That afternoon
Wednesday
The Atlantic Storm
Pointe-à-Pitre
Guadeloupe
Position: 16.2278° N 61.5353° W
1,432nm logged
"This is the life, eh, Dave!" Ryan laughed as we both sat on the Sun Deck, enjoying a cold bottle of beer each.
It was great to have the 120-foot megayacht to ourselves for a change; no noisy kids – just peace and quiet as the waves lazily lapped against the white hull. It was paradise itself, at least, I thought so. Ryan and I just wanted to laze around – it was what men did when on holiday...
Every hour spent without being shot at or chased by ninjas, was a blessing and I was determined to enjoy every damn moment of it. Mindy – well, she missed not being shot at or chased by ninjas – but despite that, I was happy for her; she was having the time of her life and I hadn't seen her so happy in quite a while.
It was the same for the others... Our peace was destroyed as my cell rang...
"Oh, crap!" I growled and reached for the offending device.
"No peace for the wicked!" Ryan teased.
"It's the purple one!" I commented as I answered the call.
I grinned at his comment.
But then my grin began to fade as I saw Dave's expression go from amused to shocked and then onto scared for a moment before his entire face then went steadily darker and darker.
He slowly put the cell down before turning to face me. For a moment, I felt a little bit of fear as I saw the darkness in Dave's face. Something very bad had just happened. It took a minute for Dave to focus on something as archaic as speech.
He just said one word – actually, just a name.
"Anne-Marie."
The Beach
I was busy groping Chloe when my mobile rang – crap fucking timing!
"Ignore it!" Chloe whispered as she giggled to my touch.
I knew that I had to answer it; it was Dave.
"Put Chloe down, we have a situation..." I shivered; Dave's tone was colder than I had ever heard it, "– Anne-Marie is missing..."
"What? When?"
"Mindy is searching the streets – she has Danny with her, Ryan and I are going ashore, too. I need you and Chloe to get the others together and safely back to the Atlantic Storm."
"Got it!"
I turned to Chloe who looked very worried by my expression.
"Get everybody together – we're going back to the boat. It's Anne-Marie – she's gone missing..."
Chloe just stood there for a second, her hand over her mouth.
"Move it, girl!" I growled and Chloe jumped into action, running towards where Megan, Stephanie, Tommy and Curtis were playing.
I had a bad feeling in my stomach. If anything happened to that young girl, Dave and Mindy would be devastated... However, on the other hand, whoever had taken Anne-Marie should be afraid, very afraid – if they only knew what hell they had just unleashed upon themselves.
The Caribbean was about to get a damn sight hotter!
Two hours later
The Atlantic Storm
I was sobbing fit to burst when I finally returned to the boat empty handed.
Cathy had met up with me and taken Danny back aboard earlier on. Dave and Ryan were still out there, searching. Chloe had met me at the gangway and I could see that she had been crying too. I collapsed into my best friend's arms and she helped me into the Main Salon and then onto the couch.
..._...
Ten minutes later, it came.
The message.
It was confirmation that my daughter was not just lost; it was confirmation that she had been taken. Chloe walked into the Main Salon, she was carrying something in both hands and her face was full of sorrow. I had held on to the hope that Anne-Marie was just lost and that the Police would find her... Cathy, Stephanie and Megan froze – they looked horrified.
Chloe hesitated before she spoke, the anguish evident in her face.
"A motorcycle courier just delivered this," she said quietly and calmly, fighting back the tears.
..._...
In her hands was a large padded envelope. On the outside was a simple note.
FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS – SHE LIVES
ANYTHING ELSE – SHE DIES
Chloe carefully opened the envelope and I stood up to see what was in it.
She pulled out what looked to be a piece of pink material. I felt my heart beating harder and I was struggling to breathe. I sank to the deck, unable to comprehend what was happening as I felt the hot tears pouring unrestricted down my cheeks. I had never felt the way I was feeling right then – my mind was reeling and I could not focus on my thoughts. I felt arms hugging me tightly as I cried – it was Megan.
I looked up at Chloe and at what she held in her hand. I recognised it immediately; it was my daughter's t-shirt – the very one that I had given her and that she had been wearing that very afternoon and...
"Is that blood?" Cathy demanded, taking the t-shirt from her daughter.
..._...
Why?
Every time something good happened in my life, it was closely followed by tragedy. The past few days had been heaven – now... Why? It was too much – I bolted for the nearest bathroom and violently vomited up everything that I had eaten over the past few hours. I kept retching even when my stomach was empty – I had never reacted like that over anything, not even the death of my own Daddy.
I was Hit Girl, I had an iron stomach – or so I had thought.
Time since abduction: 00:03:00
USS Churchill
Twenty-two nautical miles to the northwest
"XO, Captain on the SatCom – secure!"
Lieutenant Commander Wes Edwards grimaced. That probably meant trouble and he was not wrong!
"Sir, how..."
"Can it, Wes! I need a list of all air and sea traffic leaving Guadeloupe in the past three hours; track and destination, and I need it yesterday!" Commander Ryan Bennett ordered his Executive Officer.
Questions could wait – the Captain had spoken...
"Aye, aye, sir!"
Hanging up the satellite phone he relayed the order to the Combat System Officer – his department ran the state-of-the-art SPY-1D AEGIS radar system that was at the heart of the destroyer. The department's motto was 'In God We Trust. All Others We Track...'
Next, he called up HMS Dragon and spoke directly to her Captain, requesting anything that her equally state-of-the-art, mast-top mounted Sampson AESA radar had detected in the previous three hours. Within minutes, all relevant information began to flood through the high-speed, digital Link 16 data system that allowed NATO warships to exchange radar and fire control data.
As a final act he ordered the ship's course altered towards the south.
Somewhere in the Caribbean
I felt woozy as I struggled to open my eyes.
For a moment, I thought that I was safely back in my cabin on the Atlantic Storm, but something didn't feel right and I had a headache. My vision was blurry as I looked around me and it took me a moment to focus. I was on a boat, that was for certain and pretty obvious; I could feel the motion – we were definitely at sea and I could hear the engines throbbing away beneath me.
I sat up, noticing almost immediately that my t-shirt and shorts were both missing, but I was glad to see that I was still wearing my one-piece swimsuit and my sneakers. I looked around me, taking in my surroundings; I was sitting on a scrappy looking mattress on a narrow bunk, in a small cabin.
I began to feel scared and I felt fear. The fear rapidly grew inside me and I began to cry, sobbing as it gripped me from within. I just sat there on the bunk as I struggled to get my mind in order – how had I got here? I could not think; I was too scared... Where was I? The tears streamed down my face as I continued to sob; I could not stop them – I was alone and my family was gone... Maybe for ever! What was going to happen to me?
My mind cleared for just a moment and I seized upon it, I stopped crying and it all started to come back to me in a giant rush: Guadeloupe, the beach, shopping, t-shirts – the hand across my mouth.
I remembered struggling against the hands that held me as I was dragged away from the daylight, away from my family. I remembered a sharp pain as somebody slapped me hard across the face – I reached up and felt the dried blood around my nose. I then had a vivid memory of an evil smelling rag that had then been clamped over my nose and mouth. I was still fighting even as I succumbed to the blackness...
... Then I woke up – here and now. The fear came back with a vengeance – I was shaking as I started to sob again, the tears flowing freely. I had only ever felt so scared, just that one time before; when Daddy had been murdered in Gotham, just before Dave and Josh had rescued us – but back then, I had not been alone...
"Mommy..."
Time since abduction: 00:03:46
The Atlantic Storm
Pointe-à-Pitre
Guadeloupe
"Mommy... Where is my sister?"
I had moved from the deck to a more dignified position on a couch where I was hugging my young son who was very scared.
"I don't know, Danny... But I promise you, I will find her, and those that took her, they will motherfucking pay!" I hissed.
Danny looked up at me in surprise; I never usually swore in front of Danny or Anne-Marie. As I looked down at my scared seven-year-old son I came to a difficult decision and I focussed on him.
"Sorry, Danny; I should not have sworn like that, but I am really pissed and... Well, it's time you learnt a secret – a big secret..."
Time since abduction: 00:03:51
Nine minutes later
It was unbelievable – I had trouble taking it all in... I just sat there, stunned.
I looked over at Dad – or should it be 'Kick-Ass' – and Mom, or rather 'Hit Girl', then over to Chloe... Megan just smiled at my confusion.
"It's all true, Danny – I'm Wildcat..."
"Chloe is Shadow, Josh is Jackal, Curtis is Trojan...?" I added.
"Very good!" Dad commented. "It will make it much easier for us to operate and for us to find your sister if you know the truth, Danny – your sister is 'Rogue', by the way..."
"Now, Daniel..." Mom began getting my attention.
My proper name – that worried me, and for a moment I felt scared again; there was something cold in the way Mom spoke.
"You will never breathe a word, Daniel Lizewski, or there will be consequences."
Somewhere in the Caribbean
The door to the cabin flew open.
The man was huge, but I still glared at him – it had been a while since my sobbing session and for now, I was over it.
"Don't look at me like that, you fucking little bitch!"
The man had a strange accent – not American, but not quite British – maybe a mix of the two.
"Why are you keeping me?" I demanded, forcing myself to be brave.
"Your Mummy and Daddy are going to pay for your safe return... Won't that be nice?"
"Not nearly as nice as watching my Daddy smash your face in!"
Maybe that was not the best thing to say!
I was grabbed roughly by the arm, dragged off the bed and thrown towards the door, crumpling to the deck where I caught my knee and grazed it making me call out in pain.
"Get up!"
I was dragged out of the cabin and up some steps. I saw that I was on a yacht – an older yacht, made of wood. I found myself being picked up and carried down a gang-way before being thrown into the backseat of an old SUV.
"Move and I cut you – understand?" The man growled.
I flinched at the sight of the very large knife and nodded, my brief show of bravery had evaporated.
Time since abduction: 00:04:11
The Atlantic Storm
Pointe-à-Pitre
Guadeloupe
The waiting was the worst.
I felt awful and I knew that everybody else did too. All were back aboard and we were just awaiting the inevitable. My mind was racing with possibilities – money was not a worry; we had plenty. Part of me said to just pay up and get Anne-Marie back. However, my core principals came to the fore – somebody was going to pay and it was not going to be me...
To keep myself occupied, I put my mind to contemplating all of the wonderful things that I could do to whomever was behind my daughter's kidnapping – stress made me very creative! I was just contemplating if you really could cut somebody's heart out with a spoon, when my avenging thoughts were cut off as another padded envelope arrived.
..._...
Again, it was straight to the point.
$1,000,000
18.1467N 64.6095W
48 HOURS
In the padded envelope was another item of clothing – my seven-year-old daughter's shorts. I did not know how to react – my hands balled into fists as I closed my eyes, trying to control my many emotions. I felt conflicting emotions; I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I also wanted to hurt somebody, and I wanted to kill – oh, I so wanted to kill... I looked up to see that my family and my friends were too scared to come near me...
Only, I needed them, so I forced a smile and gave in to my emotions, allowing the tears to fall. Chloe and Stephanie ran forward and they hugged me as Ryan took the note and headed for the Bridge. He was back within two minutes.
"Those co-ordinates are for Road Harbour in the British Virgin Islands. We can be there in eleven hours. The engines are warm – we can depart immediately."
Time since abduction: 00:04:11
Time to deadline: 01:23:54