Dino by Jaime Lewis
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Arianna held onto a shelf that was bolted to the wall, it was the only secured fixture in the tiny room that she could find. The boat she was on was a small fishing trawler. When she arrived in Crete, Greece, she was still a little loopy from the tranquilizers that Carmine had given her. She guessed he didn’t want her to be a bother during the fifteen-hour flight.
As soon as the private jet she was on landed at the airport; she was shuffled into an awaiting car. It had been three or four hours since she, Carmine, and some other big dude whom she wasn’t familiar with has gotten into the car. She’d lost track of time since Carmine took her watch.
A few minutes ago, she had felt and heard the boat’s engines fire up. Judging from the world bobbing beneath her feet; she was pretty sure they were heading somewhere on the water. Once in a while, they’d hit a larger wave, and it would throw her off balance.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Dino, her dad, and all her friends and what they must be going through. She wondered if they had any idea where she was. Most likely, they didn’t, but she needed to stay positive and try to find a way out of the situation.
She still couldn’t believe that Miles was part of the plan. But it also hadn’t been a huge surprise considering Miles was always looking to score money any way he knew how. He got exactly what he deserved.
She kept chastising herself for letting her guard down around Miles. She gave him the opportunity, and he took it.
Now she needed to worry about what they had planned for her. Carmine and the other guy had barely spoken a word in front of her. She thought she would’ve seen Demitri by now, but she guessed he wasn’t on the boat.
What really bothered her was the nasty fish smell. She had already thrown up once because of it.
She looked around the small room. There was a lot of junk. She walked over to a stack of boxes and started looking through them. She was hoping to find something she could use as a weapon. When she got to the third box, there were a couple of items that she could improvise with. When she lifted a fishing book, she saw what appeared to be a gun. At least she thought it was. After further examination, she determined it was a flare gun. That was something that could come in handy, she thought. It might not shoot bullets, but it would shoot fire, and you could still kill someone with it. I think I’ll be keeping that, she said to herself. She removed the gun from the box and stuffed it in the waistband of her jeans, pulling her shirt over it.
She was putting everything back in the boxes when she heard the door to the room rattle. She hurried over to the other side, not wanting to get caught. She heard the snick of the lock then the door opened. Since she wasn’t sure what time it was and the room didn’t have windows she was surprised to see it was dark out. Carmine appeared in the doorway and motioned for her to come to him. It wasn’t like she could run there was nowhere for her to go. Maybe if she got outside, she’d have a chance. At least out there, she could jump into the water.
She walked toward the door, and Carmine grabbed her upper arm. She guessed he had been reading her mind. Once they got out onto the deck, Arianna immediately began to scan her surroundings, looking for any exit points off the boat. Unfortunately, she didn’t see any that stood out. Worst case scenario, if it came down to it, she’d climb over the railing and jump.
She wasn’t paying attention and hadn’t seen that another person had joined them on the deck. She was startled when the deep voice spoke from behind her.
“Hello, Arianna.”
Arianna spun around, surprised to see someone standing there. She locked gazes with Demitri. The man was intimidating just standing there. She could feel herself shaking. Just by the coldness in his eyes, she knew this situation wasn’t going to be good for her.
“Hello, Mr. Barros.” She knew he hated it when she called him that. Apparently, that hadn’t changed because he stomped toward her. Before she could flinch, he backhanded her across the face, and she fell to the deck.
He was on her quickly as he grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head up, so she was looking at him. His jaw was clenched and looked fierce. “Intentionally pissing me off isn’t going to work in your favor.” He knelt next to her and put his face right up against hers. “Tell me why I shouldn’t put a bullet in your head right now?”
She stared into his eyes because there was nowhere else to look. He was in control and too powerful of a man to fight. She was scared, and when she didn’t answer him, he stood up and pulled her by her hair across the deck to the other side. He shoved her against the railing and pushed her on her upper back, so she was dangling over the side. This was it, she thought. This was how her life was going to end.
But when nothing happened, she wondered if he had second thoughts. Suddenly she heard the sound of rotors. There was a helicopter nearby. She waited and listened as they grew louder. Could this be her one shot? She had the flare gun, and the pilots would have to see it considering they were out in the middle of nowhere and it was dark.
Out of the blue, the story Alex told her about her survival popped into her head. Alex had said to her that if you wanted to live that you had to fight. Yes, she told herself. She wanted to live. She didn’t want to die out in the middle of the ocean.
She started to see the lights from the helicopter. They were shining a spotlight into the water. Were they looking for her?
Done playing games, she reached for the flare gun under her shirt. Once she had, it secured she cocked it, and as difficult as it was to aim it into the air while she was upside down, she did it. Her finger pressed the trigger. It looked like a firework shooting up into the air. The light from it illuminated the area below it.
Her happiness was short-lived when Demitri yanked her back up to the deck and threw her to the ground.
“You bitch!” He screamed at her. He was seething.
Arianna crabbed walked herself backward until she hit something and couldn’t go any further. Suddenly Demitri faced her, and she knew that look. It was the look of a killer. He started stalking towards her and she did the only thing she could do. She protected herself. She raised the flare gun and fired. It hit him right in the stomach and he flew backward. Carmine ran to him. She couldn’t move. She could only stare.
Carmine swung his head and directed an evil glare at her. She scrambled to her feet, and so did he. He fired his gun, and she dove behind a metal box container to take cover. When she landed, she cut her arm on the side of it, and she cried out. But she didn’t stop. She looked around for a hiding spot. She heard Carmine fire his gun again, but it just made a clicking sound. He was out of bullets. She saw him go into the cockpit and knew this was her chance.
She stood up and started running across the deck. The helicopter was almost right over them. As she passed by the door to the cockpit, Carmine jumped out and grabbed her. He put her in a headlock, but she twisted out of his grasp and kicked him, causing him to stumble backward.
Something inside the cockpit caught her eye. It was a propane tank. She looked at the flare gun in hand and back at the propane tank and an idea formed in her head. She ran towards the back of the boat. She knew she only had one shot left in the flare gun, so she needed to make this one count. She lined up her shot and fired. She watched the bright streak of orange sail into the cockpit. She quickly climbed over the railing and was prepared to jump into the water when she heard her name. She looked up and couldn’t believe her eyes. They came for her. But then suddenly, an object slammed into the back of her head, and she lost all focus and tumbled over the railing into the black sea.
◆◆◆
As soon as the team’s plane touched down at the Naval Base in Crete, they gathered their gear and headed to the vehicles waiting to take them to the other side of the base so they could board a couple of the boats to assist in the search for Arianna.
Dino wasn’t upset, he was pissed off, and he had every intention to make every single person pay who was involved in Arianna’s abduction.
Chris from the FBI actually blew off his superior's warning when he told them that he was going with the team to help. Again, the bureau wanted to play by the rules. Arianna didn’t have time for that.
With the surveillance videos from the hospital, along with CCTV footage, they were able to track Arianna and the people who took her. They found out from the small airport that the private jet they believed Arianna to be on was bound for Crete, Greece. Derek, along with a few others with some pull, called in some favors and explained what was going on. They were able to get a ride to the Naval Base in Souda Bay.
Chris called many of his contacts in the area, including the local police, who then notified the Hellenic Coast Guard, equivalent to the US Coast Guard. They, too, were sending boats and helicopters to assist in the search.
The last update that came in about twenty minutes ago stated that there were witnesses who saw people matching Demitri and Arianna’s description at a nearby marina. Calls had been made, and shortly afterward, it was confirmed that it was Demitri who rented a small fishing boat.
Derek was talking to the base commander, and when he was finished, he walked and gave them a brief update.
“Both the Naval Base and the local Coast Guard have boats and choppers already out looking. Another boat reported they saw a fishing boat matching the description of the one that Arianna is believed to be on.”
“How long ago was that?” Ace asked.
“Around the same time as our update—approximately twenty minutes ago. We’ve radioed to all parties assisting in the search to head in that direction.”
“What’s the plan for us?” Dino asked, feeling jumpy.
He pointed toward the pier, and the two boats docked there. “We’re getting on those and will meet up with the search party.”
As they walked toward the boats, Ace caught up with Dino. “Listen, man, I’m speaking from experience. When we get out there, you need to keep your cool. No rogue shit, no attitude.”
Dino stopped mid-stride and turned toward Ace. “I know better. I’ve been through shit like this five times now, and I’m fucking sick and tired of having a member of our family targeted.”
Irish, who usually was the calm comedian of the team gripped Dino’s shoulder.
“Dino, a lot of us know what you're going through right now. Believe me, we do. But the best thing you can do is to keep a positive attitude. She’s out there, and we’ve got a lot of people looking for her. We’ll find her.”
Dino knew they were right. It wasn’t worth it to have a negative attitude. He looked at everyone standing there with him.
“Let's do this. Let's find her and bring her home.”
The guys gave a big Hooyah and then boarded the boats.
They barely had made it out of the port when one of the choppers from the Coast Guard radioed in.
“We’ve got some boating activity in the shallow waters just off the southeast coast of Skopelos Glaronisi Island and it appears to be the boat in question. Sending coordinates through.”
Chris looked at the team. “That has to be them. That is one of the worst fishing spots in the area. No fisherman in their right mind would waste their time there.”
“How far is that from us?” Derek asked the skipper of the boat.
“About nine miles, sir.”
“Then let's head there.”
Suddenly, someone shouted from the starboard side. “Flare!”
Everyone looked in the direction the guy was pointing, and he was correct. It was a distress signal, and additional reports started being relayed from the other parties involved in the search.
As their boat was closing in on the suspected fishing boat, Dino saw Arianna appear on the port side. She was holding her arm. A guy came out of the cockpit and lunged at her. He had her in a headlock, but then she twisted out of his grasp and kicked him, causing him to stumble backward.
They watched as she turned and fired the flare gun inside the cockpit.
“What in the hell is she doing?” Ace muttered out loud, and Dino could only shake his head and wonder the same. She then ran toward the aft of the boat and prepared to jump into the water when the guy ran up behind her with a long pole in his hand. Dino and some of the others were shouting at her trying to get her attention as they sped towards her. She must’ve heard them because she looked up and right at them, but it was too late. The guy swung the pole and slammed it against the back of her head. Everyone watched in horror as her body tumbled into the dark open water.
Not five seconds after Arianna hit the water and the boat exploded, creating a huge fireball.
“Nooo!” Dino shouted.
“Get over there now!” Derek yelled to the driver of the boat.
As the boat approached the area where Arianna fell in, Dino, Frost, Ace, and Skittles jumped in the water while the others shined spotlights in the water.
Another boat pulled up, and a few from their crew jumped in to help look.
Dino started to panic when they couldn’t find her. It was as if the black water had swallowed her up. Suddenly, he heard Frost. “I got her!” Dino swam over and she looked like she was out cold. He checked for a pulse and felt some relief when he felt the steady beat.
They got her to the side of the boat and handed her up to the others on board. Dino climbed up and went to her side. Stitch was there looking her over along with another medic.
She wasn’t waking up, and Dino feared she might have head trauma from when the guy hit her. He held her hand and leaned down next to her ear. “I love you.” He whispered as tears formed in his eyes.
Stitch took a packet of smelling salts and held it under her nose. Dino and everyone else held their breath and waited to see if that would stimulate her. When her head started to move from side to side, Dino thought he was going to lose his shit. He couldn’t speak at first and had to swallow down all the emotion caught in his throat.
He laid down with her, and some of the other guys covered them with blankets. When they reached the base, an ambulance was waiting to take Arianna to the hospital. He went with her and continued to hold her hand. It was in the ambulance when she opened her eyes for the first time since they pulled her out of the water. She looked directly at him; those big hazel-colored eyes were a sight to see.
“I love you, too.” She rasped out, and Dino couldn’t stop smiling. She had heard him back on the boat when he had told her that he loved her.
He leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers. She fought, and she survived.
