Die for You

Chapter 71

"Good to see you again, Mrs A," James said once we were safely on the road. He'd met us at the airport to take us to our hotel; hushing our demands for an update politely, but firmly, until we got into the car and away from listening ears. "Did you have a good flight? I won't ask you the same thing Blondie," he added with a wink to me, "because I have no doubt you didn't."

"It was a long one, James," Jenna replied simply before I could respond, "but thankfully we both got some sleep so it wasn't that bad. Now what's going on, what have you found out since you've been here?"

"Nothing useful so far," James admitted, "the team have been digging a little, but no-one's talking much. Current feeling is that these guys are serious, and they're not going to budge on anything they're asking for."

"They can't seriously expect us to be able to organize all of that in a couple of days, can they?" Jenna replied shaking her head, "I mean it's just impossible."

"I hope not," James replied, "their deadline is about twelve hours away. From what Mel's found out, the British Consulate is acting through intermediaries to try and secure the release of thehostages, but we've no idea how successful they've been."

"So you think they'll go ahead with their threats then?" I asked, with a dry mouth that had nothing to do with the temperature.

"Nah," he drawled dramatically, "I think they're fucking with us, making us jump through fucking hoops for their amusement. I think that their next move will be more demands and a lot more threats. I don't think their next video will be pleasant to see, but I'm sure they're bluffing."

"I hope so boss," I said nodding, "I really do fucking hope so... so what's the plan then?"

"Well now," he drawled, "someone's been busy for you Jenna and you have appointments all over town. We'll get you checked into your hotel and settled, then I'll take you across to the first meeting. Give me a chance to catch up with Blondie here while we wait."

"Nothing you can tell me now, Boss?" I replied, anxious to find out what Mel and Chris had been up to while they'd been here.

"Nothing yet kiddo," he replied, eyes flicking to the driver then back to me. I'm waiting for a phone call or two first. Which reminds me..." James reached into a pocket and threw me a basic looking phone, simple and serviceable, followed by an envelope.

"Numbers are already programmed in and there's enough credit that you can keep in touch, I've put some of the local greenbacks in there for you to get by on; anything else you need, shove it on your card if you can."

"Thanks, boss," I said gratefully, the thought of having local currency available not even crossing my mind.

"I kinda figured it'd come in handy, me and the boys had a merry old time when we arrived; not one of us had the cash to pay for our cab fare, and you try finding an ATM around here you can use."

"Oh, dear," Jenna interrupted smiling, "how did you end up paying then?"

"Had to ask nicely at the hotel," he said with a wink. "Night porter wasn't too happy about changing currency out of hours, but the three of us were quite persuasive if you know what I mean."

"So much for low profile," I said shaking my head, "I'm surprised you weren't arrested."

"Nah, we didn't threaten him much," he said with a wink, "and we did leave him a nice tip so he was our best buddy after that."

"Well I'm glad we don't have to worry about that now," Jenna said, leaning forward to pat James on the arm. "I must confess I hadn't thought about money either, I just assumed I'd be able to use my credit cards. Thank you, James... now, can you tell me where my first meeting is and with whom? I think I need to do a bit of thinking before I get there and I'm afraid I forgot to charge my phone before I left and the battery is dead... it did get quite a bit of use yesterday."