He turned to the bedroom, seeing Jasmine still lying on top of the sheet, this time with Mark's phone opened in front of her.
"What you doing?" He asked, smiling at her."Checking your emails. They're fairly stacking up.""What's the count now?""Six thousand or so." She gave him a grin. "Me and Shmi will start blasting through them tomorrow if you want?""Six thousand?" Mark asked. "I don't know six thousand people.""Yeah, well there's a lot more than that know you. Not like I do, of course, unless you've been keeping some really big secrets from me," She said, winking."Hardly.""So are you..." Jasmine's sentence was cut off by the sound of a knock on the glass doors, then a second later Maddy called."Hello, Mark? You still up?""Yeah, I'm back here.""You coming to join me and Myra on the balcony? Last night on the Island."MarkMarkwondered if the old man was bluffing or if he truly had a covert CCTV system with complete coverage of the Island. He knew it technologically possible, and BenjaminMooredefinitely had the funds, but to have something of that scale and keep it secret would be an extraordinary achievement. On top of that, even if Henrydid have an insurance policy in the event something happened to him, who could he possibly trust with the knowledge? He frowned, watching the Englishman to try and figure out if he was lying or not."So what do you want?" Marksaid eventually. "I mean you haven't done this for no reason, so what are you hoping to get out of it?""I'll discuss that when I'm good and ready, I think," The old man sniffed. "For the time being, you can leave my Jasminealone. No more taking her in your bed, or in the shower. No more bathing together either." His face turned grim. "You leave her here when you leave tomorrow."
"Mark?" He heard Connor call from up the shaft as the small lights winked out, the light at the bottom of the shaft went off and the interior lights in the saferoom disappeared. He knew that Connor must be gripping tightly to the ladder, unable to even see the rungs before him."Down here," Marksaid, stepping forward. "Henry's inside, but I've got the door blocked."He realized he shouldn't have said that as soon as the words were out his mouth.He didn't even have time to curse before he heard the click or felt the pinpricks in his chest, and then every muscle in his body went tight. His stomach went taught, like he'd just done a thousand sit-ups, his legs stiffened, and his torso tightened up. The 50,000 volts from the tazer shot through his system, stiffening him and tightening every muscle.The gunshot boomed in the close confines of the small chamber at the bottom of the shaft as Mark's finger involuntarily pressured the trigger
Markfrowned as he tried to concentrate. A confusing flicker of memories came back to him. Chatting with Myraand Maddy. He was running down the stairs from his suite. The trees flickered past him as he ran. A ladder going down underground. He jolted, stiffened and groaned all at the same time as the physical sensation of being tasered came back to him, mingled with the sound of the gunshot."Mark?"His hand moved up to touch his head and he saw it was red, covered in what had to be his blood. "I... I got shot?""No, Mark, you didn't get shot," Jasminesaid quickly. "Do you know where you are?""Down the ladder." He mumbled, replaying the images. Why was he running? What was he running from? Or to?A new memory flickered, of Henryon his knees, with Markpointing a gun at him. Markcould remember how angry he was, but not the words he snarled at the old man.Then it all came back.Descending the shaft, He
"Can we ask George Yousef?" Marksaid, thinking aloud. "He knows there's a safehouse here. He did some financial digging for me, and he knows Henry's up to something.""That's involving more people," Myraprotested immediately."Sometimes it's important to involve the right people," Connor said quickly. "If he's already in the know, and he's your lawyer, then there's a good chance he'll help you figure this out.""Maddy?" Markasked.She shrugged. "We could do with the help, I think.""I'm voting we get him. Jasmine, can you go and wake him up and bring him down here please?" Markasked. "It'll save Connor climbing that ladder again.""Sure.""We didn't come down the ladder," Myrasaid. "There's a staircase that leads up to a hidden door in the floor of the bar, next to the pool. We came down there.""Really?" Markasked. "How did....?""I found it when I
"Hello?" They heard Connor call, and by some unspoken signal, both Maddyand Myrarolled out the bed, leaving Markunder the covers. Maddysat down on the bed and Myrawalked towards the door."In here," She said.Connor appeared in the doorway with a bundle of clothes in his arms and handed them to Myra."Give us a minute. We've just cleaned him up, and we'll get him dressed."The Scotsman nodded and turned away, closing the door behind him."Right, you," Maddysaid firmly, hauling back the covers. Myratossed a pair of dark blue jeans to Maddyand dropped a hooded jersey and sneakers on the foot of the bed. She came around to the other side of it."Sorry about this," Marksaid softly, now feeling a little embarassed at his nudity."Shut up, Mark," Myrasaid briskly as she helped Maddymaneuvre the trousers round his feet. Markhad to roll onto hi
"So does that mean I can get a shower now?" Markasked, knowing Myrahad washed him clean but still convincedhe had the old mans blood on him."As soon as you've sorted out the access protocols," George nodded."What about him?" Connor asked, jerking his thumb at the corpse on the far side of the room."We'll deal with that after we've spoken to Mister Kane." At that the old man nodded and stood up. "And no alcohol for the time being please.""Okay," Marksaid. "Connor?"The Scotsman nodded and led them to the Control room. Markwas still a little unsteady on his feet, but with Jasmineholding his hand, he was able to cross the room with little difficulty.The control room was astonishing to each of them, as they saw the images on the array of monitors, with one of the large screens showing a picture of Mark's room from above his bed, another showing footage from a camera in the corner o
They lay there for another ten minutes until Myracalled through to let them know Mister Yousefhad returned with Brian Kane in tow, along with a yawning Captain Wales. Markand Jasminequickly dried and dressed, then went out to meet them in the lounge of Mark's suite, with the doors securely closed. To their surprise, Brian greeted them with warm handshakes, admitting a moment later that he suspected for a long time that there was something off about Henry, and that when Mister Youseftold him what had happened, he wasn't really that surprised.Mister Yousefthen briefed them on Brian's suggestion on how to deal with the situation. It seemed very simple, so much so that Markkept looking for holes in it.Over the next couple of hours, Henry's body was to be wrapped in the bloodstained rugs, taped up and secured in trash bags and brought to the top of the hidden staircase. At seven o'clock in the morning, Brian and his team would gat
"Let's do it," Connor said. "I'll take the feet, you take the upper body and I'll go in front. Take your time, alright."Marknodded and moved to the corpse, wrapped into a neat cylinder with the rugs and trash bags. On Connors signal they lifted the body and Markgrunted as they carried it up the steps and into the bar.It felt really bizarre to be carrying a wrapped up body in broad daylight through a place he'd come to love, but with short steps, Connor and Markmade their way through the main house, took the right onto the path past the kitchens, and then a few minutes later onto the beach.Captain Wales was waiting for them with the gangplank ready and engines running, his crew sent to the clubhouse like everyone else.They carried Henry'sbody along the pier, feeling exposed in the open, but Connor kept feeding Markadvice to keep him calm and all too soon they were placing the body out of sight in the lounge of the catamara