Trapped (19 page)

By now Oak and the twins were running screaming with delight towards the large figure-of-eight swimming pool at the prow of the deck. A palm tree clad island and a bridge stood at the crossover point and at the far end were several water slides and a fountain to swim under. Inflatable dinghies, a blow up crocodile and some boogie boards bobbed on the surface.

‘There's a wave machine and a sound system too,' explained Mikey.

‘Any chance of a guided tour later?' said Cate innocently, holding hands tightly with Willow and Beech to make sure they didn't follow their siblings to the pool without her. ‘Not often a girl like me gets chances to look around a boat like this.'

Mikey looked at her, considering her request. ‘Not being nosy, are we?' he said. ‘You haven't got a camera in that bag?'

‘No,' said Cate, doing her best to sound outraged. ‘You know Ahmed searched it earlier. It's OK, I was only asking. Oak wanted to see the submarine, but if it's all top secret then don't worry. I'll explain. Come on, kids, let's get changed.'

‘Yeah, well,' Mikey said. ‘It's a bleeding big yacht and we don't want you getting lost. I'll see what I can do.'

For the next hour the children were totally happy playing in the water. A lifeguard appeared and spent most of the time splashing around with a delighted Beech and Willow on his back, leaving Cate free to relax by the side of the pool.

It was paradise, thought Cate, as she sucked at an ice-cold Diet Coke with a straw. Except that, somewhere on this yacht, evil had been planned and carried out, perhaps was being carried out still. As Mikey had said,
The Good Times
was a bleeding big yacht. It could hide an awful lot of secrets. Including a laptop that contained details so precious that they may have cost a man his life. Despite the sunshine, Cate felt herself shiver.

Two minutes later, Mikey came hurrying up the stairs, followed by the boat pilot and three other men, all immaculate in stewards' uniforms.

Mikey beckoned Cate over towards him. ‘Cate, we have to
go back,' he said quietly. ‘There's some sort of security emergency going on, something to do with paparazzi trying to climb onto
Catwalk II.
Not sure it's too serious, but Tass wants to show them who's boss anyway. He's asked me to bring the security team back to them.'

Cate's heart sank. It looked like her golden opportunity was turning to dust. ‘But we've only just got here,' she said, gesturing towards the children who were still playing.

‘You can stay. José here and his crew can look after you.'

Cate tried to hide her delight but Mikey was desperate to get going, too hyped up for action to even notice her expression. ‘We'll be back in a few hours. Be good.'

Oh, I'll be good all right
, thought Cate to herself as she watched the powerboat bouncing low over the waves to Antibes harbour. Cate counted ten men on board including Mikey, all with a military look about them.

It's a small army
, Cate realised with a start.
This boat isn't a superyacht. It's a floating fortress.

But for now the fortress was without its private army.

‘Can we have our tour of the boat now?' she asked José, gesturing to the children. ‘They are very excited about it.'

‘A tour? I didn't know about that.'

‘Mikey did promise us,' said Cate, fluttering her eyelashes.

‘Yes, he did.' Oak was at Cate's side, looking up pleadingly at José. ‘He said we could see the submarine. I want to see the submarine. So does Elm and Ash and Willow. We've been looking forward to it for days.'

‘Kids, huh?' José looked benignly at Cate. ‘Let me decide about that, but first we can look around the boat.'

‘Why not?' said Cate, picking up her rucksack. ‘They could do with a break from the sun.'

Cate's head was soon reeling. They had walked through a vast salon with a sofa large enough to seat eight people and a dining table laid with gold-leafed crockery and cutlery for sixteen. The children had run around like lunatics in the ballroom and marvelled at the fish tanks set into the walls. Then, to squeals of delight, José had shown them the switches that slowly ratcheted back the dance floor to reveal another swimming pool, this one heated and complete with a jacuzzi.

The middle deck held the guest cabins, twelve in all, each with ensuite and a balcony so that they could enjoy the sea view as they travelled. Every room had its own theme – one was a beach hut on a tropical island, another the interior of a stately home complete with a velvet curtained four-poster bed. Perched above them all was the penthouse suite – a loft-style apartment which ran almost the entire length of the deck opening.

‘The bed turns,' explained José, calling them into the room, ‘so you can change the view or enjoy the sunshine. And here,' he gestured to Cate, ‘is room for one hundred outfits and fifty pairs of shoes.'

Cate shook her head. ‘Awesome,' she said finally. ‘Truly, truly awesome.'

José shepherded them into the lift and down to the cinema complex. Oak tugged on his sleeve. ‘José,' he said. ‘I really, really want to see the submarine.'

‘Submarine, submarine, submarine,' the others chanted.

‘OK, OK,' José said. ‘We'll go there now. But you must do as you are told, OK? There are lots of things that cannot be touched and rooms we must not go into. You promise?'

They nodded solemnly.

As the lift doors opened on the bottom level, it was as if they had entered another world. They were now in the bowels of a working ship where there was clearly no interest in luxuries. The floors were bare metal or lino, and the walls and ceilings painted a bright white, made even starker by the fluorescent lights which ran the length of the ceiling. Behind the lift, through some double doors, men were moving about in what was clearly the engine room, and huge, gleaming metal pipes ran from the engines along the length of the floor and up through the ceiling above. They were hot and steam came hissing through from joints in the piping. Cate felt as if she was in a factory.

‘Stay away from the pipes,' she told the children, showing them the steam, and, surprisingly subdued, they obeyed.

Despite the piping and the fact that it was a hot summer's day, it was clammy and cold. ‘We are now five metres under the sea,' said José, by way of explanation as he saw Cate rubbing her arms in a bid to warm up.

‘Spooky,' said Willow, and Cate nodded.

‘It is a bit,' she said, ‘but José will look after us.'

The group made their way along the deck, Cate falling gradually behind as she did her best to absorb every tiny detail. Halfway down she spotted a bank of CCTV screens watched over by a middle-aged man wearing a pair of headphones, next to him a small wall-mounted screen beeped as red dots moved
slowly to and fro. Cate looked questioningly at José.

‘He is monitoring inside the boat and around the boat. The sonar system is here.'

Cate tried to look bored as she watched the screens out of the corner of her eye. On one screen she saw the swimming pool and inwardly shuddered at the knowledge that, whilst they had been splashing around, they had been watched by unseen eyes.

Strangely, Cate couldn't see the submarine bay on his screens. Did that mean it had its own security system, separate from the rest of the boat? If so, why?

Finally they came to a walled-off area with a pair of thick steel double doors. ‘Through here is the submarine area,' said José, stopping by the doors. ‘You all stay close to me or we will have to leave.'

Everyone nodded, Cate watching closely as José punched in a code.

Easy,
thought Cate triumphantly, using her memory system once again. As they walked through the double doors she saw another door to her left. She made to go through it but José stopped her.

‘No, no,' he said, shaking his head. ‘You mustn't go into that room. And in any case,' he gestured at the security panel which was mounted on it, ‘this can only be opened with a hand scan, after being authorised from that computer over there.'

He pointed down the corridor and Cate's heart sank. Virtually opposite the forbidden room a guard was sitting at a desk, staring at a computer screen. He looked up at them, barely concealing his irritation at their intrusion.

‘He controls the doors,' explained José, ‘to that room and to the submarine bay, but to get in you need special clearance.' The children looked at him wide-eyed and enthralled.

‘Wow!' said Elm.

Cate turned to José, opening her eyes wide. ‘So what's in that room?' she asked innocently. ‘Is it something to do with the submarine? Or has he got the crown jewels in there?' She put on a girly giggle.

José shrugged. ‘I don't know, miss. Not even I can get through.'

‘But what happens when the guard goes to bed?' Oak asked. Cate was delighted. Exactly what she had wanted to know.

‘Well, young man,' said José, ‘then another man comes in. This room is never without a guard.'

Damn
, thought Cate.
Damn, damn, damn
.

Her mind was reeling. She had to get into that room. It was the most secure and therefore clearly the most important room on the yacht, and it held who knew what secrets. Maybe even the key to the entire smuggling chain. She looked speculatively at the desk and the computer screen as they walked past. Two options were flashing up on the screen.
Room One. Room Two.

As she watched, the guard clicked on
Room Two
and at the far end of the corridor a metal shutter, the size of a garage door, began to rise.

Thanks, mate
, thought Cate to herself happily. Now she knew which room was which on the security system, and that was at least a start.

‘This way, kids.' José was shooing them all towards the opening and now Cate could feel the temperature dropping
further and could smell the salt water.

‘The dockyard,' said José, dramatically gesturing into the darkness that lay beyond the metal doors. ‘Don't get too close to the edge now.'

‘It's yellow!' The twins exclaimed as one. ‘It's a yellow submarine.'

It lay partially submerged in the dark, gently lapping water, its shark-like nose facing away from them. The doorway was open and from it a wooden walkway had been laid over to the pontoon on which Cate and the children now stood.

It was indeed a bright, egg-yolk yellow, but the black-tinted portholes that lay just above the water level gave it a slightly sinister air. Beyond the submarine stood the bows of the yacht and into one side was cut a huge flap, pockmarked with riveted steel and dripping with water.

‘The submarine entrance,' explained José to Oak. ‘It is where the submarine enters and leaves the ship.'

‘But why doesn't the boat sink when the hatch opens?' asked Oak.

‘Good question,' said José kindly. ‘When the submarine gets
ready to go out to sea, first of all the door we have just come through is closed tight. Sealed. Then the hatch is opened and the dock here is flooded just enough for the submarine to float out into the sea. The door closes, the dock drains, then the steel door opens again and all is back to normal. Clever, no?'

‘Clever,' agreed Oak.

Cate looked at the remnants of seawater still drying on the walls of the dock.

‘It went out not long ago?' she asked.

José shook his head. ‘No, Tass has not taken it out since he has been here in Antibes.'

Well, someone has used it
, thought Cate.
In the last day or so by the look of it and, if it wasn't Tass taking a pleasure trip, that must mean that the submarine was being used for something more businesslike. Moving animals around for example.

She seized her chance. ‘José,' she said loudly, making sure that the children could hear her. ‘José, I know I shouldn't ask, but would it be, in any way at all, possible for us to have a teeny little look in the submarine. Wouldn't that be great, children?'

‘Yes, yes, please, please let's have a look, please,' chorused Oak and the twins. To Cate's secret delight, little Willow dropped down onto her knees in a parody of begging. Cate saw José hesitate, his eyes swivelling from the children to the fat man who was sitting watching them from his position back along the corridor.

‘I will ask,' said José, weakening. ‘Wait here.'

He walked back to the guard and for a few minutes she could hear the soft murmur of voices. Then he went over to a telephone that was set into the wall. He dialled a number and
waited patiently but clearly there was no answer.

‘These phones,' he grumbled. ‘They never work down here in the submarine bay. The walkie talkies are the same. It's a waste of time trying.' José came to a decision. ‘OK, kids,' he said good-naturedly. ‘Just a quick look. But be very, very careful OK and no touching the controls.'

Cate thought fast. She had to get into the secret room and to do that she had to get past the guard. She looked back, sizing him up. He was unfit, that was for sure. But taking him on was not the answer. He'd just call for help and that would be that. No, there had to be another way.

Excitedly, the children filed onto the submarine, Oak leading the way, José and Cate bringing up the rear. The inside was disappointing, rather like a small bus, but with only a few forward facing seats and with a large cargo area. The interior was immaculate, smelling strongly of bleach and disinfectant as if it had just been washed out. Plenty of room for animals, but if there had been any in there recently, there was no sign of them now.

The younger children charged up and down the aisle climbing on the seats and trying to jump up and touch the low cream ceilings.

But the real excitement lay up at the front of the submarine where the controls were flashing and bleeping like something from an old-fashioned space movie.