Her Cruise Ship Surprise | ✔

Chapter Thirty-Six

Just when Captain Lockheart thought things were going smoothly, one of his men burst onto the bridge. "Boss, I can't get a hold of Jeremy or Tyler."

He had been hoping that with all their prior planning that this would go off without a hitch, but problem after problem kept cropping up. One by one his men were disappearing. And he had a sneaky suspicion that those girls were involved. When he got his hands on them, he was going to make them pay for what they did to his son.

"Take Liam and find out what's going on," he said before turning back to the big window in front of him. Man, he'd love to own a boat this size. It's too bad he couldn't keep this one. He felt like he was towering over the world. It had a lot more fancy gadgets than his motor sailor did, so he made sure that he had one of his more experienced men at the helm.

But soon, he'd have to be pulling more men off certain positions to guard the passengers, and that's not something he could afford to do. A large ship couldn't run itself. He needed men in the engine room, on the bridge, and guarding the passengers.

Lockheart walked over to his son who was lying motionless in the corner, stiff as a board now. His wife would never forgive him for letting harm come to Frank. She fought tooth and nail for their son to do something else with his life. But there was no getting ahead without bending or breaking some rules, right? That's how he owned everything he did now. What he couldn't buy, he took. And his wife didn't seem to care until it came to their son getting involved.

Why do women always change after they have a baby? It made no sense to him. It's not like Frank was made of glass, but she insisted on keeping his heart pure like a care bear. One needed to be like a vulture in this world, not a care bear. Now his son was dead because he wasn't strong enough. It was only after his wife got sick that he managed to start training their son to become a man, instead of that sissy kiss-ass weakling. But in the end he was too weak anyway, and he'd always blame himself for that. He should have started earlier.

Maybe he'd have more luck with his younger son. He was only six years old, but Lockheart wouldn't let anymore time go to waste. No women would be able to get the drop on him. He'd make him a man worthy of taking over his business. Grabbing his radio, he said, "All units, be on alert for two women. Consider them dangerous. Report back to me if you hear anything."

"10-4," came the replies. He breathed a sigh of relief when most of his men answered back, but a few were still unaccounted for.

"If any you see Jeremy or Tyler, tell them to get their asses to the bridge, I need to speak with them."

Another round of 10-4's came through, letting him know his message had been received. He slipped the radio back onto his hip and crossed his arms, looking out over the water. There was nothing as far as the eye could see. There wasn't even anything on the sonar. No animals below, nor ships above. That made him breath easier yet because they still had a ways to go before they caught up with his people. He didn't figure they had much to worry about except those still on board roaming free.

If they caught the girls, he'd first have fun with them and then toss them overboard to the death they deserved. No one messed with his family and survived. He'd hurt them exactly like they'd hurt his son. His fingers twitched to bring his kid justice. If he wasn't needed on the bridge, he'd be the one hunting them down.

Annoyed and angry, he wandered over to the smallest runt in the cruise-ship crew, pulled out his pistol, and fired it into the man's leg. If his son would never walk again, neither would he.

The Captain jumped up from his position on the floor. "He's just a kid, damn it!"

Captain Lockheart trained his gun on the ship's captain. "Wanna be next?"