“Sam, close the door please, Mitch obviously lives in a tent.” John rolled his eyes as Mitch entered his office to address the team, leaving the door open. The team laughed as Samantha leaned over and swung the door closed.
“I do at the moment,” Mitch said.
“A tent in Henri’s manor with hot and cold running service,” Nick added. “They’ll never get rid of you if Ann keeps that up.”
Mitch smiled. “I am getting used to it.” He sat down and opened the folder. “Marcus tells us that Dylan Ting is alive and well, afloat fifteen miles out from the Cape Hatteras shore line. He’s on a thirty-five foot motor yacht possibly with a couple in their sixties—the owners—and we suspect Ru is with him since he remains unaccounted for,” Mitch said.
“Thank God Dylan’s alive,” Ellen said.
“You can say that again,” Mitch agreed before continuing. “Except now it raises a hundred questions: why is he alive? Is Dylan’s life still at threat? Were they both involved in the killing or did they make a lucky escape? Why hasn’t Dylan tried to reach us before this? Who aborted the mission and do the owners of the motor yacht know Dylan and Ru or has their boat been pirated. That’s just for starters. What have you got on Ru, Ellie?”
“Very little … Pan Ru … he’s an only child, born during China’s one child policy. Nineteen years old, a party member since he was a kid—his father is a party member. Parents are workers, they own a market stall. Ru is on a Beijing government scholarship at the University of Science and Technology in Beijing. No priors, he’s undertaken the mandatory military training for university freshmen and he’s engaged to be married,” she summed him up. “Nothing about his military life with the Secret Intelligence Service.”
“I suspect that’s buried to cover his alias. Has Danny Huang coughed up anything since we took him from the VIP house?” Mitch asked John.
“Not much, as you would expect,” John said. “But he now thinks he’s the only survivor and he knows he’ll be sitting in one of our jails for a very long time. He’s asking for a prisoner exchange if we want him to talk. We might get something out of him yet.”
Mitch frowned, staring straight ahead.
“You alright?” John asked.
“What? Oh yeah. I was just thinking how he said to me that the only time he ever broke under torture was when he was burnt,” Mitch shuddered. “You won’t get much out of him.”
John nodded. “You should talk to someone about that, Mitch.”
Mitch looked up at him—he had been caught in an unguarded moment. “No, moving on.”
“So what’s the plan?” Nick asked covering Mitch’s back.
“Given we don’t know what the situation is with Dylan we have to treat it as though he’s being held against his will,” Mitch said. “I’ve suggested we use a research vessel and John’s found us one … it’s clearly marked as such so it shouldn’t attract any attention.”
“What sort of vessel is it?” Ellen asked.
Mitch looked at his notes. “It’s a … I don’t know, fifty-five foot … big boat.”
John shook his head. “If you asked him about a plane he’d put you into a coma with the detail. It’s a fifty-five foot custom-built fiberglass research boat designed for offshore survey work. It was built in 2005, top cruising speed of about eighteen knots with a full galley and a four berth cabin, so you can have your choice of bunks.”
“Luxury, thanks Skipper,” Mitch said. “So we’re going to head out towards them, cut the engine, hang about a bit to look like we might be doing research and then break down. Nick and Ellen will abandon boat, so to speak, head over to them and ask for help—do your best to get onboard. Then Dylan will either out us, and Sam and I will be there as back up, or he will let you scope out the situation, which will indicate he is still on our team. You need to return to our boat for whatever reason, one or both of you, and give us an update on the situation so we can work out where to go from there.”
“Why aren’t you going aboard?” Nick asked, surprised.
John answered for him. “You and Ellie are better at sea, Nick, or so Mitch tells me. I’m not convinced Ru will believe Mitch is a sea-based research officer if he’s clutching the side and retching overboard every minute.”
“I’m not that bad,” Mitch said.
“Really?” John frowned. “Remember the time when— ”
“Yeah OK,” Mitch cut him off. “Swimming is not Sam’s strength either, so we’re best in back-up here.”
“Good,” John said.
“It’s the amplitude of the waves that makes you seasick. I’ll bring some ginger and anti-seasick meds with us,” Ellen said.
“I heard you can get wrist bands that help,” Samantha added.
“You can,” Ellen agreed, “but I’ve never known anyone that they’ve worked on.”
“I heard the trick was not to fall overboard while you are hurling,” Nick added.
Mitch looked at John and shook his head. He continued, “regardless of whether Dylan is a hostage or a willing participant, we need to secure Ru and that motor yacht, close this down and see what intel he has that belongs to us. But that plan will roll out once we know the situation on board.”
“Guess we’re back to Cape Hatteras then,” Nick said.
“Grab a car from the pool,” John said.
“I’ll take mine,” Mitch said.
“Again?” John said. “I think you’re compensating … every time you are threatened with an ocean assignment, you want your own car with you so you can make a quick getaway.”
“Thanks Dr Phil,” Mitch joked. “Clearly you haven’t driven the cars in the car pool.” He turned to his team. “I’ll meet you all in my office in a moment so we can work out schedules.” He waited for the three to leave and, rising, turned to John. “You know I’m always the last to suggest anyone needs therapy …” Mitch started.
“Good, Mitch.” John met him at the door and placed his hand on Mitch’s shoulder. “I’m pleased you’ve changed your mind and are putting up your hand for some help. It won’t hurt you to talk to someone, even just to download.”
“Not me!” Mitch frowned. “Nick needs to talk with someone. That container was a bit of shock just now; I think he’s going to be seeing that image in his head for a while. I want him to talk to someone ASAP.”
“I’ll organize it today before he goes,” John said. “And you? You’re not going to be seeing it, man of steel?”
Mitch grinned. “It will have to compete with a library of other images but it might get a run.”
“I think you should …”
“Yeah thanks, John.” Mitch had disappeared before John finished the sentence.