Hostage to Fortune

Chapter Twenty

As they left Tangier behind them, Ryan started to realise that things were not going to go the way he'd planned. Samantha had come out for breakfast but hardly said a word to him. When he told her of his plan for a Mediterranean holiday, she laughed at him.

'What sort of holiday is it going to be, if I can't go ashore?'

'Of course, you can go ashore. Tomorrow we'll put into Oman and we can go ashore and explore the city. I thought that we could go on to Algiers then Tunis, maybe Tripoli.'

'All Arab countries, do you speak Arabic or Farsi because I know I don't.'

'We'll get by with English and French in most places. Can't you see the positives in this we are together? We have enough money on board to last us for months and we've got non-stop sunshine.'

'What positives? There are no positives. I'm a prisoner on this boat. The only places I can go ashore are places where I can't speak the language and have no idea where to go for help.'

'Don't be so melodramatic Sam. You're not a prisoner, and yes, we can go places where you can get by with English.'

'Oh forget it. I'm going below to read. Call me if you need two hands for anything.'

That was the way things went. They called into Oman, but they found very few people who spoke English, and Ryan's French wasn't much help. Algiers and Tunis were a little better. Ryan did manage to buy some paint in Algiers and painted out the name of the boat In Tunis he set about giving her a new name. Samantha laughed at his choice of name.

'Billy Jean? I never took you for a Michael Jackson fan.'

'I'm not, but the life belts, cutlery, napkins and almost everything else on the boat are embossed BJ. The new name had to fit in with that.'

It had been ten days since they left Gibraltar and the relationship between Ryan and Samantha hardly improved. In desperation, Ryan set course for Malta.

The first stop in Valetta was for fuel. Lying at anchor all night had meant they'd been using the engine a lot to provide electrical power. Ryan paid two days in advance for the berth, then went back for Samantha. As they walked into town, side by side, he tried to hold her hand but each time he was rebuffed. Sam was desperate to get her hair done so after a pleasant lunch Ryan left her in a hairdresser's while he explored the town. As he walked the streets, in the warm Mediterranean sunshine, he passed several bars where many people spoke English.

This wouldn't be a bad place to settle. He thought to himself. Perhaps after he'd sold the boat he could come back here, Sam would love it too. Warm climate, no need to learn the language, it would be their own little paradise.

On the way back to the Salon, he found a newsagent that sold English Newspapers. They were a couple of days old but that was no real problem. An hour later he was back at the Hairdresser's and knew that he'd found enough in the paper to keep Sam onside. They went to a small bar by the quayside and after ordering drinks, Ryan unfolded the newspaper and opened it on page 4. Immediately she recognised her photograph. It was one of her publicity shots, quite flattering she thought. There was also a picture of Bee Jay II lying at anchor on a calm sea.

MILLIONAIRE'S WIFE SUSPECTED OF MURDER CONSPIRACY.

She gasped as she read the headline. The story went on to say that police suspect that she and 'her young lover' had planned to murder her husband, William Wainwright. The plan went wrong when Mr Wainwright miraculously survived and was picked up by a Motor Yacht owned by Sir George McMahon. If found guilty the couple would be facing a ten-year prison sentence. The rest of the article concentrated on the size of Will's fortune and the way he made his money. Toward the end of the article, it said that the couple had evaded arrest in Gibraltar and were last seen heading for Madeira.