“I see you’ve become so gentle within the past few days. That’s good, you need to start getting used to it” Max who sat close to the dazed Isbelle, uttered with a pleased smile plastered on his face. “I wonder how long it would take before you give in to me”
All the time Max kept blabbering, Isabelle pretended to be lost in her world, to make sure he didn’t suspect her when she made her move. She racked her brain for an excuse to get him out of the house, away from her so she could do what she needed to do. He had told her everything that happened after her abduction, from the kidnapping to their running away. She had even discovered that the ship had gotten Liam himself. That was where she got her plan from, with Liam’s overprotective nature to someone close to him, he would have done something to the ship, something that could be used for emergencies like this. She needed to search for it, and so the need for a distraction.
“Isabelle, what’s with the frown on your face, do you need something?” Max asked. He had already stood up from his spot and was walking towards her. He squatted and raised her chin to meet with his gaze. “What do you want?”
Isabelle took that as a cue and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
“I’m hungry” She uttered, her gaze faltering a bit as it locked with Max who raised his eyebrow in confusion.
“Hungry?.. but you just had lunch a few minutes again, why?” He asked, his voice laced with caution. “Are you sure it’s nothing else?”
The realization dawned on Isabelle as she detected her mistake, but it was too late to reverse it, she needed to improvise. “Erm… We had a fish meal”
“Yes, what’s wrong with that?” Max asked with a questioning gaze.
“I suddenly developed a craving for fruits, wild ones” Isbelle stated while making a cute face, pouting her lips to make him believe her without a tinge of doubt.
“Fruits?.. so, you want me to go into the bush to get you some?” Max probed further with amusement dripping from his voice. “That’s surprising yet strange”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to do it for me, I’ll go get it myself” Isabelle retorted, feigning hurt with a frown on her face.
“It’s alright. I’ll go get it for you” Max surrendered as he gazed intently at her, trying to read her intentions. He found it suspicious that she would suddenly ask him for something after all the attitude he’d put up with. But he brushed off the feeling as being paranoid,” maybe she was getting used to my presence” he assumed inwardly and walked out of the house.
Meanwhile, Isabelle had a triumphant smile on her pretty face as she watched him leave without looking back. After confirming he had gone a long distance, she stood up and walked out, her eyes darting around for his presence, just in case he had also wanted to trick her.
“I need to be fast” she mumbled to herself as she ran towards the place where the ship was sunk in the sand. She kept glancing around with great apprehension in her heart before climbing the ladder that led to the inside of the ship.
It was dark inside, the more reason why she took a flashlight with her.
“Ouch” she screamed when she hit her leg on a barrel containing some supplies in it. “Damnit” she cursed further, massaging the toes briefly, and continued her journey. Looking around, she noticed some pictures hanging on the wall of the ship. Pictures of Kyle and Liam’s moment together. Their faces were still young which showed how long it had been since the picture was taken. She sighed in frustration as she still didn’t understand the relationship between the two.
The ruffling sound of the trees brought her back to reality. Fear crept up in her heart as she turned back to see if Max was coming for her. He had constantly warned her not to go near the ship.
She hastened her steps towards the sailor’s area where she saw a lot of keys and buttons that she couldn’t comprehend.
“Calm down Isabelle” she muttered to herself, taking in a deep breath. What she needed to do was to find something that looked normal yet strange. Her eyes darted across the keys until she found a yoyo dangling down the sailor’s seat. She cautiously picked it up, examining it with her gaze but found nothing. She was about to drop when she noticed a tiny red glow coming from it. She turned it and to her surprise, it opened up to show a button on it.
“Isabelle” Max shouted her name, his voice which was laced with fury, rapidly approached her. Without thinking twice, she pressed the button on the toy and threw it away before Max’s silhouette appeared before her.
“Max, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t resist coming to check it out” Isabelle said with a pleading gaze but Max had already noticed the toy and walked over to pick it up. His eyes widened in disbelief as he discovered what the toy was.
****
An hour ago
“This is bad. We can’t access the tracking device unless it is activated on the other side” William banged his fist on the table in frustration as she gazed helplessly on the screen in front of him.
“I’m getting the same results too,” Adrian remarked, his gaze equally on the computer screen. “Boss, what do we do?”
“I don’t know”Liam replied with a frosty voice, his hands folded as he stared blankly at a space. He didn’t even know whether to believe in miracles or not but he still prayed silently for one.
Suddenly, a beeping sound interrupted their thoughts.
“Woah!… This is a joke, right?” Adrian exclaimed with shock on his face. “Isn’t this the signal we’ve been waiting for?…”
“Yes, it is” William’s brow furrowed as he deliberated on chances which could make that possible. His eyes widened as he realized something. “Could it be?….”
“Isabelle,” Liam remarked with a proud smile on his lips. “She must have found it. But that isn’t the problem now, we need to trace the signal before Max discovers what she has done”
The two tech guys excitedly stood up from their seats, packing up their things before Liam spoke again. “Adrian, you’re staying here. I need you to monitor the process in case something happens to us, so you can call for help immediately… William, let’s go”