THE CAPTURED

CHAPTER 14 ✔️

Miranda looked like a kid at a waterpark, Allixon thought, as she cautiously increased the speed of her waverunner, glancing back over her shoulder to check on Jolene.

When Clarice got to the end of the run and turned, the tube picked up speed, angling in an arc and lifting off the water, Miranda screaming in delight and managing to hang on.

As Allixon felt the sea spray on her face she almost, for a moment, could imagine that she was nothing more than a tourist on a tropical island vacation, that she wasn't there to find answers that meant more to her than everything she had worked for at the health club in New York. She couldn't help wondering if Gwenethnie's thighs had straddled this same waverunner, and she snapped her attention back as a sharp turn into a rolling wave almost capsized her.

They were several hundred yards from shore, a group of largely untrained water sporters - one of whom probably couldn't even swim - cavorting about in choppy water without any lifejackets. And Logan's boat may have been positioned for great camera angles, but the two men on board were probably far more interested in the prospect of catching an accidentally exposed n****e on film than they were ensuring the safety of the contestants. There is now way I’m letting my body expose here.

After about an hour of cruising back and forth while the sun began to heat up the sky, Logan blew a whistle to signal them in. Miranda's skin was glowing, and Allixon rummaged through the bag she'd left on the dock for some spray

sunblock

"SPF 45? I want to get a tan while I'm here," Miranda said, but stood still while Allixon sprayed her.

"Tan is one thing, but skin peeling off your body is not the best look for your television debut."

Jolene considered, then took the sunblock Allixon offered and began spraying it on her own arms and legs.

"Get my back, will you, honey?" She handed the spray can to Clarice who obligingly sprayed her back, then did Allixon's as well before passing the can back again.

Allixon sprayed Clarice in turn.

"Do you need sunblock with your skin color?" Miranda asked, then flushed.

"I mean, I don't mean anything by it," she said.

"I was just wondering." Clarice said mildly, "You fair skinned types don't have a monopoly on skin

cancer."

The boat pulled up to the dock, and Logan and one of the cameramen dragged a cooler out from under some brush. Allixon hadn't even noticed it;

so much for her powers of observation. He popped the lid off the cooler, and gestured toward it

"Help yourselves, ladies."

Allixon walked over and peered into the chest.

"Peanuts and beer?"

"You were expecting caviar and champagne?" Logan asked.

"No, but I wouldn't turn down a bottle of water and a sandwich."

"What you see is what you get," he said, and walked away.

"Ain't that the truth, honey," Jolene said, snaring a beer out of the cooler and popping the tab with a quick snap.

"I guess this is the obligatory girls-in-bikinis-drinking-beer portion of our

program," Clarice said, but quietly, so Logan wouldn't hear her from his current position near the dock, where he was fiddling with the engine on the boat.

Behind the speedboat - a 34-foot Boston Whaler, according to Trevor, which was by no means small -- was an even larger boat. Allixon supposed it was best described as a small yacht. It hadn't been there the night they arrived, and Allixon wondered if Logan actually lived on it while he was on the Island, or stayed in one of the buildings in the "base" he'd mentioned the

night before.

She was anxious to get the opportunity to look around the place on her own a little more.

Allixon looked over at Clarice.

"I'm still trying to figure out why you wanted to be on this show. I mean, what did you expect a reality show like this to be?"

"What did you expect?" Clarice said, countering the question.

"I expected it to basically exploit women and give the viewers cheap thrills."

"So why are you here?" Clarice said, asking the one question Allixon really couldn't answer.

Miranda and Jolene ran over, carrying a beach blanket Logan had produced from somewhere. Miranda spread out the blanket, then grabbed another beer before plopping down onto it.

"That was awesome!" Miranda said.

"I think I was finally getting the hang of it

when Logan pulled us in." Miranda giggled.

"You know, just us girls here on the beach, it's kind of like one of those getaway trips on the Real Housewives shows, you know?"

"But without the caviar and champagne," Clarice said drily.

The four of them sat on the blanket, Allixon and Clarice sipping their first beers and munching on peanuts, while Miranda and Jolene seemed to be in a contest as to who could drink the most. Allixon tossed Miranda a bag of peanuts.

"If you're going to put away that much alcohol in the hot sun, at least eat something."

"Ok, Mom," Miranda said, ripping the corner off the bag of salted nuts and dumping them in her mouth.

“You know, though, these are just going to

make me thirstier."

She was probably right, Allixon thought. Still, as long as they were done bouncing around on the waverunners, there wasn't much harm in them sitting back relaxing a little. Jolene was entertaining Miranda with a story about a party she'd attended when she first arrived in Hollywood.

“Girl, I was so naive. Let me tell you..."

While Miranda listened with rapt attention, Allixon inched closer to Clarice.

"I'm still not getting the whole point of this little beach party. I mean, yesterday, we had the rock climbing challenge to get the first key, which

made sense, but this didn't seem to have any point."

"I know." Clarice shifted on the blanket.

"Unless it's just... like Jolene said before."

Jolene looked up from her story.

"I'm telling you, girls, it's the 5 B's -- beach,

beer, babes and bikinis."

"That's only 4," Miranda said.

“Oh, I know -- boobs!" She giggled and sipped

her beer.

Allixon looked over and saw Logan watching them. He held her gaze for a moment, and she felt an odd shiver down her spine. Then he looked away.

"Creepy, huh?" Jolene glanced over toward Logan, then back at Allixon, her face serious for the moment.

"What?" Allixon said.

"The way he looks at us."

"Yeah."

"I noticed it too," Clarice said.

"It's like we're a commodity."

"Come on you guys, lighten up," Miranda took another long gulp of beer and shook her hair back, the red highlights glinting in the sun.

"I bet all Hollywood directors are exactly like that. You know, detached. Always thinking about what each scene looks like on film." She crunched some peanuts and washed them down with another big drink of her beer, finishing

off the can.

"I saw a thing once on Bravo about how they make reality shows," Miranda explained.

"Do you have any idea how much of every hour of film they shoot ends up never been used? I mean, face it girls, most of the time reality's

pretty boring."

"I guess you're right," Allixon said.

“He probably looks at us and sees production costs." But she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he'd been measuring her and that what he was thinking had nothing to do with her

photogenic appeal to TV viewers. Or how much money he was paying the cameramen by the hour.

To Allixon's surprise, a half an hour later they were back on the water again, and she was glad she'd stopped at one beer. Miranda was on the banana boat this time behind Clarice, and Jolene was bouncing on the tube at the end of the line behind Allixon's jet ski. Allixon and Clarice had quickly vetoed Logan's suggestion that Miranda and Jolene drive the jet skis, pointing out

that there was no way either of them was getting on a tube behind the two who had finished off the lion's share of two six-packs of beer.

"Come on, Logan," Clarice had reasoned.

“You're the one taking on the liability if the two of them ram their jet ski's into each other."

Miranda giggled and claimed she wasn't all that drunk. Surprisingly, Logan didn't put up any further argument, but cautioned Miranda and Jolene that he expected them to be a bit more "animated" this time or they weren't going to be able to use anything from the shoot today. And he warned Allixon and Clarice to keep inside the area marked off by the buoys.

"Why is there something dangerous beyond that point?" Miranda asked, for the first time looking a little concerned.

"No," Logan said patiently.

"Go beyond that point and the cameramen can't

zoom in on you close enough for the shot to be a keeper. Look like you're having some fun, girls," he added.

"Think Spring Break in Daytona Beach, and give me a little jiggle."

Miranda called the banana boat, gripping it tightly with her legs and signaling Logan with a double thumbs up. Clarice pulled out and the banana boat jerked forward when it took up the slack in the ski rope.

I’ll show you some jiggle, chief," Miranda called back, looking over her shoulder as she whipped off her bikini top and tossed it backwards onto the dock behind her.

Logan's lip twitched, and he glanced over at the cameraman stationed on the dock to confirm that he was already filming. Logan stepped into the

speedboat with the other cameraman, and headed out in the water for a better vantage point. Miranda, meanwhile, was half standing on the banana boat, swaying back and forth as it bounced over the wake and headed onto

smoother water.

"Go!" Jolene shouted, and Allixon looked back before cranking up the throttle on her waverunner.

Jolene was still wearing her band bikini top, but Allixon imagined she'd shed it soon enough once they were out on the water. The vibrations alone had almost worked it down during the last outing.

The banana boat bounced up ahead of them as Clarice expertly steered and Allixon took off after it, Jolene letting out a wild whoop. Allixon looked back over her shoulder to see her kneeling on the tube, holding onto the handle with one hand while she tugged at her bathing suit top with the other.

Apparently lying down on the tube the way Miranda had didn't afford enough exposure for Jolene's taste. Allixon hoped she realized her center of gravity was a lot higher now, and without the banana boat's form to grip with her

knees, she could only hope Jolene had the sense to grab onto the foam handles and hold on tight.

This was the kind of adventure she was certain Gweneth had looked forward to when she signed on for a reality TV show in a tropical paradise. Allixon's hands tightened on the accelerator, and the waverunner shot forward across the glistening water. She could feel what Gweneth would have felt - the speed, the water spraying up in her face, the pure surge of adrenalin. Gweneth would have been in her element, pushing the waverunner to its limit, streaking

across the blue waters of the Island shore with the wind blowing back her hair, the future filled with limitless possibilities.

When she heard a shout, Allixon looked back guiltily; she'd momentarily forgotten she was pulling anyone behind her. Jolene looked triumphant. She had managed to get one breast exposed, and she was tugging at the other

side. Allixon realized she was already past the buoy Logan had mentioned.

Clarice and Miranda had turned and were two-thirds of the way back in the other direction.

"Hang on!" she shouted to Jolene as she slowed the waverunner to make the turn.

Jolene threw her top into the air just as the tube took off. Allixon turned back and accelerated to try to take up some of the slack in the ski rope and keep Jolene from swinging out in such a wide arc, then cut the power when she heard Jolene's excited squeals turned into a startled

scream.

"Sh*t." The tube had lifted enough to flip, and Jolene was nowhere in sight.

Allixon turned around and yelled "Jolene!"

The waves lapped against side of the watercraft, and there was suddenly no other sound, but the distant hum of the other waverunner. She turned the key to start the waverunner again and go back for her, but it didn't start. She turned it again. Could you flood these things? She had no idea.

Then she spotted Jolene's head bobbing above the water, her arms flailing.

"Hang on! Try to swim to the tube!" Jolene made no move toward the tube - apparently keeping her head above water was about all she could manage.

Allixon turned to wave frantically to Logan, but he was looking in the other direction, out toward deeper water, binoculars pressed to his face. She followed his line of sight and felt icy fingers fun up her spine. She was certain she saw a fin cutting through the water.

The quiet hum of the other waverunner was now a roar. Clarice was standing, the personal watercraft fully on plane, tearing across the water. She'd untied the ski rope and left Miranda drifting on the banana boat, and was speeding

toward Jolene. Allixon looked back toward Miranda, who had apparently now spotted the fin in the water, and was pointing at it with one hand and clutching the float with the other, her legs curled up out of the water. Allixon could see her face, knew she was terrified, screaming, her voice clutching the float with the other, her legs curled up out of the water.

Allixon could see her face, knew she was terrified, screaming, her voice cutting through the sound of Clarice's waverunner. Clarice was heading for Jolene, but the shark was closing in on Miranda.