My face screws up as the tears run down my face. “They are on the phone,” I whisper as I point to my phone. Ben picks up the phone and starts to tell them our coordinates. I start to shake as my body goes into shock and I continue to throw up.
“Natasha!” I cry as I lean over the side of the boat. “Natasha… dear god, no!” My voice is hoarse. “Naaattttaaassshhhhaaa Noooooooo!” I cry as I fall to the floor on my knees. “No, baby. Come back to me. You can’t die. I need you!” I scream as I burst into full-blown sobs.
Ben drops onto the floor beside me and grabs me in an embrace as I scream. “Natasha, no. We need to find her. Please don’t stop looking. Please keep searching.”
Ben’s body heaves as he holds in tears and the men all pull themselves onto the boat too exhausted and freezing to carry on.
“Ben, no!” I cry. “They’ve got her. They’ve got her,” I sob as I start to hyperventilate once again and begin to choke. The guards are all visibly upset and I lie on the deck next to my love’s blood.
“No. This can’t be happening.”
Ben cradles my head in his lap as he tries to console me and I sob into his chest. Dear god, this can’t be happening.
Beep… beep… beep, a machine sounds and a nurse quietly comes into the room.
She smiles warmly. “You’re awake, Mr Stanton. Welcome back.”
I frown and my eyes dart around the room. “You are in the hospital, sir. You have been sedated for the last two days,” she tells me sadly.
I frown. It’s real. It wasn’t a nightmare. “Natasha?” I whisper.
She stands still and puts her hand on top of mine. “I’m sorry.” She drops her head. “They haven’t found her.”
Bile rises from my stomach and burns my oesophagus. I shake my head as tears threaten. “Unhook me please. I need to find her.” I start to struggle to get the tubes out of the back of my hand. “Please,” I whisper.
The nurse opens the door out to the corridor. “Dr Stanton,” she calls. “He’s awake.”
Cameron walks in and his haunted eyes meet mine. He has an air of resignation about him.
“Josh,” he whispers as he cradles my head up against his chest.
“Where is she, Cam?” I whisper, distraught.
He continues to hold me as I try desperately to make sense of this.
“We need to find her,” I whisper.
“We are doing everything that we can,” he whispers. “Josh, the police are here. They need to ask you some questions,” he says quietly.
I pull out of his embrace. “Of course.” I wipe the tears from my face with my hospital gown and nod. Cameron goes out of the room for a moment and returns with two policemen.
The two officers shake my hand. “I’m Detective Miller and this is Detective Stevenson.”
I nod nervously. “Have you found her?” I stammer.
They exchange looks. “No, I’m sorry we haven’t.”
My face screws up in pain.
“We need to ask you some questions about what happened on Saturday night.”
I nod. “What day is it?” I frown.
“It’s Monday afternoon, sir. You were so distraught that you were admitted and sedated against your will. You were starting to endanger your own life when you wouldn’t stay out of the water in the freezing conditions.”
I drop my head as my foggy brain brings forth the horrific memory.
“Tell us about the evening.” One of the officers gets out his pen and notepad ready to take notes.
I frown. “We were at a wedding.”
“Yes.”
“And I got a text.” I frown again as I remember what was sent to me. “Max,” I whisper. “Have you tried Max? He might know where she is,” I say hopefully and my eyes flick to Cameron.
“Yes, we have questioned Max at length, sir,” the officer replies. “He says he doesn’t know where she is.”
My face falls again and Cameron puts his hand reassuringly on my foot.
“Go on,” the officer continues.
“I was sent a message that the story had just broken that Natasha was having an affair with Max.”
The detectives exchange looks.
I raise an eyebrow. “You knew that?” I reply flatly.
“Yes.” the detective mutters without lifting his eyes from his notepad.
I shake my head and close my eyes in regret. “I was angry and caused a scene so we went back to the boat.”
“Go on.” He keeps writing.
I look at the ceiling as I try to remember. “I don’t know. I fell asleep.” I frown as I try to piece the puzzle together.
“And then what happened?”
“I woke and it was cold.” I get goosebumps as I remember the quiet and cold of the morning. My eyes look straight ahead as I visualise the blood on the floor and a lump forms in my throat. “Natasha wasn’t in bed with me,” I whisper.
“Where was she?” he asks.
I shrug. “I thought she was in the bathroom and I went back to sleep,” I whisper, mortified. “She could have been hurt then and I went back to sleep.” I hold my hand over my mouth in disgust at myself.
They stay silent as they wait for me to speak. “Cameron, where is she?” I whisper and he puts his hand in mine and squeezes it.
“I walked out to look for her,” I continue and then I frown and tears fill my eyes as I remember the blood… so much blood. “Are they hurting her?” I cry. “What if they are torturing her?” I scream. “It’s me… it’s me… it’s me.” I shake my head frantically. “It’s me they want. Tell them they can kill me.” I shake my head frantically as I imagine what they could be doing to her, and I start to rip the drip from my arm. “I need to find her. Let me out of here.”
I keep shaking my head frantically. “Yes, Cameron, come on,” I stammer.
“He is no state to be questioned,” Cameron snaps. “Look at him.”
I shake my head. “No, Cameron, I’m going to find her.” I stand to get out of the bed and Cameron pushes me back down.
“Stay there,” Cameron snaps.
“Mr Stanton, can you tell us why you have Rohypnol in your system?” the officer asks.
I frown and my eyes shoot to Cameron. “What do you mean?” I ask.
“You had Rohypnol in your system that showed up in a drug test. You fell asleep on Saturday night because you were drugged.”