Then all of a sudden he was alongside her.
‘Emily!’ he gasped, clutching on to the lilo’s handle.
But she was still dead to the world, a blissful smile on her face.
Deciding that waking her suddenly at this point could risk her drowning, Connor turned the lilo round and kicked for the shore. After a minute or so, he looked up. The beach seemed no closer.
He put his head down and kicked furiously, driving the lilo ahead of him.
Connor looked up again. They were still beyond the headland. He realized he wasn’t getting anywhere. He was fighting against the current.
Despair crept into his mind. There was no way he could beat the pull of the ocean. His heart was already pounding like a drum and he could feel his muscles burning from the effort made just to reach Emily.
Where is Brad and the tender?
He would never rescue Emily at this rate. Then he remembered Charley reminiscing about one of her surfing trips where she’d been caught in a rip-tide. These currents, she’d explained, were rarely more than thirty metres wide and surfers often used them as an expressway into the ocean to catch waves. The way to escape a rip-tide was to simply swim parallel to the shore and, once clear, diagonally back to the beach.
Redirecting the lilo, Connor swam towards the headland. Then as soon as he judged he was clear of the rip he took a diagonal course to where Ling stood waving to him.
With a glance over at the headland, Connor saw he was at last making progress. But the going was still tough. His lungs burnt for air and, to make matters worse, in his growing exhaustion he started to lose his rhythm. His limbs grew heavy as lead, and he imagined himself sinking to the seabed like a stone.
In the distance he could hear the roar of the motorboat’s engines.
Then, all of a sudden, his foot struck sand and he glanced up in surprise.
‘Are you OK?’ asked Ling, pulling the lilo and Emily on to the foreshore. Further up the beach, Chloe was still stretched out on her towel, headphones on, oblivious to the near tragedy. Brad was just arriving in the tender.
Connor dragged himself out of the shallows and collapsed on the warm sand. ‘Barely,’ he wheezed as a wave of white water rushed up the beach, engulfing the lilo and waking Emily with a start.
‘Oh … I must have dozed off,’ she said, sitting up and brushing her wet hair from her face. Seeing Connor sprawled in the sand like a beached fish, gasping for breath, she remarked, ‘Have you been for a swim?’
Connor opened his mouth to reply but was too exhausted for words and just let his head flop back down.
‘You need to relax more,’ Emily laughed. ‘This is a holiday, you know.’
Oracle regarded his loose band of pirates through the tinted passenger window of his Land Cruiser. The men lolled in the meagre shade of a ramshackle fisherman’s hut, bored and listless in the unrelenting heat. Only the young pirate Bucktooth crouched in the full glare of the sun, forced to remain on guard by the skiffs. An unnecessary duty, imposed by the other pirates as a cruel prank, since no villager or fisherman would dare approach Oracle’s gang or their boats. But the boy appeared happy enough with his revolver to carry out the duty.
Picking up the slim mobile phone from the seat beside him, Oracle pressed the speed-dial number. After several distant rings, he heard a click and his investor answered. ‘Yes?’
‘My men are ready,’ informed Oracle.
There was a crackle on the line, the signal poor at the base of the cliff, but he could just make out his investor’s response. ‘Have … supplies … arrived?’
‘Yes,’ replied Oracle. ‘And Mr WiFi has tracked down the target to its current location in Victoria Harbour. We’ll be there by –’
‘Your information is out of date … The yacht is now at Anse Takamaka … Tomorrow … sail to Bel Ombre … after that to Praslin Island.’
Oracle’s brow furrowed slightly. ‘How do you know the yacht’s itinerary?’
As Oracle listened to the reply, his upper lip curled into an astonished smirk. ‘That is quite something … Yes, I’ll keep you fully informed of our progress.’
Snapping shut the phone, Oracle lowered his passenger window. A rush of hot dry air invaded the vehicle’s cool interior as Spearhead’s sweating face appeared.
‘Get the men boarded,’ instructed Oracle.
‘Yes, boss. Are we still headed for the Seychelles?’
Oracle nodded. ‘At this moment, yes, but Mr WiFi will send you updates via the satellite link.’
Spearhead gave a dismissive snort and waved his hand at a buzzing fly. ‘That’s all well and good, but his hacked coordinates are always out by a few hours because of the security delay. Sometimes the ship is over the horizon by the time we get there.’
Oracle offered a smug grin. ‘Not this time. The investor is able to supply the real-time location of the Orchid.’
Spearhead’s eyes widened in his head and he grunted an incredulous laugh. ‘Then this is gonna be like shooting fish in a barrel.’
‘So let the game begin,’ Oracle commanded, winding up his window and barring the all-pervading heat.
As the Land Cruiser sped away across the baking sand, Spearhead barked orders at his men. Idle from chewing khat all morning, the pirates rose to their feet and trudged down the beach to their boats. They threw nets over their weapons and supplies to give the pretence they were legitimate fishermen. Pushing the boats from the shoreline, the pirates clambered aboard and started their engines. The powerful outboard motors roared, churning up a flurry of white water as the small armada of pirate skiffs surged out of the bay.
‘Pirates!’ shouted Chloe. ‘Pirates ahoy!’
‘Where?’ said Connor, looking to the horizon, his pulse immediately racing. The glassy sea was a mirror to the blue sky, the line between heaven and earth lost in the distant haze. Aside from the Orchid, there were five other yachts anchored around the picturesque bay in Bel Ombre on the island’s north-west coast. Beyond those, a few fishing boats bobbed out at sea. But Connor couldn’t see any skiffs armed with RPGs powering towards them.
‘Shiver me timbers, Connor, I was only joking!’ said Chloe, giggling at his overreaction. ‘But you never know, we might find some pirate treasure in here.’
She ducked inside a large dark hole in the cliff face. Taking a break from yesterday’s sunbathing, the four of them were exploring the headland of the bay. Clambering over granite boulders and through warm barnacled rock pools, they’d managed to reach the outermost tip.
‘Hold up,’ cried Ling, who’d also been caught out by Chloe’s pirate prank. ‘It could be dangerous in there.’
‘You two really need to lighten up,’ said Chloe, her reply echoing out of the cave mouth.
Ling disappeared after her Principal, but Emily hesitated at the entrance, eyeing the dark opening with mistrust.
‘Are you all right with this?’ asked Connor.
‘Why shouldn’t I be?’ she replied, but a nervous swallow betrayed her true feelings.
Connor tried to make eye contact. ‘You don’t have to go in –’
‘Come on, Emily!’ Chloe called, her voice now eerily distant. ‘You have to see this.’
Taking a deep breath, Emily plunged into the darkness.
Connor kept close on her heels. Following the lilo incident the previous day, he wasn’t allowing himself to become complacent on the assignment again. He had to be ready for anything, danger lying in the most innocent of activities.
The hole narrowed to a passageway that burrowed deep into the headland. At first there was just blackness, but as Connor’s eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he could make out the multitude of molluscs clinging to the hard moist rock. After a dozen or so paces, the passageway opened out into a large cavern, a crack in the overhead rock letting in a feeble shaft of sunlight. The air within was as cool and damp as a tomb and he felt his skin goosebump at the sudden drop in temperature.
‘Over here,’ said Chlo
e, beckoning them to the far wall. Ling stood beside her, both their faces in shadow, as they inspected the faintly gleaming surface.
Connor followed Emily across the cavern, their feet crunching through the coarse sand and broken shells on the uneven floor.
‘Check these out,’ said Chloe excitedly, pointing to some symbols on the wall. Into the rock had been carved a dog, a snake, two joined hearts, a keyhole, a staring eye, a figure of a woman’s body and the head of a man.
‘Creepy,’ said Ling.
The boom of a crashing wave rebounded and amplified inside the cavern space. Connor glanced across at Emily, who’d become strangely quiet and withdrawn. In the feeble light, he could see that she was trembling and a sheen of sweat had broken out on her forehead.
‘Emily?’ asked Connor. But she didn’t reply.
Chloe ran her finger over the staring eye. ‘I read in a guidebook that some pirate supposedly buried his treasure on this island. On his death at the gallows, he left a cryptic map to its location,’ she explained. ‘This must be one of the clues …’
Emily now appeared to be struggling for breath.
‘I think it’s time to make a move,’ Connor suggested, taking Emily by the arm and guiding her back towards the tunnel.
‘In a minute,’ said Chloe, too engrossed in studying the symbols to notice her sister’s distress. ‘Maybe we can work out what this says …’
Emily let out a dog-like whimper.
Chloe turned to her sister. ‘Are you all right, Em?’
Her eyes had gone white with fear and she stared in blind panic at the cave entrance. A huge shadow slipped along the mollusc-encrusted wall, threatening in both its size and silence.
‘I’ll do what you say …’ she whispered in a breath almost too quiet to hear. ‘I’ll do what you say … I’ll do what you say …’
Connor drew Emily closer as she repeated the words like a mantra. A muscle-bound man now blocked their only exit.
‘Hope I didn’t scare you,’ said Brad. ‘But the tide’s coming in and these caves are prone to flooding.’
‘Don’t forget to put the kill cord round your wrist,’ reminded Ling as she zipped up her life jacket.
‘I do know,’ snapped Chloe, straddling the jet ski. ‘I have ridden these things before.’
‘Sorry, just going through the safety checks,’ replied Ling in a defensive tone, as she clambered aboard the other one. ‘Don’t want it running away from you.’
Chloe, her hair tied back in a ponytail, looked over her shoulder at her sister. ‘Sure you don’t want to come with us?’
‘Maybe later,’ replied Emily with a strained smile.
‘How about you, Connor?’ asked Chloe. ‘You can ride with me if you want.’
Connor eyed the sleek jet ski. He was itching to have a go, but he couldn’t leave his Principal. ‘I’d love to, but I’ll stick with Emily on the beach.’
‘Your loss,’ she sighed and pressed the jet ski’s ignition.
Over the thrum of the engine, they heard Amanda shout out, ‘Have fun!’
She waved cheerily to them, looking glamorous as ever in a straw sunhat, white midriff blouse and sarong. Mr Sterling, his arm round her waist, raised a hand as the two of them headed to a local beach bar, where Dan had reserved a private table.
‘Off go the lovebirds again,’ Chloe muttered without bothering to wave back. Twisting the throttle, she sped off across the water. As Ling depressed her jet ski’s starter, there was a slight splutter from the exhaust, then she raced off after her Principal.
After watching Chloe and Ling zip back and forth a couple of times, Connor suggested a stroll along the beach.
‘Are you feeling any better now?’ he asked Emily.
She glanced sideways at him. ‘You noticed then.’
Connor nodded. ‘We’re briefed on things like that,’ he said, not wishing to worry her about how obvious the panic attack had been.
Emily let out a heavy sigh. ‘Yeah, I suppose you are. Well, after what happened last year, I get very anxious in such places. My mind becomes foggy and I kinda blank out.’
‘Then why did you go in?’
Emily dug a toe into the sand. ‘To try and beat my fear.’
Connor smiled, his respect for her growing at such strength of character. ‘I can relate to that. I’ve been in a similar situation.’
Emily looked up in shock. ‘Really? When?’
‘Just this year,’ Connor admitted. ‘I can’t tell you any details, but I was held captive for a number of days.’
Emily studied his face, concern now etching her brow. ‘I had no idea. How are you coping?’
Connor shrugged. ‘OK, I suppose. I didn’t really think about it much at the time, I was concentrating on protecting my Principal.’
Emily nodded. ‘I suppose that must have helped. To have someone else to focus on, I mean.’ She looked off towards the horizon, a haunted look in her eyes. ‘I was completely alone.’
In the background, the jet skis buzzed like hornets above the gentle wash of the waves.
‘That must have been hard for you,’ said Connor.
‘You don’t know the half of it,’ she said, her voice wavering with emotion. ‘The isolation was torture. I’ve been beside my sister all my life. I was desperate for her company, for a friend, anyone …’ She turned to look at him as if to say more, but the noise from the jet-ski engines suddenly reached a whirring pitch. Then there was a huge BANG.
Connor spun round to see Ling tumbling head over heels through the air, her jet ski in flames. He was already running down the beach and through the waves by the time she splashed into the sea. Chloe zoomed over, picking up Connor halfway as he swam to Ling’s rescue.
Ling floated lifeless in the emerald-green waters. Her jet ski was melting into a blob of plastic and black smoke. Connor leapt from the back of Chloe’s craft and grabbed Ling by her life jacket.
‘Ling, speak to me!’
Her eyes flickered and she gradually focused on Connor’s face. ‘Wow … that was wild.’
‘Are you hurt?’ asked Connor.
Ling gazed drowsily down at herself then at the surrounding water. ‘There’s … no blood … so I don’t think so.’
‘What happened?’ demanded Connor as he helped her on to Chloe’s jet ski.
‘The throttle got stuck … then it just exploded.’
‘Connor, I need your protection!’
Connor immediately looked over to where Chloe was laid out on the Orchid’s sun deck. In a canary-yellow bikini and sunglasses, she was wagging a bottle of suntan lotion at him. Connor rose from his chair then noticed Ling, who was filling out an accident report for Brad, glance up and roll her eyes. Connor now hesitated, wondering if applying sunscreen would cross the line of appropriate behaviour with a Principal.
‘Please?’ insisted Chloe, lowering her sunglasses, her expression all sweet innocence. ‘I can’t reach my back.’
Ling tutted quietly to herself as Connor went over. He replied with a shrug of ‘what else could he do?’ It wasn’t as if the request was unusual considering the circumstances.
‘Thanks,’ said Chloe, settling face down on the padded sunbed attached to the jacuzzi.
As Connor dutifully rubbed the lotion on to Chloe’s back, Ling continued with the accident report. She’d been extremely fortunate to get away with only a few scrapes and bruises, the worst injury being a minor burn on the inside of her left thigh. The water had not only cushioned her fall and extinguished any flames, but her fire-retardant T-shirt and shorts had protected her from the worst of the explosion.
The remains of the offending jet ski were now with the Seychelles coastguard pending an investigation into the cause of the accident. Profusely apologetic to Ling, Geoff, the ship’s engineer, was at a loss as to how it could have happened in the first place, since the jet skis were brand new. Ling herself was surprisingly relaxed about the whole affair, although she gladly accepted Brad’s proposal of
an afternoon off to fully recover.
‘Can you do my neck too?’ asked Chloe, lifting her hair so Connor could apply the lotion.
Emily emerged from the staircase and raised an eyebrow at the scene. ‘Comfortable, are we, Chloe?’
‘Definitely,’ purred her sister.
‘How are you feeling, Ling?’
‘Fine, thank you,’ she replied. ‘The burn cream is working a treat.’
Emily strolled over to the handrail. With her back to Connor and her sister, she admired the view as the Orchid eased away from Bel Ombre for their next destination. Holding up her mobile phone, she took a photo of the picture-perfect bay.
As Emily tapped away on the screen, Ling glanced over in curiosity. ‘Have you just posted that on a social network site?’
Emily looked over. ‘Sorry, what was that?’
‘I asked if you’d posted that on the internet.’
Emily nodded with a smile. ‘The view’s too good not to share.’
‘Next time, don’t.’
‘Why on earth can’t she?’ said Chloe, raising herself on to her elbows and glaring at Ling. ‘I did exactly the same back on the beach.’
Ling put down her pen. ‘The problem is your phone automatically adds your location to the photos, letting people know where you are and when.’
Chloe looked at Ling as if she was dumb. ‘Duh! That’s the whole point.’
‘It’s a security breach,’ insisted Ling, holding Chloe’s glare.
Chloe groaned. ‘Jeez, you’re being paranoid. Your accident must have spooked you. Besides, I want my friends to know where I am. So, don’t tell us what to do and what not to do.’
Feeling the tension rise, Connor stepped in to back Ling up. ‘It’s not your friends we’re worried about,’ he explained gently. ‘It’s anyone else who may be following your profile.’
‘Like who?’
‘Those muggers back in Sydney.’
‘Oh, please. We’re thousands of miles from there.’
Bodyguard: Ransom (Book 2) Page 12