Chapter 49

“Let’s go! Get up!” The door opened to Ashley’s room and the same large man that had taken her before stepped in. Seems he was speaking the only words he knew. A large rifle hung from a strap over his shoulder. He held a handgun in his hand. Ashley knew nothing of guns and had no idea what kind either of them was.
Ashley didn’t move.
The man stepped into the room, grabbed her arm and yanked her out. He placed the gun to the back of her head and pushed him in front of her. “Move.”
But Ashley didn’t know where to go. She was drugged when she was placed in the room; she had no idea how to get out. She didn’t need to ask. The man pushed her forward past an elegant galley kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops towards a staircase at the end. Was she being held on a yacht? Who owned this boat? He shoved her back indicating for her to go up the stairs. At the top of the stairs she was in a room lined with leather benches on either side with a table sitting closer to the bench on her right then on the left. With his gun her captor pushed her through the room and out the sliding glass doors. Another table sat in front of her with bench seating surrounding it. Sunlight blinded her eyes as her captor pushed her down on to the outside bench seat. He continued to hold the gun on her but now he had placed the handgun behind his back in his belt and was aiming his larger gun at her chest. Ashley made no attempts at resistance. The boat was not moving.
“This is the FBI; we know you have illegal cargo on board. We are ordering you to stand down or be boarded by the Coast Guard.” The voice sounded familiar. Could it be Nate? Had he found her?
The man pushing Ashley ignored the threat. “Go!” She wasn’t sure if he was shouting at her or someone else.
When the response came back, “It isn’t time. He ain’t here.” Ashley knew it wasn’t her.
“I don’t care. We can’t lose these girls or we’re dead. I’m not ending up like Gardner.”
Jonathan Gardner? Had this man killed him? Ashley’s heart began to race and she looked back and forth on the bow of the yacht. The sun was shining now which meant another day had passed. How long had she been missing? Two days? Three? She had no recollection. From where she sat she could see very little. Behind her, she knew, was the dock at which the yacht was anchored but all she could see in front of her was water. Beyond that she could see the Tampa skyline but the distance was so overwhelming that there was little chance of escape by water.
“Move the boat, Purcell! Let’s get out of here.”
“Not without the boss. If we don’t have him we don’t go. They’ll kill us otherwise.”
Ashley’s captor took the gun off her and aimed it in the direction he had been yelling. “You don’t go and I’m gonna kill you!”
“Fine,” Purcell yelled back and immediately the silent boat roared to life.
“If you pull away from the dock we will open fire.” A voice came through a load speaker from somewhere on land and Ashley’s heart sunk. She could be dead if they opened fire.
Her captor quickly grabbed her up and put her in front of him as a shield. “You shoot and I’ll kill her.” He pushed Ashley forward to the front of the boat and stood on the bow for everyone to see. From where she now stood she could see black jacketed men with large shields and helmets lined up along the dock just feet away from the yacht. They were so close she could almost jump and land next to them but yet so far away because she knew if she moved she may lose her life or worse lose Julia and Kayla forever.
“Todd Purcell and Geoffrey Winterbrook you are ordered to release the prisoners that you have on board.”
Ashley guessed it was Geoffrey who had her as a shield now. Ashley prayed that Geoffrey listened to the order.
“Come here and make me,” Geoffrey yelled back. “But if you do you better know I’m going to put a bullet in her skull. You think I care about her?”
The line of jacketed men took a stop closer to the dock’s ledge. Any closer and Ashley feared they would fall into the water. Ashley could not think of a good way for this stand off to end. There was no way for the police to board the boat without the knowledge of Geoffrey or Todd.
“Let’s go. Back downstairs.” Geoffrey pushed Ashley off the front of the boat and back down into the belly of the yacht. Ashley tried to fight him but he yanked at her hair. “Don’t even think about it, woman. I will shoot you soon as look as you. You ain’t part of the purchase plan so no one will miss you.”
Geoffrey smiled as he threw Ashley back into the cell that had held her earlier. “Of course, keepin’ you alive for a bit means those men out there won’t dare board this boat. No way will they risk anything with you and those girls alive.” Geoffrey slammed the door and left.

“Stand down! Hold your fire.” Nate yelled to the men in front of him. The line of SWAT members slowed their advance. Not that they had much of one to make, they were on the edge of the dock as it was.
“Where are my divers?” Nate spoke into the radio he held. “I need you behind the yacht as quickly as possible. If we distract them you can get Ashley and hopefully the girls out.”
“We’re almost there,” came the reply.
Nate prayed for them to hurry then said, “Make sure you check the entire yacht. We have five missing and I’d rather not go home without a single one.”
“You got it.” Silence filled the air. Then, “We’re at the yacht. Give us the go and we’ll board.”
Nate picked up the megaphone that he had been using. “Geoffrey Winterbrook and Todd Purcell, this is your last warning. Give yourselves up.” Nate turned off the megaphone and turned to Eric who was in charge of running the rest of the operation while Nate attempted to make contact with the kidnappers. “Eric, when is the hostage negotiator arriving?”
“She’s on her way,” Eric said. “Keep them talking. If we can see both of them then our guys can board.”
“I agree but I don’t like them boarding when these guys appear so heavily armed.”
“Not to mention having at least three hostages but if these guys decide to turn that boat around and leave we have to alert the Coast Guard and then the whole arrest gets messy. You’ve been in the box too often, now it’s my turn,” Eric said. Nate knew he would have smiled at the rib but the situation was too serious. At this point Nate cared little about who made the arrest as long as Ashley and all the missing children were safe.

Ashley scooted back into the room till she reached the wall. Sunlight now streamed through the window but when she looked around it wasn’t the same room she had been in before. Instead this room had bunk beds each covered with a khaki comforter and surrounded by exquisite wood. There was a hole in the wood with wire sticking through it. Given the size Ashley assumed it was for a TV. This was obviously a very expensive and cared for yacht. This room must be for the guest quarters.
Ashley heard whimpering from above her followed by small sobs. She stood up to look around. She could see no one on the lower bunk. She placed her foot on the bottom bunk and pulled herself up to see the top bunk. Julia and Kayla were huddled together as far from the edge of the bed as they could get.
“Miss Ashley!” Julia said. “How did you get here?”
“I don’t know. I was in another room, and then one of the men came and got me and put me back here.” Ashley prayed silently. This could only be the Lord! While she had only half listened to all of her mom’s stories about the Lord she did remember most of them. Maybe Geoffrey had made a mistake and put her in the wrong room or maybe he found it easier to keep all three of them together. It didn’t matter. The fact that they were together meant Ashley could continue to care for these young girls.
Since this was a different room Ashley decided to try the doors, walls and windows to see if there was any way of escape. As she reached the doorknob, she prayed silently that the Lord would be with them. Somehow the idea of praying was getting easier. She twisted the doorknob and amazingly it turned in her hand and the door opened. Geoffrey had not locked the door!
“Come on girls, climb down.”
Julia quickly obeyed but Kayla refused to move. “Come on, girl, the door is open. We’re gonna go,” Julia said.
“What about Kyle?” Kayla asked quietly.
“What about him.”
“I think he’s here.”
Ashley’s heart sunk. She couldn’t leave Kyle behind but they couldn’t stay here either. “Can you girls swim?”
“Uh-huh,” both girls said.
“Then I will get you to the back of the boat and I will look for Kyle myself. I need you both to be safe. Do you understand?”
Julia nodded and Kayla climbed down from the top bunk using the ladder that was attached the wall. Both girls stood behind her. Ashley held up her finger for them to be quiet and then opened the door. Checking both ways she found no one. Ashley knew there was only one way to topside and if Geoffrey came back and saw them they would be in trouble. She said another prayer. God had been with them so far, she could only hope He still was.