Page 67 of No Time Off

“Did they find Slash’s phone?” Petra asked in alarm.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I think his phone probably just ran out of battery.”

“It lasted a lot longer than mine did, that’s certain,” Manny said.

“Slash has a special phone, and it has a larger battery, so it was able to keep the call going a lot longer.”

“Who is this Jiang Shi guy, Lexi?” Manny asked. “Why does he have it in so bad for you and Slash?”

“It’s a long story, but basically, he was a hacker who faced off with Slash and me over a year ago and lost. He nearly created an electronic world catastrophe with a virus that would have created international chaos. We presumed he was rotting away in a Chinese prison, but apparently, he was exiled to the South Pacific instead. It’s a very bad situation.”

“What are we going to do?” Henry asked. “They’re lunatics and murderers—the lot of them. How do we stop them?”

Petra’s eyes hardened. “I don’t know how we’ll do it, but, by God, Maivia will be tried for sedition. I guarantee you that. And this Jiang Shi, he’s not going to get away with this. He’ll not hurt Slash, and he will not leave this island. He’s a monster who needs to pay for his crimes, starting with the assault on our country.”

“Shi is worse than a monster,” I said quietly. “I mean it. Under no circumstances can we let him take Slash to China. We must get him out of the compound immediately.”

“I agree,” Manny said. “That Shi guy is a bloody psychopath, with Maivia, the pompous idiot, not far behind. Look, I spoke with Ari, and he’s in for our plan to go with him into the compound in the morning. And I have our weapons.” He held up the Tasers.

“Good.” I glanced at my watch. It was already early afternoon, and I was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. We had less than twenty-four hours to rescue Slash.

“How do we get to Ari’s store?” I asked. “I presume there will be heightened roadblocks—and now that my face will be plastered all over the island as a terrorist and enemy number one, it will be even more dangerous.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that too much,” Manny said. “There’s only one printing shop on the island that could produce that many posters, and they close at three. Maivia won’t be able to get them the pictures and the money to print the posters by then.”

“What if he asks them to reopen to print the pictures?”

“Oh, I’m sure he won’t find them as they will be conspicuously absent from work. Plus, they are going to be very slow about opening tomorrow morning for a similar reason. It would be late tomorrow before anyone would see your picture.”

“How can you be so sure?” I asked worriedly.

“Well, it’s Ari’s son and his wife who run the print shop. I believe if I let them know to expect some government customers late this afternoon or tomorrow morning, they’ll take their sweet time getting around to it.”

“Is everybody related to everybody on the island?” I asked incredulously. “And you’re from New Zealand, right?”

Manny laughed. “I am, and it only seems like everyone is related because it’s a small island. Technically, there are five times as many Cook Islands descendants living in New Zealand than are here on the islands. But anyway, back to the plan. We’ll get to Ari’s in the dark and be there by dawn. Their place is down Ara Tapu, just past the compound. It is about an hour and a half walk in the daylight. It will be longer at night. Ari says they usually head to the compound about seven in the morning so they can deliver the fresh food and supplies before the kitchen staff starts making breakfast. We’d need to get to Ari’s place well before that. The safest way to travel, given the heightened security, will be on foot. We’ll leave the yacht, get off the beach, and cross the Ara Tapu. From there we can take the few side roads and back trails to get to Ari’s warehouse. I know this part of the island like the back of my hand, and I can get us there safely. I have a small flashlight we can use.”

That was good enough for me. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from my bag. “Okay, let’s plot every detail of this extraction down to the tiniest one. The margin for error must be as near to zero as possible.”

Henry put a hand on my arm. “Lexi, are you sure going into the compound is a smart thing for you to do? If Shi captures you, you’ll be giving him exactly what he wants.”

“I’m not sitting on the sidelines, Henry. No one knows Slash like I do. I have the best chance of getting him out.”

Henry didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t protest further. Petra and Manny also remained silent. They wisely realized I wasn’t going to back down on this.

Manny met my gaze for a long moment and finally nodded. “Okay, listen carefully. This is the plan I have in mind.”

THIRTY-THREE

Lexi

After we went over the details of the plan at least three times and had something to eat, I took a long-overdue shower and passed out in one of the yacht bedrooms until Manny woke me at about four o’clock in the morning.

“Time to go,” he said softly.

The two of us gently climbed down into the skiff that was waiting for us. The policeman and Manny rowed the boat to shore, avoiding the possible attention a small motor running might attract. Fortunately, the tide was with us and the trip was quick. Manny led the way, and I walked behind and slightly to the side so that I could see the path ahead illuminated with his flashlight. He used the red-light mode to limit the range it could be seen and to help us retain our night vision. Nevertheless, I stepped in enough muddy, sandy spots that new shoes were going to be at the top of my shopping list when Slash and I got back from our honeymoon.

That line of thinking almost caused me to trip. I’d been so focused on watching my step, I’d temporarily forgotten Slash was in real peril and we might not make it home. Fear started to bubble up from my subconscious, so I suppressed it the best way I knew how—by reciting the digits of pi.

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