Remembering the smiles with which the women had told her of this, Allissa felt nothing. She wanted to feel excited with them, for them. But she couldn’t. No emotion could permeate the wall of water which seemed to distort everything.
“Hello, Allissa?” She heard an urgent voice from behind her. A voice that snapped her from her despondent daydream. A voice she recognised.
“Allissa,” Leo said, leaning on the reception desk, the same bag she’d seen him pack hours before hanging limply from a shoulder.
Allissa watched him through a cool expression, drying her hands on a towel, fighting the urge to feel pleased, relieved or even hug him for coming back.
“They shouldn’t have been killed,” Leo said, seated at the kitchen table a minute later. “It was meant for us.” Allissa listened closely. “You said yourself yesterday that your dad always had a plan, he was always one step ahead, always working things out. I was thinking about it at the airport. I’d only succeeded at one thing, that was finding you. That’s because that’s what your dad wanted me to do.”
“Why would he need you though?” Allissa asked.
“He had to send someone he knew you’d trust, otherwise you’d never have come out of hiding. So he chose me. I’m not threatening and was just trying to do the right thing. He knew you’d appreciate that and trust me. You’d feel like you had the upper hand.”
Allissa nodded, her eyes widening with the realisation.
“But how?” she asked.
“He had someone watch me. I would be easy to follow and I’d lead them straight here.”
“The Australian guy?”
“That’s what I thought. It was all part of a plan. It was all worked out. We’ve been played.”
“There was something about him. It was all just…”
“Too obvious?”
“Yeah, that’s it. I bet all the stories he told were invented just to get us to trust and go with him.”
“Exactly,” Leo said, smiling for the first time that day. “He probably had a nasty backup plan if we didn’t go willingly.”
“The guys there just hadn’t counted on us barely touching the shisha.”
“Yeah, they didn’t think we’d escape,” Leo said as Allissa’s scowl softened.
“But that means they’ll know we’re still alive. They’ll have told my dad by now and he’ll have a backup plan for sure.”
Leo nodded; the thought had occurred to him minutes before as his taxi surged through the streets. He’d had a sickening feeling that it might already be too late.
At that moment, a clatter from the reception area drew their attention to the door.
Leo was first to his feet, lifting the chair he’d been sat on to avoid it scraping against the tiles. He looked at Allissa and held a finger to his lips.
Allissa stood slowly, watching Leo cross the small kitchen. It felt strange for her to let someone else go first. For a moment a feeling of powerlessness swelled through her, but she put it aside. Leo had come back, they were looking out for each other. All the same, her eyes darted around the kitchen, looking for something to use as a weapon if needed. A block of knives on the counter were only a step away.
Reaching the door, Leo opened it to a crack and peered through into the dark reception area.
Chapter 79
“How have you found your first travelling experience?” Mya asks.
Nearly a month has passed since they’d arrived in Mumbai – an assault of noise and colour. They’d travelled north through the desert and palaces of Rajasthan to the teeming hub of Delhi. From there, they journeyed to Pushkar, Agra and Varanasi for a trip down the swollen Ganges. Then boarded the train to Goa for five days of walking on the beach, fresh fish and late-night cocktails.
The white sand looks like it could run on forever. Restaurants with big wicker chairs and tables of ice displaying the day’s catch. Hawkers move amongst the lounging tourists selling bangles, necklaces or bits of string which promise to bring the wearer good luck. “Hey, tall man,” “Where you from?” “Manchester United, yeah?” they shout, starting conversations with anyone inexperienced enough not to ignore them.
Further up the beach, a herd of cows break through the undergrowth and walk sedately between the chairs and tables. Tourists nearby photograph the unique spectacle that is impossible to imagine anywhere else in the world. Ignoring the attention, the beasts drop to the sand in front of the first row of tables, warming their backs in the fading sun.
“What’s been your favourite part?” Mya asks, looking away from the cows and towards Leo.
“That’s hard, it’s all been so good. Just been a totally incredible month,” he says, swigging on a bottle of beer. Mya finished hers minutes ago. “You know what? I think the last few days have been the best… Yeah. I loved seeing the Taj Mahal and I loved the trip down the Ganges and all that, but there has just been something incredible about the last few days here. It’s such a beautiful place.”
A warm breeze pushes through the restaurant, causing the dark red cloth over a neighbouring table to shiver. It brings with it the smell of sandalwood and tropical undergrowth.
“It has been really special,” Mya says. “I’ve always wanted to come to India. Are you ready to go home?”
“It feels so far away right now…” Leo answers.
“Yeah, but do you want to go back there?” she pushes.
“No, I suppose not. We’ve been away so long, this feels like my life now.”
Mya is beautiful, Leo thinks, looking at her over the table. Her dark hair has grown in the last month, losing the aggressive cut she kept it in. She’s taken to tying it high on the back of her head with brightly coloured headbands bought on the way. Her skin glows, boasting the tan of the last month which makes her teeth and eyes shine.
Now would be a good time, Leo thinks, the ring having stayed in his wallet for the last two weeks, just waiting for the perfect moment.
“Yeah, that’s what I feel too,” she says, reaching across the table and taking his hand in hers.
“Where would you go on to now if you could?” Leo asks.
“I’d go down to Vietnam from here, then to Thailand. There’s loads of places I’ve always wanted to see there. More temples, beautiful food and islands. From there I’d go across to China, starting in Hong Kong.”
Leo looks deeply at her, her face now turned towards the ocean. In her eyes the sun begins to set, as though it is the future itself. The moment is perfect.
The words that Leo has wanted to say for the last month desert him as his breath draws tight. It’s normally a feeling he associates with panic, but right now it’s exhilarating and invigorating.
Leo draws a deep breath and holds it. This is the moment. His moment. Their moment.
“There’s something I’d like to say to you,” he says. Mya turns to look at him.
“There’s something I need to tell you too,” she replies. “Can I go first?”
Leo swallows and nods. “What?”
“I might as well just say it. I’ve wanted to tell you for a few days, but haven’t found the moment,” Mya says, glancing down at their hands as she speaks.
It’s Leo’s turn to stare deeply at her. His mind roams.
“We’re not going home tomorrow…”
“What do you mean?” Leo says. “Explain.”
“You know how to start with we were going to come here for two months and travel on to Vietnam afterwards? But you couldn’t get the time off work.”
“Yeah…”
“I figured you would like it so much, you would want to carry on for two months. So even though you said no, I booked it.”
Silence falls over the couple. The sun continues its laboured descent through the sky towards the Indian Ocean.
Leo doesn’t know what to say or think. He just stares unmoving at Mya across the table.
“Hold on, let me get this right,” he says finally. “We’re booked to go somewhere else tomorrow, not ho
me?”
“Yes, I’ve booked it all. We fly to Hanoi tomorrow then we’re going to travel down to Ho Chi Minh City and then fly across to Thailand for five days on a beautiful island, then we go home.”
Again, the words fail him. How has she done this? How has she done this and not told him? She answers as though hearing his thoughts.
“You didn’t know how much things cost anyway, so I just told you it was the amount for two months when I booked it.”
“But, but… I’m supposed to go back to work in three days,” he says, as though that’s all he can think about.
“I know,” Mya says. “But ultimately, Leo, that place has treated you so badly. They never give you the opportunities you deserve, they work you so hard for rubbish money. You deserve more.”
Leo knows there’s an element of truth in what she says, but it sounds like an insult. The thought of her lying to him. Deceiving him. Travelling all this way. Spending all this time with him, holding this secret.
He looks at her, she looks back squarely at him, challenging him to argue.
“I am sorry for lying to you. I just knew that once you were here you wouldn’t want to go home… and I was right.”
“That’s not the point!” Suddenly Leo’s anger rises. “You can’t just do that, you can’t always have it your way. I said I could only do a month, you should have respected that. I know you don’t like my job, I get that, you’ve said that before, but that’s my choice to make.”
He stops breathless and looks towards the ocean – he doesn’t want to meet her eye.
“I’m going for a walk along the beach,” Leo says eventually. Mya makes to get up. “No, you stay here. I need to work out what to do.”
“I wanted to come for two months,” Mya says bitterly, looking at him now standing. “You said you could only do one because of that shitty job. You might want to ruin your life with pay cheques and bullshit, but that’s not me.”
Without replying, Leo walks off towards the purring ocean.
Chapter 80
The reception area of the Teku Guesthouse was in darkness as Leo peered out. From the soft glow of a lamp on the reception desk, kept on in case guests needed anything, he could see a figure climbing the stairs.
A stab of fear passed through him as he watched it, taking the stairs one at a time, nearing the top. Whoever was after them had moved quickly. They must have known they were here. They needed to get out.
Leo took a glance back into the kitchen, the block of knives gleaming behind him. If needed he could be there in a second.
As the figure moved into the light, Leo’s fear subsided as he recognised Tau.
“Tau,” he said, opening the door fully, “come in here.”
Tau sat quietly and listened as Leo and Allissa explained what had happened. He gasped as he was told that Jack, a friend of his, someone he’d got to know well over the last few weeks, was dead. But he seemed to understand from Leo and Allissa’s grave expressions that danger was still present and looming. There would be time to mourn and reflect, but this wasn’t it.
“We need to get out of here now,” Leo said, standing, Allissa did the same.
“I know a hotel,” Tau said, following Leo to the door. It was important that this time they could check in without the registration hotels were required to keep by law.
“If this guy has official connections,” Leo said, signalling Allissa to mean her father, “he could see the records.”
“It’s unlikely,” Tau said.
“But it’s possible,” Allissa interrupted. “I know him, he’ll be pissed it didn’t go to plan and he won’t leave it there.”
A few days ago, Tau had been Leo’s only contact in the city. Leo had needed his help and as such had trusted him through necessity. But Tau’s reaction in the last few minutes made Leo trust him through respect, and that was something more. Switching off the kitchen light and stepping into the reception area, Leo couldn’t think of anyone else he would rather rely on right now.
Three minutes later, they stepped from the guesthouse and into the night. The rain had intensified since Leo arrived, it had a score to settle and time to make up for. Crossing the square, the main road ahead shimmering in the downpour, they were soaked in less than a minute. Each pair of shoulders hunched, eyes half-closed against the torrents.
Tau signalled with an extended arm and a taxi pulled to the side of the road. He told the driver the destination and the taxi ebbed into the now-sporadic flow of cars. The wipers whipped across the screen on their highest speed but barely cleared a streak of glass before it filled again.
Waiting at a set of traffic lights, the red light defusing through the streaming water, Tau turned and looked through the taxi’s rear window. Leo watched him examine the headlights of the car behind.
Pulling a note from his pocket, Tau said something to the driver, the small man looking up at him. The driver took the note, tucked it beneath the steering wheel and a moment later the taxi shot through the red light and into a space in the incoming traffic.
“Watch the car behind,” Tau said. “If they’re following us, they’ll have to pull out too.”
The three turned in their seats and stared through the rear window. For an instant the car behind sat motionless before lurching forward to join them in the stream of traffic.
“Thought so,” said Tau. “They must have been sitting outside the guesthouse.”
Leo and Allissa exchanged apprehensive glances.
“Don’t worry, we’ll sort it,” Tau said, picking up his phone and making two calls, each just a couple of shouted words, followed by some instructions to the driver.
For ten minutes they drove, each anxiously checking the menacing lights of the car behind. The whine of the engine and the angry drumming of water on the car’s thin roof were the only sounds.
“Sort the money now,” Tau said, turning to Leo, “we’ve got to get out quickly.” Leo drew two notes from his wallet and handed them across. Tau put one of the notes in the pocket of his trousers, the other he kept in his hand.
A minute later, the car pulled to the side of the road and stopped abruptly. Tau didn’t wait, he handed one note to the driver, shouted some final instructions and leapt from the car. Allissa followed with Leo behind, his bag hanging awkward and heavy.
Once in the pummelling rain, Tau ran a few steps to a small door, just a shadow on the dark building, and started to knock.
Leo turned to see the taxi they had just left pull away into the rain and the other car pull to the curb where it had been. Wanting to know what they were up against, Leo tried to see through the car’s dark windows. He wanted to see their pursuer. Watching through the falling rain, he saw the passenger door open. He saw the back of a head appear above the car. Then a draft of warm air hit him as he was dragged inside and his view obscured as Tau shut and locked the door.
The room they were in was small and dark. Shelves covered every wall, stacked with TV sets from a different time. Leo saw a hundred reflections of himself in each of their dulled bulbous screens. He guessed it must be a TV repair shop.
Tau greeted the small, grey-haired man who had opened the door for them.
“This is Baij,” Tau said, nodding his head in respect towards the man. “A friend of my father’s.”
“Follow me,” Baij said, beckoning them through the shop into a small back room where the carcass of an old television sat on a table, its parts dissected and laid around it. It looked strange and antiquated, glimmering in the gloom.
Baij pointed to a door, dark with barred glass, rattling as the rain struck it, which Tau pulled open.
Thanking the man, Tau walked out into the passage behind the building.
Similar to the one Leo and Allissa escaped through the previous night, it was just a few feet in width, opening into the backs of houses and shops either side. Above, tangled empty washing lines connected the buildings like a giant spider’s web. Drainpipes sang with flowing water, sprayi
ng out at angles around ill-fitted joints.
The three made quick progress down the passage, largely protected from the rain by the height of the buildings. Tau led, Allissa was second carrying her small bag high on her back, and Leo followed, his rucksack digging into his shoulders with every step.
A strip of colour ahead marked the passage joining the main road. Shops opposite and the flicker of passing cars became visible between the buildings’ grey concrete backs.
“He’s there already,” Tau shouted, pointing ahead and quickening his pace as they saw the taxi they had just left pull to the side of the road and inch close to the buildings. Tau broke into a run and Allissa followed, swerving to avoid the stacked rubbish, boxes and empty gas canisters. Leo, watching the distance between them grow, pulled the bag tight around his aching shoulders, clenched his teeth and ran after them.
Reaching the taxi, Tau ran around to the front and slid into the passenger’s seat. Allissa climbed into the back and shuffled over to make room for Leo, still a few paces behind.
Their pursuer would not be far behind, either. With the realisation the trip into the TV shop was an attempt to lose them, all they’d have to do is drive to the end of the block, turn the corner and the three would be seen getting back into the taxi from the passage.
Reaching the taxi, Leo pushed his bag in and got in after it. The taxi driver grinned with camaraderie at Tau and then turned to the others. Tau pulled the other note from his now-soaking jeans and passed it over.
In the back, Allissa and Leo stared wide-eyed and panting through the rear window.
Behind them, a lorry had stopped in the middle of the road, one side sunk into a flat tyre. Despite the torrents of rain, two men worked to try and jack it up, only allowing enough space for vehicles to creep around one at a time. Even in the reduced traffic of the evening, a queue had built up, each driver protesting uselessly on their horns.
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