Stealing Asia

by David Clarkson

  There was a guard at the door and it was securely locked from the outside. Manu undid the lock and we entered together. I did not know what to expect from seeing Barrett again. When he had his hands around my throat, I thought that he was going to kill me for sure. Perhaps, I thought that seeing him wounded and helpless would help to ease my own pain a little. What I did not expect was to find an empty, blood-stained bed and a hole in the wall.

  ‘Shit!’ cursed Manu.

  He ran to the hole and took a look through it before pushing past me to go and gather his troops.

  ‘Stay here,’ he ordered.

  I looked across to the roughly carved opening at the far end of the cabin. The hole was barely wide enough to fit an averaged sized person let alone a monster the size of Barrett. Unlike the rooms below deck, which were made of steel, this cabin had wooden panelling. The edges around the improvised exit looked frayed as if an animal had chewed through them. I knew that Clay had shot Barrett in his hand and it seemed possible that once he had created a small enough opening with his fists, he tore the rest away with his teeth.

  I could see the ocean on the other side, so I walked over to take a better look. I glanced first to the left and then to the right. Both directions were clear, so I decided to squeeze on through to the other side. A smeared stain of blood on the outside wall of the cabin showed me which way the fugitive had headed. Tentatively, I followed. If I were to find the American, I hoped he would be weak and cowering in a corner. How the roles would be reversed if that situation arose.

  I came around the side of the boat and found myself back on the main deck. Asia was stood alone staring out blankly into the horizon. Many guards were visible, although the prisoners had now been transferred onto the U.S. vessel. Everybody else was on high alert and searching for Barrett. It seemed unlikely that he could have come this way without being seen and I wondered if he had left the smear of blood as a deliberate red herring.

  Then I spotted him.

  He was crouched down not far from where Asia was and he appeared to be trying to hide underneath some diving equipment.

  ‘He’s there!’ I shouted.

  Rather than having the desired effect, all that my cries did was draw the attention of the guards towards me. I had inadvertently supplied Barrett with the perfect diversion. He had not been hiding under the diving equipment at all. He was wearing it.

  Seizing the opportunity, he sprinted forward towards Asia. She raised her arms, but it was a futile attempt at resistance and Barrett appeared to run straight through her before leaping up and twisting around and over the railing of the boat. There followed a tremendous splash and then both he and Asia were gone.

  I did not wait to see how the professionals would react. I sprinted along the deck of the ship and dived overboard after them.

  Just metres below the surface the ocean did not appear as serene as it had from above. It took every ounce of my strength to fight the current and sink deeper down, all the while following the trail of bubbles ahead of me. Barrett may have been the stronger and more experienced swimmer, but with the added drag of his hostage under his arm, I soon caught him.

  I grabbed hold of his right foot and tried to twist it around. He turned to see what had snagged him and when he saw that it was me he started to kick out with his other foot. Luckily, the water took the sting out of his blows. He could not muster enough force to shake me off. I continued to twist and push against his ankle in the hope that I could inflict some damage.

  If nothing else, the struggle was enough to allow Asia to wriggle free of his grasp. Of course, this meant that she had to give up access to his spare regulator, but like me there was only really one thing on her mind at this point. Barrett was now the focus for all of the anger and hatred that had been building inside over the previous 48 hours.

  She started to kick and claw at him with all of her might. Her nails cut into his flesh like hardened coral. In this underwater realm, his strength was rendered redundant by weightlessness and Asia was now the more potent predator. She grabbed hold of his injured hand and bit down on it with the ferocity of a shark. This was enough to make him give up trying to fight us. He slapped her away and hurriedly swam away into the blackened depths of the ocean. We were free of him at last.

  I looked into her eyes and I knew that it was the end. We were maybe a dozen metres from the surface and there was not enough air in my lungs to supply my muscles with the strength they needed to make the return trip. Our lips locked and as we shared our last breath together, I had no regrets.

  Meeting Asia was without doubt the greatest thing that had ever happened to me. Though our time together looked destined to be short, I would not have traded it in for any amount of riches or the long and dull existence I would have faced had we never met. Thanks to her I could say that I had truly lived. I had experienced extremes of passion that most could only dream of.

  Feeling her grip on me tighten, I sensed the end was upon us. I wondered which of us would go first. Then I began to feel an altogether different sensation. The water surrounding us changed. The current had us in its grip and I could feel it rush all around until finally my head exploded.

  I gasped for air. The ocean was bubbling white and the sun was in my eyes and then darkness returned as the ocean swallowed me once more. The world turned on its head and again I found myself gasping for air. This time I was able to make better sense of what had happened. Asia was treading water directly in front of me and between us was Esteban. Once more he had saved both of our lives. Together, we swam to the boarding ladder and returned to the safety of what had once been a pirate ship.

  ‘Is this still about the politics?’ I asked Esteban, as I helped him back onto the boat.

  ‘Maybe it is time that I found a new career,’ he replied, before giving me a warm hug.

  ‘I knew that you would come good,’ said Asia. ‘I don’t think you should give up this job for anything. You were worth every cent.’

  Esteban placed his hand on her head and gently brushed away some of the excess seawater.

  ‘Somehow, I do not think the senator will be paying me for my services, but it is good to be appreciated by someone.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ asked Asia. ‘Why would the senator pay you anything?’

  ‘Like I said,’ replied Esteban. ‘It is no longer about the money.’

  ‘That’s not what I meant. He owes you nothing, because he did not hire you – I did.’

  Esteban and I both looked at one another and then to the girl.

  ‘What?’ she said. ‘You didn’t think that I would have come all this way without taking out some form of travel insurance, did you?’

  It took a moment for her words to sink in. Esteban laughed and then I did too. I now understood why she had kept on giving me the locket. All along she knew what it contained and she knew exactly who Esteban was too. Perhaps she was not so much of a risk taker after all.

  ‘What about Barrett?’ I asked. ‘It’s a shame that he got away. I mean, he’ll probably drown, but you never can tell.’

  ‘Do not worry about him,’ said Esteban.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, let’s just say that he has been taken care of. Back when the medics were tending to his hand, I gave him a little present. You could say that it was my insurance policy.

  At first, I did not understand. Esteban pointed down to the ocean and it all became clear. I briefly saw the distinctive fin of a shark, a very big shark, just before it disappeared under the waves.

  ‘You didn’t,’ I said.

  The Argentine shrugged.

  ‘Espionage is not all fast cars and women,’ he said. ‘It got really boring on that boat and I had to do something to keep myself occupied. I always did like fixing things and the shark magnet represented a challenge. Once I had repaired it, I thought it logical to return it to its rightful owner.’

  It did not bother me that Barrett was unlikely to make it out of t
he water. He had caused so much pain that I no longer cared whether he lived or died. I left Esteban to clear things with Manu and the CIA, whilst I once more embraced Asia. Our ordeal was finally over.

  ‘So what now?’ I asked.

  ‘What do you mean?’ she replied.

  ‘What do we do now? I mean, I don’t even know your name.’

  ‘You know my name,’ she said.

  ‘Katie?’

  The name seemed unfamiliar and strange as it left my lips; it would certainly take some getting used to.

  ‘That is all that you need to know,’ she said. ‘My life before was a lie. This is the real me stood before you now.’

  ‘You’re going to have to give me a little more than that. I mean, up until just a few hours ago, I thought that your dad was a rock star.’

  She laughed.

  ‘Okay, I may have told you one little white lie, but that doesn’t matter, because I have my own money. I am completely free now.’

  ‘Anything else?’

  She smiled her most seductive smile.

  ‘I have always wanted to visit England.’

  I smiled back at her; the tension lifted. Somehow, I knew that we were going to be alright.

  The End

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  About the Author

  David Clarkson grew up in the North East of England, where he studied English Literature at the University of Sunderland. One day, following a drunken challenge from a friend, he bought a one-way ticket to Australia and spent the following three years travelling the world. Upon his return, he struggled to adapt to a normal life and sought solace in his own overactive imagination, where he remains to this day.

  To learn more about David’s writing and what inspires him, you can follow his blog at

  http://www.davidclarksonwriter.com

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  AVAILABLE NOW IN PAPERBACK AND AS AN eBOOK AT AMAZON.COM AND OTHER GOOD ONLINE RETAILERS

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  Available now for Kindle - Click to buy