Billionaire at Sea 2 Read online

  “Leave her alone,” growled Ransom, who was sitting across from me. He hadn’t yet collected the ten million dollars the kidnappers had requested. He was waiting on his accountant to verify funds and make some monetary transfers. I’d assured Ransom that I’d pay him back. This was my fault and we both knew it. I’d placed everyone’s lives in danger. It didn’t matter that he’d agreed to stay on board and face the kidnappers. Thankfully, he wasn’t holding any grudges. I wasn’t so sure of the other passengers on the ship, however. They were now being held in the parlor, with most of my crew and security staff. The kidnappers had taken all of their phones and wallets away, which seemed to have pissed them off more than the knowledge that the ship had been hijacked. Chuckles had made it clear to each of them that if they tried anything, Jake wouldn’t be the only one murdered.

  “We have addresses for all you and your families,” he’d said. “You try anything and their blood will be on your hands.”

  Knowing that they already had Jake stopped any resistance from the other passengers. Nobody else wanted their loved ones in the same position.

  The clown turned his weapon on Ransom and grunted. “Or what? You try anything and one phone call is all it takes to kill little Jake.”

  My stomach clenched in anger. “If any of your men hurt my son, I’ll make sure that you never make it off of this ship.”

  “You keep making threats like that and we’re going to find out if blue blood really does run in your family,” he replied, pulling a knife out of his front pocket. “We’ll check Jake’s too.”

  “You’re a heartless bastard,” said Ridley, glaring at him.

  “Actually, what I am is a heartless asshole,” he replied with a smile in his voice. “Although, I did kill my old man, so I guess that would make me somewhat of a bastard now, too.”

  “So, you put your dad out of his misery of knowing that his son was such a failure,” she replied.

  “Keep talking, bitch,” he said, moving toward her. “And I’ll cut out your tongue.”

  She flipped him off.

  “Ridley,” I warned, not wanting her to get hurt any more than she already had.

  “What? Like he’s going to let any of us live,” she said in a glum voice. “Once these guys have the money, it’s all over for us.”

  “Of course we’re going to let you live,” the gunman replied, a smile in his voice. “I mean, what kind of a deal would that be if we didn’t?”

  “A shitty one, which is where I think this is headed,” said Ransom. “Besides, we know what John looks like. One of us could identify him. Why would he want us alive?”

  “Don’t worry about John,” said the gunman. “He’s going to disappear and won’t give a shit if you recognize him or not.”

  “New identity, huh?” muttered Ridley. “I guess that kind of money can buy you anything you want.”

  My phone buzzed and I noticed that it was my secretary.

  “Yeah,” I said, answering it.

  “Damian, the funds should be available for wire transfer. You just have to log in with your credentials and authorize it.”

  “Good to know. Thank you,” I replied.

  “You’re welcome,” she replied.

  “What’s going on?” asked the gunman, watching me closely after I hung up the phone.

  I stared at him. As much as I wanted to pay the money and get my son back, my gut told me to wait. “They’re still working on it. It’s going to be awhile.”

  His eyes hardened. “How long is awhile?”

  “I have no idea,” I replied. “Why don’t you go and report back to John? And when you do that, I want to talk to Mia. I need to know that she’s alive and well.”

  “You don’t call the shots around here,” he argued. “So, quit giving orders.”

  “I may not be calling the shots, but I’m the one writing the check on this little enterprise of yours and I refuse to pay for damaged goods,” I said, glaring at him. “That means that I want both Jake and Mia to remain unharmed.”

  Looking frustrated, he pulled out his phone and began dialing a number.

  “Yeah. It’s me,” he said. “Stryker wants to make sure that the woman you left with is okay.”

  John said something to him and the clown looked at me. “How?”

  Ransom and I looked at each other.

  “Okay,” said the gunman. “I’ll tell them.” He hung up.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, irritated that I couldn’t talk to her.

  “She’s gone,” he said.

  Ridley gasped. “What?”

  “Gone where?” I asked, standing up. Had she escaped?

  The gunman pointed the rifle at me. “Sit the fuck down or Ridley will be next.”

  His words sunk in and it felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. “What are you saying? Is she dead”

  “Yes,” he replied. “That’s what I’m saying.”

  I stared at him in shock, his words still registering with me.

  “John killed Mia?!” cried Ridley.

  “No. He didn’t kill her. She did it to herself,” replied the gunman.

  “Liar!” hollered Ridley, glaring up at him with tears in her eyes. “She would have never killed herself.”

  “It wasn’t suicide. She jumped ship and apparently… drowned,” he said without feeling.

  I remembered the conversation we’d had about teaching Mia how to swim and it tore me up inside. I pictured her in the water, trying to stay afloat and unable to do so. It was horrifying to imagine her dying that way.

  “Oh, my God,” choked Ridley, putting her hands

  over her face. She started to cry.

  I got up and went to her. “I’m so sorry,” I said, pulling her up into my arms, my own heart heavy. I couldn’t believe that she was gone. I’d already felt something deep for Mia and to think that I’d never see her again was painful.

  Ridley buried her face in my shirt and sobbed.

  16

  Mia

  I realized that the gun was probably John’s and knew that I should put it back, but I just couldn’t. I shoved it under my seat and put the cell phone back into the glove compartment. Just as I slammed it shut, the front door opened and he stepped outside, with Travis following close behind. They went to the trunk and opened it up. I could hear John moving things around back there and was curious as to what was happening. It didn’t take me long to figure out. Travis stepped back into the house and then reappeared carrying something long wrapped in a blanket. My breath caught in my throat as I noticed a hand slip out from underneath.

  Oh, my God.

  It was Tracy. They’d killed her. I’d hated the woman but death wasn’t something I’d wished upon anyone, even her.

  Trying not to fly into hysterics, I looked away and reminded myself that I had to get to Jake.

  Travis dropped Tracy into the trunk with a thud and I shuddered. I couldn’t believe what was happening. It was all so gruesome and it felt surreal. We were going to be traveling with a dead body in the back of the sedan.

  John slammed the trunk shut and a few seconds later, got into the car with me.

  “You killed her,” I stated, trembling.

  He shrugged. “Yeah, so? She saw us kissing. She had to go.”

  “Why?” I asked, disgusted with his logic. “It was just a kiss. She’d have gotten over it.”

  “The truth was, I’d planned on killing her anyway. But, she’d seen us kissing and I couldn’t take any chances of her mentioning it to Travis.”

  I still couldn’t believe how casual he was being about murdering people.

  “So, you don’t trust Travis either?”

  “I trust nobody,” he replied.

  I stared at him.

  Sighing, he took my hand in his. “Relax. This will all be over soon.”

  Fighting the urge to take my hand back from him, I swallowed. “How many more have to die?”

  “As many as it takes,” he said.


  “John, did you ever kill anyone else before all of this?”

  His lip twitched. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Yes. I do.”

  He kissed my hand and then let it go to start the engine. “You’re better off not knowing.”

  “I guess that answers that,” I murmured.

  “You have to trust me,” he said, pulling out of the driveway. “Speaking of which, open up the glove compartment.”

  I stiffened up. “Why?”

  Impatient, he stopped the car, and then reached over to open it himself. He pulled out the cell phone and then the car manual. John slammed the glove compartment shut. “Oh, Mia. I’m very disappointed in you.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, my eyes wide.

  “The gun. I know you have it.”

  I raised my hands up. “What gun? I don’t have anything.”

  “Right.”

  He unbuckled his seatbelt and started searching the vehicle. He found the gun right away and held it up. “You didn’t hide it very well.”

  “I didn’t hide it at all,” I lied, giving him a dirty look. “And don’t you think if I had known there was a gun in the vehicle, I’d have shoved it into your face by now?”

  He grunted. “No. You’re much too smart for that. You’d never see Jake alive or your friends on the yacht.”

  I groaned in exasperation. “You think you have everyone figured out and in truth, you don’t.”

  He studied my face for a few seconds before answering. “All I know is that the gun was in the glove box and now it’s not.”

  “Maybe your girlfriend moved it. You should call her. Oh, wait… you can’t because you killed her,” I replied dryly.

  “Mia, I do have feelings for you but my patience is wearing thin.”

  “What does that mean? I’m your next victim?”

  “This isn’t a game,” he said angrily. “And as you’ve noticed, I’m not afraid to get rid of distractions, so you’d better stop being one.”

  “You’re the one accusing me of something I didn’t do,” I lied.

  Noticing a car behind us, he started driving again. “Okay, let’s drop this. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt this time. But, I’m warning you, this situation is very serious and I’m doing you a favor here, by allowing you to live. Don’t cross me or you’ll regret it.”

  I turned and looked out of the passenger window. The only thing I regretted was agreeing to go out with him, three years ago.

  17

  Ransom

  Time ticked by slowly as we waited to hear back from Damian’s secretary. I had my funds lined up but was waiting until I knew for certain that paying these guys off really was the only way. We had until six anyway and something told me that once the money was wired, we were all dead.

  I glanced over at Damian. He looked like he’d aged overnight. From the distraught look on his face, I knew that he was going through a worse hell than anyone. First, his son being kidnapped. Then finding out about Mia. His feelings for her were obvious. Our situation seemed to be getting worse by the hour and time was running out. I knew we had to do something, but with numb-nuts babysitting us in Damian’s office, we couldn’t even talk about a solution.

  An image of Taffy popped into my head. What I wouldn’t do to be home with her right now. To be able to wake up to those laughing blue eyes. I wasn’t sure if I’d get to see her again and the thought tore me up inside. She was everything to me and if the roles were reversed, I’d never be able to carry on without her. Life before her had been a blur of booze and women. I’d been miserable and out of control. Thank God she’d saved me from myself. Now, I lived each day just to have her in my life. And that damn beautiful smile of hers. It was like catching a glimpse of Heaven. Nope, I definitely couldn’t live without her. Taffy, on the other hand, was strong and would persevere no matter what obstacles life brought her way. I knew that if I didn’t make it out of this situation alive, she’d not only overcome her grief, but hopefully understand why I had to stay.

  My phone began to ring. I pulled it out and recognized the number. It was Taffy again. She’d called earlier but I’d been too afraid to answer it. There was a chance that she’d catch something in my voice and know that something was wrong. I couldn’t lie to her either. We’d made a solemn oath that there’d never be any secrets between us, no matter what the circumstances were.

  I sighed.

  Was it possible that she’d somehow caught wind of what was happening? More than likely, Taffy had learned about the large sum of money being transferred to one account and was wondering if I’d lost my mind.

  “Aren’t you going to answer your phone?” the gunman asked.

  My eye twitched. I wanted to tell him where to go, and had to practically bite my tongue not to.

  “Hello?” he said, irritated.

  The others called him Franz. He was short and stocky, with a slight German accent. His deep, hoarse voice told me that he either smoked or used to. I’d stopped smoking cigarettes years ago, but one sure sounded good right now.

  “No, I’m not going to answer it,” I said.

  “Why not? Maybe it is your finance guy? Maybe he has news about the money?” he replied.

  “It’s definitely not,” I told him.

  “Oh. I see. It is your girlfriend?”

  “It’s none of your business, that’s who it is,” I said sharply. Nosy bastard.

  His eyes narrowed under the mask. “Give me your phone,” Franz said, holding out his hand.

  “No,” I said, glaring at him.

  He raised his gun to my forehead. “You don’t and you’ll die.”

  “Hey now,” said Damian. “There’s no need for that.”

  “Just a reminder, Franz, if I die, you won’t get your money,” I said with a cold smile.

  “How about I just make it so you wish you were dead,” he replied. “Maybe I shoot you in the ankle. Do you have any idea how painful that is?”

  I was about to tell him where to put his gun when the door opened and one of the other clowns entered. The idiots were all still wearing the masks, so it was hard to distinguish one from the other.

  “What’s up?” asked Franz.

  “I’m supposed to relieve you,” the other guy said, walking toward him. “So, you can grab some food or take a piss.”

  “It’s about time. I’ve been asking to be relieved for the last hour,” Franz muttered.

  “Thank God,” I said with a smirk. “He’s a real little bitch when he’s hungry.”

  Franz turned back around, his face red with anger. “I’ll show you who the bitch is,” he said angrily.

  The clown behind Franz hit him hard in the back of the head and he dropped like a sack of potatoes.

  The three of us stared at the clown in shock.

  “We don’t have much time,” he said, raising his mask.

  It was Marshall.

  “What are you doing?” Damian asked, moving over Franz to check on him. “He’s out cold.”

  “Keeping everyone alive,” said Marshall. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and… there’s no way that these guys are going to let any of us go, especially Jake.”

  “You don’t know that,” argued Damian.

  “Come on, Damian. You know as well as I do that once the money is deposited into their account, they’re not going to hand him over. He’ll die and so will the rest of us,” said Marshall.

  “And if we don’t agree to pay them the money, how is that going to make anything better?” replied Damian. “It’s certainly not going to help my son.”

  “It will if my plan works the way I think it will,” he said.

  “You have a plan? I sure the hell hope so,” Damian said angrily. “Because now all of our lives are on the line.”

  “Relax, Damian,” I said, relieved that Marshall had come up with something. We were all just sitting ducks, waiting to die, as far as I was concerned. Even worse, we were paying them bef
ore it happened. “Let’s hear what he has to say.”

  “Go ahead,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.”

  “We have to take back the ship and find your ex,” Marshall said.

  Damian’s eyes widened. “Find Marissa? Why?”

  “Because she knows where your son is,” he replied. “I overheard Chuckles talking about her.”

  His face darkened. “What did he say?”

  “Something about her showing up where she didn’t belong,” replied Marshall.

  Damian stared ahead angrily. “That bitch. How could she do this?”

  He nodded, his expression grim. “Come on now, does her involvement really surprise you?”

  From the expression on Damian’s face, it shocked the hell out of him.

  18

  Damian

  I wanted to murder her.

  How could she do this?

  Jake had looked so frightened in the picture they’d sent. Obviously, he had no idea that his mother was in on this.

  “Are you certain?” As much as I hated her, something like this was hard to swallow. Screwing John was one thing, but using our son as a pawn to get more money from me was deplorable. The woman was insane.

  “Yes. Kendall got loose, too, by the way. She just called me,” said Marshall.

  “Did she call the police?” I asked him.

  “No. I told her not to,” he replied.

  “What about Alice?” I asked, picturing the nanny. She was an older woman in her fifties. The ordeal must have been terrifying for her. “Did she mention anything about her?”

  “She’s alive. They’re both heading over to my place. Alice really wants to call the police. I explained that if she did, Jake could die,” said Marshall. “Hell, even if Marissa is involved, that doesn’t mean that he’s safe. These guys might get desperate if they find out the police are looking into things.”

  “That fucking bitch, Marissa,” I said, running a hand over my face. “How could she do this to her own son?”