by Leo James
'You're safe now. We need to get you to the hospital.'
'Thank you. I need to see my children. 'Blood flowed from her eye and nose. She could not control the shivering which started at the back of her legs and spread up her body.
'They are fine. We are with them now.'
'Thank you. How did you find me?'
'You are safe now. We will take care of you.'
'I need Steve.' Beth sobbed and shivered.
######
The taxi stopped outside the Go Hotel and Gurney Shopping complex. Mai looked towards the restaurant. 'I am worried. We cannot trust Prem. I am sorry he is your brother, but I hate him.'
Adam did not respond.
They jumped out of the taxi and Steve paid the driver. As they walked through the busy mall, Steve detoured into the public toilets. Mai and Adam waited outside. Once in the cubicle he made a call on his mobile and whispered. 'Can you hear me?'
'Yes. We are ready Mr Roussos, We can hear you from the wire and this call,’ was the response, ‘Remember, we will have our men watching the restaurant and monitoring the wire. If we suspect any problems we will move in. If you get into difficulty please say the signal words - “I am not feeling well. Give me a minute.” - We will move in.’
'OK. “I am not feeling well. Give me a minute.” Got it. I'm on my way.'
######
Detective Inspector Power called Steve and was greeted by voice mail. She left a message letting him know the great news that Beth was safe and sound.
######
Steve’s phone pinged with a message. He chose to ignore it, turned his mobile phone to silent mode and left the cubicle to rejoin Mai and Adam.
They mingled with the chaotic flow of busy morning shoppers and headed for the restaurant.
Prem Jothi and Cliff Lin sat at a table in the middle of the restaurant. Tattoo man stood by the entrance, and another man stood on the opposite side of the restaurant, watching as the waitress placed drinks on the table.
Steve stopped before they got to the restaurant. 'There's no one else in there. I'm not happy with this.'
Adam carried on walking towards the entrance. 'Prem has cleared it.'
Tattoo man opened the restaurant door. He frisked Adam. Mai walked straight past tattoo man. He tried to stop her but Prem gestured to let her go. She walked to the table, stood opposite, held her palms together as though praying, and bowed towards Prem. Steve pushed ahead of Adam to the table not giving Tattoo man time to frisk him. Tattoo man approached Steve but Prem gestured him away, so he took his position on guard at the restaurant entrance.
Prem beckoned them to sit, ignoring Mai. 'Mr Roussos, Adam, my dear brother. Please sit down.'
Steve pulled a chair over to the table, so that Mai could also sit down.
Prem held out his arms towards Adam. 'I am worried about you my brother.'
Adam levelled a glowering look.
Cliff sat motionless.
Steve leaned forward, closer to the table. His heart pounded hard in his chest. 'What have you done to my wife?’
Prem smirked. 'I want to help. There are bad people. I want to protect you and my brother.'
Steve wanted to kill him there and then. Clenching his fists, he tried to stay calm. ‘Have you taken my wife. What do I need to do to get my wife back?’
Prem shook his head. 'They are bad people, who could harm your family. I can stop them.'
Steve moved his chair closer to the table and jabbed his finger towards Prem. 'What do you mean? What do you want?'
'I want you to keep away from Q7 and destroy any information you may have. If you do this, I will make sure they do not harm you and your family.’ Disapproval gleamed in Prem's eyes.
Steve found it difficult to contain his anger. 'It's you who has taken my wife, you murdered David and his wife, and you murdered Glen.'
'She murdered Mr Lewis.' Prem pointed towards Mai.
Mai stood up and shouted expletives in Vietnamese. Tattoo man moved forward quickly and pushed Mai back into her seat, squeezing down on her shoulders to keep her seated.
Adam stood up and tried to push Tattoo man away. 'Leave her.'
Prem gestured to Tattoo man, to go back to his position.
Steve looked towards Cliff Lin with distain. ‘Is my wife safe? Will you let her go? I thought you were a good guy. You invested in us. This was a set-up all along?'
Cliff remained emotionless, his eyes fixed on the wall beyond Steve.
Steve banged his fist onto the table. ‘Where is my wife? Look at what you've done. Please tell me my wife is safe?’
Shit! The fucking belt. They won’t be able to hear the wire if I keep banging the fucking table.
Cliff did not respond, remaining motionless and emotionless.
Prem sat back in his chair. 'Bad men have taken your wife.'
Adam stood up trying to control his temper. Tattoo man moved quickly to restrain him. 'Stop playing games. I am going to the police to tell them I am gay, and that Farid is gay. He raped me many times right under your nose. I will ruin you and your reputation, and your best friend too. Our father would be ashamed of you and not of me.'
Cliff remained static, his unseeing eyes staring into space.
Prem looked to the ground, shook his head and fixed his eyes on Adam. 'Do not talk about our father. Our father was a great man. He was ashamed of you.'
Adam met Prem’s unrelenting stare. ‘You are Mountain Master, head of Kongsi Gelap. I am ashamed of you. You have changed. You are not my brother. Look what you have done to Mark and my friends.'
'You are not safe my brother. I care about you.' Prem leaned closer.
'You only care about yourself. Only you.'
'We are a family. I love you Adam, Mama and Dewi. I don't care about Malaysia or the mosque. We're moving to America. Cliff will help us.'
'You do not care about Mama or Dewi.' Adam's eyes flashed with anger as Tattoo man’s hold hardened.
Steve pulled Adam back into his seat and said, 'You own shell companies and real estate in the US.’
'Mr Roussos, Steve. You will have enough money to make your family comfortable forever.'
'So, you're not denying it. You are the head of the triad group and you’re moving vast sums of money out of Malaysia, into Singapore, then on to the US to buy real estate. You and Cliff are both owners.'
'Why are you asking me all these questions Mr Roussos?' Prem cast only the slightest of glances to Steve before focusing back on Adam.
'I want to know,' Steve demanded.
'Why? If you say you already know?' Prem took in a deep breath.
‘You murdered David. Admit it!’ Steve said.
Adam stood up again. 'You have blood on your hands. How can you sleep at night?'
'I can protect you from bad people.' Prem's face twitched
Cliff broke his silence. 'Are you wearing a wire?'
Steve continued, 'I want to know. I need to know for my own piece of mind. So, you set this up from the start Cliff, when you bought shares in Seguro? There is blood on your hands too.'
Cliff and Prem exchanged glances. Prem gestured for Tattoo man to come to him. Prem whispered in his ear, which prompted Tattoo man to walk back around the table, stand behind Steve, and put his hands on Steve's shoulders. 'I am sure you won't mind if we check you are not wearing a wire.'
Steve stood up, shaking off Tattoo man. 'Back off, don't touch me. Where is my wife.’ His heart beat was thumping double-time.
Mai fidgeted and stooped forward on her chair, sounding as though she was about to vomit, making a moaning sound distracting Tattoo man for a moment. She reached down and grabbed a gun concealed under her full-length white cotton dress, tucked inside one of her knee-high patent-letter boots, stood up, and held the gun in both hands. Shaking, she pointed it towards Prem. Steve looked over and everything seemed to move in slow motion. Words came out of her contorted face like the cries of a pod of whales. Shock covered Prem's face, his eyes expanded a
nd his mouth gaped wide. Cliff jumped up, lunged at her, pushing the table over to the right as glasses shattered on the floor. Tattoo man pulled out a gun.
Adam jumped up. 'Stttttooooppppp. Noooooo.'
Mai pulled the trigger and a bullet shot towards Prem. Cliff crashed against the floor. The bullet missed the target and ricocheted off a nearby wall. Adam dived towards Prem. Tattoo man pounced, fired his gun, piercing Adam in the neck, his head falling to one side as he dropped, blood spurting across the floor. The other foot soldier rushed forward and aimed his gun at Mai. Steve lurched towards him trying to protect her. The foot soldier fired a shot hitting Steve in the left shoulder, the bullet penetrated his arm causing him to fall back, knocking Mai to the ground. She hit the table with a thud; blood seeped from her head and leg. Adrenaline helped Steve to crouch down and protect Mai, pinning her to the ground. He grabbed her gun and shot Tattoo man in the chest from close range, forcing him backwards onto the floor. Blood jetted in all directions, hitting Steve in the face. Prem rushed over to Adam. Steve fired two shots towards Prem. Prem dropped to the floor. As Steve tried to get up the foot soldier fired a shot at him; this time the barrel jammed. There seemed to be no life left in Mai, so Steve lurched forward, knocking the foot soldier over with the weight of his own body. Something knocked the gun from Steve's hand as he hit the floor; he rose to his feet almost immediately, desperate to escape and ran out of the restaurant, blood bubbling up through his wound. The foot soldier jumped up in pursuit, grabbed Tattoo man’s gun off the floor and fired a shot which missed Steve by some margin and ricocheted off a car passing along the road.
Steve knew from his army days that the best way to avoid getting shot was to keep calm and stay focused on survival. Natural instinct was to run away from the attacker in a direct line as this was the shortest route to get furthest away. However, his army training kicked in making him fight this tendency, as he made random cuts in his flight pattern. He knew a moving target was hard to hit, but running in a straight line made it much easier since the shooter only had to slightly adjust the aim if he missed. He also remembered that he should not run in a simple zigzag pattern, or in any other predictable way as to hit a moving target a shooter would lead with the gun, swinging it ahead to where they thought the target was going to be next. He looked for concealment and cover as much as possible; any trees, shrubs, buildings, vehicles or anything else around, to work into his flight pattern and get them between him and the foot soldier. He grabbed his shoulder as a surge of splitting pain pounded within and blood sprinkled from the wound. He aimed to find a place of safety, any government building or a corporate or public centre, which might have security or an accessible space he could access and secure behind him. The foot soldier stopped twice to fire shots at Steve. Passers-by screamed as they heard the gunshots and spotted the gun. He was catching up with Steve, who by now had lost a lot of blood. Steve ran up an alleyway towards the entrance to the mall, people around him screamed in panic and two security guards rushed to close the doors, blocking his entry. Steve was trapped. The foot soldier stopped running, now only about twelve feet away and slowly took his aim. Steve desperately ran towards the foot soldier in a zigzag motion, trying to make the inevitable shot more difficult. A sudden and forceful tremor sent him sprawling on all fours as a bullet struck the foot soldier in the back of the head, and shot out of his forehead, taking with it most of the left side of his face. He dropped and bled his life out on the floor. Three Malaysian Police officers ran up to grab Steve as he fell, unconscious, on the body of the dead man.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Sunday 7th June
STEVE OPENED HIS EYES. A stream of light from the window flowed across his face forcing his eyelids to snap shut. He listened to a consistent beeping sound before he raised his eyelids again. Disorientated, dry throat, difficult to swallow, the room spinning, the memories flooding back. A woman walked over to his bedside and said a few words that Steve missed. He struggled to get up; excruciating pain in his arm, shoulder and chest, caused him to shout out. The room came into focus: monitors, oxygen bottle, beep, beep. The nurse eased him up and helped him to sip a drink.
He found it difficult to swallow. 'Where am I?' He whispered.
'Hello, Mr Roussos. You are in Pantai Hospital here in Penang. A doctor will visit you soon.'
Shoulder and arm strapped to his body and his hand connected to a drip, causing great pain whenever he moved. He remembered the shooting. It played in slow motion in his mind. He felt a deep pain in the pit of his stomach.
Where is my Beth, oh Beth, I'm so sorry. What have I done?
My kids. I need to get back to them. Hug them all and take care of them.
My Beth… Is she alive?
I should have just co-operated.
I have caused this! I don’t think Adam has made it, nor Mai.
A single tear flowed across his cheek. 'How long have I been here?'
'This is the morning of your forth day, Mr Roussos.'
‘Oh no, I need to find Beth and talk to my kids.'
A tall man in a white gown entered the room, followed by his support team. 'How are you today, Mr Roussos? I am Doctor Pasupathy. I operated on your arm and shoulder.'
He nodded. 'Thank you doctor. Did you fix my shoulder?'
'The bullet hit the joint between the humeral head and the glenoid fossa, with damage to the humerus. We replaced the humeral head, that’s your collarbone, and repaired the fractures to the upper arm bone or the humerus.'
'How long before I'm back to normal?'
'The proximal humerus fractures will take four to eight weeks to heal well enough so you don’t need external support. Good strength will be back by twelve weeks, but full healing with bones may take six to twelve months.'
'When can I go home?'
'You lost a lot of blood and suffered damage to the tissues, tendons and nerves. You also have a wound infection.'
'I need to get home to find my wife and protect my kids.'
'You cannot travel yet Mr Roussos. You were lucky, there was no paralysis and minimal tendon and muscle tear. The projectile was a full metal jacket bullet which did not expand in diameter when it hit you, the destroyed tissue was limited to the path of the bullet, this was larger than the actual bullet diameter. The bullet turned sideways when it hit the bone but left a clean exit hole out of your shoulder.'
'I don't feel lucky.'
'The bullet didn’t hit the perforated aorta or femoral artery, so there was no catastrophic loss of blood pressure. You were very lucky, Mr Roussos. You should rest.' The doctor bowed and left the room along with his followers.
Steve turned to the nurse. 'Can I call my kids? Where's my phone?'
The nurse looked, without success, amongst the few items, in the cabinet beside his bed. 'Sorry Mr Roussos, you can use a hospital phone.' She left the room and returned wheeling in a prepaid landline unit. She loaded credits and assigned them to the room bill.
Steve called home only to be greeted by the answering machine. The sound of Beth’s light-hearted message hit him harder than the bullet, bringing tears to his eyes. He was desperate to speak to his family. He was so full of drugs that he could not remember Beth’s mobile number. Neither could he recall Roger's home or mobile numbers, nor Beth's sister's number. His mind was suddenly blank. There was no need to remember any details when your phone kept all the details.
Steve was desperate to know how Mai, Adam and Mark were doing and feared he would be questioned by the police for his part in the murders. He tried home once more, unsuccessfully thirty minutes later, after the nurse had administered further pain relief via the drip. Beth’s voice ripped him apart and he sobbed loudly, releasing pent up anguish, before eventually exhaustion led to sleep.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
Monday 8th June
STEVE OPENED HIS EYES, jerked his head back, and although shivering, sweat emerged from every crevice of his body. The nightmare had rolled in and out througho
ut his fitful sleep, replaying the shootings’, the chase, about to die, the blood, the explosion, Beth kidnapped. Are his kids safe? He planned to get out. Go home.
He pulled the call rope.
As the door opened, he could see a silhouette entering the room. Steve struggled to focus as he tried to force his upper body up off the bed. He was just about to ask for the doctor to visit him.
He heard, ’Hello my love, it's me.'
He collapsed back onto the bed, unsure how long he had been asleep or unconscious. He felt light-headed as he opened his eyes.
'Steve it's me, Beth. Are you OK?'
He wondered if he was still dreaming. She leaned over and kissed his forehead.
'Beth?’ Am I dreaming?
'It's me.'
'How? How could? I mean. You're here.'
'Yes, love. I arrived today.'
'You're not. You're OK. Are you alive?' His heart thudded louder and louder. 'I thought…' Steve gasped for air.
'I'm here. I'm fine.'
'But…' He tried to sit up.
'Everything will be fine my love. I'm here. The children are safe, and you will be OK. We’ll call the children later today when it’s breakfast time at home.’
She embraced him, and he whispered, 'I love you. I thought I'd lost you. I love you.'
‘I love you too, more than words can say.’
Steve's heart leapt like a wild stag in his throat, overwhelmed to know that Beth was alive and well, he held her as close as possible, feeling no pain. Beth evaded Steve’s questions about her the cut next to her eye; she chose not to talk about her own experience.
She picked up the newspaper. 'It's in the paper, Steve. It's over love. The headline in the New Straits Times read. Joint Raiding Operation on Q7 and Grithos PTE. Underneath it continued – ‘A covert joint raiding operation was conducted on Q7 Berhad and its affiliates by the Royal Malaysian Police; Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism; Companies Commission of Malaysia and also Bank Negara Malaysia for suspected offences under the laws administered by the respective enforcement agencies. Singapore's Commercial Affairs' Department has also conducted a similar operation against Grithos PTE in Singapore. Prominent businessmen have been arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police in Kuala Lumpur, in connection with the activities.’
