When dessert was served Ben excused himself to use the washroom. On the way back he took the long way to see if he could spot the missing couple. They weren’t out on the back deck, the front deck, or the lounge above the dining area. Finally he made his way up to the top deck. It was empty as everyone was downstairs enjoying the dessert.
Then he picked up an odd sound. He held still and listened hard trying to separate the sounds of the ship from the odd noise. He moved around slowly until he recognized it as feeble crying but he couldn’t find where it was coming from. Finally he tracked the sound to a low storage locker next to the top railing. He leaned over it and spotted Gretchen wedged between the locker and the railing lying on her right side. He could see she was bleeding and bruised. Her left arm looked swollen. How she’d gotten between the locker and the railing he had no idea but she wasn’t able to move. She cried pitifully.
“Gretchen? It’s Ben Shepherd. Can you hear me?”
Her crying got a little louder.
“Shhh, it’s going to be alright. Hang on!”
He rushed downstairs and found the first crewman and told him to let the captain know they needed an ambulance and the police immediately. He caught Kayden’s attention and gestured for him to come quickly. Margaux, Molly, and some of the Asset Managers followed.
When Kayden got to his side he pulled him towards the stairs up. “Gretchen is hurt and stuck between a locker and the railing. If she isn’t hurt too badly I think we should try to get her out.”
Ben led them to the locker and Gretchen was still there.
“Oh my god! How did this happen!” Kayden gasped.
“I’ve no idea. This is where I found her. I wouldn’t have found her at all if she hadn’t been crying. I’ve seen no sign of Rainor.” Ben said and Gretchen’s crying became sobs again.
Ben leaned over the locker, resting his palms on its surface but pulled his hands away quickly. There was something slippery on the metal surface of the locker.
Kayden looked at Ben’s hands. “What’s that?”
Ben sniffed his hands. “Smells like baby oil.”
“Someone was up here earlier getting a tan?” Molly asked.
Ben pulled a tissue from his pocket and wiped his hands clean. He and Kayden moved to either end of the locker, Ben up by her head and Kayden at her feet. They carefully slid an arm under Gretchen’s wedged body.
“Support her head!” Molly called out and Ben nodded.
Nodding to each other to indicate they were ready, the two men gently and slowly lifted Gretchen straight up. The position and angle were awkward and she wasn’t a light woman. Kayden was breathing hard from the effort.
Once she was able, Gretchen turned her head to look up at Ben. He sucked in a breath at the bruises he saw on her throat. Her lip was split and her cheek was bruised as well. Her tear filled eyes held onto his as he quietly told her everything would be alright and she should hold still. Some crew members arrived with blankets and were going to place them on the locker top but Margaux stopped them and pointed to the deck instead. They looked like they were going to protest but she stared them down. Ben and Kayden eased the injured woman down onto the blanket then gently onto her back. She hissed when her left arm bumped against the deck.
“Looks like it’s broken,” Kayden said and Ben nodded grimly.
“It’s a spiral fracture,” Ben said. He’d seen a few of these growing up in the foster care houses he ended up in. The limb looked swollen and red and the bruise from a hand’s overly tight grip could be clearly seen on it.
Ben saw the damage he assumed Rainor had done and trembled with suppressed rage. He looked up at the gathered faces. “Has anyone seen Rainor?” he growled. Everyone shook their heads. He looked down into the desperate eyes of the woman on the blanket. “I’m so sorry for your injuries. Did- did your husband do this?” She nodded and Ben’s guilt stabbed him in the chest. “Do you know where he is?” She nodded again. With her right hand she pointed to the railing. Ben was confused and he traded looks with Margaux. She stood and walked to the rail and looked around. When she looked down she sucked in a sharp breath and looked back in shock.
“What? Did you find him?” Ben asked.
“No. Let’s wait for the police,” she said but her look was troubled.
Gretchen was crying again and she clung to Ben’s hand with a desperate strength. She pulled it to her cheek and closed her eyes. Ben looked at Margaux, his guilt written on his face. She turned her face away.
They didn’t have long to wait as the captain had turned the ship around and took them back to the pier where an ambulance and several police cars were waiting. No one was allowed to leave the boat until the police took their statements. They confirmed that Rainor wasn’t on the boat. The officers looked over the rail where Margaux had been earlier and got one of their boats to pull up alongside the vessel to take pictures of small red streaks on the side of the hull. They also took pictures of the locker and took samples of the oil residue on top of it.
They questioned Ben and had to do it while he held Gretchen’s hand. She was still clinging tightly to him and Ben couldn’t get her to let go. Her eyes would widen with fear and she’d begin to wail when he tried. Ben was shaking, his guilt was eating at his gut and he looked desperately to Margaux for help but she was having difficulty looking at him. The paramedics needed to move Gretchen, she had some tender ribs which might have been broken, but she insisted he had to go with them. As she was beginning to panic, the paramedic asked him to accompany them in the ambulance. The police would be following so they agreed.
Ben looked at Margaux. “I have to make sure my people get home. You go on ahead and once you’re done just come back to the condo. I’ll leave instructions with security to let you in and give them a spare key,” she said. Her tone sent a chill through Ben. He could tell she was upset but when he tried to ask about it she just walked away.
“We have to go sir,” the paramedic said. Ben nodded and with a final worried look at Margaux’s back as she spoke with her people he followed the paramedics and Gretchen down the stairs and off the boat. They crossed to the pier and went into the back of the ambulance. Ben wasn’t able to hold her hand and had to sit back out of the way of the paramedic working on her but his presence seemed to calm her.
They made their way quickly to the hospital but Ben had time to think about what an ass he’d been to push the obviously unstable man. He knew he hadn’t expected any of this to happen but he kicked himself for not following Rainor when he stormed off hurting his wife’s arm in his cruel grip.
At the hospital he followed them in but he was initially stopped at the entrance to the exam rooms and told to wait in the waiting room. Gretchen began to panic once more. Ben wondered what Rainor had done to the woman to make her behave like this. He knew she was a sub but he’d never experienced such extreme behaviour before. They finally moved him into her exam room and she immediately reached for him with wide teary eyes. His guilt stabbed him again as she seemed so lost.
He held her right hand and she immediately began to calm. She kept her eyes on his and he smiled at her. The nurse with them smiled at him gratefully for calming the patient as she pushed through the curtain leaving the cubicle. Then they were alone.
“You’re going to be fine now. The doctors will take good care of you and get you all patched up. You have to let them take their x-rays and do their examination.”
She held his eyes and nodded, accepting his orders. Ben blinked at her and recalled the words Margaux said about how some Subs give themselves completely to their Dom and wondered if this included their decision making. His warning bells were going off.
“I told him you were stronger,” she said softly, her accent making her words sound distinct to Ben’s ears.
Ben froze and looked into her eyes. “You what?”
“You are stronger. I can see it in your eyes. I’ve known for some time Rainor’s mind was weak. He seemed so strong but over the ten years we’ve been together it became evident. He was missing… important pieces.”
“Why did you tell him that?”
“I needed to free myself of him. When I saw his pitiful attempt to dominate you I knew I could no longer be his. I knew he would react badly. I- I thought you might protect me from him but he took me upstairs where no one could see us when he…” She turned her head sharply, blinking away the tears as she relived the brutal beating she’d endured.
“Oh my god, Gretchen! You don’t even know me. We hadn’t even spoken! How could you have known I would stop him?” Ben exclaimed.
Her eyes returned to his and Ben handed a tissue for her to dab her eyes dry. She smiled. “You’re Ben Shepherd. I saw you on the news. It’s what you do.”
He rocked back from the worship in her eyes.
“What happened to Rainor?” he asked, his voice rough with emotion.
“He beat me. Strangled me. Physically he could overpower me but I could see the weakness in his eyes now. He knew it. He threw me against the railing and I became stuck. I could hear him pacing then he jumped on top of the locker. I heard him cry out, the railing was struck and vibrated hard. Then I saw him falling past me. I- I knew it was over then.” The relief on her face was intense and tears rolled away from the corners of her dark eyes.
“Rainor fell into the water? He could swim though, right? He looked like a swimmer!” Ben said, grasping at the chance the man could still be alive.