It wasn't long before we pulled up, alongside a huge, grey warship, which must have been in the river for decades judging by it's condition. I was pulled out of the car and marched over to a rickety set of stairs, which lead up onto the ship's deck.
As we emerged onto the deck, there wasn't much to see as it was all shrouded in the darkness of night, except for a section of the deck, which was bathed in the yellow from a huge fog light at the bow of the ship.
In the light we Jack, Danny and Merritt kneeling on the metal deck with three big men, standing behind them. In front of the others was Pient, standing beside Chase, and flanked by four more men.
I was pushed down onto my knees next to Danny, who had a nasty looking black eye and looked up at Pient.
"Did you really think it would be that easy to get away from me?" he asked with a laugh. "I mean,I knew you took risks for a living, but I didn't know you were that stupid." He taunted. "I am a powerful man you see, I control the police, the casinos, the banks. There is no scenario here where I don't win…Now, give me the file." He ordered, but we all stayed quiet, either looking at the ground or staring defiantly at him.
"I don't want to get any blood on this beautiful ship, anymore than you want to spill it. So…the file."He said again, but this time his face darkened and he had a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"No." Danny said, which made it sound like he was the one with the file, whereas he had only the fake. I had the real tucked into the inside pocket of my jacket.
"Fine." Alexander replied and jerked his head at me. I was suddenly wrenched off the ground by my hair, pulled to my feet and had my head wrenched back as the cold metal of a large knife was pressed against my throat.
"Hey, hey, hey! No." Jack yelled and tried to leap up, but he was kicked back onto the ground."Danny, give him the card."
"…Okay… Here. Take it." Danny said and pulled out the fake card from his back pocket.
The man standing behind him took it and handed it toPient. I tried to look down to watch as he lookedat the card, but the man holding me only pulled my head back more.
"Thank you." Pient said. "Was that really so hard?" he asked with a manic grin and I waited to be let go of, but the man holding me, kept his grip firm.
"Ah, you see. Even though you gave me what I wanted, I still need to teach you that you don't ever double-cross me." he said and nodded to the man holding me.
Still holding me, he pushed me forwards, towards an old cargo container. This was not part of the plan and I started to panic.
"We gave you what you wanted." Merritt protested as Jack and Danny fought against their restraints.
"Yes, but you now need to be taught a lesson." Pient replied, flipping the card between his fingers, as Chase laughed happily and that was the last thing I saw before I was hauled behind the container.
I was thrown onto the ground at the base of the container, which hurt badly as my hands were still behind my back. When I looked back up at the man, I saw that he had been joined by two others, and as he strutted forward, spinning his knife between his fingers, I scrambled backwards, until I was up against the container.
"I'd hate to ruin that pretty face of yours." The man said, squatting down in front of me and I turned my face away as he pressed the tip of the knife into my cheek. "But, until you've learnt your lesson…" he said and sliced the knife just above my knee and I gasped as my leg stung and I felt warm blood begin soak into my jeans.
I tried to focus on the thought that at least they weren't searching for the card because they thought they already had it. "Have you learnt your lesson yet?" the man asked, his face merely centimeters from mine, and I nodded quickly. "Unfortunately, I don't think you have." He said and he pressed the tip of the knife against my cheek, and I couldn't help the cry that escaped my lips as I felt the knife pierce my skin and blood began to trickle down my face, yet he still let the knife sit there.
"There we go. See, know that we've learnt our lesson this is all over and you go back to your friends." He said kindly but tauntingly.
He stood up and the other two men pulled me to my feet and hauled me back to the others. I was thrown onto the ground beside Jack who tried to crawl over to me, but he was held back.
"Well, now that that's been taken care of. I would like to thank and congratulate you." Pient said, holding up the card.
"So, you got what you wanted. You letting us go now?" Danny asked.
"Ah, well, I would. Except you know to much and I can't risk you talking." He replied. "So, Chase would you please tell our guests where they're going now."
"My pleasure." Chase snickered. "As you know, it's the middle of winter, and the water around this lovely ship here, has frozen over completely, and I'm talking like two meters of thick ice." He said and walked over to the edge of the boat to look over the side.
"Man, and it's so dark that I can only see a metre in front of me, which means I doubt you'll be found for a while." He laughed.
So far this was playing out as we'd planned. Merritt's hypnosis seemed to be working on his twin and the fact that he could only see a meter in front of him was just what we'd wanted.
"Yes, that's right." Chase continued and turned back to us with an eager grin on his face. "You're going over board. Down to the ice, twenty meters below." He grinned. "Bye-bye."
Two men wrenched a fighting Merritt off the deck and walked him over to the railling.
"I love you guys!" Merritt yelled as he was pushed against the railing.
"No!" I cried as he was tipped over the edge and we heard his yells fading.
"Time to go girly." Chase said me, and again I was wrenched off the ground.
"No, let me go!" I yelled and struggled against the men. As they tried to lift me over the railing, I planted my feet against the top and pushed against the men, but the two of them were stronger than me and they tipped me over the edge and I fell.