“Hey Josh,” Bridget’s happy voice travels down the phone.
My heart drops. “Is Tash with you?” I stammer hopefully.
“No. Why? I have her phone because she left her bag at the reception last night after your tanty.”
“Do you know where she is?” I snap.
“No, what’s wrong, Josh?” she answers. “She should be on the boat with you.”
The lump in my throat closes over and I can’t speak… oh my god.
“Josh. What’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”
My eyes fill with tears and I shake my head. “I don’t know, Didge,” I whisper. “I woke up and she was gone from the boat.”
“What?” she shrieks. “Were you still fighting?”
I clutch my head with my hand. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“What do you mean you don’t think so? You were or you weren’t,” she yells.
I put my hand on top of my head. “No then.”
“Didge, there’s blood… there is a lot of blood on the boat,” I sob.
She stays silent on the other end of the phone.
“Josh. What happened?” she whispers.
“I don’t know,” I cry, suddenly panicked. How could I not know? “I don’t remember anything. I was asleep and then I woke up and she was gone.”
”Where were the guards? They must have seen something,” she cries.
I shake my head in fear.
“What did the police say?” she stammers.
“Yes. I will ring them. Get over here now!” I yell and hang up and I dial 911.
“Hello, fire, ambulance or police?” the lady’s voice casually speaks.
“Police!” I yell.
“Hello, this is the police,” the police officer’s voice is calm.
“This is Joshua Stanton. My fiancée, Natasha Marx, and I are staying on a boat. There’s blood everywhere and I can’t find her,” I cry frantically.
“Whose blood is it, sir?” the officer asks calmly.
“I don’t know,” I cry as my eyes dart around at the men all combing the water. “I awoke and she was gone and blood is everywhere,” I sob. I put my hand over my mouth and dry-retch. I run to the side and vomit over the side of the boat. I put the phone down onto the table and hold onto the side of the boat to stop myself from fainting as I cry in fear. Ben gets out of the water and climbs the stairs. “I need to ring the police,” he murmurs, devastated.
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.