Break-In

by M G Leslie

  “I don’t believe this,” said Lee.

  “I agree,” said Pete, “It’s very convenient. Too convenient.”

  “You mean they knew we’d be tracking them, so they pretended to ditch in order to throw us off the trail – I see your point,” said the Chief of Staff, “We need to know if they’re actually in the water – I’ll speak to the Chief and get a current satellite image of the area,” then he left the call and walked in to the Chief’s office.

  As the Chief listened, the Chief of Staff explained the situation with every detail. The Chief nodded and stood up and they both walked in silence to the SIS Operations Room, where they had the ability to control UK spy satellites, view remote video feeds and all manner of other information flows from around the world.

  As they stood in front of a huge computer display panel that filled most of the wall, the Chief instructed the operations team, who were seated at terminals in front of the screen, to pull up a current satellite image of the last known location of the plane.

  Unfortunately, that part of the South China Sea is not an area of great interest, so it took about 10 minutes until the image came in to view with nothing more than sea – no aircraft and no wreckage in site – but as the Chief said, “If he was diving at speed, it probably broke up on impact and scattered – with the tropical weather the way it is, it could be anywhere. It’s not conclusive either way. Although, having said that, even if the wreckage scattered – surely we’d see something.”

  The Chief of Staff spoke, “Can you shift the view to the probable location of the plane now – on the assumption that it had continued on its original heading – maybe we can see it in the air?”

  The operators typed on their keyboards and the view shifted – but there was still nothing. Then the operator spoke, “Sir, it may have changed course – that’s what I’d do – pretend to ditch then immediately change course.”

  “Yes,” said the Chief, “Quite true – OK, see if you can scan the surrounding area – it’s a long shot, but we have to try – let me know if you find anything,” then he returned to his office.

  The Chief of Staff contacted Lee and Pete, “Pete – get to the airport and find out what you can. Lee, get down to Stanley and clear through the mess there – find out who was inside, if anyone – and don’t get caught – the last thing we need is two people missing.”

  Then the Chief of Staff watched as the operations team controlled a spy satellite to scan the ocean for the plane – but to no avail. After 30 minutes he spoke, “Keep looking for another half an hour, then return the satellites to their original course. Let me know immediately if you see anything of interest though,” then he returned to his office.

  CHAPTER 8 – Blue Eyes

  Price woke up in another dark room, but this time he wasn’t tied to a chair, he was on a bed in what looked like a prison cell – at least, that was his best guess in the poor light.

  He felt terrible – his head was throbbing like the worst hangover in the world and his eyes were heavy and reluctant to open. He presumed this was a side effect of the drugs they had used to sedate him – but in case it was due to an injury, he felt his head for any signs of a fracture or bruise. Then he thought, it maybe just dehydration – that was certainly a possibility as well.

  Feeling more awake, he tried to look where he was – he couldn’t see a door, but there obviously had to be one, so he reached out with his hands to try and locate himself in the dimly lit room.

  As he was about to stand, he heard a familiar voice, “Stay where you are Mr Price.”

  Price looked around to try and see the person who spoke to him. He knew the voice, as it was the last voice he had heard before being rendered unconscious, but he couldn’t see her. Nevertheless, with typical calmness, he said, “So you must be Lucy I presume?”

  “Yes,” she said, “I’m standing right in front of you. But don’t reach out, I have a gun pointed directly at your head,” and with that she removed her left hand, which up to that point had shielded her eyes from Price’s view, in rather the same way someone shields themselves from the sun on a very bright day.

  Price immediately saw two blue “cat-like” eyes appear before him and realised that they were the same eyes he had seen in Stanley Bay.

  “I was going to say, don’t be afraid Mr Price, but you’re the first person I have ever met who didn’t react to my eyes.”

  “I’m not easily startled,” said Price. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my life – so there’s not a lot that shocks me any more. I’ve learned to take most things in my stride.”

  “I can imagine,” said Lucy. “My eyes are what some would call a ‘gift’ and others would call a ‘defect’. They shine bright blue rather like a Siamese cat and allow me to see in complete darkness. There was a case of a young boy in China who had a similar condition – he was considered to be the first person to display perfect sight in almost complete darkness. It’s an extremely rare condition – I’m possibly only the second person in history to have been recorded with this.”

  “So,” said Price, “Just out of curiosity, I’m guessing you prefer the dark then, which explains all the dark rooms? Can you see during normal daylight or is that painful for you?”

  “I can survive very well in the daylight Mr Price, although bright light does cause me some discomfort. During daylight, I tend to wear sunglasses most of the time, but thank you for your concern,” Lucy replied, and then added, “I’m touched.”

  Price ignored the obvious sarcasm and continued, “It’s very disconcerting speaking to a stranger in such little light. I presume I am your prisoner and I presume I won’t easily escape. So could I perhaps request a drink of water and then maybe you could tell me why I’m still alive and where I am? I’d also like to know why you shot Mike – I presume it was you from what I heard? It doesn’t matter to me as he was a traitor so we’re better off without him, but I just wondered?”

  “All good questions Mr Price. And yes, you may have a drink of water,” and with that Price could faintly see some movement in front of him as she stepped back and switched on a light – although even then, the room was still quite dimly lit. It was, however, as he had suspected, basically a prison cell and she was standing by the door, which was wide open.

  Without taking her eyes off Price, she clicked the fingers on her left hand and two security guards stepped forward.

  “If he moves, shoot him dead – two shots to the body and at least one in the head,” she said, with absolutely no emotion whatsoever.

  Price smiled, “A very wise move if I may compliment you – I always do the same.”

  “I know,” she replied, again with no emotion in her voice. Then she walked out, only to return a few moments later with a large plastic cup of water that she placed on a table next to the bed where Price was now sitting.

  “You sat up Mr Price and they didn’t shoot you. You are a very lucky man – next time you want to move, I suggest you ask,” then she spoke, aggressively, in the local Tagalog language to the two guards who both nodded that they understood.

  Price took a sip of the water and thanked her for bringing it. Lucy, however, just turned away to face the guards and said, “Bring him. If tries to escape or makes any sudden movements of any kind for any reason whatsoever – kill him!” and then she walked out of the room and set off down a dark corridor. As Price followed around 10 feet behind the two guards stayed behind him at a safe distance, both with their guns drawn and pointing directly at him.

  Price decided to follow the standard rules of being held captive – make small talk and glean whatever information you can in any way possible. So as they walked along he asked, “So what is this place? I’m guessing maybe some kind of cellar?”

  Lucy, however, was way too experienced, and without even turning round she shouted, “Shut up or I will have you shot!”

  “Oh well,” thought Price, “It was worth a try,” as he looked at his surroundings – the floor, walls an
d ceiling were all stone – and they were not new – this was a very old building and there was absolutely no chance of escape where he was – he had to be underground – maybe below some kind of grand building, which implied he probably wasn’t on Hong Kong Island anymore – indeed, the humidity, or rather, lack of it, suggested he may not even be in Hong Kong. So he started thinking – could he have been transported to Mainland China, as that was the closest alternative?

  After a couple of minutes, Lucy walked up some concrete steps that led in to a hallway at ground level. Price glanced around, noting that it looked like part of a castle or palace or fort. Certainly, the ornate stone ceiling beautifully calved stone window frames and tiled floor had clearly been painstakingly restored and were absolutely stunning.

  As they walked past windows on the left and a series of rooms to the right, Price tried to take in as much as he could, all the while attempting to get his bearings and work out the layout of the building. From what he could see through the windows to his left, it appeared to be a large square-shaped building with a courtyard in the middle, rooms on each corner and, what he guessed would be, smaller rooms down two of the sides. The question was, how to get out as he couldn’t see an obvious entrance or exit – and strangely, he couldn’t see any other people – although he assumed they were probably in the rooms or outside or maybe upstairs, as there did appear to be a second level.

  As they approached the room directly ahead of them, Lucy walked in and sat down behind a desk that faced the door. Price was very impressed as he stepped inside and looked around – it was a large imposing space with a high ceiling, a large stone fireplace on one side and a stunning marble floor. In fact, it reminded him of a stately home back in England and what used to be called a “Drawing Room” – although the computer equipment installed in the far left hand corner looked out of place – he assumed that was something Lucy had recently installed and was probably only temporary.

  Lucy pointed to a chair that was obviously, quite deliberately, placed in the middle of the room, far away from everything else and about 10 feet in front of her desk. Price walked forward and sat sound, conscious of the guards who were still behind him with their guns drawn.

  After a few moments of silence, Lucy looked up and spoke, “So you asked some questions Mr Price, and here are the answers. You are still alive, because I need to know how much you have discovered and what you have communicated back to your people in London, but we’ll come on to that in a minute, after we talk about Mike.”

  Price raised his eyebrows as if to say, “Please continue.”

  “Mike had been steeling money from you for a while – I’m not sure you realised it, but he visited the club in Manila every night – he’d been doing this for a long time. Then suddenly the money dried up and he couldn’t pay his bill. We were going to teach him a lesson. In fact my manager had already warned Mike that if he didn’t pay his bill, he’d be taught a lesson he would never forget.”

  “Yes, I think I have seen the room where you do that,” Price interrupted.

  “Quite so Mr Price,” she continued. “Well anyway, as the club owner, my people always let me know if someone has not paid their bill.”

  Then she stopped and waited for the statement sink in – realising it had when Price said, “You’re the owner?”

  “Yes Mr Price. As I was saying, they called me and since he was a frequent customer I decided that maybe this was just a one-time event, so I visited the club and bought him a drink and we chatted. That’s when I found out he worked for the British security services.”

  “He told you that?” said Price.

  “Yes Mr Price. He was very drunk and I can be quite persuasive, believe you me.”

  Price just raised his eyebrows again, so she continued, “As you can imagine, with my little project about to begin, I decided it would be good to have him around. So I made him think I was his girlfriend, and that proved to be useful when you sent that amateur along to check us out.”

  “Kit,” said Price, almost as a whisper.

  “I’ve no idea what his name was,” said Lucy, “But Mike dealt with him very efficiently. However, after a while, he out-lived his usefulness as well. It’s been clear for a while that you or your masters in London were expecting him to provide more and more detailed information on my project, which of course, I could not allow. And then he even led you to me. So he’s now buried under 20 metres of concrete in Stanley Bay.”

  “Forgive me for not being particularly upset with his demise. But that does raise the question of where we are and if you don’t mind, how we got here?” replied Price.

  Lucy just smiled, “We are somewhere you will never be found Mr Price. After you fell asleep.”

  “Not entirely voluntarily I would be quick to suggest” Price interrupted again.

  Lucy ignored him and continued, “You were transported to a private aircraft which was destined for Northern Luzon in the Philippines. However, that aircraft descended rapidly a few hundred miles off the coast and has not been seen since. According to all air traffic control communications and the news channels, it is presumed to have crashed with no survivors – the pilot was heard having what would have sounded like a nervous breakdown, suggesting that he was committing suicide. However, in reality, of course, it flew the rest of the way to this beautiful island at a low altitude, before landing on the north coast, where we have a small grass airstrip.”

  “My people will have followed you,” Price said.

  “No Mr Price. As I said, they believe you are dead. If they were still thinking you were at Stanley Bay, you would have been killed when I closed the lift shaft with some high explosives along with Mike. And if you were on the flight – well, as I’ve explained, that never arrived – it was lost at sea,” and then she smiled.

  “And this place?” Price asked whilst looking around at the décor, “Is this all yours?”

  “Yes,” she replied, “All mine – at least for the time being. What you might call my secret hideaway. It was originally built as a Spanish fort to repel any potential invaders approaching the Philippines from the north. Then it fell in to disrepair and was forgotten for many years, until my employer discovered it.”

  “Your employer?” Price asked, thinking that maybe he was getting somewhere. But Lucy just ignored him and appeared to be distracted by something on her computer screen. When she did look up again, her expression worried Price – it was the expression of someone who didn’t want to see him.

  So he deliberately shuffled in his seat rubbing his stomach, complaining of the pounding he had received from Mike. Then he rubbed his legs as well – he was in luck. As he touched his leg he could feel the gaffer tape still in place – they hadn’t searched him thoroughly enough, and his second tracker device was still stuck between his legs, so now all he had to do was find a way to trigger it and stay alive until help arrived.

  After a long pause, Lucy, not caring about his injuries, said, “So this is where we get to my favourite part. What have you reported back to London?”

  “I haven’t made a report since entering the 7-11,” said Price, which was absolutely true. He knew the first rule of interrogations – stick to the truth wherever possible as there will be supporting evidence and you won’t be caught out so easily.

  “What about before that? I know you visited the club and killed my security guard.”

  Price paused for thought – he was in a very difficult situation, because Mike had almost certainly told her everything he knew – possibly including details of how SIS managed its overseas operations. The key thing for him was to make her believe he was withholding valuable information – that way she needed to keep him alive and he could figure out a way to activate the Tracker strapped to his inner thigh.

  So he started very carefully, only telling her information that she already knew, “We linked the club to Mike’s disappearance and tracked phone calls. Mike then led us to you and finally Stanley Bay. That’s it,” he
said.

  “So you knew nothing else?”

  “Exactly, that’s it” he reaffirmed, “It’s really that simple, and here we are.”

  “You’ve known for a while that I have beautiful eyes,” she replied, staring intently at him to see what reaction she would get.

  Price stared back, desperately trying to look calm – he’d commented on her eyes in London and Mike had not been present. It was a flippant remark he’d made in a meeting to various members of the Firm, government and security services. So there’s no way she could have known what he said – that is, unless Mike wasn’t her only asset from London – and if that was the case, he was in real trouble.

  “I don’t recall saying that,” he replied, “Although you do indeed have very beautiful eyes.”

  Lucy smiled knowingly again, “Come now Mr Price, you really don’t want to lie to me, because I can get very violent. You and I both know that you said, ‘Nice eyes,’ when you viewed my photo in London.” Then she paused before continuing, “The problem you’re struggling with now is, who was in the room when you said it and which one of them told me?”

  Price couldn’t believe what he was hearing – there was more than one traitor, and the second one was still in place. He could not allow himself to unintentionally give away information, so he just shrugged his shoulders and stayed silent.

  Lucy smiled and, as if without a care in the world, looked past Price and tapped her right arm on the outside. Price didn’t know what that meant and was about to glance behind him when he found out – a baseball bat came crashing down on his right arm, knocking him to floor and leaving him writhing on the floor in agony.

  The two security guards with guns moved forward so that he could see they were still there, and the third man who had swung the baseball bat stood over him smiling, before hitting the same arm again, despite Price’s best efforts to move.

  “Get back on the chair Mr Price. Or I will have you shot in the head. RIGHT NOW!” Lucy said, shouting the last two words. Price, clinging to his arm, which he was sure was broken, stood up, picked up the chair with his left hand and sat down again, facing Lucy.