Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
“That doesn’t sound good. What’d he say?
” Rory looked to Chris for the translation as they stood on the main deck of the fishing trawler that was most certainly not used for catching fish.
No, the only thing fishy about this boat was the Trott brothers, and the only thing they trawled for was trouble.
If the Trott brothers wanted to convince the coast guard they were legit, they could have at least made an attempt. Amateur hour.
“Portuguese isn’t my strong suit,” Chris said into Rory’s ear as they watched Roman and Johnny talking a few feet away.
Roman had pressed the captain, and from the sounds of it, the conversation was quite heated.
If Roman’s hands had been free, he surely would have been waving them about for emphasis. Or using them to punch the guy out.
By the time Johnny Trott had herded them up to the deck, night had fallen. The storm clouds were long gone, the water calmer, and the ink-black sky was covered in a blanket of sparkling stars. Their predicament aside, it really was rather romantic.
Rory was flanked by Chris on her left and Harper on her right, their hands still tied behind their backs.
But for some reason, Rory couldn’t muster even an ounce of panic.
She was, however, still feeling an immense amount of regret for getting Chris, Roman, and Harper into this situation, and if any of them were injured—or worse—she would never forgive herself.
“Roman’s trying to get information out of him before we’re traded to someone else.” Rory stole a glimpse at Harper to see she was barely moving her mouth as she spoke. “At least, that’s what I think they’re saying. My Portuguese is also subpar.”
“Why are you talking like that?” Rory whispered, nearly smiling, which was crazy at a time like this. “You look like a rookie ventriloquist.”
“I’m not really sure.” Harper lightly laughed as if this was all truly unbelievable. “Oh, that’s not good,” she said a moment later as Roman lurched toward Johnny, clearly angry about something.
Chris sprang into action but was quickly stopped as four crewmen charged him. It went against character for them to stand by and not fight, but hands bound behind their backs and surrounded by a bunch of criminals didn’t make for a fair fight.
Rory winced when one of the men clocked Chris in the jaw and then shoved him to the deck floor.
“Stop!” Rory cried out, knowing her protests would probably do nothing but draw attention. Yep, she and Harper now had their own personal goon squad surrounding them. Nice to know they were considered a threat, at least.
A few seconds later, both Chris and Roman were pinned to the deck, facedown and immobilized, but it’d taken five men to do it. I repeat, amateur hour.
“What was said that pissed them off?” Rory whispered to Harper.
“No idea.” Harper chanced one step, but she was stopped by Trott’s idiot brother, Fred, who blocked her path.
He leaned in and wiggled his tongue lewdly, then cupped Harper’s cheek while his eyes journeyed over the tee tightly molded to her chest. Rory hissed angrily when the asshole lifted a hand and palmed Harper’s breast. Roman caught what was going on and yelled something in Portuguese, his body radiating fury.
But Harper seemed unaffected. Rory watched with veiled amusement as Harper calmly rolled her eyes, waited for a beat while Fred had his little laugh, then reared back and spat in his face.
Rory stifled a laugh at the shocked look on Fred’s face, which quickly disappeared as he wiped the back of his free hand over his cheek.
He hissed out a few sentences in Portuguese before switching to English and ending his rant with, “Bitch.”
Harper lifted her chin and stared Fred in the eyes. “I can undress myself, you asshole.”
“Wait, what?” Rory’s heart stuttered at Harper’s statement.
“Naked plank walks,” Harper clarified.
“Are you sure? You admitted your Portuguese was subpar. Maybe he said . . . Shit, I got nothing.” Rory had found herself in a lot of sketchy situations but never naked ones.
The deck lights shone down on them like fucking spotlights. These pigs wanted a show? No, Rory liked pigs. These men were sick bastards.
“Just because you’re leaving us, doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun first.” Johnny faced Rory and Harper, sweeping aside a strand of long black hair that had escaped his ponytail.
“The man who paid me a premium insisted I don’t harm you.
That was the only stipulation. Sounds like he’s given me some free rein there. ”
“Unharmed,” Chris seethed. It killed her to watch both Chris and Roman, two strong warriors, fighting against their shackles and powerless to get to her and Harper. “If you fucking touch them, I promise I’ll cut your eyes out, do you hear me?” he roared.
“That’s not the only thing we’ll be cutting.” Roman’s voice dripped with malice.
Johnny stroked his beard, which was long and scraggly, the grimy strands twisted to a point at the bottom. “Just upholding a long-lived tradition and having some good old-fashioned fun.”
“Great, another idiot who thinks he’s Jack Sparrow.” Rory sighed. “I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as naked plank walks in the pirate handbook, Johnny.” Were these guys for real? Don’t get too cocky. It’s never gone well for you in the past.
“There’s not? Well, shiver me timbers, it should have been a thing, don’t you think?” Johnny grinned, showing that one gold tooth again, and hell, the man did look the part of a pirate. “Now, take your clothes off and get moving. Your new owner can damn well pick you up on the shore.”
“There are sharks out there,” Harper said, eyes set on Roman in panic. Her calm and collected self had apparently fallen overboard. “If his wound bleeds—”
“This is a joke, right?” Rory spoke loudly and made sure to inject plenty of disbelief in her tone. Johnny waved a finger in the air, motioning for them to strip.
“These two shouldn’t have pissed me off,” Johnny said, his accent coming through slightly as he peered at Roman and Chris. “Payback is sweet. And since I am under orders not to harm any of you, this will make my vengeful heart feel better.” He clasped his hands over his chest.
“You have no idea what vengeance is.” Rory felt Roman’s promise for revenge deep in her bones.
He and Chris would be back for these men and their boat. The Trotts would wind up at the bottom of the ocean. Someone, someday, would discover the sunken fishing trawler and wonder about the story of the boat and crew. Wonder how it went down and why.
“Time to get naked, girls,” Fred declared, punctuating his words with a loud clap. “Undress.”
“You idiot, our hands are tied behind our backs.” Harper was gonna deck the guy the second her hands were free, Rory was sure of it. She was desperate to connect her knuckles with the asshole’s jaw, too.
She opened her mouth, prepared to argue, but Johnny clutched his stomach and began grinning.
“Oh God, you all actually believed me!” He spoke a few words in Portuguese that had his crew breaking into laughter, then raised his palms in the air.
“I was kidding. Relax. You don’t need to undress. It was funny, yes?”
Son of a bitch.
Rory had been pretty sure these Neanderthals were joking around, but she still sighed with relief because you never knew what thugs like these guys would do one minute to the next.
“It was especially funny to see you two boys so pissed off on behalf of your women. If I let you up, you promise not to bite?” Johnny crouched in front of Chris and Roman, and Rory was worried one of them might actually snarl.
If Bear were there, he’d use that strong jaw of his to bite the hell out of this man.
Bear didn’t need training to know good from evil.
When Chris nodded, the men moved off him and allowed him up.
Rory hurried toward him, thankful the idiots standing near didn’t stop her.
She pressed her face to Chris’s chest, wishing her hands were free to loop around him for a hug.
“I got you,” he said, his chin resting atop her head. “I promise.”
Roman slowly stood once the other men parted, allowing him to make his way to Harper.
“Don’t say it,” Chris warned Harper in a low, but teasing voice, once they were all standing together. “I know, I know. I almost jinxed us.”
The episode of Naked and Afraid. Right. Close call.
And in any other circumstance, seeing Chris naked clutching a leaf (a big, damn leaf) over his crotch would have been hilarious.
But no, she couldn’t allow that image to simmer in her mind with Johnny Freaking Trott and his brother standing there looking so smug.
“Who hired you?” Chris shifted to stand in front of Rory, blocking her from the captain.
“The first time?” Johnny smiled. “Or do you want to know who is buying your freedom now?”
The sounds of helicopter blades chopping the air had everyone’s attention turning to the sky as it flew closer, then circled the boat and remained hovering overhead.
“The team who outbid your first buyer is here now.” Johnny looked back to Chris as the wind from the blades kicked Rory’s hair around and across her face.
Team? Rory’s heart leaped at the idea that maybe, just maybe, Chris’s coworkers had found them. Maybe they were the buyer.
Two thick, black ropes fell from the bird, but no one exited the helo.
And if it wasn’t Chris’s people in the helicopter above them, would they be better off making a run for the water and diving? The current would be rough, even on a calm night, but she was a diving expert, and Chris and Roman were Navy SEALs. Surely, they could make it.
But shit, their hands were still bound behind their backs. “Can you untie us first?” she asked, because hell, it was worth a shot.
“Afraid not. Your buyer would prefer you stay bound.” Johnny’s words stole Rory’s hope that the good guys were there for the rescue. “Weigh anchor,” he ordered after a crew member had handed him a laptop. “We’ve been paid. They’re no longer our problem.”
“What are we doing? What’s the plan?” Rory softly asked Chris.
Chris met Rory’s eyes, a look of anger there.
They’d survived the yacht and hiked across the island, only to be retaken. And now, they were being handed off. Yeah, she was frustrated, too.
Chris was also probably a little embarrassed that the Trott brothers managed to punk him and Roman. But they weren’t used to dealing with smugglers and pirates at sea like she had grown accustomed to over the years.
And at this point, she wasn’t so sure which would be worse. Naked and afraid, or blindly going with whoever was in that chopper.
Rory looked up to see two men cloaked in all black fast-roping down onto the ship from the helicopter. They landed in front of them, weapons drawn. Roman and Chris were tall and strong, but these two men were WWE-huge in size.
“Boss is worried you’ll fight back if we try to get you onto our bird,” the one said, his accent most likely Texan.
“And who is your boss?” Chris stepped in front of Rory and faced the men like a shield, and Roman did the same for Harper.
The Texan tipped his head to peer around Chris for a better look at Rory, most likely confirming her identity the way Johnny Trott had back on the island.
“We have permission to immobilize you if need be, but Boss would prefer us not to do that,” he said instead.
“Although, if you try anything, anything at all, we’ll stick you with enough ketamine to put down an elephant. Understood?”
“Who’s your boss?” Chris repeated, his tone deep and fierce.
“I believe you know him already,” the Texan responded, looking directly at Rory. “Carter Dominick.”