Uncoiling the Coil Read online

  “Well, then checking which one she stayed at would have to be the way forward. Because we never travelled that much together.”

  “Do you have anything recorded that could incriminate?”

  “I have footages of the rebels. The sedans and men in suits. I have a few interviews that Camila orchestrated with locals. We got Peacock a few times. A couple of fights. But nothing on Shaka, Alabastor, or faces that are known back in the States. Camila was the one who went off sometimes without me knowing.”

  “And your equipment, you have all that still?”

  “Yes. Back where I’m staying.”

  “Good. We might need your camera skills, Mark. But I don’t want to force anything on –”

  “I want to help. Anything to get this shit out here exposed.”

  “Then you can also help me out with your contact. Were you the one who got the news out on Camila’s kidnapping? It’s been a few weeks now.”

  “Yes. It was me.”

  “It was broadcasted on the radio. That was a good move.”

  “It had to be done. Otherwise, she’d never be found.”

  “If you can, we want to put more leverage on the press back in the States. You have footage that can be sent via files. We can escort you to the internet café. Tan you up, give you some new clothes, and then you can get this out and viral. That way we can force them to proceed further and give some insight into what’s happening here. If you relay details we give you, that can possibly postpone the commencement in a few days. We need more time to find the underground faculty.”

  “Who’s funding this?”

  “A good question.” Diego gets up and walks to the table with papers all over the place. Mark sees clippings, codes that have been decrypted and spell out mines that were hidden and now found by both Diego and Peacock. There are a few unused bullets, a couple of dog tags, some spray paints, cans of kidney beans, and pencils.

  Diego moves most of it to search through a clear-white folder. “The Americans are funding things out here. And not only via donations in briefcases that were at first harmless to the eye. They came via planes at first to deliver their shares because the airline was open. We delivered parts for income as well as other ways of the economy. Alabastor has since –”

  “Sorry to interrupt, but who is this Alabastor?”

  “I’ve not seen him –”

  “Well, I have. And I caught him on camera too.”

  Chapter 7

  Lee’s phone was switching between on and off; the battery needed replacing and she was worried that it would pack in before she got the hell out of Torbelli. There was a call, but the signal got lost and the connection to Darren was interrupted.

  She diverts from the mine and finds a secluded spot where she could find a strong signal. But there was none. Suddenly a few bars appeared, and the battery fired on – with six missed calls from Darren. Luckily, he calls again. “Lee, I must be quick. There’s not much time because Timothy plans to infiltrate Diego’s hideout and that means all must be cleared, removed, and transported to another location.”

  The signal was choppy, so Lee kept moving behind the tree. “Who’s Diego?”

  “We knew him as Ringo –”

  “Shit. So, you found him?”

  “Yes. And some more news ... I found Mark, Camila’s cameraman as well. He got word back on Camila being kidnapped. And there’s a contact.”

  “It’s good to get some good news. You’ll never guess who –” Suddenly, she hears some men in the close proximity approaching. Lee ducks before she’s seen and switches off the phone. She tip-toes behind the tree and is lucky that some short bushes conceal her movement.

  The men are Caucasian. And judging by their accents, American, as they seem lost. “Is it here?”

  “That’s what he said.” One of the men is plainer with his appearance: the crisply made suit makes little difference to his slackness in carrying himself like a businessman. Shoulders slouch way too much.

  The other man’s way taller and has more of the charisma to be an asshole that takes control of the stock market. They’re dreary faced and relish that their suits make them stand out amongst the riff-raff and poor. Obviously not used to the outdoors with shoes that aren’t equipped to trek against the perimeters of Torberlli, that varies so much when it comes to the uneven measurements and heights of the land.

  “Are you sure we took the right turning?”

  “The lines jotted lead to here.”

  “Then we need to get it running and leave.”

  Lee thinks, this must be the machinery that will dispense the currency that’ll be used in the next few days. “Let’s split up. I go to check on the machine, and you have a look for any evidence that Bennie is a bunny boiler.”

  “What evidence did Alabastor mention?”

  “Lee Coil and Darren –”

  Lee’s neck straightens up. She comes a little closer, and takes a good look at the men again. She sees that on the leather suitcase are the letters, N.O. An idea comes to her head before entering that facility underground; grab one of their suitcases and see what’s inside. She thinks on which man to pursue as they continue to talk about her. “Didn’t he send out some people by the ranch and they ended up dead?”

  “One was taken to the hospital with Hona’s help, and he died soon after. But not of the gunshot wounds. His last words were Lee Coil though.”

  “Then you can’t necessarily say that Bennie is not doing his job, Thomas. You suspect him because you never liked his style of police work.”

  A new discovery; they must be part of the police force too? Lee makes a mental note in her head and follows both men who start to keep it moving to the right. She keeps low behind the trees and bushes but then comes to a problem when the men start to descend downwards. And if she was to do the same, she’d step on some very edgy rocks and could slip and break her bones.

  Lee waits until they remove their shoes, hold it in their hands and climb down the very narrow steps that are smaller than their size twelve feet. When Lee sees that they’re mid-way, she comes out from hiding and goes down the same way. She can still hear them speaking. “Bennie does as he pleases, and nobody bats against him because he’s the man that comes back with a result.”

  “He’s good –”

  “I think he’s a damn nark!”

  “If he’s a nark, then why did Alabastor let him into N.O? And Henny vouches for him too.”

  Lee holds her breath. It’s the first she’s heard of Henny being mentioned out here by these men in their suits. They’re almost at the bottom. It’s nearly fifty-feet more but Lee doesn’t know. When they put their shoes back on, Lee doubles back to see if her phone still works. She manages to get it on and checks if there’s any credit to call Darren – not much, but enough for a few more calls. She needs to use it wisely.

  Darren doesn’t pick up because his phone is switched off. Lee huffs and then goes back to the drop where she’ll need to remove her sandals to be safe. And slowly she begins her descend.

  ...

  Henny can’t forget what happened a few nights ago ...

  “Getting Shaka off the radar has taken up plenty of money. We’ve thrown millions at the man and his plan.”

  “Years Henny.” The man in the back seat tucked his gun away and relaxed in Henny’s presence. As if trust was now mutual and he could understand him better. But Henny never took his eyes off him for a second. His wife and daughter were on his mind.

  He hoped that wasn’t where that character with his car was heading? Henny had no idea where the sat-nav was taking him, and he made no attempts to find it out. The man in the back was the talker and he, the mute on this occasion. “When I say take him off the radar, I mean it in context with other police institutes that think he’s a large-scale problem. The news means we have a risk of more such news leaking. And if that happens, we are screwed. Because that will delay things. I don’t want delays.”

  “The paper that publis
hed the report and article was the daily times –”

  “And the name of the author?”

  “Unknown to us. The paper kept the name anonymous for safety. So, readers and viewers can put two-and-two together and work out, but he’s in danger for revealing that. And we can’t just erase the man... they’ll know we did that to keep him quiet.”

  “It still needs to be silenced. He’s a contact to somebody out in Torbelli. How else would they know about Camila being in Shanti town?”

  “I worked that out too –”

  “And what do you make of Bennie?”

  Henny stiffens. “Who better to take over the restaurant chain after Eric?”

  “Eric was a mature cheese with no taste. And he ratted out Shaka’s setup in order to keep his over-fried, whale-of-a-body free from prison. It was good we cleared that place before it was bombed. Funny, how you can keep a stash of incriminating bills in your office and nobody would suspect.”

  “Lee might’ve seen it when she came into my office that day!”

  “You said she was smart?”

  “Very. Whether she took it for counterfeit bills is one thing. But she didn’t say anything.”

  “We are coming close.” The headlights reveal conjoined gates being closed by security guards with chauffeur caps and flashlights. They walk to the back of the car, check the license plate and then ask Henny to wind down the window and show some identification.

  “Take mine.”

  The man passes it to Henny, who gives it to the guard. And the guard walks to the other side to show his colleague, then he comes right back to speak with them both, “Eman Gold, chairman of N.O. directors, is that right?”

  “Yes. I’m the chief chairman of the Nightguard Orderly Police faculty. The man in front is Henny, and he works with one of our main units.”

  “They weren’t expecting you tonight. The meeting has already gotten underway.”

  “I heard Alabastor is speaking via a live feed. I told them I would be bringing an associate. Am I not allowed to enter?”

  “I would have to call it in and ask. They’ve been extra tight with security lately, Mr. Eman.”

  Henny could see a few more security guards with flashlights keeping a watch behind the gates. Two of them had watchdogs sniffing the hard-to-reach areas where somebody could be concealed. A few more guards are in vans, drinking coffee and napping. Henny and Eman wait for the guards to ring-it-in.

  “Eman, is tonight the live feed?” Henny needs to know.

  “It is.”

  “Why was I not told?”

  “When I had my gun to the back of your head, did you assume it was my idea?”

  “Well, I –”

  “Because it wasn’t. I was given instructions for tonight. Either shoot you or see if you could proceed with the case.”

  “Shoot me? They ordered that!?”

  “Yes. They think you favor the girl too much?”

  “Lee Coil shouldn’t be wrapped in this mess –”

  Eman fiddled with a pocket inside his inner jacket. Henny said no more when he saw a flash of the gun. “If you call this a mess in front of those people, they’ll kill you, your wife, and daughter. Spare no inner thoughts to them inside. All they want is your assistance from the unit. The girl will be killed –”

  “What!?” Henny turns to face Eman, who removes his hand from the inner pocket. “They can’t do that...”

  “Such fiery emotion for a girl you’ve screwed over and lied to! That Rastafarian will mow you alive if she knew the shit you got her into. So, spare the care and admit you’re a dog, Henny? A middle-aged man who wants to retire early so he can get himself a prettier wife.”

  “There’s no need for –”

  “You’re in this mess and you can’t get out! You think I don’t know you want out, back to how it was. When you signed your unit to us, you knew what we were dealing in –”

  And before Henny knows it, they are being guided behind the gates and to a parking spot. A few more expensive cars are parked. Then Henny is blindfolded, and a leash is placed inside his hand as the dog leads the way. When the mutt stops, he’s confronted by another security guard who gives him a check over. Eman is waiting behind. “Are you Eman?”

  “That’s me.”

  “You’re permitted to come in. But Henny is to be sent home.”

  Henny gasps louder than he needs to. This is not good. Not good at all. He steps to the side as Eman gives him a slight indicator to let him speak with this man. “And why’s that?”

  “A situation has leaked.”

  “What situation?” Henny can’t keep his mouth closed, and Eman gives him a solid glance to shut it.

  “One of the N.O briefcases has gone missing. And all arrows point to a breach in the facility near Shanti town. A woman stole it. They’re pegging it as either Camila or Lee Coil.”

  “Why is Camila an option?”

  The security guard clams up and becomes tight-lipped. The reason, the chestnut brown door opens behind. “Change of heart ... let them both come in. Eman, you will attend the meeting. Henny, you’ll speak with me.”

  ...

  Henny was in the presence of a small-time mayor who had run for office twice - but lost both times. His name was Herman James, African American, slick hair, slippery voice box, and a fancy-prancy-nancy-persona. He was softer than he wanted anybody to know. But his stone-face held the decoding talk of I’m-the-best-one-for-the-job, and my resume proves that. His exaggeration techniques flew him to Dubai for free. As Herman could sometimes get things done. The keyword being sometimes.

  There wasn’t enough promo and help from those above to win that leadership. But he was good friends with Eman, and that meant working with the N.O. and landing a job in Torbelli with a high-end paycheck. A darker faced man would sit better than the Caucasians out there. And Herman was willing to start off with a basic wage package to see how well the currency would flourish and prosper.

  “They’ve given Torbelli two years to be rebuilt. And the currency needs officialization. But with the rebels bombing sites and destroying expensive equipment, it’s becoming a problem. A briefcase was stolen yesterday. And without it ... it means that the machine won’t run. It was built, as you know, Henny, to be run by the very same minerals that would be priceless on the market out here. Not to mention that each mineral is vital to the billion marks line that we want to reach.” Henny seems unmoved. “Are you not hearing this is as bad news?”

  It was but Henny just couldn’t help being distracted, “they have no reason to doubt me –”

  “They have all the reason to doubt you. Help yourself out here... have you been able to contact Lee Coil?”

  “She’s been hard to reach.”

  “Hard to reach and likely no longer in Torbelli. Timothy has been searching and there have been no sightings of her or Darren. They forgave you for her getting onto the wrong plane. That was an insider job and we still need to find the real identity of the pilot.”

  “Is his name not Ringo?”

  “No. That much is confirmed. He’s likely a freedom fighter out there.”

  Henny sighs, and turns away from Herman in frustration at the rings of bad luck that keep webbing him inside his own terrible decisions. Where they wait, is in a lobby that has chocolate squared seating and small round tables to rest mugs of tea or drinks next to each one.

  There are brown LED lights up high, and the walls are a primrose red, with paintings from artists who think they’re better than Dali with their idea of surreal art. They have prices on the bottom totaling more than ten thousand as they take up much of the wall.

  The escalator doors open, and two security guards exit walk to the room where the meeting is being held and knock for admittance. Herman and Henny are on the other end of the room observing this. The guards get no answer and decide to take a seat on the plastic chairs and wait until they’re allowed inside.

  “I’ve known you for five years Herman, since you n
eeded protection. And I also provided you with the manpower for that convention.”

  “That’s true Henny. I never doubt your willingness to help out an old friend. But right here, right now, we can’t be that. We’re partners swimming in the same pool. And you’re trying to drown yourself, Henny. They know you’ve gotten cold feet.”

  “The things I hear out there, Herman, the people, and the suffering. The disregard for what digging up their minerals can cause. It’s weighing in and it’s hitting me that it’s selfish. They deserve a fair share. An equal chance to be able to –”

  “Let me stop you there.” The door opens, and the security guards are allowed entry into the meeting room. “Part of that discussion in there is what to do with you?”

  Henny shoots-up-out of his seat, “I didn’t have Lee Coil steal the suitcase. If that’s what they think?”

  “Sit down!” Herman says this tight-lipped, “Then what about Camila?”

  “No idea.”

  “Where is she, Henny?”

  “I don’t know, Herman. I presumed dead.”

  “Presumed dead and yet sending Lee Coil out to find her?”

  “You only know what Eman and the others have said. And I won’t discuss the details of what Lee must do.”

  “Is Bennie working for you?”

  “What?”

  “Is he working for you?”

  “He helps the unit out .... why?”

  “Something smells fishy and it’s not the haddock –”

  “I’m not the stink.” -

  “I hope not Henny. For the sake of our friendship.”

  The security guards come out of the room and announce, “Henny, they wish to speak with you now.”

  ...

  Lee has the case as she gets down onto her stomach sideways and makes her way underneath a rock that is the size of a giant boulder. The gap was pretty large once she squeezes far enough to not be covered in darkness.

  The opportunity to take the case came when both men led the way to the facility, that was further away than she had expected it to be. And nobody would know where it was because one of the Americans had to pick a few orange guzmania’s until he came to the one which was a handle that opened to a secret compartment below.