Rain began to pour down at an alarming rate, and Tony became concerned about reaching the island with the weather getting worse by the minute. He checked his course and seemed to be heading in the right direction. He then looked back at the others who were all shivering and soaked to the bone. He checked on Sally, who was his prime concern. Without her, all he planned would have been for nothing. Sally amazingly seemed to be taking all of this rather well. She even managed to keep herself partially dry from the rain as if it were avoiding her body. Tony knew she was being watched over by someone.
The waves were increasing in size, and every ten foot the boat moved forward, they were pushed back five. In the distance, he could make out the shape of an island. Tony increased his speed knowing they would soon arrive. Rosie was seasick and threw up in her lap not being able to make it to the boat’s side in time. Stacy was still unconscious with her body rolling back and forth. As for Krissy, she was mumbling to herself. Travis thought she must be praying or something.
Suddenly the boat started to slow down when one of the outboard motors stopped. Tony checked the fuel gauge for that engine that read empty. He calculated the amount of fuel needed to reach the island, but at full throttle and against the waves, the consumption was more than he expected.
Travis realizing what had happened, asked, “will we make it on one engine? Why didn’t you load more fuel?”
Tony turned towards Travis with an angry look on his face.
“Are you afraid Travis? Are you afraid of dying?”
The GPS began to flash as they approached their destination point. Kate noticed they still had a few more miles to travel, but the GPS was warning them they could not go any further. The coordinates they had entered were to their left, which was the open sea.
Jason hit his fists on the steering wheel.
“Shit! That bastard must be going across the sea. The closest land are the Bahama islands, and there are hundreds of them!” said Jason.
Kate asked Jackie, “are you sure this is right?”
Jackie checked her calculations again.
“Well, we could be off course by a couple of miles, but it’s not that easy to match star charts with land or sea charts. This is the first time I’ve done it, but I’m sure we’re in the right place.”
Jason carried on driving carefully along the coast road, making sure he didn’t miss anything. After about ten minutes, Jackie shouted out, “over there on the other side of the road!”
Jason slammed on the brakes. Showing from beneath the overhanging branches were the rear windows of a large van. They got out, approaching the vehicle with caution as Jason led the way with his firearm drawn.
“Keep behind me,” he said.
He walked over to the driver’s side, pulling the door open to an empty cabin. Next he went to the side door and opened it, again nothing inside.
“Empty! Not a sign of a struggle, nothing.”
He was about to reach for his cell phone to run the vans number plates through to the Miami police for the owners particulars, when Jackie called out.
“Jason! Here look, footprints.”
Jason knelt down to check.
“These are fresh prints, and look! Somebody was dragged on their heels across the road!”
Jackie was the first to reach the other side of the road.
“They start again here, but that’s it, they must have gone over the boundary wall,” she said.
Jason took a look over the three foot wall.
“Jackie! Kate! Over here, there’s a narrow path leading down to the sea.”
He sent Kate to his car for a larger, more powerful flashlight.
Kate said, “we don’t have time to go down and check, and there are no beaches down there, just large rocks.”
Jason took the flashlight and shone its bright light along the pathway and onto the rocks. They could not see anything, except for waves breaking against the large rocks.
“God damn it! A dead end. Tony must have had a boat waiting here,” said Jason.
Suddenly his cell phone started to ring.
“Hey, Jason where are you guys? Matt updated me on the situation,” said Danny.
“Great to hear your voice Danny. I don’t have time to give you all the details, but our location is about thirty miles south on the coast road. We need help fast. I think Tony is on his way to one of the Bahama islands in a boat. We need to get after him somehow!”
Danny remained silent for a few seconds, then said, “okay, Jason, I hear you! Leave it to me. Keep your hazard lights on so I know exactly where you are.”
Jason ran towards his car.
“Danny! Hurry please, time is running out!”
Kate and Jackie looked at Jason waiting for an explanation.
“Jason! What’s going on? What did Danny say? Does he have news about Sally?”
“He’s on his way here. Don’t ask me how? Just trust me okay! Danny is full of surprises, and he has never let me down yet. Give him twenty minutes you’ll see,” said Jason.
Time. Fifteen minutes to midnight and Jason knew Tony had at least a forty-five minute head start on them. His chances were getting slimmer in knowing his daughter’s whereabouts. Tony could be on any one of the many islands of the Bahamas.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Tony reduced speed as he approached the shoreline just two-hundred yards away. The bad weather had passed as suddenly as it had come. They were now entering a narrow passage through the rocks. Tony edged his way in, careful not to hit the boat against the jagged rocks through a clearance of only twenty feet.
He stood up smiling.
“We’re here at last! Now we can continue without any further delays.”
The boat slowly floated across the surprisingly calm waters. The scenery that lay before them was something you would typically see on a post card. Everyone on board, including Sally stared in awe at the most beautiful sight they had ever seen. A beach eighty feet wide, and well over a hundred feet in length stood before them. The sand dazzled beneath the bright moon while on both sides of the beach were rocks reaching over ten feet in height, transforming the whole beach into a basin, free from rough seas and high winds. The whole place resembled the shape of a round wine bottle, entering it through the bottleneck. At the further end of the beach were pebbles increasing in size as you move further up a small slope. The whole place seemed untouched by anyone. A beach paradise shielded from the outside world. Tony discovered this place by accident while flying overhead on a plane he had rented for the day.
The temperature inside this haven was peculiarly warm concerning the bad weather they had just encountered. Sally was as dry as a bone while the others were soaking wet. They all stripped down to their swimwear, letting their clothes dry out on the nearby rocks.
Tony signaled for Travis to unload the equipment from the boat while the others gathered around Sally, making sure she didn’t try anything stupid. Tony searched around the beach, checking if they were alone. He didn’t want any unexpected guests showing up. Not many people knew about this little sanctuary he had discovered, and the only way to get here was by boat. It was more like an enormous rock than an island. During winter times, it would be inaccessible due to the high tides and frequent bad weather. Tony still had no idea from where tonights freak weather came from.
Travis finished unloading the boat, then got Rosie to bind Sally’s hands again. He didn’t want to spend the remainder of the night chasing after her. He then went back to the boat to check how much fuel they had left for the return journey. Travis opened the hold to where the fuel tanks are held. He saw two large tanks, one for each outboard motor. One dial read empty, while the other had just under a quarter of fuel left.