Page 83 of The Library on Plum Island
AsAlex’ssensesslowlyreturned to him, he found himself enveloped in a disorienting fog. The smell of chloroform lingered in his nostrils with its pungent scent. Gradually, awareness flooded back, and he realized he was in a cabin. Not just any cabin, his cabin on his yacht. His brow creased even more when his feet landed on the floor, and he realized that the boat was moving and not just swaying from the choppy sea while it was docked. Alex’s yacht was moving. A glance out the porthole confirmed his fears.
Ignoring the dull ache radiating from his broken hand, where the splint had come loose, Alex took stock of his surroundings, grimacing when he noted he was locked in his cabin. There was only one possible reason he was here—Ron Jackson. This was his revenge for Alex going against the man’s crude warnings and marrying Daniella. The thought sent a shiver down Alex’s spine, his heart pounding in his chest with newfound urgency. If Ron had indeed orchestrated this abduction, Alex feared Ron wasn’t taking Alex on a fishing excursion–unless he planned on using Alex as the bait to dispose of his body.
Summoning his resolve, Alex set to work on freeing himself from his room. With practiced skill, he manipulated the lock on the cabin door, his movements swift and sure despite the lingering effects of the chloroform. As he crept along the hallway and was startled by the sound of banging emanating from one of the guest cabin doors. With his curiosity piqued, Alex paused, listening intently as a recognizable man’s enraged voice pierced the silence. Alex’s frown deepened.
Is that Todd Spiers?The man’s colorful language and accusations against the Blackwells, blaming them for kidnapping him and trussing him up like a roast chicken, confused Alex even more.Why on earth would Ron kidnap Todd?The only explanation was that Todd was in the wrong place at the wrong time, which wouldn’t have surprised Alex as the man loved to snoop around where he shouldn’t.
“Maybe now he’ll learn his lesson,” Alex muttered, deciding to leave Todd confined in a cabin for now. “There’s no way he’ll believe I wasn’t responsible for this.”
Alex inched his way up the stairs with caution and concealed himself behind a nearby panel as the sound of approaching footsteps echoed down the hall. Peering through a crack in the wood, he caught sight of one of the goons who had ambushed him earlier by Daniella’s car. The man was accompanied by another shadowy figure that Alex reasoned must’ve been the man who’d knocked him out with a rag of chloroform. He wondered if there could be any side effects from being knocked out by that stuff twice in one month.
He shook the thought off as tension coiled in Alex’s chest. He was watching the men disappear down the hall. While he waited for them to disappear, the gravity of Alex’s situation became increasingly apparent. He knew that if he was to emerge from this ordeal unscathed, he would need to rely on every ounce of cunning and resourcefulness at his disposal. Alex’s one advantage was that this was his boat, and he knew every inch of her, having designed it himself. Which meant he knew how to move around it without being seen and how to trap someone in it. Not that his security hatches to shut down each floor of the boat were to trap people. It was meant to stop the ship from sinking and save lives.
But today, they were going to be used to ensure Alex could make his way to the cockpit and call for help while trapping the men who’d kidnapped him. He swallowed at the thought that he might even have to abandon his beautiful yacht, especially on the same day he’d lost his lovely house. An image of Daniella flashed through his mind. At least if he got through this ordeal alive, he’d still have his beautiful wife. That is if she’d let him explain what she’d overheard and wasn’t chased away by his confession and hopefully returned his feelings.
Alex remembered how she’d clung to him while they sat in the ambulance, the look in her eyes as they met his, and the kiss they’d shared after they were married. While Alex knew it may just be wishful thinking, he was sure he’d seen and felt she may feel more for him than gratitude and just friendship. Another image flashed through his mind. The picture of betrayal and hurt in her eyes when she’d overheard Alex and Harriet’s conversation. He could see how she’d take that out of context, especially since she didn’t know everything Alex had to tell her.
A movement caught his attention and pulled him out of his thoughts. He watched as two more men hurried into the hallway. Alex knew he had to move quickly because it wouldn’t be long before they discovered he was no longer in his cabin. He snuck out of his hiding place, up the stairs, toward the hidden control panel on the upper deck, and sealed the lowered decks. Alex quickly covered the panel and ducked behind a counter when he heard a male voice calling for the others.
Alex’s eyes fell on the heavy crystal decanter Dawn had given him. His heart twinged at the thought of having to use it as a weapon, but Alex was sure she’d understand. Stealthily, he reached up to grab it as the man figured out that the lower decks had neatly been sealed off, and Alex wasn’t going to let the man go find out if the other entrance was sealed. While the goon was trying to figure out what was going on, Alex snuck up behind him and whacked the guy over the head with Dawn’s bottle.
The man crumpled to the floor as the impact ricocheted through Alex’s hand, and to his surprise, the decanter didn’t break. He knew he couldn’t leave the man lying in the middle of the floor, so Alex moved quickly. He reopened the hatch, and when he heard the other men down there, he did something terrible. He pushed the limp thug down the opening before quickly sealing it off again.
“I hope he’s alive and I didn’t break his neck,” Alex shuddered, guilt washing over him. “I’m sorry,” he said to the sealed hatch before dodging the cameras that he knew would click on as soon as they sensed movement. The monitors in the cockpit would alert whoever was sailing Alex’s boat. “Whoever’s sailing my boat better have a captain’s license.”
Alex picked up the crystal decanter as his weapon and carried on, making his way to the cockpit. He didn’t find anyone else until he got to the cockpit. He heard a man talking.
“Is that a boat in the distance?” The man asked whoever was in the cockpit.
“Where?” Alex’s brows rose in surprise when he heard his co-captain, Malcolm, answer.
“I think it might be a fishing boat,” Malcom told them.
A fishing boat?Alex’s eyes narrowed as he glanced around and saw a boat off in the distance.
While Alex didn’t have supervision, he was pretty sure it was a red boat, and he didn’t know of any red fishing boats.Could it be a sea rescue boat?Alex wondered, knowing that they did do routine tests and training runs. Hopefully, this was one of those days.
“Where are the binoculars?” The goon asked. “I want to make sure.”
“You and your men took all the binoculars off the boat along with all the other items you took off to ensure none of us got off this boat without your boss’s permission,” Malcolm reminded the man.
Relief flooded through Alex as he realized Malcolm had also been kidnapped, probably to sail the boat.
“We can’t turn around or slow down,” Malcolm pointed out. “We have to keep going along these coordinates, or the boat explodes.”
“Only if we’re not on it,” the goon told him. “Our boss isn’t going to kill us. We’re needed for the next phase of the plan.”
“Which is?” Malcolm asked.
“Nice, try, buddy.” The goon laughed. “Just keep this floating hotel heading in the right direction. I’m going to get the only dinghy and find out what our tail wants.”
As the man stepped away and was about to pull the door shut, Alex stepped around with the decanter raised. Malcolm put his booted foot against the door, and when the goon was distracted by Alex, Malcolm knocked him out.
“Alex,” Malcolm called as Alex stepped aside when the goon crumpled to the floor. “I’m so glad you’re alive. We have to move fast. There are three other men, and they have Todd Speirs.”
“I know,” Alex said and explained that the goons were trapped below deck. “What’s this about my boat going boom?”
“It’s rigged with explosives,” Malcolm told Alex.
