by Dale Mayer
“So we need to contact each of the team members, interview them individually,” Levi said, his voice echoing oddly in the phone suddenly. “Find out who was where and who was attacked when and what they might have heard.”
“As far as I know, they’re on the way to the airport.” Johan said. “Unless that has changed.”
“It has changed,” Levi said. “Somebody from the university wanted to make sure nobody in their research team was, first off, hurt and then wanted to make sure nobody pointed the finger at the team. That they might have brought this on through a conflict or inefficiency. So currently everybody is at a hotel. I’d like you to join them there. Instead of interviews, find out exactly how this went down and in what order everyone was taken and who saw what.”
“Are we doing this in a formal way, or could we just take them out for a casual dinner and pump them for information?” Johan asked.
“Casual if possible,” Vince suggested. “And then formal if we have to.”
Vanessa nodded. “I can probably get the conversation going. I really do want to know what happened. If Jasper was the last one to go down, which is possible, and yet, he was beaten the worst, what did he know? What did he see? And who was the last one to see Dr. Sanchez alive?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Vince said. “And where was she when she was last seen?”
“Let’s get moving,” Johan said. “We don’t want these people, if they are involved, trying to escape.”
Vanessa got up quickly, packed up the rest of her stuff, which she had already partially packed earlier before deciding she would stay on board. She turned to look around and sighed. “I have so enjoyed my trips on this ship. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get another chance to come again.”
With her backpack over her shoulder and one carry-on with all her business paperwork, she loaded up her laptop and charger, grabbed the stacks of files, the storage devices that she had and shut down all the equipment still left running. With everything shut off, she walked outside on deck, joining Vince and Johan there.
“A new crew is supposed to come and take this vessel back again,” she said. “I’m not sure if we’re planning on wintering it or renting it out. That’s the university’s deal, not mine.”
“We’ve already closed off the rest of the research vessel,” Johan said as he came toward her. “It’s just a matter of the three of us heading to the hotel now.”
In the cab she didn’t say anything, just watched as the market she’d seen many times before disappeared. She had a lot of good memories here, a few not so good as well, but there was a sense of finality to this trip. She didn’t know if this craziness would stop the university from allowing these trips to happen or not. They were very expensive. The rent for these research vessels for two weeks was astronomical but made the university good money to cover the vessels’ upkeep. The data they retrieved was also valuable.
They’d been coming for seven years in a row now. She knew, at some point in time, new data wouldn’t give them a whole lot more information. She wanted to keep coming because she wanted to keep fighting the fight to snuff out the fierce encroachment, if not to lessen it.
When they got to the hotel, she hopped out, waited for the men to leave the cab and join her. The three walked into the reception area.
“We need their room numbers,” she said, “and we should call them to go out for lunch.” She checked her watch. “Make that dinner.”
As they crossed the lobby, she saw Tony sitting in one of the big easy chairs out front, talking on a cell phone. She planted herself right in front of him, a big grin on her face. But she was ever watchful of his reaction to seeing her. Happily it was just joy.
He hopped up and hugged her. “I’m so glad to see you,” he said. “I hated to leave you back at the docks.”
“Not to worry,” she said. “The three of us are here at the hotel now. They suggested taking us out for dinner. I was thinking we should take them out for dinner. They did save our lives.”
Tony agreed. “Sure. Jasper is lying down, but I don’t know about Dr. Walker.” He walked up to the front reception desk and waited while they all registered. He smiled when he saw their room number. “We’re all on the second floor.”
“Lead the way then,” Johan said.
Because they had as many bags as they did, they took the elevators up. As they popped out onto the second floor, they saw Dr. Walker heading toward the elevator. There was purpose in his stride.
He came to a halt and frowned when he saw them. “What are you doing here?” he asked Vanessa.
“Wow. Hi. How are you?” she said with a sarcastic tone. “We’re all fine. It’s all right that you got to leave, and the men who rescued you are just now dragging in. They wanted to take us out for dinner tonight, but I suggested we should reverse that, since they saved our lives.”
She knew she was putting it on a bit heavy, but, with Dr. Walker, it was hard to do anything but. The man was an ass and made her life more than a little miserable.
He hesitated.
“You surely can’t have plans already,” she snapped. “You just arrived.”
His nose went up a notch. “As it happens, I do have plans. But I can change them.” He turned to Vince and Johan. “One thing I should have done”—he held out his hand and shook each of theirs—“is thank you. And, for that, I am truly sorry. At the time, all I could think about was getting back home safe and sound. And I did forget to show my appreciation.”
He did it so well Vanessa was amazed. How could he turn on the charm and turn on the officiousness at will like that? It was a real skill.
He turned to her. “Of course we could take them out for dinner.” He looked over at Tony. “Are you all settled in?”
Tony nodded. “I was just down in the lobby making phone calls when they walked in.”
“What about Dr. Sanchez?” Dr. Walker asked. “Any word of her yet?”
Vince and Johan both shook their heads.
“Who was the last to see her?” Vanessa couldn’t help asking. “When I was taken, it was just me down in the research bay. Two gunmen came after me, overpowered me, and put a gag in my mouth. Then they slammed me in the head and I was out cold.” She looked up at Dr. Walker. “What happened to you?”
“I was sitting on the deck by the lifeboats,” he said, “working on my papers. We had an awful lot of data that wasn’t making much sense. Remember how some of the data streams were corrupted? That was when the men came up on either side of the boat. I didn’t recognize either of them, but now I know one of them was the man we overpowered down below on the boat. I ran around the corner and got hit from behind. Then, like you, I woke up in that old boat.”
They both turned to Tony.
He shrugged. “I was up in the pilot cabin. I was on duty that day.”
Dr. Walker nodded. “Oh, yeah, you were. And you didn’t see them arrive?” he asked in astonishment. And then his gaze narrowed. “And why is it you didn’t see them arrive?” His tone was hard, rimmed with disbelief. “It’s one thing to maybe have stowaways from shore, but surely you’d have seen them arrive.”
Tony flushed.
Dr. Walker crossed his arms over his chest. “Just what the hell were you doing?” he snapped.
“I was napping,” Tony snapped back. “You know very well we were up late the previous night. We were trying to figure out why the equipment was giving us such a hard time. I went to bed around three. Sitting up there in the hot sun, we were trying to conserve fuel, so it’s not like I was running the air-conditioning,” he said sarcastically. “I put my feet up on the counter and closed my eyes.”
“Okay, so hang on a minute,” Vince said. “Where was their boat?”
Dr. Walker and Tony both turned to look at him in confusion. “What boat?”
“Where did they come from? How did they arrive at your research vessel?” Johan asked. “I presume they didn’t just get helicoptered in and drop from the sky.”
Dr. Walker shook his head. “I have no idea. I didn’t hear a boat either until they were right there.” He frowned at that. “But I should have, shouldn’t I?” He turned to Vanessa. “Did you hear anyone?”
She shook her head. “But again, I was down below. I didn’t hear a boat arrive, and I didn’t hear anybody even come down the damn stairs. I had my headset on.”
He rolled his eyes at that. “You always insist on music when you work. Why is that?”
She sighed. “Because it blocks out all the noise so I can work better. Lots of people wear headphones or headsets during work.”
They turned to look at Tony.
“So you had no warning?” Vanessa asked in disbelief. “I know the research vessel is big, but you couldn’t see anything on either side?”
He shook his head. “I was thinking about that earlier. I figure they must have come up behind, and then, as soon as they boarded, I was probably the first one taken out. And, like I said, I was napping. I’m the one who should have seen them,” he said regretfully. “But I didn’t, and, for that, I’m very sorry.”
“Well, sorry hardly helps now, does it?” Dr. Walker sighed. “I guess it doesn’t make much difference either since we’re all safe.”
A stillness settled on the group.
Vanessa turned ever-so-slowly to look at Dr. Walker. “But we aren’t all safe, are we? We’re missing Laura. What do you know that we don’t?” she asked. “Because someone has to know something. And, if not us, then Jasper.”
“I don’t know anything,” Dr. Walker said. “I just meant we’re all safe now that we’re here. I don’t know anything about Dr. Sanchez.” At that, he shut up.
*
“In that case, we better find Jasper and ask him some questions, hadn’t we?” Vince said, keeping his voice light.
Was Dr. Walker just an asshole? Or was he more involved in all of this than anyone knew? Vince couldn’t imagine how the team’s families would feel if they found out this entire ploy was for this woman to just disappear on her own. Or if someone on board had a reason to make this woman disappear.
A lot of families had been brokenhearted over this event. Sure, the kidnapping itself for these four team members had only been a couple days long. But that didn’t make it any less traumatic. He glanced over at Tony. “Any idea which room Jasper is in?”
He nodded. “He is in the one between the two of us but on the other side.” He motioned at Dr. Walker and looked down the hallway. “It’s that one.” He pointed. “His headache was killing him. He said he would lie down.”
Dr. Walker tilted his nose in the air. “That head injury isn’t to be trifled with.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Vanessa said gently. “Did either of you think to look in on him? Keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t have a bleed in his head?”
Tony looked at her in horror, then glanced at the door again. “I never even thought of that.” He turned back to Dr. Walker. “Was the injury that bad?”
Dr. Walker shrugged. “I didn’t look at it.” Then, as if being dismissed, he looked at his watch. “When do you want to go out to eat? I’m quite hungry now.”
Vince looked at his watch. “We’ll check on Jasper first. How about in an hour?”
Dr. Walker’s lip curled. He finally nodded. “Fine. I’ll go to the bar and have a drink and wait.” He walked past them.
Vince glanced at Vanessa, who glared at Dr. Walker’s retreating back. “He can be such a conceited, arrogant asshole,” she muttered as he entered the elevator.
Tony chuckled. “And you love him anyway,” he said affectionately. “He brings in a ton of grant money that allows all of us to keep our jobs.”
Her shoulders sagged. “True enough.” She walked toward Jasper’s door.
Vince stayed right beside her. As he looked over at Tony, then at Vanessa, he said, “So you two aren’t doctors?”
“We both are, but we’re scientists not medical doctors, so PhDs not MDs,” Tony said. “And the titles don’t really matter to us. I don’t care if somebody calls me formally by my title or not.”
Vince looked over at Vanessa. “And you?”
She glanced at him with a frown. “What do I care? It adds cache to the papers I write and validates my work, but I’d much rather people understand the work I do than the title I carry.”
He grinned at her. “I kind of like that attitude.”
She shot him a look. “Well, it’s obvious you’re crazy. Or you just like crazy women,” she muttered half under her breath.
He heard her anyway. “I’ve decided I like women with spirit.”
“That’s probably because you’ve been around doormats all your life.” She snorted. “The last thing I am or ever will be is a doormat.”
“I don’t think I’ve been with anybody who was a doormat,” Vince said. “But I have definitely not met too many women like you.”
“Maybe it’s just the circumstances.” She then rapped on Jasper’s door sharply. When there was no answer, she rapped again. Frowning, she looked back at Vince. “Now what?”
Vince turned toward Tony. “When did you see him last?”
“When we arrived. Other than that, there’s been no contact between any of us. I have to admit, I was feeling kind of out of sorts. That’s why I was down in the lobby. I didn’t want to be alone. Being alone on that damn ship was enough for me for a long time. And, of course, I wasn’t totally alone. But I was the one who woke up first. And it took a long time for the others to come out of their grogginess to join me. It was the most incredibly lonely, isolated feeling,” he said soberly. “I just didn’t want to be isolated anymore, so I was sitting in the lobby, waiting for time to pass. I’d hoped to fly out tonight, but it’s not happening apparently.”
“No, definitely some questions have to be asked.”
Tony nodded, grumbling. “And yet, it’s the same questions. Like, Who did this to us?” he said passionately. “What about the guy we took down? Is he okay? Has anybody asked him any questions?”
Johan said, “You know what? That’s a very good point. I’ll contact the authorities and see if they can give us an update.” He stepped a few feet away and made a call.
He was far enough away they could not hear the conversation.
Just to make sure, Vince walked up to Jasper’s door and gave it a really hard pounding. “Jasper, you in there?”
“There’s no way to know if he’s even inside?” Vanessa asked.
“He’s a big guy. He could have gone down to the market and sat outside, and nobody would bother him,” Tony added. “He’s quite comfortable in all parts of the world, and he’s very much an explorer, so going to the market would be right up his alley.”
Vince considered that and realized, for anybody who wanted to travel the world, staying in a hotel for so many hours was hardly what they would want to do. “Actually that makes a lot of sense.” He looked at the sky through the end of the hallway window. “It is a nice day out.”
“Maybe we should check at the front desk and see if he’s left,” Tony said. “They should know.”
“No, they won’t,” Vanessa said. “Why would they? Unless he stopped to ask for directions, they won’t notice if yet another hotel guest walks in and out of the door.”
“Except how many guests are six-five and 280 pounds?” Vince asked.
“You’ve got a point there,” Johan said, chuckling.
Tony slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels. “Regardless it is one avenue to check. If we’re worried about him, then we have to get somebody to open his door. And, if he’s in there sleeping, he won’t be very happy with that. And, if he’s not alone in there”—he waggled his eyebrows—“he’ll be very, very unhappy.”
“Not a sound is coming from that room,” she said softly. “So I highly doubt he’s picked up somebody already. I’m more concerned he’s inside and has slipped into a coma.”
“But we don’t know that for sure he’s
alone,” Tony said. “Remember? He always had a girl on his arm.”
“Did you ever hear that he had Dr. Sanchez on his arm?” Vince asked suddenly.
Tony looked at him in surprise. “I heard rumors. But I think that’s all they were, just rumors.”
“Why is that?” Vince asked.
“The age difference,” he said. “I don’t see the attraction myself, so maybe it’s possible but I didn’t ever see them together.”
Vince nodded. “Just had to ask.”
“I don’t get it,” Tony said. “I don’t understand what the undercurrents are, but there’s definitely something happening here. I understand Dr. Sanchez is missing, and we need to find her, but I’m not sure how that works.”
“So far, we haven’t seen anybody who’s even seen her recently,” Vince explained. “When did you last see her on the research vessel yourself?”
Tony frowned. “I’m not sure I saw her that day of the kidnapping at all. I was up in the pilot’s cabin, like I said. I was on shift that day. I didn’t see her at breakfast, so it must have been the night before.”
“Did anybody check on her that evening?” Johan asked.
Vanessa shook her head. “I did, right before I went to bed. Didn’t you?”
Tony shook his head. “No. Now I feel like I should have. Do we even know if she was on the ship when it was raided?”
“Is there any reason to suspect she might have tried to commit suicide?” Vince’s voice was low, quiet, but he needed to bring it up. “Any chance she went overboard, and you wouldn’t have noticed?”
Both stared at him in horror.
“It’s possible,” Tony said, “in the sense that she would have had access to the entire vessel. And it’s big. But drowning is not an easy way to kill yourself. And she was an excellent swimmer. Her body would fight her totally on that.”
“Absolutely,” Vanessa said. “Swimmers struggle not to drown. You have to exhaust yourself.”
“Or have weights you can’t fight against,” Vince said. “I’m not suggesting she did that, but, if you haven’t seen her since early afternoon on the day you were taken—over two days ago—how do we know she was on board at the time? How do we even know she is missing? Did you have extra lifeboats on the research vessel? Were they all there when you got up that morning? Are they there now? Did you have other boats you used? Did you have other boats close by where she could have swum to?” He wondered when they both looked at him in surprise. “Think about it. What if she knew somebody in one of the other boats? How close were other people moored beside you?”