gotta be another option. This is Yokohama, for crying out loud.”
“Well,” Umiko said, “there is one place.” She told him there was an apartment owned by Mr. Sato’s automotive company that was used to host visiting VIPs. It had been prepared for the marketing director from Germany, but he was not arriving until the following night.
“Let’s go,” said Cain.
Chapter 69
The luxury cabin on board the expensive yacht swayed with the rhythmic waves of the ocean. In almost any other scenario, this would be a dream vacation—except this was no vacation. It was a nightmare, yet Bonnie was wide-awake. The pain was a constant reminder of that.
The room was dark. She was nude, and her wrists throbbed with pain. The nylon rope that bound her was tight—too tight, but the yakuza guard knew she was a fighter. She had fought like a wild animal when they took her from her apartment. The chunk missing from his right ear served as a reminder of that.
Dried blood circled her wrists from the raw motion of trying to free her hands from the rope that tied them to the headboard of the queen-size bed. She was able to lie down but found sleeping too uncomfortable in that position. Gravity pulled the blood from her hands and it stung like a thousand needles jabbing her skin.
She peered through the small porthole. The waxing crescent moon provided a soft white glow over the ocean. That’s how she kept track of the three days she’d been in captivity. How many more nights will I be tied to this bed? she worried. She reasoned that it was better than the alternative: death.
If only I can get Cain’s attention. I’ve done it before.
She thought back to a childhood memory. She had lost the coin toss with her brothers, and it had fallen on her to check the catfish traps in the middle of the lake. As she maneuvered her father’s small boat close to the bobbing buoy, she saw her teenage brothers on the dock waving at her to come back to the shore.
“Bonnie, it’s not worth it. Just come back,” Seth had yelled through cupped hands.
She’d looked skyward at the ominous clouds above. “I’d be done already if I had some help, but I don’t need any help!” Hand over hand, she’d pulled the thick nylon rope to the trap until she felt its weight. It was heavy and caused the boat to tip as she hovered over the edge, pulling with all her might.
A clap of thunder and a gust of wind caused Bonnie to lose her footing. She toppled headfirst into the lake, inhaling a mouthful of muddy water. Bonnie kicked her legs furiously while trying to surface, but the rope ensnared her right leg above the knee, anchoring her underwater with the hefty fish trap.
She tried to untie the knot, but with every movement, it tightened more. She closed her stinging eyes.
Hurry, Cain! I’m drowning! she’d messaged him telepathically.
Bonnie’s lungs had burned as she fought with the knotted rope. She could see through the murky water that the trap was not full of fish but lodged between an old stump and a large rock on the bottom of the lake.
Bonnie made one last effort to free herself, but it didn’t work. Panic set in and she believed she was about to drown. Suddenly, she sensed she was not alone. Cain was in the water. She felt his presence before she ever saw him. Her eyes opened to see her twin, calmly and carefully cutting the rope with his pocketknife. Cain grabbed Bonnie and pushed her up to the water’s surface.
Bonnie gasped for air and coughed up dirty lake water.
“Is she okay?” Seth yelled, swimming toward them.
Cain was patting Bonnie’s back to help her regain her breath.
“You got my message,” Bonnie said with relief.
“Yes,” Cain replied.
“I was hoping you would.”
“I always do.” Cain winked at his twin.
Bonnie smiled at that memory, and at the thought of how she and her brother were connected. She continued staring at the moon through the yacht’s porthole, directing all her energy and thoughts toward her twin. I’m on a yacht. I’m sure it’s in Tokyo Bay, near land. I can hear seagulls and the constant arrival and departure of airplanes.
She heard muffled voices from the hall. The door opened, backlighting the silhouette of a large man in a suit. The bald man in the doorway was Japanese and had a tattoo that covered his neck and head. He was carrying