Part 21

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"Hey sweetie

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"Hey sweetie. It's me" dad says while I look wt him in shock
"I know this is impossible to you and I'm gonna explain-" he starts to say but I slap him in the face
"You're right. I'm sorry. I deserve that. I do. I know I do. You have been through hell and that is my fault.And I'm sorry. I'm so..." He says following me as I walk. He tries to grab my hand but I slap it away
"I'm so sorry Stella" he says and I sit down, my dad sitting next to me
"I can promise you that I didn't have any other choice. I didn't. I don't expect you to understand that now. All I can do is tell you what happened and I'll answer your questions. Maybe you'll see it was the only way. I know you don't believe that and I know it's hard to hear. But I... It was my only choice. It was the only way to make sure that we were all safe and we were all together. It was the only way to be a family again." He tells me and I rub my head before looking at him waiting for him to explain
"I used the scuba gear on the Druthers. I had it all set up in advance timed to the second. It was touch and go getting off. I almost didn't make it." He tells me as Rafe walks into the room.
"Sweetie what I need you to understand more than anything is that I never imagined that you or Sarah would be there. I wanted to call you immediately to tell you that I was okay to explain it all. It broke my heart that I couldn't. But I had to make sure Rafe got away." He tells me
"Thank you Dad. At least one of us is grateful." Rafe says
"That's psychopathic. Both of you" I tell them
"I promised Rafe that he wouldn't go to prison for helping me. I had to make good on that promise." Dad says
"Not that you care" Rafe tells me
"Did it look like I didn't care when I thought Dad was dead?" I scoff
"It looked like all you cared about was running off with those assholes" Rafe tells me
"It looked like all you cared about was the money and getting the inheritance" I tell him
"Yes you cared! You cared! That's the point! Anybody on that dock could see how much you cared sweetheart. And I know you're angry right now and rightfully so. The important thing is that it's all behind us now. It is. We're gonna live a new life all of us together." He tells me
"Together" I scoff at his words
"Stella where I'm taking you it's paradise. It's off this place called Guadeloupe. And oh by the way all those A's you got in French are about to pay off cause they speak French there" Dad says
"I want to call my friends. I want to call my boyfriend. I need to make sure Sarah's ok" I tell him
I could see dad tense up at the mention of Sarah so it brings me some relief knowing she's not on the boat
"Yes of course you can. As soon as we get there we can find out where Sarah is to bring her back to us. And you can call John B. He knows you're here right?" He asks me
"No he doesn't." I shake my head
"Yeah he does" Dad tells me
"What are you talking about?" I ask him confused.
"When you were getting ready he came by the house and Rose talked to him. You know the cross you've all been looking for? Rafe was able to get it. Turns out that I guess historically it belongs to the Heywards." Dad tells me
"Yeah I know I was there" I tell him
"It also turns out that the most important thing to me is you so I gave John B the cross for you" Dad says
"And John B was okay with that?" I ask him knowing full well that was a lie
"Well um I had just given him a half-billion-dollar artifact so yeah he seemed pretty okay. I don't know what to tell you. He's a Pogue. Rose Wheezie come on in." Dad says
"Hi" mom says as she walks in and I scoff at her
"Stella. Stella hey. We are going to our very own private island. Isn't that awesome?" Wheezie asks sitting down next to me
I don't answer her because all I wanted to do in that moment was scream and tell her everything they have done.
"She's not feeling real well right now sweetheart. But she will be. We're all gonna be feeling pretty good soon huh?" Dad smiles
After a while dad and rafe leave the room leaving wheezie mom and I
"Do you guys wanna play War?" Wheezie asks us.
"You brought cards?" I ask her
"Mm-hmm." Wheezie nods
"Yeah" I say
"T'll go grab them" Wheezie says leaving the room  so I take my chance
I stand up and grab my stomach
"Oh God." I groan
"Oh Stella. Hey. Hey what's wrong sweetie?"
Mom asks me
"I just think I'm gonna be seasick" I tell her
"Oh. Here. I have just the thing." She says standing up
"Meds?" I ask her
"Stella seriously that was for your own good and you know it hurt me more than it hurt you" She tells me
"I was just gonna ask for nondrowsy" I say
"We're all together. Just chill Stella. This is a good thing" mom smiles as walks into the bathroom to grab me meds and I take off out of the room.
I see the cross in the hold shaking my head. Of course my dad was lying that's all he ever does. Not that I believed him anyway, I know John b would never do that

I make my way through trying find the bridge.
I see two guys on the bridge so I roll a can past them causing them to go check it out. I run past and grab the radio.
"Dispatch 60290." The radio says
"Hello?" I ask
"What is your emergency?" They ask
"Hello? Hello? My name... my name is Stella.
I'm on a boat called the Coastal Venture. I... I've been kidnapped. I need-" I start to say but someone grabs the radio from me and pushes me against the wall.
"Yeah that's just my teenage daughter playing pranks again. Yeah. Sorry." The guy says into the radio then looks at me oussed off
"You're in deep shit kid." He tells me

My dad talks with the captain and makes his way over to talk to me
"Come here!" Dad says
"No!" I yell at him
"You want them to take you?" Dad asks me
"I didn't ask to be here" I tell him
"You're here and you're staying here. You're my daughter!" Dad yells
I try to pull away but he grabs me
"Don't touch me!" I yell at him
"You want me to carry you?" Dad says as he starts to drag me down to the below deck.
"Stop it!" Dad yells as I try to pull away
"Get off of me!" I yell
"Damn it Stella!" Dad yells at me
"Can you at least take these off?" I ask him gesturing to the handcuffs.
"No. I wanted to trust you but I can't trust you so now I gotta do this" Dad tells me
"Are you kidding me?" I ask him
"I'm not. I didn't wanna put them on you. You think I wanted any of this to happen? I did not. Okay? I wanted to be able to trust my daughter. Clearly I can't." He tells me
"You are such a liar. I saw the cross. The whole speech you gave me about trading it. I knew you never traded it. Do you ever tell the truth?" I ask him
"You never lie is that it? How's that seasickness? Feeling better?" He asks me
"I'm being kidnapped" I tell him
"You're not being kidnapped! I'm your father! You're 17 years old! I can take you anywhere in the world I want to and that is what I am doing! Because you can't make good decisions-" He says putting his hand on my face.
"Don't touch me" I say
"I will make them for you" Dad finishes
"Decision one you will not see John B again ever. You are coming to stay with us for good. And one day you will see. One day you will grow up and you'll see that I'm doing this for you." Dad tells me
"No you're not. Everything you do is for yourself. You are greedy." I tell him
"Watch your mouth" Dad says
"You are selfish. You are manipulative. You are a liar." I say
"I am your father" Dad tells me
"And you are a murderer" I tell him then dad slaps me in the face as I look at him wide eyed. "I'm sorry. Sweetie I'm sorry." He says trying to pull me closer to him
"Get off of me." I yell shoving him back
"Goddamn it!" Dad yells the lunges for me.
"No! No! No!" I yell turning around and running
Somehow I dislodge a hook and it swings hitting dad in the back. He groans in pain as he falls to the ground
"Stella! Stella! No!" Dad yells getting up running after me as I rush out of the door closing and locking it behind me.
"Open the door!" Dad yells as I run off
I run into the deck as I hear the captains voice over the speaker
"Attention all passengers and crew. Report to the tween forward hull. Attention all passengers all crew report to the tween forward hull. That's an order. Repeat. All hands and all passengers report to the tween forward hull immediately." He says as they all start to run to the topside.
I finally end up finding the lifeboat. I start to try and find a out to get it down as I mumble to myself
"I'm coming John B I'm coming" I say

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