[Anthology] Abby & Sei Thriller Starter

by Ty Hutchinson

  Ahead of us was an identical gate. Kostas moved to do the same thing while I ran toward the part of the gate attached to the side of the building. I leapt up and planted a foot against the brick foundation and propelled myself up higher, somersaulting right over the wooden barrier. Kostas hit the ground a few seconds after me. “We need to move faster,” I shouted back at him.

  We continued to snake our way through a series of backyard patios behind the apartment buildings until we popped out onto another road. “Which way?” I asked, as I looked in both directions.

  “Left,” he said, running by me.

  We crossed over to the other sidewalk. It wasn’t smart to stay out in the open, but we made better time that way, rather than hopping fences. Just then, an Askeri Inzibat truck rounded the corner up ahead. We both ducked behind a car and waited until we heard it pass by.

  Kostas had been right. Once Demir realized we had escaped his trap, he mobilized all of his men to the nearest coastal town: Cesme. It was the most likely place. My one sliver of hope was that the captain of the fishing boat would know how to get me out of the port undetected. But first, I had to reach him.

  We made a right at the next four-way stop, and a sense of relief flooded my body as the waters of the port came into view. It looked about two miles away and downhill.

  “Are you coming with me to the port?” I asked Kostas.

  “I am now. We both need that boat to get out of here.”

  “All right, but we can’t keep moving in the open like this.”

  He looked around. “Let’s try and get behind these apartments.”

  We squeezed through the next opening we found, which took us to the back of the ground unit, where we scaled a five-foot-high brick wall. The second wall on the other side of the small yard led us right into the backyard of a man sunbathing.

  He jerked back into his lawn chair, causing his large, hairy belly to ripple. He slammed his legs shut and moved both hands over his erect penis and shouted at us in Turkish.

  “Don’t worry about it, pal. It’s too small to notice,” Kostas said with a hearty laugh as we ran by and scaled the next wall.

  “He’s probably on the phone with the police as we speak,” I said as I landed and headed for the next wall.

  “But I think they’ll agree with me.” Kostas continued to chuckle until bullets whizzed over our heads and he yelped.

  52

  Kostas immediately dropped to one knee after climbing over the wall. He had a hand pressed against the left side of his head and the other against the wall for balance.

  “Did you get hit?” I asked, hurrying back to him and noticing blood smeared across a few of his fingers. It wasn’t much, so it was probably superficial. I moved his hand away. “A bullet clipped your earlobe. You’ll live.”

  Kostas muttered something under his breath as I looked around for the shooter. “I don’t see anyone. Probably on the other side of this wall on high ground. They’ll have a clear shot if we move forward.”

  “You think it’s the Askeri Inzibat?” he asked with his hand still covering his ear.

  “Stay down.” I popped up and swiveled my eyes back and forth before a bullet struck the wall right below my face, sending me ducking for cover. “It’s not the Askeri Inzibat. It’s the backyard masturbator. He’s on a balcony with a rifle.”

  “Son of bitch! He moves fast.”

  “He’s a decent shot too. We can’t stay here. His gunfire will attract unwanted attention, if it hasn’t already. Can you move?”

  Kostas rolled his eyes at me.

  “All right. You go over that wall first. I’ll provide cover fire. Then you cover me.”

  “Got it. On three. One, two, three.” Kostas exploded forward, and I popped back up and opened fire, emptying the remaining bullets in the clip. The naked man moved quickly back into his apartment, and I turned and ran toward Kostas.

  “I thought the plan was for you to cover me and then I cover you?” he shouted as I landed safely on the other side the wall.

  “My shots scared him off. Let’s keep moving.”

  We were closing in on the port. I could taste the salt in the air and the freedom that would come with it. But the noise from the shooting did us no favors. Add to that the two Askeri Inzibat I executed in broad daylight, and surely the alarm had been sounded. Demir had to know we were in Cesme. I felt as if we could be cornered at any second, bringing our run for Greece to a halt.

  “There’s got to be a faster route,” I said.

  “Hold up.” Kostas grabbed my arm and stopped me. He took a few deep breaths. “We have the whole day ahead of us. No matter where we go, we’ll be out in the open.”

  “But Demir has to know we’ll be heading to the port. We have to reach it before he shuts it down.”

  “We don’t know that he hasn’t already done that.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “I think we should consider hiding out someplace until nightfall. We’ll have a better chance in the dark.”

  As much as I wanted to keep moving, I couldn’t deny that Kostas’ rationale made sense. We were running blind to the port and still needed to locate the fishing boat. Neither of us could determine whether waiting offered a better chance. Demir could flood the entire port with lights and turn night back into day. I had no intention of underestimating what that man would do to catch me. “Tell you what, let’s get closer to the port so we can assess the situation better. We’ll decide then if it’s worth waiting.”

  Kostas nodded, and we continued moving through the backyard patios. It was not without interference, though. More than once, we surprised people. Thankfully none of them were naked or owned a rifle.

  When we reached the end of the block, we stopped at the last patio. It was empty, and we had two apricot trees providing cover. “How is your ear?” I asked as I caught my breath.

  Kostas shrugged. “So long as I keep running, it’ll keep bleeding. I’m okay, though.”

  “I’m out,” I said as I removed my handgun from my waistband.

  Kostas checked the clip in his gun. “I have a few shots left and another loaded clip.”

  I wiped the gun clean of my prints and tossed it into a bush. “What’s your best guess on the distance to the port from here?”

  “Mile and a half at the most.” He looked around the patio before walking over to the sliding glass door and peering inside. “Doesn’t seem like anybody is home.” He took a few steps back and looked up at the second-floor balcony. “We’d have a clear view of the port from there.”

  53

  We were able to enter the apartment through a lower window secured only by a flimsy lock. I jiggered the lock catch loose with my knife and then popped the window off its frame. We searched for weapons. If naked man had a rifle, perhaps others in the neighborhood did as well. No such luck. The décor and the clothing in the closets and drawers told me a couple, most likely middle-aged, lived there. The furnishings were modest and her collection of jewelry was mostly costume. These were working-class people who saved up every year so they could sip cocktails under an umbrella at a beach resort.

  “You hungry?” Kostas said, his head buried inside the refrigerator.

  We hadn’t eaten since the burgers back in Ismil, and my mouth watered at the mention of food. We quickly sat down to a meal of smoked cheese, olives, almonds, a few boiled eggs, one-week-old Turkish bread, and half a jar of strawberry jam. It gave us both a much-needed energy boost.

  Kostas popped the remainder of a boiled egg into his mouth and brushed his hands together. “The calendar hanging on the wall shows the owners will be out of town for another two days. Holiday, I imagine. We’re good for the night.”

  “That’s helpful.”

  “It’s best we try to leave this place the way we found it. They might not notice we were here.”

  I nodded, swallowing.

  “We’ve still got about six hours until sunset,” Kostas noted as he pushed his cha
ir back from the tiny wooden table “Might as well relax. Why don’t you take a bath? You might even find some clothing in the closet that fits you.”

  “A bath sounds like a great idea, but I doubt her clothes will fit me. I saw some of it earlier. She’s tall, but I’ll take a closer look.”

  “I’ll be out on the balcony surveying the port.”

  Before heading into the bathroom, I looked through the woman’s dresser drawer and closet. A fresh change of underwear would work, but her pants were too long. She had shorts, but the waist was too big even in the smallest pair. I took the smallest blouse I could find and stuck with my jeans.

  I stripped off my clothes and then stepped into the shower. The initial blast of cold water felt refreshing. Eventually it turned warm and soothing as it ran over my skin. I shampooed and conditioned my hair and scrubbed every inch of my body. It had been a while since I appreciated a shower that way. I had no intention of rushing.

  After I toweled off, I perused the woman’s array of beauty supplies scattered across the faux marble counter. I used her body lotion and applied moisturizer to my face. My skin thanked me. I blow-dried my hair, dressed, and stuffed my dirty clothes in the bottom of their laundry hamper before heading out to the balcony.

  “How does it feel?” Kostas asked as I joined him on the balcony. He had a cloth pressed up against his ear.

  “Beyond words. And your ear?”

  “The bleeding stopped. I’ll be fine.”

  From the balcony we had a clear view of the bay, and the boats in their slips. I could see four roads that all led that way. A brisk run would have us there fairly fast. “What’s the situation?”

  “Two Askeri Inzibat vehicles drove by so far. They’re searching. Let’s hope they don’t initiate a door-to-door. As for the port, I don’t see a whole lot of movement down there. It’s a concern.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Doesn’t seem right. It’s like Demir is baiting us by making it look like he’s not there.”

  “But he is. I can feel it.”

  “The guy underestimated us in the past. I doubt he has any intention of doing it again. He has something cooking, but what?”

  “What about your friends? Can they help?”

  Kostas ran his hand through his hair. “This mission is officially terminated. I’m not even supposed to be here with you.”

  “I didn’t ask about the mission. I asked if your friends, your Turkish friends, could help.”

  “Maybe, but I’d like to assess the situation a bit more.” Kostas looked around. “If you don’t mind staying out here and keeping watch, I think I’ll take a shower.”

  After Kostas left, I turned my attention back to the port and thought more about what he said, that Demir might be baiting us into a trap. In the short time I’d known him, I’d come to believe he was capable of doing anything. With Greece just an hour away, there was no telling what Demir would do to stop me.

  Being on the verge of putting this ordeal behind me heightened my emotions, not because I hadn’t been in situations that endangered my life before, but because I wanted so badly to begin the search for my daughter. Even with all the uncertainties of her safety and her whereabouts, I had an aching feeling inside me that I could only attribute to an undeniable, growing love for a child. Mine.

  54

  By the time Kostas had finished his shower, three more Askeri Inzibat patrols had passed by the apartment building where we squatted. “They’re increasing. The last two stopped at the corner and seemed to be coordinating efforts.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me,” he said as he sat down in the chair next to me. “The gunshots from the run-in with the naked man didn’t help. I’m surprised they’re not on foot and knocking on doors.”

  “Maybe that’s his plan. He wants us to make it to the port.”

  “Or he’s not as bright as we’re making him out to be.”

  We both sat quietly, contemplating our situation. The vehicle patrols had enough of a presence to keep us at the apartment to nightfall. It didn’t really matter if Demir had a plan and we were walking into a trap. We had to get to the port and on that fishing boat. I knew I wouldn’t truly be out of his grasp until I set foot on Greek territory.

  “This is worth a thought. Surely he must know we need a boat to escape, and if so, do you think that’s what he wants? Does he plan on blowing us out of the water? If you were able to get your hands on C4, surely he has the means to come after us with serious firepower.”

  Kostas clucked his tongue. “I can’t say that’s not a possibility. It’s not like the Greek or Turkish navy patrol the channel between Cesme and Chios. Sinking the boat is one way to finish us off quietly, though there is the off chance he might want you alive.”

  “I can’t see why. I’m of no value to him.”

  “You were valuable enough for him to keep you alive at the prison.”

  “He thought I had information he needed.”

  “He still might.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I don’t intend on getting caught again.”

  Kostas and I tried to figure out the best approach to reaching the port but continued to come back to the obvious: there was none.

  “We have to accept that we’ll be running blind. There simply is no way for us to gauge what we’re up against,” I said.

  “Easy for a ninja-like assassin to say.”

  “If you follow me, you should live.”

  “Where did you learn those parkour moves anyway?”

  I remained silent, long enough for Kostas to realize I wasn’t answering his question.

  “Oh, now suddenly you’ve lost the ability to move your mouth. I don’t get you. You should know by now I don’t have a hidden agenda. I don’t see why you need to be so hush-hush about everything.”

  I sensed irritation in Kostas’ tone. I took a deep breath and let it out before responding. “There’s a reason I’m good at what I do and have kept myself alive while doing so. I don’t reveal much. The more a person knows about you, the more they have to use against you.”

  “So now I’m the enemy. Might I remind you that I’m the guy who’s getting you out of this mess?”

  A few choice responses danced on the tip of my tongue but I held on to them.

  “A mess that you got yourself into by doing something illegal, I might add.”

  I stared straight ahead and did my best to tune him out.

  “Why don’t you answer me? What’s the big deal?”

  I swear, if he doesn’t stop…

  “I don’t get it. That question wasn’t out of line, considering our predicament. Why can’t you tell me how you learned to somersault over a fricking wall?”

  I wasn’t sure how things escalated so fast on his end. Maybe it was the stress of the day or that Kostas hadn’t planned on encountering so many obstacles when he decided to continue with me to Chios. It didn’t help that I had a quick temper. The beating in my chest became noticeable, and my cheeks grew warm. The more he insisted on having this discussion the more I wanted to ignore him.

  “Sei, why don’t you start acting like an adult and a little less like a pouting little girl?”

  Shut up!

  “Okay. If this is how you want to repay my generosity, then you can find your own damn way to the port.” Kostas stood up with enough force to push his chair back over and then headed back inside the apartment.

  I didn’t know why I didn’t just answer him. Well, I did know why. I didn’t feel like telling him. But his insistence only made me clam up further when he should have let me be. I might have clued him in.

  55

  It was nearly sundown when Kostas reappeared on the balcony. “I’m sorry about acting like an idiot,” he said, taking a seat beside me. “I didn’t mean what I said about not helping you.”

  “I should have answered you. It was a simple enough question, it’s just that. I—”

  Kostas waved his hand. “We’re both under a lot of pressur
e. I shouldn’t have pushed so hard. I just wanted to know more about you, and not because I want to develop you as an asset, but as a friend.”

  “It’s takes a lot for me to be friends with others. It has to click in my head, something that I want. Don’t take it personally. Just give me time.”

  Kostas nodded before pointing toward the bay. Juxtaposed against the clear bright skies was a large patch of dark clouds rolling in across the horizon. We could clearly see rainfall pouring down from them. “Looks like a storm is moving our way. The channel crossing will be rough.” A breeze rustled the leaves on the tree just below the balcony.

  “Will the boat be able to handle that?” I asked.

  “These storms tend to move in and out of the area fairly quickly. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

  As I watched the storm clouds gather, I thought more about Kostas’ offer to help and his access to information that may prove helpful to me. I didn’t know much about the man who set me up, Tark, but he seemed to know quite a bit about me. Identifying and then locating him would be a difficult task, at best. Deep down inside, I knew Delacroix probably wouldn’t lead me anywhere, and with Kashani out of the picture, that left the man who set me up.

  “The other day you said you could help me. If I needed information, could you give me that? And what would you expect from me in return?” I asked, still holding my gaze on the horizon.

  “It depends. What sort of information are you looking for? As for what I want in return, I’ll know when I know. I might run a name by you. I might ask you to give up a previous employer.”

  “Would you utilize my skills?”

  “I wouldn’t say that was out of the question. We, of course, would find some way to compensate you if that scenario came about.”