“What if it’s not … What if they’re not predators? What if they’re escorting the boat so that they get here safely?”
Jessie looked at her in surprise. “I hadn’t considered that,” she said, “and I wouldn’t have given them even time to have explained it. I would have just shot them and run.”
“And that’s the fear speaking,” she said gently. “We didn’t get to where we are in our industry by being cowards,” she said. “We need to stand firm.”
“Oh, I hear you,” she said. “I’ll stand firm already, but you’re the one holding the weapon.”
An ugliness was in that tone in her voice. Brenna thought about handing it over and then realized she couldn’t because it had been entrusted to her by Jerricho, and she didn’t dare lose that trust. “I get that you think that’ll help,” she said, “but it won’t. And, if you’re in the wrong, or if somebody comes upon us, and they try to take it away from you, chances are that it will go that much worse for you.”
“And you’ll be any better?”
At that, she looked at her friend. “I know you don’t have any reason to believe me, but I do know how to shoot.”
Jessie looked at her doubtfully and then sagged beside Brenna. “I’m sorry. I’m just being a bitch. I’m just so scared.”
“We all are,” she murmured. She watched the boat approach. At that, she whistled forward.
Jerricho turned, looked at her, held up a warning finger, and motioned with his hand, patting it in a downward motion, and said, “Stay low.”
“He’s not happy either,” she said. “We need to stay quiet.”
“Oh, I’ll stay quiet all right. If I thought there was a place to hide on board, I’d be long gone,” Jessie said, “but I don’t even know how to get below deck.”
“There has to be a way,” she said. “Why don’t you look around and see if you can find it? Or at least some tarps or something that we can all hide under.”
“Too late for that,” she said.
But it really wasn’t. And, with a little more coaxing, Jessie got up and headed over, keeping low so that nobody would see what she was doing, and walked to where at least a small rowboat was off to the side, which looked completely ineffectual.
As Brenna watched, Jessie slipped inside the boat. Brenna frowned at that because that wouldn’t help anybody but Jessie. Plus it would be hard to see her, unless somebody was looking, yet it was a fairly obvious hiding spot. On the other hand, it would also look like maybe she just had gone to sleep. Not sure what to say or do about it, but knowing that she needed to remember her friend was there, Brenna sat on edge, waiting for disaster to strike in front of them.
Just as she was about to panic from the fear creeping up inside her, a shout came from one of the approaching boats.
Instantly Jerricho raised a hand in greeting. As soon as he did, several men appeared on deck, heavily armed, pointing guns at him. He looked at them for a long moment, cut the motor, and then slowly raised his hands.
“Shit,” she said. She glanced around, but she couldn’t do a hell of a lot from where she was. She sat beside one of the masts, but it wasn’t enough to hide her. She wasn’t very big, but she still wasn’t all that small. She wasn’t sure what Jerricho’s and Killian’s plans were and knew that they would have something in mind but maybe nothing of very good value.
She noted Killian was out of sight from anybody looking from the far side. She saw him behind a beam, his rifle ready. She watched carefully, looking to see what would happen and knew that, when it happened, it would break loud, long, and hard. And there would be a shit ton of rifle power. Which meant the women themselves were all in danger. She glanced around, wishing she had some way to stop what could be casualties among them who absolutely didn’t deserve any of it.
But the only thing that she could think to do was to fire first and to ask questions later, just what she had told Jessie that Brenna wouldn’t do. Swearing to herself, Brenna crept forward, until she was behind Killian, and she whispered, “You got a game plan?”
He looked at her and nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Can you stay out of the way?”
“I’d love to,” she said, “but none of those women have anybody to look after them.”
“We’re here,” he said.
“I am too,” she said, “and I know you don’t have any reason to believe that I can fire this with any effectiveness, but I’m a pretty decent shot.”
“Target practice in a safe environment,” he said, “is absolutely nothing like the exchange of live rounds.”
“I got it. But absolutely nothing inside me will allow me to get taken captive again,” she said, “so the last one’s for me.”
He looked at her in shock.
She nodded. “You don’t know what they’ve all got planned for us nor how that feels when you’re the victim,” she said. “I’m not going there. And I’m pretty sure a hell of a lot of the women here feel the same way.”
“I get it,” he said. “I really do, but you need to stand firm.”
“That’s all anybody’s been saying so far,” she said, with a half a laugh. Just then came another shout. She looked around and saw the boats coming closer, a good thirty yards off. “We don’t have any time,” she said. “Are they all enemies?”
“Looks like it,” he said, “but trust me when I say, we do have allies.”
“Not enough,” she said.
“If you hear a helicopter coming,” he said, “make sure you’re well outta the way.”
She looked at him, startled. In the distance, she heard the wop-wop-wop, and, with that, she headed back slowly to where the women were, most of them crowded up against the back of the ship, terror on their faces, as they came awake to realize that the little bit of peace that they had found after being rescued was about to be yanked out from under them. Brenna realized that the attack could leave them in the water, if not necessarily drowning, but she would take that over being caught up in gunfire anyway.
As she waited and watched, the helicopter got closer and closer and closer. The women stared at it. Jessie slid out from her hiding spot and came over and joined her. “What the hell’s going on?”
“I think we’ll have an airstrike,” she said.
She looked at her in surprise. “Oh, I hadn’t considered that.”
“The guys have a plan. That’s what we have to remember.”
“I’m glad you have so much confidence in them,” she said. “I don’t feel the same at the moment.”
“I know, and I have to admit that we don’t have a whole lot of reason to trust anybody right now, but I trust them.”
“I’m putting my trust in you,” she said, “so you better be right.”
Brenna gripped her friend’s hand and said, “I know the pregnancy is making your fear that much worse,” she said, “but let’s just see what happens.”
“And then what?”
“I just told him that I had no intention of being taken prisoner again,” she said. “And I would save the last bullet for myself.”