Chapter Forty-Four

It was cramped as the seven of us squeezed into the back of the seaplane with Jimmy was preparing to fly it. I still felt anxious about him as I sit next to JJ. He had grabbed my hand for support, squeezing it slightly.

"So, what were you doing all the way out here?" JJ questioned Jimmy.

"I got a little guide outfit in Saint Vincent." Jimmy begins to explain. "I was spotting fish."

"What were you spotting?" JJ narrowed his eyes slightly at Jimmy, but Jimmy didn't see as he had his head faced the front, trying to get the plane started.

"You know, the usual." Jimmy answers. "Wahoo." I watched as John B shifted his gaze and shares a look with JJ. John B briefly shakes his head towards us. "I'd hang onto something. Gets a little spicy on takeoff."

With one hand, I held onto a strap. The others held onto several other ones too, but I only had one. JJ had placed an arm around my waist, using it as a seatbelt, noticing I didn't have a second strap. I give him a small smile as the plane takes off, it was a bit of a rusty take off.

And just like that, we were in the sky. I'd let go of the strap by now once we were smooth flying, and JJ reluctantly lets go of my waist.

It was silently now, the seven of us giving each other looks. We weren't sure what to do. This guy was clearly lying to us. The others moved closer to JJ and I. "Wahoo don't run in September." JJ lowly spoke, informing us. "Ever. All right? So whoever this man is, he's not a fisherman."

Sarah's eyes shift, then gazes at me. We both had the same thought. "Maybe the run just starts earlier out here." Pope pipes up next to me.

"Are you sure about that?" JJ fires back quietly. "In the Caribbean?" Pope eyes Jimmy. He had a head set on, so he couldn't hear us.

"No, I know what this is." Sarah spoke us. "He's working for our Dad, and he's probably been looking for us the entire time."

"All right, we gotta find out." JJ agreed. "Start looking for some sort of clues..." JJ eyes an old brown leather bag sitting next to Jimmy's seat. JJ eyes John B and taps his own left shoulder. John B got the hint nad leans towards Jimmy's left shoulder.

"Hey, Jimmy." John B called out loudly. He clears his throat.

"Yeah. What's up?" Jimmy questioned.

"How long you had this bird?" John B asked him.

"Oh, about ten years now." Jimmy informs us. JJ slowly begins to pull items from Jimmy's back pack as Jimmy and John B talked to each other.

"How long you been flying?" John B questioned.

"I've been flying all my life." Jimmy answers.

"Uh, whos that lovely lady right there?" John B gestured towards a picture of a women on the windshield.

"Oh, that right there?" Jimmy grinned. "That's Cynthia. Yeah."

JJ opens a book. I eyed it next to him. V.S Naipaul The loss of El Dorado. John B continues to ask Jimmy questions on the pictures of his windshield as we looked through Jimmy's things JJ had taken from the bag.

JJ opens the book and finds a photo. My eyes widen in horror. It wasn't just any photo. It was the same ship we'd jumped off. Sarah grabbed it.

"The Coastal Venture." Sarah reads. "Oh, my God." John B leans towards as Jimmy ranted on about things. "This is the boat we were on. With Eberhimi and the cross."

"So he was looking for us?" Cleo asked quietly.

"Exactly." JJ agreed.

Sarah and I looked at each other. "He's working for our Dad." We spoke at the same time, our eyes widening.

Suddenly, the plane jolts and I got scared for a moment, grabbing onto the strap. "Hey, y'all better hold something." Jimmy yelled out to us. "We got some unexpected turbulence up here."

"Guys, whatever it is, its happening fast." Kie pipes up, looking out the window. "Look." I eyed the land in front of us.

"That looks like Barbados." Cleo informed us. "I've been there with Terrance." John B shifts his weight.

"Okay," JJ begins, quickly coming up with a plan. "There's seven of us, one of him. You know my vote. We storm the cockpit."

"No, who's gonna fly the plane, dumbass?" John B shoots JJ a look.

"I've seen Pope fly simulators." JJ retorts back.

"I—I crop-dusted for my uncle last summer." Pope informed. "This is not the same thing."

"We don't have time to pretend that's a real option." Kie snapped.

"Do you have an idea?" JJ fires back.

"Something safe." Kie whispered.

"Why don't we just wait until the plane lands somewhere safe, and then we sneak out. And if somebody comes messes with us, we mad-dog them." Pope suggested.

"Okay." Kie breathed out.

"Okay." Cleo repeated Kie, agreeing.

JJ nods his head. "I like the mad-dog part."

"Just put that back." I whispered to JJ, nodding towards the stuff he'd taken. "Put it back. Be cool with it."

John B leans towards Jimmy as JJ tries to return the items. "Hey. Jimmy?" John B asked. "Is that Burning Man right there?"

"Yeah! That's Burning Man, all right." Jimmy informs as JJ slowly puts the book back into the bag. "That was my first time."

"How many times have you been to Burning Man?" John B questioned, trying to keep him distracted.

"I started going when I was 18." Jimmy tells him. The tension was high. "GT's, baby! GT's!"

"Yeah, I've heard a lot about that," John B quickly spoke. "I've never been west."

I noticed Jimmy spotting JJ putting back his book. "Hey, man!" Jimmy snapped. "What the hell are you doing?" Jimmy shoves JJ back, and the plane rocks as Jimmy was no longer at the wheel. I held my breath. Jimmy struggles with JJ; John B tries to hold Jimmy back.

"Fly the plane!" I pleaded, feeling a slight panic. "Please, just flt the god damn plane!"

Jimmy then grabbed the controls of the plane. The plane descends towards the shallows of the beach, and I let out a small cry, gripping the straps. The plane was rocking around, and Jimmy didn't save us in time; the seaplane landed head first into the shallow sea.

We were all thrown into the cockpit, a now burning sensation on my arm. I felt it catch onto something sharp, and I winced as people landed on top of me.

I felt out of as I eyed Pope, who was on top of me. He blinked rapidly. "Sorry." He mumbles, and I shrugged as he climbed off me, and I felt water touch my ankle. I looked down. It was beginning to flood.

I glanced back at Jimmy, who was knocked out, and my heart beat rapidly. Oh, my God. "Is everybody good?" Pope questioned.

I glanced at my elbow, seeing bright red liquid running down it. I then looked over at JJ, slumped against the window, the plane filling up with water quickly. "JJ, get up." I shuffled closer to him and shook him. "Come on."

I offered my hand, and he takes it; I pulled him up. "We gotta get out of here."

John B opens a door on the plane. "We gotta get out before it sinks." JJ informed us.

"Oh, no." John B spoke worriedly, and I looked outside the door, seeing a group of thugs on the shore. "They don't look friendly."

"No, they look very unfriendly." Pope worries.

"We gotta go." John B quickly spoke. "Come on." One by one, they climb out. Kie and I looked at each other briefly as we got out the last two.

"We can't just leave him here." I muttered to her, and she nodded in agreement.

"Come on, guys!" John B yelled at us as he was the third to last to get out.

"We're coming, go." Kie nods, and we'd formed a plan once John B was out.

"We just gotta get him out through that window." I tell her, pointing to the closet window that Jimmy was at.

"Guys, hurry, before it sinks!"

"Hang on!" Kie yelled, and we made our way towards the man who was still out cold. They tried to stop us, but we were moving our way through the water and into the cockpit.

We grabbed Jimmy, helping each other out. The plane was almost fully under water. Kie was pulling Jimmy through the opened window while I pushed.

I was so close to being trapped there. But I managed to get out in time, and the three of us float to the surface.

"You good?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Yeah, you?" I nodded back in response. "Lets get him to the main land and meet up with the others."

"Sounds good."

We struggled to get Jimmy onto the main land, pulling him with all our might as we swam through the water. The water did get shallower and shallower, and eventually, we'd made it to the shore.

On lookers rushed over, helping Jimmy onto the beach. "Take him." Kie hurried. Jimmy was coughing up water. "You okay?" Kie and I were on our knees, kneeling beside him.

"Thank you." Jimmy tells us.

"You lied to us." I glared at him. "Who are you?" I then looked over, seeing the thugs drive towards us. "Shit."

"You two need to get out of here." Jimmy tells us.

"Shit." Kie mumbled and grabbed my hand before we started to sprint away, trying to run them out. We run up the beach as the thugs on quads drive towards us. How is that fair? We spot more thugs in an approaching pick up. We looked at each other, not really sure what to do.

"Come on." I grabbed her hand again and pulled her over to the several boats we hide behind.

I held my breath as we hide under the boat, trying to stay quiet. A white man looked through the barrels; it was a thug. Kie hits him in the face, and he falls onto his back. "They're over here!"

"Go, go, go." We army crawled out of there and jumped up, but the man she'd punched grabbed her, and another thug grabbed me.

"Get off!" Kie snapped.

"Let us go!" I whined. How did we manage to get caught up into these situations? They don't say anything as we struggle but only dragged us towards a car.

I looked around, trying to spot my friends, but I don't see them. I gulped nervously. We got thrown into the nice car.

I glanced at Kie as I crawled to the corner of the car, breathing nervously.

We've been kidnapped.