Free DOUBLE KNOT by Gretchen Archer

harm than good, especially since we’ve been warned
     not to. Did you read the part in the note about being dead ?”
    “This is horrible,” she said. “We’re helpless.”
    “We’re not. We need to hit it from another angle,” I said. “We play along, pretend
     we didn’t even find the note, don’t let on we realize we’re prisoners, and approach
     it from behind.”
    “Sneak up on it,” she said.
    “Right.”
    “How is that going to help?”
    “We can flush out the bad guy,” I said. “And find out why we’re locked in here. There’s
     a reason No Hair’s being held and there’s a reason we’re hostages, and we need to find the reason. And until we find the reason, we
     hang onto this: Who do we know that’s tougher than No Hair? Have you ever known anyone
     tougher than him?”
    “No.”
    “You have to believe he can tough this out until we can get to him. Because if you
     don’t believe, I won’t be able to believe.”
    “I believe, Davis. I believe.”
    We hooked pinkie fingers.
    We believed for five quiet minutes until I said, “Here’s the plan.”
    “I’m listening.”
    “We figure out who locked us up and why.”
    “Okay,” she said.
    “We turn this place upside down and find a way out.”
    “Got it.”
    “Then we rescue No Hair.”
    “First thing in the morning, Davis. We’ll knock off your list. One, two, three. After
     that, let’s go try on jewelry we can’t afford at Tiffany’s.”
    “I thought you said you believed.”
    She sighed.
    “Okay, then this,” I said. “No matter what, we’ll be out of here sometime tomorrow.
     We’ll get out, then rescue No Hair.”
    “How?”
    “I don’t know exactly how, when, or what we’re going to have to deal with before.
     But we’ll be out tomorrow.”
    “How can you be so sure?”
    “When Bradley’s plane lands in China the first thing he’ll do is call me. When he
     doesn’t reach me he’ll call No Hair. When he doesn’t reach either of us he’ll send
     Navy SEALS.”
    “Since when does Bradley have the authority to engage SEALS?”
    “You know what I mean.”
    “I appreciate your confidence,” she said. “But whoever’s behind this has done an impressive
     job setting it up. They’ve managed to take down No Hair and lock us up. When they
     say they have communication with Bradley covered, they might have it covered.”
    “I know my husband.”
    “The husband you know so well is halfway across the globe.”
    “Okay,” I said, “last resort. We have Mother’s phone. Whoever disabled our V2s doesn’t
     know we have a phone. Tomorrow, we’ll cruise close enough to Cuba to see land. We’ll
     be close enough to pick up a cell signal. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll absolutely
     be able to call for help Monday.”
    “Why Monday?” Her words were hidden behind a yawn. “What happens Monday?”
    “On Monday we’ll be in the Caymans. We can definitely get a call out when we get to
     the Caymans.”

SEVEN

      
    Probability ’s itinerary included one port of call—the offshore financial haven of the Cayman
     Islands. We were going straight there, stopping for two days, then heading right back
     to Biloxi. The Caymans were one of the monetary capitals of the world with forty of
     the fifty largest international banks in operation, and our destination was George
     Town, the capital city, on the southwest coast of Grand Cayman. Collectively, the
     passengers on Probability had more than a small stake in the Cayman’s $1.5 trillion in financial transaction
     liabilities, and a very vested interest in visiting one, or several, of the six hundred
     George Town banks. The Caymans had more registered corporations than people, and the
     banking accompanying all that incorporation ran the gamut, including day-to-day trading,
     general commercial transactions, investment activities, hedge fund formation, structured
     securitization and financing, captive insurance, plus any and all other