Gray Redemption (Tom Gray #3) (2 page)

Vick looked at Tom through tired
eyes.  “Tim’s right.  You could just call the newspapers and this
would all be over.”

“It’s Timmy,” Hughes corrected
her with a smile.

Gray sighed.  “You have to
think like James Farrar.  He’s sitting at home listing the options open to
us, and going to the press is right at the top of the page.  If I was him
I would have a blanket DA-notice on anything mentioning my name”

DA-Notices — called D-Notices until 1993 — come in five varieties, with
DA-Notice 05 dealing with British security and intelligence. 
Although they are advisory requests and not enforceable by law, it
would be a very brave editor who chose to ignore one.

“What about social media?” Sonny suggested.  “Get yourself all over
Twitter and Facebook.  They can’t sensor that, can they?”

“Trust me, they’d find a way.  Besides, I don’t have accounts, and if
I create one and claim to be alive, who’s going to believe me?  There must
be a few million crackpots on the web, and I’d just be the new nutter on the
block.”

“So what have you got in mind?” Hughes asked.

“I haven’t got a plan as such, but the first step is to get back to
England, and that isn’t going to be easy without a passport.  Even with one,
you can bet every port will be keeping an eye out for us.”

“Sounds like you’re going to have to sneak in,” Hughes said.  “I may
know just the man.” 

He disappeared up the carpeted stairs and Gray made himself another
sandwich.  He took in the sumptuous surroundings and for a fleeting moment
considered cruising around the South China Seas for a few weeks, but the urge
to get his life back soon put a stop to such thoughts.

Hughes returned with a handful of towels and put them on an empty
chair.  “There’s a shower just down the hall,” he said, pointing towards
the stern.  Vick was quickest to react and disappeared through the door,
grabbing a towel on the way.

“Do you think it’s a good idea to be taking her along?” Hughes asked when
Vick was out of earshot. 

“If you think you can talk her out of it, be my guest,” Gray said.

“Stubborn?”

“She’d prefer tenacious.”

“Then she’s in for quite a trip,” Hughes said.  “I’ve told the captain
to head to Port Kelang in Malaysia so I can introduce you to Arnold Tang. 
He specializes in getting people into the UK.”

“A people smuggler?
  Nice company you keep.”

“He’s actually a respectable businessman.  He just happens to have his
fingers in lots of pies.” 

“How long will it take to get there?” Smart asked.

“About fourteen hours,” Hughes said.  “This little beauty will do
sixty knots without breaking sweat.”

“No, I don’t mean how long to Port Kelang.  I mean how long will it
take to get to the UK?”

“Ah,” Hughes said, finally understanding the question.  “That, I don’t
know.  I’m sure Arnold will let you know tomorrow.”

“More importantly, how much is it going to cost us?” Gray asked.

“I’ll get mates-rates, but it’ll still be pushing seventy thousand for the
four of you.”

Gray explained his cash situation, but Timmy wasn’t concerned.  “Once
you get this all sorted you should be able to get access to your money. 
You can pay me back when you do.”  Hughes rose from his seat and opened a
small safe built into the wall.  He handed an envelope to Gray.

“Here’s five grand.  That should keep you going once you get back to
the UK.”

“I don’t know how to thank you,” Gray said.
 
“I really appreciate it.”

“You could thank me by taking a shower before you mess up the sheets in
your cabin,” Hughes smiled.

Vick entered the cabin wearing nothing but her towel.   All heads
turned and Gray’s remained fixed on her.  She may have looked good in the
jungle, but having scrubbed up she had the presence and beauty of a movie
star.  Her damp, blonde hair fell about her shoulders and she smiled at
Gray.

“Shower’s free,” she said.  Gray simply nodded, struck dumb by the
vision in front of him.  It took him a moment to realise that he was
staring.

“I’ll go next,” he said, averting his gaze.

As he picked up a towel Sonny offered some friendly advice, accompanied by
a huge grin. 

“Better make it a cold one.”

Gray shot him a look before disappearing down the hallway.  The
bathroom was not as large as he’d expected but it had a spacious shower
stall.  He climbed in and turned on the water, letting it soak him for a
few minutes while the heat took some of the stress out of his muscles.  By
the time he had washed and shampooed his hair, his body felt relaxed for the
first time in days.

He returned to the main cabin to find that Vick was no longer there.

“She’s gone to bed,” Smart said when he saw Gray.  “Timmy told her
where to find some clothes and she turned in.”

“I could do with some myself,” Gray said, and Hughes told him to help
himself from the closet in the master bedroom.  After saying his
goodnights, Gray went in search of some shorts and a T-shirt to wear in the
morning,
then
found the cabin Timmy had assigned him.

He climbed into the bed naked and within moments the rhythmic bobbing of
the boat began rocking him to sleep.  What seemed like seconds later he
felt the bed covers move and he sat bolt upright, fully awake.  Lying next
to him on the bed was Vick, wearing just a T-shirt which barely extended below
her hips.  She smiled at Gray and put an arm around his neck, pulling his
head towards hers.  The kiss was long, their tongues exploring
deeply.  The love-making that followed was gentle, unrushed, and
afterwards Gray collapsed next to her, spent.  Vick placed her head on his
shoulder and ran her finger lazily across his chest.  He made to say
something but Vick placed a finger on his lips, relishing the silence.

Within a few minutes he heard the change in her breathing which signaled
the transition to sleep, and he wasn’t long in following her.

Chapter
2

Sunday
April 22
^nd
2012

Tom Gray woke to find
himself
alone in the bed, and for a fleeting moment he
wondered if he had dreamed the events of the previous evening.  Those
fears were allayed when Vick opened the cabin door, clearly fresh from the
shower and again wearing nothing but a towel.  She stooped and kissed him
on the cheek.

“Good morning.  Sleep
well?” She asked.

“Like a log.  What time is
it?”

“Two o’clock.  Timmy says
we should be in port by eight this evening.”

Gray ran a hand up her leg but she
swatted it away.  “Later,” she said with a smile. “I’m starving.”

Vick slipped into a T-shirt and
shorts and brushed her wet hair.  Even without any make-up Gray thought
she looked beautiful, her tanned skin perfectly complementing her blonde hair.

“Don’t be long,” she said as she
left the cabin in search of food, and Gray realised just how hungry he
was.  After a quick shower he wandered on deck, where he found everyone
sitting round a fully-laden table.  He took a seat, said his good mornings
and dived into a plate of sausages and eggs.

“So how is your friend going to
get us to the UK?” Gray asked Hughes. 

“I don’t know the details of the
entire route, but I expect entry through the port will be in the back of a
truck.”

“That’s not a guaranteed way in,”
Sonny said, concerned.  “I’ve seen the documentaries on the telly and
there are lots of ways of detecting stowaways.  They can detect minute
concentrations of carbon dioxide in the back of the trucks, and that’s just for
starters.”

“He has a very high success
rate,” Hughes said.  “I’m sure he’s got everything covered.”

Gray hoped his friend was right;
otherwise the closest he would get to redemption would be Dover. 

It was five hours later when
they cruised up the narrow channel, passing a jungle-covered island on the left
and industrial units on the right.  As they pulled up to the dock Gray saw
a black SUV with tinted windows parked up, and as the gangway was lowered one
of the rear doors opened.

The melon-shaped passenger who
climbed out weighed around two hundred and fifty pounds and was wearing smart
trousers and a white shirt.  By the time he climbed the gangway, circles
of sweat had appeared around his armpits.

Hughes was waiting to welcome
him aboard.  “Arnold, thank you so much for coming.”

“Not at all,” Tang Ben Lee
smiled.  He’d adopted the name Arnold and told anyone who asked that it
gave him what he liked to call “international appeal”.  In actual fact, it
was due to ignorant foreigners reading his name as they would in the West and
addressing him as Mr. Lee, which was his given name.  His contempt for
westerners came despite having studied at Oxford University, which was where
he’d acquired his accent.

Hughes led him to the stern
where the others were sitting at the table, the onboard lights illuminating
them as the sun began to sink below the horizon.  He made the
introductions before placing a glass of expensive cognac in front of
Tang.  The Remy Martin Louis XIII cost upwards of fifteen hundred dollars
a bottle and was reserved for a select number of guests.

“I understand you want help with
transporting some goods to England,” Tang said.

Hughes gestured to his four
companions.  “That’s right, Arnold.”

“These
people?”
Tang asked.  “What’s wrong with Malaysian Airlines?”

“They lost their passports,”
Hughes said with a smile, but Tang didn’t reciprocate.

“I’m not happy with this
situation, Timmy,” Tang said.  “I don’t usually meet the cargo, for
obvious reasons.”

“Don’t worry, Arnold, I can
vouch for them.  I trust them enough to pay for their trip.”

Tang let his displeasure show on
his face as he mulled it over.  If he allowed these people to travel
through his network there was a chance that they might expose his role should
they ever get caught.  But then again, they
already
knew about his
involvement.

On the flip side, there was a
lot of money to be made from this shipment, and Arnold Tang knew how to have
his cake and eat it.  An idea came into his head, one that would solve the
problem, and he pulled out his phone before speaking quickly in
Cantonese.  The conversation lasted just a few seconds.

“The initial part of the journey
will be by boat,” he told the group at the table, “which leaves in eighteen
hours.  It will be two weeks before you reach South Africa, so make sure
you bring enough clothes and food for your journey.  You’ll be fed on the
ship but I can’t guarantee the quality of the cuisine.  Once you reach
Durban you will be taken by cargo plane to northern Africa and across Europe by
truck.  You should reach the UK in three weeks.”

“We have concerns about crossing
the border,” Gray said.  “How do we get around their detection
methods?  I understand they can detect even the smallest concentration of
carbon dioxide.  Is that true?”

 “The vehicle you will be
travelling in is equipped with CO2 re-breathers that direct the exhaled gasses
through a filter canister containing a
carbon dioxide absorbent, in this case a form of
soda lime. 
Even the most accurate probe placed next to the filter gives inconclusive
results.”

That went some way towards
allaying their fears, but the questions kept coming.  “How do we fly from
South Africa to North Africa without passports?” Sonny asked.

“You do not need to worry about
the logistics,” Tang said.  “I have people in place all along the route to
ensure you reach your destination, and my delivery rate is unparalleled. 
All you need to do is follow instructions until you reach England.  Once
you get there, you are on your own.”

He turned to Hughes.  “The
fee will be one hundred and twenty thousand.”

“That’s a lot of money,
Arnold.  I thought perhaps…”

“It is one hundred and twenty
thousand because you put me in this awkward position.  Just be grateful I
am willing to help you.”

Hughes considered the options
and after a glance at Gray he agreed to pay the money.  “Okay, I’ll
transfer it once my friends reach their destination.”

Tang’s face lost what few signs
of geniality remained.  “I want the money within three days or your
friends will never see England again.”

“Arnold, I am laying out a lot
of money which my friend here is going to repay once he gets home.  If you
are confident enough to guarantee his arrival, what is the harm in waiting
until delivery is complete?”  Hughes sat back in his chair and took a sip
from his beer.  “On the other hand, if you can’t be sure he’ll get there,
I will have to take my business elsewhere.”

Tang was beside himself with
anger.  No-one dictated terms to him, not even his own mother, because she
knew what it meant for a Chinese person to lose face.  Just a few moments
earlier he had planned to have the four passengers thrown overboard once the
money had been transferred, but now he would have to guarantee their safe
passage lest this
gweilo
insult him further by going to a competitor.  He took a few deep breaths
to disperse the adrenalin coursing through his body before replying.

“Once they reach the UK they
will call you to confirm their arrival.  You will then transfer the
money.”