Laura 01 The Jaguar Prophecy (2 page)

Before Laura can get another word out, Victor pulls the door open, and while poking his head out he informs someone outside that she is awake and ready to talk. He lets the door stay half open and walks over to the bed where he opens the small fridge next to the bed. Taking an orange juice out for himself he looks over to Laura with a smile.

“Want something to cool you down?” Laura wants to throw something at him, but just then a stocky built man dressed in a gray suit steps into the room.

“Water will be fine thanks.” Victor takes out a small water bottle from the fridge and hands it to her, winking at her.

“Hi, I’m Special Agent Josh Williams from Homeland Security. I need to ask you some questions about the incident on the deck.” Josh holds out his hand to greet Laura while he speaks. Laura only nods yes, ignoring his hand. Somehow she does not trust him. Josh slowly withdraws his hand and sits down at the end of the bed. He takes a small digital voice recorder from his right jacket pocket and places it in front of him. Josh pushes the record button, and then proceeds to remove a small notebook and pen from the same pocket before speaking.

“Ok, let’s start at the beginning. Tell me all that happened on the deck and what they wanted.”

Laura tells Josh everything she can remember, from the time she left her room till the time she woke up in this room. Josh constantly asks her background questions to learn more about Laura, and the interview lasts four hours before he stops asking questions.

“Who are they Special Agent Williams?”

Josh is making notes in a notebook and stops. Looking up at Laura to see her reaction, he replies, “They were all professional hit men.” Josh sees her eyes widen, and her face going white.

“All of them?” Josh nods. “The sniper on the tower, he missed, right?” Confusion is in Laura’s voice.

Looking directly into her eyes, Josh replies, “Men like that do not miss.” Taking advantage of the situation he goes on, “You have powerful enemies Laura, any idea as to why they want you dead, and what the disc is that they were referring to?” Laura just shook her head, no.

“You have no idea what can be on this disc then?” Josh is trying different angles of questioning, seeing if he can catch Laura out. Laura just shakes her head and takes a sip of water. She looks up, and when she sees Josh looking directly at her, she quickly looks away.

Josh is getting a bit impatient. She is hiding something, and he can see it in her eyes.

“Are you sure you have no idea why they came to you and what can be on the disc?” Josh watches Laura’s every movement as he speaks.

“No, I already told you, I do not know what disc they were looking for and what can be on it.” Laura stands up and walks to the door. “Could we continue this at a later stage Special Agent Williams? I would really like to clean up and get fresh clothes to wear.”

Without standing up Josh replies, “No problem, but you may as well use this room’s bathroom. We are currently searching your room.” A shock goes through Laura’s body and she spins around.

“How can you search my room without my permission?” The words come out angry and full of disgust. Slowly, Josh stands up from the bed.

“Laura, you are a suspect in a multiple murder case, I can arrest you now if I like.”

“Fine,” Laura spat the word out and turns to the bathroom door. She tries to slam the bathroom door but the thick carpet causes too much resistance and she loses her grip on the round door knob, causing her to fall into the bathroom, tripping over the toilet and landing in the bathtub.

Josh does not know what to do but Victor just walks laughingly to the bathroom door and closes it while saying, “I will have them bring you fresh clothes from your room for you to change into.”

He then turns to Josh as he speaks. “Will you mind having some clothes brought from her room?”

Josh does not like being ordered around, but it is a justified request and he agrees to do so.

Josh knew it was not going to be an easy case when he got assigned to it. He and his partner, Agent Parker, had been assisting the Mexican government in a high profile investigation in Cancun. When the local police was informed about the murders, Josh was immediately assigned to the case due to its severity.

The main deck was closed for routine maintenance, and workmen had the damaged planks replaced by the time the police were done, enabling the ship to be delayed for only two hours, which it could easily catch up.

As there are no other witnesses, the few passengers who are awoken by the sirens and care to come out in the rain, are told it is a routine inspection.

Once the police removed the bullets from the wooden deck as evidence, there is no need to leave holes in the ship or hold her any longer than necessary. The bodies are secretly taken off the ship to the local morgue.

Josh and his partner Agent Parker will remain onboard the ship, to further investigate the case, while keeping an eye on Laura. It will take the ship one week to tour the Caribbean islands and return to Florida, where Josh will hand in his report.

Two decks above Victor’s room, six men hold an urgent meeting. The room smells of cigar smoke and beer.

“What the hell happened?” Peterson bellows while slamming his right fist onto the table. Beer glasses tremble in fear. He is a slender 6 foot tall man with a Cuban cigar dangling from his lips most of the time. Puffs of smoke escape with his words.

“There was a sniper on the radar tower, sir,” replies Chris dryly.

“And we did not know about him, dammit Chris. You are supposed to be a professional, you all are supposed to be professionals. That sniper just took care of three of the best hitmen in town. No one is going to work for us now. You will have to take care of the girl yourself now.” Peterson’s eyes burn into Chris, who shifts uneasily in his chair. The creaking of his chair makes an eerie sound in the silence.

A knock at the door breaks the silence. Swiftly and almost in complete silence the men scatter to fixed places around the room, guns drawn. All angles of the door are completely covered. From the light seeping through under the door Peterson can make out a shadow, one person or two? The second knock causes a chill to run down his spine.

“Yes?” The word sounds hollow, without any of Peterson’s normal confidence. Damn that sniper. The shadow outside moves away from the door. Peterson can hear his own heart pumping away madly. He changes the grip on the Heckler .45 caliber pistol, drawing comfort from it. Stealing a look at the other men he sees that they are watching him, seeing the fear in their leader. Get yourself together man.

The shadow is back, a third knock.

“I’m busy, go away.” This time his voice sounds more like the old Peterson. The reply startles him.

“The sun will come up.”

“Not until the moon is down,” Peterson replies. A brown envelope is pushed under the door and the shadow disappears. There are sounds of relief from all.

Dean is the closest to the door and Peterson nods to him. Reluctantly, Dean moves towards the door keeping out of the line of fire. The code words were correct but in this business, you can never be too careful. Stopping beside the door he turns around and puts his back against the wall, crouching down he starts picking up the letter with his left hand, his Smith and Weston .44 shaking slightly in his right.

Sweat runs down his face into his left eye. He closes it momentarily, losing most of his view of the door. On opening his eye again, fear grips him.

A shadow is outside the door, it wasn’t there a moment ago. Instantly it is away and Dean can hear footsteps as someone runs down the hall.

“Bomb,” the word comes harshly as his mind tries to urge his body to move faster, sending an urgent message to every muscle. Get away from the door, get away from the damn door. Still in a half crouch, he jumps for the couch, hitting it on the top and toppling it over. He rolls twice and then lies still. No one makes a sound.

Suddenly a child calls from the hall. “Wait for me, I want to go swim too!”

For the second time running footsteps can be heard fading down the hall. Slowly everyone gets up. Dean is aware that all eyes are on him, on his pants. Looking down he sees that his pants are wet. His hands are shaking so badly that he drops the letter and his gun.

“The bathroom is that way.” Peterson’s voice is cold. As he speaks, his head nods lightly in the direction of the door leading to the bathroom. They all wait until Dean has left the room before moving. Zack pulls the couch up while Bob and Chris walk to the table, in need of a drink.

Peterson slowly walks to the couch and picks up the letter. Opening it, he finds a single A4 sheet in it. It is a telegram message from the department.

“Package mailed, follow courier, retrieve package and disc,” is all the telegram says, but Peterson knows its meaning.

They had discovered that Laura had sent a package to Spain before she left, but they were not in time to intercept it.

As the disc was not found in her apartment, it is believed that it could be in the package or with her. People are currently en route to intercept the package and confirm its contents. Meanwhile all attempts on her life must be postponed until the disc is found. Once found she must be terminated by any means.

“Enjoy the trip Laura,” is all he says as he places the letter on the table.

Bending down he takes a silencer out of his right jacket pocket which is hanging over his chair. Chris and Bob give him only a slight look and go on with their drinking. They had worked with him before. Steven and Zack openly stare at him. It is their and Dean’s first mission. From the bathroom come the sounds of Dean being sick, then the flush of a toilet. Peterson disappears into the bathroom.

“You okay?” His voice is as cold as always.

“Bbbetter now,” Dean’s voice is shaky.

Zack and Steven jerk from the sound of the gun, damped to only a soft distinct whistle. Two shots then the thump as a body hits the tiled floor. They had heard about Peterson’s reputation, but did not believe it. Peterson is hard and cold and there is no place for weenies on his team, if you cannot stay calm under pressure you are a liability to him. Normally he would kick you off the team, but being on a ship there is the risk of Dean turning against him if he kicked him off the team.

Peterson could also not risk keeping Dean on the team if Dean cannot keep it together under pressure, he would probably break down when his team was counting on him, getting them killed. Peterson also cannot afford any loose ends, Dean knows too much for a person not on the team.

Peterson is busy unscrewing the silencer as he comes out of the bathroom. Without a word he sits down, replacing the silencer into his jacket pocket, and takes a sip from his beer. Only then does he speak.

“We are not to kill the girl, the disc may not be on the ship. Our contact will let us know if they find anything in her room. Chris, Bob, dump the body.”

Zack is trying not to shake and Steven is trying not to wet his pants, he is in need of a drink right now but will not be able to stand going into the bathroom later, and wetting one’s pants seems to be out of the question here.

Chapter 3

Victor walks slowly over the newly repaired deck. A strong wind is now blowing and it has started to rain again. The combined effect of the wind and drizzle chills one to the bone. He has been combing the deck now for an hour, leaving Laura in his room to freshen up.

When he got to the deck, Laura was still alive yet unconscious with a bruise to the head, but no other injuries. He decided to take her to his room where she would be safer and warmer and decided that he would call the ship’s doctor as soon as he got her to safety. He had no idea who the three dead men were. From the firearms they were carrying it was clear they meant business, not just from the fact that they managed to smuggle them onboard, but also their choice of weapons. The police would be a bit upset at him for messing with the crime scene but he could not just leave her in the rain.

Victor is not sure what he expects to find, all evidence has been removed and he himself did not see any disc. He recreates the scene from how he remembers the positions of the bodies. It is clear that they wanted something from her, apparently a disc that she has no knowledge of, but why did the bartender try to kill her as his last act? Was he afraid that she will pass on the disc to someone else or did he think that if they cannot get it from her, by killing her they will stop anyone else from getting it?

Victor combs the edges of the deck. The police had searched the deck for evidence and found nothing. He looks over the side of the deck in case the disc had been hit by a bullet and skidded off the deck onto the lower decks or a balcony of one of the cabins below - nothing.

Of the three men, one is of Russian descent and the other two American. The FBI had been mumbling amongst themselves when they saw the bodies, and Victor knows that they had immediately recognized the men. Josh does not want to share any information with Victor, but he knows that the fact that they did not impound the ship and arrest Laura, but let the ship continue, means that they are expecting more action.

By leaving the two agents on board, Victor knows that they will be watching Laura, and possibly him. Although there is no telling who the dead men worked for, one thing is for certain, there are far more players involved than just them, and it is linked worldwide. Victor decides to make a few calls himself. Josh did inform Victor that the men were linked to numerous incidents in and around London, USA, Israel and South Africa, ranging from kidnapping to murder, however this is the first time they have worked together. That is where Victor will start in his search for the puppet master who pulled these men’s strings.

He neglected to inform Josh that he had stopped at each body and taken a photo of each, including their faces, when he arrived on the scene before he took Laura to his room. He had already sent this information to his contacts, and is waiting to hear who they worked for. Victor is getting hungry and his search on the deck is fruitless.