Mastered by His Touch-Complete Box Set (24 page)

Chapter 6

Today was the day.

The Huangs were going out for a picnic lunch at sea with Sebastian and Valentina.

But I was the only one who knew that not only was Sebastian conning Maru Huang, but Maru Huang was about to con Sebastian.

I laughed again as I pushed a wheelbarrow full of new plants. I couldn't stop chuckling to myself. The whole thing was so fucked up, it was funny to me.

At first, I was offended that somebody was trying to con my mentor Sebastian. But now I find it hilarious. Mainly because Sebastian has turned into a goddamned lunatic.

He came to my hotel room the previous night, shitfaced on rum. He shocked me. He had become the very model of how
not
to be a professional con artist. Everything he taught me had gone out the window on this job.

He was too personally involved. This gold mine meant too much to him. His need to have it was going to be his undoing.

"This fucking moron is the biggest idiot I ever met," said Sebastian. "This is too easy. He's just going to hand me the location of the mine. Oh God, I love this! I just wish I could be there to see the expression on the poor fuck's face when he sees that the suitcase full of money is nothing but a suitcase full of newspaper clippings. Ha! Oh my God, I'm dying here!"

For the first time, I felt an urge to punch Sebastian. But I reminded myself that I knew Maru Huang's secret plan.

Then I laughed to myself.

I pictured Sebastian in the Himalayas, a pack of donkeys behind him as he scaled a mountain peak to find... nothing.

Fucking hilarious.

Sebastian eventually returned to his own room. I thought about going out to get one of my girls for a romp, but I just couldn't.

I had slept restlessly.

The next day as I planted a new batch of flowers into one of the big raised gardens outside the balcony of each seaside suite, I became worried. My brain went into overdrive.

What happens when Sebastian finds out that he's been conned by Maru Huang? He
will
find out eventually.

He'll come back and kill Maru Huang.

Shit.

I hadn't thought of that.

Fuck, this is getting complicated.

What do I do?

I could kill Sebastian.

No, I'm not a killer. I don't know if I could do it unless I was being attacked.

I could get Sebastian to attack me somehow.

Yes, I could get Sebastian to try to kill me. Then I would have no choice but to kill him.

I had never killed anyone before. The thought repulses me. It's not what I do. I cheat. I lie. I con.

But I do not kill.

These were my thoughts as I saw Mr. and Mrs. Huang loading their yacht with food for the picnic. The kids ran around the resort, yelling and screaming as usual.

Sebastian and Valentina were off getting their catamaran, on which they would rendezvous with the Huangs at sea.

I paused my planting for a minute. The hot sun seemed particularly strong today.

Mrs. Huang came out of the house with a cooler. She walked over to me. The fake locket around her neck looked exactly like the real one.

"Jacob," she said, "have you seen Kiri?"

Jacob was the name I was using on this job. Little did anyone know it is my real name.

"No," I said. "But she's probably hiding around here somewhere."

"That girl drives me insane," said Mrs. Huang. "Always hiding inside or underneath something. Jacob, could you please find her? Tell her to go to Teva. Teva is going to babysit the kids while we're out on this stupid picnic at sea which makes no sense."

"No problem," I said. "But first, let me get that for you."

I stood up, grabbing the cooler out of her hand.

"No, no," she said. "That's all right. You don't have to do that."

"I insist," I said. "After the way you treat me, you think I'm going to let you walk all the way to the dock carrying this heavy monstrosity?"

"Oh, thank you, Jacob. You're such a kind boy."

She followed me all the way down to the dock, where I stepped on the yacht with the cooler.

"Mealea, come on!" shouted Maru Huang from the fly bridge. "We have to go now! We're going to be late!"

"Where would you like it?" I said.

"Oh, there is fine," she said as she stepped onboard.

I put the cooler down and jumped back onto the dock.

Maru Huang fired up the engines. Mrs. Huang brought the cooler into the boat and disappeared inside.

"Jacob!" shouted Maru Huang. "Will you untie me?"

I untied the boat from the dock and gave Maru Huang a thumbs-up gesture. It began to drift away.

The engines kicked to life and I watched the big boat as it gathered speed.

If you had told me that was the moment my life was going to radically change forever, I wouldn't have believed you.

In the companionway of the yacht, I saw a little face pop up and wave at me with a big smile.

Oh, shit. It's Kiri!

"Ha ha!" she said as she went back into her hiding place.

"Kiri!" I shouted, my voice drowned by the sound of the engines.

Fuck.

What should I do?

Well, what's the big deal anyway? I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Huang will find her. It's even better that they have one of their kids with them. Might prevent Sebastian from doing anything he might regret.

Not that anything like that could happen.

Right?

Everything that had been simmering inside me exploded to the surface in a series of alarm bells. A disaster was about to happen. I knew it. I felt it in my bones. I had to stop it.

The old me would have just disappeared like a good con artist.

But I couldn't let anything happen to the Huangs or Kiri.

I need the real locket!

I ran full speed back to the house, all the way up the big steps.

Teva, the housekeeping supervisor, was in the Huang's kitchen with Narith and Dara.

"Jacob!" he said as I ran in and ripped open the flour can. "Have you seen Kiri?"

I didn't answer him as I ran, locket in hand, back to the dock.

My only option was a stupid dinghy. Maru Huang had recently sold his speedboat. The nearest one was at the next resort over and it was guarded by a team. This damned dinghy will have to do.

I got in, untied it, and began rowing.

Shit, I'll never catch them in this thing!

But I have to try.

I felt possessed. Nothing was going to prevent me from getting out there to stop whatever dreadful thing all my nerves told me was going to happen.

Shit, why didn't I stop them before they left? Why didn't my alarm bells go off earlier?

It was the little girl Kiri. She set off my alarm system. I can't let anything happen to her!

I rowed like a madman. Sweat poured off me.

I quickly realized that if there was one thing I hadn't mastered it was boating. As I drifted further and further out to sea, I marveled at how inept I was at getting the dinghy to go where I wanted it to go. A couple of times I thought a wave was going to swallow me but it didn't.

I'm not sure how much time went by. I swear it was a couple of hours, but maybe it wasn't that long.

I was in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by ocean on all sides. Big waves tossed me around. My stomach rolled.

This was a bad idea. I'm just going to end up dying out here. I should have taken the time to go over and steal a powerboat. What was I thinking?

I
hadn't
been thinking. That was the problem.

So I decided to turn around, cursing myself.

Then I saw them.

There they were!

The two boats. Sebastian's catamaran and Maru Huang's yacht.

I rowed toward them.

I had no idea how I was going to handle this, but I had to be there.

The spirit force that propelled me took over, granting me superhuman energy.

As I got closer to the two boats, I heard a gunshot.

Shit. No, it couldn't have been.

Then another. Then another.

No.

No.

No no NO!

I rowed faster.

Then I saw Sebastian standing on the deck of the yacht.

His white shirt was covered in blood.

I stopped rowing and lay face-down in the dinghy. If he killed them, then he could kill me. Better to stay down.

I peered over the edge of the dinghy, snippets of what was going on visible in flashes as the rough sea tossed me.

Sebastian got into the catamaran. He had tied a rope to the steering column way up on the yacht's fly bridge. Valentina got in the catamaran with him.

The girl. Where's Kiri? Did they kill her?

Sebastian maneuvered the catamaran around and hit his engines. Whatever he had tied the rope to on the fly bridge kicked up the engines of the yacht. It took off fast, spinning in circles.

After about twenty spins a giant wave came up and smashed into its side, tipping it backwards. The engines kicked off.

I don't know what Sebastian did, but the boat was sinking.

The catamaran was almost gone on the horizon. If they had seen my dinghy, they hadn't paid any attention to it. I was probably hidden by the large waves.

I rowed toward the big yacht, its large end now completely underwater. I heard loud creaking and breaking sounds as the powerful ocean tore it apart.

As I got closer, I saw the bodies of Maru and Mealea Huang. Covered in blood.

Sebastian, you bastard! You murderous bastard! We're not supposed to kill anybody! Not ever!

For the first time in my life, I had found what felt like a home. Like these people were my family.

And now they're dead.

Dead by the hands of my mentor.

Dead by my own hands.

I killed them.

I killed them by being a part of this.

I heard a big cracking sound. The boat lurched backwards and toppled. The bodies fell into the sea. I watched the lifeless head of Mrs. Huang as it bobbed for a while and then sank beneath the waves.