Chapter 11 #2
“You’ll be all right, Zoe,” Dobby said. “There’s a flight home today and you should get there in time. I’ll meet you at the airport. Is there anyone you’d like to be there? Any family members?”
“My parents.” They’d be so worried. “I don’t know how much they know about the situation in Qatar. Don’t call them until you know we’re on the plane. I don’t want them to worry.”
“I’ll arrange it,” Dobby promised.
“Thank you.” She hung up and sat in the dark as the boat bumped through the waves. The boat was a decent size, so it should have a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom somewhere.
She headed down a short corridor and felt around for a door.
Touching the handle, she opened it and walked into a bedroom.
Some light from the sliver of moon was coming through the windows, but she didn’t dare turn on the lights.
Instead she ran her hands along the wall until she found another door.
Ensuite.
The room was pitch black, so she felt around until she found a light switch. She flicked it, confirmed it was a bathroom, and shut herself inside so the light didn’t leak out.
The bathroom was nicer than the one she’d had in her apartment in Qatar. She moved to the sink and stared at her reflection.
Her clothes and face were covered in dust, and there were stains on her clothes. She looked a little pale and if she looked too closely at her abaya, there was also the remains of vomit.
Zoe grimaced. She was a mess.
And there was no way she would get through customs looking like this. She frowned. That was a point. How were they going to get into the UAE without arousing suspicion? They couldn’t pull into a harbour with a stolen boat with signs of a gunfight.
What was Heath’s plan?
She needed to speak with him, but getting changed would be nice.
She opened the cupboards and found towels and bathroom supplies, but no clothes. Flicking off the light, she went back into the bedroom and used her phone torch to search the cupboards until she found a suitable top and pants.
It was time to get clean.
***
Zoe had gone into the cabin a few minutes ago, but no lights had come on. Heath fought the urge to check on her. He’d cleared the boat; there was no one else on board. She might not want the bright light to attract attention.
His phone rang and he answered Dobby’s call.
“Zoe rang,” Dobby said without preamble.
Heath frowned and checked the time. A bit earlier than the two hours he’d told her. “Why?”
“To check your references,” Dobby said. “She’s scared. Wanted to make sure you weren’t going rogue hurting arseholes like Ali.”
Heath flinched, then exhaled past the hurt. “Smart. I can’t tell her what really went down.”
“No,” Dobby agreed. “But it would be good to tell her something.”
He was right. Heath ran a hand through his hair and winced at the dried blood on his skin.
“I’ll talk to her. We’re about an hour out from land,” he said.
“Trying to figure out the best place to arrive so we don’t attract much attention.
” Which meant he had to get cleaned up before they ran into anyone.
He glanced behind, but the naval boat still bobbed in the water, getting further and further behind.
“Embassy wants plausible deniability, so you’re on your own on that front.”
Heath scowled. “What about Zoe? She’s one of them.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re going to need evidence you arrived through customs so you don’t raise concerns when you leave.”
Yeah, he’d been thinking about that. “The boat’s going to cause questions. There’s some damage and blood on board. I don’t know where it’s registered or to whom.”
“Life raft on board?” Dobby asked.
“Yeah.” He’d already pretty much settled on what he knew Dobby was going to suggest. “I’ll sink the vessel about a kilometre out.”
“Copy. Let me know which flight you want and we’ll organise it. Zoe wants her parents to meet the plane.”
Heath nodded. Made sense she would want them there. He checked the surroundings, but aside from a few container ships in the distance, there wasn’t a lot of traffic.
“Talk to Zoe,” Dobby said and hung up.
He had to tell her the plan anyway. She wouldn’t be keen to be on another lifeboat so soon, and this one didn’t have an engine.
Still it was too soon to stop, and he didn’t want to tie the steering wheel into position while he went to talk to her in case they ran into something and sank further from land than he wanted to.
He called her phone, but she didn’t answer.
Concern skittered across his skin. He had cleared the boat, but perhaps there was a secret compartment for someone to hide in. They would have to smuggle the drugs in somehow.
He tried again just in case she’d put the phone down and hadn’t heard it ring.
Nothing.
Shit. He slowed the boat, got his gun and hurried into the cabin, clearing each room until he got to the master bedroom. He opened the door and while it was dark inside, there was a slit of light coming from under the door of the bathroom.
Heath exhaled. “Zoe, are you in there?”
“Yeah. Is everything all right?”
She was probably cleaning up, but he needed to check she wasn’t being held hostage. “Can I talk to you?”
She opened the door a crack, her hair wet and a towel wrapped around her waist. “Can you give me a minute?”
Water glistened off her skin, and he had the sudden urge to lick her dry.
Not appropriate.
He moved a little closer so she could see him in the bathroom light and mouthed, Are you alone?
She frowned. “What?”
She didn’t seem scared, but he spoke quietly. “Are you alone?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I need to check.” If she was already worried about her safety, he didn’t want to force his way inside.
Frowning, she stepped back, and he quickly cleared the room, checking for any hidden compartments. Zoe was staring at him when he finished.
“This boat is used for smuggling,” he said. “There may be hidden compartments. I need to do a more thorough check. Can you get dressed quickly and take over at the helm?”
“Of course.”
He stepped out of the bathroom, allowing her to change, and searched the master bedroom.
Clear.
Zoe stepped out, wearing a long dark top and dark pants, her hair still wrapped in a towel.
“Feeling better?”
“A bit. There are more clothes in the cupboard if you want to change.”
It was nice of her to think of him. “I will later. First let’s get moving again.
” He led the way back to the helm, showed her the direction they needed to go, and accelerated until they were up to speed.
The cabin was remarkably quiet. “I’m going to double-check we’re alone and then I’ll come back and tell you the plan.
If you see anyone on board, you slow down fast, and I’ll come up on deck. ”
She nodded, concern across her face. “Do you think it’s likely?”
“No. Everyone would have been called on deck to protect the boat.”
“All right.”
He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and switched on the deck lights. “You see anything that has you worried, you slow down or call me.”
“I will.”
Heath made quick work checking the deck and then worked his way down until he reached the engine room. It was noisy as hell, but this was where he would expect to find a compartment. During his time working for Ali, they kept the goods as far away from the common areas as possible.
Sure enough, towards the stern he discovered a large compartment containing two waterproof duffle bags.
Checking the area for wires or any other kind of booby trap, he then lifted them out and took them upstairs away from the noise so he could listen.
From the weight and feel he guessed they were full of money, but he checked them thoroughly before unzipping the first one.
Yep, lots of wads of American dollars.
Drug money.
He did a quick count. Several million dollars. He grabbed two wads of cash in case he needed to bribe someone and to back up his cover story of being a wealthy playboy.
A playboy who wasn’t the kind to leave money on a sinking ship.
Then he hesitated as he looked over the amount of money which would set anyone up for life.
The transactions from the money would have caused heartache for families as their loved ones succumbed to their addiction.
Money that made the bad guys richer.
Money that Dobby could use to set up his private security firm to stop the bad guys.
Ethically it was dodgy as fuck, but this wasn’t really part of his mission. He should be on a plane heading to Australia right now.
There was no way he could get the money out of the country. Taking it with him would cause more delays and problems if it was discovered.
But if it sank with the ship, it would be useless. Unless it was waterproof, which the bags appeared to be.
He searched the galley and found plastic wrap. Quickly he stretched it out, added the wads of cash from the first bag and then wrapped it, over and over again until the cash was completely covered.
Then he returned it to the bag and did the same to the second bag. At about twenty kilos each, they should sink to the bottom of the ocean.
He didn’t want Zoe to have to lie for him, so he left the bags on the table and rejoined Zoe at the helm.
“All clear?” she asked.
“Yeah. I found some cash though.” He showed her the two wads he’d taken and handed her a couple of grand. “Can you put this in your bra?”
She nodded and turned her back to him as he put the rest in his backpack. “For in case we need to bribe someone.” He glanced around the area. “See anything suspicious?”
“No. I’ve been scanning the area, but it doesn’t look as if they’re coming after us.” She took a key from her pocket and handed it to him. “I took the boat key.”
He grinned. “Great work.” He’d wondered why they hadn’t given chase.
He shifted next to her and switched on the fish-finding app on the dash.
As it booted up, he said, “Why don’t you take the other seat?
You look tired.” He waited until she shifted to the chair next to the captain’s before he sat next to her, checking the compass and coordinates.
The fish finder had them at eighteen metres depth.
Easily diveable. Good. He could make a decision later.
He put that out of his mind and focused on the woman next to him. Time to put her at ease. “I can’t tell you exactly what happened with Ali and Kamran, but I’ll tell you what I can. I want you to feel safe with me.”