Nick Carter - The Defector

Sheila stood away from him until she had removed her shift. She untied the bun behind her head and let the hair fall around her shoulders. It reached almost to her waist. Then she unfastened his pants and let them fall to his ankles.

“Ling!” she called.

Ling immediately appeared in the entrance way to the cabin.

In Chinese, Sheila said, “Watch him. Perhaps you may learn something. But if he does not do exactly as I say, shoot him.”

Nick thought he saw the trace of a smile working on the corners of Ling’s mouth.

Sheila crossed to the bunk and sat on the edge, her legs apart. “On your knees, American,” she ordered.

The hair on the back of Nick’s neck bristled. Gritting his teeth, he sank to his knees.

“Now come to me, baby,” Sheila said.

If he swung to the left he could knock the gun out of Ling’s hand. But what then? He doubted if either of them would tell him where they were going, even if he tried to force it out of them. He had to go along with this woman.

“Ling!” Sheila said, threatening.

Ling took one step forward, the gun pointing at Nick’s head.

Nick started to crawl to the woman. He reached her and as he was doing what she ordered, he heard Ling chuckling softly.

Sheila’s breath came in short gasps. In Chinese, she said, “You see, Ling darling? You see what he is doing? He is getting me ready for you.” Then she lay back on the bunk. “Quickly, Ling,” she panted. “Tie him to the mast.”

With the gun, Ling waved Nick to the table. He gratefully obeyed. He sat on the table itself with his feet on the bench. He put his arms behind him around the mast. Ling put the .45 down and tied Nick’s hands together quickly and tightly.

“Hurry, darling,” Sheila cried. “I’m close.”

Ling placed the gun under the bunk and hurriedly undressed. Then he joined Sheila on the bunk.

Nick watched them with a bitter taste in his mouth. Ling went at it with the grim determination of a lumberjack chopping down a tree. If he enjoyed it he gave no sign. Sheila hugged him close to her breasts, whispering in his ear. The cabin darkened with the setting sun. Nick could smell moisture in the air. It was chilly. He wished he had his pants on.

When they were finished, they slept. Nick stayed awake until he heard one of the crewmen snoring on the afterdeck. The other was at the tiller working with the rudder. Nick could barely make him out through the cabin entrance. Even he nodded with sleep.

Nick dozed for maybe an hour. Then he heard Sheila waking Ling for another go. Ling groaned in protest but complied with the woman’s wishes. It took him longer than the first time, and when he was finished, he literally passed out. The cabin was enclosed in darkness now. Nick could only hear them. The junk bobbed its way upriver.

The dawn was hazy when Nick awoke again. He felt something fuzzy brushing his cheek. There was no feeling in his hands. The rope wound tightly around his wrists cut off the circulation, but there was feeling in other parts of his body. And he felt Sheila’s hand on him. Her long raven hair slid back and forth across his face.

“I was afraid I might have to wake up one of the crew,” she whispered when he had opened his eyes.

Nick remained silent. She looked like a little girl with her long hair cascading around her fragile-looking face. Her naked body was firm and well put together. But the hard green eyes would always give her away. She was a hard woman.

She stepped up on the table-bench and moved her breasts gently across his face. “You need a shave,” she said. “I wish I could untie you, but I don’t think Ling has the strength to hold the gun on you.”

With her hand on him and her breasts lightly touching his cheeks. Nick could not control the fire building inside him.

“That’s better,” she said, smiling. “This might be a little awkward with your hands tied like that, but we’ll manage, won’t we, darling?”

And despite himself, and his dislike for her, he did enjoy it. The woman was insatiable, but she knew men. She knew what they liked and she provided it.

When she was finished with him, she stood back and let her eyes sweep completely over him. Her tiny belly worked in and out with her heavy breathing. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and said, “I think I’m going to cry when we have to kill you.” Then she picked up the .45 and woke Ling. He rolled out of the bunk and stumbled behind her out of the cabin to the afterdeck.

They spent the entire morning out there, leaving Nick tied to the mast. From what Nick could see through the cabin entrance, they had entered the delta south of Kwangchow. The area was dotted with rice paddies and canals fingered off from the river. Sheila and Ling had a chart. They alternated between studying it and the starboard bank. They passed many junks and even more sampans. The sun was hazy and did little to warm the chill in the air.

The funk crossed the delta and started up one of the canals. Sheila seemed satisfied with the course and rolled the chart into a tube.

Nick was untied and allowed to button his shirt and put on his pants. He was given a bowl of rice and two bananas. All the time Ling kept the .45 on him. When he was finished, he went out to the afterdeck. Ling stayed two feet behind him. Nick spent the afternoon on the starboard side, smoking his cigarettes and watching the passing scenery. Every now and then he caught sight of a Chinese Regular soldier. He knew they were getting close. Sheila spent the afternoon sleeping in the cabin. Evidently she’d had all the sex she needed for one day.

The junk passed two villages filled with flimsy-looking bamboo huts. The inhabitants paid no attention as they passed. It was dusk when Nick began to notice more and more soldiers along the bank. They watched the junk with interest, as though they had been expecting it.

As it grew dark, Nick noticed lights up ahead. Sheila had joined them on deck. When they drew closer, Nick noticed the lights lined a dock. Soldiers seemed to be everywhere. It was another village, different from the others they had seen because this one had electric lights. From what Nick could see as they approached the dock, the bamboo huts were lighted by lanterns. Two electric bulbs were on each end of the dock, and a line of lights lighted the way between the huts.

Eager hands grabbed the thrown line as the junk came alongside the dock. The sail was dropped, the anchor cast. Sheila kept her little automatic on Nick while she ordered Ling to tie his hands behind him. A plank was set in place connecting the junk with the dock. Soldiers milled in the huts, a few stood around the dock watching. All of them were well armed. As Nick stepped off the junk, two soldiers fell in behind him. Sheila was talking to one of the other soldiers. With Ling ahead, the soldiers behind Nick pushed him slightly to get him moving. He started walking, following Ling.

As he moved under the row of lights, he noticed there were five huts, three on his left, two on his right. The string of lights running down the center seemed to be connected to a generator of some kind at the end of the huts. He could hear it running. The three huts on his left were filled with soldiers. The two on his right were dark and seemed empty. Three soldiers stood guard on the door of the second one. Could that be where Kathy Loo and the boy were? Nick kept it in mind. Of course, it could also be a decoy. They had been expecting him. He was marched past all the huts. It wasn’t until they actually got to the structure that Nick noticed it. It was beyond the huts and set apart, a low, boxy, concrete building. It would be hard to see in the darkness. Ling led him down seven cement steps to what looked like a steel door. Nick heard the generator almost directly behind him. Ling pulled a ring of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. It creaked open, and the group entered the building. Nick could smell a musty, damp odor like decaying flesh. He was led down a narrow, unlit hallway. There were steel doors on both sides. Ling stopped in front of one of the doors. With another key from the ring, he unlocked the door. Nick’s hands were untied, and he was shoved into the cell. The door clanged shut behind him and he was in total darkness.