Page 37 of No Time Off

“You made it,” Petra said quietly, coming forward to greet us. “You’re safe, thank goodness.”

“For now,” Slash said. He put an arm around my waist, pulling me close. “Looks like you’ve got a serious problem on your hands, Prime Minister.”

“I do, indeed. More than one, it seems, and I could use your help.”

“We’ll do what we can,” Slash said.

“Thank you. Please, let’s head to the kitchen and sit down. Slash, can I get you something to drink? I see you’re sweating.”

Slash shot me a married look that said,I told you so, even as he accepted her offer.

As we followed Petra to the kitchen, I glanced around the house. There weren’t many people, and those I could see were talking in hushed voices, some hunched over their cell phones, probably trying to keep track of what was going on. I didn’t see her family, but I guessed they were upstairs. I wasn’t sure how safe this house was or for how long the prime minister could stay here undetected. The island wasn’t that big. It was only a matter of time of time until a house-to-house search would reach this location. And who knew what that would mean for Slash and me.

Right now, the only thing I knew was that our honeymoon had gone from bliss to crisis.

TWENTY

Lexi

We walked into the kitchen, which was quite homey despite our rather dire situation. Cabinets hewn from what was certainly a local wood lined two walls, accentuated by a soft blue-green backsplash made of sea glass. Billowy green curtains hung from the windows, and an enormous wooden table was positioned in the middle of the room. A blue teapot with ocean waves sat on a lazy Susan in the middle of the large wooden table. We sat down at the table, and Petra took a few mugs out of the cabinet and handed them to us just as Rangi walked in.

“I’m just so grateful you’re okay,” she said. “I can’t tell you how reassuring it is that you agreed to come with Rangi.”

“It wasn’t like we had much of a choice,” Slash said.

I could hear the coolness and tightness in his voice. He wasn’t happy about this situation, and I didn’t blame him. Instead of lounging around on a remote island, we’d been dragged into a coup and led to a safe house where we were now co-conspirators with the fallen prime minister.

How was any of this relaxing? I could just imagine what my friends and family would be thinking when they heard about this. Probably ribbing Slash because he hadn’t had the foresight to write an extensive emergency plan for a coup.

“I got there just before the police,” Rangi told her. “Tom gave me their bungalow number and I got them out in time. I’m sure he bought us some time with the police, so it all worked out well.” He paused for a moment. “As we were leaving, Slash decided it would be useful to track Moe to give us some intel on where the leaders might be assembling. He planted a device right under the mat under the front passenger seat of their vehicle while they were inside the resort lobby. A risky but well-executed and potentially valuable move by just an ordinary IT guy,” he stated while giving Slash a long look.

Petra glanced at Slash in surprise. “You had a tracking device on you?”

“It’s a long story, but yes.” He didn’t offer any more information, and Petra didn’t ask.

As Rangi filled her in on the rest of our escape, including the roadblock, I poured myself some tea and added three cubes of sugar, stirring vigorously. I offered Slash a cup, but he declined. I passed the pot over to Rangi, who poured himself a cup and took several big sips right away.

“What happened to you, Prime Minister?” Slash asked. “How did this so-called coup go down? How did you manage to get away before you were arrested or captured?”

Petra cupped her hands around the mug. “Well, I was lucky. I got a call late last night from one of my friends who’s a policeman. He told me something significant was being planned for this morning. He didn’t know the details, but the assassination attempt made us consider the worst possibilities, so we decided to relocate temporarily. Henry, the kids, and I—along with a handful of my security staff—left out the back by way of an old farm road used to haul pineapple to market. It joins some other farm roads south of here. We turned off our phones, went dark, and headed here—a farmhouse that belongs to a good friend of my family’s. The family no longer lives on the island full-time but keeps it as a summer home. I check in on it from time to time and knew I’d be safe here, at least temporarily.”

She’d been smart to trust the tip about something happening. Now the coup leaders’ work would be significantly harder the longer she could stay hidden. But only if she could effectively marshal her forces.

“When did you hear about the coup?” I asked her.

“Early this morning, just before everything broke loose. It all began to make sense. I think they tried to assassinate me to get me out of the way, so they could take over. My police friend contacted me through Rangi to say the police were on their way to my house to arrest me. He was worried and confused. The police were told I had committed a serious crime and, when confronted, I acknowledged said crimes and resigned to the commissioner of police, Liko Maivia. While they were arranging to book me, I somehow managed to escape. He knew it was all untrue, but he wanted to hear it from me directly. Rangi assured him I’d not committed any crimes nor resigned, and that these people were trying to take over the government. My friend told Rangi we had to be careful, as I’m now a wanted person, as are any staff who showed me loyalty.”

“You’re right about the assassination attempt and the coup being linked,” I said. “I saw the guy who tried to assassinate you on television. He’s not in jail—he’s roaming free.”

She nodded grimly. “I wish I could say I’m surprised.”

“Are you still in touch with your police friend?” Slash asked her. “Can he help us?”

“I am, but I doubt he can be of much help other than keeping us informed. I already mentioned, we’ve turned off all our personal and governmental phones and are working with borrowed phones so we can’t be tracked. Fortunately, there are only a few cell towers on the island, so it’s hard to directly triangulate a position. Still, better safe than sorry. We wouldn’t put it past them to try and ping our phones to reveal our location.”

“What’s the latest you’ve heard?” I asked.

Petra paused a moment to take a breath. “Supposedly Parliament has appointed Liko Maivia the interim prime minister. It’s ostensibly to maintain order, though neither I, nor any member of Parliament I know, has taken any such vote. But it allows the plotters to claim anyone working against Maivia and the so-called new, legitimate government are really the enemy. The police are supposedly working to restore order against those who are trying to instigate an uprising against Maivia. All untrue and ironic, certainly, since they are the ones instigating a coup.”

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