Pirate - Duncan Falconer [36]
Hopper rolled on to his back.
‘Hopper?’ Stratton whispered.
Hopper looked up at his partner sat against the wall next to him.
Stratton slid down and whispered into Hopper’s ear, ‘Soon as everyone is settled, I’ll make a move out of here.’
Hopper looked at him strangely, like he hadn’t fully understood. ‘You going alone?’
‘I’ve been going over all our options. One person can move more securely than two. If anything happens to one, there’s still a chance for the other. Also, if any of this lot should decide to raise the alarm after I’ve gone, you can change their minds for them. I’ll only be a couple of hours at the most if all goes well. I’ll also be looking to our escape. When I get back we’ll bug out together.’
Hopper understood Stratton’s thought process. It was debatable but he saw the value in keeping the other prisoners quiet. He looked at the prone forms around him. He doubted any of them would make a peep if he and Stratton left together. But it could still work Stratton’s way. And he was the ops leader. ‘Have you got your hands free yet?’
‘Almost.’ Stratton had been working on the clumsy series of knots since darkness had fallen. He had untied most of them.
A whispered conversation started directly across from them. It was the girl talking with her friend. The guy had been lying there when everyone returned from the beach. He’d been conscious but looked like he was in a lot of pain. She had fed him his meals and made him comfortable as best she could but there was little else she could do for him without medical attention.
Stratton hadn’t decided exactly when he was going to get out of the hut but a fundamental prerequisite was that everyone else in the room be asleep. He’d accepted that might not be easy, especially when they had little else to do during the day but sleep. But that was a chance he was going to have to take and why Hopper should remain.
Stratton attacked the final knot with his teeth and quietly unravel led the nylon line from around his wrists. It was a relief to get it off. He bit off a couple of lengths and threaded them through the empty eyelets in his boots and tied them up. He was good to go but he remained quietly where he was for another hour. The Chinese couple had finally stopped talking and seemed to have drifted off to sleep. Everyone else was equally quiet.
As he decided it was time to leave, there was movement in front of him. He thought it was someone turning over. But they slowly got to their feet. The figure went to the door and paused like they were listening. Stratton raised his head just barely enough to take a look. In the moonlight he could tell it was the Chinese girl. She took a hold of the door knob and pulled on it gently. The door was firmly bolted.
She stepped back through the middle of the room between everyone’s feet, moving quietly and carefully, and went to the wall below the opening. She reached up but her fingers were a few inches short of the sill.
She looked behind her, around the room, checking to see no one was watching her. Stratton closed his eyes. She turned back to the wall and jumped for the sill. Her fingers hooked on to the edge and she fought to pull herself up. She was strong and determined and, trying to be as quiet as possible, managed to throw a hand through the opening to the other side. Slowly she pulled herself up. She was small enough to manoeuvre her legs through the opening while sitting on the sill. A second later she was gone.
Stratton listened