Page 32 of No Time Off (Lexi Carmichael Mystery #15)

THIRTY-TWO

Lexi

W e listened and heard people speaking softly in Chinese. There was some shuffling noise, the swish of the door, and then a voice in English. I quickly hit the record button again.

“Slash? Am I dreaming? What are you doing here? You’re the last person I expected to see in this godforsaken place.”

Multiple emotions swamped me at the same time. Relief, first and foremost, because Slash was in that room, talking, and he was alive. That was followed by gut-punching fear because who would recognize Slash all the way out here in the Cook Islands? Whoever it was, it couldn’t be good.

Then I heard Slash say, “Jiang Shi.”

I gasped aloud, slapping a hand over my mouth. Manny and the prime minister looked at me in alarm. “Who is Jiang Shi?” she whispered.

I shook my head, putting a finger to my lips, needing to hear the conversation. As the conversation continued, I became more and more horrified.

What crazy twist of fate had brought Slash and Shi back together again? The situation had become far more dire than I had ever imagined. Shi was supposed to be in some Chinese prison after Slash and I destroyed his plans to start an international cyberwar, but here he was, moving pieces around the board of China’s chess game in the South Pacific.

What in the world happened?

We listened as Slash manipulated Shi into bragging about his role in the area, my jaw tightening with disgust as Shi denigrated the Cook Islands, calling them and other nearby island countries pathetic and fourth-rate.

Petra’s expression got angrier the more Shi revealed about his actions here on the island. Her hands tightened into fists; her eyes narrowed into furious slits. I would have put my money on her if she and Shi ever got into a fight.

At some point Maivia strolled in, interrupting the interrogation, not even realizing what was going on. He started whining and complaining about not being able to find the prime minister. I hadn’t been sure I could dislike him more, but I found that I actually could. The guy was a pathetic piece of work.

I wanted to leap through the phone line and strangle Shi as he threatened Slash, promised to hurt me as part of his sick torture, and called us both terrorists while promising to plaster our photos across the islands as Most Wanted fugitives. Now I imagined fighting Shi, too, and I knew the first place I’d kick him. Really, really hard.

But what Shi said next chilled me to the bone.

“I intend to extract him from the Cook Islands tomorrow,” Shi said to Maivia. “I’ll take him to China—to an undisclosed location. One of our more discreet facilities. He’ll be…cooperative, given enough time. I’d like to have the woman, too, but?—”

There was sudden silence.

For a second, we all just stared at each other around the table.

“What happened?” Petra finally exclaimed, leaping to her feet.

“I don’t know,” I said, panic setting in. “The audio just cut off.” I grabbed my phone and then Manny’s. A quick glance confirmed that neither of them was connected to Slash’s phone anymore. I hit the stop record button and began to immediately download the audio file.

“Damn,” Manny said, slamming a fist on the table. “We lost the connection.”

“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.”