Murray McDonald - Kidnap

Before anybody had a chance to think, the twins ushered the three conscious children into the waiting helicopter. They were on their way within a minute and were a mile out to sea before the back-up team had arrived at the base.

With one twin flying the helicopter, the other checked on the children.

“Are you guys OK?”

“Yes thanks but what are you doing and where are you taking us?” asked Tom who had come to his senses.

“We’re getting you the hell out of dodge.”

“What?”

Lela was staring at the twin.

“Wait a minute, I know you.”

“She recognises us,” the twin shouted to his brother.

Tom looked at Lela strangely.

“Are you mad? Their faces are covered in camouflage, their own mothers wouldn’t recognise them.”

“That would be the same woman whose curry you would sell your granny for,” said Lela.

“What are you talking about? What’s your Aunt got to do with this?”

“Yep, Mum makes a mean curry,” responded one of the twins.

Lela hugged her cousin. She had not seen the twins since she was six. They had left to join the army and due to their extended duty had not yet returned. Kano and Kisho had always looked out for Lela and Tom on their holidays and it appeared that they still were. Tom took a closer look at Kano and recognised him under the camouflage.

“But what are you doing here?” Tom asked.

“Quite simple really. Saki did not want you two out of his sight. So, as he couldn’t come here himself, he arranged for his two favourite nephews to do the job for him. We had orders to ensure nothing happened to you. Should anyone make any attempt to harm you, we were ordered to intervene with whatever force was necessary. And just as well, huh?”

“God yes, thank-you so much! But how did he arrange it, I mean with the school and stuff?”

“He told us that it was a ‘condition’. That’s all he said.”

“Of course! His condition with Mr Mitcham,” replied Tom.

“I can’t believe what you did back there,” Chen interrupted.

“Just a few little tricks we learnt along the way,” said Kano.

“But you had them shooting each other, the speed at which you moved and the way you used your weapons. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“What, you see lots of guys with weapons, do you?” asked Kano.

“No, of course not, I mean on TV,” said Chen.

“What about Mia? What happened? And why were you two screaming at each other?” asked Lela.

“I can’t remember what she was saying. I just remember trying to get her to turn or slow down and she seemed determined to get into the base,” said Chen.

“She must have been working with them,” said Kano. “It was all a set up. All the guards who are now on duty fell mysteriously sick before the crisis at the schools. We only got sick because we blagged a canteen off one of the bad guys. Mind you, it saved us from being sent to Paris.”

“Oh my God, it’s all connected! Kisho, where are you taking us?” asked Tom anxiously.

“I was going to go to the Airbase on the next island but quite frankly, I’ve got no idea who we can trust anymore. This bird is full to the brim and has all its auxiliary tanks so we’re heading for South Africa and getting the hell out of this area.”

“Good call. I need to call my dad, where’s my phone?”

Ling had sent the signal just before the cart crashed to let Reaper know she had started.

Reaper contacted his team members. Everyone was in position and ready to go. He looked across at his communications man who gave him the thumbs up. He looked across at Leo who was on the phone, he signalled thumbs up. Donald was home and his helicopter had left.

Mr Sakamoto, Weadle and Ms Anderson arrived at the crash scene just as the helicopter was taking off. They looked on aghast at the devastation. Ten dead soldiers lay around the gate area. Other soldiers seemed to be running towards the boats and another two helicopters. Mr Sakamoto screamed across to a soldier as he ran by but the soldier ignored him and continued on his way to one of the waiting helicopters.

It was Mr Sakamoto who noticed the injured Mia first. Ms Anderson, previously a nurse, jumped into action. Mr Sakamoto sent Weadle to find someone who knew what was going on. As Ms Anderson tended to Mia, she began to regain consciousness.

“Mia, are you OK? What happened?” asked Mr Sakamoto.

“Mr Sakamoto, please give her a minute,” said Ms Anderson sternly.

“No, it’s OK,” said Mia weakly. “I’m not really sure, we were playing a game with Zach, Ahmad, Mingmei and Oleg. We made it round the bend,” Mia was thinking hard but she was still in shock.

“Who’s we? You’re the only one here,” asked Mr Sakamoto with concern growing in his voice.

“Chen, Tom and Lela,” she said.

“Oh my God! Where are they?” Mr Sakamoto looked around at the dead bodies and could not help but think of the hostage crisis around the world. Had his school been hit?

“I remember,” said Mia. “That we were coming down the hill and Chen started screaming at me, grabbed the wheel and slammed his foot on the accelerator pedal. I didn’t know what to do, he was screaming at me in a Chinese dialect that I didn’t really understand. All I could do was scream back at him.”

“What happened then, dear?” Ms Anderson was being surprisingly tender.

“I’m not sure but he basically made us crash into the gates. After that, I don’t remember a thing.”

Weadle returned. He had failed to find any soldiers, every single one had vanished. Mr Sakamoto thought about the unfolding scene and raced to his car.

“Come on, we must contact Donald Kennedy. Something is very, very wrong.”

“No, I’m afraid that’s not an option,” said Weadle confidently.

Three soldiers came around the corner with guns aimed at the three of them.

“But you said all the soldiers had gone?” said Ms Anderson who was slower to catch on.

Mr Sakamoto put his arm across her forearm to let her know to stop talking.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“Absolutely nothing. That is exactly what I want the three of you to do for the next few days,” said Weadle enjoying the power over Mr Sakamoto.

“I’m sorry?”

“We’re going to go back to your office and we’re going to continue as if nothing is wrong. You didn’t see anything and no children are missing. Just in case you try anything clever, these three young men will be joining us and will have no hesitation in spending hours prolonging the death of our young student here.”

Weadle looked down and smiled insanely at the injured Mia.

Mr Sakamoto knew he was not bluffing. The look on the man’s face was pure evil. He had little option but to agree. He looked at Ms Anderson who was still struggling to comprehend what was happening and just said, “OK.”

Five more soldiers appeared and began clearing away the bodies and hosing down the pools of blood. Within ten minutes, nobody would have known that death and destruction had recently visited the base.

The phone rang once before he answered.

“Reaper here.”

“We have a problem,” the voice said.

“Who is this and how did you get my number?” Reaper asked irritated.

“My name is Weadle and let’s just say that we have a mutual client who has spent a great deal of money for our services.”

“OK, what’s the problem?” asked Reaper realising his client had obviously some back-up resources he was unaware of.

“The targets have gone and all of the operatives that should be with them are dead.”

Reaper could not believe his ears.

“What about Schmidt, where is the imbecile?”