Massive Attack (A Guy Niava Thriller Book 1) by Dana Arama (diy ebook reader TXT) 📕

A heavy door opened on squeaky hinges, loud enough to be heard above the noise of the rising helicopter. As it flew off, the person with the soft voice led me slowly inside. He put my hand on something which felt like a metal pipe of some sort, cold and round. He led me carefully down a flight of metal stairs. I felt my way down, holding on to the rail with such force borne of apprehension. Down below, I could hear the sound of the waves beating against the body of the ship, for surely we must be on a ship. Every wave was a farewell from home, which faded further and further away.

“Can I take the blindfold off?” I asked again. I didn’t know how many people surrounded me, but no one answered. Not even the person with the soft voice, yet I knew I wasn’t alone.

“What’s wrong with you?” Yassin’s voice bellowed, “He’s one of us. Take off the bandanna!”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was sure he’d given the order to cover my eyes and this was an act to force me to feel grateful. Only when I stood up on the steel floor did someone from behind me untie the knot and lift the blindfold. A table stood next to the wall, under the round, port window. On the table lay a round tray which held steaming cups, and above that a light shone. I looked around. Another three spotlights lit up the basement and it looked like a gloomy jail cell, except for that particular spot around the table. Yassin was waiting there, dressed in a fitted uniform, a cup of tea in his hand. Besides him were three men, all wearing the same uniform.

“What are you doing in the middle of the ocean when there is an operation to run on land?”

Yassin smiled at those around him and pointed at me. “You see? Do you understand why this man is dangerous? Because he understands a thing or two!” He came up to me and hugged me as if he hadn’t seen me in years. “Besides the fact that it is harder to track me here, a lot of the equipment is here. We need to transfer it between the different cities without being stopped.”

“So why not use trucks?”

“I considered it. A fleet of trucks picking up the goods in one place and dispersing them in different locations. Do you have any idea how easy it is to follow the trail? How many people need to be involved? I rejected the idea because I don’t trust people.”

In one of the darker corners, I made out the boy, hunched over. His right foot was straight in front of him and his ankle was in an unnatural position. It had been a good idea to keep his shoe on the broken foot. He must be in a lot of pain. I could see he’d been crying, but that wasn’t the worst part. Even from where I was standing, I could see his face was distorted from being smashed about. He reminded me of the little whore, after Yassin had finished with her. Had he raped the boy too? According to the Besa law, he was under my care and I had neglected him badly by not looking out for him. Was I in for a face treatment like the boy?

The boy looked at me, frightened. He seemed to brighten up a bit when he recognized me. I almost smiled at him but caught myself in time. If Yassin had noticed it, he wouldn’t have asked why I was happy. I wouldn’t have been able to show happiness anymore, ever. On the one hand, I was cross with the boy because I had been notified that as soon as I had let him touch his laptop, the little rascal managed to send a location point to the police. Only by sheer luck had we managed to leave the apartment before the raid started. The girls were arrested and the apartment, which was my safe house as far as I was concerned, was now under their surveillance and therefore not useable anymore. On the other hand, I knew that I had to let the kid carry out the same trick again, because someone needed know we were on this ship and quickly, before it was too late, and we disappeared into the depths of the ocean. I had no doubt, that as far as Yassin was concerned, the boy and I were both a loose thread at the end of the carpet that he knitted so well, and the frayed edge was a problem needed to be taken care of.

“Where is his computer?” I asked Yassin and pointed at the boy. I was scared that if I didn’t show self-confidence now and prove to him that we were both needed, we wouldn’t survive to see the sunrise.

“Why do you need his computer?” Yassin was a hard person to fool. Hard and suspicious and impossible to work with, but I answered with patience, “I don’t need the computer, you do.”

“And why do you think I need it?”

“Because the boy has special programs in his laptop which enables him to infiltrate other computers.” I smiled patiently. “Because you said something about his father’s programs…”

Yassin looked at the kid and said, “Mmm… I don’t like that idea.”

“What idea?” I was hoping the boy would work his magic again and that they would find us in time, before my little megalomaniac friend started a world war and drew me into it with him. My connection with Yassin already threatened to turn my world upside down and ruin everything I was trying to build for myself here in the United States. It was trampling on all my plans. I was starting to dislike this whole idea more and more.

“Can you hack into your father’s computer from an ordinary computer as well?” Yassin turned to