“The Rescue” – Part 3

“How much longer?” Colin asked Mr. Smith, breaking the hour-long silence that had fallen between them after they’d driven off from the dock in Coffs Harbour. He’d kept close watch in the rear-view, making sure his brother-in-law, Adam, was still falling close behind in the truck. Nervously, he shifted in his seat, waiting for the strange man – this Mr. Smith, or whatever the hell his real name was – to answer.

Mr. Smith smiled back at him, an uncomfortable forced smile, Colin thought, “Not much longer now, perhaps another 15 minutes. Just want to be certain no one is following us. Well, no one besides Mr. Laughlin, anyway. We can’t lose him now, can we.”

Colin nodded, checked the rear-view again. Adam was still there, still following. Good. If anything should befall Adam, well, that just couldn’t happen – not if they wanted to get Raine back alive. Colin just hoped that once they made the drop that Dob would in fact hold up to his promise and let Raine go free.

Minutes later, Mr. Smith pulled the vehicle up to the security gate at the end of a long driveway. Colin sat up in his seat, looked around. They were in a wooded area – nothing but trees as far as he could see. Beyond the security gate appeared to be a long driveway, most likely leading to what Colin assumed would be a house.

“This your home then?” Colin asked, one eye on Mr. Smith and the other watching the rearview for Adam pulling up in the truck behind them.

“This would be my home, yes,” Mr. Smith replied, rolling down his window and punching in a series of numbers on the security keypad outside the gate. The gate slowly began to slide open, allowing them to drive through.

Once both vehicles were clear of the gate, it closed behind, locking them in and the rest of the world out. They continued down the long drive until they came to a clearing where a huge estate sat. Mr. Smith parked his car out front, waiting for Adam to pull up behind him, “Come on then, we’ve got some unloading to do,” he told Colin, then quickly exited the car and rushed over to the truck where Adam was just climbing out.

“Fancy place you got here, Mr. Smith,” Adam told him, stumping out his cigarette. “So, you want we should unload the cargo for you, then? Bring it inside for you?”

“Yes, yes, please, let’s get on with it,” Mr. Smith told him, most eagerly, as he ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “Quickly, now, get the lock off and let’s see what we’ve got.”

“Not until you show me the rest of the money, mate,” Adam told him, folding his arms.

Mr. Smith held up his chin, looked down his nose at the lad, his eyes narrowed. “Fine, fine, whatever you want,” he told him, “Its just inside the house. Wait here.”

He turned on his heel and rushed up the steps to the house and quickly disappeared inside.

“Mate, I don’t like this,” Colin whispered to Adam, “Somethin’ ain’t quite right here.”

“He didn’t....um...do anything... funny... while he was driving you, did he?” Adam asked.

“Funny?” Colin asked, then realized what Adam was getting at, “Shit no! Mostly he was just quiet like, hardly spoke the whole ride.” He looked over at the cargo box, “What do you reckon then?”

“No idea, mate,” Adam replied, “Told you, it could be anything in there. Dob’s got his hands into all sorts of dealings, most of which I don’t even know about.”

“Shh... here he comes,” Colin whispered, noticing the front door to the house suddenly open.

Mr. Smith came rushing down the steps towards them, a leather briefcase – similar to the first one he’d given them back at the docks – clutched in his left hand. “Here we are, it’s all here, I assure you. Please, have a count, then let’s get moving on unloading my merchandise.”

Adam took the briefcase from the man, took a deep breath, looked over briefly at Colin, then opened the case. Once it was open, he let out the breath he’d been holding in and began counting the stacks of bills. Satisfied it was all there, he closed the case and nodded to Colin.

“Good, good,” Mr. Smith told him, smiling eerily, “Now, please, unlock the cargo box.”

Adam set the case down inside the front of the truck then took the keys and unlocked the locked box. Once the lock was off, he pulled open the doors and peered inside.

The two of them stood there, opened mouthed as they peered into the dark box in front of them.

“Don’t just stand there,” Mr. Smith told them, “Help me get them out of there and inside. Quickly now, get a move on, I’m sure they won’t bite.”

Colin and Adam exchanged looks of concern, “Mate, think you can manage on your own?” Colin asked him, pointing down to the cast on his own leg.

“Yeah, just give me a hand getting them out, I’ll do the rest,” Adam replied, then quickly climbed up into the large metal box. A moment later, he emerged, carrying a young lady over his shoulder. Inside the box, there was one more, as scantily dressed and unconscious as the first, as well as several large wooden boxes.

Colin helped as Adam climbed down with her, using one of his crutches to balance himself.

“Inside, quickly,” Mr. Smith urged them, looking around to make sure no one had slipped through his security system and was watching them.

“Where to?” Adam asked, once they were inside the house.

“This way, please, this way, chop-chop,” Mr. Smith replied, leading them down a long hallway. “In here, quickly, in here,” he told them, unlocking the door to a large bedroom.

Colin and Adam reluctantly did what they were told, carefully setting the unconscious girl on a large bed. She was young, pretty, late-teens, early twenties possibly and Colin noticed several track marks her arms. He cleared his throat, fighting back his emotion. He just kept reminding himself that his sister was out there somewhere – depending on him to save her. If this was the way to do it, so be it. He’d deal with his feelings later, right now he had to finish what he’d started so he could get Raine back. That’s all that mattered, that’s all he could care about for now.

“Hurry, there’s more to retrieve,” Mr. Smith urged the two men, ushering them back down the hallway and out to the truck.

After the other women had been safely tucked away upstairs, Adam began unloading the boxes, which they soon found out contained large quantities of heroine. Mr. Smith had Adam carry the boxes downstairs to his basement, where he then had him open each of the containers to check their contents. When the last box was opened, Mr. Smith pulled out one of the bags, cut a slit in it.

“Mr. Laughlin,” he said, “shall we sample it then?”

“You go ahead, mate,” Adam told the man, “Designated driver, remember?” he pointed to Colin’s broken leg.

“Fine, very well then,” he told him, pulled out a small black case and set about prepping the heroin in a syringe. “Colin, you’ll have to be my guinea pig, then,” he said, “best to sit down.”

Colin just looked at him, “No thanks, I don’t mess with that shit,” Colin told the man, nervously backing away. “I prefer to have my wits about me, if its all the same to you.”

“I’m afraid that’s not an option, now, if you will please,” he pointed to a straight-back chair, “If you have the desired reaction, I’ll know I got my money’s worth and its safe for myself and my...guests.”

“The fuck I will,” Colin told him, backing up towards the door. “Told ya, mate, I don’t do that shit.”

Mr. Smith frowned, “Your employer assured me that you would do as I wished until I am one hundred percent satisfied with the shipment. Pity I’ll have to tell him you weren’t as willing to please as he suggested you might be.” He pulled out his cell phone, began to dial a number.

“Wait, hold off,” Adam told him, urgently, “I’ll test it for you, alright?”

“Mate, what are you doing? I can’t drive that truck out there – not with my leg like this,” Colin told him.

“No worries, I’m sure Mr. Smith here will let me crash a while until I’ve got my wits about me enough to drive. Right, mate?”

Mr. Smith smiled a satisfied smile, nodded, “Of course, of course, what do you take me for, some kind of heartless monster?” he chortled.

Colin just looked at him, biting his tongue to keep from saying what he really thought of the man.

“Now then that that’s settled, have a seat, lad, and let’s get on with our sampling, shall we?”

Adam nodded, took off his jacket, handed it to Colin. “I’ll be fine, no worries, Dob wouldn’t cross such an important client,” he assured his brother-in-law. He rolled up his sleeve, allowed Mr. Smith to do the deed.

Once it was injected, Adam quickly began feeling the effects of the drug, slumping over in the chair. Colin quickly grabbed his shoulders before he slid sideways off the chair and eased him back.

“This the desired effect you were looking for, then?” Colin scoffed, glaring up at Mr. Smith.

“Yes, yes, I think this will do just fine,” he replied, smiling. “Now, if you’ll just follow me, I believe I have something else for you, something you will be most interested in.”

Colin looked at Adam, the lad was out. Alive, but out. Once he was outta there, once he and Adam had Raine back home and safe, Colin planned to have a little chat with the authorities about Mr. Smith here. But for now, first things first. He gritted his teeth, nodded to Mr. Smith, and slowly followed him back up the stairs.

TBC...