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The ground rules for the “Frat Boy Cruise”, or “Escort Cruise” as Jana referred to it, were laid out and agreed to when the charter agreement was signed. Female crew would be provided, but duties above and beyond their stewardess duties would be purely optional and solely at the crewmember’s discretion. The guys were told, off the record, they would likely have a good time, but it was not guaranteed all the crew would participate in optional activities. Generous tipping was highly recommended.
The only change from the original agreement was the duration. Three days and nights of drunken debauchery seemed like a good idea at the time, but Jana strongly suggested twenty-four hours was all that was needed. Reymundo agreed and the cruise was shortened from three days, starting at five p.m. Friday and ending at five p.m. Saturday. As the guests departed the vessel on Saturday afternoon, each agreed that any longer would have been a waste. They were all heading back to their hotel for sleep, several female crew members in tow.
The cruise had gone well. The girls recruited by Jana were young, hot, and energetic. Being a captive audience on a boat with six attractive young bankers was much better than spending twelve hours in a dingy bar with fat old men.
Jana and Reymundo agreed all future pleasure cruises would be limited to twenty-four hours. Couples’ cruises and destination cruises could be longer. Exhausted, Reymundo and Jana wanted to debrief while the events were still fresh.
“Next time, let’s have some cleaners lined up to be here as soon as we dock,” Jana said. “I don’t feel like cleaning, and I hate for it to sit overnight or until Monday. God, the boat’s a mess.”
“I agree. We need a service to come to clean the boat from top to bottom. You know anyone?”
“Yeah, we’ve had people come clean it before. I’ll text them in a minute and ask when they can come out.”
“I didn’t hear any complaints, but I don’t think we did well on the food. I know we can’t serve gourmet meals, but we didn’t serve any meals. We had food for the taking, and they ate when they were hungry. I don’t think these guys cared, but if we ever have older guests, they will expect more. Especially if we want to get top charter rates.”
“You’re right. It would’ve been embarrassing if they’d been anyone other than frat boys right out of college. For a more sophisticated crowd, we need to have a restaurant option too. We could motor up to any one of the nice restaurants on the intercoastal, and they go in for dinner.” Jana took a second to consider the options. “They’re paying for a cruise. Maybe a good meal should be included. I don’t know. I don’t want to hire a chef. We need to keep it simple.”
“Yeah, we need to think about it some more. Maybe when we aren’t so dang tired.”
Jana cleared her throat to keep from snickering at Rey’s choice of words. “Dang” was not the word she would have used. It was then she realized that she could not recall ever hearing Reymundo swear. She would have to pay attention and confirm her suspicions. She also promised herself she would cut back on her use of four-letter words. She was beginning to realize how low-class the gratuitous use of the F-word sounded.
“I’m sure there are other details we need to figure out. We can talk about it tomorrow. We’ll probably remember more with clearer heads. Oh, speaking of clearer heads. Neither of us has slept in like thirty-six hours. That’s not good, especially since we’re driving the boat. It’s dangerous. Illegal, too. We need to alternate and get some sleep during the cruise, even if it’s only a few hours. We can’t do that again.”
“That’s a good point. We need to make sure we have a plan for next time. Speaking of plans, would you like the shower first?”
“Oh, you know I would.” Jana jumped to her feet, kissed Reymundo, and disappeared down the stairs toward the owner’s cabin.
“Okay, I’ll just sit here and wait for you,” Reymundo said to himself then stretched out on the sofa in the main salon. He tried to remember if any crude sex acts took place on the sofa. It was likely, but he was too tired to worry about it. He intended to just rest a few minutes until Jana was out of the shower.
The pounding on the main salon’s door woke him from a deep sleep. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs and determine if the noise was real or a dream. Another round of pounding began.
“Hang on,” he yelled. He could see three, maybe four people standing outside the main salon. “What do you want?”. He rubbed his eyes, still trying to grasp the situation.
“Open up,” someone from the other side of the door yelled.
It was against Reymundo’s better judgment, but he didn’t want the door to his boat kicked in. Whatever they wanted had to be a mistake, and he would straighten it out. Whoever was banging on his door would soon be on their way.
Reymundo unlocked the cabin door and slid it open. The biggest of the men pushed his way inside. Two other men and a young girl followed.
“What’s going on?” Reymundo asked, clenching his fists.
“Sit,” the big man commanded.
Reymundo stiffened. “This is my boat. What do you want? No, I don’t care what you want. Get the hell off now!”
Jana arrived at the top of the stairs from the owner’s cabin. “What’s going on?”
“Well, hot damn,” the shortest of the three men said. “This is looking up.”
“Time for y’all to be getting off the boat,” Reymundo said, moving toward the men. He was flexed and ready to take on all three if necessary. The big one would be the only challenge.
The third man, much older-looking than the other two, pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at Reymundo’s head. “Back-off,” he said. The man held the gun sideways. It was apparent he had never fired it, and he’d watched too many gangster movies.
Nevertheless, Reymundo didn’t need to be told twice. He raised his hands and backed up. “What’s this all about?”
The short man grabbed the girl by the back of her head and shoved her closer to Reymundo. “Recognize her?”
The girl’s left eye was nearly swollen closed. A cut in the corner of her mouth oozed blood. Her hair was tangled and matted with dried blood.
“Well, you recognize her?” the man repeated.
The girl’s face was badly beaten, but Reymundo did recognize her as one of the girls hired for the frat cruise. He nodded.
“Yeah, damn right you do. You had this bitch and three of my other hoes working for you this weekend. They missed two nights of work for me. This one didn’t show Friday night and was too tired even to give head last night. Plus, two of them have disappeared. It took some persuading, but she told me they’d been here working for you. She thinks the other two ran off with a couple of guys from your party. You owe me.” He threw the girl to the floor like a rag doll.
Reymundo was pissed. Not only did these guys barge onto his boat, but they also beat up the girl. The Taurus 9mm semi-automatic pistol now pointed at his chest, even if held incorrectly, was enough incentive for him to keep his wits about him and not make a bonehead move.
Jana stepped closer to the group. “Hey asshole, you don’t own anybody. They can come and go as they please and work for whoever and wherever they want. Why don’t you get off our fucking boat?”
“Aren’t you a feisty bitch,” the short man said. He appeared to be the leader. “That’s where you're wrong. These girls owe me. Until they pay off their loans, they work for me. No one else. Got it? Now this one can’t work. Well, she’ll work, but with her face messed up, she ain’t gonna bring in much. If the other two don’t come back, that’s lost revenue.”
The man studied Jana in her tight white T-shirt and baggy shorts. “You look okay, baby doll. What’s your name?”
“Ocicat,” she replied. It had been her working name back in the day.
“Ocicat? What kind of name is that?”
“My mother loved cats. She named me after one.”
“A cat? Is that the same as a pussy? I’ll call you Pussy.” The man laughed, which started the other two men laughing.
“Tell me, Pussy, do you share your pussy...?”
“All right, that’s enough,” Reymundo told them. He had no way of knowing if the man holding the 9mm had a round chambered or if the gun was cocked. Reymundo had to assume it was, which meant it would only take the man a split second to squeeze off a round. It was not the time to be a hero, but he wanted to test the men.
“Dude, I can get to you and snap your neck before your friend can pull the trigger. He may kill me, but you’ll be dead. And unless he hits a vital organ, I’ll get him too. Your big friend will be a piece of cake.”
The little man showed no visible fear, but he retreated slightly. “Calm down, big fella. We didn’t come here to kill ya. I want compensation for lost wages and my two girls back.”
“You aren’t getting shit,” Jana said.
“I agree,” Reymundo added.
“I beg to differ. You’s cost me, and I’m getting paid. Where’s my hoes?”
“I don’t know where the girls are,” Reymundo told him. “They all left the boat yesterday around five o'clock. We haven’t seen them since. The guys chartered the boat for the weekend. I don’t know where they are.”
“Tell ya what I’m gonna do. And this is because I’m a businessman and don’t want to kill you and Miss Pussy. I’ll give you twenty-four hours to contact those guys and get my girls back to me. Plus, you owe my fifteen K for lost wages. You get me my hoes and money and I’ll call it even.”
“And if I don’t?” Reymundo asked.
“Simple. One night I’ll blow up your boat...with you on it.”
Reymundo made a slight movement toward the little man.
“I wouldn’t,” said the biggest of the three men. He had lifted his shirt to show the pistol in his waistband.
The little man smirked. “Because I’m such a nice guy, I’ll give you a couple of other options. One, give me Pussy and let her work it off. I bet she could make a grand a night easy—”
“More like two, asshole,” Jana said.
“Oh, you’re familiar with the business. I bet you’re the one who snatched my hoes. No sweat. You could work it off in a couple of weeks. We’d be all square. I think I might tap you a few times myself and call it interest.”
“Not going to happen,” Reymundo said, his words loud, clear, and angry.
“Here’s another option. What’s the range on this boat?”
Jana replied when Reymundo hesitated. “About three-thousand nautical miles at nine knots.” She assumed the knots and nautical miles would confuse the little man.
The little man hesitated, clearly pondering what she’d said. “How far do you think it is from here to Cuba and on to Texas?”
“Around twelve hundred nautical miles,” Jana said. She had charted the distance to Texas at one time when she considered taking the boat to Corpus Christi, which was only a couple of hours southeast of San Antonio. She added a couple of hundred miles for the side trip to Cuba.
“You could make the trip easy. If you go to Cuba, pick up some packages and deliver them to Houston, we can call it even.”
“I don’t think so,” Reymundo answered quickly.
“You’re right. Two trips. Two deliveries. That’ll make us even. If I don’t get my girls back, you may have to make a third.”
“Like I said, I don’t—”
“Okay,” Jana interrupted. “We’ll do it.”
“The hell we will,” Reymundo said, giving Jana a look.
“It’s the only way, Rey. We don’t want to be looking over our shoulder every night.”
The little man nodded in agreement. “You’re a smart girl, Pussy.”
Jana didn’t like it, but she knew they were out of options. “When do we start? Where are we going?”
“First of all, you won’t be going. I’ll be taking you back as, um...what do you call it? Collateral, in case your boyfriend tries any funny stuff. Two of my guys will go along, and they’ll have all the info you need.”
Jana had agreed to the plan only to buy time. She had not anticipated the little man holding her hostage.
“Can your guys drive a boat this size?” she asked. “Rey can’t do it alone. It’ll take at least six days to get from here to Texas. It takes two to handle the boat.”
“My guys have blue water experience. Don’t worry about them. I’m not letting both of you drive off, even with my guys on board. I need to make sure you keep your end of the deal. Tell ya what, if the first trip goes well,” he turned to Reymundo, “I may let Pussy go with you on the second trip.”
Jana looked at Reymundo and nodded.
“Okay, we’ll do this. But if you touch Ja...uh...Ocicat, you WILL regret it,” Reymundo said, his green eyes ablaze with anger.
“She’ll be fine. But if you don’t deliver the packages, don’t return with my guys, or don’t return at all, I’ll abuse her until I’ve had my fill. When I’m done, my guys will take turns with her. When they’re tired of her, I’ll rent her out a while until she’s so used up the crack hoes in Overtown will look good by comparison.”
The look on Rey’s face was new to Jana and it scared her. She worried he might try something that might get him killed. “Hey guys,” she shouted. “No need for a pissing contest. Rey, I’ll be all right. I can take care of myself. I’ve been threatened by guys worse than these punk-ass wannabe thugs.”
The little man stiffened at being called names, but Reymundo’s biceps and the rage in his eyes stopped him from popping Jana in the mouth.
“We have a deal,” he said and nodded toward the bigger of his compadres. “Gorgonio will be here in the morning with all the instructions.” He gestured to the man holding the 9mm. “Nestor will stay here and watch the boat. If you try to untie during the night, he will shoot you.”
Nestor waived the gun as if to prove the point.
Reymundo watched Nestor closely, hoping he would let his guard down. Reymundo only needed a split second to jump him, take his gun away and shoot the big guy who would likely shoot himself while trying to remove his gun from his waistband anyway. Reymundo could break the little man’s neck, just as he promised.
“I’ll come with Gorgonio tomorrow, and I’ll take Miss Pussy with me,” the little man said. He looked at Jana. “I trust you will not be a problem.”
“I won’t.”
“That’s good. Let’s keep this professional. Nobody gets hurt. We’ll be here at noon.” The little man looked down at the girl he’d thrown to the floor. “Stand up bitch,” he said, kicking her in the chest.
Reymundo made an instinctive move toward the girl.
“Uh-uh, don’t try it,” Nestor said, pointing the pistol sideways at him, his finger on the trigger. Reymundo backed off, worried the idiot was more likely to shoot him by accident.
The beaten girl stood, arms against her chest. The little man grabbed her by a large chunk of hair from the back of her head and pushed her out the cabin door. Gorgonio followed.
Nestor pointed the pistol at Reymundo. “I’ll be watching,” he said and closed the door behind them.
Jana ran and jumped in Rey’s arms. She hugged him as tightly as she could. “What a fucking mess. I’m so sorry. I had no idea those girls were trafficked.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “What are we going to do?”
“We don’t have many options. Whatever they say.”
“Why don’t we go to the cops?”
“And tell them what? We borrowed some of the man’s prostitutes, and now he wants us to pay? We have no proof. They might arrest him, especially if they find the girl he beat up, but I bet he’d be bailed out pretty quickly, and he’d come looking for us. After dark, I could take care of the dude with the gun, but then what? I bet he’s checking in, and if he’s not heard from, the others might come back with more guys. I don’t want to have a shoot out here on the boat.”
“So we do what they say?” Jana’s hands were shaking.
“I still have some money. He didn’t mention just paying him off, but I bet he’d take cash.”
“Maybe. But I know his kind, you pay him and he’ll be coming back for more. You heard him. First, he said one trip to Texas, then he said two, and then three. Once we refuse to make any more trips, he’ll probably still kill us. He won’t want any loose ends.
Reymundo leaned back and looked her in the eyes. “There’s only one way out of this mess...”