“Bet that thing can really move,” said Pike.

“It can do up to forty knots,” said Barfoot. “Faster than the Princess.”

“Wouldn’t mind taking it for a spin sometime,” commented Pike.

“Go ahead, be my guest,” replied Barfoot, reaching for the walkie-talkie.

Moments later, Khalid came ashore and Pike roared off in the tender. When Khalid approached the fire, he walked around a little and put his hands on his hips to stretch his muscles.

Jack hesitated, wondering whether to creep back toward the treeline, but decided that Khalid had no reason to venture his way.

Khalid stood for a moment, looking toward the piece of driftwood where the others had been target-practising earlier. The shape of three coconuts remained and were barely visible in the darkness. He then bent over and tossed another piece of wood into the fire and the flames crackled and momentarily shot higher.

Jack put his face into the sand so that it would not reflect the light. Three shots barked out in rapid succession and he felt the nerves in his body twitch. His impulse was to flee, but when he looked up, he realized Khalid was shooting at the coconuts.

Jack took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to calm himself. Khalid had used a pistol and all three shots had found their mark. With a rifle, it may have been easy, but considering that Khalid had opted to use a pistol at that distance, Jack was impressed with his ability.

“Khalid, hand me your binos,” said Barfoot. “I want to take a look at that.”

Jack saw that Barfoot was looking at the lights of another boat farther out to sea.

“What is it?” asked Oskar. “Squid boat?”

“No,” replied Barfoot. “Luxury boat. Probably about a fifty-footer. Lights on and barely moving. My guess is a romantic dinner cruise,” he said, handing the binoculars back to Khalid. “Maybe somebody else enjoying their corporate asset,” he joked.

“Think they will have heard the shots?” asked Oskar.

“Probably, but nobody ever pays attention. They sell so many fireworks in Thailand that people don’t even bother to look up at stuff like this.” Barfoot glanced at Khalid and added, “That being said, that was nice shooting, but we are trying to relax. I want you to walk the beach and see if the tide has brought him in yet.”

Barfoot and Oskar were relatively quiet for a few minutes while Khalid wandered down the beach. Eventually Oskar stood and stretched for a moment, gazing out at the ocean before saying, “Speaking of corporate assets, where the hell is our floater?”

“I don’t know,” replied Barfoot. “He should have rolled in by now. I had Razak toss a pig carcass over the side yesterday around the same time. It washed up in about two and a half hours.”

Jack felt pleased with what he had heard. Barfoot had clearly implicated himself.

“We’ve already been here three hours, replied Oskar, looking at his watch.

“Hope he didn’t get tangled in some kelp, or something,” muttered Barfoot. “It would make me feel better to know we have the body. Insurance companies can be a little sticky otherwise.”

Oskar sat back down and the men were silent for a moment, watching Pike roar around on the tender. Eventually Pike returned to the yacht. The Princess had most of its lights on and from shore, they could see Razak helping Pike step aboard.

“What’s Pike up to?” wondered Barfoot.

“He was doing a little bit of the Mexican two-step earlier,” replied Oskar. “Probably a trip to the head.”

“Hope he doesn’t have what Stew Potter has,” replied Barfoot.

“Speaking of that idiot,” chuckled Oskar, “wouldn’t it be funny if after all this planning, that he died on his own?”

“That would be hilarious, as long as he does it when we still have insurance on him,” noted Barfoot.

“I’m going to give the hospital a call,” said Oskar. “Maybe our ship already came in, so to speak.”

Moments later, Jack heard Oskar connect with the hospital. “Yes, I’m calling about Stewart Potter. I’m worried about him. Is he okay?” Seconds later, Oskar jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over backwards. “Say that again!”

“What is it?” asked Barfoot.

Oskar looked stunned as he hung up, staring at the phone.

“Oskar? What’s up?” prodded Barfoot. “Is he dead?”

“Christ, far from it,” replied Oskar. “You won’t believe it.”

“Believe what?” demanded Barfoot.

“The nurse said not to worry about him and that he is fine. She said the police who were protecting him in the hospital took him to the airport.”

Jack groaned inwardly. His instincts told him to leave, but at the same time he wanted to hear what they would say. He flattened himself down on the sand and inched a little closer, barely breathing as he strained to listen. It was a move that wasn’t necessary. Panic had caused the men to raise their voices.

“They’re on to us!” blurted Barfoot, getting to his feet.

“Gotta be,” replied Oskar, his voice sounding shrill. “What’ll we do?”

“Get our asses back to Malaysia,” said Barfoot, determinedly. “We’ll be safe there.”

Jack frowned. Okay, so you’ll all get away with murder … not really my business on how international politics works. Don’t make it personal. If they’re not extradited, that’s the way the cookie crumbles …

“Then let’s go,” said Oskar. “Get the tender back here!”

“Hang on a sec,” replied Barfoot. “Let’s sit a minute, he said, motioning with his hand for Oskar to sit. “We should think things through a bit. First of all, how did they get on to us?”

Oskar stared at Barfoot for a moment, then took a seat. “Maybe the insurance companies finally put it together,” he suggested.

“Maybe, but if so, what do they really know?” questioned Barfoot. “Or better yet, what can they prove?”

“None of us have been arrested yet … so maybe they don’t have anything,” replied Oskar, optimistically.

“Maybe.”

“Still, I’d feel safer talking about it back in Malaysia.”

“Didn’t you think it kind of funny that one of our best guys slipped and died while trying to kill Jack in the Golden Triangle?”

“What are you getting at?”

“And that we haven’t found Jack’s body yet?”

Oskar looked stunned. “Christ, I really don’t like where this is headed.”

“There was even that moorage line,” said Barfoot, thoughtfully.

“Moorage line?”

“Hanging off the bow. It should have been nicely curled on the deck and not hanging in the water.”

“Oh my God!” replied Oskar. “You’re thinking he is still alive and hitched a ride back with us?”

“Possibly.”

Jack saw both men turn and look toward the ocean, then Oskar rummaged in the duffle bag and grabbed a pistol and got to his feet. “If he is, we better find him. The island isn’t that big. It shouldn’t take long.”

Jack slowly started to inch his way backwards.

“If it was daytime, we might find him,” replied Barfoot. “That’s if he is around, or doesn’t swim out and hide in the ocean.”

“We can’t leave him! If he’s alive, we’re dead!”

“I know, but if he is, I don’t think we would find him before the police found us.”

“Then we sure as Christ better get the hell out of here!”

“I agree, but it is important to calm down and think logically. How do we know they’re not looking for us right now?” asked Barfoot.

“You’re thinking that could be them on that boat you were looking at?” asked Oskar, as he spun around to look out over the ocean.

“No, that one’s too nice. These waters are usually patrolled by the Thai military. Neither they nor the police have any boats that look that nice.”

“Good, then let’s get out of here.”

“Let me finish. If the police were protecting Potter, you can bet they were protecting Jack as well. My guess is they’re probably doing their best to locate the Malaysian Princess at this very moment.”

“So both the military and the police could be looking for us?”