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‘None of us could have done anything, Thomas,’ said Lucas and he looked across at Jake. Both of them seemed to hit on the same thought at the same time.
‘We need to escape.’ Jake looked across to Lucas. He nodded. Thomas said nothing. A
‘How?’ whispered Thomas.
‘When one of the girls is tied to Toad,’ said Jake.
‘Yes, when it’s steep and he has to hold on to the branches, then he lets go of the rope around our neck,’ explained A
‘Then that’s what we aim for,’ said Jake. ‘It’s getting steeper every day. We stay close and wait for our chance. We take our time, then hang back. Saw’s men will go ahead.’
‘Weasel’s always ru
‘Yes, then we’ll be left with just Toad,’ agreed Lucas.
‘We keep an eye on Toad, make sure Handsome and Weasel are at the front, and we jump Toad at the back. We jump him, cut our ties, take his weapons and run.’
‘We will have to kill him,’ said A
They looked at one another. There was silence.
‘I will,’ replied Jake.
10
As Ma
There was a lull on the streets as the rush to work was over and the tourists were not yet out in force. Ma
The place he was looking for was situated on a side street in a five-storey merchant house that had once been a beautiful eighteenth-century building and was now carved up into at least thirty companies. Ma
There was the sound of clacking keyboards and muted telephone conversations as he emerged onto the second floor. NAP was one of three companies that had their offices there. The NAP office door was open. There were six desks that Ma
It was a plush office. So far as Ma
Ma
‘Can I help you, sir?’ she asked in Dutch, tilting her head slightly to one side and then the other as she leant forward over the desk to show him some more cleavage.
‘You can if you speak English.’
She giggled. ‘Of course, sir. What can I do for you?’ She played with her hair. It looked like she could do a lot, thought Ma
Ma
‘I am here to talk about the five volunteers who have been kidnapped,’ he said, a little too loudly, whilst keeping the smile. All other activity in the office stopped as all heads turned his way.
‘I’m sorry…‘ The receptionist blinked at him a few times. She lowered her voice instinctively as she lost her smile; just when she was begi
Ma
‘Hong Kong Police.’
It wasn’t worth a damn here but he knew she didn’t know that.
The receptionist looked over at her colleagues for support but they looked away nervously and tried to act like it wasn’t their problem. Only Dorothy continued to watch the situation.
‘One moment, please.’ The receptionist stood, wriggling her micro black skirt down from where it was lodged at the top of her thighs, revealing a hole in her tights, before tottering away on her ski
The receptionist returned. Two minutes later a chiclooking woman in her late thirties appeared. She was olive-ski
‘This is our manageress, Katrien.’ The receptionist smiled at him apologetically.
The woman’s face remained stony as she said: ‘Follow me.’ This must be the Bitch that Alfie referred to. There would only ever be one woman in one office. Otherwise, like territorial rats, one would definitely have eaten the other.