Something was wrong. Kate looked up from her journal, her head cocked to one side as she tried to figure out what made her think that. She heard a thump somewhere above deck and muffled scream a second before her stateroom door was kicked open.
Her pen fell from her numb fingers as she stood, backing up from the immense man that stood in the doorway. The chair toppled over to the floor. In that second she realized that the ship was silent – the motor had stopped.
"Hey there, Pretty lady," growled the man, stepping toward her, "Turn around and you won't get hurt."
Kate stared at him, her breath catching in her throat, "Who are you and what do you want?"
They were in the middle of the Atlantic and this man was not on the crew that she could remember. She would remember someone with a tattoo of a fly on his face.
"Don't cause me problems, Bitch, and turn around!" He took another step toward her, pulling out a long knife.
Slowly, her heart caught in her throat, she turned around and held as still as she could as her mind whirled. What was happening? Where had he come from? She felt the man get closer to her and she yelped in fear as he grabbed her arms, pulling them behind her. With practiced skill he crossed her wrists and bound them a plastic ties. The realization of what could happen to her hit her with full force.
"Oh God, No!" she panicked, kicking back like a mule and connecting with a solid thump. The man fell to the floor, holding himself, cursing.
Kate bolted out of the doorway and down the narrow hallway, stumbling in fear. She tried to remember where on this yacht anything was, but fear clouded her mind. She headed for the back of the ship. She remembered her cousins were supposed to be back there sunbathing. She had to warn them! Running, she rounded a corner and ran headlong into another man. The force of it knocked her to the deck, where she lay stunned for a moment. A moment long enough for the man – another stranger – to lean over her.
"What's this now?" his eyes showed a dark hunger that made her ill.
Kate looked into his eyes and knew she didn't know him. She kicked up, remembering her hours in self defense classes and connected with his knee, listening to him scream as he fell to the deck. Struggling to get to her feet again, Kate was pushed back to the deck by a boot in the small of her back.
"Someone bind her feet, would you?" The voice was an almost lazy and bored British accent, but the power of his boot into her back held her easily until someone grabbed her ankles and with another pair of plastic ties secured her ankles, leaving her on the deck.
They left her there on the deck. She could hear them going through the ship, room by room. Somewhere she could hear someone crying.
Determined not to be a victim, Kate tried to inch her way toward the door. She had to find some way to cut her bonds. She had made it several feet across the deck toward the main salon when the boot was back, pressing into her back again. The pain pressed her into the varnished deck, making her gasp.
"You are a determined one aren't you?" There was amusement in the voice this time. With ease, the boot flipped her over so she was blinking up in the sun at the owner of the boot and the voice. He stood very tall, dark hair and eyes, over the white shirt and dark jeans.
She lay there for a moment as he looked at her with interest. He wasn't part of the crew either. How had they boarded the ship without the crew noticing?
"Please, what is happening?" Kate asked, fearing the answer.
The man crouched down and ran his fingers across Kate's face, smiling when she tried to draw back, "Since you asked so nicely. We're pirates. You know -- sailing the seven seas., taking bounty. And we found your ship."
Kate blinked a few times as this sank in. It couldn't be. This couldn't be real. Yet she knew there were still pirates, but it was so far fetched, so unreal.
"When you get what you want here, you will leave?" Maybe they would take anything worth value and just leave them alone. She clung to that hope.
The man smiled a feral smile that made her shiver, "Oh yes... and the crew will be left unharmed, the engine repairable in time. We will take what we want and be gone."
Kate relaxed a little, not totally believing him as the he looked up to another of his men, "Are we ready?" The other man must have nodded as the man with the boots clapped his hands once, "Let's load up then and get moving. Butch, you help with the others, I'll get this one." He hefted Kate up and flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"What are you doing?" Kate kicked at him with her bound feet and struggling like a wet cat, "Put me down!"
He didn't reply, but carried her to the back of the yacht. With the help of another of his crew, they got her across to their ship which was pulled up along side. He dumped her on the back deck of his ship and then left as the rest of his crew came aboard and they cast off. Kate could see her cousins also bound and huddled together nearby. Missy and Heather looked terrified as they knelt crying on the deck, their hands secured behind their backs, wearing only their bikinis.
They were left there, unattended for almost an hour in the hot sun. Missy and Heather had begun to whisper to each other instead of crying. Knowing her cousins, Kate wasn't sure that was an improvement. As for herself, her arms were sore from being bound and she was developing a thirst that was almost painful.
She had managed to wiggle herself into a semi-sitting position by the wall of the cabin, when she heard the sound of Boots coming back.
"I see I am going to have to keep my eye on you, Girl," he said, pushing her, back down to the deck with his foot firmly. "If I wanted you sitting up, I would have left you sitting up."
Missy, one of Kate's cousins looked up defiantly, "I don't know who you are, Mister, but you are going to turn this boat right around and take us back."
Flopped back on her side, Kate moaned to herself. She had a feeling Missy was going to try something like this. Antagonizing these men and making demands was not going to help one bit.
Kate struggled uncomfortably on her side and hissed loudly at her cousin, "Missy, Shut up!" The girl couldn't be that stupid, could she? Surely she understood how much danger they were in?
"If you return us to the ship, we have decided we won't press charges. But if you persist on holding us, my father will be very angry." Missy glared at Boots and managed a self-satisfied flip of her wind-tossed blond hair.
Several of the other men had gathered on the deck now and were watching the show. Boots drew out a long knife from his boot and moved closer to Missy. Her show of defiance crumpled as she screamed and tried to back away from it, her bare feet scrabbling helplessly at the deck as she backed into the railing.
"You should have listened to your friend over there and shut up," He pressed the tip of the blade against her skin and moved it slowly down her chest, between her breasts, leaving a thin line but no blood. Missy barely breathed. "You have no voice on this ship. I am the one in control here, and you are nothing. The sooner you understand that, the easier it will be for you." He backed up and stood, looking at the three of them with obvious pleasure.
"Now pay attention, Girls. I really dislike having to repeat myself. You are not going to be held for ransom. I am not going to set you free at the next port. My main reason for boarding your ship was to capture you. I am a slaver. I take women, I train them and I sell them. If you cooperate, if will be much more pleasant for you than you think."
Kate lay still and closed her eyes as nausea filled her. This couldn't be happening. She curled up a bit, as if it would somehow protect her from his words. She could feel the movement of the boat and hear the slap of the waves against the hull.
