Page 90 of One Minute Out

I fire the engines and we head off through the marina, slowly and inconspicuously at first, but soon I’m pushing the throttle forward and we pick up speed.

The tiny forested island of Brijuni sits at the mouth of Pula Bay, and I decide to try to shoot between it and the shore in hopes of getting ahead of my target. Passing a superyacht in a speedboat wouldn’t necessarily be suspicious in itself, but I don’t know how alert those on board will be, so I don’t take any chances.

I’m going to follow them from the front, because my boat can turn a hell of a lot faster than theirs, and if they do go into port somewhere up the coast, I’ll have no trouble turning around and keeping up the pursuit.

Soon we’re making twenty, then thirty, then nearly forty knots, while the yacht, now on the other side of the island off to our left, is probably doing about fifteen.

The water is choppier here between the two land masses, and the faster we go, the harder we slam back down on the surface. It’s a rough ride, and our aching bodies protest every single moment of it, but once I’m clear of the island I find myself slightly north and about two miles east of the vessel. It’s open water now, so I throttle up even further and head slightly west, converging slowly on the yacht’s current heading.

I begin coaching Talyssa on how to operate the twenty-four-foot speedboat. I save a little time in my tutorial by skipping the safety features, because what I have in mind tonight is so fucking unsafe I’m not terribly concerned about her burning her hand on the outboard or slipping on the wet deck. Instead, I just give her the basics.

Soon I’m confident she can pull off the simple task I have for her, and she sits there and stares at the megayacht. She’s holding on for dear life and looking sicker by the minute as we bounce along the slowly undulating sea, but I can tell she’s still thinking about her sister.

I figure it’s a hell of a thing to not know if your sibling is alive or dead, but to know, either way, that you were the one who put your sibling in peril...

But then I remember that I know exactly what that feels like.

I have skeletons in my closet, too.

•••

Dr. Claudia Riesling entered the main-deck saloon of the Primarosa and sat down next to Jaco Verdoorn. The South African was finishing a dinner of pork tenderloin, and while he ate he communicated to his men, already at the yacht’s final destination in Venice. She heard him talk about the American man who had been causing difficulties to the pipeline, and their efforts to lay traps for him around the Venice market the next evening.

She planned on remaining on the yacht during the market, as she did most trips. It would give her more time to work with Maja, who would not be going ashore because she was one of two items on the boat that were not for sale.

Maja needed a lot of work still. Riesling had just left her small berth after another frustrating session, and this was the reason she wanted to speak with Verdoorn.

Riesling waited for the security chief to end his call, then waited a little longer for him to give her his attention.

Riesling was a psychologist, but she knew she didn’t have to be a psychologist to pick up on the fact that Verdoorn hated women. She’d seen him brutalize, heard of him killing, and listened to him while he gave orders that ensured the roughest treatment of the women around him. She didn’t think he ever even had sex, which he easily could have done as much as he wanted considering his power in the Consortium along with his unfettered access to the merchandise.

Riesling realized quickly after meeting the South African that she was completely afraid of him, and she reasoned it to be a healthy fear.

Finally, he looked her way. “What is it?”

She said, “This Maja... she’s a difficult case. She’s utterly defiant.”

He nodded impassively. She saw that he was unsurprised. “The recruiter said her family unit was strong. She was intelligent, no drug use, no sexual abuse in her past. These are the tough cases, but that’s why you’re here.”

“I’ve been working with her all day. If anything, she’s only become more recalcitrant.”

Jaco shrugged, as if the conversation bored him. “The Director likes her stubbornness. He’s looking forward to draining that out of her.” When Riesling made no reply, he cocked his head. “But you are saying something else, aren’t you?”

The doctor nodded. “Even the most obstinate ones respond to my tactics. I am beginning to think this one is here to make trouble.”

“But...” Jaco was confused. “We took her, she didn’t just show up. Saying she is here to cause trouble would indicate she willfully came along with some sort of plan.”

“I’m not saying that. I am saying she is not like any of the other recruits. She understands this better than she should be able to. That or she’s just incredibly wily, but I’m worried about this one.”

Verdoorn said, “If you think the Director will just change his mind about seeing her in Venice, or about bringing her to Rancho Esmerelda, you can forget it. He is a hell of a lot more headstrong than this stupid whore we’re transporting below.”

Riesling sighed. “I know. It’s up to us to have her ready for him.”

“Are you making some sort of a request?”

“I think some additional... intervention is warranted.”

The South African said, “You want her beaten? I can do it, but the boss won’t like it. He’ll want her healthy for his visit tomorrow.”

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