The thing about traveling on a government aircraft like that is that there are no airline tickets, no airline manifests, no customs to clear, basically none of the everyday hassles of international airline travel. Quite simply, there was no record that I was even on the island, nor would there be when I left. Even the hotel was contracted, meaning that the Coast Guard kept a set number of rooms rented there constantly, so I didn't even have to leave my name when I checked in or out.

Bright and early the next morning, I was on a Coast Guard Falcon Jet headed for Puerto Rico. It was my first trip there, and I figured it would be my last trip there. We went to the 'other' side of the island, the side opposite San Juan. It was a poor part of the island, well, at least mostly. The area had at one time been nearly paradise. When the Air Force closed the Air Base there, though, tough times had obviously followed. It was still a nice area, though, but you could tell it was nothing like it had been in its glory days.

I learned almost immediately upon landing that the two days had already gone to three. When I got to the hotel that afternoon, I went walking to check out the area, as was my habit when I got to new places. I walked down to the beach, and walked along the beach for a long while, following one of the many paths that cut through the sand dunes. The beach was a little bit like the beaches on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, in that there was a lot of vegetation growing on the dunes. The path I was following along the beach and through the dunes eventually led me back to the Air Station.

The work was finished late night on the second day, but the return flight was still scheduled for the next afternoon. I had taken all my bags to the airplane that morning, and they were already loaded on the airplane. I slept late the next morning, and had decided to walk from the hotel back to the Air Station.

I followed the path through the dunes and down the beach back towards the Air Station. As I made my way along the beach, I saw someone on the beach ahead of me. It was still too far away to tell very much, but my pace was much quicker than theirs, and I began to catch up with them quickly. As I got closer, I could tell it was a girl wrapped in a beach towel. The beach was deserted other than for her and myself. I guess it was because it was a weekday afternoon. I altered my course just a little so that I would pass closer to her. I figured I might as well get a look as I went by.

As I got closer, I began to pick out details about her. She was a small girl, very petite, with long, straight, dark hair. As the beach towel swished around, I could tell that she had on a bikini. She was obviously young, but I couldn't begin to guess her age from where I was, especially being behind her like I was. I watched as she turned off the main beach and went down one of the paths that went off into the sand dunes. It was the same path I was going to take back to the Air Station. I lost sight of her for a moment as she crossed a couple of sand dunes.

It was really sort of a whim that I decided to do it. The opportunity was there, the chances of getting caught were so small as to be almost immeasurable. I had always had the desire to do it, at least in the back of my mind. Before the thought was even completely formed in my mind, I was sprinting across the sand dune along the path, getting my pocket knife out of my pocket and opening it as I ran. I came up behind her, and because of the combination of running on sand and the noise of the waves, she never even heard me approach. She jumped when I grabbed her from behind, and started to struggle, but when I showed her the knife, she settled down quickly. I guided her off the path and into the dunes, and kept going until we were well off the path......(cont)