Chapter 12
Zoe’s pulse jumped at the earnest way Heath looked at her. Dobby had obviously called him after their conversation. “I’ll listen.”
He smiled. “I was doing some work in a country near here.”
She almost laughed at the vagueness of his statement. Instead she nodded and waited for him to continue.
“Part of that work put me in contact with Ali, who you shot, and Kamran, the other man in the room.”
Her stomach rolled. “Did I kill Ali?”
Heath shook his head. “Your shot was non-lethal. It would have hurt a hell of a lot, but he could have survived. I killed him.” It wasn’t said with relish, rather with grim acceptance.
“Both of them did terrible things to good people. I helped stop them. But when they both should have gone to gaol for life, they were merely demoted.”
So both men had been higher in the Iranian navy. “Friends in high places.”
Heath nodded. “The highest. Neither was happy about being demoted, hence their reaction to seeing me. There’s still an arrest warrant out for the role I played.”
She could read between the lines. He must have been working undercover.
“I will never hurt you, Zoe. I know words mean nothing, so I want to tell you something about myself that I’ve only told a few people.”
She couldn’t look away from the sincerity in his dark eyes. It drew her in, but he shouldn’t have to make himself vulnerable for her. “It’s not necessary. I appreciate you telling me what you can, and Dobby helped to calm my frightened imagination.”
“You were right to question everything that happened. What you witnessed was horrific, and I’d be surprised if you didn’t have fears.” He paused for a moment. “I’d like to tell you, if you want to listen.”
She nodded, unable to find the right words. She did trust him, but she wanted to know more about him.
The boat bumped over a few waves, and there were lots of lights in the distance, ships with their night lights on.
Despite that, it felt as if they were all alone.
“When I was not much older than Mohammad, my family fled Iran. We were of the Bahá?í Faith and were being persecuted. My parents thought they could find a better life for us elsewhere, and so they arranged for us to be smuggled out of the country into Pakistan.” Heath stared through the windscreen.
Zoe waited, knowing more was coming and wanting to give him time to put himself together.
“We travelled in the middle of the night on the back of motorcycles. I was squeezed on one with my mum and our guide. My little sister, who was five, was with Dad and another man. About halfway there, in the middle of the desert, we stopped. Mum was tense so I knew something wasn’t right.”
His hands gripped the steering wheel as if he was reliving the moment. Zoe almost didn’t want to know what happened next.
“Men came out of the darkness. They demanded more money, but we had no more to give. They said they would take payment from my mother.”
Zoe wanted to be sick, wanted to stop him talking, but his words came faster now.
“Mum was dragged off the bike behind me. My father tried to stop them and he was shot. Killed and left where he fell for the animals to devour.” He swallowed hard as his voice broke. “My sister was crying so I sneaked over to her and held her, covering her ears, while my mother screamed for mercy.”
Zoe touched his arm, unable to stop the urge to comfort him. He flinched and then relaxed, and she wrapped her arm around his shoulders to soothe him.
“I can still see the leader’s face when I close my eyes,” he continued. “Black, squinty eyes, his ring finger on his left hand missing, and a crooked nose like the Wicked Witch of the West.” He shook his head. “The only time I watched that movie, the nightmares returned for months.”
Tears welled in Zoe’s eyes and she blinked them back.
“When it was all done, they put us back on the motorbikes and we crossed over the border to Pakistan and into a refugee camp. I thought we would be safe, but there were pockets we learned to avoid. People were at their most vulnerable, particularly women and children. I lost my faith in that camp and vowed I would always protect others, particularly those who couldn’t protect themselves. ”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I’m so sorry, Heath. For everything you and your family have endured.”
“They didn’t break us,” he said. “My mother healed with the help of friends and built us a life in Australia. We don’t talk about those times, but I turned to the military, and my sister wants to change the world through human rights and law.
” He smiled then and turned to Zoe. “She’s likely going to run the UN one day. ”
The love he had for his sister shone from his eyes and made Zoe like him even more. “I’d love to meet her one day.”
“She’d like you.” He glanced back at the instruments and cleared his throat. “I hope my story helps you understand that I will do nothing to hurt you or take advantage of you.”
Her heart ached. “It does.” She wanted to smooth the furrows from his brow and ease the tension from his body.
Heath hesitated and then said, “I have a plan to get us into the UAE.”
She frowned at the sudden change in topic. “Can’t we just pull up on a deserted beach?”
“No. We need proof we entered the country and we can’t dock at any harbour without attracting unwanted attention. The boat’s covered in blood and bullet holes, and despite us both holding Australian passports, we’re on a stolen boat registered to someone involved in drug smuggling.”
All really good points. “What’s the plan?”
“I’m going to sink the boat.”
Zoe laughed out loud, but when he didn’t crack a smile, the laughter died. Cautiously she asked, “What do you mean?”
“We’ll pose as a couple who have hired this luxury boat for the week.
We were heading to Dubai to do some shopping when the engine exploded and the boat sank.
We only just got on board the life raft in time.
” He pointed to the capsule on the back.
“I will row us to shore, but with all the boat traffic closer to the mainland, someone might pick us up. We can go through customs, get our passports stamped and tell the authorities we just want to get home. Then we catch the first flight to Australia.”
It made sense in theory, but, “How are you going to make the engine explode?”
He tapped his nose and grinned at her. “Trade secret.” He glanced out where the lights were getting closer. “But we’ll need to act like a couple. Would you feel comfortable with that?”
Her heart softened even more towards him. “Yeah.” She was more than happy to fake a relationship with him. This man was definitely someone she wanted to spend time with. The thought surprised her a little, given the circumstances.
Heath smiled at her. “Good. I need to clean up and pack a bag full of things we might have grabbed in a panic before disembarking. Will you be all right up here?”
She really didn’t want to be left alone, still half-expecting someone to appear from the darkness to attack again. She swallowed down the fear. “Of course. What can I do to help?”
“Come up with a backstory for us. We probably met in Canberra before you were posted out here and I surprised you by turning up unannounced and whisking you away on this adventure.”
She smiled. “And we made it out before everything erupted in Qatar, which is why I can’t go back.”
“That’s right. I won’t be long. Steer clear of any vessels. It’s going to get pretty busy as we get closer to Dubai, but I’m hoping a lot of the big ships will be at anchor waiting their turn in the port.”
Zoe scanned the area as she shifted into the captain’s seat. It would take some time before they were close enough to any vessel to worry. “Go. I’ll be right here waiting.” She smiled at him, hoping to give off a confidence she didn’t entirely feel.
“Thanks.”
Heath headed down the ladder, and a minute later the light went on in the bedroom. She focused on the dark sea ahead of her, looking for any navigation lights, which would indicate a ship was near.
They were almost safe. By this time tomorrow they’d be on a plane heading for Australia. Would Heath want to see her again after this?
Where would she be? She had no home and she suspected she’d have no job after missing the rendezvous. Her future was unclear and unplanned.
It was almost freeing in a way.
She glanced behind, searching the darkness for movement on the water or navigation lights to show a boat was approaching.
Nothing.
She exhaled. Perhaps the naval vessel didn’t have a spare set of keys.
The light in the bedroom flicked off. Heath must have had the quickest shower on record.
Zoe waited for him to reappear, but he didn’t. Perhaps he was seeing what else he could salvage. Half of the things in his backpack screamed military training, and her backpack had an embassy laptop in it that thankfully the Iranian navy hadn’t seized.
All she had on her were the long-sleeved shirt and pants she’d found in a cupboard and her phone that was on its last battery. Though she had kept the cable ties in her bra just in case.
A lot of evenly spaced lights in the distance indicated a cargo ship or oil tanker. They must be nearing the coast and were hopefully already into UAE waters.
Heath appeared on deck with his backpack and went over to the life raft at the back. He checked it over, nodded as if satisfied, and then headed up the ladder to Zoe.
He wore all black now, but it was loose linen clothing similar to what Zoe wore.
He checked their progress. “We’re getting close now.
We don’t want to be too near in case someone sees what we’ve done.
” He glanced behind. “The boat needs time to sink before we’re rescued.
We should be good here.” He put the boat into neutral and turned off the engine. “Come with me.”
Zoe followed him to the life raft.
“You jerk this rope to deploy the raft,” he said.
Concern filled her. “Where are you going to be?”
He smiled. “Hopefully with you, but just in case…”