Ch6
At the base of the stairs leading to the interior of a sleek Lear Jet a tall man, clothed in black, flipped open his cell phone and punched in a few numbers. It rang a number of times before a reply.
"Control."
"Control, item secured, and in the plane. We have clearance to leave the island.'
"Good. Is our guest comfortable?"
"He is now sir. We had a few problems en route from the Resort. The drug in his system was powerful, and he wasn't responding well. We gave him oxygen, and fluids. He's stabilised, and hooked up to monitors."
"Excellent. Watch him closely. I can't afford to pay for damaged items."
"Yes sir."
"I want you to take him to the Eastern safe house. Ensure our guest is settled, and I will issue further instructions."
"Certainly, sir."
The man snapped shut the cell phone, went up the stairs, which were drawn up behind him. The jet's door secured in place, it then taxied down the runway, and took off with a roar into the starry night.
As soon as Hugo replaced the phone, another rang. Irritated, because he knew exactly who it would be, Hugo let it ring awhile before he picked it up.
"It was a success, No?" The voice was triumphant.
"I'm assuming you already know the answer."
"I have my spies, they keep me well informed."
Hugo groaned inwardly. "I don't know why you choose to play the game, sir. You provided me with Tracy's background and holiday details; I think you could have secured Tracy without my help."
"But I like to play games, Hugo, and like you, I don't like to get my hands dirty."
Rubbing the creases in his brow, Hugo realised he was suddenly very tired, it had been a long day. "In all likelihood you have won the game, I had heard from a player who had ambitions of snagging a Russian billionaire's son but it fell through. As soon as the points are tallied, you will be notified."
"Ah! How quickly you forget my request."
"I haven't forgotten. I don't see it is possible in the time frame we have. If you keep an item for longer than the prescribed time, your points will be forfeited."
"But the rules are I have access to the item my team has gathered? "
Hugo sighed. "Yes that's true."
"Then what can be the harm of an extra day?"
"The harm is that the player may get too attached to the item and not want to return it or the item is damaged beyond repair."
"Oh, I don't want to keep the item, and I certainly don't want to harm the item, only seek knowledge from it."
"How do you propose to do that?"
"All with the mind, Hugo. Pain free except for perhaps, a slight headache afterwards."
Hugo gritted his teeth and sat back in his office chair, frustrated. He absolutely hated to change the game's rules. Not one player had even dared to question them. Yet this man, with his creepily serene voice had managed to get Hugo's confirmation on anything he asked. Christ! Whose bloody game was it, anyway? Hugo opened his mouth to deny the request --
"I'll double the money offered and I'll forfeit the points, for an extra 24 hours."
Hugo's mouth snapped shut. He found himself nodding. "Y...Yes, all right," he managed to stammer. Composing himself, Hugo added forcefully, "My men will drop off and collect the item, however."
"Wonderful. We have a deal. I'll send you the address details shortly."
The line was disconnected.
Hugo returned his phone to its cradle. "Yes, I have no doubt Gordon Tracy will enjoy his extra day with you."
An insistent beeping jolted Jeff awake from an uneasy sleep. Momentarily disorientated, he fumbled in the darkness before switching on his bedside lamp. Locating the remote control, Jeff pressed it towards the foot of the bed where a TV screen silently slid upwards from a built in panel.
John's face appeared on the screen. The young man looked pale, and his worried countenance immediately sent off warning bells in Jeff's head.
"John, not the bearer of bad tidings I hope?"
John took a deep breath before speaking, "It's Gordon, Dad. His chip has been deactivated."
Jeff's heart plummeted. After his wife Lucille died from childbirth complications, Jeff had the boys micro chipped. While it may have seemed incredibly invasive and unethical, Jeff couldn't bear the thought of losing his boys. His sons had grown up with the knowledge they had chip implants yet had never questioned it. The only way the chips in his sons would stop working was if the chips had been cut out.
"What about Gordon's communicator?"
"I'm still getting a signal from it. It's located on the island. I tried contacting Gordon as soon as I knew the chip was deactivated, no reply. I can only presume the wrist-com is still attached to Gordon and he remains on the island... or it has been removed," John ended ominously.
Jeff pushed back the covers on his bed, and reached for his dressing gown draped over the end of the bed. "Let's concentrate on the scenario - Gordon is on the island. I'll send Scott and Alan to the island immediately. We won't know the full details until Scott and Alan get to the island. Keep hailing Gordon's wrist-com and I want frequent progress reports."
"FAB, sir." The TV screen slid back into the panel.
Pausing in the stillness of his room, Jeff took several deep breaths to control the surge of anxiety that threatened to overwhelm his reasoning. He had had reservations about Gordon's holiday and unfortunately, those concerns appeared to be bearing fruit. Taking the silver framed photo of his wife from the bedside table, Jeff took comfort in her dazzling smile. Looking deliriously happy in her wedding dress, Lucille's sunny disposition hid a famously tenacious character.
"Stop wasting time, and go get our boy, Jeff!"
Renewed with a steely determination to locate his second youngest son, Jeff set the photo down, and went to wake his sons' from their slumber.