Dark Horizons

by Dan Smith

  Richard was grinding the butt into the ashtray on the desk when the policeman returned, holding open the door for the man who followed him. A man I’d seen before. Danuri.

  He stopped in the doorway, hat in hand, checking us each in turn, his dark eyes narrowing. He tightened his lips, the small wispy moustache moving as he did so, then he showed us a smile that wasn’t a smile and came further into the room. We stood up as he moved behind the desk, placing his hat on the surface, then he sat down and waved the other policeman away.

  He steepled his hands and pressed his thumbs against his mouth as if devising a great theory, but when he finally lowered his hands and spoke, he said, ‘So you’ve come for your friend?’

  I was surprised to hear him speak in English and it must’ve showed on my face.

  ‘I went to school in Penang,’ he said. ‘English was compulsory.’

  I took the opportunity to come forwards, forcing out my words, not wanting to betray my fear of him. ‘Where is she? Here?’

  ‘Perhaps.’ He snorted hard and looked me up and down. ‘Who are you? I don’t remember seeing you.’

  ‘A friend,’ I said. ‘I just want to know she’s all right.’

  He glanced at the door before leaning back in his chair. ‘That depends.’

  ‘On what?’

  ‘On whether you can give me what I want.’

  For a moment I didn’t know what to say. ‘But … ? I …’

  ‘How much?’ Richard asked.

  The man shook his head, the smile dropping from his face. ‘Not how much,’ he said. ‘Not this time. This time it’s who.’ He leaned forwards again, placing his hands on the table. ‘This girl, she’s in big trouble. Big trouble. I have shabu-shabu, putaw, all the makings of a drug factory.’

  ‘Heroin and crystal?’ Helena interrupted. ‘ There’s none of that up there.’

  ‘There could be. If I wanted there to be.’

  ‘No way,’ Helena said. ‘You know where all that stuff comes from. You do anything, we could—’

  ‘You’d like me to have you taken out of here?’ Danuri raised his voice. ‘Put in a cell with your friend?’

  Helena took a step back.

  ‘So she is here?’ asked Richard.

  ‘I think we can help each other. I have someone you want and you have someone I want.’

  ‘Who?’ I asked.

  ‘Kurt.’ He leaned back and rested his fingers on the handle of the pistol that he carried in a leather holster at his hip. ‘And his friend. The American. You could save me the trouble of trying to find them. It would be in your friend’s interest if I see them soon. I can wait a day, maybe two, but after that I will have to process your friend and … well, drugs …’ He shook his head. ‘The courts are hard. If she’s lucky, she might be with us for a while. If not … You know how we execute our drug criminals here?’

  I stayed quiet. There was nothing to say.

  ‘Firing squad,’ he said. ‘A thing like that can be quick or it can be slow.’

  ‘It would never happen,’ Richard said. ‘She’s Australian, right?’ He looked at me. ‘It would never happen.’

  Danuri sighed. ‘We don’t always wait for a trial, sometimes we just find a quiet place, but maybe you’re right. Maybe it wouldn’t happen like that. But our prisons are not so nice. There are worse things than being shot.’

  I didn’t even want to imagine what he was talking about.

  ‘All those narcotics,’ he said. ‘It would be a long time before she ever got out. And when she did, you wouldn’t recognise her any more. She might not even recognise you.’ He laughed. ‘She might not even recognise herself. It can be arranged.’

  ‘She hasn’t been processed?’ Richard asked.

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘If she hasn’t been processed yet, she’s invisible,’ Richard told me. ‘No record, nothing. No one knows she’s here. If you can get her out now, do it. If you know where Kurt is, give him up.’

  ‘So if Kurt comes here, you’ll let her go. Just like that?’ I said to Danuri.

  He smiled. ‘Just like that.’

  ‘What if we can’t find him? What if we don’t know where he is?’

  Danuri shrugged. ‘Bad news for your friend, I think.’

  ‘Why can’t you find him?’ I asked. ‘You’re the police. You’ve been up there. Find him yourself.’

  Danuri stood up and put his hands on the desk, leaning all his weight. He studied the polished surface for a few moments before releasing his weight and standing upright. ‘I don’t have the manpower for that. This is not police business. This is my business.’

  ‘Just what are we talking about here?’ There was an edge to Richard’s voice now. ‘Your business?’

  ‘You don’t need to know. All you need to do is find Kurt. Tell him if he comes to me, I will let his sister go. He knows where to find me.’

  ‘We’ll find him,’ I said. ‘I’ll tell him. I’ll make him come to you.’

  Richard looked at me when I said it, the expression on his face saying that he didn’t think I could do it. Even if I found him, I couldn’t make him come. Not even for his sister. ‘We want to see her,’ Richard said, turning back to Danuri. ‘Make sure she’s OK.’

  Danuri thought about it, eyes on Richard because he had become our spokesperson. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Impossible.’

  ‘Impossible? Why?’

  He came round the desk and strode to the front door. A man in a military-style uniform, but there was no upright stance, no discipline in his motion. This was the lazy and untouchable arrogance I had detected in his gait the first time I had seen him, outside Alim’s place, and then again in the clearing. He pushed through the door and held it open – not an act of courtesy, but a threatening pose. Not an invitation to leave, but a demand for it.

  ‘Is she even here?’ Richard asked.

  Danuri remained silent. ‘She’s not, is she?’

  Still nothing.

  ‘I know the senior policeman in this area,’ said Richard. ‘I play cards with him once a month. A quiet word, a few dollars, and I’ll have her out of here in a day. Maybe have your job, too.’

  Danuri let the door swing shut and he came close to Richard, one hand on the butt of his holstered revolver. He stood toe to toe with Richard and looked up into his face. Like David and Goliath. ‘I could have that girl raped, tortured and butchered in less than an hour. She’d disappear like she never existed.’

  Richard held his stare.

  ‘Just find Kurt and give him the message,’ Danuri said. ‘Leave the rest to me.’

  ‘Let me see her and we’ll do it,’ I said. ‘Let me see that she’s OK.’

  ‘Find Kurt and you can see her all you want.’

  ‘I have to see her first,’ I said, surprising myself. Perhaps this was who I was – the person who faces up to a man like Danuri.

  He tightened his brow, clenched his jaw and looked away. There was sweat on his forehead, beads of it around his moustache, dark stains around the armpits of his uniform. ‘One minute,’ he said. ‘Follow.’

  I glanced at Richard as Danuri pushed the door wide and strutted from the room. We fell in line behind him, walking around the building towards a small, fenced area that was hidden behind it.

  ‘So I guess this is Kurt’s protection.’ Richard kept his voice low so that Danuri wouldn’t hear. ‘The man keeping him out of trouble. I wonder what went wrong?’

  In my mind I saw shallow graves in the ancient darkness. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘And did you know who this guy was?’

  ‘No,’ I said, looking at Helena. ‘Did you? Did you know Danuri was a policeman?’

  ‘No.’ Helena shook her head as we came to a corral, maybe fifty feet by fifty feet, surrounded with heavy chain fence topped with razor wire. Within it, four men sitting on the grass, doing nothing but time. Like animals in a zoo. At the far end of the enclosure there was a small hut with no door, and nothing inside but shadow.
/>   Danuri stopped ten feet from the fence and signalled to one of the guards, who unlocked the gate and went in, heading straight for the hut. He pointed his rifle at the shadows and within a few moments, Domino emerged into the sunlight.

  I could see, even from here, that she was in a bad way. Her body was stooped and she adopted a protective posture as if she knew what to expect. Her clothes were dirty, torn in places, and her face was bruised and bloodied. She walked from the hut with a pronounced limp.

  When she held up her hand to shade her eyes from the sun, she caught sight of us and I saw relief descend over her. She stood straighter and started towards us, but Danuri barked an order and the guard moved in front of her, raising his rifle.

  ‘What have you done to her?’ I felt anger and frustration boiling in me. Not fear.

  Danuri waved a hand, and the guard pushed Domino back into the shadow of the hut. ‘Now you have seen her.’ He glanced at me as if I were something he’d found dead in the road. ‘You want to get her out, you know what to do.’

  ‘If you hurt her …’ It was an empty threat. ‘You can’t do this.’

  ‘Of course I can,’ he smiled. ‘I can do whatever I want.’

  40

  Leaving the compound, Richard spoke quietly. ‘My advice is get her out. Let me talk to this man I know.’

  ‘You heard what Danuri said. An hour. That’s all it’ll take him, probably less. I can’t risk it. If he found out …’

  ‘You got money?’ Richard asked.

  ‘Some.’

  ‘You’d be surprised how quick money can swing a thing like this. Have you got dollars?’

  I nodded.

  ‘Even better. A hundred bucks’ll get you off a drug charge, two hundred for murder. You just have to know the right people. It gets harder and more expensive once they’re processed – which she isn’t.’

  ‘I don’t want to risk it.’

  ‘You have to. How you ever going to find Kurt? Where would you even look?’

  ‘He’ll be up there.’

  ‘Maybe, but you saw what state she was in. You two go looking for Kurt, even if you find him, she might not be breathing when he comes down. If he comes down.’

  ‘He’s right,’ Helena said. ‘Think about it. And even if he did come down, do you really think Danuri’s going to let her go? You think he’d keep his word?’

  We were outside the compound now, standing beside the road.

  ‘I could go right now,’ said Richard. ‘It’s not that far from here. Do you have money with you?’

  I looked at him. ‘Why are you helping us?’

  Richard stopped. ‘I don’t like Kurt. I don’t like his little cult, or what they do, but that …’ He motioned his head towards the place where we’d seen Domino. ‘That’s not right. She doesn’t deserve that.’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘She doesn’t.’

  ‘So you want me to help you or not?’

  I considered my options, but I had no choice. Richard and Helena were right; I could look for Kurt, but there was no guarantee I would find him. And although I thought he would give himself up for his sister, I couldn’t be sure. But I had to do something. ‘OK,’ I said. ‘Let’s find your friend.’

  ‘I’ll have to go on my own,’ he said. ‘He’s not going to want an audience for this.’

  ‘So I have to trust you?’

  ‘Yeah. If you want my help.’

  We returned to the market place and I handed over six one-hundred-dollar bills. Unused, crisp and with the unmistakeable smell of new money. And, with mixed emotions, I watched Richard board a bus, taking the only hard currency cash I had left. I didn’t like to see it go, but I knew it wasn’t much to pay for a life.

  ‘You’ve done what you can,’ said Helena as we watched him leave.

  ‘You think we can trust him?’

  She thought for a moment. ‘We have to. What else can we do?’

  When the bus was out of sight, Helena and I wandered through the market, but neither of us was much in the mood for sightseeing or shopping, so we headed back to the shore and climbed into the boat to wait.

  We sat on opposite sides, facing each other, wanting to be closer but feeling it wasn’t right. For now, my concern was for Domino. Once she was free and safe there would be time to unravel everything else and put things back in the order they belonged.

  After an hour, there was still no sign of Richard and we were both beginning to get hungry now that the excitement had waned and we’d had time to realise we hadn’t eaten. We wandered over to the market, bought fruit, which we took back to the boat and ate in near silence.

  It was about four o’clock when Richard returned. He was not alone when he climbed off the bus. Shuffling beside him, like a soldier retreating from the battlefield, Domino clung to his arm for support.

  Helena and I went to them, taking her weight. I put her arm around my shoulder, while Helena did the same on the other side.

  Domino managed a smile when she saw me, and she leaned her head on me as we walked. Her injuries looked worse close up. The bruises on her face were more livid, the dried blood around her nose was more noticeable. And when I looked in her green eyes, I couldn’t help but feel the betrayal of my thoughts for Helena, even though hers conveyed almost no emotion at all.

  ‘She hasn’t spoken,’ Richard told us. ‘Wouldn’t even look at me.’

  ‘She needs help,’ I said. ‘We should get her to a hospital or something.’

  ‘No hospital,’ Domino said. ‘Danuri.’

  ‘She’s got a point,’ Richard shrugged. ‘If Danuri’s going to look for her, it would be a good place to start.’

  Domino lifted her head from my shoulder as if it were too heavy for her. ‘Where’s Kurt?’ Her speech was slurred. ‘I need to see Kurt.’

  ‘We need to get you sorted, then we’ll go look for Kurt.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Domino,’ I pressed her. ‘Let us help you.’

  ‘I need to see my brother.’ She was weak but she struggled against me, taking her arm from around my shoulder, pushing herself away, stumbling and falling.

  I put my hands on her, trying to help her up, but she pushed me off and looked up, saying, ‘I need to see my brother, Alex. Please.’

  ‘We don’t know where he is.’

  ‘He’ll be waiting for me. Planning something. Maybe even to give himself up. He wouldn’t leave me.’

  ‘Where?’ I said. ‘Where will he be waiting?’

  ‘At home.’

  ‘Up there? You want to go back up there after everything that’s happened?’

  Domino nodded. ‘I have to. I have to let him know I’m out. Please, Alex. Please help me warn Kurt.’

  ‘You’re never going to make it up there,’ said Richard. ‘You can’t even stand up here where the ground’s flat. Come on.’ He reached down and took hold of her, hauling her to her feet.

  ‘Let me go.’ She tried to struggle against him, but Richard was strong, and once her energy was drained, he lifted her into his arms like she was a child and carried her back to the boat.

  I went with them, seeing how compliant she was now as she lay across the damp seats, her eyes closed, exhaustion taking her. I stroked my hand across her head, moved the hair from her face and watched the rise and fall of her breathing. Just a few days ago she had meant everything to me. ‘Maybe I should go look for him. I feel like I owe her.’

  ‘No,’ Helena said. ‘You’ve done enough. You don’t owe her anything.’

  ‘And you know Danuri will look there, don’t you?’ said Richard. ‘He might even be there now, or watching us, looking to see where we go. We should get on the water. Get out of here.’

  ‘And then what?’

  Richard shrugged. ‘Listen to Helena. You don’t owe them anything.’

  ‘I know. I know you’re right, but I have to help her. I have to do something.’

  Richard clenched his teeth and shook his head at me, then told me to come w
ith him, away from the boat. I glanced at Helena, then agreed, stepping down and walking ashore, out of earshot.

  Standing close, Richard took a deep breath. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘I don’t want you talking about going back to that place. I’ll take her to Hidayat. He’ll clean her up and she can rest at our place. Then we’ll decide what to do.’

  I stared at him. ‘Really? You’d do that?’

  ‘Didn’t I just say so?’

  ‘Why, though? I mean, you hate—’

  ‘I don’t hate,’ he said. ‘I don’t hate anything.’

  ‘OK, but why are you helping us?’

  ‘I’m not. I’m helping you.’ He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ‘You and Helena. You’re good kids, Alex, and you shouldn’t be mixed up with those people. When I first saw you, I thought you were like them, but you’re not. They didn’t get into you. Didn’t turn you. Hidayat was right.’ He leaned closer, looking over at his boat before meeting my eye. ‘And the way you looked at that girl Domino when you first came into my house, it was the same way I looked at Hidayat when I first met him. That’s why I remember it. The only difference is I still look at him the same way. You, though?’ He shook his head. ‘You look at the other one like that now. Helena.’

  ‘I …’

  ‘Don’t try to fool yourself. Don’t try to change it or fight it. It’s the right way to feel, Alex. She’s better.’

  ‘I still have to help Domino.’

  ‘Sure you do,’ he said. ‘Because you want to do the right thing. That’s who you are, not some fucking drop-out like the rest of those people up there. You don’t want to turn tail and run away. And maybe you taught me something. Maybe that’s why I’m helping you. ’Cause it’s the right thing to do. Hidayat’ll be proud of me.’

  41

  When we came ashore at the kampong, my ears were buzzing and my head felt numb from the thrumming of the outboard. The evening was closing in, the clouds darkening in the sky, the temperature cooling. An eerie light fell over the lake as we made our way to Richard’s place. I was close to that other world now.

  Domino refused to allow Richard to carry her from the boat, letting no one other than me support her while she struggled to his house. As soon as we were inside, she asked to be left alone to clean herself. Hidayat led her to the bathroom and when she emerged a while later, we took her into the only bedroom, where she collapsed onto the bed. We did what we could to make her comfortable before Hidayat ushered us out.