Burn Out (24 page)

“
Why don’t you rest and I
will call the doctor for you. He is really nice.”

“
No, I don’t want to go
through all the trouble. I just need something for my
stomach.”

Josh insists on going to get some
medicine at the ship’s commissary and I let him.

“
I had trouble with
seasickness when I first started working. What really helps is
fresh air and looking out over the ocean.”

So I decide to wait out on the balcony
while he gets the medicine.

The night sky takes my breath away.
The effect of the hundreds of stars combined with the thousands of
twinkling lights from the cruise ship reminds me of Christmas
time.

I pull my long blonde hair into a
ponytail and slide off my pink flip flops, taking a big breath of
the salty air.

A gust of wind out of nowhere picks up
a flip flop and tosses it over the railing. I grab the railing and
look over the top just in time to see the shoe get swallowed up in
the foamy wake.

I start to wonder what happened to
Josh. He should have been back by now. It is then I hear the
sliding glass door open behind me. I turned around and see
Josh.

“
Hey there. I thought you
forgot me,” I say. He has a strange look on his face. “What’s
wrong?”

Then someone gives Josh a hard push
onto the balcony.

I stare at the strange man in shock.
He has a gun pointed to Josh’s head.

“
What are you doing? Are
you crazy?” I scream at this stranger.

“
Move it,” The man says,
pushing Josh further out onto the balcony.

“
Leave her alone. She
doesn’t know anything,” Josh finally says.

“
What is going on?” I ask
again. “Josh, who is this?” This is like a bad scene playing out in
a movie.

“
Come on, Amber. Join the
party.” The man motions to me with the gun.

It takes me a second to
realize what the man said.
How does he
know my name?

I press my back into the balcony
railing. There is no way I am going anywhere with this lunatic.
Apparently he has the wrong room or something!

“
Leave her out of this. She
doesn’t know anything,” Josh pleads.

“
Not my problem. No
witnesses.” The man raises the gun and points it toward
me.

Now I really start to panic. It is
silly now to think this, but I can’t help but wish my dad would
have sent security with me. I turn around and can just faintly make
what looks like the lights of a coastline. We must be near our next
stop in the Bahamas. If I jump, I may have a chance to make it to
shore. My hands are shaking as I climb the railing and throw my leg
over the side. Contemplating, I look down at the ten story drop
into the swirling water below.

“
Look, we can work this
out. I will tell you what you want to know if you just let her go
inside,” Josh tells the man.

“
Don’t think so,
Josh
.” The man holds the
gun steady at me.

“
Amber, what are you
doing?” Josh asks me as I sit on the railing, leaning my body
toward the water.

I feel the icy finger of fear grip my
heart as I look into the water again. A loud pop rings out through
the night as I vanish into darkness.