by Storm Chase
It was a horror movie, Pandora thought. But part of her knew it could be done. When terrorists had blown up the trains in London, the police had caught the gang by backtracking their every step on CCTV.
Xavier sipped his beer. “Your man wasn’t coming out of his office, he was hanging around downstairs, waiting for you. The real Brigadier Reeves was upstairs. You never met him.”
Pandora gaped at him. “Oh my God. I should be shot. No wonder Sir Harry was mad at me.”
“He was worried because you aren’t one of us,” Xavier said dryly.
“Oh my God! Sir Harry is a traitor too?”
Xavier shrugged. “He’s been working with us forever. Does that make him a traitor or a successful operative?”
Pandora was reeling. “I can’t believe it,” she whispered.
“When you took those files, my people assumed you were working for the competition. We’re talking about a multi-billion dollar business here. Nobody plays nice. The second you fell for the false flag, your card was marked.”
“False flag?” It was like he was speaking a foreign language.
“It comes from shipping. Boats display flags to show whose side they are on. Your brigadier pretended to be on your side so you’d cooperate. Standard procedure.”
“He’s definitely military,” Pandora said worriedly. “I know it. He wasn’t acting. He’s been in the army. He was so… regimental. Oh my God, he must be working for a foreign power!” Pandora felt queasy at the thought of what she’d done.
Xavier shrugged. “We’re having territorial problems with several other groups. He could be working for a national agency somewhere, our competition or he might be freelance. I took his picture and sent it on. Now it’s someone else’s problem.”
Seeing Pandora was shocked, Xavier’s hand squeezed hers reassuringly. “After my people got a lead on the brigadier they were going to take you out. I stopped them and made them bring you to me.”
Pandora stared at him. He sounded like a madman. “I just gave him Sir Harry’s engagement diary,” she said. “It can’t have been that big a deal.”
Xavier sighed. “Your brigadier gave you a pen drive to use, didn’t he? Well, the second you put that in, you uploaded a Trojan.”
Pandora stared at him. “Like spyware? Oh no!”
“Yes. Whoever they were, that Trojan was designed to copy and transmit everything on that computer.”
She felt sick again.
“It’s okay,” Xavier said. “I wrote an algorithm that altered all the information they downloaded. Everything they got was wrong; not very wrong but just inaccurate enough to cause them lots of problems.”
“You can do that?”
“Yup. I’m the best.”
He didn’t sound smug or arrogant. He sounded like it was a fact. Pandora hoped fervently he was right. Even if Sir Harry were a traitor, she didn’t want to be responsible for an information leak.
“When they realised something was wrong, they contacted you again,” Xavier said. “And we were waiting for them.” Xavier saw her shiver. “It wasn’t supposed to be this tough on you,” he said gently. “I’d arranged for you to be flown straight to me but the airport here was closed down because of a bomb scare and you ended up on a freighter train for the last part of the trip.”
It explained why she’d been so filthy but not why he was so obsessed with her. “Why not just leave me alone?” she asked. “You got his picture. You must know that I know nothing about this.”
“You hand something over once, you might do it again,” Xavier shrugged. “You became a threat to us. My people wanted to take you out the day you took that file. I had to talk them out of it. I had to go to the Committee and they only allowed it because I insisted. They also thought it might give them a lead on the competition. However, watching you for weeks cost a fortune and we can’t do it forever; it’s too expensive.”
Pandora gazed at him in disbelief. “They were going to kill me? They’d never get away with that!”
“It would have been easy. A traffic accident. Or in your case, suicide after being depressed from calling off your wedding. The plan was to put a suicide note in your pocket and to shove you in front of the train one morning before work.”
Pandora went white. Xavier was right. In the last few weeks there had been times when she’d thought of killing herself. Would anyone have asked questions? She had the uncomfortable feeling they wouldn’t have. Her father in particular would have thought it just another example of her general cowardliness and stupidity.
“But now you’re here, safe and sound,” Xavier smiled. “So it’s all fine.”
Pandora gaped at him. The wine was now kicking in and fuelling her courage. “It’s not fine,” she said. “You’ve no right to spy on me! Or to abduct me and keep me here!”
His face went blank.
“Do you think I should be grateful?” Pandora said hotly. “Am I supposed to model all that lingerie for you?”
He sighed. “I hoped it wouldn’t be like this,” he remarked.
“I want to go home,” Pandora said. To her horror her voice broke. She could feel hot tears filling her eyes.
He put an arm around her. “Please don’t cry, Pandora. I hate it when you cry.”
Pandora shuddered. “Get off me!” she screamed. She slid out of his grasp and went running blankly out of the kitchen and into the big bathroom. She slammed the door behind her, locked it and burst into tears.
She had no idea how long she cried but by the time she raised her head it was dark outside.
There wasn’t a sound in the apartment. Dully, Pandora wondered what to do. She couldn’t stay in here forever. Ironically this door had a simple lock. He’d kick it open in a second if he wanted to.
The fact that he hadn’t was good. If he liked her, maybe she could persuade him to let her go. Shakily she stood up. Her face was blurred from crying. A wash with icy cold water helped reduce the puffiness a little. On the other hand, maybe it was all right to look this bad. Maybe he’d pity her. A part of her was surprised that she could think this clearly, and that she could be so manipulative. But this wasn’t the time for self-analysis or self-criticism. She had to get out of there.
Pandora hesitated before unlocking the door. Then she steeled herself. She’d have to take her chances and hope she could get through to him.
He was in the living room typing away at one of his computers. He looked up at her. “Better?” he asked calmly.
Pandora resisted the temptation to scream at him. “I want to talk to you,” she said.
“In a minute. Let me finish this.”
Pandora twitched impatiently as he continued typing. “There’s aspirin in the bathroom,” he suggested. “It will clear your headache.”
She looked at him sharply. “How did you know I have a headache?”
“I have eyes,” he said mildly. “You always have a headache after you’ve been crying.” He went back to his keyboard. Pandora decided she wouldn’t take any aspirin. Her body had been drugged enough over the last few days. Aspirin might just burn a hole in her stomach or something.
Five minutes later, he stood up. “All done for the day,” he announced.
“I want to talk to you,” Pandora said.
“Wait a minute.” He went off and came back with two glasses of wine and half a Mars bar. “Here,” he said, “caramel goes great with wine.”
Mindlessly Pandora ate it. She ignored the Chardonnay. She’d had enough for Dutch courage but she didn’t want to get drunk.
“Can’t you see that this isn’t right?” she said carefully. “You can’t just go about kidnapping people.”
“You’ve said this already.”
“And I’m saying it again,” Pandora said fiercely. “I made a mistake but I have a life, you know.”
He sat down and watched her. “Don’t you like the wine?” he asked.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Yes. I heard you the oth
er time too.”
Pandora thought she could have handled rage or threats better than this calm response. He was exasperating, she thought furiously. How could she get through to him?
“You’re even more beautiful than I thought,” Xavier said softly. “You have the most wonderful skin. And I love the way your hair curls around your face.”
“Xavier, listen to me: I want to go home,” Pandora said tartly.
He shrugged. “That’s impossible, Panda.”
She could have screamed. “I don’t want to be here,” she enunciated.
His eyes flickered. “You’ll change your mind.”
“I won’t! I want to go home!” Pandora heard in surprise that her words sounded like echoes. “Something’s weird,” she whispered. “My voice is all strange in my head.”
“I spiked your Mars bar,” Xavier said calmly. “Come on.” He picked her up effortlessly and toted her to the bedroom. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”
Chapter Four
Pandora tried to push him away but she was making no impression on him. He was immensely strong.
He was talking softly to her but his words were chilling, “It’s all right, it’s not anything nasty like a Roofie. You’re not going to pass out. Just relax.”
He put her on the bed and sat down next to her with his arms around her. Shoving him or hitting him with her hands had no effect, so Pandora leaned in and bit him on the shoulder. It didn’t have the result she’d hoped for. He simply flipped her face down onto the bed and lay on top of her.
“Hey, that hurt!” he said in her ear.
She kicked up as hard as she could but he held her down easily. Thoroughly frightened, Pandora burst into tears.
“No, no, no, don’t cry!” Instantly he sat her up and hugged her. “Why are you all upset? This shouldn’t be happening. You’re supposed to be all relaxed and happy.”
“Are you insane?” Pandora sobbed. “You’re trying to rape me!”
“I’m not!” Xavier sounded horrified. “I knew you’d be frightened so I gave you some PT141. They call it the libido boost. They said it would help you.”
With a clarity of mind that astounded Pandora she realised he was truly dismayed; instinctively she took advantage. “I thought you were my friend!” she cried. “All those weeks when you were sending me those messages, I thought you liked me.”
“I do! Why do you think you’re here?”
Pandora pushed him away. “I don’t want to do this!”
“All right, all right.” He let her sit up by herself and sat next to her, leaning slightly away. “I’d never hurt you, Pandora, never!”
Shuddering sobs racked her. “I want to go home!”
“Pandora, please, just sit still a little while, all right? Calm down, catch your breath. You sound very stressed.”
Anger overcame fear. “Of course I’m stressed! How do you think I should feel?” she snapped.
Xavier rubbed her shoulders with one hand. “You’ll have to tell me,” he said quietly. “I have a problem: I have feelings but I can’t see what other people are feeling.”
“What?”
“Emotions are like Braille to me, Pandora. If you cry I’ll know you’re sad and if you’re smiling I know you’re happy but that’s about it. I have to guess the rest.”
Pandora stared at him. “You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not. I really can’t tell. I’ve always been like this. I don’t connect much with people, not even when I want to. I tried to prepare for this but clearly I got it wrong.” He sounded a little worried.
Pandora was suspicious. Was this a trick to keep her talking until whatever he’d spiked the chocolate with began to work? Her voice sounded odd in her ears, it echoed a little, but her body felt okay. That sick feeling had definitely gone away.
He was rubbing her back reassuringly with one hand. “I thought you’d be frightened but my people said you’d come round as soon as you realised I’d saved your life.”
“Did they?” Pandora said dryly. “And did they think that as they were threatening me, and you work with them, that your rescue might not exactly mean much?”
The second the words were out of her mouth she froze with horror. She was supposed to keep him calm. Talking back was going to infuriate him. She held her breath as she waited for him to rage at her.
“I thought that too,” Xavier admitted, “but they said it wouldn’t matter. They said that as long as you knew I was the one protecting you, you’d like me. It’s quite common.”
“Stockholm syndrome,” Pandora said.
“Like that, except that usually means threatening or beating someone first and I’d never hurt you, Pandora. Never!”
At least that was a relief to hear. Pandora looked at him. He was looking at her in a friendly way. Icy cold Xavier had vanished again.
“You already like me,” he said. “I saw you smile every time I sent you a text. We’re friends.”
Pandora was silent. They weren’t friends but there was a kernel of truth in what he was saying. She was scared— if it hadn’t been Xavier sitting next to her, she’d have been screaming. But friends? He had to be quite mad to think they were friends.
“This isn’t real,” Pandora said eventually. “Spies and assassination. Drugging and kidnapping. It’s like a film. It doesn’t happen in real life. People can’t just die or disappear.”
Xavier shook his head. “You read the papers, Pandora,” he chided her. “You read about that Libyan who just got a few million because the British government spirited him and his entire family back to Libya where he was tortured. He only got out because Gaddafi fell. Otherwise nobody would have known. And he’s just one of many who disappear without a trace. How do you think people end up in Guantanamo Bay? You don’t get there by Ryan Air.”
“But that’s terrorists!”
“Terrorists, freedom fighters, industrial secrets, scientific research: it’s all the same thing. If there’s power or money at stake, there’s someone who will pay to remove obstacles. And there are plenty of people who will take on the work, no questions asked.”
Pandora closed her eyes. Her father told Bosnia war stories the same way. She’d nodded but tried not to listen. She didn’t want to know. She didn’t want to hear what Xavier was telling her either. “It can’t be true,” she protested.
“Panda, what do you think Mac does for a living?”
“Who’s Mac?”
“He brought you here.”
“The fake policeman.”
“Mac used to be military. Special ops. Now he specialises in transport. People mostly.”
Pandora’s eyes snapped wide open. “Come on! I don’t believe you.”
“He used to head a rendition team. Mac’s caught up with the world’s most wanted terrorists in the last decade. Now he’s strictly business. If you’ve got an ex who’s taken your kid abroad after a nasty divorce, or if an executive has been kidnapped for a ransom, Mac will get them back for you.”
Her memory flashed up a picture. “I was in a hospital. He was asking a lot of questions.”
“You were being debriefed. The Committee wanted to make certain you were straight. Mac’s pretty good at that. He gave you some SP117. It helped you talk and it’s painless and efficient. I insisted they use him.”
Her mouth opened and closed. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. But she remembered the way she’d babbled on and on at that hospital, and she had the marks on her arms to show it had truly happened. And she was here. Wherever here was.
“Where is this place?”
“Kinshasa.”
It sounded like a sneeze. It meant nothing to her.
“DRC. We’re in the Congo, Panda.”
Part of her thought it was a lie, but she remembered the odd looking trees and the strange sticky air. She knew she truly was in Africa.
“I’m working a job here for a little while,” Xavier said chattily. “I’ve done the set-up and the real work
starts tomorrow. You’re lucky you got here now because I’ve got a bit of time.”
She wanted to snap at him but she didn’t want to make him angry. For all his protestations that he wouldn’t hurt her, she felt very vulnerable.
There was a loud buzzing. “I shouldn’t have said that,” Xavier said ruefully. He fished a mobile out of his jeans. “I have to take this, Pandora.”
He punched the call button. “Yes,” he said coldly. He listened. “All right. In five minutes and we keep it short.” He snapped the phone shut and turned to Pandora with a sigh. “I have to see some people. They’ll be here in a minute.”
“Your people?” Pandora asked shakily.
He shrugged. “Yes, with the client. Look Panda, you’re exhausted and it looks like I’ve totally messed this up. Please, have a bath or a glass of wine and relax. I don’t want you to be afraid. We can talk after.”
His eyes were worried. Pandora thought he meant what he said.
“It’s funny that the libido boost isn’t working,” he said with a slight frown. “It’s supposed to be excellent.”
“Maybe you can get your money back,” Pandora said dryly.
“Oh, I didn’t pay for it. But I’ll pass the word along.”
Pandora realised that Xavier truly couldn’t detect emotion. Sarcasm was clearly a closed book. She tried not to flinch as he gave her a quick hug. There was no point in angering him.
“Stay out of the way while I’m talking to these people, Pandora. They’ve got a thing for blue eyed blondes here and I don’t want you to be hassled. You’ve had a busy few days.”
Was he kidding? Pandora sat and stared at him with her mouth open.
He was on his feet and looking down at her. “Are you feeling all right? Are you still frightened? Your eyes are a bit funny.”
What could she say? “I’ll be all right.”
“Good. Do you want some more wine?”
Pandora frowned. Part of her wanted to get smashed. To seek happy oblivion. But it was too dangerous. “No, I’ll just sit a while.”
There were voices coming from the other room. His people had arrived. “I’ll try to keep this short, Pandora. Don’t worry, all right?”