Post by Hellokitty on Aug 19, 2006 8:47:20 GMT -5
Falling Book 2: Finding Marlena – Chapter 6
“Marlena now,” John said as he grabbed onto her waist and lifted her up as high as he could. He smiled and shook his head as her bare ass stood out in stark contrast to the darkness around them. The old song “Blue Moon” started playing in his mind.
Marlena did as she was told and quietly crawled under a tarp and layed down, praying to God for protection from what was about to happen. The putrid smell of rotting fish permeated her nostrils. She tried hard to breathe through her mouth, not her nose, as she was taught in medical school, but the feeling of panic was starting to overcome her. The rough hewn boards on the bottom on the boat scratched against her bare skin with each rock of the boat. She sought to steady herself but was afraid to reach out and touch anything on the boat. Silently she laid on the floor, willing herself the resolve to remain calm.
As time passed at a discerningly slow pace, Marlena strained to hear what was happening outside of the boat. She could hear the occasional splashing of water but not where it was coming from. She hoped that John wasn’t doing something stupid like sacrificing himself for her.
As John peered around the side of the boat, he watched as divers started to enter the water. Calculating the time it would take for them to reach the boat he knew he had mere minutes to make his move before they were caught.
Grabbing onto the rear anchor line, John quickly untied the anchor from the boat. Watching the line sink into the dark abyss beneath him, he quickly swam to the front of the boat, taking his well used knife out of its holster on his leg, he quickly sliced through the line leaving about 15 feet of rope.
Keeping an eye on the divers as they made slow progress towards them, John snuck a look at the low front moving in behind him, slowly pulling on the line trying to move the boat with minimum attention. After several hard tugs the boat started moving. Quickly trying the rope around his waist, John took off swimming as hard as he could towards the horizon.
Stroke after stroke he thought of nothing but his children and his wife. No matter what pain his body felt, it was nothing compared to the never-ending pain that they would all feel if Marlena was captured, tried and jailed for the murders. No one was going to let her go; she had become a pariah of sorts for the current administration. She would be captured and punished for killing the brother of the president. But why? Why the hell did she kill him? There were still so many unanswered questions that John so desperately wanted and needed answers to, but to date Marlena wasn’t talking. Whatever happened in the past was either so traumatic that she blocked it out or so frightening that she was afraid to talk. Not caring what the reason, he just wanted his wife back.
Rachel, Noah, Belle, Sami, Eric and Carrie. He wondered how they were doing. It had been weeks since they last saw a picture of Rachel and Noah. From what they had been told, the twin’s condition was slowly improving. Rachel’s condition was still questionable but she was holding her own, so far. Belle, Sami and Carrie seemed to be bonding in a way now that they hadn’t been able to in the past. The absence of Marlena had inadvertently brought the girls together and helped to ameliorate any differences they may have had in the past. Eric was still the unknown. Shane had been working for months on locating Eric but had been unsuccessful. Who had him and why was the big unknown and no one was talking. John desperately wished that he was back in the United States and part of the team of ISA agents assigned to Eric’s case. The boy was his son and he felt awful not being able to help.
Once the boat was fully absconded in the thick fog and several nautical miles from shore, John untied the rope from around his waist and climbed on board.
As he pulled the covers off the boat, Marlena immediately got up off the floor and rushed into his arms, thankful for a friendly face. “Oh thank God you’re alright…I was afraid that you were going to do something stupid like turn yourself in,” Marlena said as she tenderly took his face in her hands. He was a miracle, her miracle.
“Never…never,” John said as he held onto her for support, looking around the small boat. “I need your help….I’m not sure how long this fog is going to provide us cover or how quickly it will take….”
“Anything, just tell me what you need for me to do,” Marlena interrupted, still in disbelief over the fact that they may have eluded capture once more.
“I need for you to look around the boat and see if you can find any nautical maps of the area. While you do that I’m going to see if there are any paddles that I can use,” John said as he let go of his hold on her waist. Looking behind him in the direction he came from he was relieved to see that the denseness of the fog had not abated, which meant that they weren’t going anywhere, but at the same time no one else was coming for them. Unless you were a trained seaman, familiar with the rocky coasts of this area, it was simply too dangerous.
“Why don’t you turn on the motor?” Marlena innocently asked, not quite aware that they weren’t out of danger yet.
“I don’t want to alert Interpol that we’re gone,” John said, thankful that his excuse was valid. He was hoping that he had been quiet enough that Interpol was still checking all the boats in the harbor now, not aware that they were long gone. John assumed that he was able to pull the boat a mile of so out of the harbor, but with the tide and current, couldn’t be sure. If it was any less than that and he turned on the motor, he risked the chance of Interpol hearing it and knowing that they had left the harbor. Not a horrible situation, but it would cost them a precious lead he thought that they had. “Hopefully I was quiet enough pulling the boat out here that they can’t tell where we are.”
“How can you tell where we are? It’s completely dark and foggy. How do you know that we aren’t headed back to shore?” Marlena questioned as she looked around, a feeling of uneasiness overcoming her. She moved closer to him as all the unknowns of her environment encroached on her mind. What else was under the cover of the boat? What was in the metal drum in the corner? What was hiding and waiting for her on the other side of the fog?
“Stop it,” she told herself as tried to shake the fears out of her mind. “Stop it…You’re going to drive yourself crazy Marlena….there’s nothing here to be afraid of…You’re a strong woman, use your training to calm your fears.” Closing her eyes and breathing in deeply, she fought for control of her mind and body.
“Cause I never leave home without my trusty compass,” John said as he held it up. “That’s a fact.” Once an ISA agent, always an ISA agent.
Marlena smiled before responding, “I love a strong, devastatingly handsome, intelligent and resourceful man.” She slowly approached him and gently kissed him on the lips.
“mmmmmmmm…..” John moaned into her mouth. “You’ve gotta stop that Doc or we’ll never get out of here. You know what you do to me.” John slowly placed both of his strong hands on her forearms and gently moved her back so that mere inches separated them.
“John,” Marlena complained.
“Marlena,” John mimicked back. “You don’t have any pants on…Do you even realize how tempting it is to just bend you over on that fish tote and have my way with you?”
“John,” Marlena said in shock at the crudeness of his insinuation.
“Well, I am a hot blooded man and you are a beautiful and alluring woman without any pants on,” John said as he tried to shake the visual images from his mind of Marlena sprawled out naked on the fish tote and him having his way with her. “Why don’t you try to find something to wear,” John suggested as he snuck another look at her bare legs. “Quick.”
“I can’t see anything and I sure as hell am not going to touch something that I can’t see.”
“Mar.”
“Don’t Mar me, macho man. I’m a girl; I’m not supposed to like disgusting stuff or want to venture out into the unknown of this boat. I like candlelight baths, strawberries and cream served chilled, down comforters, sheets with a thread count of 350 or higher….Do you get my drift?”
“Nothing about you is girl like Doc,” John said as he continued to stare at her bare legs.
“John Black you are a pig,” Marlena said as she playfully swatted him on the arm. “Stop ogling me.”
“Can you blame me?” he asked as he continued to stare. He needed to stop his line of thinking or they were going to lose more of their precious lead. Taking the cover off the rest of the boat he proceeded to open the hatch that led to the small galley below hoping that it was clean and that there would be something that Marlena could wear down there. If not, he was prepared to use the tarp to make a makeshift skirt for her. The bareness of her shapely legs as she carefully moved about the boat afraid to touch anything, her long blond hair a curly mess blowing gently with the breeze, the shimmer of the salt crystals that had long ago dried on her skin and the playfulness of her laugh only added to her siren like allure. She had no idea the effect she was having on him.
Slowly climbing down into the galley below John was surprised to see that it was much larger than he thought. “Look for paddles,” John shouted up to Marlena as he felt his way around the cabin. It appeared to have a small stove and sink area, a small bathroom, and two small bunks. John was grateful that the bunks appeared to have been used very little. Pulling the blankets off of them, John brought them up to his nose and was happy to find that they at least smelled clean.
“Got some blankets,” he said as he ascended the small staircase. He spotted Marlena bending over, her bare ass once again visible to the whole world. “Find anything?” he asked as he stood behind her admiring the view.
“Yeah,” she said as she turned around. “Stop it John,” she threatened as she grabbed one of the blankets out of his arm. The look of lust in his midnight blue eyes was unmistakable.
“What did you find?” John asked as he approached her.
“No paddles, but it appears that at one time this boat had a mast and a sail,” Marlena said as she pointed down to the large mast that was attached to the side of the boat. “It looks like it would fit in there,” she said pointing to the large hole in the floor that John hadn’t noticed before. “The sails are in that large tote over there. I can’t tell if they are intact or not.” She took the blanket and tied it around her waist.
“Let’s pull them out and take a look, “ John said, optimistic for once.
“Let’s check the mast first,” Marlena suggested, knowing that it they didn’t have a working mast, intact sails wouldn’t make a difference. Working together, Marlena and John untied the mast from the side of the boat and carefully hauled it over the side of the boat towards them. After several minutes they were able to put the mast in place. “Perfect fit,” Marlena said as she started pulling the sails out of the tote.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” John hesitated to ask. In the more than twenty years that he had known and loved Marlena Evans he had never been sailing with her and she had never spoken of sailing.
“Of course….I’m about to rig the sail,” Marlena said as she quickly and expertly unfolded the sail and attached it to one of the line that ran to the top of the mast.
“Okay,” John said dumfounded, as he sat back and watched Marlena quickly turn the dinky fishing vessel into an unequally unimpressive sail boat.
“Attach this line over there,” Marlena pointed to John as she handed him a line. She quickly attached the bottom of the sail to the rusty boom, tying it off with a secure knot. She crossed her fingers and hoped that it would work.
“Done,” John whispered loudly from the other side of the boat.
“Great…. Now we see if this old boat can still sail. Because it’s been retrofitted, hence the outboard motor, it’s not going to work exactly as a sailboat should and by that I mean, please don’t expect an America’s Cup yacht racing performance out of this old boat. It lacks a keel, so stability and speed we will not have. Have you ever sailed a boat before John?” Marlena asked as she grabbed the end of line and pulled it tight.
“Marlena, should there be another sail in front?” John asked, thinking back to his limited experience with boats.
“Not necessarily. This set up looks more like a cat boat, or a una rig to me,” Marlena said while looking for the in the tote for the battens. “Found them,” she said triumphantly as she tossed them to John. “Put them in the sails….it looks like some are missing, but there’s not much we can do about that…Damn.”
“What is it?”
“There are no cleats or anything for the sail….we’re going to have to improvise. See if you can find something that it attached to the boat that can act like a cleat for the line. Neither of us have the strength the hold the weight of the sail all night long.”
“Will this work?” John asked pointing to something on the side of the boat that looked like it was used in commercial fishing.
“Perfect,” Marlena said as she inspected the makeshift cleat. “I’ll need your help once we raise the sail. Cross your fingers and hope this works.” John watched as Marlena expertly pulled on the long line and raised the sail. He was amazed at her strength and knowledge, but most importantly how competent she was under pressure. “Thankfully, there is only a light breeze right now. I don’t think either of us could handle a full force gale at this point,” Marlena mumbled as she finished raising the sail, pulled it tight and secured the line on the cleat. “Compass?”
“One compass coming up…To avoid risking crashing into the rocks at this late hour I recommend a course due east,” John said as he took out his compass and grabbed the handle on the outboard. He knew that without a keel, the outboard was the only control they had over the direction of the boat. “Ready?” He asked Marlena.
“Ready Sailor,” she joked.
“Back at you sailor,” he winked. Slowly the boat began to move through the water. Watching the compass while at the same time controlling the outboard, John watched as Marlena expertly controlled the sails. Faster and faster the boat sliced awkwardly through the water. In silence they rode each concentrating on the task before them.
After twenty minutes of sailing due east, John changed their course as Marlena adjusted the sail. The low front had passed; a glimmering ocean of tranquility surrounded them.
“It’s beautiful,” Marlena quietly stated as she put her hand over her mouth as she yawned.
“Why don’t you get some rest?” John asked noticing how tired Marlena really looked. He was exhausted as well, but would go without sleep for days if it meant keeping Marlena safe.
“As long as the sail is up two people need to operate it. Unless there is a stowaway below, I’m afraid that neither of us can afford to sleep.”
“Did you find a map?”
“No, but if you look closely over there you can see the coast line. Why don’t we head for it and find a deserted cove to anchor the boat in for the night,” John suggested, visions of laying down in the bunk below dancing through his mind.
“John, since you were raised on this continent, do you recall your geography classes?”
John laughed as he thought back to what little he remembered as his life of Forrest Alamain. “Honey, that was like forty years ago.”
“Well I was hoping…How about ISA training?”
“What are you thinking?”
“A deserted island seems more practical for us. The owner of this boat is going to notice it’s gone once the sun comes up and Interpol will have a description of the boat a short time later. All up and down the coast of Italy they’ll be looking for us.”
“Well thankfully there’s a lot of coastline for them to search. You know Doc, from flying over Italy on the way to my island off the coast of Greece I do recall there being lots of small islands. I’m not sure exactly where they are. Wouldn’t hurt to look for one of them.”
“Great, lead the way sailor,” Marlena said as she reached over and took his hand in hers.
***************
“Mr. Donovan, I want to know where the hell they are,” he demanded into the phone.
“I’m sorry, but know one seems to know right now,” Shane sheepishly admitted into the phone, embarrassed that John and Marlena seemed to have vanished into the thick of the night right under the watchful eyes of Interpol, secret service and the ISA.
“Sorry isn’t good enough. I am paying a small fortune to keep them safe, specifically to keep her safe. I want to know where she is,” he demanded, his heavy diamond laden gold ring slamming against the ornate wooden desk.
“Where are you my queen?” Stefano asked as he brought his fingers up to his mouth and breathed deeply through his nose. “Where are you?”
“Marlena now,” John said as he grabbed onto her waist and lifted her up as high as he could. He smiled and shook his head as her bare ass stood out in stark contrast to the darkness around them. The old song “Blue Moon” started playing in his mind.
Marlena did as she was told and quietly crawled under a tarp and layed down, praying to God for protection from what was about to happen. The putrid smell of rotting fish permeated her nostrils. She tried hard to breathe through her mouth, not her nose, as she was taught in medical school, but the feeling of panic was starting to overcome her. The rough hewn boards on the bottom on the boat scratched against her bare skin with each rock of the boat. She sought to steady herself but was afraid to reach out and touch anything on the boat. Silently she laid on the floor, willing herself the resolve to remain calm.
As time passed at a discerningly slow pace, Marlena strained to hear what was happening outside of the boat. She could hear the occasional splashing of water but not where it was coming from. She hoped that John wasn’t doing something stupid like sacrificing himself for her.
As John peered around the side of the boat, he watched as divers started to enter the water. Calculating the time it would take for them to reach the boat he knew he had mere minutes to make his move before they were caught.
Grabbing onto the rear anchor line, John quickly untied the anchor from the boat. Watching the line sink into the dark abyss beneath him, he quickly swam to the front of the boat, taking his well used knife out of its holster on his leg, he quickly sliced through the line leaving about 15 feet of rope.
Keeping an eye on the divers as they made slow progress towards them, John snuck a look at the low front moving in behind him, slowly pulling on the line trying to move the boat with minimum attention. After several hard tugs the boat started moving. Quickly trying the rope around his waist, John took off swimming as hard as he could towards the horizon.
Stroke after stroke he thought of nothing but his children and his wife. No matter what pain his body felt, it was nothing compared to the never-ending pain that they would all feel if Marlena was captured, tried and jailed for the murders. No one was going to let her go; she had become a pariah of sorts for the current administration. She would be captured and punished for killing the brother of the president. But why? Why the hell did she kill him? There were still so many unanswered questions that John so desperately wanted and needed answers to, but to date Marlena wasn’t talking. Whatever happened in the past was either so traumatic that she blocked it out or so frightening that she was afraid to talk. Not caring what the reason, he just wanted his wife back.
Rachel, Noah, Belle, Sami, Eric and Carrie. He wondered how they were doing. It had been weeks since they last saw a picture of Rachel and Noah. From what they had been told, the twin’s condition was slowly improving. Rachel’s condition was still questionable but she was holding her own, so far. Belle, Sami and Carrie seemed to be bonding in a way now that they hadn’t been able to in the past. The absence of Marlena had inadvertently brought the girls together and helped to ameliorate any differences they may have had in the past. Eric was still the unknown. Shane had been working for months on locating Eric but had been unsuccessful. Who had him and why was the big unknown and no one was talking. John desperately wished that he was back in the United States and part of the team of ISA agents assigned to Eric’s case. The boy was his son and he felt awful not being able to help.
Once the boat was fully absconded in the thick fog and several nautical miles from shore, John untied the rope from around his waist and climbed on board.
As he pulled the covers off the boat, Marlena immediately got up off the floor and rushed into his arms, thankful for a friendly face. “Oh thank God you’re alright…I was afraid that you were going to do something stupid like turn yourself in,” Marlena said as she tenderly took his face in her hands. He was a miracle, her miracle.
“Never…never,” John said as he held onto her for support, looking around the small boat. “I need your help….I’m not sure how long this fog is going to provide us cover or how quickly it will take….”
“Anything, just tell me what you need for me to do,” Marlena interrupted, still in disbelief over the fact that they may have eluded capture once more.
“I need for you to look around the boat and see if you can find any nautical maps of the area. While you do that I’m going to see if there are any paddles that I can use,” John said as he let go of his hold on her waist. Looking behind him in the direction he came from he was relieved to see that the denseness of the fog had not abated, which meant that they weren’t going anywhere, but at the same time no one else was coming for them. Unless you were a trained seaman, familiar with the rocky coasts of this area, it was simply too dangerous.
“Why don’t you turn on the motor?” Marlena innocently asked, not quite aware that they weren’t out of danger yet.
“I don’t want to alert Interpol that we’re gone,” John said, thankful that his excuse was valid. He was hoping that he had been quiet enough that Interpol was still checking all the boats in the harbor now, not aware that they were long gone. John assumed that he was able to pull the boat a mile of so out of the harbor, but with the tide and current, couldn’t be sure. If it was any less than that and he turned on the motor, he risked the chance of Interpol hearing it and knowing that they had left the harbor. Not a horrible situation, but it would cost them a precious lead he thought that they had. “Hopefully I was quiet enough pulling the boat out here that they can’t tell where we are.”
“How can you tell where we are? It’s completely dark and foggy. How do you know that we aren’t headed back to shore?” Marlena questioned as she looked around, a feeling of uneasiness overcoming her. She moved closer to him as all the unknowns of her environment encroached on her mind. What else was under the cover of the boat? What was in the metal drum in the corner? What was hiding and waiting for her on the other side of the fog?
“Stop it,” she told herself as tried to shake the fears out of her mind. “Stop it…You’re going to drive yourself crazy Marlena….there’s nothing here to be afraid of…You’re a strong woman, use your training to calm your fears.” Closing her eyes and breathing in deeply, she fought for control of her mind and body.
“Cause I never leave home without my trusty compass,” John said as he held it up. “That’s a fact.” Once an ISA agent, always an ISA agent.
Marlena smiled before responding, “I love a strong, devastatingly handsome, intelligent and resourceful man.” She slowly approached him and gently kissed him on the lips.
“mmmmmmmm…..” John moaned into her mouth. “You’ve gotta stop that Doc or we’ll never get out of here. You know what you do to me.” John slowly placed both of his strong hands on her forearms and gently moved her back so that mere inches separated them.
“John,” Marlena complained.
“Marlena,” John mimicked back. “You don’t have any pants on…Do you even realize how tempting it is to just bend you over on that fish tote and have my way with you?”
“John,” Marlena said in shock at the crudeness of his insinuation.
“Well, I am a hot blooded man and you are a beautiful and alluring woman without any pants on,” John said as he tried to shake the visual images from his mind of Marlena sprawled out naked on the fish tote and him having his way with her. “Why don’t you try to find something to wear,” John suggested as he snuck another look at her bare legs. “Quick.”
“I can’t see anything and I sure as hell am not going to touch something that I can’t see.”
“Mar.”
“Don’t Mar me, macho man. I’m a girl; I’m not supposed to like disgusting stuff or want to venture out into the unknown of this boat. I like candlelight baths, strawberries and cream served chilled, down comforters, sheets with a thread count of 350 or higher….Do you get my drift?”
“Nothing about you is girl like Doc,” John said as he continued to stare at her bare legs.
“John Black you are a pig,” Marlena said as she playfully swatted him on the arm. “Stop ogling me.”
“Can you blame me?” he asked as he continued to stare. He needed to stop his line of thinking or they were going to lose more of their precious lead. Taking the cover off the rest of the boat he proceeded to open the hatch that led to the small galley below hoping that it was clean and that there would be something that Marlena could wear down there. If not, he was prepared to use the tarp to make a makeshift skirt for her. The bareness of her shapely legs as she carefully moved about the boat afraid to touch anything, her long blond hair a curly mess blowing gently with the breeze, the shimmer of the salt crystals that had long ago dried on her skin and the playfulness of her laugh only added to her siren like allure. She had no idea the effect she was having on him.
Slowly climbing down into the galley below John was surprised to see that it was much larger than he thought. “Look for paddles,” John shouted up to Marlena as he felt his way around the cabin. It appeared to have a small stove and sink area, a small bathroom, and two small bunks. John was grateful that the bunks appeared to have been used very little. Pulling the blankets off of them, John brought them up to his nose and was happy to find that they at least smelled clean.
“Got some blankets,” he said as he ascended the small staircase. He spotted Marlena bending over, her bare ass once again visible to the whole world. “Find anything?” he asked as he stood behind her admiring the view.
“Yeah,” she said as she turned around. “Stop it John,” she threatened as she grabbed one of the blankets out of his arm. The look of lust in his midnight blue eyes was unmistakable.
“What did you find?” John asked as he approached her.
“No paddles, but it appears that at one time this boat had a mast and a sail,” Marlena said as she pointed down to the large mast that was attached to the side of the boat. “It looks like it would fit in there,” she said pointing to the large hole in the floor that John hadn’t noticed before. “The sails are in that large tote over there. I can’t tell if they are intact or not.” She took the blanket and tied it around her waist.
“Let’s pull them out and take a look, “ John said, optimistic for once.
“Let’s check the mast first,” Marlena suggested, knowing that it they didn’t have a working mast, intact sails wouldn’t make a difference. Working together, Marlena and John untied the mast from the side of the boat and carefully hauled it over the side of the boat towards them. After several minutes they were able to put the mast in place. “Perfect fit,” Marlena said as she started pulling the sails out of the tote.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” John hesitated to ask. In the more than twenty years that he had known and loved Marlena Evans he had never been sailing with her and she had never spoken of sailing.
“Of course….I’m about to rig the sail,” Marlena said as she quickly and expertly unfolded the sail and attached it to one of the line that ran to the top of the mast.
“Okay,” John said dumfounded, as he sat back and watched Marlena quickly turn the dinky fishing vessel into an unequally unimpressive sail boat.
“Attach this line over there,” Marlena pointed to John as she handed him a line. She quickly attached the bottom of the sail to the rusty boom, tying it off with a secure knot. She crossed her fingers and hoped that it would work.
“Done,” John whispered loudly from the other side of the boat.
“Great…. Now we see if this old boat can still sail. Because it’s been retrofitted, hence the outboard motor, it’s not going to work exactly as a sailboat should and by that I mean, please don’t expect an America’s Cup yacht racing performance out of this old boat. It lacks a keel, so stability and speed we will not have. Have you ever sailed a boat before John?” Marlena asked as she grabbed the end of line and pulled it tight.
“Marlena, should there be another sail in front?” John asked, thinking back to his limited experience with boats.
“Not necessarily. This set up looks more like a cat boat, or a una rig to me,” Marlena said while looking for the in the tote for the battens. “Found them,” she said triumphantly as she tossed them to John. “Put them in the sails….it looks like some are missing, but there’s not much we can do about that…Damn.”
“What is it?”
“There are no cleats or anything for the sail….we’re going to have to improvise. See if you can find something that it attached to the boat that can act like a cleat for the line. Neither of us have the strength the hold the weight of the sail all night long.”
“Will this work?” John asked pointing to something on the side of the boat that looked like it was used in commercial fishing.
“Perfect,” Marlena said as she inspected the makeshift cleat. “I’ll need your help once we raise the sail. Cross your fingers and hope this works.” John watched as Marlena expertly pulled on the long line and raised the sail. He was amazed at her strength and knowledge, but most importantly how competent she was under pressure. “Thankfully, there is only a light breeze right now. I don’t think either of us could handle a full force gale at this point,” Marlena mumbled as she finished raising the sail, pulled it tight and secured the line on the cleat. “Compass?”
“One compass coming up…To avoid risking crashing into the rocks at this late hour I recommend a course due east,” John said as he took out his compass and grabbed the handle on the outboard. He knew that without a keel, the outboard was the only control they had over the direction of the boat. “Ready?” He asked Marlena.
“Ready Sailor,” she joked.
“Back at you sailor,” he winked. Slowly the boat began to move through the water. Watching the compass while at the same time controlling the outboard, John watched as Marlena expertly controlled the sails. Faster and faster the boat sliced awkwardly through the water. In silence they rode each concentrating on the task before them.
After twenty minutes of sailing due east, John changed their course as Marlena adjusted the sail. The low front had passed; a glimmering ocean of tranquility surrounded them.
“It’s beautiful,” Marlena quietly stated as she put her hand over her mouth as she yawned.
“Why don’t you get some rest?” John asked noticing how tired Marlena really looked. He was exhausted as well, but would go without sleep for days if it meant keeping Marlena safe.
“As long as the sail is up two people need to operate it. Unless there is a stowaway below, I’m afraid that neither of us can afford to sleep.”
“Did you find a map?”
“No, but if you look closely over there you can see the coast line. Why don’t we head for it and find a deserted cove to anchor the boat in for the night,” John suggested, visions of laying down in the bunk below dancing through his mind.
“John, since you were raised on this continent, do you recall your geography classes?”
John laughed as he thought back to what little he remembered as his life of Forrest Alamain. “Honey, that was like forty years ago.”
“Well I was hoping…How about ISA training?”
“What are you thinking?”
“A deserted island seems more practical for us. The owner of this boat is going to notice it’s gone once the sun comes up and Interpol will have a description of the boat a short time later. All up and down the coast of Italy they’ll be looking for us.”
“Well thankfully there’s a lot of coastline for them to search. You know Doc, from flying over Italy on the way to my island off the coast of Greece I do recall there being lots of small islands. I’m not sure exactly where they are. Wouldn’t hurt to look for one of them.”
“Great, lead the way sailor,” Marlena said as she reached over and took his hand in hers.
***************
“Mr. Donovan, I want to know where the hell they are,” he demanded into the phone.
“I’m sorry, but know one seems to know right now,” Shane sheepishly admitted into the phone, embarrassed that John and Marlena seemed to have vanished into the thick of the night right under the watchful eyes of Interpol, secret service and the ISA.
“Sorry isn’t good enough. I am paying a small fortune to keep them safe, specifically to keep her safe. I want to know where she is,” he demanded, his heavy diamond laden gold ring slamming against the ornate wooden desk.
“Where are you my queen?” Stefano asked as he brought his fingers up to his mouth and breathed deeply through his nose. “Where are you?”