“The first crew area is clear. No sign of Kassidy or Harper,” one of the men said. They had the same results in the next few areas.
“We’ve got a large crowd here in the hallway, in front of a crew cafeteria area,” one of the men said. “Everyone disperse! Get back to your cabins and stay there!” They yelled the order in English, then Spanish and another language I couldn’t identify.
“The hallway is clear. We’re now entering the cafeteria.”
37
KASSIDY
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed—it could’ve been minutes or hours—when there was a sudden commotion, and then the mass of people huddled at the doorway were suddenly free, running in every direction. As Harper and I got up, ready to follow them, three armed men in Coast Guard uniforms walked up to us, two of them watching the door as the third spoke to us. Were we finally being rescued?
“Are you Kassidy and Harper?” the third man asked, shouting over the alarms.
“Yes,” Harper and I said at the same time, nodding at them. I watched as the man spoke, as if to himself, and a few moments later, the alarms cut off.
“It’s good to see you,” he said. “I’m Rocco, and these are two of my teammates, Ace and Gumby. Evan and Nolan sent us. We’re here to get you off the ship.”
“Oh, thank God,” Harper said, and the man called Gumby—definitely a strange name—smiled at us from the doorway. The three men reminded me of Evan and his team, when I’d met them years ago. The definitely had the same air of competency about them, and like Evan, they seemed kind. I had a gut feeling that I could trust them.
“The rest of our team, and a few members of the Coast Guard, are securing the ship. We’ll be docking at Charleston Harbor shortly, and Evan and Nolan will meet you there,” Rocco told us.
“Thank you,” Harper replied, but he’d said something that didn’t add up.
“Wait,” I interrupted, suddenly alarmed. “You said ‘your team and some members of the Coast Guard.’ Which tells me you aren’t Coast Guard, even though you’re wearing their uniform. So, who are you?”
“We’re SEALs, ma’am,” Rocco said.
“Oh, of course. Everyone claims they’re a Navy SEAL. Are you even in the military? Maybe you’re one of the traffickers, and you killed our Coast Guard rescuers and stole their clothes,” I said, my defenses fully in place. Would we have to fight our way out of there?
“Kassidy, stop,” Harper whispered at me heatedly, her face bright red with embarrassment. Then she addressed Rocco. “She argues with everyone. Just ignore her.”
All three of the men laughed, but I wasn’t amused.
“Here, I’ve got my Budweiser, if that will convince you,” Gumby said, pulling a pin from one of his pockets and showing it to me. It was gold, with an Eagle holding an anchor and a trident in its claws. It looked familiar.
“So? You could’ve stolen that, too,” I said.
“Oh, my God, Kassidy. Shut up!” Harper said with frustration.
“Fine. But if they turn out to be the bad guys, don’t come crying to me about it,” I responded, crossing my arms over my chest. The men continued to smile like I was hilarious, and honestly, I knew I was just being difficult at that point. It was pretty likely that they were who they said they were.
“What’s wrong with your arm?” Rocco asked, stepping closer. “Is that a burn?”
“I spilled bleach on myself, and didn’t have a good way to take care of it,” I answered him.
“Fuck. It looks painful,” Rocco said. “We’ll get it looked at ASAP.”
I was glad, since I was still in a lot of pain.
A moment later, the men’s expressions became serious, as if they heard something I couldn’t. Then, it was time to go.
“Alright, we’re going to take you up to the bridge, where we’ve got more backup. Gumby will lead the way, you two will stay behind him, and Ace and I will walk behind you and cover you. Hopefully we won’t run into any trouble on the way, but do your best to stay quiet,” Rocco said.
The ship was eerily quiet as we walked through the hallways where we’d been kept as slaves. Once we left the crew area and entered the passenger part of the ship, I felt a spark of hope for the first time in days. Everything was bright, shiny, and clean compared to the dark rooms I’d been locked in recently.
“I need a shower so bad,” I groaned, keeping my voice at a whisper.
“Soon,” Gumby assured me quietly as we kept walking. He led us up one stairway after another, clearing each one as we went.
“Sunlight!” Harper said in excitement when we reached a deck with windows. We also hadn’t seen the sun in days, and the sudden burst of Vitamin D was even better for my mood than getting out of the dark crew area of the ship. I was starting to believe we were really going to be okay, and that we really would be reunited with Evan and Nolan.
Since we’d been deprived of sunlight, exercise, and food for several days, Harper and I were both out of breath and exhausted by the time we reached the bridge. We walked past men in uniform guarding several crew members who were handcuffed, and then we were inside a small, secure room with several more uniformed men. Of course, I had no idea who was actually Coast Guard and who was secretly a SEAL, but that was the least of my worries.
“SITREP?” Rocco said to one of the men, asking for an update, but I couldn’t hear the answer. Then, he walked back over to us. “We’ll be docked in Charleston in less than an hour. Just sit tight. Once we get there, you’ll get off the ship first. Then, we’ll work on getting the passengers and trafficking victims off, and then the Paradise Cruises employees who were involved in the trafficking.
“They’re called trafficking survivors, actually,” I corrected, but that time, I was grinning. Everything was going to be okay.
38
EVAN
I knew from listening in on the radio that Kassidy and Harper were safe. That wasn’t enough for me, though. I needed to see Kassidy, to hold her in my arms before I truly believed she was okay. When the Bahamian Paradise finally docked, Rocco and his team were the first ones off the ship, along with Harper and Kassidy. It was the best thing I’d ever seen.
“Kassidy!” I yelled, jogging closer to the gangway that they were walking down. She must’ve heard me, because she was suddenly smiling and waving, and I could see her gesturing at the men to move faster. They just shook their heads, looking amused. She must’ve been giving them the same belligerent treatment she’d given me for so many weeks.
Finally, Kassidy was in front of me, and as the SEALs made room, I swept her into my arms, hugging her tightly as I spun her around, and she wrapped her arms around me in return.
“Thank God you’re safe. I’ve been going out of my mind, Sunshine,” I said.
“I’m okay,” Kassidy replied, her sweet, unique voice soothing some of the fear. As I hugged her, Ally wrapped a blanket around her, and Knox wrapped another one around Harper.