Page 33 of Finding Lord Landry

The night was a long one. Thankfully, we were allowed a trip to the bathroom every few hours in small groups, and they let us stretch out and lie down, in case anyone could possibly sleep in this situation.

My head throbbed from where I’d hit it earlier, and my thoughts raced with a lifetime’s worth of regrets.

Sometime in the middle of the night, when several people were sleeping and the restaurant space was nearly silent, three of the gunmen got into a rapid-fire argument that escalated in volume enough to wake everyone up. They shoved and threatened each other with their weapons until the noise brought in another gunman from outside. As soon as that man entered and shouted at them, one of the fighting men turned his weapon and shot.

The noise made everyone jump. Screams rang out. The man who’d entered the restaurant was on the ground, writhing in pain, clutching his side. Blood began puddling under him.

The other gunmen shouted at each other even more, presumably blaming each other. When they finally decided to help their friend, two of them dragged the man out of the restaurant, leaving a giant smear of blood on the tile floor. I squeezed my eyes closed and tried not to think about the escalating tension. None of the men holding us seemed calm or rational. They were angry and uncoordinated, which made the situation even more dangerous.

“You okay?” Jamie asked again.

“No,” I said as emphatically as I could without making noise.

“I’m scared,” Lindsey whimpered from my other side. “What are we going to do? We need to get the fuck out of here. If only I had a phone, I could livestream this shit and get us some news coverage.”

“Assuming they don’t still have the communications locked down,” Jamie said.

“I managed to get a call out earlier,” I admitted. “For about two seconds. News outlets already have the story. But even if someone sent a rescue crew, it would take time to get here.”

In the end, I was right.

Late the second night, when half the room was asleep again and my stomach was grumbling after only being given some bread and an apple all day, the room suddenly exploded in blinding light and deafening noise.

I was yanked off my feet and thrown over someone’s shoulder before my brain came back online. I was too terrified to protest or ask questions, wondering if I was being taken to my death or to safety.

It wasn’t until I was placed in a small inflatable boat that I realized the people taking me were speaking English. They were also wearing clean, black tactical gear and speaking into advanced comms equipment.

My eyes were fucked, and my head rang like a bell.

“What’s happening?” I asked stupidly.

“Name?”

I nodded and swallowed. “Kenji Toma.”

He turned to someone else. “And you?”

“James Winthrop.”

I turned to see Jamie huddled on the opposite side of the boat. It seemed as though we were the only ones who’d been taken.

The man in charge snapped orders into his comms, and within seconds, we were speeding away from the beach. Water sprayed over the edges of the boat, making me just wet enough to start shaking from the cold. The night air had been plenty warm in the protected area of the restaurant, but it was freezing as we raced over the water at top speed.

There were four men in the rescue group, and they all seemed busy with various jobs. I didn’t dare interrupt them to ask questions.

Jamie wasn’t so hesitant. “Where are you taking us?” He had to shout over the sound of the outboard motors and the wind.

One of the men glanced over at Jamie. “Manta, Ecuador. There’s a plane waiting to take you home.”

Jamie nodded as if all of these arrangements were standard fare instead of miraculous and amazing. “How long will it take to get to Manta?”

“One hour to the ship. We’ll load into a helicopter. After that, should be two hours to Manta.”

“Th-thank you,” I said, still speaking in a low voice out of habit.

The man glanced at me and noticed I was shaking. “I have an emergency blanket in my kit.” He found the packet and opened it, fighting the wind to get the thing wrapped around my shoulders. As soon as I pulled it close, I closed my eyes in relief. It wasn’t necessarily cozy, but it made a huge difference.

I tried to zone out and calm down now that we were relatively safe, but I couldn’t help wondering what would happen to the other resort guests.

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