One Good Reason (10 page)

She
took her time peeling off all of the leaves on her whole body and inspecting
the area as she went. Not only did the cuts and bruises look healed, her
muscles didn’t feel as bad.

Once
she removed all the leaves and placed them in the nearby bowl on the ground,
she wrapped the white cotton sheet around her and stepped off the bed to find
the woman.

Her
body felt like new again as she walked towards the bedroom door. When she got
to the doorway, she noticed the old lady at the kitchen table once again. She
must have heard Ava, as she turned and smiled at her.

Ava
thanked the old woman, “Thank you. Whatever was in that mixture worked like
heaven.”

The
woman nodded, somehow understanding what Ava had said, even though she knew no
English. She then walked past Ava back into the bedroom.

Ava
followed the old lady to the large bucket full of water. She handed Ava a cloth
and indicated to her to soak the cloth in the sweet smelling warm water and
wipe her body.

Ava
accepted the cloth from her with her free hand. The woman then picked up the
small pile of folded clothes and placed them on the bed, pointing between the
clothes and Ava.

Ava
understood and nodded.

The
lady left Ava alone in the room once again to bathe herself. Ava didn’t
hesitant, as she washed her body with the water. Once she finished with her
body, she dipped her hair into the bucket, massaging her scalp and working her
fingers through the knots.

When
she finished, she squeezed all the excess water from her hair and grabbed the
nearby towel, wiping herself dry before wrapping it tightly around her hair in
a bun.

She
picked up the items of clothing the lady had left her and put them on without
hesitation. She had no idea where her other clothes were, and hoped never to
have to wear them again. They were like a constant reminder of where she’d been
and what her life had been like for two weeks.

Once
fully clothed, she looked down at the white buttoned shirt and knee length blue
shorts. They couldn’t have been the old lady’s, because she was much larger
than Ava. These clothes were small and fit Ava well. She guessed they must have
been from a boy the lady knew, perhaps her son?  Ava didn’t know, but knew
she would be forever in the woman’s debt for what she’d done for her.

Ava
left the room to the kitchen where the woman had once again cooked her a
mouth-watering meal. After Ava finished the meal, both eating it in silence,
she went back to bed. Ava knew for sure then that there definitely was
something in the tea she was drinking. It made her tired almost
instantly.  She didn’t think the lady was trying to drug her, well she
hoped not, Ava assumed instead, it was to make her rest and recoup before she
would have to leave.

So
Ava fell back asleep on the woman’s bed once again, and hoped her dreams were
happy ones. Dreams about her seeing Olivia again and being home.

***

Hayden
looked at the small Thai house watching for any signs of Ava.

The
tracker had led them to this house; they’d even found a rifle in the grass
behind the house. Hayden had done a quick walk-by the other houses, but both
the tracker and Hayden agreed that it didn’t look like she’d gone to any other
place but the house in front of them right now. It also appeared as if she
hadn’t left the house either.

“Let’s
go see if our captive is inside,” Hayden said to the tracker.

They
both walked up to the house. Hayden knocked on the front door and waited for a
response. After a few short seconds, an older Thai woman opened the door.

“Hello.
My name is Hayden. Do you speak English?” Hayden asked the woman.

The
woman shook her head. Hayden looked at the tracker who nodded at him, and then
translated what Hayden had just said to the woman in Thai.

The
woman replied in Thai to them.

“She
said she knows no English.”

Hayden
nodded at the tracker’s translation. “Ask her if she lives here by herself.”

Hayden
listened to the Thai conversation.

“She
lives alone.”

“Ask
her if she has seen a young white Australian girl around this area.”

The
lady looked cross at this question.

The
tracker translated her response, “She says she hasn’t seen an Australian around
here in years, but asks why you are asking about one.”

“We
are trying to find her. It’s very important that we do.”

The
woman stared at Hayden after the tracker translated his last sentence. She
looked him up and down, almost considering her options. She opened her mouth to
speak, but then she spotted Hayden’s gun in his holster on his body and quickly
closed her mouth, shaking her head and speaking quickly in Thai.

Hayden
covered the gun with his jacket and listened to the tracker’s words, “She tells
me she doesn’t know of any white girl around here and to leave her alone now.
She is tired and is in need of sleep.”

Hayden
heard the tracker’s words, but his eyes were looking past the woman and at the
two bowls and mugs on the kitchen table.

The
woman followed Hayden’s attention and saw what had sparked his attention. She
closed the door; blocking the view of the table and leaving it only open enough
for her head to see out.

“Tell
her we will pay her a great deal of money if she knows where the girl is.”

The
tracker translated Hayden’s proposition. The woman yelled at Hayden and shut
the door in his face.

“She
told me to tell you to stop asking about the girl because she doesn’t know
where she is. She also told me to tell you never come back here again if you
valued your life.”

Hayden
turned and walked away from the house with the tracker.

“She’s
in there. I had my suspicions before that we could be wrong, but now after
talking to that woman, I guarantee she knows where Ava is. She’s probably in
there right now with her,” Hayden said as they walked down the dirt road.

“So…We
go back there and get her.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No,”
Hayden replied. “You go back to the house and tell them we have found her. I’ll
wait until she leaves to get back to the city and then I’ll grab her.”

“But
what if she never leaves?”

“She
will. She knows we are still out there looking for her and she won’t feel safe
until she is back in Phuket, finding a way home.”

“Why
not go and get her now?”

“I
would, but the woman is old and don’t want to cause her any more grief. I’m
doing this to find Ava and bring her back to the house, not to give old women
heart attacks.”

“How
nice of you,” the tracker said laughing.

“Shut-up.”

Hayden
knew it didn’t make sense to the tracker. But Hayden wasn’t a bad person. Yes,
he held people captive against their will. But he’d only kidnapped criminals
and terrorist who had been involved in crimes that resulted in innocent people
dying.

He
wasn’t like some of the men he associated with, who were sometimes criminals
themselves and had no thought for anyone but themselves. They’d kill an
innocent in a heartbeat and not give it a second thought. If it had been the
Thai men finding Ava just now, it would have gone a little differently, and
unfortunately, not the way Hayden would have liked.

“Tell
Aun
I will bring her back to the camp once I have
her. But tell him it may take a few days. I’m going to teach her a thing or two
about the consequences of escaping, so she’ll be all
Aun’s
when I return.”

The
tracker nodded and left Hayden on the road by himself, as he headed off the
dirt road and back up the hill towards the forest and Hayden found somewhere to
hide for a while.

9 THE TRUTH

As Hayden expected, many hours late into the night, Ava emerged from the
old woman’s house looking a lot better than when he’d last saw her. She looked
clean and healthy. She was no longer wearing the dress he had given her, and
she didn’t look like the frightened girl he remembered.

He
watched in the night as she hugged the old woman tightly, and then followed the
woman to a nearby truck. Ava didn’t hesitate as she hopped into the passenger’s
side of the running truck, and waved goodbye to the woman as it drove off down
the road.

Hayden
had been watching the house like a hawk. He’d known when the truck appeared in
the middle of the night outside the old woman’s house that something was going
on. He’d watched a man, possibly in his teens, leave the truck to talk to the
old woman, before waiting patiently back in the driver’s seat for Ava to join
him.

Hayden
wasted no more time in watching the truck, as he took off down the road. He
needed to get further down the road, out of sight from the village so he could
intercept them.

Once
Hayden thought he was far enough down the road, he walked into the middle of
the road and turned, drawing his gun and aiming it straight down the road. He
could hear the engine of the truck roaring down the road. He breathed the thick
hot air and hoped to God that the teenager didn’t have it in his heart to run
him down on the road, even though Hayden was in fact armed and dangerous.

Seconds
later, the truck turned the corner. Hayden let off a warning shot into the
front of the truck as it approached. It came to a screaming halt in front of
Hayden before he had the chance to fire any more rounds. He let out a sigh of
relief that he wasn’t run over, and focused himself on Ava as he clenched the
weapon tightly in his hands and approached the driver’s door. He could hear
Ava’s cries inside as he approached. Hayden could see Ava and the man inside.
She was screaming and pulling at the steering wheel. Hayden kept his weapon
drawn on the driver. The driver made no move to go anywhere. At least he was
smart enough to know that if Hayden shot at him now, he’d easily kill him.

Hayden
held his aim as he opened the passenger door quickly,  thankful the driver
hadn’t locked it. The man was, as Hayden suspected, a young boy, not older than
fifteen. The boy raised his hands from the steering wheel, shaking.

Hayden
ignored Ava’s screams and cries as he leaned forward and pulled the keys from
the ignition.

He
looked at the young boy. “Get out,” he ordered.

The
young man went to oblige quickly, but before he could, Hayden shot at the
passenger’s window, shattering the glass. He’d spotted Ava trying to open the
passenger door to make a run for it.

“Go
for the door again, Ava, and the next shot won’t be at the door, it will be at
you,” he threatened.

Ava’s
body stiffened as she turned back to him in horror.

Hayden
nodded with his gun for the boy to exit the truck. The boy followed his orders.
Once he was safely out of the vehicle, Hayden kept his eyes on Ava while he
spoke to the boy.

“I
don’t know if you understand me or not. But I’m taking your truck. Don’t try
anything. Don’t try and find me. Your truck will be returned to you in good
time. This has nothing to do with you, and if you value your life, then you’ll
be smart to walk away and not say a word to anyone.”

He
briefly stole a glance at the boy, who nodded as if he understood.

“Leave,”
Hayden ordered.

“No,
you can’t leave me!” Ava yelled at the boy. The boy’s eyes sympathised with
Ava’s plea, but he took Hayden’s order and started running off down the road.

Hayden
leapt into the vehicle in one quick movement.

“I’m
not going back to that house!” Ava screamed. “You’ll have to kill me before I
go back there!”

She
launched herself at Hayden, ignoring the fact he had his weapon drawn at her.
He quickly restrained her from her attack on him.

“Settle
down before you hurt yourself,” Hayden said coolly.

Ava
continued to thrash her body around. “If you think I’ll go willingly with you,
you’ve got another think coming! Get off me! Let me go.”

“I
really wish I didn’t have to do this, Ava,” Hayden said, as he grabbed her
wrists with one hand and used his other to reach into his pocket and pull out
the wet cloth.

Ava’s
eyes lit up; as she immediately knew what he was about to do, but it was too
late. Hayden pressed the cloth to Ava’s mouth and instantly she was out like a
light.

He
checked her pulse to make sure she wasn’t just faking it. When he was satisfied
Ava was definitely out of it, he threw the cloth out the window and started the
engine. He needed to get her somewhere safe before news got out that he had her
again, and people came looking, including
Aun
.

***

Ava could feel
the heaviness on of her eyes as she tried to open them slowly. She couldn’t
remember the dream she’d just had, but knew it was about her Mum, as she’d
woken from it feeling a sense of warmness and happiness. Feelings she
associated with only a few people.

Her feelings
soon faded when she opened her eyes to find her wrists and ankles once again
tied, but this time to a wooden dining chair. Her mouth was also bound to stop
her from screaming for help, she guessed.

She lifted her
neck up, feeling the strain on her muscles. She must have been in this position
for some time now. She knew what must have happened. She’d been taken again.
She recalled the events of her escape, the old woman, and Hayden finding her in
the truck before drugging her.

She didn’t want
to dwell on the situation she was once again in. She’d experienced all those
emotions the moment she saw Hayden standing in the middle of the gravel road in
the dark. Instead, Ava looked around the room and felt a sense of relief that
she wasn’t back in the dark room she’d been taken to when she was first
kidnapped. By the looks of it, she was in a small hotel room. She was
positioned in the corner of the room, not far from a window. She could hear the
bustling sound of traffic and people outside. Another small sense of relief
washed over her. It would be easier to escape or bring notice to her kidnapping
in the city surrounded by people.

Next to her
chair was a double bed with plain white sheets. There was a small TV on a
cabinet at the foot of the bed. Across the room, was a round dining table with
one chair next to it and a small bar fridge. It was a basic one-bedroom room.
She arched her head to the right and caught a glimpse of the blue tiled
bathroom.

She couldn’t see
Hayden, but she could hear a tap running in the bathroom sink. She hoped it was
Hayden and not
Aun
, or the other Thai men. She knew
she could never see them again, not after what she did. She knew they were the
type of men who wouldn’t forget what she did and punish her severely for it.
She heard the running water stop. She waited breathlessly for the person to
walk through the bathroom doors, and was relieved but also disappointed when
Hayden walked out of the bathroom, shirtless, and holding a white hand towel
over his shoulder like he’d just shaven.

Hayden wouldn’t
hurt her. Well, she held onto the hope he wouldn’t ever hurt her. But escaping
from Hayden was pretty much impossible. She didn’t want to see the Thai men
ever again, but she also knew the only way out of this situation was to seduce
and take advantage of another Thai man, to help her escape like she’d done
before.

Hayden noticed
instantly that Ava was awake.

“I didn’t think
you were ever going to wake up. You’ve been out cold for hours,” Hayden said as
he walked over to a small bag next to the bed. Ava watched as he bent down and
picked up a black shirt. He lifted it over his head covering his bare torso. He
then walked over to the other dining chair and picked it up, moving it so it
was positioned right in front of Ava. He casually sat down on it, like he’d
done this a million times.

Probably has
, Ava
thought.  

“I’m going to
say this as simply as I can,” Hayden started, not taking his eyes off hers. “I
need to ask you some questions. Questions that if given the right answer, will
benefit you, Ava. I don’t want to be lied to. But if I undo the ties on your
mouth and you do anything but answer my questions in a reasonable tone, I will
gag your mouth again,” he threatened, “understand?”

Ava nodded,
knowing it wasn’t an empty threat. She could feel the pain from having her
mouth being held open by a piece of fabric for so long. She could attempt to
cry out for help, but what if nobody heard her. Nobody came. Then she would
have wasted her chance. Hayden wouldn’t trust her again, and she’d be stuck
with the gagged mouth until he chose to take it off again. So for now, she
would have to comply with his request, but if the opportunity came, the
possibility that she might be saved by someone, she would scream at the top of
her lungs if she had to.

Hayden leant
forward on his chair and undid the mouthpiece tied behind her head. He pulled
the piece of fabric and held it in two hands as he sat back on his chair.

Ava made no move
to yell or scream. Instead, she sat there quietly staring at him. His eyes held
hers. His expression changed as though he was thinking over a dilemma in his
head. A crises he didn’t know how to solve.

Ava wet her
dried lips and moved her jaw back and forth.

“Are you in any
pain?” Hayden asked her.

“My mouth
hurts,” she replied.

“Apart from your
mouth. Are you in any other pain?”

Ava shook her
head in reply. She watched as he wrapped the piece of fabric over one of his
hands, and then unwrapped it. Over and over.

“Are you going
to hurt me?” Ava asked, her voice slightly shaky.

“No.”

“Then what are
you going to do with me?”

Hayden was
normally the one in control. He never showed emotion. He never looked like
anything worried him, until now. His face was conflicting and his tone of voice
was different. He wasn’t the master and commander, it was if he was being his
true self.

He took a deep
breath. “I need you tell me in all honesty, do you know who
Thornakorn
is?”

“No. I’d never
even heard of him until… until you took me and questioned me.”

“Do you have any
idea why someone would want to kidnap you?”

“No. Like I said
before, I’m a nobody. I’ve never met more than a few hundred people in my life,
most of who are from my small town. Nobody but Olivia knew I was going on this
holiday.”

“Someone had to
know,” Hayden said, then he dropped the piece of fabric on the bed and rubbed
the side of his temple. “This Olivia, is she your friend?”

“Yes. We grew up
together. The trip was a last minute decision. She was the only one I told.”

Hayden
contemplated what she said. “I need you to tell me everything about yourself.
Where you grew up, what school you went to, who your friends are. Everything.”

“Why?”

Why would
telling Hayden her life story make any difference to the situation she was in
right now? What did it have to do with anything? Hayden wasn’t a good guy, what
would he do with the information?

“Because I need
to know why someone would send me to kidnap you, and retrieve information from
you that I am starting to doubt you even know.”

“You believe me
then? About
Thornakorn
?” Ava asked relieved.

“At the moment?
Yes, I do.”

Ava let her
shoulders sag in relief.

“But,” Hayden
said quickly. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t change my mind. There is something
you need to understand about me, Ava. I am very good at reading people. I know
when they are lying and when they are telling the truth. Getting information
from people is what I do; it’s what I’m good at.”

“You mean
kidnapping people.”

“It’s not like
that.”

“No?” Ava
hissed. How could it not be exactly that? “How is it then?”

“I don’t
appreciate the tone,” Hayden snapped back.

“Oh, I am so
sorry my tone isn’t at a satisfactory level for you,” Ava replied
sarcastically.

“There are
things I can’t tell you about myself. I’m sworn to secrecy, but if you tell me
about your life and I feel you are not a threat, then I may tell you. But I
will not guarantee it.”

Ava had tried to
convince him of her innocence before, but had failed every time. This time
however, he seemed willing to consider what she had to say, and that at this
point, she really had no other option.