The Colonel's Daughter by Lili Tufel Read Free Book Online Page B

followed close behind.
    Maurice looked at the woman hostage and shouted, “Wake her up!” to the man with long black curls then hissed at the ringing cell phone in his pocket.
    Dallas peered over a smaller boat docked nearby. He watched Maurice weave past the teak furniture on deck fidgeting with his cell phone and mumbling, “Hello father.”
    Dallas hurdled over the hull side of the smaller boat and grasped the seawall ladder. He listened intently trying not to get soaked by the crashing waves.
    “I will get you both mother and daughter. You can tell your buyer he will have the codes very soon. I know you stand to gain a lot of money from those codes. You don’t need to keep reminding me!” Maurice took the cell phone away from his ear and grumbled. “I have business to tend to, father…I will call you later…when will you start trusting me? Alright, what else is it that you want?” He sighed shaking his head. “The American soldier is still alive? I thought the bomb killed everyone in that camp. I will take care of it….I said I will take care of it. Father, please, I ask you to be patient.” His eyelid twitched as he clutched his phone and walked back inside the yacht to his newly acquired hostage. The red haired woman sat on a cushioned bench with her hands tied behind her back. She wore a one-piece lime green halter swimsuit that had been stained with blood from the deep gash on her forearm. She had down-turned eyes and hunched shoulders visibly fatigued from struggling and showing bruises on her thighs. Maurice sat down beside her. He raised his right arm as if to slap her, then retracted in slow motion, and with the back of his hand, he stroked her cheek. His lingering hand continued down her bare shoulder. “Your husband betrayed my father. Do you know what betrayal feels like?”
    She stared at the ground deliberately ignoring his words. Maurice raised his hand once again above her face, palm facing out, and this time with a swooping motion struck her cheek with violent force. She shrieked while licking her bleeding lip then paused to look into his dark eyes regaining a semblance of composure before spitting in his face.
    His nostrils flared as he stood with a jolt and panted ordering the men who stood guard, “Leave us.”
    Faisal, who had been pacing on the deck, answered his buzzing cell phone.
    Shahrivar yelled on the other end of the receiver. “Come back with those codes and if you have to without that insolent boy then do whatever you have to do. I want those codes, NOW!”
    Faisal bellowed, “Maurice is my nephew…the son of my sister…your son. How can you throw your son away? Remember that coward cocaine boss who took your product and disappeared? Your son has captured his wife. He is defending your honor as we speak.”
    Maintaining his reconnaissance role, Dallas listened from the seawall ladder. He didn’t want to jeopardize his objective of protecting Abby by initiating a hasty assault.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Maurice drove his black sports car across the ferry ramp onto a four lane divided roadway accelerating to over a hundred miles per hour while his careless hand veered the car between the lanes.
    “You reckless son-of-a-bitch!” Dallas yelled while trying to keep up.
    Maurice laughed as he looked in his rearview mirror and realized he was being followed. He howled with excitement continuing his high-speed charade. Feeling overconfident, Maurice let the car veer off to the side again but this time he overcorrected sending the car careening over the center median.
    Dallas watched the car zigzag onto the southbound traffic lanes and drive away. He chose not to pull the same stunt, which would have endangered innocent people, and continued in the northbound direction while letting Maurice go.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Dr. Bowes, carrying Javi’s chart, walked into the hospital room and after some brief small talk, was no longer able to conceal the severity of what he had to say. He sighed,