by K W Frost
Gray kept an eye on the slowly recovering victims, the two Americans, as he was unsure of what their reaction would be to his and Ritson’s involvement. Ritson checked to see if anyone inside Blue Water Securities had heard the ruckus in the corridor. Ritson could just make out two voices discussing some computer findings. He decided that the walls must be thicker than he thought and that they must be oblivious to what had just happened.
Gray looked up as Ritson came back into the far office.
‘I’ve been thinking, Ritson — this may not be all of them,’ Gray suggested.
‘All of who?’ asked Ritson.
‘All of the guys at Blue Water Securities.’
‘Well, we know it’s not all of them — I’ve heard at least two more talking through the walls,’ stated Ritson.
‘Can you look after things here?’ Gray asked, looking down at the recovering Smaille. ‘Perhaps I should go and keep watch outside?’ Ritson slowly shook his head. ‘I think you’re more valuable here’ he replied. ‘Whatever’s going on here is way more serious than we thought. We need to find out about who these guys are and why they’re here. I can keep track of what’s happening by listening through the wall.’ Down on the floor, Smaille opened his eyes. For a minute he thought he was back in the Blue Water Securities office. It had the same carpet and blank walls. Then he saw the two men standing over him, talking in fast whispers. One was solid and capable, and the other was a silver-haired old man. These men were strangers.
Stulz lay in the recovery position on the floor beside Smaille. To their right two bodies lay in crumpled heaps, both bound and gagged. Smaille recognised one of them as his attacker, and the other as the cleaner. Somehow the two men talking had overpowered them both. There could only be one possible answer.
Struggling to his feet, Smaille turned to Ritson and Gray. ‘Hey, are you Simon Child?’ he said, looking directly at Ritson.
Startled looks flashed between Gray and Ritson. They were both thinking the same thing — how did this man know Child? Gray turned to Smaille, his mind whirring quickly.
‘No, my name is Gray Wardell, and this is Steve Ritson,’ he explained.
‘I think we need to talk.’ Smaille nodded, his mind foggy and body aching.
‘Ritson,’ Gray muttered quietly, ‘get hold of Simon right now, he needs to be here.’
Harrison and Goody made the decision to enter the weathered grey office building and find out what had been going on. They approached the sixth floor via the stairs. When they reached the top, Harrison slowly opened the heavy, fireproof door. Goody had his gun out, fully aware that he was entering an unknown situation. The forty-five looked like a small cannon to Harrison, and it lead their way into the dingy reception area. It was empty. Goody led the way along the corridor, stopping at each door to listen for any noises or snippets of conversation. They found nothing. They were reaching the end of the corridor, when Goody heard the low murmur of voices. He took a minute to make ensure that it was Smaille he could hear before making any rash decisions. He nodded towards Harrison, who in turn counted down from three using his fingers. On three he twisted the door handle and forced the door open. Goody leapt through the door with his gun extended, covering the interior of the room.
Fortunately the first person he saw was Smaille, who held his hands upwards. ‘Easy, Jim,’ Smaille said weakly, ‘these people come in peace, they saved our lives.’
Ritson and Gray both appeared to be relaxed, even with a gun pointed at them. ‘Sorry,’ Goody said, lowering his gun and returning it to his shoulder holster. ‘We didn’t know what kind of situation we were walking into.’
Harrison closed the door behind him. He quickly assessed and summed up his version of events. He approached Ritson with his hand out.
‘So, you must be Simon Child,’ he said warmly. ‘I’m Inspector Harrison. It’s great to meet you at last.’
Ritson shook his hand firmly, a broad grin on his face. ‘Inspector Harrison,’ he replied, ‘I should start wearing a name tag — that’s twice in five minutes that someone has called me Simon Child!’ Ritson glanced over at Gray, and they exchanged a wry smile.
‘Sorry for the confusion, Inspector,’ Ritson explained. ‘My name is Steve Ritson, and this is Gray Wardell. Simon should be arriving here shortly.’ Smaille smiled ruefully at Ritson and Gray.
‘I should make some introductions here too,’ he said. ‘I’d like you both to meet the other two members of our team: Jim Goody and Inspector Phillip Harrison from your New Zealand police force.’
Chapter Forty-One
Child and Samantha had just finished course number four when Child received an urgent call from Ritson. Child answered the phone, listened to a brief run-down of events, and then hung up the call.
‘Sorry, Sam’ Child explained. ‘We have to go now. That was Steve and it seems that they’ve run into a few problems.’ A look of concern crossed Samantha’s face. ‘What kind of problems?’
‘He didn’t go into such detail… only that they’ve got themselves a couple of prisoners.’ A look of horror struck Samantha’s face.
‘Prisoners?’ she whispered across the table.
‘Yeah, prisoners,’ Child repeated. ‘That’s all he said — come on, let’s get out of here.’
Child caught Lee’s eye and gestured him over. ‘Could we have our bill now, please,’ Child asked.
‘Certainly, sir,’ Lee replied politely. On his way back from printing the bill, Lee stopped by Mitsu’s office again.
‘Child and his companion have asked for their bill,’ Lee reported to Mitsu. ‘They’re about to leave.’
‘Leave, already?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘What course were they up to?’
‘The fourth course, sir.’
‘Fourth…’ Mitsu mused out loud. ‘Something has come up for Child that means he’s leaving early.’ Mitsu looked hard at Lee, his voice rising with every word he spoke. ‘Remember your instructions, Lee. Follow them carefully. Find out where Child is headed now, and then eliminate them both. Nothing is going to stop us tonight — nothing!’
After paying their bill and thanking Lee for his excellent service, Child and Samantha took no more than ten minutes to travel from Ponsonby to Auckland city centre. It took another five minutes to find a car park. Once they reached the grey office building, Child and Samantha travelled up in the lift to the sixth floor without speaking. Child was comfortable in the silence, but he had guessed why Samantha seemed strangely silent and tense.
Gray met them outside the elevator. He looked at each of them for a moment before gesturing down the corridor. ‘Come this way,’ Gray said. ‘We have rented the offices next door to Blue Water Securities. We’re listening to any conversations in their offices, but currently we can only pick up on the one room.’
‘Where are these prisoners?’ Samantha asked.‘Don’t worry, they’re here too, bound safe and sound,’ Gray replied as he led the trio down the corridor. ‘Come on, let me introduce you,’ he said the door was swung open.
There were four men standing the empty office space. Child assessed each one as they were introduced, and they assessed him in return. The tall, dark man, who looked vaguely like the legendary Jim Thorpe, was still a little groggy from the attack. He shook Child’s hand and stared the new arrivals with a puzzled expression. Harrison looked relieved and tense in equal measures, while Goody and Smaille both seemed pleased to meet Child. Their expressions remained friendly with a hint of disappointment. Smaille looked again at the man introduced as Child. Inspector Harrison had dug up the old service records on Child, so Smaille knew all about his time in the Army and the reasons behind his discharge. On the surface, Smaille thought that Child didn’t look that capable, yet he knew that very few men could have achieved what he had over the past two days. It was only after a longer, more considered look at Child that Smaille recognised the resilience of body and latent potential held within.
Just then, Rit
son returned from his listening post in the next room. When he saw Child, he shared one of his broad grins.
‘Would the real Simon Child please stand up,’ Ritson laughed. Child looked at Ritson, questioningly.
‘What?’ queried Child.
‘Perhaps I should explain,’ Smaille interjected. ‘Two times now my associates and I have mistaken Steve for you, Mr Child.’
‘You obviously don’t know Steve very well then,’ countered Child. ‘He didn’t ask for any money while using my name, did he?’
‘No, no… not from me,’ Smaille said tentatively. His confidence returning when he saw the grins on both their faces, these two knew each too well and banter was part of their relationship.
Gray interrupted their light-hearted chatter. ‘Okay, it’s time to clear the air and start working together,’ he said with a serious tone in his voice. ‘Simon, Steve and I decided not to tell our side of the story until you arrived. So, unless anyone has any objections, I suggest that we get on with that now. We may not have much more time to spare.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Samantha.
‘We have to decide what to do about Blue Water Securities next door,’ explained Gray. ‘We don’t know when our two prisoners were due to return from their duties, and someone may go looking for them.’
‘Okay, fine by me,’ Child agreed. ‘Before we start, how secure are we here?’ Ritson jumped in with an answer. ‘I’ve been listening to the room next door. I only heard two voices for a short time and since then just some faint keyboard typing. I think we’re fine for the moment, as long as we keep our voices down.’
Child nodded and turned to face the group. ‘Alright, here’s what happened…’Child proceeded to give a concise but complete run down of everything that had happened recently. He didn’t go into too much detail about his capture by the Black Power gang, or his entrapment of Sergeant Chappell. Child mentioned bugging Whittingham’s house and office, and how this might have lead to his death. When Child mentioned the old Chinese man tripping up the tracker in the street, Smaille glanced pointedly over at Stulz. Child completely forgot to mention how he managed to take Jake Heki’s cell phone, and he didn’t mention his most recent suspicions about the Lah Wah restaurant. After fifteen minutes of speaking, Child stopped and looked around the room.
‘Any questions?’ he asked
‘That is a remarkable story, Simon, truly remarkable,’ Smaille replied. ‘I hope that sometime in the future your government will adequately reward you. At present, however, the truth of these events must be kept between these four walls.’
‘I don’t want any rewards,’ Child stated blandly.
‘No, I guess not,’ Smaille nodded. ‘Now, we have couple of questions for you, if possible…’
‘Go ahead,’ Child said. ‘If I don’t like the question, I’ll just lie.’ The faint grin on Child’s face removed any malice from such a remark.
‘I guess you could do that,’ Smaille said quietly, still adjusting to Child’s unusual manner. ‘Tell me, how did you get back into Whittingham’s house and his offices to retrieve bug data?’
‘That’s an easy one — I used Gray’s technology. All we had to do was drive by and download the data.’
Understanding came to Smaille. ‘Ah… you were the interflora delivery van.’ ‘Yes, and you were in the NZTS van,’ Child replied.
‘How did you know that?’ blurted out Goody.
‘Simple really, I knew there was something off last night, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. The van stayed too long in one place. We passed it driving in, and it was still in the same place when we came back. A toweling service doesn’t take that long.’ ‘Yes, of course, we should have thought of that…’ Smaille said, glancing over at Harrison. ‘And how did you know Whittingham was murdered? The news never suggested that it was…’
Child’s eyes went cold as he answered, ‘too much of a coincidence. It happened just as Whittingham was starting to look vulnerable. We were watching him, and he had worked out that we had bugged his office and house. Whoever Whittingham was in business with worked out that you guys were following him too. They knew Whittingham was under pressure, so they eliminated him.’
‘How do you know Whittingham knew he was bugged?’ asked Stulz.
‘They intercepted Goody here and prevented him from following Whittingham to the meeting,’ Child said.
Goody’s face turned slightly red again. ‘So, working back from that incident, the people running the show would ask how secure Whittingham’s offices really were. That’s when they would’ve found out about the unannounced security sweep I did. Logically, they would’ve gotten someone else to double check and locate all of my hidden bugs. If we were able to bug Whittingham’s office then what about his house? So they would’ve checked that as well. They accurately presumed that we had retrieved some recordings, so they put protection on Blue Water Securities. To be honest, I was a bit surprised to find that they were operating out of this building.’ Child paused for a moment and looked at the Americans thoughtfully. ‘Now, how come American intelligence agents are in New Zealand investigating Blue Water Securities, and you arrive at this building at the exact same time as we did?’ Child asked.
Samantha looked at Child with surprise.‘You mean to say that you didn’t expect Steve and Grey to find anything here?’
‘There was a 50/50 chance. If I had known what was waiting here I would never have let them come alone,’ Child said. He then turned to Smaille and said, ‘Right, your turn.’
Smaille looked around the room they were gathered in. It was stark, bare and completely devoid of any furniture. It seemed a strange place for a debriefing. Seven pairs of eyes were on him now, waiting for him to lead and tell his side of the story. What Smaille was about to do broke most of the unwritten rules of his trade. That being said, he only had to look into the faces of Child, Gray and Ritson to know that honesty was the best policy. He knew if he tied to con these men, they would know right away. He also guessed that they could, and probably would, just walk out and do things their own way. He knew he couldn’t allow that happen, and at the very least he needed their co-operation, as well as their silence. ‘My colleagues and I are members of American intelligence. We are an impact team. In other words, we go and follow up leads where we are needed.’ Smaille had everyone’s attention now. Child listened with an expressionless face. ‘About six months ago,’ Smaille continued, ‘an agent of ours who was working undercover in Hong Kong got wind of a startling new development in computer technology. The technology had been created in secret at one of the research and development factories owned by Kang Industries…’ Smaille stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts.
‘Yes, and then what happened?’ Ritson asked, impatient to hear the full story. ‘Well, we never heard from him again,’ Smaille said with coldness in his voice. ‘Oh,’ said Ritson, ’I’m sorry.’
‘Please continue, Mr Smaille,’ Child said gently.
Smaille nodded slowly at Child. There was no time for sentiment now.
‘So, our agent had indicated that whatever this new technology was, it needed to be ready quickly as the masterminds behind it had a specific deadline in mind. Our superiors looked at the international programme and sent out undercover agents to specific targeted areas where there was both international interest, and American involvement. The APEC meeting was one of the first events highlighted, so four agents were sent here.’
‘Yes but you’re not the undercover agents,’ Gray added perceptively.
‘No we are not,’ Smaille said to Gray. ‘One agent came across some information that suggested that the technology may have arrived in New Zealand. We were then sent here in response to that. We’ve only been in the country a few days.’
‘Even I’m learning,’ added Harrison,
‘Sorry, but you were only liaison, you were given specific instructions…’
‘Yeah, you guys could just do what you liked and I had to clear
up any messes,’ replied Harrison bitterly.
‘We have a job to do, and sometimes it we can’t do it nicely.’
‘Just exactly what job are you doing then?’ prompted Ritson.
Smaille took a deep breath before responding. ‘To continue with my story, we were fortunate enough to have a sample of the technology fall into our hands. We have now sent it off to be analysed, but we’re yet to hear back from the labs. With the sample came the information that Whittingham was involved, and Whittingham lead us straight to Blue Water Securities. We tried to find out the exact connections today, however, we vastly underestimated the level of protection surrounding his operation. Fortunately, you guys were here and came to the rescue…’
Smaille finished speaking, content with his side of things. He believed he had covered the main points of his story quite thoroughly, and glossed over the weak points quite well too.
‘Just a couple of questions, if I may…’ Child said.
‘Ask away, if I don’t like the question I could always lie,’ Smaille added with a forced grin.
‘Yes you could,’ returned Child, ‘How did Whittingham lead you straight to Blue Water Securities?’
‘You’re not the only ones with sophisticated bugs, Simon. Gray here does an excellent little job, and I know some of our people would like to spend some time discussing these with him. However, we do have some good ones of our own,’ Smaille replied, the lie sliding easily from his lips.
Child’s expression went hard. He knew that it was a cover-up. ‘Somehow I don’t think so,’ Child pushed on, leaning in closer to Smaille. ‘There were no bugs when I placed mine in the offices, and I don’t see how you could’ve done yours afterwards. No, you didn’t make the connection from bugging.’
‘How did they find out then?’ interrupted Ritson.
‘I think someone told them.’Some concerned glances were exchanged between Smaille, Goody and Stulz. What else did Child know?