Frequent Traveller (Cathy Dixon #1) (10 page)

When she served JG his coffee during the mid-morning break, he screamed at her. "Where the bloody hell is my milk? Am I supposed to squeeze it out of your sagging tits?!"

The entire room went silent, a trolley of crockery could have collapsed and no one would have moved. Annie turned and slowly walked back to him. She stood at his table, stared him in the face and poured a whole pot of fresh coffee into his lap.

"I quit," she announced as he yelped and got up.

Applause broke out as she walked away from the breakfast area. Cathy smiled and looked at JG. He seemed bewildered that a person he saw as measly and stupid could stand up to him in such a manner. What surprised him most of all was that other people supported her.

PENANG, MALAYSIA

October 2008

Commonly known as the Pearl of the Orient or the Island of Pearls, Penang is a popular destination and a definite “must visit” for those planning a trip to South East Asia. It is rich in culture, history and flavour with a long list of achievements to its name. It is believed that Englishman Sir James Lancaster who discovered Penang in April 1591, was one of the first few foreigners to make Penang home. He converted the port into a thriving pirates den and robbed all boats that crossed his path. He did this for two years until he returned to his hometown in Plymouth.

What changed the course of state and country, was the arrival of Francis Light at Fort Cornwallis on 11 August 1786. With its strategic location by the Straits of Malacca, Penang was established as a successful trading port. This is a venture it continues to profit from despite being challenged by the Federal Government. Governed by Malaysia's opposition party Penang is no stranger to political controversy.

Aside from this, it is home and birthplace to many well-known personalities which include shoemaker Jimmy Choo; actress Jill Benett; All England Champion, Eddy Choong; badminton's world number one, Lee Chong Wei; sole distributor of Honda motorcycles in Malaysia, Loh Boon Siew; women's squash world champion, Nicol David; Chinese Consul for the Qing Emperor, Cheong Fatt Tze and Tunku Abdul Rahman who was the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, to name a few.

Aside from its booming economy and tourism related industries, it is also famous for its historical landmarks which include Penang Free School, the first and oldest academy in South East Asia; St. George's Anglican Church which has been declared a National Treasure by the Malaysian Government as the oldest Anglican Church in South East Asia and the Penang Turf Club built in 1864, Malaysia's oldest Equestrian Centre.

Away from the city centre, MoonStar Penang was located by the beach. A twenty storey building which catered for family holidays, it was fully occupied over the long weekend. In one of these rooms on an early Saturday morning, Cathy was sound asleep, oblivious to the activity around her. She reached out to the other side of the bed and expected a warm snuggle. Her eyes shot open when she realized the bed was empty. She sat up and walked towards the balcony.

Thomas was sitting on a deck chair, staring at the waves crashing to the shore. Wearing only black boxers, she could see the tattoo at the nape of his neck, a single spider web. He always said he had chosen it because it looked unique but she sometimes wondered if it symbolized what their lives together meant to him. The tangled web she was trapped in, caught between the things she could not tell him and the things he wanted to know. Yet, they clung onto each other in the simple comfort of love and the sense of belonging they provided each other. She slid the glass door open and bent to kiss her lover, a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Morning Tom Tom."

"Hey ... good morning." His reply was absent-minded while his eyes held a faraway look. Cathy could not resist the urge to lean over and tickle him.

He pulled away, then slowly turned to face to her. "Sweets, I know it's the first thing in the morning but I need to know. Why do you have a picture of a man in your bag?"

"You went through my stuff?!"

In the six years together, she had never remembered him opening her wardrobe, let alone her handbag.

"I was looking for a light," he said as he inhaled his cigarette, "and I know you always carried one in your bag for guests."

He did his best to smile but the frustration he felt inside was more than apparent in his eyes.

"So ... tell me ... who is he? He can't be a job applicant because there's no resume. He can't be related to MoonStar because there's no press release. And yet, you've concealed his picture among your personal things."

"Tom Tom!" Cathy's voice pleaded but she also knew he needed consolation and assurance, not so much for sorrow but for fear of losing her all over again.

“No Cat, you need to start paying attention to what I'm saying. I've loved you all my life. You know that. And I'll keep loving you for the rest of my life but I won't let you shut me out, not anymore. Whatever it is, tell me and I'll listen. If it's something so severe that you think I cannot accept, I'll work my way through it. But tell me and don't you dare decide for me.”

Cathy watched fury flash across his face. He rarely got angry but when he did, turning him away was impossible and she knew this. Nothing was more infuriating than realising you were up against the unknown. Indeed, knowledge was power. But more than this, it was the power of certainty that people craved. She reached out and held his hand in hers.

"That was my ... my target. In Manila, the Philippines."

"Your target?!" asked Thomas, his tone was incredulous. He closely watched her expression and half expected her to suddenly burst into laughter. Her red hair would bob in the sun and she would tell him it was all a practical joke. But no laughter came. She didn’t even a smile.

"As in you assassinate people?"

Cathy took a deep breath. "No, well ... not really. I work for an agency known as the CI-7. Elite to the point of being unknown. It spans across several countries. Mostly they deal with anti-terrorism plots, illegal weapon purchases on a global scale. Other issues also, like money laundering, illegal bonds ... mostly white collar stuff."

Thomas glanced at her open-mouthed. "As in you're a spy?!"

She slowly nodded. "I'm sorry Tom Tom. But life never really gives you the right moment to say, 'Hey hon, I'm a spy for an undercover multi-government operations task force', not to mention completely top secret and virtually unknown."

"So wait, all that paranoia about me ... oh my God, Cat! These are the same people who took you from prison." It was his turn to take a deep breath. "I'm going to need a bit of time to wrap my head around this ... I'm ... keep talking but I'm pretty certain I'm going to have some more questions for you later."

"They offered me immunity from the murder charge. As long as I changed my name and played by their rules. Training lasted about four years. The job at MoonStar is a tool to keep track of some of the targets. What better way to keep track of travelling terrorists than to have someone working in the travel trade, I guess."

A long pause followed, as the two lovers reflected together. Their fingers were entwined like their hearts and feelings for each other. Each of them digested the different aspects of this recent revelation. Cathy feared for herself but she was more concerned about his safety. Thomas was relieved that finally some of the pieces of his own life fell into place.

"Do you kill people, Cat?" he asked. His voice was almost a whisper.

"No Tom Tom, I don't. I'm given the picture and location. I meet with the target. Sometimes once and sometimes more, over a meal or coffee and I start, well ... talking to them. Trying to do business with them. Once the organization has enough information, they are taken in for more questioning and I don't know what becomes of them. I think most times, I don't want to know. I've seen some of the interrogations that have taken place and it's made me sick in the stomach. They told me that one day, I'll get used to it and I think that's what terrifies me the most. The day I lose myself between the shadows of taking a life so I can save another. But ... I don't know ... maybe that's what I did with my father."

"When you were inside ... did they ever hit you ... do bad stuff to you?"

"Don't ... don't do this Tom Tom. The more you know, the more perplexed you will become. I'm here now and that's what counts."

"But it is dangerous isn't it? What are the chances that someone finds out who you are and gets to you?"

He watched Cathy shift uneasily.

"I guess, but the chances are slim ...," her voice trailed off. The danger of such a life was apparent but after all this time, Cathy was still finding her way and no definite answers to give him.

In some ways, she felt this was retribution for ending her father's life. As she stole his future, now day by day he took hers, even after being dead for so long.

"And MoonStar, how many people there do you think know about you, about the targets?" Thomas' mind shifted into overdrive as he thought of all the ways he could lose her again.

But the very fact that she had pulled off these missions and achieved her way with past targets assigned to her, he had a new kind of admiration for her.

"I don't know who else in MoonStar works for them. But I know there is someone high up. My work training, my promotions. It was too well co-ordinated. I literally felt like I was being watched all the time which is why I stand by the simple rule, trust no one. Maybe it’s no one by my side or it could be the assistant who pours my coffee, I don't know Tom."

It was past 9:00 a.m. now and people were flocking to the beach. Children screamed with glee as they ran towards the water with their small floats tied around their little bodies. ‘Such innocence,’ Cathy thought. "We used to be like that." she muttered.

Thomas squeezed her hand tightly. "Cat ... I need to know ... When you go on your missions ... have you ever been, you know ... with another ... with someone else?"

Looking him in the eye, she realized that he expected nothing less than the truth. Cathy squeezed his hand.

"No. But Thomas, I will tell you that they know about you. When I finished my training and was told to wait for my first assignment at MoonStar, I was given strict orders never to contact anyone from my past. You included. But that night as I sat inside the cab it was the first time that the entire situation hit me full in the gut and I realised I didn't have anywhere else to go. I was hoping that you hadn't moved away or that you wouldn't turn me away. At that point, I figured even if I was caught coming to see you, I would have been able to see you one last time. I just had to see you, even if it was from a distance. Over the years, they found out about our sneaky adventures ... the few days when I would just go off the grid and I was warned that if something did happen to you, if an enemy caught up with you ... they wouldn't save you, that whatever happened to you, it would rest on my head ... forever."

Thomas gently drew her to him and held her tightly.

"You're all I have and I don't want to keep living two lives. Sometimes I don't know which one is real. I don't know who I am," she said.

"Hey, I'm real. I'm all here and you should have told me."

"Oh come on Tom Tom. You say that now. But imagine if I had shown up on your doorstep all those nights ago, just released from prison with some cock and bull fantasy about being part of a secret agency. You would have thought I had been set loose from a madhouse."

Thomas chuckled. "Yea, come to think of it ... good point. Might have. But Cat, I've said it before and I'll say it again and again. You have to start trusting me. And whatever happens, we'll cope. I promise you, we'll get through it together. I don't want to know about the targets, that's none of my business and I get the privacy issues involved but you ... you're all I've got and I want to know about you. You can't just lock me out and I won't let you. You got that?"

He hugged her again then kissed her on the forehead. In the morning sunlight, her red hair shone even more brightly. "So ... I thought of some ways to celebrate our sixth year together. A-we can get back into bed together or B-we can take a long shower, also together of course or C-we can order room service, an enormous breakfast and then we can get into bed together. What do you think about that for a mission, Cathy Dixon?"

Cathy laughed. "Sounds like a plan, Thomas Clarke. Hey Sweets, I am sorry you know that, right?"

"Shush, there's nothing for you to be sorry about. Really. But hang on, that whole fantasy about someone is always watching, is that really true?"

"Yea, pretty much. Emails, text messages there is always someone assigned to look it over so it's no fantasy I guess. Why? What are you hiding?"

He chuckled. "Nothing. Just curious. Plus, you've always been so pissy about emails and phone calls. Hell, I get emails from all sorts of random Internet cafes you visit. It always made me think that you did have psychotic tendencies."

Thomas moved back as Cathy playfully tried to jab him in his belly. "What kind of spy gadgets do you have? Those fancy pens with a needle inside? Or ... or what about those fancy pair of shades which are actually cameras?"