“Mine was in my bag. I turned it off earlier and forgot to put it on charge after our little…” He blushed, and it was adorable, but then the boat listing dramatically to the side brought our attention back to his phone. “In the bedroom,” he instructed, and I pushed up, running through the boat as fast as I could in the circumstances.
I found it, turning it back on as I hurried back to them. In a minute, Finn was unlocking it and handing it to me.
“We’ve hardly got any signal. I could go outside and see?—”
They both cried, “No” together.
“Okay, let me try to call the Coastguard.”
It rang, but the line was so bad, I wasn’t sure if they’d answered or hung up, so I spoke anyway.
“Can you hear me? This is Professor Jasper Fischer on the Deil Research Boat One. SOS. I have no idea where we are. Five souls on board. We’re stuck in a storm. No power, no comms, no navigation. Help. Hello, hello?”
The phone lit up, telling me the call had ended, and I had no idea if they’d heard us. Another ominous creak of the boat told me that we didn’t have long, even if they did.
FORTY-ONE
FINN
Jasper put down the phone,a defeated look etched across his face.
“Well, I think this might have cured my travel sickness,” I joked, trying to lighten to mood, just as the boat lit up like someone had flicked on a giant floodlight in the sky.
“Oh my god, can everyone see that? I don’t want to go towards the light.” My head turned from left to right as I tried to work out where it was coming from.
“I don’t think the other side is calling, Twinkle.” Travis declared, pushing up from where he’d been kneeling, a grin spreading across his face that gave me hope.
“What?” I asked as Jasper stood as well.
“Heaven doesn’t have a green and red light as well… well, not that I’m aware of. That, Twinkle, is a boat.”
My mouth dropped open as I leapt up, the movement making the room spin, and I had to sit down again. “What?” I said again.
“A boat. A big, huge, beautiful boat,” Jasper added as the loud groan of our boat sounded like it was about to split in two.
“How did they find us so soon?” I asked as we all stared out through the rain at the huge ship heading our way. “It’s literally been thirty seconds.” Tears pricked my eyes. I’d tried to be brave from the minute those men appeared, but being knocked out, waking up tied and gagged, my shoulder that hurt like a bitch, the water coming in so I really believed I was going to die down there alone… it had been a lot, and now, knowing we might actually make it out of here alive; emotion pulled in my chest and I wanted nothing more than to break down in a big sobbing mess, but my head cracking off the wall as the boat hit another huge wave, reminded me that we were a long way from safe yet.
“Someone needs to go outside,” Jasper announced. “They’ll throw us a line, and we need to tie it on to one of ours so they can bring us closer.”
“I’ll do it,” Travis declared.
“No. My boat, my project, my risk.”
Travis looked like he was going to argue, but he obviously saw the look of determination on Jasper’s face. Instead, he took hold of his hand. “Tie yourself on. The weather is too unstable. One wave and you’re over the side. Do you understand?”
He nodded, picking up his torch. “I’m coming back. I promise.” He pointed to the two arseholes on the floor that I’d almost forgotten were there. “Get them up and ready to leave because they’re going to tell us who paid them to do this.”
TRAVIS
“Breathe, Travis.”Finn’s voice caught my attention as I watched the torchlight moving at the front of the boat as Jasper secured the throw line onto our boat. “The professor will be fine. He’s taking care of us, so he won’t fail.”
JASPER
I’d watchedand waited as we were pulled alongside the enormous cruise liner. While the waves continued to batter my beautiful boat, I waited as the men I loved and the idiots who put us in the situation were helped to safety. Only then did I release the safety rope that tethered me to the railing.
Soaked, breathless, exhausted, I reached out my hand, and the stranger leaning out of the cruise ship’s cargo door took it.
With a swift pull, I jumped, falling into the waiting arms of Finn and Travis as strangers wrapped us in foil blankets, and I whispered a silent thank you to whoever saved us.
