by D. V. Berkom
She was on the ship, and it was underway.
Leine wracked her brain trying to remember what was said, what she might have done, how she tripped up in her charade with Wang. Things were going well. He didn’t display defensive or abnormal body language, other than annoyance with her questions. There’d been no significant change in his demeanor that she could tell.
Then she remembered the phone call in the car on the way to the dock. Wang had been noncommittal during the conversation, careful to avoid saying anything Leine might have construed as a warning. Then there was the second call when they were on deck. Somehow, Wang had been notified of her intent to disrupt his plans, although she couldn’t be sure how that might have happened. She’d scared the hell out of Alak and Sam, the tuk-tuk driver, threatening both with repercussions to not only them, but their families, if they so much as thought about informing Wang of her search for Kylie, so she doubted they were the problem.
Unless…
Kavi’s smiling face came unbidden into her mind.
But he was vetted by the agency. Neither of them worked for the agency any longer, and she didn’t have access to their current records. She assumed that because of their prior relationship he wouldn’t betray her. You know better than that, Leine. She felt for her watch but it was gone, as was her phone.
At least they’d left her clothes and shoes.
She was on a container ship on her way to East Africa with a shipment of human slaves and wild animals, and no one knew where she was. Taking into account the size and speed of that class of ship, it would take at least ten days to reach the port at Dar es Salaam, longer if they stopped to refuel.
Good job, Leine. Now what the hell are you going to do? What would happen to April? What if something went sideways during her inaugural undercover case? Leine wouldn’t be there to help.
She climbed to her feet and slid her hand along the wall, searching for an opening. Her fingers found the door at the same time the length of chain ran out. She ran her hands along the edges, looking for a handle. There wasn’t one.
A plasma torch would come in handy about now. She pounded on the cool metal with the flat of her hand and kicked against the bottom.
“Hey! Anyone there?” she yelled.
“I already tried that.”
Leine pivoted at the sound of a man’s voice and dropped to a defensive position.
“Who’s there?” she asked, squinting against the dense black.
The man cleared his throat. “Don’t be alarmed, now.”
The voice grew closer, followed by the sound of metal scraping the floor. Leine tensed, clenching her fists. There was a hollow click and a small flame flared a meter away, illuminating the speaker’s face. “Allow me to introduce myself,” he said, his South African accent obvious. “My name is Derek.”
Derek stepped closer and held out his hand. Large, intelligent eyes stared back at her from an open face. The flame sputtered, followed by an expletive. “Shit, that’s hot.”
“Your accent. Afrikaner?” Leine asked, still wary.
“Is it that noticeable?” The flame flickered to life, and Derek held it a few inches from Leine’s face. “And you, you’re American, hey?”
“Born and bred.”
Derek extinguished the light, plunging them back into darkness. “Got to save fuel, you know?” He paused a beat before he said, “If you don’t mind my asking, what are you doing here? I mean, I know why I’m here, but you don’t look like someone Wang does business with on a regular basis.”
Leine leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. “I’m not sure. I came on board to inspect a shipment and the next thing I know I’ve been Shanghaied.”
That brought a chuckle from Derek. “Yeh. I know what you mean. And you thought that went out with the Barbary Coast, didn’t ya?”
Leine turned back to the door and pounded again.
“That won’t help. I did try it.”
A frustrated groan escaped her as she rested her forehead against the damp metal.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
“There’s a price on my head and it’s a good one.”
She heard him slide down the wall and assumed he was taking a seat on the floor. “You know Victor Wang?” she asked.
“Mr. Wang is—was—one of my buyers.”
“What did he buy?”
“Elephant ivory, black rhino horn, baboon ass. You know, the usual.”
“You’re a poacher.”
“I like to think of it as big game hunting without the bad shooting.”
“And there’s a price on your head in Dar?”
“Yeh. That’s about the size of it. I’ll probably be sold to the highest bidder. I have a lot of enemies.”
“You don’t sound very concerned.”
“Why should I? If I’m meant to die, then so be it.”
“That’s a bit defeatist, isn’t it?” Leine remained on her feet, keeping her distance. He acted friendly enough, but if the crew had orders not to feed them, she figured things could get ugly, fast.
“Eh, I’ve had a good life. Maybe it’s my time, you know?”
“Sounds like you’ve given up.” Leine slid her hand around the seams of the door, searching for a possible weakness. “How long do you think we’ll be at sea?”
“Well now, that’s a fine question. I’m not sure. Could be we’ll go straight to Africa. Could be we won’t. Wang’s not one for being predictable. Another reason he’s been able to do this so long without getting caught.” Derek snorted. “Along with paying the right people.” He flicked on the lighter once more and peered at her. “You never did tell me your name or why you were here.”
“Claire. And I don’t know, exactly. Wang brought me on board to see what type of ship he used for transport. My employer asked me to check it out for him. He’s very particular. Wang was in the process of giving me a tour and I woke up in shackles.” There was no point in telling the truth. Maintaining her innocence would be difficult if Derek decided to offer the crew information about his new roommate in exchange for leniency. Wang didn’t need a plant to tease a confession out of her—he’d already acted as her judge and jury as evidenced by her floating prison. Why he didn’t have her killed was a question she’d like answered.
“I’m surprised your employer, whoever he is, would send a lady like yourself to do a man’s job. Seems a little off, you ask me.”
Leine let the comment slide as she continued to study the room through her fingertips. “How did you get into poaching?”
“I started out as a tracker helping hunters bag the big five—you know, lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, buffalo. I got to be known for successful tracking, you check? On one of those hunts, some mad tourist asks if I can smuggle him out some ivory, says he’ll pay me triple the going rate.” Derek whistled. “From that point on, I was everybody’s go-to for ivory. I expanded into whatever the market would bear and haven’t looked back.”
“Why would Wang want to take you out of commission? Seems to me he’d be more interested in keeping you on the procurement end of things.”
“Ja, ja. Well, you know, I got a bit greedy. Started holding some back for myself. Wang and the other interested parties I worked for didn’t take kindly to me helping myself, so here I am.”
“Imagine that.” Leine stopped herself from making a snarky comment about karma being a bitch, preferring to keep on Derek’s good side for the time being. She’d readily admit she was pissed off at herself for having ended up a prisoner on a container ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and it was messing with her mood.
There was no way she’d be able to be there for April if she needed her. And really, how rusty was she? She’d thought the inspection would be just that: a simple walk-through before supposedly reporting back to her employer regarding shipping conditions. Kavi, or someone, had put a wrench in that proposition. If it was her old friend, he’d cleverly lulled her into letting down her guard, which she ha
d never allowed to happen in the past.
But she’d been trying to leave that all behind, to forget. She wouldn’t relish going back to the old way of doing business. She liked her life with Santa and her daughter. Hell, she was even getting used to living in LA again. She’d hated being continually paranoid to the point of never trusting anyone. Always expecting a bullet or a knife in her back. Yes, she learned to live in the moment, but she never felt safe, never had the opportunity to put down roots and have anything familiar to hold onto.
Had she chosen to work for SHEN because in some twisted way she missed the lifestyle? No, she thought. She chose to work for SHEN because she believed in the mission, believed she was doing the right thing.
She’d felt the same way working for the agency.
That had turned out so well.
Kylie’s presence in the container made Leine’s situation even more untenable. If she didn’t get off the ship, she’d be no use to her. But if she did manage to escape, and that was a big if, how would she track Kylie? Africa was a massive continent. Wang could send her anywhere.
Not finding anything worthwhile in her exploration of the room, Leine took a seat on the floor and leaned her head back. She’d resume her search in the morning when there was some daylight.
“Given up trying to find a way out?” Derek asked, amusement lacing his voice.
“For the time being. Tomorrow’s another day.”
“You’re right about that. Whatever happens, we’ve got a few thousand miles of ocean to work on it. I suggest we try to get some sleep. I promise you don’t need to be concerned about me.”
Leine folded her arms across her chest and shifted her position so she could doze sitting up.
“I’m not,” she said. You have more to worry about than I do.
CHAPTER 12
LEINE SNAPPED AWAKE as the door screeched open. Derek clambered to his feet, blinking against the weak, gray light filling the room. The fresh air from the open door was short lived as the stench of animal feces Leine noticed the night before hit her full force.
She stood, raising her arm in front of her eyes to block the light and squinted at their visitors. A solidly built, dark-haired man with a straggly goatee pointed an AK-47 at them while a small, wiry man placed two bowls of rice, a rusty lantern, and a container of water just inside the door. Leine looked past the men into the hold, but she couldn’t tell if there was anyone else nearby.
“How long until we arrive in port?” Derek asked the men in Swahili.
The smaller of the two, the one who delivered their food, answered, “Maybe two weeks.”
“Can’t we make a deal?” Derek asked. “I can get you money, my brah. I’ll pay if you let me off the boat before we pull into port.”
The smaller man smiled and shook his head. “Wang pays us more than you.”
“How do you know? Have I given you a price?”
Derek was all charm, reminding Leine of a money lender she’d met in Morocco, although his cropped blond hair and accent placed him squarely in the Dutch South Africa camp. The two crew members just laughed and walked out. Derek stepped past the bowls of rice and wedged his free foot in the opening. When the door failed to close, the smaller man peered at the threshold, a puzzled look on his face. Realizing what Derek had done, he yelled for the other man. With a shout, his counterpart wrenched the door open and shoved the barrel of the machine gun into Derek’s face.
Leine remained quiet, certain the wild-eyed man holding the AK-47 would pull the trigger, splattering pieces of Derek across the room. Beads of sweat appeared on Derek’s forehead, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he licked his lips.
No one moved as the two men glared at each other. Leine held her tongue, acutely interested in how events would pan out, recalculating her options if she had to make the voyage alone.
Time crawled and the tension in the small space crackled. Finally, Derek broke the silence.
“Now wait a minute, my brah,” Derek said, keeping his hands in the air as he inched his foot away from the door. “I meant no disrespect.”
A few heartbeats later, the man with the gun released his finger from the trigger and stood down. He narrowed his eyes at Derek, who let out a breath and lowered his hands.
“You must not ever do this again,” the smaller man scolded him. “I am not responsible for my brother.”
The two men exited the container, slammed the door closed, and locked it.
“That went well, don’t you think?” Derek’s voice echoed in the small room.
“Well, at least now we know they have machine guns.” Leine felt for the lantern and popped the switch. A bright white glow illuminated the space. Battery operated. They’d have to conserve.
“I noticed you didn’t react when he pointed that thing in my face,” Derek said. “Aside from your obvious disregard for my well-being, that kind of composure is rare.”
“Why is that?”
“Well, you’ve got to admit, most women would be a sobbing mess confronted with that kind of threat.”
“You think so? You must not know many.”
“What kind of shit is that? I know a lot of women.”
“I see.” Leine rolled her eyes. Great. I’m stuck with an idiot for a travel partner. Two weeks?
“I do.” Derek’s voice rose an octave, obviously irritated. “Piss off. You think what you want. I know what I know.”
Leine didn’t reply, preferring to let him de-stress from the incident with the gunman. She assumed he was crashing from the adrenaline dump. A person could get testy when that happened. She scooted one of the bowls of rice toward Derek while taking the other for herself. The rice was tepid, but at least it meant their captors were interested in keeping them alive.
“What are they going to do with you, I wonder?” Derek asked between mouthfuls.
Leine had been trying to work that out. Worst-case scenario, Kavi hadn’t just betrayed her reason for being in Bangkok—he could have told Wang who she’d been in her former life, giving him unlimited marketing options. “I honestly don’t know,” she said.
“Will your employer pay a ransom to get you back? Wang’s a greedy bastard.”
“Maybe.” Leine finished her rice and set the bowl on the floor. She’d resigned herself to being at sea for the foreseeable future. There had to be some way to either bribe or overcome the crew. She’d have plenty of time to plan her escape. For now, she contented herself with the task of making Derek an ally, which appeared to be her best bet for getting off the ship.
“I gathered by your interaction with our guards that the three of you have worked together.”
“A time or two.”
“Tell me about the two brothers. The smaller one seems less inclined to follow orders.”
“You’d be right about that. Sefu, the big one with the machine gun, has something to prove, whereas his brother Kibwe isn’t such a bad guy.”
“Could be a way to leverage that, don’t you think?” she mused.
“Ja, definitely.”
“I noticed they weren’t too interested in your bribe. What’s Wang like when things don’t go his way?”
Derek gave her a rueful smile. “He can be a ruthless shit when money’s involved. Obviously, a reward has been offered for my safe delivery to interested parties.”
Leine could work with greed. At least it was something. She wiped the perspiration from her forehead with the back of her hand. The hot, muggy space was like being locked inside a dirty humidifier. Thankfully, they weren’t above decks. The temperature in their little prison could have been much worse.
“Since we have a bit of time, let’s get to know each other,” Derek suggested. “Maybe I’ll be able to figure out why they’ve decided to keep you locked up in here with me.” Derek folded his arms across his chest and studied Leine. “I’ll go first. You’ve been around guns, obviously, and not just your normal, everyday handguns. I’ll venture a guess you were in some kind of military unit at
some point in your life, yeh?”
Leine shook her head. “Nope. My turn.” She held his gaze. “There’s more to your being here than just skimming a little off the top.”
Derek’s attention shifted to the floor for a second and then back to her.
“I’m right. What’s your great sin? Did you betray Wang?”
Derek shrugged, paused. “He might look at it that way.”
Leine leaned her head back. “Ah. Then it’s even more important we escape before pulling into port. Betrayal is a worrisome accusation when the aggrieved party has triad connections. Things don’t normally end well for the accused.” For all of Derek’s earlier bravado, the look in his eyes telegraphed his concern.
“How do you propose we do that?”
“I haven’t figured that out quite yet, but I will. Are you interested? Because if not, I’m fine going it alone.”
A look of annoyance crossed Derek’s face. “Well, of course I’m interested. Jesus, I knew I should’ve skipped that meeting with Wang.”
“Tell me about poaching. What’s your motivation, other than money?” Leine asked. “You say you have plenty. With the exception of career criminals, I’ve met very few wealthy people pursuing a way of life that could land them behind bars or face down in a ditch somewhere who were solely in it for the money. At least, very few who are as successful as you say you’ve been. The luster of gold wears off, while the challenge dies with achievement.”
“I live for the hunt.”
“Not good enough,” Leine shot back. “Not much challenge locating game in a helicopter now, is there?”
Derek nodded. “When I first started, poaching was hard work. Dangerous work. It took skill and gave game a fighting chance. I only took what I needed to fill orders.” He gazed past Leine at some far-off memory. “Nowadays, they track them by air and use machine guns. No skill in that. And no way to replenish the herds, either. Shortsighted bastards.”
“And this is how Victor Wang operates?”
“Yeh. He’s got a traveling safari camp and uses a helicopter to scout game for his clients. Some of ’em actually prefer hunting from the air.”