Unwelcome Protector

by Alexa Wallace

  He paused for a moment, his breath in her ear, as they both savoured the sense of being one body with shared movements and emotions. Then, as he began to move inside her, the rising urgency of his passion carried her with him. In the heat of their friction they clung to each other, driving with a pounding rhythm down a long, deep tunnel that passed through mysterious underground caverns toward a faint light that glowed in the distance. Slowly the light became brighter and brighter until she was bathed in its rays and cried out again and again in a voice she didn't recognise. She held him for a moment longer until his muscled body beneath her fingers quietened and the soft groans in her ears faded away.

  Afterward, she lay curled against him and realised for the first time that this was what emotional and physical love felt like when merged in a single act of completeness. This was what she had now placed at risk between them by keeping secret her plans for tonight. She still had time to change her mind, but her course was set. She turned her face into his chest and slowly drifted into sleep.

  CHAPTER 9

  Ada woke and checked her old phone. It was just after ten. Time to leave. The new phone showed no messages. That meant, she assumed, that Ralph's plans were on schedule and that he would call Alex when he was ready to move.

  The bedside lamp cast a subdued glow over the room. She looked at Alex, sprawled like a naked sleeping surfer on sandy coloured sheets. She wanted to reach out and stroke him, but dared not for fear of waking him. She had to go quietly and avoid all explanations. Time enough for explaining later.

  She collected her scattered clothing and stowed it with the phones in her bag. The pendant glittered on the bedside table. She hung it around her neck, picked up her sandals and the bag, and tiptoed into the bathroom. A thirty-second shower was all she allowed herself. She dried herself hurriedly and dragged on her fresh jeans and T-shirt.

  On the way out, she peeked for the quickest of moments at the tanned man stretched out on the bed. She couldn't bear to look any longer. When he woke and found out what she'd done, would he ever want to look at her again? No time to wonder, no time to imagine what might come. She was old enough to take responsibility for her actions. She had to think one step at a time. First Zina at midnight, then the exchange of the code copies for her grandfather, then the call to Alex to explain her deception, and then... what?

  She set down the bag on the sofa where she and Alex had sat and removed the phones and pocketed them. She found the second memory stick in its hiding place in her make-up kit and slid it into a side pocket in her jeans. The bag had done its job for the time being. She left it where it was and walked quietly out of the apartment and into the lift.

  Outside in the street the tears began to come, tears of frustration at the position Zina had put her in, tears of shame for the lies she told to the man she now knew she loved, tears of fear for the future. She must have looked a sight to passers-by, if any had bothered to look at the unhappy face and the tired steps of the young woman in their way. But maybe not. This was Bondi Beach after all, and the sad stories were as many as the happy ones. Perhaps the passers-by had seen it all before.

  She hailed a cab and headed for Rushcutters Bay. Zina's midnight deadline was less than an hour away. Traffic was still heavy on New South Head Road and the time dragged. Eventually the taxi pulled off the highway at Rushcutters Bay and pulled up outside the entrance to the Cruising Yacht Club, home of the famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

  After the cab had gone Ada stood for some time under the entrance lights, trying to plan her moves. The place was quiet. Now and again small groups of club members exited from the restaurant and moved off into the night. She checked the phones in her jeans pockets. The old phone was in her left pocket. She took out the new phone and switched it off. Alex would try to ring her when he found her gone and she wanted the phone's existence to remain a secret from Zina.

  She walked around the corner of the club building into the park and stood under the tall, spreading fig tree near the marina entrance. Hundreds of yachts, bobbing at their moorings, ship bells tinkling, covered one side of the bay like a carpet that extended into the distance toward the inner harbour. Somewhere out there where the pale floodlights gave way to darkness, was Zina.

  'You're early, Miss Byron,' said a thin voice from behind the entrance gate.

  'Zina appreciates punctuality, Mr Twist.'

  'Please come into the light.'

  Ada went through the gate into the cafe area and waited for Twist to complete his visual inspection. Her skin crawled.

  'Are you carrying a weapon?' he said.

  'I'm not the violent type, Mr Twist.'

  His lips drew into a thin, tight smile. 'Mr Tursunov might disagree. Please hand over your phone.'

  She took out the old phone and passed it to him. 'Is Tursunov here?'

  'He's occupied elsewhere at the moment, but he's looking forward to meeting you later.'

  'I want to speak to my grandfather.'

  Twist ignored the question. 'I'm very glad you've decided to see things our way. Did you really think you could steal Zina's property and get away with it?'

  'Don't lecture me, you weasel. Where's my grandfather?'

  'My job is to take you to Zina,' he said coldly. 'She'll answer all your questions.'

  His dismissive tone made Ada fear the worst. Had Zina decided not to release George? This was the one possibility she'd refused to consider in her planning. She could see no logic in Zina acting this way, unless she wanted to trade more than just the code. But what else could she want? Or had she simply gone beyond logic and was acting now out of retaliation or revenge?

  She followed Twist along a series of connected boardwalks past sailboats of all sizes toward a set of wide moorings for larger vessels. Twist stopped and pointed to a long, low-slung yacht ahead that dwarfed others around it. Its silver sheen glinted with a ghostly glow under the floodlights.

  'She's called Radiance,' Twist said in a fawning tone. 'Isn't she beautiful?'

  'Take me to Zina,' Ada said coldly.

  Twist's face hardened in the pale light. He turned and led the way down the boardwalk to the yacht.

  Once Ada had stepped on board, Twist ignored her and disappeared down into the cabin. She leaned on the rails and gazed out toward the inner harbour. The breeze was cool and the moon was full. A silver yacht under a silver moon was hardly the setting for the grim transaction she was about to conduct.

  She heard footsteps behind her and caught the aroma of expensive perfume in the air. She made no effort to turn around.

  'Are you sulking, my dear? Mr Twist said you were most disagreeable.'

  Ada turned to face Zina, who stood relaxed and calm in a silvery grey business suit.

  'I have no need to feel agreeable toward you, or to him. I'm here to see my grandfather. Where is he?'

  'Unfortunately, George couldn't be here. The day's events have been a strain on him. He's resting elsewhere. I'll take you to him later.'

  Ada tried to hide the dazed feeling that overtook her. She had to accept that her plan of a simple exchange, the code for her grandfather, had been naïve. She should never have trusted Zina to uphold her side of the bargain. And this now meant that everything else had been thrown into jeopardy. If George was not here, he could still only be underground, still a prisoner, still under guard. And that in turn meant that Alex was in danger, the danger that Ada had wanted to eliminate by dealing directly with Zina.

  The only positive was that Zina was still unaware that her underground prison was not the secret location she thought it was. That still gave Alex the advantage. He would be awake now. What was he thinking of her? She felt a sudden urge to weep with frustration.

  'I've been unsure of your alliances, Ada,' Zina said. 'That's why I was unwilling to bring George here tonight. Your valiant knight Marlowe is not your only defender, I hear. My security people have told me of comings and goings at the Vaucluse house that indicate his father has also joined the fra
y, which means more witnesses to our arrangements. I have no idea of his plans so I had no other choice but to anticipate trouble. Therefore, no George. I'm angry with you, Ada, for complicating this matter and making everything worse.'

  Ada's urge to weep became an urge to rush at Zina and push her overboard. 'You're accusing me of making things worse?' she almost shouted. 'How can you be such a hypocrite? You had no need to kidnap my grandfather—yes, kidnap!—just to get your damned code back. At first I just wanted to hold the code for my own protection. I thought I would never need it. I thought you would eventually stop corrupting that satellite software and our lives would return to normal. But then Twist threatened me and chased me with his drones in the middle the night, and then you kidnapped George. Now I can see you have no intention of stopping what you're doing. I'm angry with you too, Zina, for the first time I can ever remember.'

  'I won't apologise, Ada. I've told you how trapped I am, how my hands are tied by associates who expect me to honour my contracts. I may have been unwise in signing certain deals, but I am nevertheless bound by them. I'm dealing with hard people and I must make hard choices.'

  'I don't believe you. You have enough contacts and influence to free yourself from the mess you've put yourself in. Don't pretend to be helpless. There's never been anything helpless about you.'

  Zina smiled as if to admit the game was up. 'You're right, my dear, I've always been strong. I wanted to impart some of that strength to you as a child, and I can see I've done so. Do you remember the games of hide and seek we played, and how I trained that little girl to find her way out of the most impossible situations? I'm proud of you Ada, but you're only one step away from becoming my enemy. Do you want that to happen?'

  'Take me to my grandfather, and then you can have your code.'

  'That's not the way it works, my dear.' She put out her hand. 'Both copies please.'

  Twist had appeared on the cabin stairway and looked on with a menacing sneer. Ada realised she had no choice but to comply or Twist would take the code from her. What a mess she'd made of the whole thing. She'd planned to give up the code but not without her grandfather. Now she would lose her bargaining chips for no return. She'd been a fool for not anticipating a betrayal. If Alex had been here he would have been boiling with anger.

  She found the memory stick in her jeans pocket and passed it to Zina. Then she paused.

  'No more games,' Zina said impatiently. 'The second copy.'

  Ada pulled the pendant from under her T-shirt and extracted the second stick from the blue triangle.

  Zina smiled. 'Ingenious. I thought you said you'd lost it. You always did enjoy your little fibs. Well, we'll say no more about it.'

  She handed both copies to Twist who slipped the sticks into his wallet with a low chuckle. He hurried along the length of the yacht and detached two mooring lines from their poles, then hurried back and climbed into the wheelhouse.

  Ada felt the yacht tremble beneath her feet as the heavy motors rumbled into life. 'Where are we going?' she said.

  'To the castle dungeon, my dear. Did you know I had an underground castle in the centre of the city? The city has many secrets. You'll be surprised when you see this one.' She gestured to a couple of deck chairs. 'Let's relax and enjoy the ride. Mr Twist is an excellent pilot. We'll be at Circular Quay in fifteen minutes.'

  Ada knew exactly where they were going but it was to her advantage to pretend ignorance. She also had the advantage of the second phone in her side pocket that Twist, for all his cunning, had failed to anticipate. She needed an opportunity to call Alex and tell him about her movements and what to expect. He would be on his way by now, somewhere in the city. If he went underground thinking he had the element of surprise on his side, he would be in danger if surprised by Zina and Twist. With a vehicle at Circular Quay, Zina could be at St James station in five minutes.

  She badly wanted to explain her actions to him. What would his voice sound like? Would he be cold and bitter? Perhaps they would meet face to face in a tunnel thirty minutes from now. When he saw her, would he think that she'd joined forces with Zina? She imagined his angry brown eyes in front of her, accusing.

  Alex woke and for a moment was unaware of his surroundings. He could dimly hear the crashing waves and the night sounds of the distant beach. Soon his eyes adjusted to the glow from the bedside lamp and he remembered.

  He stretched out his arm. She'd coiled and uncoiled herself beside him so many times over the last two hours that to feel the space empty beside him was unsettling. She was the kind of woman he wanted to have with him: strong enough to tell him to go to hell, and soft enough to smooth down his hard edges. He felt her absence.

  He swung his feet onto the floor and listened, then walked into the corridor. Empty. The balcony. Deserted. In the lounge room he saw her overnight bag on the sofa, stuffed untidily with her used clothing. Nothing made sense. He retraced his steps and found himself back at the sofa.

  Had she gone outside in the street to get food? He found his phone in the bedroom and rang her number. No response. Switched off. Why? Had she been kidnapped? Don't be ridiculous. Called away urgently? By whom? And why leave without telling him? Had she decided to attempt a rescue of her grandfather alone? He'd had no hint of it from her, no indication that she'd been thinking of such a thing.

  He sank slowly into an armchair, trying to ignore the hard, cold lump at the pit of his stomach.

  Only one answer. She'd left of her own accord, and without a message. Why? After what they'd experienced together, after the words she'd spoken to him. True words—or so he'd thought. How could he stop now from thinking the worst?

  Had she all along been working with Zina against him? He couldn't bear to admit the possibility, because if it was true it was all happening again. The past was repeating itself. That would be too much to take. He'd told her he trusted her, that she was different from that other woman from years ago. But was she the same? Was she a traitor too? What was that old definition of a fool? Someone who does the same thing over and over and expects a different result. Was that him?

  If he'd been a boy he would have cried, but because he was a man he got angry. And that made him think coldly. If she was working against him that meant he, and his father, could be walking into a trap.

  He rang Ralph and told him what had happened, trying hard to keep the emotion out of his voice.

  'I think you're wrong,' his father said. 'Maybe she's trying to resolve things on her own. I can't imagine how, but we have to hope she contacts you and explains. I have more faith in her than you. I saw the way she looked at you this afternoon.'

  'You're suggesting I give her the benefit of the doubt? That's a big risk, given what's at stake.'

  'We need to go ahead as planned, starting right now. You're closer to the city. You'll get there before us. I'm on the north side with Zac and Tony. Don't wait for us. Zac will use his speedboat from Manly to get to the Quay. I'll bring the SUV. Whatever the truth about Ada, it's her grandfather who's the innocent in all this. We've got to do what we can to help him'

  Alex knew his father was right, but he found it hard to swallow the bitter taste in his mouth. Beneath his anger and hurt was still the faint hope that maybe Ada really was trying in some misguided way to eliminate the danger to them all by thwarting Zina's efforts. If so, by excluding him she'd chosen the wrong way to go about it. What had their lovemaking meant if all along she'd been hiding her plans from him? Had it all been false? Whatever her intentions, whatever tonight's outcome, her lack of trust was unforgivable. Caring for her had become a liability.

  He showered and dressed quickly, then filled his rucksack with the few items he needed to move fast and defend himself underground: the torch he'd found earlier, his father's Colt, a thick pair of gloves from the kitchen toolkit. His eyes fell on the map that Ada had drawn for him. She'd insisted he have it. She'd known then, probably earlier, that he would be alone in the tunnels. He clenched his teeth to suppress the ri
sing anger again. No more time to waste on emotions that might lead him into error. They had to be thrust away. He couldn't afford to lose his cool.

  He checked his phone. It was well after midnight. Outside he hailed a cab and headed down Bondi Road toward the city. The traffic was still heavy along Oxford Street as the night crowds began to desert the city and file home to the eastern suburbs. When the cab pulled up outside St James station the streets were quiet.

  He forced his way through the turnstiles at the platform entrance and hurried down the steps to platform two. The screens showed ten minutes to the next train. According to Ada's map he could reach the first door connecting to the unused tunnel within a few minutes. Plenty of time.

  He stared at the neat writing on the map and recalled how innocent she'd looked when sketching it. He was still puzzled and angry, and spoiling for a fight. Ahead of him was a battle with Tursunov and Twist and whoever else got in his way. He looked forward to it. He was almost hoping he could do battle with Ada as well.

  CHAPTER 10

  Ada sat quietly on the deck chair near Zina and tried to relax in the cool breeze. The yacht moved swiftly and smoothly through the waves toward the hanging cobweb of lights on the Harbour Bridge in the distance. Zina leaned toward her once and smiled, but the words she spoke were lost in the wind.

  Ada desperately wanted to use the phone in her pocket to contact Alex, but she would have no chance until they docked at Circular Quay. All he needed was a short message to warn him that Zina was on her way. If she went down into the cabin now, Zina would follow her.

  Twist turned occasionally from his perch in the wheelhouse to stare at her with his narrow, suspicious eyes. Ada ignored him and tried to think one step ahead. Could she try making a move when they docked? Like what? Run away, call for the police? How would that help her grandfather? Would it force Zina into an extreme act of retaliation? She couldn't take that chance. If Zina was telling the truth about being under pressure from her foreign business associates, she might be desperate enough, if threatened, to end the whole kidnapping violently. She might order Twist and Tursunov to get rid of the evidence—Ada and her grandfather—in one final act. Would she do it? Ada was increasingly afraid that she would.