Wanted (25 page)

“What is a VFC?”

“A marine kind of transmitter,” Charlie said.

As I looked back and forth between the two men, I had some difficulty understanding the problem. I could barely stand being cooped up in the cabin for a few hours at a time. If they were suggesting that Wallace was in a potentially smaller space, and had been for nearly a week now, then he surely must have been going mad.

I began biting the side of my nail. Perhaps that was part of the problem. Instead of cooling off, Wallace had nothing but time to sit and stew over the money he had lost, focus on the blows he and Charlie had exchanged, and the loss of future income. Just like I had meditated on favored memories while I froze in Hold 6, Wallace had probably been revving himself up, thinking of every insult or foul play he imagined the gang had ever given him.

“Has he been there, in the container, this entire week?” I asked.

“Likely. Given that we can’t find that damned radio anywhere, and with today’s destruction, I do suspect that day was his first emergence from the hold.”

“But how could he stand it?”

Ben smiled again. This time it was a genuine smile, light around the edges. “It only takes a few rudimentary needs and a great deal of motivation for a man to subject himself to difficult conditions.”

As I looked at Charlie, I was worried again. The subtle sound of his teeth gnashing together was simmering in the room, and though I held his hand in mine, he still remained tense.

“Okay.” I nodded. “If he’s in one of those things, then—” I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. And though I did feel some shame at saying it, it was also the first idea that had come to mind. “Why don’t you just leave him there? Now that you know he’s there, what damage could he do?”

Ben sighed. “Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. Now that our soon-to-be departed has a VFC, it will only be a matter of time before he can get a signal. With that, he’ll be able to contact anyone on the mainland, including the authorities, who would probably be quite delighted to deliver a missing girl to the embassy and extradite wanted felons.”

Charlie experienced my horror as I clutched his arm. I felt his muscles strain there, but he offered me no comfort and continued to stare ahead.

“Why would he do that? They’d extradite him, too. Wouldn’t they?”

“Well, he might not do that. Even if he did, however, Wallace doesn’t have a criminal record in the United States. His offenses are elsewhere. I very much doubt the Singaporean government would bother with him. Wallace is probably aware of that as well.”

Ben sighed again. He seemed very tired suddenly, very old. “A better case scenario is that he doesn’t use the radio at all and just intends to keep us here, offsetting any profits for us for a time. We’ll lose our drivers, the ship will be confiscated by the authorities, but if we manage to stay out of Changi, then we’ll be stuck here for some time, I’m afraid.”

“That’s what he was looking for, wasn’t it?” Charlie’s smile was wicked in that moment. It made me shiver.

“Looking for what?” I sounded shrill, and while I hadn’t intended to, my voice had come out almost as a scream. My frustration had merged with my ever-growing concern for Charlie, and my heart and head couldn’t take much more. “What are we talking about when you say ‘keep us here’? ‘Out of Changi’? And what in the hell was he looking for?”

The room went silent. Ben Walden looked slightly taken aback, but still no less dignified, while Charlie looked up at me with his small Charlie smile.

“Relax, Vicious.” He took a moment to cup my cheek in his broken hand. I saw a visible flinch of pain there as he unclenched the knuckles. He looked at Ben and smiled. “And she says I got a temper.”

Ben Walden rolled his eyes. “After he couldn’t find them in here, Wallace found all of our artificial documents in my cabin. Even when we do make port, it will take a considerable amount of time to return home without those documents. Of course that’s a better case scenario. Changi Prison is obviously not one of the best.”

We heard the sound of cackling and voices down the hall. Charlie rose to stand by my side, but after glancing down the corridor, Ben motioned for him to sit back down.

As Charlie and I looked at each other, Ben ducked his head back in the room and smiled. “It seems Polo is having trouble trying to convince our stewards to comply with the search. Why don’t you go help motivate?”

“Nobody follows captain’s orders?”

Ben laughed. “It seems not when they’re ambiguous and repetitive. We’re sending them on a search and they have no idea what they’re looking for.”

“I ain’t leavin’.” Abruptly, his eyes were on me then, no longer asking permission. Telling me he would stay forever if he had to.

“I’m certain it will only take a moment.”

“No.”

“Go on. I promise I won’t go anywhere.” I smiled as best I could, but I had the feeling he could see through it.

“See, there you are!”

I gazed back at Charlie while Ben Walden pretended to check his watch. It’s okay, I mouthed.

Charlie blinked rapidly and rose, his glare now focused on Ben. “You stay here with her.” He pointed his finger at each party as if to make the command more clear. Ben nodded firmly, but then turned back to me and winked.

As Charlie’s footsteps echoed away from me, I felt cold reality seep in. Wallace was deadset on causing serious damage, not only to Charlie, but to Ben and the rest of the guys as well. He had subjected himself to living in a shipping container just to exact revenge. I feared whatever he had in mind was going to be momentously worse than just leaving them deserted in Singapore and causing their criminal enterprise to take a dive.

“Don’t worry about him.” As Ben Walden walked into the cabin his face relaxed somewhat, but his posture remained rigid. For a moment I wondered if we were playing cards again. He looked at the abused crate with its open handles before dragging it over to the side of the bed, then using it as a chair.

“Once he settles down, he’ll start thinking properly. Hopefully at that point, we can figure out what to do.” He removed his glasses again and rubbed the space between his eyes.

“Why is he doing this?” I stared down at my hands in dismay.

My question clearly intrigued Ben Walden. He looked at me and leaned against the wall, his hands folded over his knee.

“Because he adores you.”

My head shot up. Simultaneously my heart forgot to beat. “That, um—I meant—” I swallowed hard, though my mouth felt dry. I wanted more water, but I was much too shy to ask. “Why does Wallace hate you enough to do this?”

“I’m afraid this entire trip has been an ongoing disaster.” He sighed. “I don’t know if Charlie Boy made you aware of this or not, but we weren’t even supposed to take that final truck. It was a last minute decision perpetrated by Wallace.”

I dug at the imaginary dirt under my nails. How could I forget that first demonstration of Charlie’s temper? It was almost a happy memory, knowing how it would lead to the others. But what also amazed me was the coincidence. Charlie had never meant to be at that rest stop. I marveled at the sheer idea of it. What were the odds that he should have been there? What were the odds that I should have been there? In a way it was comical; without Wallace insisting on that final stop, I may never have known Charlie at all.

“This is my fault.” The words were so soft I hardly even heard myself say them. “If I had just minded my own business that night…” I tried to laugh. “Charlie should have just let him kill me.”

“You can’t say that.” Ben Walden leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He stared me down now, only this time he wasn’t playing. “I mean it, young lady. Or if you do, don’t ever let Charlie Boy hear it. He’ll tear the limbs from anyone he thinks put the idea in your head.”

This was the Ben Walden that reflected the thieving and smuggling ring Charlie was a part of. His eyes were violent in the same way I knew Charlie’s fists could be. I wondered what that mind of his was truly capable of.

“You have to understand, for as long as I’ve known Charlie, he hasn’t ever expressed a want for anything. That seems to have changed with you.”

I made myself look at him. I was shivering again and wished Charlie were there to hug the cold from me. “I had hoped your spell over him would dissipate, or at least waver when we got to port. But when Charlie couldn’t find you…” Ben Walden rolled his eyes again and crossed one leg over the other. With each of his movements, I could see the weariness. Had he been part of my search party, too? “And Reid opened up that big mouth and started with the mermaid jokes.”

I looked away, ashamed. I remembered what Charlie had said about my going overboard during the storm. Could I really have caused so much trouble?

“I’ve never seen him like that before.” Ben Walden’s voice changed. He was quiet now, more contemplative. “When he gets upset, things tend to happen, people get hurt or objects get broken.” Ben rubbed the end of his chin. I wished he would stop talking, I didn’t want to hear what he was about to say. The syllables would form sentences I didn’t want to touch, reveal truths I didn’t want to acknowledge.

“This was entirely different, though. The four of us had to hold him back from throwing himself in the ocean after you.”

“Stop.” I couldn’t take it anymore. The idea that my stupidity had nearly made Charlie kill himself made me queasy. I saw dark spots in front of my eyes when my mind envisioned the scene. I grabbed onto my stomach. Though it was empty, I thought I might be sick.

Ben Walden sighed. “I’d like to blame you, though it wouldn’t be very factual.” He laughed and stretched his legs out in front of him. He began talking again, though I couldn’t hear him. I ignored him completely, fearful that he might contribute more to the all-too-clear picture I had of Charlie’s end in my mind.

“Wallace stole from me once before. Of course I couldn’t prove it.” Ben’s voice came in and out, static with the fuzz in my brain. “Which is partly why I informed him he wouldn’t be paid this time. Frankly, however, his lack of obedience in regard to what we were going to do with you was just the excuse I needed to terminate his employment.”

He laughed then, a low, bitter sound. “After Charlie defended you, I should have just paid Wallace. I certainly underestimated how badly things could get out of control here. A kidnapping!” He smacked himself in the forehead.

I tried to smile. “No one can predict the future.”

“I never considered that Charlie might want you, nor that you would live.” His laugh increased, grew heartier, livelier. “That’s right. But we can try. My prediction is that if Wallace doesn’t kill me, he’ll most certainly kill Charlie Boy!”

I didn’t know what to say. How could Ben Walden be so casual about someone he considered a friend? All I knew was that, no matter what happened, Charlie had to be okay. In the end, Charlie had to be okay.

“I-I don’t want anything bad to happen to him. I don’t care about how you guys make your living or how you have to justify yourselves.” I rubbed both sides of my temple to ward off the impending headache. “I just care about him.”

Ben Walden leaned forward again and smiled. This time it was a Ben Walden smile. He reached out and patted the end of my blanketed foot. It was strange to witness him trying to be a source of comfort. “If I didn’t already know that, dear, do you think you would still be alive?”

I nodded through the shiver. As terrifying as it was, I did, in fact, know that. An idea occurred to me then, an almost insane notion, though as it turned in the wheels, it was not quite out of the realm of possibility.

“That’s how it was supposed to be, though, wasn’t it?”

Ben Walden wasn’t stupid. Even Yuri had said that I was evidence in their long series of crimes, something left behind in an otherwise carefully organized plan. I considered the abandoned house and how easily Ben Walden agreed to let me go free. If what he said now was true, then the organization of his plan had already been destroyed by Wallace’s greed. I doubted he would have ever taken the risk of leaving me alive, regardless of any promise I may have made.

“Pardon me?”

“You never intended to let me leave that house.”

He smirked. “Think about it, though.” His laugh was almost indecisive. “If you had been here when Wallace rummaged through the place, you’d surely be dead by now. Sort of funny, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” I grimaced. “Hilarious.”

“You really are too smart for your own good, young lady.”

The words hung in the air like something heavy. I didn’t know what else to say. How could I respond to something like that? Perhaps Ben wouldn’t hurt me or order anyone else to do so for the sake of Charlie. But that very well could be the only reason for his mercy.

I went slack at the sound of Charlie’s footsteps. I knew they were his just from the swiftness of the steps alone, and I was monumentally grateful that he was coming back to me.

Charlie’s eyes darted from me to Ben before settling on Ben. “What did you do?”

I felt myself light up, ready to dive into him if he would let me.

Ben looked me over and returned his glance to Charlie. “Oh nothing. We were just discussing things.”

“Outta here,” he instructed. “Now.”

Ben smiled at me and took his leave. While I was glad for his honesty, I was even happier to see him go. There was only so much honesty I could handle in a single sitting.

After a moment of shushed whispers and more profanity, Charlie returned. I was practically bouncing on the bed, overjoyed to have him to myself.

“Are you okay?” He smiled as he sat next to me.

“Right as rain.” I looked toward the sky.

His smile grew wider. “What did I tell you ‘bout lying?”

I nuzzled myself against his arm and felt the muscle go slack there. “What did I tell you about getting angry all of the time?”

He tensed again, but pushed himself closer to me. “Everybody ‘round here talks too much. I walk in here and you look like you’re ‘bout to keel over.” He pulled my face away from his, squaring my chin between his hands so I was forced to look him in the eye. “Ben telling you things he shouldn’t have?”

I shrugged, tried to seem indifferent. “Only true things.”

He growled low in his chest and pulled me back to him. “I oughta start welding lips shut.”