Authors: R. D. Ronald
‘Even if it wasn’t beforehand, once they see they have a man missing they might cut their losses and run,’ Tazeem said with a shrug.
‘Alright, but I’m coming with you,’ Mangle insisted.
‘If anyone comes out looking for the guy we just hid, Tazeem isn’t gonna pass for one of them even from a distance, whether he wears the jacket and cap or not.’
‘Decker’s right, Mangle. Not unless one of them has been spending way too much time in a tanning salon.’
‘Tazeem, if Tatiana’s determined to get a look at Jupiter, then you go with her. If you’re spotted, get off the boat as quick as you can, whether you’ve found the other girl or not. Me and Mangle will try and find a way to slow them down, hopefully give enough time for Bri and Tony to get word out and for the cops to get down here.’
Tatiana nodded and started toward the gangway before anyone could disagree with Decker. Tazeem scampered after her, muttering what a stupid idea he thought it was. Once onboard, Tatiana walked along the narrow platform inside the gunwale towards what she believed to be the bridge, where a light now shone through foggy rectangular windows. Standing outside, the tremors she felt through the deck as the men moved around inside were enough to convince her that a change of approach was needed in case any of them made a sudden appearance.
She turned back suddenly, startling Tazeem who gripped a support rope tightly to avoid losing his footing.
‘Where are you going now?’ he hissed at her, but Tatiana pushed past and began to climb up to the observation platform above. Moving as delicately as she could so as not to alert the men below her, Tatiana inched forward and hung over the side, trying to look through the windows below. Catching on, Tazeem followed and held tight to the backs of her thighs, enabling her to edge down a few more inches.
She squinted and peered inside. The captain faced roughly in her direction, but the inside light shining on the smudged glass would show him nothing but a blurred reflection even if he looked directly at her. With their backs to Tatiana were two more men. One she knew immediately as Steiger. The features of the other,
the larger man called Jupiter, remained elusive. She could see them talking as their conversation continued, but could make out little of what they said. She felt Tazeem tapping on her leg, evidently keen for her to give up on the suicidal notion and return to the others.
Tatiana didn’t hear the loud splash in the harbour behind them, but the men on the bridge did, and so did Tazeem. His hands fisted as they gripped tightly onto Tatiana’s jeans and hoisted her back up. Reluctantly, she allowed it, but before the men charged out from the bridge they’d turned their faces in the direction of the sound. Even through the scars, she recognised the face of the man whose actions brought about the end of her previous life.
Decker waited until Tazeem and Tatiana had boarded the boat and he could no longer see them before he stepped onto the gangway. Mangle had been instructed to wait by the pile of crates, and had been told – pointlessly, Decker realised immediately afterwards – to try and look inconspicuous.
His main aim, along with bringing Steiger to justice, was to ensure that all of the explosives were seized. After seeing the devastation they had caused at Latif ’s restaurant and computer shop, it was unthinkable that any could remain in the hands of men who would use them to bring about huge numbers of casualties. He hoped Tatiana and Tazeem would be able to free the girl, but right now he couldn’t let himself get distracted with thoughts of anything else.
He tugged the peak of the cap down level with his eyebrows and flexed his shoulders. They felt tightly restrained within the confines of the jacket that was at least a size too small. He walked to the stern of the ship where two more crates sat beside a set of steel steps and a railing leading down to the decks below. As he was about to descend, Decker heard the sound of heavy boots clumping their way up, and quickly ducked back around the corner. He heard a man grunt with strain, followed by the thud of what he supposed was a crate dropped on top of the pile.
Decker about turned and walked quickly back along the deck. Mangle, who had been watching from the shore, hurried over into the cover of the storage building. Behind him the man cursed and again picked up the crate.
‘Where’ve you been?’ he asked Decker as he struggled around the corner.
‘Ahh, I had to see Steiger,’ Decker said, in what he hoped sounded like a natural response, ‘I’m done now though.’ Again he tugged at the brim of his cap and kept his eyes low.
‘There’s another two crates at the top of the stairs. Get this one and I’ll fetch the last couple from below.’
‘Take it over yourself. You’re almost there now anyway,’ Decker said.
The man muttered something, but started across the gangway. Decker went to the stern and picked up another box. He hurried back to the gangway but the other man had already begun to cross. There was room for two people to pass so Decker knew if he stood waiting it would look suspicious and draw attention to him. He walked on, hoping the man would push past him without another word.
‘Who the fuck are you?’ the man asked when he drew level with Decker.
‘I’ve been called down to help, get this finished up quicker.’
‘Well, where’s the other guy?’
‘He’s up seeing Steiger?’ Decker said, but a rising inflection at the end of the sentence betrayed the lie, turning his statement into a question.
The man lunged forward and seized the crate. Decker struggled with him, unable to reach the gun that was tucked under the line of the jacket down the back of his pants. He looked into the man’s face and read the uncertainty as his initial wide-eyed surprise began to lift. The man could see his decision to jump Decker had been the wrong one as Decker was taller and clearly more powerful.
The man gulped in a breath. Decker saw he was about to yell
for help and released his grip of the crate which bought him a few tenths of a second as the man adjusted to the extra weight. Decker swung back his right arm and punched him on the bridge of the nose, drew back and punched him again. The man stuttered and blinked. Bubbles of blood burst from his nostrils as he tried to form words. Decker slammed another fist into his head just below the temple and watched as he tumbled, still clutching the crate, backwards into the water.
Decker shot a look in Mangle’s direction and saw him hovering uncertainly by the warehouse before a voice from the boat caused him to duck back inside.
‘What the fuck happened?’
Decker spun around and saw Jupiter approaching across the deck. The darkness, jacket and cap had been enough to mask his identity so far, but when he spoke, surely that would blow his cover. The crate bobbed to the surface in the water below him. Decker pointed at it, and angled a cautious look up at Jupiter.
‘Fucking idiot! Get it out of there and get them all loaded into the van. We leave in five minutes.’
Decker nodded and waited for Jupiter to withdraw, but something held him in place a moment longer. Decker walked slowly down the gangway to retrieve the crate from the water, but still Jupiter remained. Reaching out he nudged the crate which bobbed and spun clockwise, and after a few seconds he managed to coax it into the side.
Decker heard nothing from the boat and didn’t know if Jupiter still watched him, but didn’t want to risk another glance upwards. As the crate came within grasping distance, the pale, vacant expression of the man Decker had assaulted floated up from the water beneath.
Heavy footsteps sprinting across the deck confirmed Jupiter’s presence, and that they had now been discovered. He looked up just in time to see Jupiter descending below deck at the stern. Mangle was already ahead of him, running across the gangway in pursuit.
*****
After Jupiter charged out from the bridge, Steiger and the captain followed a moment later, moving more cautiously toward the stern.
‘Wait for our chance to get back ashore,’ Tazeem mouthed once he had Tatiana’s attention.
She shook her head and then shook off his grip. Once the two men had vanished at the back of the boat Tatiana climbed down the ladder on the starboard side and followed. Tazeem’s heart was racing, but he tried not to panic. Jupiter was no more than 20 feet away, yelling something at one of the men. He had no idea where Mangle and Decker were so Tazeem took a deep breath and slid down the ladder after Tatiana. She had paused and beckoned for him to hurry. Before he caught up, Tatiana had already begun her descent, gracefully taking the cold, wet steps two at a time. Tazeem went after her.
Tatiana paused on the next deck. There was no sign of Sasha, but the gaping door into the prison at the back of the galley brought up an overpowering sensation of grief over Natalia’s death. She couldn’t allow anyone else to die at the hands of these men.
Tazeem heard raised voices over the engine noise from the bottom deck. He pointed downwards once he caught her eye. She nodded solemnly and they went below. Tazeem gripped Tatiana lightly by the wrist so that he could alert her if he heard an immediate threat, although the droning growl and hiss from the engine pretty much levelled the playing field as far as their senses were concerned.
A host of olive-grey painted heavy machinery filled the centre of the engine room, with white pipes running the length of the ceiling. Down one wall were a line of valves and pressure dials, and the room was lit by a run of murky, flickering fluorescent bulbs. Neither the captain nor Steiger could be seen, but Mangle faintly heard voices from up ahead. Again he pointed to signal his intention to Tatiana and they proceeded around the throbbing machinery and through the underlying cloud of steam.
A girl lay handcuffed to a pipe in a far corner, with blood on her hair and face. He felt Tatiana stiffen and she covered her mouth to stifle a moan. Two of the wooden crates were on the ground a few feet from her, and one stood open with its lid resting against the side. On a table beside them were three shiny, cylindrical metal objects. The captain and Steiger were in conversation.
‘You cannot decide to pick and choose from my supply. This arrangement will continue to work with or without your help.’
‘I’m sure you can find another captain to bring you the women, but as for these …’ Jacob countered, picking up one of the devices from the table, ‘… there is a much greater element of trust.’
He flicked open a clear plastic cover and pressed the switch underneath. A smug red light began to pulse. The device was in a state of readiness.
‘Jacob, we have worked together for many years. As a token of good faith you can keep the girl, but we both understand this will not happen again.’
The captain chuckled and pressed the switch again, deactivating the threat, before putting down the cylinder. The disquieting look that flashed in Steiger’s eyes as the captain turned his back indicated that this would be his last trip.
Tatiana was up and on her feet before Tazeem could do anything to stop her. She snatched the explosive cylinder from the table and copied what the captain had done seconds earlier. The light returned, flashing its prophetic promise of destruction.
‘Where is Polina?’ the handcuffed girl cried, recognising Tatiana.
‘Polina got away, she is safe now,’ Tatiana reassured her before turning back to face Steiger. ‘Release Sasha and cuff yourselves between the pipes.’
‘I have neither the key to do that nor the inclination,’ Steiger said as a broad smile spread over his face. ‘Now put that down before you hurt yourself.’
‘You had my parents killed, you bastard. You’re the one who ordered it.’
Steiger couldn’t have known which incident she spoke of, but shrugged off the accusation. It was obviously not the first time he had been accused of such an atrocity. ‘Put it down, I won’t tell you a third time,’ he said, his tone both curt and demanding.
Tears spilled down Tatiana’s cheeks. Her hands trembled. Tazeem willed her to put it down, hoping they might yet find another way out. ‘You will rot in hell for all you have done,’ Tatiana spat at him and jammed her thumb down onto the red button.
Time appeared to stand still. Tazeem held his breath and cringed, waiting for the inevitable explosion that would undoubtedly kill them all. The next sound he was aware of was Steiger’s laughter, rich with mirth, like someone who’d just heard an amusing anecdote at a dinner party amongst friends. He peered around the machinery as a hooded man strode up, snatched away the device from an incredulous Tatiana, and clubbed her over the head with a familiar, deathly white fist.
‘The activation button has no connection to the device, it’s simply an old design,’ Steiger explained, undoubtedly for his own further amusement.
The man who had assaulted Tatiana dangled what looked like a car-key fob on the end of a thin, silver chain. His pale skin almost an extension of the white hooded-shirt he wore. Tazeem was in no doubt that this was the man he’d seen outside Latif ’s restaurant on the night of the explosion.
‘Remote detonation,’ Steiger went on. ‘Jupiter had a terrible accident a little while ago and we’ve lost other good men over the years. It was a natural progression.’
Fury surged up in Tazeem and he charged at the hooded man, swinging the butt of his gun in a circular arc which impacted against a pale cheekbone with a crack. The man cried out and fell to the floor, clutched his face and dropped the fob which skittered across the floor.
The captain jumped forward and grabbed at the gun. Tazeem
struggled with him. The captain had a sinewy strength that was in stark contrast to his years. The pale man leered up at Tazeem as he crouched on the deck like an animal. Scarlet blood eagerly explored the indent of damaged flesh. Tazeem and the captain waltzed left and right as they tried to gain control of the weapon. Their arms swung upward and a shot discharged. Immediate pain accompanied a jet of boiling steam as the bullet punctured one of the pipes. Tazeem and the captain instinctively jumped away, protectively clutching areas of exposed skin. The gun clattered harmlessly to the ground.