Adam followed the men as far as the cargo hold, but quickly established he would not be able to go any further without being spotted. The two men hung around for a few hours, chatting, apparently waiting for something. Eventually Adam realised it was a someone rather than a something, because Gianni Di Alberto plus entourage arrived down the metal steps, under which Adam hid in the shadows.

He waited until the whole group had disappeared down the corridor between the crates before he came out to survey his surroundings.

A ladder led up to a viewing office just off to one side...

The crates were packed in twos, one on top of the other…

Maybe…

He approached the ladder and climbed up until he was slightly past the top level of the first set of crates. Then, spending time judging the distance, he took a deep breath and leaped from the ladder to land with too loud a bang against the side of the crate. His fingers just managed to catch hold of the top edge so that he hung there, his arms straining to hold his bulky weight.

"What was that?" He heard somebody shout from below and the sound of heavy footsteps came his way. He quickly heaved himself up and lay flat on the top of the crate, holding his breath to stay as silent as possible. He heard the footsteps right below him, but after checking the area out, who ever it was decided things were okay and finally left.

Crawling carefully, staying low, he made his way deeper into the hull of the ship. Eventually he heard voices and he worked his way towards them. He came upon the group of men below, just in time to witness them drag the two captives, dazed and confused from within a fake cavity. It wasn't the first smuggling cavity Adam had seen in his day, but he was impressed with the apparent automation of it. Cavities he had seen in the past always needed the fake crate to be manually pushed into place, requiring a considerable amount of strong manpower for the job. He watched as the man standing to Gianni's right dropped a black device into his coat pocket.

"The remote?" he wondered briefly.

His phone vibrated and he relayed his location to the arriving Grimaldi soldiers. They arrived in the same manner he had, only some of them lay positioned on the opposite stack of crates, signalling to him that they were ready. He did a quick head count. Six men.

The rifle Adam had taken from the guard outside hang loosely over his back. He moved it around and positioned it against his elbow, ready to shoot down at anybody that tried to execute Luciano Grimaldi. Of course unless they felt Luciano's life was in immediate danger they would not make their presence known. Just like animals in the wild, you only went into battle as a last resort.

He cared nothing for Luciano Grimaldi. In fact he detested the man for his complete lack of respect towards the Grimaldi name and family. But Di Alberto could not be allowed to kill off a Grimaldi heir in such a manner, no matter who that heir happened to be… it would look extremely bad!

He listened with interest to the conversation below. The boyfriend was a goner! He knew that from the start, but he in no way expected those words to come from Luciano's mouth…

"I'll give you the company!"

"Shit!" Adam whispered to himself. Was this kid trying to ruin them all for good? God but he was such an idiot! Giving Grimaldi Shipping over to the likes of Gianni was the worst thing Luciano could ever do to them. It was sinful! Unforgivable!

He pulled his phone and texted, "Boss! You better get more back up over here pronto! This is going to get messy!"

...

The heat inside the cavity was now at a level beyond unbearable. Their individual body temperatures soured. Luke was still struggling to breathe from the jolt of their experience with Gianni. The real Gianni! Not the man Luke had known, the man he had worked with day by day within Grimaldi Shipping HQ.

The gun had literally been seconds from firing. The gun had literally been seconds from ending a life that meant more to him than his own. He swallowed and increased his grip on Noah's hands as they once again sat up, side by side, against the metal of the crate.

"Luke… I love you" For sometime Noah had been silently leaning with his head on Luke's shoulder. As their hands entwined, fingers stroked and smoothed… trying to sooth… trying to comfort…

Luke's heart burned as he contemplated a prospect he didn't dare give a name to. "Don't Noah. Please don't start that. We'll be okay."

Noah was resolute, "Just listen… They're obviously going to kill me first. That seems a certainty."

"Noah…" Luke hated that tone of resignation in Noah's voice. It was the same tone he had used before he'd gone off to die by his own father's hand. It was a tone that had given Luke nightmares for days afterwards.

"Luke!" Noah insisted, fighting his denial. "What isn't certain is what they plan to do with you. So after… after they kill me…" Luke shook his head vigorously but Noah kept going, "…they might take you someplace else. Luke, if they do that, then you may get a chance to escape. And if you get that chance… then you MUST take it!"

"I can't think about this! Please stop…"

"You have to keep fighting… promise me you will. Promise me you won't give up if I die."

"How can I promise you something like that Noah? I can't…"

"It's not just about you and me anymore! You'll be the only one left for Nicky! You have to do it for him!"

"Please don't talk like this!"

"Luke! I need this okay? I need you to promise!"

Luke stayed silent for a very long time. He didn't want to face what was likely to happen, but he also knew this might be their only chance… this might be their only chance for goodbyes.

"Luke?"

"We ARE going to get out, but… okay… if it makes you feel better then… then I promise."

"Thank you!"

"And Noah?"

"Yes?"

"Same goes to you. I love you too."

Noah felt for Luke's face. He ran his fingers up and down Luke's features. Seeing him with touch… When he felt the wetness of a tear he used his thumb to rub it away before leaning up to kiss his lips.

They sat with their foreheads lightly touching, waiting together in darkness and fear.

...

He was afraid of his mommy. Very afraid.

SLAP!

The moment his mommy closed the door she turned to hit him. He wasn't even surprised. He stood frozen behind her as the Betty lady said her goodbyes and he knew it was coming. He knew it was coming the moment he saw the house… the moment he saw his mommy.

The next smack was very hard and he fell to the floor.

"Little bastard!" She screamed into his ear as tears of fear and pain streamed down his face. "Fuck! Don't start crying, you hear me! Shut up!"

She lifted him up by both his wrists, squeezing them until he squealed in agony and threw him so hard into the back of her cupboard that he hit his head on the railing and it stunned him into silence.

He breathed a sigh of relief when she closed the slatted door. Maybe that was the worst of her wrath. He watched her through the gaps in the slats as she drank from a long bottle. She lit a cigarette and dropped her head back, blowing the smoke out.

He bit his lower lip to stop weeping and he thought about Luke and Noah. When they held him he didn't ever want to let go. He wanted to stay in their arms forever.

Why? Why did the send him away with the lady? Was he bad?

...

They were both passed out from a combination of dehydration and exhaustion. Noah had slumped to his left and Luke lay with his head on Noah's right thigh. Noah was so weak he didn't respond to the arrival of Gianni's men until Luke was actually physically yanked off of him and into the bright light that spilled through the cavity opening. He expected to be taken too, but instead the fake crate began to close.

"No, wait!" he heard Luke say frantically.

Noah battled to function! His brain seemed to be processing information way too slowly and by the time he realised what was happening he had only managed to stumble as far as the door before it was slamming shut.

"LUKE!" he heard himself shout.

His own voice sounded far away, as though the real him was floating way above somewhere. And just like that Noah was left alone with two of his worst fears; separation from Luke and absolute darkness.

Keeping his hands firmly pressed to the iron door, he slid to the floor and then held his ear up to the metal. He closed his eyes, trying not to give in to the rising horror in his chest, and he concentrated hard; hoping his heightened sense of hearing might kick in and he could work out what was happening to Luke on the other side.

...

It was late by the time Betty left Michelle's house and arrived at the Branson Department of Social Services, where she would have to spend a few house filing her report.

"Betty Hawke from Los Angeles." She told the efficient looking receptionist, "I'm going to need a hot desk for the evening."

"Oh Ms Hawke! We've been expecting you! A desk has been provided on the second floor. Just take the elevator up and it will be the office on your right. IT have set it all up for you already."

"That's very kind. Thank you."

"But before you go there's a gentleman here to see you. He's been here for some time already."

Betty was intrigued, "Did he give a name?"

"Not to me, but he's in the waiting room down that corridor." And she pointed off to her right.

"Thank you." Betty lifted her briefcase and followed the green linoleum tiled floor until she found the door marked 'Waiting Room.'

There was only one man in the bright orange room, sitting cross legged on a chair, papers strewn all over the table. There were more papers placed on the lime green chairs either side of him and one document held his attention. He frowned deeply as he read it, tapping the end of a pen against the side of his head.

She cleared her throat to gain his attention, "Excuse me?"

He looked up sharply and then smiled a dashing array of white teeth at her, "You must be Ms Hawke?" And as she nodded he dropped the papers on his lap with those on the chair and stood to shake her hand, "My name's Gareth Kerr. I work as a lawyer for Grimaldi Shipping. My boss, Luke Snyder, asked for my help with this issue regarding Nicholas Mayer?"

She was impressed with the speed at which Luke Snyder had moved. At this rate maybe those men would stand a chance.

"Mr Kerr," she acknowledged, "I'm very pleased to meet you."

"Do you have a few minutes Ms Hawke?"

"Betty, please call me Betty, and yes, I'd be happy to chat."

"Well then! You must call me Gareth!"

She sat down, feeling a small spark of hope ignite deep within her.

"Betty, before I begin I must ask… what is your position on this issue?"

"If you're asking me whether I think the boy belongs in Los Angeles rather than in Branson then my answer would have to be, yes."

"Excellent." Again that dazzling and rather hypnotic smile, "Then we are already on the same page Ms Hawke. Now… I've been investigating this all day and I have put together some interesting pieces of information. Maybe if you and I put our files together we can come up with some kind of a solution?"

She adored the calm confidence that shone from every pour of the man and couldn't help but return his infectious smile, "I do hope so, Mr Kerr!

"Gareth" he corrected.

"Right! Gareth!"

She felt suddenly energised! Excited!

...

At first Luke struggled to get back to Noah, pulling against the hold of the brawny man behind him, but then eventually, when he could think for a second, he realised that, at least for the moment, Noah was safe inside that cavity.

A fold away table and chair had been set up and Luke was forced down to sit in front of Gianni and a new man in a suit and tie.

"This is my lawyer, Sam." Gianni explained, "Sam has been very busy arranging the relevant contracts for you to sign."

These contracts were thrust under Luke's nose and the paper shook as his unsteady fingers took them and placed them on the table. A black ballpoint pen followed and he took that too, wondering how he was going to hold it with the way he was shaking. He wiped his sweaty brow and forced his wet hair back from his face before paging lightly through the papers.

He couldn't prevent a sharp intake of breath when he recognised a counter signatory on the last sheet, one of his board members, Leonard Reedie!

"H..h…how did you g..g…get this?" He stuttered.

"Let's just say that Sam over here kindly requested of Mr Reedie that he sign the form and Mr Reedie was only too happy to oblige!"

Luke felt sick! "What did you do? Where is he?"

"If I was you I wouldn't waste time with stupid questions Mr Snyder! Your job is to sign that form."

"How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you won't kill us anyway? Even if I sign?"

"You don't." he replied with finality. "But if you are having any problems with the task I'm sure we can bring your little girlfriend out here to help you!"

"Okay! Okay! I'll sign it, dammit! Just leave him out of it!"

But as the tip of the pen hit the page all hell broke loose.

Bullets seemed to rain from heaven ricocheting off the metal crates and spraying blood and body tissue from those unfortunate enough not to get out of the way in time. Gianni's men dived for cover between the crates and immediately began to return fire, but they were not in the position of advantage, instead they were caught like rats in a maze and Grimaldi's men easily picked them off one by one from above.

Luke was so slow and confused by the long and hot confinement in the dark space of the smuggling cavity, that it took him a while before he registered the danger.

A voice from above sent an order that he found on one hand odd but on another totally expected, "Get down, Luciano!"