Free Laura Marlin Mysteries 2: Kidnap in the Caribbean by Lauren St John Page B

Captives don’t usually have a choice, do they, Lukas?’ He took a step towards her.
    There was something in his manner – a nervous aggression – that made Laura’s heart start to pound. If this part of a game, then the game had gone too far.
    ‘I’m curious,’ she said, playing for time. ‘Why do so many pirates wear eye-patches? Do you deliberately gouge out each other’s eyeballs or are you just really bad sword fighters?’
    ‘Hear that, Lukas? We got ourselves a feisty one. Well, well, well. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Last chance, young lady. Are you going to come with us willingly?’
    Before Laura could move or respond, he’d lunged for her. Grabbing both her wrists in one enormous hand, he covered her mouth with the other – a hairy mitt reeking of fish. As Laura fought and kicked for all she was worth, Lukas dragged the laundry hamper closer.
    Next thing she knew she’d been abruptly dropped on the deck and Lukas and the tall pirate were staggering around wiping strawberry milkshake from their eyes.
    Tariq, who’d thrown it, helped Laura up and shielded her from the men.
    ‘What’s going on here?’ demanded Fernando, appearing out of nowhere with Skye. The husky bounded over to Laura and she threw her arms around him. Never had she been so overjoyed to see him.
    ‘Aww, tere’s nutting goin’ on,’ whined Lukas, still blinking away milkshake. His eyelashes and brows were thick with it. ‘We were having a bit o’ fun, tat’s all.’
    ‘It wasn’t nothing,’ Laura said furiously. ‘They were trying to stuff me into that basket.’
    Fernando glared at them. ‘Is that true?’
    ‘’Course not, what do you take us for?’ The tall pirate’s lip curled and his gold tooth winked in the sun. ‘You know as well as I do that we’re not real pirates. We’re a tourist attraction sent to welcome people to the Caribbean and make them laugh. I thought the young lady might like to see a trick we do with the basket, but she suddenly got scared. I was trying to comfort her.’
    ‘By covering my mouth with your stinking hand? It’s hard to laugh when you’re being smothered.’
    ‘I think you’d better return to your galleon before I call security or the young lady accidentally lets go of her dog,’ Fernando said. ‘I’ve heard that huskies are quite partial to pirates – even if they’re only fake ones.’
    ‘All right, all right. We’re on our way. You’ll get no trouble from us.’
    ‘We was playing,’ Lukas insisted. ‘We didn’t mean nutting by it.’
    They departed with scowls and their basket.
    ‘They weren’t playing and they did mean something by it,’ Laura said. ‘Thank you all for saving me. Tariq, if you hadn’t thrown your milkshake at them, something terrible would have happened.’
    A shimmer caught her eye. It was a pale green badge with a picture of a smiling dolphin on the front above a banner on which MARINE CONCERN was written in a cheerful script. She slipped it into her pocket. Funny, the pirates hadn’t struck her as the type who’d be overly worried about the conservation of sea creatures.
    Fernando was agitated. ‘Should I report this incident to security?’
    As he spoke, they felt the deck vibrate. The Ocean Empress was on her way once more. The black galleon receded into the distance. Turquoise waters surrounded them and on the horizon was a hint of white sand and palm trees.
    ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Laura said. ‘I’m sure they were only acting. They just took it a bit far. As Matron would say: “All’s well that ends well.”’

‘PLEASE TELL ME I’m dreaming,’ Laura said. ‘Or if I’m awake, tell me that I’ve had a brainstorm and forgotten the number of my uncle’s cabin. It’s not 135 after all but 133 next door, or it’s not Deck C but Deck B.’
    She stood at the door of the cabin where, barely an hour earlier, they’d talked to Calvin Redfern. It was empty. Not only was her sleeping uncle gone, together with