Chapter 19: Message Trap

 The captain of the yacht met Jason and Marla at the deck and greeted them

"Mr West its good to have you back. I see you brought company, who's the fine young lady?" The captain asked as he shook Jason's hand and extended his hand to Marla.

"I'm Marla" she responded as she shook his hand."I have to say,you have one heck of a machine here. Its impeccable "she added as she looked at the beauty of the yacht.

"All thanks to Mr West,and partially me. Its quite a task to manage such a big vessel but as long as you're in my hands you are safe from any danger" the captain said as he led them to the poolside

"Danger! What does he mean danger?" Marla asked Jason

"Nothing. Its nothing. Captain Bennett, you ought to stop with your jokes,some people will take them seriously" Jason answered Marla before turning his attention to the captain while laughing a little at Marla's sudden strike of fear

"Well you must learn to have a laugh once in a while you youngsters. When you get to my age you'll miss all the good laughs that you had and could've had. Take it from me" The captain told them as he left for the controls room

As Marla watched him walk away she gave thought to what the man said. He looked to be in his seventies but his enthusiasm and charisma were that of a thirty year old. She already liked him.Jason went to a small mini bar at the edge of the pool are and mixed up two cocktails for the two of them. When he came back he found her checking out the decor and furniture around the ship. He handed the drink to her and gestured for her to take a seat on the pool chairs beside it. She took a sip of the cocktail and immediately she could feel the burst of flavours in her mouth, something she hadn't expected. From the look on her face he could tell that she was surprised.

"Did you make this?" She asked

"With my two hands" he replied as he showed off his hands playfully

"Wow! This day is just full of surprises" she said as she took another sip." This thing is soooo damn good. I'm impressed. I'm also impressed at what you have here. When you mentioned Ariella,I thought it was like another girl who would take me to where you are"

"Don't tell me your heart sank at the mentioning of another girl's name" Jason said as he looked into her eyes with a smile on a face

"Maybe a little bit,just a little bit" she said as she showed him using her index finger and thumb." But then I come here and see that Ariella is a giant luxurious yacht that possibly costs millions of dollars and you tell me that she's yours. I'd rather believe that pigs can fly than believe that you own such a piece of art. No offence"

"None taken,I'm used to that." Jason replied as he also sipped his drink

'Lady and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. I'm pleased to inform you that your short voyage is about to begin as we are leaving the dock. Sit back,relax and enjoy the show.' The captain's voice was heard saying over the coms

"Wait, where are we going?" Marla asked

"You told me to take you on a date, and I'm doing exactly that. So just enjoy the stars and stop stressing yourself." Jason replied

"But you do know that we have to report in tomorrow at work early,right?" She asked

"Will you stop worrying,loosen up a bit. Enjoy life,take some advice from Bennett" Jason said as they both finished their drinks.

He got up and took the glasses to the mini bar and came back to where Marla was seated.

"By the way,how did you and Bennett meet?" She curiously asked

"To be honest I don't even remember. I think like when I was fifteen years old. He used to know my old man,he's like a father to me. More like a godfather ever since my dad died. He has taught me what it means to be a man in life." Jason said as he stared into the dark sky illuminated by millions of stars

"Wow,and how comes he works for you?" She asked another question

"Work for me? No,no,no,no,he doesn't work for me. I remember one time I asked him what he wanted in life,do you want to know what he said?" Jason looked into her eyes as he asked this question

"Tell me" she answered

"He told me that one day he would want to live in a simple boat that had all the essentials like bedroom,kitchen,living room,toilet and a bathroom. So instead, I got him this yacht. He basically owns the whole damn thing, I told him he can stay here until he gets old." Jason replied

Marla could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes as she struggled to hold them in. She wiped them off with the back of her hand as Jason leaned back on his chair.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm making a mess out of myself, its just that that story hits deep. From the first day I met you I knew you had a good heart. I just didn't know that it was made out of gold." She said

"Don't flatter me,I'd do anything for someone who I really care about. Let's change the topic shall we?" He asked her as he led her to one of the top decks.

They spent about an hour over there cuddling on a couch and talking about different things and sharing a laugh here and there as they star gazed. Later on Jason asked Marla if she'd love going for a swim which she gladly accepted. But after they went down to the pool area,Marla realized that she hadn't brought any swimming attire. It was then that Jason brought out a blue swimsuit for Marla and it fit her perfectly.

"I wanted it to be a surprise" Jason said as he handed it to her

After she came out to show him how well it fit and showed off her curves she asked him," How did you know that it would fit me?"

"I didn't. It was a lucky guess maybe." He answered as he spun her by her hand to see how well it looked on her." And need I say that it looks stunning on you,just the right amount of skin showing " he finished of as he brought her closer to him while his hands went from her waist to her ass slowly and they rested there. She gave him a devious smile which gave him clarity that he's on the right track.

Jason didn't need a lot of time to change or even go into one of the rooms to change. He just went to the side of the pool and started to take his cloths off. As he did this,Marla started stepping into the pool from the shallow end with stairs.

"The water is so warm, feels good on my skin" she said as she went all the way into the pool. Jason had just finished undressing and was only left with a pair of shorts and a necklace that was around his neck.

"I made sure they had it heated up. Swimming in ice cold water is not the best idea for a date,especially at night" Jason said as he jumped into the pool

They started swimming and within no time they got a bit handzy underwater with Jason holding her by the waist and Marla making sure her ass glides past Jason's crotch teasing him. This went on for about thirty minutes as they continued having fun until the captain came to the swimming area with a phone in hand.

"West,I have something for you" the captain said as he got closer to the pool.

"I thought I asked for some privacy" Jason said as he looked at Bennett with a questioning look

"Its a call for you,an important one" Bennett defended himself

"Tell the person I'll call him later" Jason said as he swam back to where Marla was

"Is everything ok?" She asked

"Yes," he responded,"everything is fi...."as he was about to finish the statement when Bennett cut him in,

"Its HIM" he said

Jason's expression suddenly changed as he heard what Bennett just said. Immediately he turned to Marla and said," Give me five minutes I'll be back "

He swam to the edge of the pool and started walking out of it as Bennett gave him the phone.

"Talk to me Tyler" he said into the phone as the captain went back to his station

"I've been looking all over for you,so I have some bad news and good news. Which one do you want to hear first?" Tyler asked

"Give me the good." Jason responded

"So I managed to decrypt the message and guess what it reads,'Make sure he rots in jail,this is half of your payment and you'll get the rest when Daymond is behind bars for life'" Tyler told Jason

"Well that was not what I was expecting. Now to the bad news.." Jason started so that Tyler could finish off

"The bad news is,the message was rigged to trigger a location beacon to the the commander of Sin City's police department, Ray. It sent out two locations, yours and mine. I was able to hack it and make my beacon bounce over 200 cities all over the world every five seconds, but for your case I'm sorry but you are too far out of the range where I could've hacked yours also." Tyler explained

"What kind of situation are we looking at?" Jason asked

"Currently you have about three bogeys on what looks like jet skis heading your way." Tyler answered

All this time Jason had walked out of ear's reach from Marla who was still swimming

"Give me an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) Tyler" Jason told him

"I'd say you have about an hour max,they're closing in on you using your phone as a beacon. I'm sorry I can't be of much help right now,you are on your own" Tyler said

"Don't worry too much about me,I can handle myself. Just like old times" Jason replied as he hang up the phone