When the Tide Rolls In [COMPLETED]

Chapter Sixteen: A Race to the Girl

Nick

I knew when I woke up that something was wrong. The bedsheets beside me weren't messed with at all. Samantha would've at least pondered climbing into bed with me before deciding against it.

Then there was the fact that there was no makeshift bed set up on the floor. Or in the living room downstairs. I marched straight to Daniel's room, preparing myself to see her wrapped around him.

Instead, I caught sight of an empty room. After a further search of the house and surrounding property, I found Freddie gnawing on a bone. It still had a tag on the end that showed it was purchased from a nearby grocery store.

That didn't mean anything did it?

My mother was awake soon, and became just as worried as I was.

I had told her that Daniel and Samantha were past lovers and that I'd deal with it in the morning. Even though she was angry, she still managed to be afraid for them.

I took my cell phone out of my pocket and hit the speed dial for Samantha's phone. That's when Freddie's ears perked up. He began barking like a mad man.

"What's wrong?" I asked him. He just bolted behind the house, barking his little head off.

I followed him, and what I found sent a chill through my blood.

Samantha's cell phone sat in the grass of the field, my name lighting up the screen.

Someone was going to die by my hand.

--

It had taken one hour and forty-four minutes to convince my mother not to call the police. She'd been hysterical when I told her the news.

Police made things messy.

I paced for hours in my old room, Samantha's cell phone situated on the dresser. My chest tightened every time I looked at it and I cursed myself for getting personally involved.

Finally, I decided I needed some help. I pushed open my closet door and reached up to a shoebox located on the top shelf. A mound of dust came billowing down with it and I sputtered when it landed directly on my face.

I set the shoebox on my bed with care and found my fingers paused at the edges of the lid. I studied it. It was green, like mint, and the white writing had been worn from so many years of use. There was a very tiny hole in one corner that nothing could slip out of and the rest was battered.

I finally convinced my fingers to lift the lid. I removed exactly three layers of tissue paper and there it sat.

A small glass figurine. It was a very tiny boat, about the size of your palm. It held a man, a captain. And a little brown dog. One of a kind.

At least, I had thought so up until that moment in Samantha's room.

--

I set the glass figurine down on the counter. The men before me knew what it meant. A favor from my grandfather, a powerful man indeed. May he rest well.

"That bastard's dead, boy. 'Ow can that toy be of any use now?" the largest of the men questioned me.

"I'm his grandson. I can offer you ten thousand each in American currency since that is where I currently reside. And revenge."

"Revenge?"

"On Penny, and his gang," I smirked, and the men became antsy.

"Alright, well, Mr. Sanduvol, it looks like we've got a deal."

I shook hands with the man before me and stood up.

"He's in England somewhere. Find him before he leaves the country," I ordered. The men left the bar quickly, and I could only hope he was the one who took Samantha.