Chapter 22: On the run ... again

SO MUCH FOR THE SOLIDARITY OF WOMEN. Girls looking out for each other. The bitch just stood there gloating at me after pushing me in the pool. What kind of a name is Savon anyway? Sounds like a grocery store coupon. She’s just a goon with tits.

Escape

Two men propelled me out on the pier and into a small motor boat, which they launched toward the Helen of Troy. My gut was telling me this captor was even worse than Bradley. Geoff Gilliam was not only a playboy, he was a sadist. God! How did Teri get mixed up with him?

By the time I was ushered into a cabin, I’d had hands all over my body in very ungentlemanly ways. They unfastened the cuffs in the cabin but locked the door behind me. All the while there’d been a running commentary about what they would do to me, ‘when the boss was through.’ Apparently, Geoff had rules about not soiling the merchandise before he got his filthy hands on it. A few moments later, the door opened and a towel was thrown through it. Then it was closed and locked again.

I stripped out of the wet dress and dried with the towel, checking the critical parts of my makeup—eyebrows, eyelashes, and wig. I could do without the jewels, but they seemed pretty stable. I needed clothes now that I was out of the wet dress. Various swimwear for both men and women hung in the closet and I chose a one-piece to cover myself with. I wrapped a terrycloth robe around me and started looking for a way out.

It was an inside cabin with no porthole making the only exit the door I came in through. I rummaged all through the closet and found nothing more than a hanger I could use as a weapon. I paced back and forth for nearly an hour before I heard the rattle of the door being opened again. I prepared myself this time to take out whoever came through the door. The door opened and I grabbed the woman who entered and threw her on the bed locking her arms behind her and looking toward the still-open door.

“Friend! Friend!” she cried. “I came to help.”

“Teri?” I let her up and she turned to look at me.

“It really is you!” she exclaimed. “When I saw you run toward the pool, I suddenly thought ‘She’s just like Deb.’ Then I figured it had to be.”

“Thanks for not blowing my cover,” I said. “But this is dangerous for you. I’ve got to get out of here.”

“There’s no place to go,” Teri said. “There’s only one sentry on board as far as I can tell. He’s up on the bridge. All the rest of the crew and the girls are at the party. They have all the boats with them.”

“How did you get out here?” I asked.

“I was trying to figure out a way all through the first course. I finally poured salt in my water and drank it in a single swallow. Then threw up. I complained it was the shellfish. Geoff swore at me and said it was the alcohol and I was dismissed from the party. There were plenty of other girls who would like to have my place. He told one of his security people to take me to the boat to sleep it off.” Teri paused to breathe.

“But how did you unlock my door?” I asked.

“I picked the guard’s pocket as he was feeling me up, supposedly helping me climb the ladder to the deck.”

“I may have to find a place for you at DH Investigations,” I laughed.

“No thanks. I regretted making this trip from the moment we reached Boeing field. But there were six girls he was taking and I thought safety in numbers, you know? I tried to call you but all I got was voice mail.”

“I haven’t been checking lately. I have so much to fill you in on. But now we need to leave. You should come with me. It’s not safe for you here.” Teri quickly changed into a swimsuit and robe then stopped by another stateroom to grab her purse. We made our way onto deck, staying in the shadows. I couldn’t see the sentry on guard and that made me nervous.

“Okay, tell me what to do,” Teri said.

“Since there’s no boat, we’ll have to swim to shore,” I said. “Come on. It’s not that far.”

“I can’t swim.”

“Teri! You rollerblade, play soccer, play hockey, and run but you can’t swim? You’re kidding!”

“None of those take place in water. I’ve always been afraid of the water,” she answered. “That made sailing down here hell.”

“We’ll take a flotation device then. I’ll pull you to shore.”

“Why don’t you take my boat, instead,” a voice spoke from the shadows. Teri screamed and I went into a defensive crouch as Ray Hawkins stepped out of the shadow. “I came to rescue you but it seems I’m a little late.”

“Why would you want to rescue me?” I asked warily.

“Well, I got you into this mess,” he answered. “Least I could do was get you out.”

“It wasn’t your suggestion that made me decide to go,” I said, not willing to flatter him with having a good idea.

“No, but it was me that planted the transmitter in the flowers. I had to wait until I’d recorded enough of the dinner conversation to make it worth my time to come out here.” He motioned to the ladder on the offshore side of the boat where a little dingy bobbed alongside.

“Can we all fit in that?” Teri asked.

“We’ll have to,” Ray insisted. We dropped quietly down into the boat and he rowed us south before turning toward shore near San Pedro. “You two should get out of here,” he said. “I need to mop some things up here before I go.”

“I need to go back to my room and pack. Teri, you can wear some of my clothes. Do you have your passport?”

“Yes, in my bag. Never travel without your passport, my mother always said.”

“Your mother never said that,” I laughed.

“All right, I made it up.”