Captain Pierce tied off the last stitch and clipped the thread. He doused it with rubbing alcohol and covered the wound with a large sterile pad which he secured with paper tape. He fished antibiotics out of his first aid kit and handed a double dose to Axis, along with a bottle of water. After her brother’s sharp rebuke, Axalia sulked in a far corner of the cabin, warily watching Captain Pierce.
When the time was right, he would disarm her and kick the fugitives off his boat. Even if she fought back, she wasn’t a match for him. Though nearing sixty, he’d adhered to a strict diet and physical regimen that kept him lean and fit. And the brother wasn’t in any shape to tangle with him.
“All done,” Captain Pierce declared. “Now what?”
“Help me to a bunk. I need to sleep,” Axis ordered.
Captain Pierce half carried the teenager to his twin-sized bed.
“It’s small,” Axis complained.
“What did you expect when you stole aboard? This isn’t a luxury liner.”
“Hey, watch your tone,” Axalia demanded.
“Yeah? What are you going to do about it, little girl?”
Axalia cocked the gun and pointed it at him. “Shoot you.”
“Go ahead. It’s past dawn, and the marina is crawling with other fishing boat captains, crew members, and tourists. When you take that shot, good luck getting off this vessel. Your brother can barely walk.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“Lia, stop it. I have a new plan. Captain Pierce will be taking us to Mexico on his boat. No border guards to worry about. We need him.”
Axalia let out a low, guttural sound of outrage. Not much frightened former general Moses Pierce, but that sound terrified him.
“I need something for pain, Captain Pierce. What do you have on hand?”
“Tylenol.” He twisted off the bottle cap and dumped two tablets into Axis’ hand. After Axis took them, he fell asleep. There wasn’t much room for Axalia, but she stretched out next to her brother and joined him in dreamland.
The gun slipped from her hand.
Captain Pierce grabbed it and stuffed it into the waistband of his old jeans. He filled a syringe with a powerful sedative he kept in case someone developed severe motion sickness and jabbed the needle into Axalia’s arm. Her body jerked, then lay still. Quickly, he filled the syringe again and plunged the second dose into Axis’ thigh. Using zip ties, he secured their hands and feet.
He bolted up to the top deck and started the engine. When Axis and Axalia had stowed away, they had smashed his radio and satellite phone. He’d also been forced to relinquish his cell phone, and it, too, lay smashed to pieces.
As he guided theExodusinto the Gulf, Captain Pierce considered his only option. “So, you want to go to Mexico?” he muttered. “Then, by God, that’s where I’m taking you.”
He could have alerted the authorities, but he’d heard what these siblings had done. It didn’t sound as if the authorities could hold them. Better that he delivered them to whatever fate awaited them in Mexico.
TheExoduswas the top of its line and could slice through the water at eighteen knots. Captain Pierce had fifty-five hoursto reach Mexico’s closest shoreline. Until then, he’d keep his uninvited guests sedated.
The weather cooperated,and theExoduscrossed the Gulf with ease. Axis and Axalia slept for the first forty-eight hours with the aid of the sedative. Captain Pierce locked them below deck and took cat naps. His military career prepared him well for vigils and surveillance which required him to go without sleep for long periods of time.
Midafternoon two days later, Captain Pierce cut off the engine and idled a mile offshore of the Mexican coast. He figured he had about thirty minutes to abandon his unwanted cargo before the Mexican coastal guards swept the area. When he unlocked the sliding wooden panel, he heard Axalia’s and Axis’ loud curses. He descended the stairs, gun drawn. Both were sitting on the bunk, spitting mad like a pair of feral cats.
They shouted obscenities at him. “Get up!” The grandfatherly manner he’d adopted vanished. The siblings struggled to stand.
Captain Pierce grabbed Axis roughly by the arm, and in one swift movement cut the zip ties binding his ankles with a knife he used to fillet fish. He shoved him toward the steps. “Move!”
Axis hobbled up the steps.
Captain Pierce turned his attention to Axalia. “Make a move, and I’ll shoot you and your brother and gut you like a fish.”
Axalia snarled an answer but remained still as he unbound her ankles. “Go!”
Topside, he corralled the siblings close to the railing. The coastline was on their right. “This is the end of the line for you. I hope you can swim.” Before either one could react, he freed Axis’ hands and pushed him overboard.
