pressed against the ceiling of the cabin.
"I think I've heard 3 or 4 different voices."
"Okay, so all that means is that we're outnumbered."
"Yeah, and at sea, maybe we should just wait till someone comes down and we try to overpower them?"
Lisa scoffed at his idea, he was frustrated that he was vetoing all his ideas, he responded with a hiss.
"What, you got a better idea?"
"No, I don't, okay, I just…"
She couldn't keep defending herself, it was exhausting fighting all the time.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything…"
Tears streamed from her eyes, Dylan hesitated seeing her change in emotion, he sighed knowing he needed to stop being so aggressive. He shifted closer to her trying to be more sympathetic.
"It's okay, he's after me, this isn't your fault."
He reached out and squeezed her hand and chuckled.
"Well, actually, we're both to blame…"
She gave him a halfhearted smile and got up and headed for the door.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm not just gonna sit here waiting for them to…"
She turned and slammed her fists into the door.
"Hey! Warren, come and face me! You're such a coward! Do you hear me?"
After a few minutes they heard footsteps, the door swung open and two men stormed into the cabin. They shoved Lisa to the ground and grabbed Dylan, he tried to struggle out of their grip but the bigger of the two punched him in the stomach, he doubled over in pain.
They dragged him to the upper deck and closed the door leaving Lisa alone, she recovered and continued to bang on the door.
Up on deck Warren stood in front of Dylan, the two men holding him dropped him onto the ground. Warren laughed as he hit the floor.
"Not so tough now, are we?"
Dylan staggered to his feet clutching his stomach.
"Yeah, but neither are you, you had to get someone else to do your dirty work. How could you do that to her, I thought you cared for her?"
Warren stood above him as he tried to compose himself, grabbing his hair he jerked Dylan's head up forcing him to look at him.
"I dunno, I thought you cared about my brother, and yet, you left him to die?"
He let go of his hair and kicked him in the ribs, Dylan recoiled and curled up on the floor.
RO ran up to the bridge looking panicked, the crew on the bridge stopped at turned staring at him.
"Boss! There's report of a guy being assaulted on a vessel not far from here…"
"Ah, where are you hearing this?"
"I've had someone radio a mayday, but it wasn't for them, they don't want to get involved so they're tracking the vessel, I've got the last known coordinates."
Mike nodded towards 2Dads who was sitting at the EOD.
"Right, 2Dads, bring up the coordinates on the radar, lets get to them ASAP, and let me know when we have a visual…"
"Yes, boss…"
20 minutes later 2Dads lept up from the EOD.
"Boss, we have a visual…"
Mike, 2Dads and XO Dawson surrounded the screen, they squinted trying to make out the scene.
"Looks like a few guys on deck, nothing sus…"
RO interrupted.
"Boss, the guys on the radio were adamant that they were trouble. I mean why would they lie?"
"Okay, lets just observe, they're an Australian flagged vessel, we have to play this one by the books."
Lisa leaned up against the door, she was exhausted from yelling and throwing her body at the door, she hadn't stopped since they had taken Dylan. She scanned the room looking for anything that could aid her escape, she rummaged around in the cupboards and draws. She spotted a fire extinguisher and snatched it out of the holder and continually bashed it against the door lock. The lock finally gave way and she stumbled on to the deck startling everyone.
"Stop!"
She threw herself over Dylan in an attempt to shield him, Warren held up his hand indicating for his thugs to leave her. He shook his head as he approached her.
"Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, always has to be the hero!"
She went for him and he nodded towards the men, they grabbed her before she could make contact and held her at bay as Warren stood close.
"I can't believe you actually fell for this schmuck! You know he left my brother to die, like a coward."
"Warren, it wasn't his fault."
"What? C'mon, you're smart, how isn't it his fault? He was supposed to have his back!"
Warren removed a gun from his belt and aimed it at Dylan's head.
2Dads moved his head closer to the screen.
"Ah, Boss, I think we better send a RHIB, at the rush…"
Mike walked over to the EOD, his eyes widened seeing a figure holding a gun at Dylan's head.
"Is that…"
2Dads nodded.
"Dawson, assemble a boarding party, at the rush, extra plates! GO!"
Lisa tried to struggle out of the thugs grip, but they were too strong. They all stopped hearing someone approach from the rear of the boat, Lisa's jaw dropped seeing Shaun.
"Shaun?"
Warren laughed and grabbed her face and whispered in her ear.
"Oh, look at that, you really are alone…"
Tears welled in her eyes as Shaun positioned himself beside Warren.
"I can't believe you!"
Warren aimed the gun at Dylan's head, Lisa struggled against the men and managed to free herself, she stood in between Warren and Dylan.
"No! Warren, please, if you want to hurt him, shoot me… He loves me, you want to get back at him, take someone he loves, take me…"
She felt a hand pull on hers and looked down, Dylan had tears in his eyes.
"It'll be okay…"
She shook her head and stood her ground.
"I don't have anyone, Dylan, you've got people that care about you, no one will miss me…"
Warren let out a groan and pretended to wipe his eyes.
"Oh, boo hoo, isn't this touching! It doesn't matter anyway, I was gonna kill you both!"
They all froze hearing a motor, Lisa's eyes widened seeing the RHIB approach. She glanced in Dylan's direction, he gave her a nod, Dylan lashed out while everyone was distracted.
Gunshots rang out as the Hammersley crew jumped aboard, Mike watched anxiously for what felt like an eternity. Minutes later the gunfire ceased, he held the binoculars to his eyes scanning for any signs of life.
"Please be okay..."
There was an eerie silence, he picked up the radio.
"Papa eight two to X-ray eight two, sit rep? Over."
There was just static, Mike held his breath waiting for a response. The radio crackled, and he fumbled to his mouth.
"X-ray eight two, do you copy?"
"Papa eight two, this is X-ray eight two, we copy, Boss."
"Sit rep? Is everyone okay?"
There was a pause before XO Dawson answered.
"Ah, it's not good."
Mike sighed and dropped the radio, running his hands over his face he collapsed back on to his chair.
End Chapter 31
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