Coincidence - Alan May [83]
Now she could only hope that whatever was inside this mysterious package would turn out to be as wonderful and useful a gift as those Uncle Jack had bestowed upon her. He had an uncanny knack for coming up with exactly the right thing at the right time, whether she knew she needed it or not.
The captain knelt and slit the tape open with a slim pocket-knife. The black plastic fell away. It took just a moment for the crowd to register what the object was. Then an excited murmur began, intensifying by the second until Melissa could barely hear the crackling static over the jubilation.
It seemed the gift giver in the airplane above was every bit as clever as Uncle Jack.
37
Phillip stood on deck, glowering at the ocean. His nose was swollen and throbbing, its initial redness turning blotchy purple. There wasn’t a part of his body, stem to stern, that didn’t hurt like hell.
In even worse shape than his body, though, were his spirits. Stefano was pissed as hell at him, and Juan—well, Juan would have finished off the pummeling Anika had started if Stefano hadn’t stopped him.
Anika! What was wrong with her anyway? She’d rather be thrown to the sharks than give up her precious frigging maiden-hood? C’mon. What did she think this was, a Victorian novel? Not that he believed for a minute that her maidenhood was intact. A girl like that? In this day and age? Hell, no.
So that meant she’d rather be thrown to the sharks than go to bed with him.
The only reason Juan and Stefano hadn’t thrown him to the sharks yesterday was that they needed him on the boat. He could tell by the brothers’ whispered conference outside Anika’s cabin, where he lay having his nose wrapped up, that it had taken a good deal of persuading for Juan to allow even that much.
It was clear to Phillip that by the time they reached Easter Island, he would no longer be needed for anything. He wouldn’t be going ashore any more than the hostages would. And all because that ungrateful little—
His watchman’s eye picked up a faint glint on the water far in the distance off the starboard bow. He shaded his eyes and kept the glint in view; little by little it came closer, eventually assuming the outline of a ship.
He shouted out to Esteban, on deck behind him.
“Come here! Now, damn it! Move it!”
Esteban put down the bucket he was holding and ambled over to where Phillip stood watch.
“Take over!” Phillip hissed as he ran to the bridge.
Severo sat at the controls, chewing a wad of gum.
“Hola, Felipe, how’s the nose?” he snickered as Phillip banged the door open. Phillip shoved him from his chair.
“Get Stefano!” he barked and sat down at the VHF radio.
Within three minutes, Stefano came storming through the door, with Severo trailing behind.
“What you think you’re—” Stefano began.
Phillip silenced him with a furious shaking of his head and hands, and pointed to the radio.
The three waited with their ears cocked as the VHF crackled.
After a moment, Stefano began again.
“Madre de Cristo! What the hell you—”
Suddenly the signal on the VHF changed. The static intensified, then was replaced by a screech. The screeching faded away and Stefano fell silent as a clear voice emanated from the box on the console.
“This is Captain Ritchie on the Coast Guard cutter Serendipity. We are now three miles off your starboard bow. Heave to and prepare to be boarded.”
Severo reeled backward against the wall.
“It’s all over!” he wailed. “I knew it would end like this! It’s no use. We can’t run—”
“Chucha!” Stefano bellowed at him. “Shut up! We don’t know what they want. Maybe it’s nothing, maybe just routine, they searching all ships going through here. We don’t know.”
He nodded at Phillip.
“Tell them to come. Severo, you and Polo go and tie up the girl and the doctor. Make sure they can’t make no noise—lots of duct tape over their mouths. Stay with them. Find my brother first. Send him in here. Vaya!”
“Captain, we are stopping our engines now,” Phillip said as soon as Severo had gone. “Continue your approach.”
He