What Sky did not know was that Kristina, Storm and I did not make it to the island. Kristina and Storm had gone back to look for me. Kristina was getting worried about Storm, it was a long time for him to be underwater, and he only has a limited amount of oxygen, which would likely be running out very soon. She was right, Storm already knew that the oxygen was getting low and he would have to surface very soon.

They had gone back about a mile but still did not see me, which likely meant I had gone off course and could be a long way from the original route. The only way to find me then would be by boat. Storm signaled to Kristina that he needed to surface, so she went with him and took off his apparatus so he could breathe properly.

Meowr!=Human Steve over there! Kristina looked where he was pointing and there I was, floating face down on the surface. She swam over to where I was and turned me over. I was unconscious. Storm climbed on top of me and checked my heart, it had stopped. “Jump on his chest Storm!” she yelled. She tried to get me breathing while Storm stood up on his hind feet and thumped down on my chest with his front feet right over my heart.

Meanwhile…Crystal and Angel knew they needed to tell Sky about Steve, so Crystal sent her a text. Sky looked at it and almost began to cry, but she held back. She told the Major she had to leave. “There is a problem,” he said, “I can tell. What is it?” “It is not about Macey,” she said, “but Steve, Kristina and Storm are not with Crystal and Angel, they went missing.” She tried hard to keep her voice normal.

“Crystal and Angel will get Macey before you have to make the drop,” she added, “they are good, they will not fail at this point.” “I never doubted that,” said Major, “your whole team is good, and I trusted you right from the beginning. Go do what is needed.” Sky decided to stay, but she called Rock and told him what he should do. Rock was a bit puzzled, it was not what he expected Sky to tell him.

Back to Crystal and Angel. They began looking for the entrance to the cave and found it on the opposite side to where the boat was hidden. The entrance was quite large, which was good, it made it easier for them. They were not sure what to expect, but ventured inside, cautiously. They could see some light up ahead so they went in that direction. There was a small side cave to the left where the light came from, but it was empty.

Then they heard some noises from deeper in the cave. They went further and off to the right. They saw more light a little further where the noise was coming from. It was another little “room” where Macey was tied up and Juan was assaulting her. He turned when he heard them come in and stood up, getting out his gun.

The girls were so angry at that point and they went into action. Angel kicked Juan in the stomach which caused him to bend over, then Crystal kicked him in the head…hard! He fell against the wall of the cave, then slid to the floor, dead. You do not want to get Crystal angry. Just one kick from her is all that is needed to stop someone, permanently.

They quickly untied Macey, telling her that her Dad sent them to get her free. They decided to leave right away, before Sam got back. They just made it outside the cave, only to see Rich standing there with his gun pointed at them. “Pete was right,” he said angrily, “that Major just cannot be trusted. Now he will have to be satisfied with a dead daughter returned to him.”

He pointed his gun and fired, but Angel managed to get in front of Macey in time to stop the bullet and down she fell. Just then a booming voice called out to Rich telling him to drop his gun. Rock, Benson, Carine and Tracy were in a boat just off shore. Rich turned to shoot, but Benson shot first, killing Rich instantly.

While this happened, no one noticed that Sam and his girl had arrived. He shot over at Crystal and Macey, but missed. Then he turned, pulling his girl in front of him for a shield and fired on the boat, hitting Carine and she fell backward into the water. Tracy dove in to get her. Rock and Benson could not shoot, fearing that they might kill the girl. She was pleading for them not to shoot her. Then she elbowed Sam in the stomach and pulled away. Benson shot immediately, killing Sam…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.