One Good Reason (13 page)

“And
I wouldn’t blame you.”

“But
when that guy managed to find me… The things he said he was going to do to me…”
Ava held back her tears. “And then you walked through the door. I’d never been
so happy to see you in my life… And then, of course, you got stabbed trying to
protect me…”

“I
couldn’t let him hurt you.”

“I
know… That’s why I’m thanking you. This is so much bigger than I am, I know
that now. I mean, I saw a guy die today,” she said crying. “How are we going to
fix this?”

Hayden
steered the boat towards the right. “I don’t know yet. But we will. I promised
you that I’ll never let anyone hurt you, and I never break a promise.”

Ava
smiled weakly and looked back out at the ocean. She could see the mountains
from the mainland in the distance. She couldn’t help but find it amusing, that even
in the worst time of her life, there was still so much beauty in the world.
Some of the places she’d seen in Thailand so far, including the village they’d
just been too, were picturesque. Thailand was a beautiful, magical place, and
nothing she had been through or was about to go through could change that.
She’d never experienced a place like it before. Thailand wasn’t to blame for
what was happening to her, even if some of the Thai men she’d met were
criminals, there was criminals everywhere in the world.

Only
this morning she’d blamed Hayden for what had happened to her. She’d thought
that if it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be where she was, she’d still be
soaking up the rays on a beach somewhere in Thailand. But now she knew if it
wasn’t Hayden, it would have been someone else. Olivia knew him. She trusted
him. Hating Hayden now didn’t seem like the right thing to do anymore. After
all, he was now her only hope of survival. The Thai man had found her so
easily; she didn’t doubt there were more out there right now trying to find
her. She’d spent years wishing she could change the past, becoming numb to
everything around her. She wasn’t going to be that person anymore. If it meant
she had to work with Hayden to get her out of this mess, then she would have to
do that. She wasn’t going to have any more regrets in her life anymore. She had
to fight back, not only for her life now, but for Hayden’s. A man had already
died today because of her and she couldn’t let that happen again. If only she
knew why they wanted her, and only her…

12 HURT

Hayden waited until Ava was settled in the safe house before he went to
make the call to Stevenson.

The
safe house wasn’t anything spectacular. It was a simple one-bedroom beach shack
that had been commissioned by the government years ago. It was a top-secret
place that only a select few knew about, including a couple of Thai people who
kept it maintained while not in use. Hayden had used it over a year ago when he
was transporting an informant between countries.

The
house itself was set back into the forest, slightly away from the beach. It had
been built to look very much like a typical Thai home and the island wasn’t
very big, so they didn’t have to worry about other island people living there.

If
anything, the location and house itself was somewhere you would go on a holiday
to escape and live a simple life. The beach surrounding the island was of clean
white sand with a beautiful coral reef in the shallows of the water.

There
was no electricity to the island, so everything was done by candlelight and
fire. It was also moderately furnished with a double bed, couch, dining table
and pantry, as well as some other small furnishings that the Thai people had
added over the years to make it feel more like a home.

Fortunately,
the house was built with running water from the tanks. They had to be careful;
however, to use it sparingly as the rainfall in their area was unpredictable.

 
 Hayden walked out onto the sandy beach, dialled Stevenson’s number on the
satellite phone, and waited for him to answer.

He
wasn’t surprised when Riley answered, even though it would have been late at
night back in Australia. He waited patiently as Riley put Stevenson on the
phone.

“Hayden,
where the hell have you been?” Stevenson asked heatedly.

“I’ve
been busy,” Hayden replied.

“Where’s
the girl?”

“She’s
with me. She’s safe.”

“Why,
what’s happened?”

“Do
you know about her escape and what she did?”

“Only
that she managed to get away from one of the men
you
, left in charge.”

Stevenson’s
tone of voice irritated Hayden to the core.

“The
man I left in charge was
Aun
. Apparently, she seduced
him to escape and stabbed him in the thigh.
Aun
didn’t take the attack too well and now has dozens of men searching Thailand to
find her.”

“And…”

“And,”
Hayden said frustrated, “if he finds her, he will kill her.”

 “But
if I order him not to…”

“Your
orders, or anybody else’s for that matter, won’t stop him. He is a born
criminal, and the exact reason why I didn’t want to work with them in the first
place. They can’t be trusted.”

“What
do you plan on doing then?”

“I’m
at the safe house right now. One of his men found us and tried to hurt her. I
had no other option except to fight him back, and unfortunately, he was killed.
We left straight away and I’ve taken her here, and was hoping you could tell me
what I should do.”
Because you are my superior and all
, Hayden thought
to himself, exasperated with Stevenson.

Stevenson
fell quiet on the phone.

“Look,
if I could get someone else out here to help me and offer more protection, then
I should be able to get the information you need before anything happens.”

“Information?”

“Yes,
the information you want from the girl.”

“Oh,
yes, right. Of course… the information.”

Hayden
couldn’t believe Stevenson right now. He was always the one in control, knew
exactly what to do, and now he was dumbfounded.

“Well…”
Hayden said.

“Did
you have someone in mind that you want there?” Stevenson replied.

“I
was hoping to get Mason Matthews. He’s the only one not on a mission at the
moment and that I trust.”

“Right,
then, you make the call. Continue to try to get the Intel we need from the
girl, and let me know when Matthews gets there. If you need anything else, let
me know.”

“Yes,
Sir.”

“Make
sure you protect her. She is the key to everything. We can’t afford to lose
her,” Stevenson said seriously.

“Understood,”
Hayden said and listened as the line went dead.

He
ended the call, and then dialled Mason’s number.

“Matthews,”
Mason answered.

“Mason,
it’s Hayden. I’ve spoken with Stevenson, and he has authorised for you to come
to Thailand to offer protection for Ava and myself until we figure out what to
do.”

“I
was actually just about to call you… I know why Stevenson wants Ava, and it has
nothing to do with information she has, but the information her father has.”

“I’m
listening.”

Hayden
walked back into the safe house, hoping to talk to Ava, but instead found her
fast asleep on the bed.

The
information he’d just received from Mason was not what he had expected to
learn. Not only was Ava’s life at risk, but now, so was Hayden and Masons. What
they had discovered was enough to put their own lives at risk. If Stevenson was
prepared to kidnap an innocent girl like Ava to keep a story from breaking, he
knew he would stop at nothing to make sure that story stayed buried. He feared
what he would do if he found out that Hayden and Mason now knew Stevenson’s big
secret.

Now
that they knew the truth, he would have to tell Ava. But seeing her lying on
the bed sleeping, it was the most peaceful he had seen Ava. The news he had to
tell her about her father could wait until the morning. He quietly moved to the
couch in the lounge room and laid down on it. His calves and feet hung over the
armrest. He was far too big for it, and it wasn’t the most comfortable couch to
sleep on, but he’d had worse, and at this point, he was too exhausted even to
care.

***

Ava
opened her eyes to the glare of the sunshine through the bedroom window. She
looked around the room to find she was alone and still in her clothes from the
night before. She’d only meant to rest her eyes for a moment, while Hayden made
some calls, but instead, she must have fallen asleep.

She
got up from the bed and walked out of the room, not worrying about doing her
hair or changing clothes. She needed to find Hayden in case Mason had given him
any more news.

She
left the small house and wandered outside, until she found Hayden sitting by a
small fire on the sand. She could smell the eggs cooking on the small fry pan
as she approached.

“That
smells amazing,” Ava said, feeling her stomach rumble at the smell of food.

Hayden
turned his head to the side at the sound of Ava’s voice. He gave her a small
smile as she sat down next to him.

“I
didn’t know what you liked, so I thought eggs was a safe bet,” he said as he
lifted the scrambled eggs from the fry pan and onto a small plastic plate.

“Eggs
are great,” Ava replied, taking the plate from Hayden. “Sorry about last night.
I was planning on being awake when you came back to the house, but…”

“You
were exhausted. There’s no need to explain,” Hayden replied. “The last couple
of weeks were bound to take their toll.”

Ava
nodded and took a bite into the eggs, savouring the taste. “
Mmmm
,
it’s good,” Ava mumbled through her mouthful.

“I’m
glad.”

Ava
finished off her eggs in record speed, and took no modesty in eating every
crumb on the plate. She could tell by Hayden’s worried expression, that
whatever he was about to tell her wasn’t good, so she might as well enjoy her
meal while she still could.

She
placed the plate down next to her on the sand and took a deep breath. “Tell
me,” she said.

“First
off, let me start by saying, if I had any knowledge of what I know now, I would
never have held you in that house-”

Ava
put her hand up to stop Hayden. “Don’t.”

“But-”

“No,
Hayden. I don’t want to talk about it. You told me why you did it, and I’ve
accepted it. I’m not going to forget about it or probably ever be okay with it….
What happened… it’s beyond fucked up. I just…” Ava struggled to find the right
words. Everything that had happened was still so raw and the only way she was
going to move on from it, was to find closure in why they had chosen her. “Just
tell me what you know.”

Hayden’s
eyes pleaded with Ava. She knew he felt bad about what happened and wanted more
than anything to take it back, but what was done, was done. She wasn’t going to
hold it over his head, she just needed to get out of this mess and move on with
her life.

“What
happened to you was all a cover-up. I thought about not telling you what I’d
found out last night, knowing that once you knew, your life would never be the
same again. The danger you were in before, could be nothing to what you could
face if they knew you knew the truth.”

“You
know my life will never be the same again, Hayden, and my life is already in
danger, not only by whoever wanted me kidnapped in the first place, but now by
Aun
. I’ll never be able to find peace with this if I don’t know
the truth.”

“I
know that. That’s why I decided you had to know,” he replied. “My superior,
Stevenson, sent me to Thailand to extract information from you about a known
terrorist called
Thornakorn
. What of course we didn’t
know, was that the only reason why they wanted you kidnapped was for
collateral. What happened to you goes far deeper than what any of us thought.
Your father, Paul Harris, came across a big story. One that would end
Stevenson’s career and send him to jail, for potentially, the rest of his
life.”

Ava
didn’t doubt her dad had discovered such a story. He was very good at what he
did and would stop at nothing to find the truth. “What story?” Ava asked.

“Apparently,
Stevenson has been selling weapons to
Thornakorn
.”

“What?
Thornakorn
?”

 “Yes,
Thornakorn
is a known terrorist. From what our
information tells us, he has been doing it for years too.”

Ava
was shocked. A member of the government intelligence agency was selling weapons
to a known terrorist.

“How
did you find out?”

“The
same way your father did, only it took Mason days, not months. Mason has the
connections and inside power to find these things out. It only took a few leads
from your father for him to discover this had nothing to do with you, but with
what your father knew.”

“Does
Stevenson know that you know?”

“Not
as far as I know. But that’s not to say that he won’t find out. Mason is good
at covering his tracks, but if Stevenson was able to get away with this for so
long without being discovered, then he must have some very good friends.”

“Why
would he do it though? Why would he sell weapons to
Thornakorn
,
when he knows all the evil things he will do with them?”

“Money,”
Hayden replied bluntly.

“This
is so wrong… So wrong. No wonder my dad wanted to expose him.”

Hayden
nodded. “The only problem was that Stevenson found out what your father knew
and planned on doing with the information. But when he tried to silence him,
Paul disappeared. Stevenson couldn’t find him and with the thought of what your
father could do with the story, he took matters into his own hands. That’s
where you come in. He sent me to kidnap you and get information from you.
However, he  did not intend to get any information from you, and knew that
you would have no idea who
Thornakorn
was. He was
using you as blackmail for your father to turn himself and the story in.”

Ava
held her hands together and touched her mouth in thought. She took it all in,
everything Hayden had told her. She was in this position because of her
father’s job. A job that had torn their family apart, and now Ava’s life once
again. She knew the story was something that needed to be exposed, but she
couldn’t help feel like, once again, her dad’s job had come first in their
lives.

“Has
Paul come forward?”

“Not
yet. I’m unsure as to why. At the moment, the only thing we know is as long as
you are here with me, that means Stevenson hasn’t won yet. If your father had
come forward, Stevenson wouldn’t be so concerned with your welfare. Without
you, he has no leverage and he knows that.”

Ava
stood in frustration. “I was done with my father. I was done with all his crap
years ago, and now this!”