Stealing Asia (10 page)

The image of the
tiger shark as it moved in for the kill was still clear in my memory. Could
Esteban really have instigated the whole thing? It did not make any sense and
Clay seemed to be able to come up with answers to my questions far too easily.
Something was not right.

‘How do you know
so much about all of this?’ I asked. ‘How do I know that you haven’t planted
all of this evidence in his cabin?’

He took
carefully measured glances over both of his shoulders before reaching into his
pocket. He withdrew a small leather wallet, which he then flipped open and held
up for my inspection. It looked no more special or secretive than any other
form of ID that I had seen before. The left side comprised of a passport sized
image of Clay and the right half was taken up with a large blue circle with a
yellow border. Inside the circle was a white shield with a red star on it
sitting below the head of a bald eagle. The words
Central Intelligence
Agency
was embossed along the inside rim of the circle.

‘Is this some
sort of joke?’ I asked.

If it was, he
was not yet ready to reveal the punch line.

‘The security of
my nation is no laughing matter,’ he replied, a little sternly.

‘So you’re
telling me that you are a secret agent?’

‘Special Agent,’
he corrected. ‘And at this present time I believe that an American citizen is
in extreme danger.’

‘So what are you
going to do?’

‘The two options
available to us are extraction or elimination.’

Elimination? It
suddenly occurred to me that if indeed Clay was with the CIA, he may be
carrying a gun. In fact, I would be wise to assume that he most certainly was.
This changed things considerably. My life had been so much simpler five minutes
earlier. It is amazing how much things can change in such a short space of time.
If he was lying, it did not really matter what my next move would be as he
would already have decided what he would do with me. If he was telling the
truth though, it would be a big mistake not to cooperate with him.

‘Tell me about
the extraction option,’ I said.

The plan was
simple. The means of our escape had already been put into place. The only
difference was that we would no longer be returning from our camping trip. At
least not back to the resort anyway. Clay made a call on his satellite phone
and arranged for a boat to pick us up at the beach. It went against all of my
principles, but I agreed that we would keep Asia and the other girls in the
dark for as long as possible. If Esteban was true to form then he would be
watching us leave and if the girls knew that we were fleeing, their body
language would only give the game away.

Under Clay’s
instruction, I arranged to meet Esteban at the bar for a drink before leaving.
He gave me a small pill to slip into the South American’s beer. He assured me
that it was nothing more than a strong sedative and would do no lasting harm;
just buy us enough time to get off of the island without being followed. I did
as I was told and by the end of our drink together Esteban complained of
light-headedness and repaired to his cabin to lie down.

***

‘Care to share
your thoughts?’ Asia asked me as we progressed deeper into the bush.

The rocky
coastline and high tide had meant that the safest means of passage was the
inland route through the forest.

‘What do you
want to know?’ I replied.

‘Why you keep
looking over your shoulder every two minutes would be a good start. You don’t
think that we’re being followed, do you?’

‘Followed?’ I
tried my best to look perplexed by the question. ‘Why would I think we were
being followed?’

I am not the
greatest actor in the world. The pinnacle of my stage career was playing a
shepherd in the school nativity play. I was given no lines, but did get to hold
a toy sheep. Unfortunately, I had no such prop at my disposal to make my
deception here any more convincing.

‘We
are
being followed,’ interrupted Barrett.

The American was
at the rear of the group ensuring that we all kept pace whilst Clay led the way
from the front. I was startled by his admission. Both he and his partner had
been very clear about what we should not tell the girls. At least it drew
Asia’s questions away from me. She immediately turned to her countryman to
request clarification on his provocative statement. He looked at me smugly
before offering his answer.

‘This is the
jungle,’ he replied, knowingly. ‘Eyes and ears are everywhere. As I speak, a
thousand different creatures are sizing us up. Most see us as a threat, but to
some we are an opportunity as they taste our sweat on the wind.’

Asia’s eyes lit
up with anticipation at the merest mention of danger.

‘Show me,’ she
replied.

Barrett walked
between us, brushing roughly into me as he did so. He then raised his arm up
into the foliage of a tree and let it hover for a moment before sharply
reaching down onto a branch and snatching something away from it. When he
turned back to face us he had a small lizard clasped by its tail between his
index finger and thumb. It was no bigger than a cherry on a stick.

‘That looks
really dangerous,’ I said. ‘You better be careful it doesn’t chew one of your
fingers off.’

He did not
reply. In fact, he ignored my sarcasm completely. Instead, he just squatted
down on the ground and brushed the tiny lizard teasingly against the grass
before letting it go. It stayed completely still when he released it and it was
only when he took a step back that it dared to move. Taking cautious steps
first and then breaking into a full on sprint, it tried to return to its tree.

It never made
it.

I did not see
from where the snake came, only that it swallowed its prey in one perfectly
timed lunge before slinking away into the bushes.

‘It would be
wise for us to not stand about for too long,’ Barrett said. ‘There’s always a
bigger snake.’

He winked to
Asia and then carried on following the rest of the group. I wanted to hit him.

‘You heard the
man,’ Asia said. ‘Let’s go.’

We quickly
returned to our place in the middle of the pack. The English girls were not
coping too well in the heat and did not ask what we had been doing. It took us
about forty five minutes to complete the trail, but with the humidity it felt
like double that time. Everyone was relieved when we finally made it to the
clearing. It came as no surprise to me that there was a boat waiting for us
when we got there.

‘I thought you
promised that we would have this beach to ourselves,’ Asia called out to Clay
when she saw the small vessel. ‘Somebody already beat us to it.’

‘There has been
a change of plan,’ he replied. ‘I need you girls to all get on that boat. It
will take you to safety.’

There were two
men standing by the boat, which was actually no more than a dinghy. If they too
were CIA, they did not look it. Both were Asian, possibly Thai, but it was
difficult to tell in the failing light.

‘What’s going
on?’ asked Asia, turning to me. ‘Why does he want us to get into a boat with
strangers?’

‘I don’t have
time to explain right now,’ I told her. ‘This island is no longer safe; I’ll
explain once we are on the water.’

For the first
time, she looked at me with disappointment in her eyes.

‘You knew about
this?’

‘It’s a long
story, but right now we have to get on that boat. Trust me; we may be in danger
here.’

Izzie and Dee
were also confused, but their boyfriends explained the situation to them much
more effectively. The pair of them quickly ran down to the dinghy and threw
their bags in the back. The two strangers helped them to climb aboard, whilst
Asia reluctantly followed me down to the shore. Her sense of adventure, which
had pretty much defined our relationship, had been replaced by apprehension. I
had not seen her like this since the evening of the attempted mugging. She took
off her sandals and climbed aboard first. I was about to join her when I was
stopped by a restraining hand on my arm.

‘Not you, Ben,’
said Clay. ‘We have to do this in two trips. The boat will come back for us.’

Asia tried to
climb back out, but one of the strangers stopped her. He pulled forcefully on
her arm and in response I punched him on the side of his face. As he fell, he
dragged Asia down with him and when I tried to help her up, he lunged at me. I
was able twist out of his direct path and use his own momentum against him.

I grabbed onto
his shoulders and pushed him down into the shallow water. By this time my
adrenaline was pumping fast and after all of the scheming and suspicion that
had burdened me for the previous twenty four hours, I was eager for a fight.
Nobody had intervened to break us up so I moved in to hit him again. That was
when I saw the gun.

‘Everybody
stop!’ shouted Clay.

He took a few
steps forward in order to place himself directly between me and the man who was
pointing the pistol. His next words were not in English, but they were
effective. The second Asian, who had risen from his seat in the dinghy, lowered
his firearm and then helped his friend to clamber back out of the water. I
could see that the girls were all terrified and they waited eagerly for what
Clay had to say next. As he had done earlier with me, he showed them his CIA
badge.

‘I’m sorry that
things have panned out the way they have,’ he said. ‘We never figured that any
of you would be placed in danger. Barrett and I were on vacation until we
learned that the head of an international drugs cartel was planning on setting
up shop on this very island.’

He told the lie
with such conviction that I was both surprised and disappointed that he had not
just used it on me earlier. It would have been preferable to knowing the truth;
that Esteban had been stalking Asia for at least the past month. Izzie and Dee
accepted the information without question, but Asia was sceptical.

‘I’d sooner face
a drug dealer than get on this boat,’ she said.

‘Unfortunately,
you no longer have the luxury of choice,’ replied Clay. ‘This dinghy will take
you to a ship that is moored 4km from the coast. You will be back in Bangkok
within twenty four hours and from there we can take you to anywhere you want to
go.’

‘What about our
bags?’

‘We will
retrieve what we can and forward it on. You will be fully compensated for any
losses.’

‘Why can’t Ben
and I travel in the same boat? I don’t want to leave him; let me stay to get
the second.’

‘Ben stays with
us,’ replied Clay. ‘Don’t worry; he will be with you soon enough.’

She did not look
convinced. Her locket was around her neck and she clasped her hand over it
securely.

‘Do not worry,’
I assured her. ‘I’ll be on the next boat and we’ll be together and far away
from this place in no time.’

She threw her
arms over my shoulders and hugged me tightly. As our faces touched, she
whispered in my ear; ‘find Esteban; he’ll know what to do.’ The Asians pulled
us apart; delicately this time and I could do nothing but watch as they took
her away from me.

‘Why couldn’t I
go with her?’ I asked, once the boat was safely out of range.

‘It’s safer to
keep you two apart,’ Clay replied. ‘Esteban only wanted you dead because you
were close to Asia. The more distance between the two of you the better.’

‘So, I’m not
getting on the next boat?’

‘Not yet.
Esteban thinks that you trust him and we cannot afford to ignore that
advantage.’

The coldness of
his words made me feel sick.

‘You want to use
me as bait?’ I asked.

‘Come on,’ he
said, ignoring my question. ‘We’re going back to the resort and you, my friend,
are going to help us catch a very dangerous man.’

I had no choice
but to follow.

Chapter 10

The volume
increased in direct proportion to the rate at which the light reduced. All
around me an orchestra comprising of reptiles, birds and insects composed their
eclectic symphony. The music blended in perfect harmony and I could no more
tell the croak of a toad from the metronomic click of a cockroach. If a snake
was amongst the players, I had no means to single it out. I tried my best to
follow Clay’s footsteps exactly as he led me back through the forest.

No words were
exchanged as we progressed along the trail. We made better time without the
girls, but my senses were so active and alert that it seemed to take even
longer this time. By the time that we were in sight of the resort, I was
mentally exhausted from the stress of it all.

‘What do we do
now?’ I asked.

‘The first
priority is to draw him away from the crowds,’ replied Clay. ‘We cannot afford
any more witnesses.’

‘How do you
propose to do that?’

He turned to
face me.

‘Not me - you.’

He was asking me
to deceive a man who I had once called my friend; a man who had saved my life.
I did not know if I could pull that off. Esteban knew me too well. The
slightest mistake would give me away.

‘What do you
want me to do? He is expecting us all to be camping on the beach; just my being
here is going to arouse his suspicion.’

‘I already
thought of that. Tell him you never made it to the beach. Barrett and I screwed
you. We got you lost in the jungle and now you’re worried about Asia. He won’t
have any trouble believing the story if you make us the villains; trust me.’

‘What makes you
so sure?’

As my words
still hung in the air they were cut off by a very distinctive sounding click.
It was a sound that I used only to associate with the movies, but not anymore.
Clay and I both turned our heads towards the source, but Barrett kept deathly
still. Pressed against the back of his head was the nub of a pistol.

‘He knows that I
will believe you, because technically it is true,’ said Esteban. ‘Thanks to
your new buddies here, you have become hopelessly lost, my friend, and your
girl is in more danger than you think.’

A part of me had
hoped this whole charade would be proved a misunderstanding. That was no longer
possible. Esteban was clearly aligning himself in direct opposition to the
Americans. I had already chosen my side and now Esteban was my enemy as well as
theirs. I thought if I could distract the Argentine, Clay would have time to
come up with a plan. I was wrong. Esteban was above distraction. He steadfastly
refused to be drawn into any dialogue.

Clay was ordered
to lay down his gun and duly obliged. It was the first time I had seen his
weapon and the fact that such a deadly instrument could be concealed with
complete anonymity was unnerving. Barrett too, gave up a firearm and Esteban
exchanged it with his own, which he reholstered. The American was also ordered
to take off the rucksack he had been carrying. He was then beckoned onto his
feet and we were all led back along the jungle trail. The Argentine kept a
close tail on us and had a clear shot should anyone of us try anything stupid.
I was given the bag to carry and a flashlight, which I was instructed to keep
shining on the Americans as we walked. If I lowered it for just a second, I was
told that he would shoot one of them instantly. If either of them tried to
stray out of the beam, they were told that he would also shoot. Esteban had a
second flashlight and he kept that one trained on me. Everybody did as they
were told.

When we made it
to the clearing the starlight was enough to reveal a comprehensive enough view
of the beach and ocean. The tide had not changed much since we had previously
left it and a small light out to sea signalled that the dinghy was making its
return trip.

‘How many are on
the boat?’ asked Esteban.

‘Two,’ replied
Clay.

The Argentine
looked to me for confirmation.

‘There were two
before,’ I told him. I then added, ‘both armed.’

Barrett shifted
uneasily. No doubt he saw my admission as treacherous, but the stakes were
extremely high and Esteban was fully in control. It was pointless trying to
deceive him and any attempt to do so would only increase the chances of this
ending in blood being shed.

‘Okay,’ began
the South American, ‘this is what we are going to do. Your friends in the boat
are expecting three passengers. It is dark and it is unlikely that they will be
able to recollect Ben with total clarity. I will take his place.’

‘So where does
that leave me?’ I asked, almost afraid of what the answer may be.

‘It leaves you
sitting quietly in the jungle with your mouth shut,’ he replied. ‘I suggest
that you get into character right away.’

It was the first
time he had snapped at me and I was not going to argue. He took my flashlight
from me and then we all waited. The dinghy was now only yards from shore and
one of the men jumped out to tow it in to the beach.

‘Start walking,’
Esteban ordered Clay.

Once the
American was a few feet out of the clearing, Barrett was told to follow. This
was when the big man made his move. He spun around with a speed that completed
belied his size and knocked the pistol from Esteban’s hand. A second blow was
ably countered by the South American, who was then able to high kick his
aggressor away from him before turning to retrieve the gun from the floor. As
he bent down to pick it up, I dropped the bag and slid in two footed in order
to swipe it clear of his reach. He looked at me angrily, but had no time to
remonstrate. Barrett was back on his feet and launched himself fists forward into
the Argentine, sending them both crashing back into the jungle. That was when I
heard Clay screaming at me.

‘Get the gun!
Get the gun!’ he shouted.

I reached down
and picked it up. For a split second, I considered using it to try and break up
the fight between Esteban and Barrett, but the ferocity of their entanglement
had already sent them deeper into the jungle. To go in after them in the dark
would be far too risky. Instead, I retreated back onto the beach where I caught
up with Clay.

‘Where’s Barrett?’
he demanded, as he took the gun from me.

‘I lost sight of
them both,’ I replied. ‘If Esteban has any sense he will have fled. Maybe
Barrett went after him.’

‘I can’t take
any chances. He still has another gun. You wait by the dinghy and I’ll go in
after them.’

He led me down
to the boat and then issued instructions to the two men inside in a language
that I did not understand. They instantly pulled out fully automatic rifles,
which had been concealed within the dinghy. The weapons looked very similar to the
ones carried by the soldiers in Sungai Kolok and had the potential to inflict a
substantial amount of damage. As they prepared to leave, one of them suddenly
became very animated and he began to point and shout wildly. We looked back
beyond the beach where a figure was slowly emerging from the cover of the
forest. It was Barrett.

The American
seemed to lurch rather than walk and it was instantly apparent that something
was amiss. When he got a few feet clear of the tree-line, he dropped to his
knees and then fell forward, flat onto his face. There was a knife stuck in his
back. The same one he had showed us on the dive boat. It was off centre and
closer to his shoulder blade than spine, but at such a distance there was no
way to be certain if the injury was mortal or not.

Clay immediately
signalled for one of his gunmen to advance up the beach.

‘This is
suicide,’ I said. ‘We should get in the boat.’

‘Relax,’ replied
Clay, who showed no emotion regarding his fallen friend. ‘We’re too far out of
range.’

The Asian gunman
continued up the beach and when he was halfway he fired three quick bursts into
the foliage from where Barrett had earlier emerged. The stakes had been upped
considerably and it was now clear that they intended to kill Esteban. As the
smoke cleared from the barrel of the rifle another single shot rang out from
the trees, but much further down the coastline than expected. This was followed
almost instantly by a ping against the dinghy and then the hiss of escaping
air.

‘He’s going for
the boat,’ said Clay, as he turned and began firing in the direction of the
bullets origin.

Both of the
other gunmen joined him and the one who had earlier fired, ran back down the
beach as he did so. Between them they sprayed the tree line with bullets and
the plants splintered and exploded under their devastating impact.

Esteban had
already moved. His next shot came from higher up, where he had climbed onto
some rocks. He was moving closer, but keeping his shelter. This time his bullet
hit one of the gunmen in the thigh, indicating that he was not simply aiming
for the dinghy after all.

‘We’re sitting
ducks here,’ announced Clay. ‘Get in the boat.’

He roughly
shoved me against the dinghy and as I hit the side, the force was enough for me
to carry on and topple inside. The other gunman was now back with us and he
helped Clay push the vessel into deeper water before jumping in. The American
then pulled on the cord to start the outboard motor.

As we sped away,
Clay kept us perpendicular to the beach in order to keep the maximum distance
between ourselves and Esteban’s hiding place. The Argentine soon ran out from
his cover and started firing upon us. I ducked down and was almost deafened as
the uninjured of the Asians returned fire. Clay was quick to stop this as the momentum
of the boat and motion of the waves made for a most unsteady platform and the
man was more likely to shoot one of us than his intended target.

I remained
crouched down long after the shooting had stopped. We were well over a mile out
to sea when I eventually dared to show my head. The injured man was being
treated by his comrade and Clay was calmly steering us along. I noticed that
the boat was slightly lopsided.

‘Are we
sinking?’ I asked.

‘Relax,’ replied
Clay. ‘The boat took a couple of hits, but not enough to deflate us completely.
It’s designed to sustain the odd puncture.’

I looked back to
the island. Several spots along the coastline were lit up where the resorts
were, but I could not tell from which point we had just fled. I turned back to
face the direction that we were travelling and saw the lights of a boat in the
distance. Although it was dark, I thought I recognised the vessel. It was the
frigate that had vexed Esteban earlier in the week.

A large
spotlight was shone on us as we approached and the people onboard the vessel
were extremely animated. Clay brought us alongside and ladders were quickly
lowered to accommodate our boarding. A second, larger, portable craft was being
stocked and loaded into the water as we made it onto the deck.

‘What’s going
on?’ I asked. ‘Are you going back?’

Clay ignored me
and it seemed like I was a ghost to all of the boat’s crew as well. They shoved
past me as they hurried to prepare a second landing party. I waited until Clay
had finished giving his orders before approaching him.

‘What do I do
now?’ I asked.

He looked at me
with vehemence.

‘You can start
by shutting the fuck up,’ he barked. ‘I’m holding you solely responsible for
that mess on the beach and if Barrett is dead, I’ll be dealing with your punishment
personally.’

He called over
two armed guards who then grabbed me roughly by each arm. They forcefully led
me across the deck and down a staircase before bundling me into a small cell.
The door was slammed and locked behind me. There were no windows, no bed, not
even a bucket. For whatever reason I was being imprisoned, it was obvious that
it would not be for long. I sat down in a corner of the claustrophobic, metal
room and waited.

***

It was about an
hour later when Clay returned. I knew that he was back onboard, because the
engines had started. We were moving, but to where, I had no idea. Asia was
somewhere on this boat and I wondered if like me, she was being kept prisoner.
I also wondered about Barrett and Esteban. Was one or even both of them now
dead? A CIA agent killed on foreign soil would be a major diplomatic incident
and I was right at the centre of it. Wherever the boat was taking me, I knew
that it would be a long time before I got home. As far as I was aware, I had
broken no laws, but I was a witness. I was just waiting to be told exactly what
it was that I was a witness to.

I had almost
drifted off to sleep when Clay came for me. There were not any guards with him
and his emotions were fully under control this time. A handgun was clearly
displayed on his shoulder harness and I knew that he wanted me to see this. I
expected him to have a lot of questions for me and the sight of a gun was
always a muse to honesty as far as interrogations went. He led me down a long
corridor before finally showing me into another room. This one was just as cold
and metallic, but it did at least have seats and a desk.

‘When can I see
Asia?’ I asked.

‘After you’ve
answered some questions that I have,’ he replied.

‘Before we
begin, I want to know what happened when you went back to the beach.’

He scoffed at my
request.

‘That
information is classified.’

‘Surely you can
tell me whether or not Barrett is still alive.’

‘Fine, but
that’s all that I will tell you. Barrett is in the medical bay as we speak,
receiving stitches for the injury in his back. The wound was clean and missed
all major organs and arteries. Given the nature of the injury, it would have
been easier to have killed him, so we think that your friend kept him alive for
a reason; probably to extract information.’