CHAPTER SEVENTEEN #2
My henchman was a bruiser of a man, bald, square faced with Asian features.
He lay flat on his back, and chewed in his sleep, the sounds reminding me of a cow.
His arms were inside the sleeping bag, one hand seemingly resting protectively over his junk.
Gabe’s henchman was slimmer and younger, with long, equine features and a mop of badly bleached dirty blond hair.
He was curled up in a foetal position, his hands inside the sleeping bag pressed together beneath his cheek.
His snores echoed louder than my bruiser’s.
My brows rose and I shared a mischievous smile with my partner on spotting the press-pull toggles on the sleeping bag hoods.
I suppose that, while camping, having a hood and pull toggle would be quite handy for ensuring no body heat escaped on frosty nights.
But now the toggles would be these men’s undoing!
Aden met Gabe’s eyes and nodded. Gabe nodded in return and then counted down, three—two—one.
Together we folded our knees to be squatting in front of each henchman.
I held my breath, so as not to breathe on him, and then slowly I clasped the pull cord and toggle.
The henchman snuffled and licked his dry, cracked lips, then let out a vile smelling burp.
My eyes watered as I looked up and met Gabe’s again.
He was in his ready position too. With a nod, we both pressed down on the toggle to open the springs and pulled hard on the cord.
The hood openings retracted to the size of a child’s fist, with just enough space for the men to breathe through.
Neither man moved. Gabe and I grabbed for our table legs, stood up, stepped back, and then tip-toed towards the door.
But, it was then that I stepped on a loose floorboard.
An empty beer bottle fell over with a clink and a roll that echoed in the timber room.
The silence was over. My henchman woke up, startled by the noise and then a roar erupted from the bruiser’s mouth.
I guess he didn’t like that he was trapped inside his sleeping bag.
He rolled over, wriggled like a caterpillar, trying to kick out, and struggle to get onto his feet.
“Viktor, Viktor,” he yelled. This woke the other henchman, who cried out in alarm at his imprisonment and he wriggled around like an electrocuted snake.
Honestly, if we weren’t running for our lives I would have liked to stay and watch because it was fucking hilarious.
But Gabe and Aden couldn’t hang around. I sprinted towards the door, grabbed the handle, and pulled it.
The door wouldn’t open; the bastard henchmen had locked it.
Then, on hearing another violent roar I turned to see that the bruiser was now on his feet, and he had something with him inside his sleeping bag.
I thought he was cupping his cock as he slept, but no, a deadly erection was thrust through the middle of his sleeping bag at his belly.
It was a fucking hunting knife and he was attempting to hack up to cut his way out of the fabric cocoon.
Aden sent an alarmed look to Gabe, who was side stepping the other henchman who was rolling and kicking out, trying to knock my partner to the floor.
Gabe came to me and placed a scorching kiss on my lips, then in a very manly tone said,
“Stand aside, honey! I’ve got this!” In all honesty, it was a little bit swoony and I wished this scene was on film!
Then Gabe proceeded to drop his table leg, and pull the stolen revolver from the back of his jeans.
He clicked the safety catch off and aimed it at the door lock.
Nate was far more experienced with firearms than me.
I’d done some training on a gun range, but preferred the spud gun to the real thing.
The shot was deafening, the sound reverberating in the confines of the boat lounge, rattling the windows and making my ears ring.
But it was also perfect, the bullet going straight though the keyhole.
My heart fluttered a little at seeing Nate take charge.
There was a weighted moment of silence, both henchmen frozen in the act of trying to escape from their imprisonment.
Then the creaky door swung open letting in a cool morning breeze.
The moment of silence ended with the delayed shattering of the door’s porthole window.
Gabe secured the gun and shoved it into his waistband.
My table leg thudded to the floor and Gabe lurched then, gripping my wrist, dragging me through the doorway and onto the main deck.
I took a quick glance behind to see the one guard with the knife blade sticking through the sleeping bag had not been able to manoeuvre it enough to slice upwards and free himself.
The other henchman was wriggling and roaring obscenities in Mandarin while his partner decided to bunny hop after us, the wicked blade pointing outward through the layers of fabric.
In the moment I was terrified, and yet, I also wanted to laugh hysterically, but Gabe never let go of my wrist. We hurried across the main deck and toward the gang plank, taking the exit and sprinting onto a scaffold gantry and then down steps, to the ground.
At hearing an alarmed roar, I glanced back again and finally saw what kind of ship we’d been imprisoned on.
It was some kind of long river barge with two stories of accommodation.
I also saw the bunny-hopping, swearing henchman slip on the polished deck and tumble arse-over-tit.
He flew over the rail and land on the concrete below with a painful “Ooof!”