The Pirate (5 page)

He held his hand out to her and helped her to sit back up. He bent over, handing her shirt to her. She pulled it back on, feeling a bit awkward as she slowly redressed herself. She still had her running shoes on, she realized, as she struggled to get her shorts and underwear on over them.

Laz didn't do anything but lean against the door and watch her and she did take a certain comfort from that. No matter that she wasn't Angelina Jolie. When Lazarus looked at her, he saw a woman who was beautiful.

She finally had her clothes to rights and went over to where he was. She put her head against his chest and stole a little strength from him, because Laz had already proven that he wasn't the kind of man who could be intimidated or scared and she wanted that. She hoped that their lovemaking had meant something to him. It had to her. It was another stage in her metamorphosis from half-living to fully alive.

“I've got to get back to the bridge,” Laz said.

Daphne straightened away from him. “Bob and I are going to try to radio our families. Our cell phones aren't working very well. Is that okay?”

“Why do you need to radio them?”

What could she say? That she suspected him of being in league with the pirates who plagued the sea here? No, of course not. Besides she didn't know what she thought about Laz anymore. She just knew that she needed to talk to her boys.

“I miss my sons,” she said.

“How many do you have?” he asked.

“Two. They aren't babies but still I am used to checking in with them every day. And I want to make sure they are okay.”

Laz rubbed his hand over his chest right where her head had been resting a minute ago. “I guess I can't say no to that. You have my permission.”

“Thanks, Captain.”

“You're welcome.”

He opened the door and she watched him walk down the hallway. She wondered if this was the last time they'd be alone. This was a big tanker and he had a lot of responsibilities on the ship.

She wanted his mind on the safety of the ship. Did that mean she trusted him?

Given her track record with men, trusting Laz was a pretty big deal. She had no idea if she could trust him or not, but she did know that she was no longer uneasy about what he was doing last night. Still she had questions.

And she knew she'd get answers from him soon enough.

“Daphne, there you are,” Bob said, coming up behind her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“You look like you have a rash on your neck. I have some special soap that should help. “

She flushed even more deeply, realizing that the marks on her neck had to have been left by Laz. “Thanks, but I'm fine. When I run my skin gets splotchy. It should be back to normal soon.”

“Glad to hear it. Are you ready for the radio room or do you want to clean up first?”

Considering she could still smell Laz on herself, she opted for a shower, telling Bob she'd meet him in a few minutes in the galley. It was where their team had taken to hanging out. Being up on the deck of a tanker was different than being up on a cruise ship's deck.

Daphne took her time in the shower and then dressed slowly. She stared at herself in the mirror as she finger combed her thick curly hair. Brushes and combs just made her look like Medusa, according to her kids.

She didn't know what she was searching for in the mirror. It was still her face. She looked the same. Not like a woman who was on the cusp of a huge change.

Changing was something she thought she was past. For the longest time she'd looked in the mirror and saw a woman who had it all. A successful career in a growing practice. Two children who were on the honor roll at school and the stars of their respective sports teams. A husband…that was the one that had changed her, she thought.

She'd always wanted to be a wife and mother and now she was an ex-wife and a mother and those words just didn't sit right with her. No matter how she tried to change them in her head she'd been feeling like she was living someone else's life. That this life wasn't the one that she'd written for herself.

And now she knew she was right. Because of the encounter—that raw sex—she'd had with Laz in the infirmary she knew that her life had changed. The change she'd been seeking was a new direction for her dreams.

She wasn't just a wife and mother anymore; she had feared without those labels she'd be nothing. Today she realized that she was still someone. In fact she was probably getting closer to her real self than she'd ever been before. Because she'd had her kids when she was young she'd never had a chance to figure out who the real Daphne Bennett was but in Laz's arms she'd had a glimpse.

D
aphne left her room and found Bob waiting for her in the galley. She was infinitely glad that Laz wasn't there, but then she hadn't expected to see him again. Not now. He'd be busy doing whatever it was that captains did. And she had her own job to do.

Right now she really missed her kids and her familiar world. She couldn't wait to hear their voices and to talk to them.

“Ready to go?” Bob asked.

He patted Franny on the shoulder and walked over to her. Daphne smiled and tried to be her usually sunny self but inside she didn't feel it. Instead she felt…broken. No, she thought, that wasn't right. She wasn't broken. She just wasn't herself.

She followed Bob down the hallway to the radio room. It was empty.

“This is odd,” she said. “This seems like the one place they should always have a man.”

“I agree. But the Captain did say they had a smaller crew than normal.”

“Yes, he did.”

“Do you know how to operate this?” Daphne asked Bob.

“Ah, no, not this type of radio. I've never seen a room like this one before. Give me a minute to figure it out.”

Bob sat down at the chair and analyzed the communications board. For an older tanker this room appeared state of the art. There were all kinds of buttons and switches. She imagined that with the threat of piracy in this area communications was one place that the tankers didn't scrimp.

The door opened behind them and she turned around with a smile as she heard Bob stand up from his chair.

It was one of the crew members, Hamm. Laz's second in command. She didn't know why but she blushed when she saw him. “Hello.”

“What are you two doing in here?” Hamm asked. “This room is off limits to everyone.”

“Sorry, Hamm. I asked Laz earlier if it would be all right if we used the radio and he okayed it. My cell phone isn't working. In fact no one in our group has coverage out here, and I need to check in with my sons.”

Hamm gave her a sideways look and she wondered if she should have just kept quiet.

Hamm was a serious looking man with a crew cut and silver-colored eyes. There was an aura of danger around him and Daphne took a step backward so she was closer to Bob.

“Well, if the boss said it's okay, then it must be fine.”

“Thanks,” she said.

Bob was looking at her as well and she suspected later he was going to inquire about her talking to the captain before they'd come down here.

Bob put his hand on her shoulder. “Her youngest son is an asthmatic. The only way I convinced her to come on this trip was the promise she could talk to him every day.”

“Well I guess I can help out,” Hamm said.

He walked over to the console and Daphne watched as he turned the large dial in the middle and then pushed a series of buttons on the computer keyboard. She carefully watched the sequence. She didn't know if Hamm could be trusted or not. She felt better knowing how to operate the radio system.

“What's the number you are trying to reach?” he asked.

She quickly gave him Paul's home phone number. Hamm entered it on the keypad and then she heard the sound of the phone ringing on the other end. She glanced over at Bob and he smiled at her.

“Hello.”

“Lucas?”

“Hello, Mom.”

“How are you? I was worried about both you and Joshua. Is your breathing okay?”

He sighed in a way that only a teenage boy could. “Yes, Mom. I told you not to worry about me. How's Somalia? Did you hear the news that Dad is traveling to New York to talk to the UN about the pirate situation there?”

“No, I didn't hear that. When is he going?”

“He's there now. Josh and I are old enough to stay here alone.”

“If you say so. Are you behaving?”

“Of course,” Lucas said. At fifteen he was clever, witty, and at times a bit of a prankster. Despite the maturity of his age and his brother who was sixteen, Daphne knew her boys could find trouble anywhere and at any time.

“Be good,” she said.

“We will, Mom. Love you. Do you want to talk to Josh?”

“Yes, please. Love you too.”

“What's up, Mom?” Josh asked a minute later.

“Just checking on you two. Is Lucas doing okay with his breathing?”

“Peachy. I can make him sit down for a while if you think I should.”

“No, that won't be necessary. Just stay out of trouble.”

“We will.”

“Love you, kiddo.”

“You too, Mom.”

Josh hung up the phone. She handed the handset back to Hamm. “He's okay. Paul is flying to New York this week to speak at the UN.”

“That's good to know,” Bob said.

She thought so too. “Hamm, will it be okay if I call my kids back in the morning? I'm not sure I trust two teenagers.”

Hamm laughed. “Definitely. I was a teenager once so I know what kind of trouble boys that age can get into.”

Hamm didn't know the half of it. Lucas and Joshua were good boys most of the time, but they were easily bored and often came up with elaborate schemes to amuse themselves. They were only eleven months apart and sometimes were almost like twins with the crazy stuff they did.

“Thanks,” she said.

She and Bob left the radio room and walked back to their quarters, where the rest of the staff was assembled. “Did you get in touch with the Senator?”

“No,” Daphne said.

“But we did see how to operate the radio, which we never would have figured out on our own,” Bob said. “I think we should stay close together and on our guard. I'm not sure what is going on with the crew and until we can talk to the Captain I think we should be cautious.”

“Agreed,” Franny said.

They all went to the quarters and Daphne tried to go to sleep but she couldn't. Her mind was full of worry for her sons…not because of any mischief they might get into but because of the danger she'd put herself in by coming on this trip.

Still Daphne didn't regret coming on this trip, because she knew her boys would be better for it and right now she felt better for it. Really, she did.

 

A loud explosion followed by gunfire brought Laz down to the deck from the bridge. He'd been keeping an eye out as the speedboat approached. He picked up the loudspeaker radio. “Unfriendlies inbound. Arm the water hoses.”

He watched as his men ran about the deck. Some of them grabbed the hoses and others manned the water. They sprayed the boats as they got within range, but there were four boats and only two working hoses. Daphne came up on deck with her group and he barked an order for them to go back below.

He left the bridge and drew his weapon as one of the boats got close enough to throw an anchor overboard. It dug into the deck of the tanker, scraping it until purchase was found.

“Damn it, Savage. This is real and we are being taken.”

“Affirmative, Laz. Just make a good show. We are on our way.”

Four men came over the side of the tanker. They were armed with semiautomatic rifles and laid down a burst of gunfire as they moved quickly across the deck.

“Engaging the pirates,” he said into the wireless microphones he and Hamm were both wearing.

“Affirmative.”

Laz didn't say anything else. Keeping to the shadows he moved silently over the deck. There was a speedboat moored off the aft and one man remained on the boat. There were at least ten men on the
Maersk Angus
. Laz continued doing recon. He relayed all the information through the wireless microphone back to Savage and the rest of the team. He described the pirate boat and the weapons they were all carrying.

The men all spoke Portuguese, but he recognized them as Somalians. Laz had no real idea if they were part of Samatan's clan. The Somali people were divided by their ancestors. Men could be half-siblings born to the same mothers and grow up to be enemies. It was a complex system that was made up of loyalty proven by blood.

“Men in the hold,” Hamm said through his earpiece. “I think they've got our passengers. I'm going silent.”

“Affirmative,” Laz said.

Two of the men on the deck went up to the bridge. Laz knew he either had to make a move and maybe stay free or allow himself to be captured. Being captured was part of the plan, but it went against the grain as far as Laz was concerned. He didn't like to give up his freedom or to back down.

He tried to stay focused on the end result. They couldn't capture Samatan unless they allowed him to take the ship. But still it didn't feel right to back down.

He eased his way around one of the large shipping containers on the deck and saw two pirates standing back to back. They were definitely Somali, he thought. Tall and gaunt, they held their weapons with an ease that spoke of having held them for a long time.

He pulled his weapon and moved carefully toward the men when he felt the nudge of a gun barrel in the center of his back.

“Put your weapon down and your hands up,” the man said. “Or you will die.”

Laz started to fight back. He could take all four of these men, but he knew that for the trap to work they had to allow the pirates to take the ship.

He put his weapon on the deck and put his hands up.

The pirates stepped forward, first binding his hands behind his back with duct tape, then shoving him toward the gangway that led belowdecks. He hoped that Hamm would be able to stay free but when he got below to the storage area where the hostages were being kept he saw that wasn't so.

For a minute Hamm looked at him like what the fuck are you doing here?

Laz shrugged and was shoved over to the corner with the rest of the crew and their passengers. The doctors' group looked scared and a bit shocked. For the first time Laz realized he was too close to the bait. This was the first time he was the one on the front line. Normally he was the one who was in the car or on the boat waiting to ride in and rescue everyone.

But since he was the only one on their team with real boating experience—his late father had been a commercial fisherman—Laz had been the natural choice for this position.

But as he looked at Daphne and saw…not fear but anger in her eyes, he realized that maybe the ends didn't justify the means.

“No one move and maybe you will live,” one of the pirates said in his thickly accented English.

He backed out of the room and closed and bolted the door.

“Is everyone okay?” Laz asked.

“Yes. Other than being scared no one has been hurt.”

“Is everyone accounted for?” Laz asked Hamm.

“Everyone on the crew except Fridjtof,” Hamm said.

“Our group is complete,” Bob said.

One of the women was crying quietly and one of the other men comforted her.

“Just sit tight. We'll figure out what they want shortly. Hamm, I need you.”

Laz walked away from the group of hostages and over to a remote corner. “Did you get a message to Savage?”

“Yes. Got it off just as they entered. I also rigged the radio to blind transmit any outgoing or incoming messages to Savage.”

“Good. I didn't see Samatan in the group on deck.”

“He wasn't with the group belowdecks either. We might have to settle for this lot,” Hamm said.

“No way,” Laz said. “We're not settling for anything less than the big prize.”

“And what prize is that, Captain?” Daphne asked.

He turned to see her. She had stunning eyes, he thought. They were bright blue and definitely communicated her anger. Earlier he'd thought that the anger was directed at the pirates, but now he saw it was directed at him.

“Taking back our ship,” he said to her. “Why don't you go back over with your group while my first mate and I discuss the situation.”

She shook her head. “I don't trust you, Captain. I think you are working with the pirates and would sell us out for the cargo of this ship. So I'm going to stay right here until you answer a few questions for me.”

Laz shook his head. “This isn't the time to answer questions, Daphne. We need to work on a plan to get us all out of this hold and capture the pirates.”

“I can help with that.”

“Really? How? Do you have some skills we don't know about?”

She shook her head. “My ex-husband is a Senator and I think I can get him to call for Special Forces to come and rescue us.”

Laz shook his head. He knew that Special Forces wouldn't come because the Savage Seven were already here. And this was their job. They were going to capture the pirates and bring down their king.

“I'm afraid you are going to have to rely on me and my crew for right now. Go back to your people.”

He turned away from her and waited tensely until she left.

 

Samatan was known by many different names to many different people. He'd grown up under the dictator in Mogadishu Somalia. He had cut his teeth as a Strongman—an enforcer for local mob bosses—in the north and learned early on that he couldn't rely on anyone but himself to make his way.

The city was now a mass of warring clans, which Samatan used to his advantage. He knew exactly how to motivate his men, and if he lost one or two on a pirate raid there were always more men to replace them. That was one thing that Somaliland always had—an endless supply of men and boys willing to do whatever they had to in order to survive.

He knew the world saw him and his kind as terrorists, but he didn't care. The civilized nations of the world never realized what life was really like. William Blake said it best: “A dog starved at its master's gate predicts the ruin of the state.” Somalia was like that. And each year it seemed to get worse.

No matter how many tankers he captured and ransomed, no matter how much money he brought back to his clan, he couldn't really make the lives of his people better. But he tried. He wanted to see youths growing up with all their limbs and without the scars that he bore.