Ten minutes later we tied the skiff up alongside Rough Draft. While I held us against the ladder, Bob looked over at his brother and said, “Let’s go, Willie. It will be better up above.”
Willie was shivering in the bottom of the small boat. If he heard Bob, he didn’t show it. Instead, he curled himself into a ball and made a mewing sound, almost like a cat in heat. Exasperated, Bob turned to me. “I’m going first. When I get up there, I want you to help Willie. You push and I’ll pull. If we need to I’ll tie a fuckin’ rope around him and we’ll drag him aboard.”
I didn’t like the rope idea; it sounded a little too much like work so I started pleading with Willie. I told Willie that if he stayed in the skiff there was a good chance he was going back into the water. This threat seemed to motivate him to action. When he started up the ladder Bob grabbed onto the collar of Willie’s life jacket and tugged. At the same time I put my hands on his ass and shoved.
By the time I climbed into the cockpit, Willie was seated in the corner shivering and crying. Some hit man, I thought. I slid past Bob, spun the padlock, and opened the cabin. I started to step inside, but Bob tapped my shoulder with his gun. “Willie first.”
I moved away and waited while Willie went below. Bob went next, backing down the steps so he could keep me covered until I joined them. We were all soaked, and I cringed when the two brothers sat down on my settee.
“First things first,” Bob said. “We’re not much taller than you and we need some dry clothes.”
“You’re ruining my settee,” I said.
“Tough shit,” Bob said. “Get us some dry clothes.”
I moved across the cabin, opened my clothes cupboard and pulled out two pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts and three t-shirts. While we changed, Bob looked around.
“Not much space on these boats, is there?”
“It works for me,” I said.
“You should have given Frankie the diamonds.”
“I told you I don’t have them.”
“Too bad. But you understand I’ve got to make sure, right? Willie why don’t you start searching.”
I looked at Willie. The waves were doing a good job of rocking the sailboat, and he was still shivering and looking frightened.
“I don’t think he’s going to be much help,” I said.
Bob glanced at his brother and shook his head. “Damn. It looks like I’m going to have to do this myself. That means I’m going to have to tie you up, Darling. You’ve got to have some rope somewhere.”
I nodded to a locker behind him. I was still waiting for him to let down his guard, but the damn gun never wavered, even when he stood, opened the compartment, and felt around. He drew out several short lengths of rope and ordered Willie to stand up. Despite his discomfort, Willie managed to do a good job of tying my hands and feet. When he was done, he plopped down alongside me on the port berth while Bob took out a switchblade knife and flicked it open.
“Last chance.” Bob held the knife out and looked down at me.
“I don’t have them.”
Bob grinned, turned to the starboard berth and plunged the knife into the cushion. I groaned and tried not to watch when he slid the knife from one end to the other. He followed that slice with three more cuts, pulling out handfuls of the foam interior as he moved from one end of the cushion to the other. When he was convinced there was nothing hidden within, he turned the knife to the back cushion and repeated the process.
“Come on,” I said. “There’s nothing hidden here.”
Bob didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to me, reached down and grabbed the front of my shirt and swung me to my feet. I struggled to keep my balance, but he hurled me across the cabin and I fell onto the tattered berth.
“You too, Willie,” he said.
Willie looked confused, so Bob reached out, took his brother’s arm and helped him to the other side. Then he began slicing and dicing the other settee. When he finished there, he turned his attention to the front berth and my mattress and pillows.
Over the next hour I was forced to sit and watch Bob turn my boat into a complete shambles. He emptied every cupboard, throwing tools, food and clothes onto the floor. He emptied containers of flour, sugar and hardware, and when he still didn’t find what he was looking for, he stood in front of me and laid the tip of his blade against my cheek. “I want those diamonds.”
“I told you I don’t have them.”
I watched the rage build in his eyes. For a moment I thought he was going to cut me. Instead, he pulled the knife away from my face, knelt down and cut the rope around my feet. As he stood, he said to Willie.
“Let’s go. Frankie said if we couldn’t find the diamonds, he wanted to talk to the asshole himself.”
“I ain’t going out into no little boat again, Frankie.” Willie spoke for the first time since coming aboard. “Not while this wind’s blowing.”
“You can’t stay here,” Bob said.
“I ain’t going.”
“Shit.” Bob looked from his brother to me and shook his head before pulling his phone from his pocket. He called Frankie and explained the situation while Willie sat there and refused to look at him. Bob listened for several moments, closed the phone, and slid it back into his pocket.
“Frankie wants to talk to this guy tonight.”
“I ain’t…”
“I know.” Bob shook his head. “You’re going to have to stay here for the night. Frankie said he’ll send someone out to get you in the morning.”
“By myself?”
“It’s either that or you come with me.”
“You won’t let him leave me out here, will you Bobbie?”
Bob gave his brother a sad smile. “Have I ever let you down, Willie?”
“No.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning. That’s a promise, bro.” Bob pulled out his gun and pointed it at me. “Let’s get going.”
I led the way back out into the cockpit with Bob following close behind. He stopped alongside of me and called down to his brother, “I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned to me and added, “Close up the boat, and then you go down first. I’ll drive going back.”
I held my hands up in front of me. “I don’t know if I can get down into the skiff tied up like this.”
“You’d better hope you can because I don’t give a shit if you fall in and drown. Frankie will get over it. He’s gonna let me kill you when he’s done with you anyway, and I’m looking forward to it. This whole situation with Willie is your fault.”
Bob pointed at the ladder with his gun and I considered my options. There didn’t seem to be any so I swung my leg out of the cockpit and climbed down to the skiff.
When I was settled into the front seat, Bob tucked his gun into waistband of his jeans and followed.
It would have been the perfect opportunity to escape, except that the engine wasn’t running and I wouldn’t be able to swim far against the waves with my hands tied, so I sat and waited until Bob was seated in the back. He must have been paying close attention earlier, because he had no trouble starting the engine this time. With his inexperienced hand on the throttle, we were soon bouncing our way back to the docks.
Chapter 16
I spent the entire trip back to the docks trying to figure out how the hell I was going to get rid of Bob, at least when I wasn’t fighting to keep my dinner down. I had never been seasick in my life, but with my hands tied I was forced to lie in the bottom of the skiff in order to keep from being tossed out. Being thrown all over the place was playing havoc with my stomach, and the hamburger I’d eaten earlier was threatening to rebel.
As Bob pulled up to the dinghy dock he jumped out. I tried to follow, but I was feeling dizzy and shivering so badly that my knees refused to support me. Bob laughed, and reaching down he yanked me out of the skiff like I was nothing more than a stuffed toy. This show of strength shocked me. I realized I’d underestimated the man after our first run in.