Alison Found

"Tell me again, what happened?"

Jeff looked at him groggily and reached for the bottle of water that Mandy was holding out to him. He washed his mouth out, spitting the mouthful overboard, then drank half of the contents in one go.

Jeff looked at me and mouthed, "Sorry," and my heart turned icy.

"What the fuck has happened and where is she?"

"That's what I'm trying to work out," David snapped. "It seems she met up with some friends last night and could just be staying with them." There was a lack of conviction in his last comment that made my hackles rise.

"She would have let me know," I started. David hushed me, then gestured at Jeff to continue.

He swallowed and said, "Miss Bell met a couple of friends in the club and decided to join their group for a while after her companions left to come back here. I called my backup for the night to join me, the new girl, Petra. I wasn't worried, but there are some places I can't follow the target that a woman could." He shrugged, and David nodded.

"We wanted to get back, and Ali said she would only be a short while, she just wanted to catch up. Jeff was with her, so we weren't worried," Paul pointed out.

Jeff said, "It only took Petra five minutes to get there, and honestly boss, it was just a precaution. Nothing seemed out of place. Ashley knew the people in the group, they were friends, and I've seen her with them before."

"Who?" "Where is Petra?" The questions came from David and me simultaneously.

"I don't know boss, and it was Simon Davies and that Italian guy, Antonio. There was another guy and several women who Ashley seemed to know. They turned up just as we were getting ready to leave."

"Just them?"

"There was a couple of Antonio's security team with them, I've seen them around before."

I interrupted and said urgently, "Ali's disappeared, and we are sitting around doing fuck all. Christ, has anybody tried calling her phone? We need to call the police."

David made a calming gesture at me. "Of course we tried her phone, it's switched off. I've already got the rest of the team checking out the town, and we are chasing up the staff at the club. Somebody must have seen who she left with. I want all the details before we think about involving the local police, I'm not sure how effective they would be, so I've called in support from the home office."

He looked at Jeff who continued. "They saw Ashley and came over. I think everyone appeared surprised to see the others there. They," and he nodded at Mandy and Paul, "said their goodbyes and left. Ashley joined Simon's group, and they found a quiet corner to sit in."

He paused as though gathering his thoughts. "I was off to one side where I could watch her, Antonio's guys were with me. Petra turned up a few moments later. Ashley seemed pleased to see the women but somewhat irritated with Simon and Antonio. They ordered a round of drinks and when the waitress returned she had several bottles of water for us, the security team I mean," he confirmed.

"Boss, I'm not stupid, it was a sealed bottle, and I selected mine randomly from those on the tray. It was hot, and I was thirsty, and Petra wasn't drinking."

He groaned softly and looked at me. "It must have been spiked because after a few minutes the room was spinning, and I remember starting to slump to the floor. I came to about an hour ago in one of those little squares over there. I got back here, and nobody had seen her or Petra."

One of the security team hurried across the road towards us, and David stepped down to meet him.

They spoke, and I heard David snarl, "Fuck."

He waved me over. "The 'Mirabelle' was moored in the harbor on the other side of town."

"Was moored?"

"It left first thing this morning, and now we find out that it's been under charter to the Rossi fashion business all this time. It's Antonio who's been following us."

"And he's taken her!"

"I don't know; I'm sure she's on the boat but not if she's a willing or unwilling guest."

"She can't be with him voluntarily. For Christ sake, he drugged Jeff."

"But not Petra."

"That we know of, and if she wasn't, then where is she?"

His face stony, he responded, "That's what I bloody well want to know."

I stood there completely at a loss, I'd come back to the boat a happy if sick man. Now for a second time, my world was imploding, and I'd lost the woman I loved.

He picked up on my anguish, "Josh, I've never seen her as happy as she's been these last few weeks, she loves you, this isn't her having second thoughts. She'd never go away without letting me know; she hasn't in all the years I've worked with her. We will find her, I'll call in a few favors, and we should be able to get satellite imagery of the region shortly, it'll cost us, but I have a healthy budget. We know what time the boat left so we should be able to find and track it."

"This is all so fucked up," I murmured. "What's wrong with the guy? How does he even think he's going to get away with it?"

"His family has a lot of powerful contacts, but even so, I don't understand his reasoning." He stopped and looked thoughtful. "I need to call an old friend; there's a chance he might be able to help."

"So call him," I said.

"Let's go back to the boat and I will, I don't want to be overheard."

Back on the boat, we settled down in the salon, and David checked through his contacts until he found the one he was looking for. "I'll put it on speaker, but you need to let me do the talking. I'll explain everything after the call."

He didn't wait for me to respond and made a call.

A deep American voice answered, "Davy, my man, how can I help you."

"Jamal, great to hear your voice, you old bastard."

"Somehow I don't think this is a social call, what's up, man."

"My principal has been kidnapped, and I have a feeling that yours might be able to put me in touch with someone who can help me find her."

"Who is she?"

"Ashley Bell, but the kidnapping isn't out in the public domain yet."

"I understand, so how can Alisha help you."

"We think Antonio Rossi of the Rossi fashion house is involved, and I need to get in touch with his father Maurizio. I seem to recall that he and Ali Mac are old friends."

"Maurizio Rossi, oh, you mean Maurice. No way man, he's a gentleman from to old school. He'd never be involved in anything like that."

"We are not saying he is, but we need him to talk his son. Antonio is using a yacht that was chartered by the fashion house.

There was a long pause from Jamal's side, and I gave David a questioning look. He gave a shake of his head and whispered, "Wait." There was a hint of a muffled conversation in the background, and I could see David's straining to try to make anything out.

A soft sensual woman's voice spoke, breaking the silence. "David, I think you need to explain why I should help you. You are accusing the son of one of my oldest friends, and I need you to convince me why I should believe you."

I put my hand on David's arm, "let me speak to her," I whispered.

He shrugged his shoulders and pushed the phone closer to me.

"Hi Alisha, I'm Josh Thomas, and I'm Alison's fiancé."

"Alison, I thought this was about Ashley Bell?

"It is," I stammered. "She, they, they are the same person. I've known Ali for years, and I just don't think of her as Ashley."

"Ahh, okay, that I can understand. But now I need to understand why I should help you. Why I should put a dear friendship at risk?"

So I told her what we knew and what we thought we knew. Several times I paused as she or Jamal wanted confirmation of specific points.

"So that's where we stand," I wrapped up. "Ali was last seen in the club in Antonio's company, now he, the boat, and Ali are missing, and we have one pissed off drugged bodyguard with a wicked headache."

"I need to ask David a question," Alisha said, "and I need you to let him answer it."

I grunted, and David said yes.

"You've worked for Ashley for years, has she ever disappeared on you before. Only Jamal tells me that she and Antonio have a history together. She's gone away with him in the past, and the other one, Simon was her boyfriend. Is there any chance that she wants to be with one or the other of them and this isn't an abduction?"

I gave a growl, but David angrily waved me to keep quiet as he answered her question.

"Extremely unlikely, her relationship with Simon ended somewhat bitterly, months ago. Her friendship with Antonio was just that. She considered him just a casual friend, although he's been trying to be much more for as long as she's known him. So no, I don't think she would go away with either of them voluntarily. Not now that she's got Josh back in her life."

"I believe you," Alisha said, a hint of anguish in her voice. "I need to make a call, and I'm not looking forward to it. We'll get back to you," and with that, the call ended.

After a moment of silence, I asked David. "Will it work?"

"I hope so; rumor has it that his father is the only man Antonio is scared of."

We didn't sit around waiting for David's phone to ring. His team had set up a temporary command center on the 'Xander' and that's where we waited. The first of the satellite images of the region were now available on a secure website. We were apparently buying time on a commercial mapping satellite. At least that what I understood, but the images looked sharper than the ones I was used to on Google maps.

They weren't in real time, the latest sequence was from six this morning, and they showed the 'Mirabelle' close to the entrance of the harbor, White at her stern indicating she was underway. The last showed her heading in a southerly direction.

"We'll get access to more, soon," I was told. "We've widened the search perimeter now we have an idea in which direction they are possibly heading."

I think it was the longest day of my life, the sun crawling across the sky measuring the degree of my despair. Around us, the world spun to its own tune unaware of the events unfolding. It seemed ridiculous that we were just sitting around while the boat was traveling further away each minute, but without proof there was no way the authorities would dare stop the 'Mirabelle' on the high seas, we needed proof!

Reports trickled in; one of Antonio's bodyguards was seen half carrying Jeff from the club. A victim of drinking to excess had been the explanation given to the club staff. The rest of the group had apparently left about an hour later. Several of the women seemingly needing assistance to walk. The bouncer at the door thought that Ali was one of the women, but he wasn't sure as she'd been in the midst of the group when they left.

Worryingly, one woman he was sure had left with them was Petra as he remembered her arriving in a run which had struck him as odd and he'd asked if she was okay, so she'd stuck in his memory. She'd been walking freely, moving amongst the group. David had received this titbit by throwing his coffee mug across the deck.

"Fuck, that's how they always seemed to know where we were going, I'd hoped that they'd forced her to with them." He shouted. "Search her gear and bunk; let's hope their actions took her by surprise and she left us a few answers behind."

He turned to me anger flashing in his eyes. "She's only been with us for three months and came with the best references, guys I'd trust my life with. I don't know what fucking went wrong, but I'll guarantee you, I bloody well will."

All I wanted to do was sail out on the 'Girl' and search for her, but even I accepted that without intelligence, it would be like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.

We were able to follow the 'Mirabelle' in fits and starts as more satellite imagery became available. The boat was still traveling in a southeasterly direction, hugging the Adriatic coastlines of the outer islands. This was obviously to be able to make a dash for international waters should the authorities attempt to stop them. We were only getting updates every 90 minutes, so for most of the time, their position was an educated guess. Mid-afternoon we lost her, our best guess was they'd taken refuge in one of the numerous small coves along a fifty mile stretch of the coastline. Most probably anchored in the shadow of a cliff where the camera couldn't see her.

"We'll get one more pass before darkness falls," David told me. "Somehow I don't think they will risk a night passage." He pointed at the chart on the table where we had marked out the most likely stretch of coastline. "We will have a chopper on standby at first light. It can check the coves in that area."

We didn't spot the her on the next set of images of the region, so the waiting game continued. All of us kept glancing at the phone resting in the middle of the chart, willing it to ring.

It wasn't until late that evening that we got the call we'd been waiting on tender hooks for. David answered and used the speaker feature so we could hear.

After the pleasantries were over, Alisha took over the call from Jamal and got down to brass tacks.

"Fortunately for all of us, Maurice is staying at his daughter's villa near Saint-Tropez, he's spoiling his grandchildren. Fortunate because I was in Carcassonne with my family, only a short drive away."

"I took my family with me, Maurice is my daughter's godfather, and was pleased to see us that is until I explained why! He called Antonio while I was there, expecting him to deny everything. But he doesn't deny that Ashley is with him, he's saying that she's there as a willing guest. I asked to speak to her, in fact, I insisted, but he initially refused. Finally, after his father insisted, a woman with a faint American accent spoke to me."

"What did she say," I blurted out.

"Josh, it wasn't her, I met her a couple of years ago, and while it sounded a bit like her, the Ashley I met didn't have an American accent. Plus, she didn't respond when I called her Alison."

"Is there any possibility you could get her on the phone again?" David asked. "So we can confirm that."

"There's no need; I can confirm that she's on the boat and she's not a willing guest. Antonio's bodyguards are employed by the fashion house, not him. Maurice got his head of security to call them and read them the riot act; they confirmed that he's got her locked up in a cabin."

"Where are they?"

"That's the problem, Maurice knows where they are, he got the charter company to activate the boat's remote tracker, and of course, the bodyguard's phones all have GPS. But he won't tell you until you agree to let him deal with his son, and the police are not to be involved."

Visions of tossing the bastard overboard attached to an anchor faded, but if the old man thought I wasn't going to give his son a good kicking he was sadly mistaken. I was willing to give him lip service if that was what I had to do to get her back.

"Agreed," I said, preempting David's response.

"Good, I'll get the security chief to send you the details. The captain has been told to stay where they are and to ignore Antonio's orders. The bodyguards will get all the other guests off the boat."

"Not Petra," David almost shouted. "I want her wrapped up like a parcel for us. I'm going to make the rest of life as miserable as is possible."

"Who's Petra?" Asked a confused Alisha.

"She was one of Alison's bodyguards," I explained. "It seems she decided to play for the other team and David is not amused. He'd like to explain the errors of her ways to her."

"That's understandable," Jamal growled. "I'll pass on the request that she is confined to the boat."

Jamal continued with the details. "All of the security team on the boat have been reminded who they work for, and understand their role. The crew has been informed by their employers that it is the Rossi fashion house who paid for the charter, and that Antonio no longer works for it. The captain is expecting a call from you; I'll text you all the details."

"The bottom line is that you will have to go and get her, as Antonio isn't going just to hand her over. But remember," Jamal continued, "The bodyguards will be given their instructions not to interfere, but they won't allow you to injure their principal permanently, although I get the impression that Maurice wasn't adverse to his son coming home with the odd bruise."

"Why can't the bodyguards take Ali somewhere safe we can pick her up?" I asked, confused at the complexity of the proposal.

"One moment," David told the callers and pressed the mute button. "That would make Maurice complicit," he explained. "From this point onwards, nobody associated with him or the family business can be seen to interact with Ashley. It's why Jamal stressed that Antonio had been fired. We need to go and collect her, which shouldn't be an issue as he's telling people that she's a guest and can leave whenever she wants."

I nodded, not that I totally understood all the semantics, but I was willing to accept the situation if it meant getting Ali back. I didn't care what the bodyguards thought, Antonio and I were going to have a few words.

David unmuted the phone and explained that I understood the situation and would accept it.

"Plan to act tomorrow evening," Jamal stated. "The crew will ensure that the other guests will be out of the way. Antonio will be confined to his cabin after midnight. The boat is currently moored in a cove on the northern end of Dugi Otok. It will suffer a mechanical issue soon after they set off, forcing the captain to head back for the marina at Veli Rat. It'll have to anchor in the bay; it's too big for the inner marina."

"What happens if he tries to abandon the boat and take Ali with him?" I asked.

"He won't be allowed to. He'll be told that the repairs will only take an hour and none of the yacht's tenders are available.

I couldn't believe that Antonio was just going to sit there and let us take Ali from him, and nobody had mentioned Simon. What was his role in all of this?

We received the final details the next morning. The 'Mirabelle' was on her way back to port, cruising at a vastly reduced speed as the captain simulated a major engine failure. The charter firm had sent us plans of the boat, and the Italian bodyguards on board had confirmed Ali's location. The other bit of news was that apart from the crew, and the bodyguards, there were only three others on board. Antonio, Simon, and Ali.

We took the 'Girl' in case Petra had managed to conceal a tracker on 'Xander' before she left. She hadn't been on the 'Lost Girl,' so there was less chance we could be tracked.

We anchored a good three miles from the marina, on the far side of a tall headland. We'd been towing a Zodiac, and just before midnight David, Jeff and I boarded the inflatable, and the quiet electric outboard pushed us at a fair speed to a small beach just short of the last headland before our target.

We knew that the full moon could be a problem; it was too bright, and we were sure to be spotted as we approached the marina. We were going to have to delay until it set. The ideal time for us to approach the yacht would have been 1:30 am, but the moon didn't set until 2:30 and we needed to be back on the 'Girl,' well before any of the local fishermen began stirring when dawn broke.

The three of us waited by the beached zodiac, dressed in black wetsuits. We watched as the moon crawled towards the horizon. At last, it disappeared, and the moon glow vanished, leaving the sea and the coastline of the island in almost complete darkness. Our only illumination the countless stars in the night sky, and the reflected lights from the small town the other side of the marina.