by Nova McBee
The boat. The barrels. The extra men. And I saw, no, felt the calculations unfold before my eyes.
My heart beat frantically now. We had to get off the boat.
My knee warmed. I looked down. Rafael’s hand was on it.
“Mila,” Rafael started, “I’ve been thinking about you since the last time, and I wanted to ask you something…” He searched for the right words.
The burning sensation in my knee raced up my body to my cheeks. What was he going to say? I really, really wanted to know. But not now. There was no time. I had to tell Guard San. But it dawned on me. King was below deck. Guard San was more than twenty feet from the compartment. I was less than ten feet from the ramp. I could escape.
But Rafael had to leave first, or Guard San would be suspicious.
“Rafael,” I said, breathless and determining how much longer we had, “get out.”
His face dropped into a frown. “Why?” he said, dejected.
I shook my head realizing how bad that sounded. “What I mean is, we can’t talk right now. Something is wrong.”
“Wrong with me?”
“No.”
For a split second I thought about how to tell him something without saying too much. But it was too complicated.
“Go take a walk on the port,” I blurted out.
His frown deepened.
“Sorry, that came out wrong again. I’ll meet you on the port in five minutes, ok?”
“Why not talk here? We are not supposed to leave the tanker.”
I tried another tactic. “Your dad’s car, on shore, is more private. You go first.”
“You don’t want to talk with me, do you?”
I wanted to scream that there wasn’t anyone I’d rather talk to right now, but if we stayed here, we may never be able to talk ever again. But I couldn’t. It wouldn’t come out because there were too many other things going through my mind.
“Just go. I’ll meet you there.”
But he didn’t leave; he tried to interpret my hidden cues instead of just listening to what I was saying. Ugh, boys!
He looked disappointed. “Look, I can take a hint, Mila. Fine, I’ll leave.”
Relief. I’d explain everything later. Now that he was going, I’d be free to run.
But instead of leaving the ship, he went further in.
No! Not in there! I inwardly groaned. “Rafael –”
But he didn’t answer. He headed to the stairs and into the mess I’d been trying to lead him away from.
My hand slapped down on the seat, stinging my palm. “Not on the ship! Not downstairs,” I said under my breath. “This is an ambush!”
24
Past: Mila
DOCKLANDS, SHANGHAI, CHINA
Run.
It was a horrible thought. But all the numbers said I could make it if I went now and left everyone behind, including Rafael.
After the last variable was put in place, I could discern everything clearly. This ship was going down.
Alexi had set a complex plan in motion to kill us and make it look like a container ship accident. But all the pieces weren’t ready yet.
The containers were being unloaded and reloaded unsystematically for a reason. My dad owned a boat—not a large container ship, but all boats had something in place for balance. Ballasts. In this case, unloading the boat unsystematically could disrupt the balance of the boat, it would topple to one side and capsize unless the ballasts were transferred.
Alexi added another component. Fire. I first became suspicious looking at their clothes. The shiny-ness looked like selafane, a synthetic fiber with an exceptionally high melting point. Fireproof clothes. The bulges in their back pockets were masks. Gloves on their hands for protection. The barrels, taken downstairs, must have been full of something explosive. An engine room fire. A perfect accident.
The extra men would overpower the sailors in the engine room downstairs.
The other containers blocked the exits. They planned to lock us in by fire and capsize the ship while they escaped free and clear. A double accident. No way to uncover the truth.
King didn’t suspect anything because he often worked with Alexi. But Alexi had always wanted his prize. Unlike Cesare, he knew about what lay underground in the Pratt.
But they also wanted the merchandise and there were still two more containers to unload. Unloading took 2-5 minutes each.
If my calculations were correct, the boat could be rebalanced if the ballasts were transferred within three minutes. If not, we would be locked on a sinking boat by walls of fire.
The man with the tattoo nodded to the one in yellow, who nodded to the other sailors. The second to last container was being transported out.
No one was watching me. I had waited two years for an opportunity like this. I could run. Be free. King, my captor, Madame’s seller of children, dealer of criminal secrets, would be dead, the world a better place because of it. All it would take was me slipping out of this compartment in the next 75 seconds. King would never expect me to run. Neither would Guard San.
But my second thought was harder to push away. Rafael was here. He was innocent. Then there was Guard San, who was my friend now, the men in the engine room, and the other guards. They were not innocent, but they didn’t deserve death. Their lives too, had been ruined by King. Then there was Red. Could I still rescue him if I left?
“Aiya!” My fists tightened and my eyes closed so tight a headache forms. Run. Twenty seconds before they moved the next container. I could take the trail out past the warehouse, back to the Pratt. The guard in the watchtower would be distracted by the commotion at the port.
Even if Rafael left the boat with me, he was smart. He’d piece together that I knew about the ship burning and would never forgive me for letting his father die.
How could he not know his father was scum?
Because it’s his father, stupid.
Numbers charged through my head. Another barrel went downstairs. The men moved the last container, getting into position, blocking the entrance of the ship. Still no one noticed me.
This meeting was about taking King for all he was worth and crowning Alexi as the next King. This had happened before, but King was always ready for it. That was the problem when you double-cross people. It eventually caught up to you. Today, everyone would die and another monster would replace King. Unless...
My mind raced back and forth. If I stayed and warned King, no one would die but I would remain a slave. If I ran, I abandoned Rafael, Guard San, and Red to their fates.
Ten seconds left to run. Four minutes until the last container was unloaded.
I grabbed the liquor at my feet. And even though my actions would keep me here in the Pratt, I jumped out of the compartment, and screamed, “King!”
The yell startled the men. Heads turned. They were surprised to see me, a young girl materializing out of thin air.
“King forgot his liquor,” I said, loudly. I waved the bottle in my hand as naturally as I could. I wasn’t really good at this lying stuff. Guard San was at my side in two strides. He cocked his head. My eyes rolled left, towards the men. “Just like he forgot with Sutherland.”
I hoped the name was enough to convey my warning. Sutherland was a laowai who tried to double-cross King three months ago.
Guard San picked up on the cue immediately. “You’d better take it to him. Downstairs, first room on the right.” He took out his phone. Back up would be here soon.
I took the bottle of baijiu and flew downstairs, bumping into Rafael on the way. “Find the boiler room and tell them the list is off. They have less than three minutes to transfer the ballasts. Warn them there is gas in the engine room. After that, get off the ship.”
“What?” he asked.
“Go! Quick, please. And be quiet.”
Rafael gave me a startled glance but ran back in search of the boiler room.
In the small office on the right, I found them all at a table. They looked up at me, an
noyed. King gave me a growl. I stretched out the bottle. “You forgot your liquor.” I panicked with all their faces staring at me, especially Alexi’s.
King didn’t take orders from anyone, but he was no fool. His right eye was quivering. “Anything else?”
“Yes,” I said, “I forgot to sign my name in the accountant section of your document. May I?” I leaned down, taking the pen, and found the bottom line of the document. It was not for an accountant. It was the date line. I hoped Alexi was not looking. Instead of signing my name, I wrote, Sutherland, two minutes.
King’s eyes didn’t flinch. “Gentlemen, the papers are ready. My assistant here says we have come into good fortune. Guard Feng, please take her out and get a more appropriate bottle of liquor so we can celebrate.” He looked at me. We both know there was no other bottle. He believed me.
Guard Feng sensed King’s words. King motioned to Cesare. “Go get their money.” Even though King had it there, on him.
Cesare was clueless, but Guard Feng picked up on that too and motioned for Cesare to follow. We closed the door right as we heard a crack and a smash, and something like a window breaking.
What happened next was fast, and loud.
An alarm sounded through the whole boat.
Alexi’s men raced downstairs, shouting to light the barrels. King’s men followed.
Rafael ran out of the engine room followed by the ship’s crew.
“Get off the boat! Quick!” the crew shouted.
But we couldn’t. Upstairs there was more fighting. Guard San must have called in more men and blocking the ramp was the last container. One of the barrels burst into flames near the open container. Now we really couldn’t get off the ship.
Cesare started fighting alongside Guard Feng as soon as we were upstairs. Someone shoved Rafael to the side. He gained his balance, grabbed me, and we dove into the compartment, staying low to the ground. Smoke filled the air.
I didn’t see the rest of what happened, but the mayhem didn’t last fourteen minutes before King’s men subdued Alexi’s men. When we popped our heads out, the engine crew was using extinguishers to put out the fire. I assumed the other barrels were never ignited.
Guard San approached the compartment again as King’s men rounded up Alexi and the tattooed men and left the ship. I wondered if Alexi and his goons would be our next three Pratt-mates, or if they would suffer a more permanent doom.
“Out,” Guard San barked. He had me by the arm now and led me around the container back to King’s car. Rafael’s eyes drilled into mine. There were no dimples because he was not smiling. Instead, those green eyes, the color of the evergreens accused me. He finally understood that whatever was going on wasn’t innocent and somehow I was part of it.
Before I reached the car, one of the crew ran out to Rafael. “We had two minutes before this ship developed an irreversible roll. They were unloading the boat unsystematically. We’d all be underwater now if it wasn’t for you.”
Rafael found my eyes. He knew it wasn’t him. Rafael wrestled his arm away from Cesare and ran over to me. “Mila, how did you know?”
“Good guess?”
“Impossible,” he said. “You saw it while we were in the compartment. Didn’t you? You saw everything, like a prodigy, or an angel, or something. You saved us.”
For a moment I was dumbstruck. No one did that. No one looked that closely. He’d been paying attention. He saw me. All I wanted was to be known by someone and here this boy knew me. Maybe he could help. But would he after tonight?
“Raffaele, vieni.” Cesare grabbed his arm and led him away, trying to explain what had happened.
Rafael turned. “I won’t forget this, Mila. If you ever need anything, I’ll do it. Please, just tell me your real name.”
If only my eyes could have talked, I would have told him everything. But his request was impossible to fulfill with Guard San holding my arm. Next time, I promised myself, I’d tell him everything.
But after days, weeks, and months of not seeing him went by, I didn’t know if I’d ever get that chance.
25
Present: Phoenix
SONG VALLEY WAREHOUSE, CHINA
Rafael’s frame is not thin like it used to be. His shoulders have filled out. His face is more defined. He looks older, more serious.
“Rafael?”
I want to smile but I frown instead. He’s wearing a nice suit and he’s in the warehouse, which can only mean one thing, he’s working. So he learned who his father is and he joined him. To think I risked my life for him. I risked freedom because I believed he wasn’t like his father. We even had something, small but real, didn’t we? He was my only hope in the Pratt that my life could be normal. The only boy who saw me. The only innocent one. Or so I thought.
All kinds of emotions fill me. Disappointment. Rage. Pity. Disgust. Hope too, tries to surface. Things I wish I could tell him clog my throat. Telling him who I really am and what they have done to me. Pleading with him to leave this place, this life. But there’s no time and if I wait any longer, the guards will be here. I can’t get caught. My internal clock is ticking.
I’m breathless as I say, “Now’s a good time to repay that favor.”
Rafael wades through the dark hair, makeup, clothes. Thirteen seconds later he whispers, “Mila, is that you?”
I nod. His eyes widen as he recognizes me. Massive confusion follows. I can’t imagine the stories he has heard or what he will tell the others. But there’s no time to explain. He obviously knows I’m not dead but I will be if I stick around.
“Please, Rafael,” I start, “you never saw me.” It’s all I can say. The guards run closer. They’re shouting as their feet stomp through the warehouse.
“Rafael! Do you see them?”
He knows I shouldn’t be here, that he shouldn’t be either. His eyes read mine. He even looks ashamed. “Go.” He motions to the bathroom.
I run, open the door. Above the sink is a small window—15 inches wide by 8 inches tall. At the right angle I’m small enough to fit through. I push it open.
Rafael shouts back. “I lost them. Quick, down aisle 9!”
My gratitude lasts just long enough to remember the security cameras. If they find out he helped me, I don’t know what they’ll do to him.
I’m almost out when a dark SUV tears around the corner, braking hard in a cloud of dust and spitting rocks. I have nowhere to run.
“Phoenix!” Kai’s head pokes out of the window. Thank God. “Phoenix, is that you?”
Jiche. He’s watching me crawl out of a window on the side of the warehouse. I drop to the ground. “What were you thinking?” I yell, upset he ruined everything.
“Me?” he yells back as he swings open the door. “What are you doing?”
I make a mad dash for the car. The guards race around the side of the building as I dive into the front seat, my head low.
“Drive!” I scream. “Now!”
Kai doesn’t ask questions but slams his foot against the pedal and speeds ahead.
My head stays low. Men are shouting behind us. “Take a picture of the Rover, you idiots.”
Kai shoots me a concerned look.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “I put mud on the license plate.”
“You did what?”
The car dips into a pothole at full speed, snapping us both forward. I bump my head on the dashboard. “Aiya!” I say, gripping my head. That’ll leave a mark.
Rocks sputter from the wheels as we tear out of the port. A loud sharp noise, like a bullet goes off behind us. I stay low even long after the road becomes smooth concrete.
“You can come up now,” Kai says drily, jaw clenched. We’re on the freeway now. He’s driving faster than usual. I don’t blame him. I’m praying nobody follows us.
As I inch up and put on my seat belt, the car fills with heavy silence.
“Friends, huh?” Kai says, his eyes fixed on the road.
“If you had waited in the car everything
would have been fine,” I snap, thoroughly annoyed.
“Yeah. That’s why you were sneaking out a window?” he says. “What if I hadn’t come to your rescue? Huh? What would those men have done to you?”
I don’t have the energy to explain that if he hadn’t come to look for me in the first place, I would have made it back in less than eleven minutes and nothing would have happened at all. But I’m angry and I find myself arguing instead. “I don’t need your help, Kai.”
“Really? It looked like it,” he shoots back. “Who are they?”
“Maybe they were the gangsters your father talked about,” I say cynically. It’s a part of the truth, and it sounds better than the whole truth—Oh, just wanted to visit the men who ruined my life, yeah, they happen to run a clandestine criminal operation. By the way, did I mention the world’s most wanted trafficker kidnapped me at age 15?
Yeah, right.
“Okay fine. Don’t tell me who they are. Tell me who you are instead and what you were thinking back there.” His voice is controlled again, even calm, but it’s obvious he’s still worked up.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” I say, mad at myself now. I was too impulsive. I should’ve never asked him to go to the port. He doesn’t need to get mixed up in this business. I already took enough risks today and I didn’t even get the schedule.
For forty-three seconds I visualize how Phoenix would play this out—a girl who stumbled upon something terrible and wants to forget it, who would be thankful for her rescue. Finally, I muster up the energy to say it.
“I was mistaken about that place,” I start quietly. “And the people. They looked really upset. Thanks for coming after me.”
Kai darts a disbelieving glance my way. Then huffs a large sigh. He doesn’t believe me, but he doesn’t ask any more questions. His face is focused on the road.
“Can you keep this between us?” I ask, meekly. “I wouldn’t want your father to worry.”
“Whatever you want, Phoenix.” He drives the rest of the way back in silence.