Stealing Asia

by David Clarkson

I tried again and this time it slowly opened with a creek. It must have been the saltwater affecting the hinges, as it had never made that sound before. The senator had dismissed staff for much more minor offences than forgetting to oil a stiff hinge.

  When I passed to the other side, it slammed behind me and I found Esteban standing by my side. He offered me his arm and I took it without thinking. The room had vastly increased in size since the last time I was there and the senator’s desk was so far away, that it looked no bigger than a piece of toy furniture in a dolls house. As we got closer, I could see that there was somebody standing in front of the desk.

  ‘What is happening?’ I asked Esteban. ‘Why are you taking me to him?’

  ‘I am doing what I was paid to do,’ he replied. ‘Your father has your best interest at heart or else he would never have hired me.’

  That man is not my father. He never was and he never will be.

  ‘We have to turn around,’ I said. ‘He wants to kill me.’

  ‘Nonsense,’ Esteban replied. ‘He only wants for you to be happy. That is why he asked me to give you away for him.’

  As we got closer to the desk, I could see the person standing before it more closely. It was my Ben. He had his back to me, but I knew it was him. That is what Esteban had meant when he said that he was giving me away. I was getting married. I no longer felt nervous or afraid and I pulled my arm free of Esteban and ran toward my lover. Throwing my arms open to embrace him, he turned around as I got close, which caused me to stop and freeze with terror.

  ‘No!’ I screamed. ‘That’s impossible. It cannot be you.’

  The figure now standing before me was not my Ben at all. It was Clay. He was still soaking wet from when I had pushed him into the ocean. The lapel of his coat had two legs of a starfish poking out of it. The senator was sat behind his desk. He stood and walked around to face Clay and me. When I looked behind me, Esteban had vanished. I turned back to the senator who was now dressed in priestly robes.

  ‘What have you done with Ben?’ I demanded.

  ‘Calm down, child,’ he replied. ‘Ben is perfectly safe. He is at the bottom of the ocean where nobody can harm him.’

  I shook my head more in resignation than defiance. My legs felt weak and I no longer had the strength to run away. The senator placed one of his hands on my wrist and his other on that of Clay.

  ‘Til death do you part,’ he said.’

  My whole world imploded. Everything was sucked inwards until nothing remained and I was left teetering precariously on the edge of an ever shrinking platform. Then I fell. I landed sat bolt upright on a strange bed. The sun shone in through a small port hole and by the time I was able to take in the change of surrounds, I was already starting to forget everything that had just happened. My head felt numb and there was soreness in my back. Then I realised that I was not alone.

  ‘Good morning, honey,’ said a voice. ‘Now that you’re awake, you and me have a lot to talk about.’

  This time I was not dreaming. A nightmare could never be so cruel. The night before, I had pushed one of my captors overboard and in doing so might ultimately have cost Ben his life. I now knew that his sacrifice was for nothing. Leaning casually against the door of the cabin was Clay and he looked pleased to see me. Too pleased.

  Chapter 5

  It was as if the previous evening had never happened. I could only guess at how Clay had managed to get back onboard the boat. He continued to flirt and tease me as if I had never pushed him into the sea at all. There was, however, a detectable change in his manner. It was barely noticeable, but I could swear that he was nervous. Whether his anxiety had been triggered by Barrett or something else was indeterminable. All I knew was that something or someone was making him uneasy and it was certainly not me.

  The morning passed much as it had done on previous days. After Clay left, I was confined to my cell until lunch time. All I could think about during this time was Ben. I wondered where he was and if he was even still alive. My hopes of Esteban coming to save the day were also diminishing fast. There was a chance that he could have gone to the authorities. I guessed that we were in international waters, so there was nothing that the police could do anyway. He could also have approached the senator directly. That did not bear thinking about for either Esteban’s wellbeing or my own.

  A rumble from my tummy told me that it was almost time to eat. Would I try and seduce the guard again? Probably not. I had completely lost the will for that kind of thing. It now seemed that my best chance for survival would be to co-operate. I had no more bargaining tricks. I was now at the mercy of whoever was directing Clay and Barrett’s actions. That could literally have been anyone knowing the number of enemies that the senator had built up over the years.

  There was a knock on the door. This meant it was Clay, as Barrett would just barge in.

  ‘Come in,’ I said, although he knew as well as I, that no permission was required.

  He opened the door, but did not take up my invitation. Barrett was not with him, but he was flanked by a guard.

  ‘Time to go,’ he said.

  ‘Home?’ I replied, somewhat optimistically.

  ‘Not yet,’ he said. ‘First, we have to attend to business. I know that your father is no rock star, but you are still worth a considerable amount of money to some people. It’s time you were introduced to my employer.’

  I followed him along the now familiar corridor towards the control room. The guard remained behind me, probably with his gun pointed at my backside. Barrett was waiting for us inside. The guard took up a post outside of the door as Clay and I entered. I got the impression I was not the only one under supervision. After the weakness he had already shown around me, I guessed Barrett did not want Clay to be left alone with me for fear of another mishap.

  ‘Any funny business and you get a bullet,’ said Barrett. ‘Do you understand?’

  I nodded. He was sitting at one corner of the control desk with a gun in his lap.

  ‘I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?’

  This time his words were like a screwdriver in my ear. Now there is a pleasant image. I actually saw that once; a screwdriver being jammed into some guy’s ear. Obviously, not in real life; it was a movie. My world had become so fucked up over the past week that celluloid was the only basis I had to relate the experiences I was going through. Being in close proximity to Barrett brought back a lot of random memories like that. I am sure that he would not hesitate in sticking a screwdriver in someone’s ear should the opportunity arise.

  ‘Yes, I understand,’ I told him. ‘You already took away the only thing that ever meant anything to me, so why would I even want to escape? If you have to use that gun on me, it will be because I want you to.’

  ‘Relax,’ urged Clay, who looked as if he could do with following his own advice.

  He placed his hand on my shoulder to offer reassurance, but quickly removed it under a mean glare from his partner. If the pair of them did make any money out of this venture, it would certainly be interesting to watch them try and come to an amicable arrangement for dividing their spoils.

  There were two empty chairs by the console and Clay dragged one out of arms reach of the controls before asking me to sit on it. It had a bare metallic frame. I expected him to call his boss, but the three of us just sat in silence. In the corner, a clock was noisily ticking over. As the hands fell into place to signal that it was one o’clock, the console lit up and began to buzz.

  ‘Do not speak unless asked, okay,’ said Clay, before picking up the receiver. Despite the balance of their alliance being more strongly tipped in Barrett’s favour, Clay was still the best negotiator. ‘Ocean viper,’ he began, to take the call.

  I tried my best not to let out a giggle, but found it too hard. Clay ignored me whilst Barrett shifted menacingly in his seat. I knew that he wanted to hit me. At least that helped me to guess which of them had come up with the ridiculous call sign. As Clay listened to the person on the other end of
the line he played around with various switches. Speakers above the console burst into life.

  ‘...giving you any problems.’

  The voice sent a chill through my bones, but I needed to hear it again to be certain.

  ‘She’s been no trouble whatsoever,’ replied Clay, who no longer needed to talk into the mouthpiece now that the call was on speakerphone.

  ‘That’s good to hear. You need to make sure that she does not try anything stupid that could compromise the mission. If she discovers anything about why she is being held, she could cause trouble for a lot of people.’

  ‘Even we don’t know the answer to that riddle. You’ve been quite adept at keeping us in the dark. It would be nice to know why she is so important to you.’

  He looked back for my reaction. I gave none.

  ‘You do not need to know any more than I have told you already,’ said the voice, through the speakers. ‘I am not paying you to ask questions.’

  ‘Maybe you aren’t paying us enough then.’

  I could see Barrett tense as his partner began to press for a better deal. The two were in over their heads way more than either could possibly have imagined.

  ‘The terms are non-negotiable,’ said the voice.

  Clay was more relaxed than his friend and the more he sensed a challenge, the more he seemed to like it. His confidence was hopelessly misplaced.

  ‘Everything is negotiable,’ he replied. ‘When we agreed to this deal we were not advised that there were other interested parties. My buddy got a knife in his back because we were not properly briefed on what to expect.’

  ‘I take it that you are referring to Señor Cruz.’

  Barrett beat the palm of his left hand with the fist of his right as he heard the Argentine’s name mentioned. I had been given little information about the skirmish between the two, but it was obvious Esteban had come out on top and that Barrett thought he had a score to settle.

  ‘So you do know who he is?’ asked Clay.

  ‘I know,’ was the stark reply.

  ‘So what do you plan on doing about it? We were paid to be kidnappers not assassins. If we have to take this guy out, it is going to cost you.’

  ‘He’s already been taken care of.’

  My stomach tightened. That was my last hope taken away. Barrett appeared frustrated, but Clay was undeterred. Whatever plan was ticking away in that head of his was still on course.

  ‘Whilst I’m glad to hear that jerk won’t be bothering us again, it does not change the fact that you need to up your offer considerably.’

  ‘Is that so?’

  ‘Yes, that is most definitely so. Clearly this girl is more important than you are letting on and if you are not prepared to tell us why, perhaps we should just ask her.’

  I could not stand being talked about in this way and wanted nothing more than to shrink out of existence. The direction the conversation was headed made me uncomfortable and could only serve to make my situation even more dire.

  ‘Have you spoken to her?’ asked the voice.

  Clay did not respond, waiting instead for the other man to draw his own conclusions.

  ‘You have spoken to her, haven’t you? What did she tell you?’

  Clay turned and offered me a wink to show that he had it all under control. He could not have been any more wrong.

  ‘Why don’t you ask her yourself,’ he replied.

  The bottom fell out of my world. First Ben, then Esteban and finally me; we were all dead.

  ‘Katherine is there,’ the voice bellowed. ‘Are you telling me she has been sat listening to this entire conversation?’

  Barrett descended into greater confusion than was normal even for him.

  ‘Who’s Katherine?’ the big man asked, hopelessly.

  Clay pushed his chair back and gestured for me to take the mike.

  ‘Yes, I’ve been here the whole time. I always knew you were scum, but to have your own stepdaughter kidnapped is beyond anything I ever feared possible. This is just some pathetic attempt at publicity, isn’t it? I bet I’m on the front page of every newspaper, whilst you do your best to try and secure my release. Just how many sympathy votes has this little stunt bought you, Mr Senator?’

  Barrett rose to his feet and he wanted blood. Shame for him he was yet to figure out just who’s. Clay, meanwhile, seemed happy to sit back and watch events play out. He was definitely up to something, but I could not for the life of me figure out what.

  ‘You should have done as you were told,’ said the senator. ‘The Peace Corps could have made something of you. By turning your back on my offer of salvation, you have truly damned yourself. I see no reason why I should not speed you on your way to Hell.’

  ‘What exactly are you saying, Senator Cole?’ asked Clay, who seemed to take delight in speaking the title of his criminal employer.

  ‘Kill her,’ replied the senator. ‘If she comes back to me in a body bag, I will gladly double your wages.’

  ‘You bastard!’ I screamed.

  I reached out to the speakers and wanted to rip them apart. Barrett stepped forward and pulled me away, shoving me back into my chair in the process. The force at which I landed caused it to topple over, sending me crashing to the floor. As he moved in to finish me off, I grabbed hold of the back of the chair and swung it around catching him hard on his left temple. I half expected the chair to buckle under the impact, but it kept its shape and Barrett crumbled limply to the floor.

  ‘Wait,’ began Clay, but I did not give him a chance to try and sweet talk his way out of this one.

  My fate was sealed unless I acted fast. I flung the chair at him before looking around for a better weapon. Barrett’s pistol was stuffed into the back of his belt and I grabbed it before turning to face Clay once more. He had managed to deflect the impact of the chair, but was not close enough to try and take the pistol from me.

  ‘What’s going on?’ demanded the senator, through the loudspeaker.

  I had heard enough of his voice and put a bullet into the speaker. It exploded in a burst of blue sparks. As I pointed the gun back at Clay, the broken speaker hissed in the background like a wounded snake.

  ‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ said Clay.

  The noise of the weapon discharging alerted the sentinel who had been waiting outside. The guard reached for his own handgun when he saw me, but Clay put up his hands to stop him. There was a brief exchange in a tongue that I did not understand and then the guard backed down and even stepped back out of the room, closing the door behind him. I kept my gun trained on Clay the whole time.

  ‘What’s happening?’ I demanded.

  ‘You have to trust me,’ he replied. ‘This is not what you think. You can still make it out of here alive, but you will have to do exactly as I say.’

  ‘Do you think I’m crazy?’

  ‘I think that you’re scared, but you shouldn’t be. Just put down the gun and I can help you. I can get you reunited with Ben within the hour.’

  ‘So you are going to kill me?’

  I stroked the trigger, having to exercise extreme self restraint not to squeeze it again.

  ‘Ben isn’t dead. He’s safe and I promise that you will be too. First, you have to give me the gun.’

  I wanted to believe him.

  ‘You’re lying. I saw Barrett throw Ben into the sea. Nobody could survive in those waters alone at night.’

  ‘I did,’ he replied, ‘and so did Ben. I guess he has your lucky charm to thank for that.’

  Was he referring to my locket? I made sure nobody saw me place it in Ben’s pocket and Clay was already overboard at that point. If he knew about the locket then he had to be telling the truth. Ben really was alive. There was something else too. He had called the senator by his name, a fact that he should not have been aware of. Could Clay really be on my side? I slowly lowered the gun.

  ‘Now give it to me,’ said Clay.

  All I could think about was seeing Ben again, so without t
hinking, I placed the weapon on the ground and then kicked it towards him. He caught it under his foot before stooping down to pick it up. He let out a sigh of relief and I thought that just maybe, I had done the right thing. Then without warning, his demeanour changed. There was a flash of aggression across his face and he raised the gun in my direction. This time he was not merely pointing it at my tits. I was given no time to react as the sound of the ejected bullet exploded into the air.

  Part 4

  Conclusion

  It was good to see Esteban again. After being cast adrift in the open ocean, I thought I was a goner for sure. The water had been close to freezing and it would not have taken long for hypothermia to set in. I discovered that it was thanks to Asia that I was found at all. Esteban said that he had planted a tracking device inside of her locket. Without that signal giving away my position, I would not have stood a chance.

  Esteban had many questions for me; almost as many as I had for him. Once I told him everything I could remember about the pirate’s boat, he said he was going to attempt a rescue right away. Five minutes later and he was back in my cabin followed closely by Manu, who held a gun to his back. Forty eight hours earlier this would have shocked me, but by this point, I had become numb to such occurrences. After all, what was one more double-cross between friends?

  ‘What did he offer you,’ asked Esteban, ‘a cut of the ransom money?’

  ‘You have it the wrong way round,’ replied Manu. ‘It was I that made the offer to him. I let him go so that he can bring us a far greater prize. He is going to deliver the senator.’

  I was already lost. No senator had been mentioned when I was interrogated by Clay. I wondered how much Asia knew that she had not told me.

  ‘Exactly who is “us”?’ asked Esteban.

  ‘Surely you’ve figured it out by now,’ replied Manu. ‘We’ve always been in the background. Hell, if you hadn’t run down that goon in Penang we may have had to reveal ourselves sooner. I was literally seconds away from pulling the trigger and taking him out myself.’