Chapter 8 #2
“Leave her,” Heath said. “Those children don’t know how to drive a lifeboat. They’re too young to be left alone.”
Ali peered through the boat’s windows. “There’re enough of them. Show them which way to go. They will be fine.”
Shit. This wasn’t good. She glanced back at the children. Maryam’s eyes were wide. “What’s happening?”
“He’s under arrest.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s going to happen to us?” Mohammad asked.
“They’re going to let you continue to Qatar,” she explained.
“What about you?” Imam asked.
“Ali, they’re children,” Heath argued. “They can’t be left alone. Let her go with them. You’ve got me.”
“Yes, but if I’ve got her, I’ve got leverage over you.” Ali sounded positively gleeful.
This wasn’t an ordinary arrest. This was a man with a grudge against Heath. Zoe’s chest tightened. She was in a tug-of-war. She’d started this to see the children safely home, but she couldn’t abandon the man who had helped her so much.
She might not have a choice.
“Show them how to drive the boat,” Ali demanded.
This was why Heath had given them instructions. Planning for different contingencies. The guard pulled her away from the door, and Zoe walked to the steering wheel where she gestured to Imam, Maryam and Mohammad.
The boat rocked side to side and the motion was unsettling. She placed a hand on her stomach and Imam looked pale. It wouldn’t be so bad after they started moving again.
Everything around the steering wheel was clearly labelled in English.
She repeated Heath’s instructions. “When you get to the Qatari coast, you should recognise the port when it comes into view.” Would the Americans still be there?
“There are military men at the entrance. If it is quiet, approach them and say Zoe and Joker sent you. Tell them what happened. They might be able to help.” She just hoped whatever disturbance had caused them to rush back to the entrance was over.
“If there’s shooting, stay in the boat until it’s quiet.
There’s plenty of food and water under the seats. ”
Mohammad nodded, looking a little scared but determined.
“When you get to Nisha, ask her to call me when the telephones are back on. She has my number.” And hopefully Zoe would still have her phone.
“I don’t feel well,” Iman said. She placed a hand on her stomach, and her face was pale.
Zoe glanced around for a bag. “I think she’s going to be sick,” she said to Kamran.
Imam pushed past him and leaned against the door frame, vomiting towards the other boat. Ali leapt away from the edge, as Iman emptied the meagre contents of her stomach.
Ali shouted something to the remaining guard on the lifeboat and then called someone else to take Heath away.
Heath nodded at her, his eyes full of the promise that he would get them out of this. She exhaled. This was her fault. She would have to fix it.
She scanned the boat, noting another pair of guards with Heath and two more in the wheelhouse. Eight men.
Zoe rubbed Imam’s back as the girl continued to retch. “It won’t be so bad when the boat is moving.” Hopefully.
“Hurry up,” the guard said in Arabic. “You need to get moving.”
Mohammad appeared with a sick bag he must have found in the supplies. He handed it to Imam, and Zoe helped her back inside to a seat.
She glanced at the children. All were conscious now, but only a few seemed to realise their predicament. “Do you understand what you need to do?” she asked Maryam and Mohammad.
Maryam repeated her instructions and then asked, “Will you be all right?”
Zoe nodded. “Of course. We’ll get this misunderstanding sorted out in no time.
” She smiled with a lot more optimism than she felt.
“Take care, and pay attention to the compass and anything outside you could hit; boats, reefs, rocks. Anything under water might have waves and white water over it, so go around.” There weren’t too many cargo ships within sight, but that could change.
She hugged Maryam and Mohammad. “You’ll be fine.
Your parents will be so excited to see you.
” She picked up Heath’s backpack and swung it over one shoulder, beside her own.
Ali shouted something from outside, and the guard grabbed her arm, his grip painful, and pulled her towards the door.
Maryam and Mohammad watched her go with fear and determination on their faces. Zoe exhaled. They would be all right. She had to believe it. These lifeboats were made for survival and as long as they kept heading in the right direction, they would reach land in a few hours.
Carefully she climbed between the boats, stumbling as the waves bumped them both. By the time she righted herself, Kamran was on the navy boat behind her and he threw the painter line of the lifeboat into the water, casting it adrift.
Immediately it moved forward, heading for home.
The children were on their own.
There was nowhere she and Heath could run to, no way to escape. Zoe adjusted her hijab to make sure she was presentable, while also scanning the deck to spot a life raft on this boat.
There was a small capsule at the back, but there were also eight armed sailors to avoid.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire. The boat moved, turning slowly to point in the direction it had come from, and accelerated. Heading towards Iran. She stumbled again, still getting used to the movement.
She was ushered into an empty cabin which had seating around a table. “Where’s Darius?” she asked Kamran, who had accompanied her inside.
“Talking to the commander.” He patted her down, his hands lingering over her breasts. Instantly her knee came up and hit him square in the groin. He groaned and backhanded her, knocking her down onto the seat.
Her cheek stung and tears welled in her eyes as she met his angry gaze. “Sorry, instinct. I tend to do that when a man touches me without warning.”
He glowered and said something to the two other guards who came into the cabin. Then he left the room.
Zoe exhaled. He was mean and had a history with Heath.
Another sailor, this one younger and a little nervous, his eyes not meeting hers, approached her. “We need to search you,” he said in broken Arabic.
She nodded and stood with her arms outstretched and legs spread. Cautiously he patted her down, finding the multi-tool Heath had given her, but avoiding her breasts. The cable ties and sleeping powder were safe.
The other guard took both backpacks and searched them. He said something to the young one who asked, “What’s this?”
The guard held an array of equipment, including binoculars and rope, as well as food.
“Supplies,” Zoe said. “We didn’t know what we would need to save the children. Please, may I try to contact their parents? They’ll be very worried.”
“No calls,” Kamran said as he returned. “Commander wants to question you next.” He grinned as if relishing the thought.
Fear spiked in Zoe.
“Sit.” Kamran pointed and Zoe sank into the hard seat. Time to take stock and come up with Plan D.
It was almost dark now, with the last rays of the sun just sinking below the horizon. She didn’t know how to navigate by the stars, and the moon hadn’t appeared yet.
The idea of being stuck in a foreign country when no one knew where she was terrified her
No, Heath’s team knew the Iranian navy had been approaching them. It would give them a place to start looking. And she still had her phone with GPS.
They couldn’t just disappear.
The Australian embassy in Iran had been in Tehran, on the opposite side of the country, but had recently been closed with the relationships between countries in the Middle East deteriorating.
And there’d been that incident when Australia had kicked the Iranian ambassador out of the country, so the government might not feel too friendly to Australians at the moment.
The closest embassy now was in the UAE, and they were heading in the wrong direction.
Assuming they were being taken to the Iranian coast, the nearest country by road would be Pakistan or Afghanistan, and the closest country by sea would be Oman. An option because relations between Australia and Oman were good.
But they would need to steal a boat, and one fast enough to outrun the one they were currently on.
Who was she kidding? She didn’t have the slightest clue how they would get out of this. She didn’t even know what Heath had done to cause his arrest. She sighed and slumped into the chair, exhaustion hitting her.
Something pricked the underside of her breast.
Cable ties.
And with them was the sleeping powder. Could she drug these men? She doubted she’d have enough for eight, but if she could drug those watching her, she could get away, and maybe rescue Heath. Then he could do his thing with the rest of them.
But she needed them to think she was harmless.
Zoe relaxed her clenched hand and noticed Dobby’s number written on it. Perhaps he could give her some tips if she could call him.
She repeated Dobby’s phone number over again in her head while she studied the guards.
Kamran would be the hardest. The youngest couldn’t have been long out of high school and was staring out the window, looking bored, and the other was looking uncomfortable having her there.
Maybe he didn’t agree with what Ali was doing. He could be an ally.
Should she demand to see Heath, or would that make Kamran think they were closer than they were?
Too many questions and no answers.
Zoe closed her eyes and started reviewing options.