Out Of His Depth, page 13
Chapter 72
Barker walked down the corridor from his room wearing a mixed collection of clothes he’d dumped on his sofa the day before. Trousers and shoes, no socks. No time. He did grab a thin jumper, in case he had to walk outside at some point. They might be on their way to the Caribbean, he thought, but it’s still cold at night in the middle of the Atlantic.
He came to the midships staircase and headed up to Deck Five where the last notification had told him Margaret Gibson had been. As he did so, another one pinged on his phone:
Margaret Gibson – Explorers Lounge, Deck Five
The Explorers Lounge was a little further on than the Emporium, the designer shops onboard where the cruise company helped passengers part with more of their money. The Atrium was well lit and Barker noted how different it was in the middle of the night without all the people and the hubbub. He would have stopped for a look around if he hadn’t had more on his mind. As he walked down the corridor past the Emporium he noticed a maintenance man on a stepladder changing lightbulbs in the ceiling.
“Good morning sir,” said the man politely.
“Morning,” replied Barker with a polite smile as he slipped past.
Barker walked quickly but with his eyes scanning as far ahead as he could in case he saw anything untoward, but he didn’t know what to expect. It could be a wild goose chase, but he was worried enough to have got up in the middle of the night to go looking for Lucy.
Margaret Gibson – Adriatic Suite, Deck Five
Barker’s pulse quickened at the new notification, as he realised it was the location of their meeting the previous morning, and where they had arranged to meet the others again later today. In his mind this made it more likely that it wasn’t just an innocent coincidence, and that he could be being led into a trap. He stopped for a second. Maybe it wasn’t Lucy he was following at all. Maybe it was the killer. Had he killed Margaret as well, and stolen her Sea Star, to fool Barker into following him? He decided to carry on carefully and look for escape routes as he went.
Chapter 73
Lucy twitched as she felt a pair of hands around the back of her head undoing the blindfold that had kept her in the dark until now. They weren’t Michael’s hands. They belonged to the person who had helped her sit up and straightened her legs before, a Hispanic man in an engineer’s overalls, with the Galaxy logo – a crew member, but not one she recognised.
The light in the room seemed blinding at first, but she blinked and adjusted quickly and looked uncertainly around the room. There were other people sat on the floor around the perimeter, with blindfolds and hands tied behind their backs. It took her a few seconds to recognise some of them from the meeting the previous morning: Janet, Jordan and Sam were there, plus a couple of faces she didn’t know.
A young Asian woman walked over to her carrying a cup of coffee and squatted down in front of her, offering the cup up to her mouth to take a sip.
“Jas…Jasmine?” whispered Lucy, recognising the girl from the meeting, “What are you…? What’s going on?”
“Drink up. I will help.” Jasmine replied.
“Why am I here Jasmine? What have I done?”
Jasmine just looked blankly into Lucy’s eyes and offered the cup again. Lucy accepted that she wasn’t going to answer and took a sip of the lukewarm coffee, hoping it would clear her head.
“More,” Jasmine said, tipping the cup again. Lucy took a couple more mouthfuls and said, “Thank you.” Jasmine pulled away, stood up and walked across the room without looking back. She put the cup down on a table by the entrance to the room which Lucy recognised now as the one they’d held the meeting in the day before. Michael was stood talking to another man who seemed to be guarding the door. The man nodded as Michael gave him instructions, and then Michael turned to face the room.
“Now that we have Lucy we can move on. Miss Jones is going to help us achieve our goal,” Michael said, looking around the room at each of the captive passengers.
Lucy stared at the man she’d once admired and now hated, trying to fight the impulse to shout obscenities at him, and instead asked the question on everyone’s lips, “Did you kill all those people?”
Michael turned his gaze to Lucy, fixing his eyes on hers and said, “No.”
“So who did?”
“Somebody desperate to spoil my plan.”
“So what do you want us for?” a voice interrupted. It was Janet, mild-mannered Janet. “Why are we here if she’s the one you need?” said Janet avoiding eye contact with Lucy.
“I brought you all here to keep you safe,” said Michael.
“Ha!” shouted one of the hostages from under his gag. Michael ignored him.
“Laugh if you want but somebody is killing your friends, and you would likely be next if I hadn’t brought you here. All that matters is that Lucy can help us end this peacefully.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Lucy, “What’s it got to do with me?”
“It’s not you. It’s your father I need. But you’re going to speak to him for me.”
Shaken at the mention of her father, Lucy gulped and said, “I haven’t spoken to my father in four years.”
“Well you’re about to have a reconciliation.”
Chapter 74
“What’s my father got to do with anything?” Lucy questioned her captor.
Michael slowly walked towards Lucy, “Your father is the reason I went to jail. Your father isn’t the angel you think he is.”
“I don’t think he’s an angel. He kicked me out at sixteen.”
“Well, that’s what he does. He gets rid of things he doesn’t need or want. But I’m hoping he has enough affection left for you that he’ll do what I need him to.”
“And what’s that?”
“Pay me twenty million dollars.”
Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “Why would he do that?”
“Because that’s what he stole from me.”
“Stole?”
“Yes, stole. That money was mine until he took it and left me to rot. He could have helped. He could have walked away, but he took it like it belonged to him. Now I want it back, and he’s in a position to pay.”
“And you think he’ll give you twenty million for me? I doubt it.”
“Probably not, but I have his ship. He’s a majority shareholder in the company that owns Starlight.”
Lucy was stunned, she had no idea. She knew her father owned a cargo shipping company, but not that he’d branched out into cruise ships. She couldn’t find a reply.
Michael continued, “So I have his ship, his daughter, and these good people here who are all related in some way to members of the board of ABJ Transatlantic. I invited them all here so I could use them to get my money back. But then somebody started killing them, which is no good to me is it? A ransom demand without hostages doesn’t work.”
Lucy managed just one word, “Who…?”
“I don’t know,” said Michael.
“I’m sure you’ve made enemies.”
“Probably. But it’s not important. What’s important is getting my money back.”
Chapter 75
Barker walked down the last small corridor of staterooms before it came to an end at the ship’s spa and treatment rooms, which were next to the Adriatic Suite conference room. He’d got used to the constant buzz of a cruise ship, never quiet, always people around, but now, here, it was silent, apart from the occasional buzz of an electric light or air conditioning unit. He could feel the ship gently rolling from side to side as it ploughed on through the dark ocean. As he walked he strained his hearing to search for any sounds in front or behind him but heard nothing apart from the occasional snoring passenger in their stateroom.
The corridor ahead of him soon became the spa reception area, but opened up on the left into the familiar lobby outside the Adriatic suite. Barker stood for a second and looked around before quickly and quietly sprinting across the ship to the opposite corridor to check if there was anyone there. Satisfied he was alone he walked back over to the Adriatic Suite door, trying to remember which way it would open if someone suddenly left the room, giving him a couple of seconds cover to run or hide. He put his right ear up against the door, feeling a little bit ridiculous. All those years of police training and experience and it boiled down to listening through a wall.
There were voices, muffled and unintelligible, but definitely people talking in the room. But how many and was one of them Lucy? Was she even there? Suddenly, he heard a voice much clearer and louder, obviously close to the door. Barker jumped back and swung around towards the spa reception just as the handle of the Adriatic Suite door moved downwards and the door swung slowly open. He managed to run into the reception area and hide behind a pillar just inside. He was convinced they must have heard him, but quiet footsteps came towards him and swung to his left into the corridor that he’d just come down. Just as he let out his breath as the footsteps faded, his body was slammed up against the pillar and a hand came round the right side of his face and clamped across his mouth. Another hand came around his left side and across his stomach and began shuffling him backwards deeper into the spa, through a door and into one of the treatment rooms.
Barker was spun around and released into the corner of the room. Heart racing, he looked up to face his attacker and prepared himself for what might come next. With a mixture of relief and exasperation, he found himself staring again at Maria Cortez.
“What the fuck are you doing? I thought I told you to keep out of it!” whispered Maria forcefully.
Barker just shook his head and looked at the floor as he took a few deep breaths and let his heart start to slow down.
“Are you determined to get yourself killed?”
“Why would I get killed? I thought you said you didn’t know what was going on? I’m trying to help Lucy. She’s in there.”
“Do you know that for sure? Do you know she’s in there? It doesn’t matter anyway. If you step through those doors you’re involved and you’re dead.”
“And what about you? Why are you here? Couldn’t you be in trouble too? You’re sneaking around the place just like me.”
“I’m bringing trouble John. He doesn’t know it yet. But he will.”
“You owe me an explanation Maria. You need to tell me what you know.”
“I don’t owe you anything John, but…sit down,” said Maria, gesturing at the padded treatment table in the middle of the room. She moved across to the solitary chair in the room and sat down herself, sighing a little as she did so.
“My friend is in there. He’s taken her, I’m sure of it.” Barker continued.
“Your girlfriend?”
“My…does it matter? She’s in danger.”
“Ok John, I’ll tell you. At least what I know.” Maria took a deep breath, looked up at John, and continued. “Michael Brennan is my ex-husband. That’s not his real name…at least it wasn’t when I was married to him. Actually, I think I still am married to him, but anyway…he’s a drug runner, has been for fifteen years. He was in the navy before, so he knew his way around ships and started shipping cocaine out of Colombia using vessels belonging to a cargo company he had gone to work for as cover. It went wrong, he got caught and went to jail.”
Barker took this in before asking, “So what’s that got to do with you? Why are you here?”
“I’m here for revenge John,” Maria said matter-of-factly.
Barker looked at her, puzzled. Maria continued, “I know what you’re going to say John. Did I know about it? Yes, I did. So sue me. I had a tough upbringing John, we had nothing. I met a man who took me out of that world and helped my family. I didn’t know where his money came from at first but I knew it was business dealings, probably not legal. So I went along with it for a while. He gave me two beautiful children. He got a trophy wife. I’m not proud of him, but I did what I had to do.”
“And…?” said Barker, taking it all in.
“And it all went to shit, as it always does in that world. Violence never goes away. It just spreads. I was naïve. I thought I could live on the sidelines and it wouldn’t affect me but it did. My family got involved. My brother…my stupid brother got himself into it and got killed. Michael could have stopped him, but didn’t.”
“So that’s why you’ve come for Michael?”
“Yes and no. My brother knew what he was getting into and I should have done too. Just before he got caught I told Michael I wanted out…out of that lifestyle. If that meant leaving him I was prepared to do that but I asked him to come with me and give it all up. We had a comfortable life, we could be happy for a long time. But no, he couldn’t do that. Money is addictive and the numbers kept getting bigger. So he had me killed.”
“What?” said Barker, confused.
“From his prison cell, before his trial, he arranged for someone to track me down and kill me, so I wouldn’t be able to say anything.”
“I’m not following.”
“Most of his heavies are just thugs, idiots who are just as greedy as the rest. The man he sent was…distracted… by me and my money. He came at dawn and broke into our house. Michael had told him how to bypass our security. He got into my room while I was asleep and attacked me. He climbed on top of me and tied me up. I’m sure he would’ve raped me if my son hadn’t heard him and walked into the room. Instead he grabbed Julio and stopped him from screaming, then helped himself to my jewellery and cash. I told him to just take it and leave my children alone. But he took…”
Maria’s eyes began to glisten and her hard edge began to crack.
“He took Julio,’ He said ‘He’s tough, He will make a good fighter. He’s one of us now.’’’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Barker
Maria took a deep breath, straightened up a little and continued. “He told me what Michael had asked him to do, but that he didn’t want to kill anyone. So I should disappear, and that if I didn’t, he would kill Julio.”
“And your other child?” Barker asked.
“Emily? She is safe. I made her disappear with me.”
“So why are you here now? Isn’t that putting yourself and Julio in danger? And why have you been out in public on the ship? I mean you’re an attractive woman…you…” Barker stopped himself briefly, blushing as he caught Maria’s eye, “…you don’t… blend into the background.”
“Julio was eight when they took him,” Maria continued, “Michael’s trial took a year, and he was inside for three and has been out for two more. So he would be fourteen now.”
“Would be,” she’d said. Barker sensed what was coming next.
“His body was found a year ago. At first I didn’t understand. I had kept quiet, started a new life, as painful as it was without my son. But I did it for Emily, to keep her safe. Julio got into a gang. He was shot in a gunfight, crossfire. He wasn’t even carrying a weapon.”
Barker couldn’t think of anything to say. ‘Sorry’ didn’t seem enough. He just looked at Maria, whose hard edge had returned, and sighed. They looked at each other for a few seconds, absorbing this story.
“So now you know why I’m here. That bastard is why my son is dead. It’s taken me this long to track them down.”
“Them?” asked Barker.
“Yes, ‘them’. Two for the price of one. I came looking for Michael and found the man who took Julio. Working in the fucking kitchens would you believe? He took hundreds of thousands of dollars from my home and he’s working in a cruise ship kitchen. That’s when I knew that something must be happening on this ship. At first, I didn’t want to ‘blend into the background’, I wanted Michael to see me, to get that shock. But when I saw Jaime Vega I knew I had to step back and deal with it differently. So I dealt with him first.”
Chapter 76
Lucy sat on a padded metal chair at a table near the door of the Adriatic Suite and watched Jasmine tie her ankles to the legs of the chair so she couldn’t make a run for it. Jasmine then went behind her and cut the ties on her wrists so they were free. Michael handed her the cup of coffee she’d sipped from earlier and told her to drink it. Reluctantly she did. Her mouth was dry and she was still waking up so the coffee at least was welcome, even if the situation wasn’t.
“Now take this and ring this number,” Michael instructed her, handing Lucy a satellite phone and a piece of paper.
“And what if he puts the phone down when he hears it’s me?” said Lucy.
“We’ll ring him again,” replied Michael, “And explain the predicament you’re in.”
Lucy dialled the number and listened to the faint dial tone, hoping no one would answer. She knew her father was based in London, so although it was the middle of the night on the ship, it was early morning in England. He was an early riser and early to work, and always had a phone in his pocket. She’d no idea if this was his number, as she’d long since stopped trying to contact him but…
“Hello? Who is this?” a voice said suspiciously. Lucy shivered. She’d resigned herself to never speaking to him again so had never prepared for this moment. She decided to stick to the facts.
“It’s me Dad. It’s Lucy.” She braced herself for a reply. “Dad?’ she said, after a long silence.”
“I heard you. What do you want?” said Aidan Jones…on loudspeaker.
“I’m in trouble Dad.”
“You’re always in trouble.”
“Yes but…”
“But this time it’s real trouble Aidan. Are you well?” Michael interrupted.
Another long pause. “Who is this?”
“You know who it is Aidan. We’re old friends.”
“But you’re in…”
“In prison, yes, I was. But I got out. Easy when you know how. Or who. Anyway I’m sat here with Lucy on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, in the middle of the night. She’s tied to her chair…”
