Counting in her mind, “one, two, three.” Sally dived in.
She opened her eyes; darkness was all around her. She swam under water without knowing where she was going.
“Mother where is the light you showed me?” She said to herself.
Sally swam deeper, her lungs were about to burst, starved from oxygen. Only a minute had passed, which seemed like an hour. She had lost orientation and was now swimming blindly through the dark waters.
Sally was about to give in, when out of nowhere she saw a small ball of light up ahead. She wondered what it was as it began to move forward, leading her on, increasing in brightness as she approached it. The light seemed to be moving, swimming ahead of her. Sally was out of breath, and afraid she wasn’t going to make it. Then the orb stopped a few feet in front of her. It began to spin faster and faster when suddenly it shot upwards. Sally looked up at the surface above her, the moonlight shining through the water. Then with all her strength, she pushed herself upwards bursting out of the water, gasping for air. She looked around for the orb, which was nowhere to be seen.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Time was moving fast, and Tony had not yet started what he set out to do. Sally was nowhere in sight, which according to him was nearly impossible on this rock of an island. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, yet Sally managed both of them. Travis was on his way back walking over the rocks and sand without Sally.
“Where is she Travis? How the hell could you lose her here?” Tony said, waving his arms about.
Travis bent down out of breath. “I don’t know! One minute she was in front of me, the next she was gone, disappeared into thin air.”
Tony kicked the sand in disgust.
“She must have jumped into the sea. Where else could she have gone?”
“Pack everything up for Christ’s sake! We’re getting out of here!” said Tony.
Travis asked, “where are we going? We just can’t leave her here!”
“I don’t intend to. We’re going to search around the island. She has to be here somewhere.”
Tony was right about Sally. She was here, not on the island though, but swimming out to sea in an attempt to make it to one of the neighboring islands.
The whole area was packed with tiny islands. Many of them with underwater caves and mostly only the size of a football field.
Danny and Kate cruised out of the harbor with all search lights showing them the way. As they reached the open sea, Danny opened the engines to full throttle. The immense power of the engines left a wake behind them fifteen feet in the air. Kate sat up front next to Danny. She had been on a boat before, but not one like this. It seemed as if the propellers were the only thing touching the water. The vessel picked up speed by the second as Danny switched over to autopilot. Looking at his watch, he calculated they would reach their destination in just under an hour.
Still holding onto the driftwood, Jason edged closer and closer to the light he saw from the helicopter. From where he was, he could see at least five people gathered together on a beach. Sally was not with them, and he was now thinking the worst. He wasn’t sure if these people on the beach were the ones he had been chasing. As he got closer, he recognized Tony, who seemed to be directing the others back onto the boat.
Jason pushed the driftwood aside and gathered all his strength to make a final effort to reach the island before they get away.
With everything and everyone back on board, Tony started the engines and slowly made his way out of the lagoon. He planned to search around the island for Sally, positive she must be in the water or hiding amongst the rocks somewhere.
Travis held the searchlight while Tony steered close to the shore carefully keeping his distance away from the rocks.
To Jason’s surprise the boat was heading in his direction. He noticed they kept close to the shore and were directing the light onto the rocks as if they were looking for something or someone. Then it hit him, could they be looking for Sally? Had she managed to get away from her captives?
Jason smiled to himself, “clever girl Sally, stay hidden.”
He was now ten yards away from the approaching boat. Everyone on board was focusing on the shoreline. They had no idea someone was lying in wait a few yards away.
Jason took in note of everyone on board. Tony was steering the boat, while the other guy at the rear, which must be Travis was handling the search light. Seated were three teenage girls, roughly Sally’s age. It was the men he had to focus on.
Jason swam silently through the water, until he was just a yard away, able to touch the side of the boat. He had to act fast having the advantage of surprise on his side.
With one hand on the edge of the boat Jason pulled himself out of the water, instantaneously grabbing hold of Tony from his trouser belt, pulling him into the dark water.
At first no one on board the boat seemed to notice something was wrong. It was when they heard the loud splash that they then turned their attention to the front of the boat. Tony was gone. The sudden attack gave him no warning, giving him little chance of holding his breath as he was dragged under. Thoughts ran through his mind as to what got hold of him, dragging him deeper under water. He knew no sea creature could do such a thing. It had to be a person, someone who was hiding in the water waiting to strike.
His mind kicked back to reality. Tony is an athletic person and a strong swimmer. He won many high school and college swimming medals. He also participated in free diving, being able to hold his breath for long periods. The short amount of air he had in his lungs was enough for him to turn the tables on Jason. Tony was strong, very strong. He managed to reach out from behind his back, taking hold of Jason by his shirt. Now he was face to face with his attacker, which he immediately recognized.
It was Jason who was now in trouble. He had underestimated Tony. Having the ability to see in the dark, Jason could see Tony smiling back at him. The next instant Jason felt pain in his stomach as Tony thrust his fist into him, catching him off guard. He struck him again and again. With each blow, Jason was losing air from his lungs. Desperate for air, he tried to make it to the surface, but Tony pulled him down again. Jason was in trouble, and he knew it. He began to kick hard hoping to strike Tony, allowing him that split second to break away. Jason’s boot finally found its mark, hitting Tony across the face. Breaking free from his grip, he resurfaced filling his lungs with oxygen. Then out of nowhere he saw an oar moving towards him smashing him across his head. Jason blacked out face down in the water.
Travis put the oar down and heaved Jason into the boat while Tony pulled himself out of the water.
“Well, well, look who we have here. Excellent timing if you ask me,” said Tony.
“What do you mean?” asked Travis.
“We’re going to make a trade. Once Sally knows we have her father, she will give herself up to save him,” explained Tony.
Sally was about three hundred yards away when she heard Tony calling out to her.
“Hey Sally! Look who we have!”
Sally looked back towards the boat. She couldn’t see anyone except the others, so she continued swimming until she heard Travis calling out, “we have your father! He came to save you, but didn’t do a very good job of it.”
Not certain if they were telling the truth, she decided to swim back to take a closer look. Moving only a few yards at a time, she made her way towards the rocks where no one can see her.
Tony took the steering again and entered the lagoon. Once they were back on the sand, Travis and Tony dragged Jason in open view so she could see him.
She couldn’t believe it. She had no idea how her father had got here, and how he knew where she was. Tears swelled in her eyes as she saw him lying there unconscious on the sand.