Simon Eady Read online

CHAPTER 1 – Destiny’s Door Knock

  A slither of sun broke through the curtains and forged its way through a million dust particles before landing on soft skin. Although the warmth was only slight, Simon Eady was fully aware of it and decided he was not getting out of bed. Of course, this was what Simon decided most mornings. Suddenly he became aware of the presence of someone else in the room. Before he had the chance to react, the intruder swiftly moved across towards the source of light, and with one well-rehearsed motion, opened the curtains allowing a wall of light to whiteout the whole bedroom.

  “Muuum!!!!! 5 more minutes”

  “Simon, how many times do I have to tell you: When you... ”

  “… turn 18, you can do what ever you like” echoed Simon.

  Simon got out of bed and changed out of his pyjamas and into a pair of bathers, shorts, t-shirt, socks and runners. He opened the window and plunged towards a nearby tree. On his fall he caught a branch and carried out a full rotation around it with the ability of a “high bar” gymnast. Upon completing the 360 degree rotation he released the branch, carried out a backward summersault, finishing with a paratrooper roll across the ground. He then continued with the momentum and sprinted off down a busy street. Simon’s run had now become a routine that he carried out every morning prior to breakfast.

  As a 16 year old, Simon enjoyed being considerably taller than most other boys of his age. However, since moving to Malaysia two years ago, his height had become awkward. To add to this standout feature, Simon was the only fair skinned, blue-eyed, blonde teenager who was not a tourist. These characteristics often made Simon the target of school bullies and local gangs.

  Simon had been unable to make friends so he dedicated all of his time to either studying or concentrating on a fitness regime that he had set for himself. Over the past 5 years, despite moving through 3 schools in just as many countries, Simon had become a fit athlete who was unbeaten in all of his sporting pursuits. He was the fastest teenager at school, remained undefeated in all swimming events, was the pride of the current gymnastics coach, had earned a reputation as a fierce fighter in his Jujitsu sparring sessions, and he wore the coveted number 9 for his local football team. Academically, Simon was at the top of his class in most subjects including Malay. In fact, despite the subtle foreign accent and often misquoting local colloquialisms, his language teachers continued to be astonished at how quickly Simon had learned to correctly speak Malay and Cantonese. Simon had loved foreign languages from the first day he was introduced to Italian at a primary school in Australia.

  Simon was satisfied that he had finally broken the 32 minutes for his 10km run. Each morning he would time himself, now he wondered what his next time-goal would be. He was also pleased that this morning, unlike most mornings, he was not targeted by a local group of boys always armed with slingshots and shouting taunts at him.

  Once he reached the beach, he proceeded to remove most of his clothes and dove directly into the Strait of Malacca. This was Simon’s favourite part of the day. He felt exhilarated. The enjoyment did not simply come from the swimming, and it certainly did not come from the solitude, but from the fact that this was the time of the day that he felt closest to his dad.

  Simon’s dad died 10 years earlier in a boating accident near the Antarctic coastline. He was a foreman for a shipping company and was often required to travel around the world at short notice. Simon’s mum had regularly shown him postcards that his dad had sent from exotic locations around the world. The post cards were well worn from all of the evenings that Simon had stayed awake reading them. In many of them his father mentioned the swims he had taken in the morning in a nearby river or beach. The only vivid memory Simon had of his dad was playing together in the water at the beach. Although, some of the details had been lost over the years, he remembered laughing whilst holding onto his dad’s back and swimming together in the deep water. He remembered both of them laughing aloud and every few minutes having to hold his breath, as his dad would dive under the water. He remembered those moments as the happiest he had ever been. He also remembered them as the most dramatic moments in his life. Once whilst holding onto his dad and swimming together underwater they were brushed by a large shark. Simon saw the massive mouth full of razor sharp teeth barely miss him, and instantly let out a scream, releasing what air he had left in his lungs. Shocked by the shark and panicked by the lack of air, he had released his dad and paddled as fast as he could to the surface. The second that his mouth broke the surface, he immediately took a massive breath expanding his lungs to their maximum capacity and then exhaled with an ear-piercing scream of fear. As he was still not able to swim alone, he began splashing furiously, trying to keep himself from going under water. His fear of the shark was suddenly replaced by the fear of drowning. Then, just as his efforts to keep his head above the water began to pay off, the fin of the shark appeared only a few meters in front of him. It was then, that Simon heard the only words that he vividly remembered from his father. “Simon, never show fear to a predator as it will give it the confidence to attack.” “But dad, I’m scared that the shark will get me!”

  “Son, I’m scared of it too. But it doesn’t know that until we give ourselves away. Grab on to my back, keep very quite, and lets keep facing the shark.”

  Simon remembered how the shark circled them for a few minutes, how he felt reassured by his dad’s strong body and softly spoken words. His dad’s presence made the world feel a safer place. The shark eventually swam away and Simon and his father slowly and quietly made their way back to the beach. When they finally reached the beach where his mother was awaiting on a picnic rug, he remembered being very excited by the event, but being unable to clearly explain what had just occurred. Years later, when he retold the story to his mum, she looked shocked. She explained that although she remembered that day, she had felt that both he and his dad’s eyes had showed exhilaration and not fear. She simply thought that Simon had a vivid imagination and that they had seen a dolphin or a large fish. Furthermore, his dad did not say anything about the shark. Simon now believed that his dad had simply not wanted to worry his mum.

  As Simon reached the halfway point of the swim, his legs began to burn which required him to change his kick-to-arm stroke ratio. He started to feel sad, as he was now aware that his time spent reminiscing was coming to an end for the day.

  As time went by, Simon’s childhood memories were becoming less lucid and more infrequent. Fearful that over time he would forget his dad, he regularly used this part of the day to recall as many memories as he could think off. Recently he also started wondering if he should write them down in a diary.

  The swim back this morning took longer than most days as he had decided to take advantage of the time gained in the run, by taking more time in the water where he felt close to his dad. Once he reached the beach, still daydreaming, he suddenly became aware that a group of teenagers were standing next to his clothes, which he had left behind on the beach. Simon was in no mood for fighting, so gave a friendly wave as he walked towards them. As he reached his clothes, he politely said good morning in Malay.

  “Light Boy …”, a nickname given to him by local gangs, “… we both know this not social meet lah.” Smirked a Malay boy of Simon’s age wearing a pair of old shorts and a faded T-shirt. He was smaller than Simon but the tallest of the group that stood around sneering.

  Simon, in an attempt to look calm despite feeling his heart pounding through his chest, shrugged and started to get dressed. He hoped that if he ignored them they would just walk away. A quick unexpected thought crossed his mind about the frequency in Malay the word “lah” was used to finish a sentence.

  “You think you going anywhere lah!” sarcastically smiled the same teenager, who appeared to be the leader.

  “I was banking on going back for breakfast. You are welcome to join me!” Simon smiled back, in an attempt to hide his fear, whilst measuring up the 6 boys who were shuffling their bare feet i
n the sand and moving slowly to encircle him.

  “You wanna go home Lighty? I think that might have to wait lah.” Grinned the same boy, quickly glancing at the boy to Simon’s left.

  “Before you guys beat me up, I’d like to know what’s this about? Asked Simon, which not expecting an answer, continued, “Anyway, how is it a dumb guy like you got to lead this pack of idiots?”

  The attempted insult, as predicted, resulted with the boy that had spoken casting another quick glance to Simon’s left. Simon had now identified whom he thought was the true leader instantly back-heeled into the crotch the boy to his left. The boy instinctively reacted by leaning forward bringing his hands to his crotch in an attempt to protect himself. Simon anticipating the move swung with an uppercut motion his right fist.

  This action suddenly brought the boy’s nose into contact with Simon’s swinging fist. Within a split second the leader found himself kneeling on the sand nursing his bleeding nose. The remainder of the boys shocked by Simon’s excessive response felt stunned and instinctively retreated a few steps shuffling backwards in the warm sand.

  Before they could regain their composure Simon jumped on the leader, using him as a springboard for his escape. The unexpected spontaneous show of aggressiveness and the quick take off, gave Simon a clean getaway.

  Simon ran fast, he knew he could outrun his pursuers but expected to hear them behind him. But after 50 meters he sensed he had not been followed so turned his head quickly to see what had happened. What he saw made him come to a sudden halt. The group of boys stood in the same spot he had left them, they seemed paralysed. He then noticed a man of European appearance slowly walking towards them. Curious by what he was seeing, he decided to hide behind part of an old jetty and watch.

  The man was wearing a black suit and looked like he had just walked out of a Versace catalogue. He was at least 6 feet tall, had bright blonde hair, and a physique like that of a boxer. His movements were controlled and supple. To Simon he looked like a large black and gold cat slowly coming towards his prey.

  The man kept walking ignoring all other members of the gang, his gaze fixed on the boy still sulking on the sand. When he reached his target he bent down and with one hand grabbed the boy’s shirt and effortlessly lifted him until theirs eyes were levelled. The boy looked mesmerized, helplessly dangling above the ground.

  It seemed that the European was not very happy and was ready to inflict more pain on the local boy.

  Still holding the boy elevated, the man said something that made the rest of the group flee. The distraught boy was noticeably terrified. The European then used his spare hand and reached inside of his jacket holster.

  The shape of the object withdrawn from the suit jacket was unmistakeable - it was a pistol equipped with a silencer. Simon who a few minutes earlier had been angry, now impulsively wanted to run back and somehow assist the helpless boy.

  Time was quickly ticking by. Simon knew that the boy had only moments to live. But how could he help? He looked around to see if anyone else was witnessing the murder. He scanned the beach, but there was not a person in sight, even the rest of the gang had disappeared. Feeling helpless he stared down at his feet. It was then that an idea suddenly sprang to mind.

  Meanwhile the European, satisfied that there was nobody else on the beach, switched the pistol from ‘safe’ to ‘fire’ and raised it to the boy’s head. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he noticed over his victim’s shoulder something that instantly made him place the pistol back into its holster. Simon was aware that his action would distract the European and it would place him in danger of becoming the next target.

  He felt the adrenaline pumping through him giving him courage to stand clearly in the open, holding a brick in front of his right eye. The man was suddenly infuriated. A boy equipped with what looked like a hand camera was filming. Having little choice he placed the boy down on the sand and sat next to him facing the beach. He did not want footage of the assassination ending up on the Internet, as it would certainly end his career.

  “You are in luck my young friend.” The man gritted between his teeth with a subtle Baltic accent.

  The local boy, still feeling in shock sat trembling, too scared to move, his breathing still irregular. He could feel his heart beating against his chest. He had not noticed Simon and was waiting for the man to pull out his gun again and shoot him.

  He jumped as a coarse whisper broke his concentration. “Young man, next time I will not be so forgiving!”

  Simon, satisfied that his plan seemed to be working, decided to continue with the act and pretend to be filming back and forth along the beach.

  “I’ll be going now. I would appreciate it if you remain seated here for the next few minutes. If you tell anyone of this, I will come back for you!” And with that the European stood up and simply walked back to his rental car. The distraught boy put his head between his knees and started sobbing too afraid to look up.

  Simon, feeling pleased with the outcome of his bravado, decided not to hang around in case the European wanted to drive by and retrieve the “video camera”. What Simon never realised was that the European had not witnessed the fight that had occurred earlier on the beach.

  Simon ran back home. The incident on the beach had lasted longer than his usual swim and he was worried that his mother would be concerned. After a hot shower he came down to join his mother for breakfast. His mother had also just returned from her morning training session at the local pistol range, so had not noticed his tardiness.

  Simon sat quietly watching his mother in one of her regular sad daydreams. He often wondered why his mother looked so sad. He decided not to mention anything about the morning’s incident.

  After breakfast, still feeling the need to feel close to his dad, he decided to go back to the studio and once again look at his dad’s worn postcards. As he sat down on an old brown leather couch, he looked up at the yellowed photos of his dad displayed on the mantelpiece. Only four photos existed of his dad, the rest of them were lost in a house fire shortly after he passed away.

  Simon’s father died in a tragic accident where a freak wave caught him by surprise and threw him overboard. As this happened in the middle of the night, his body was not found until the next day. There was a photo of his mother and father on their wedding day, one of his father holding him minutes after he was born, and the third photo was taken of the three of them at a picnic ground in Australia, just a few days before his father went on his final voyage. The last photo was taken at his father’s funeral. Simon never liked the last photo, and on several occasions had asked his mother to put it away. Every time he complained about that photo, his mother replied that one day he would understand.

  The photo showed a coffin and several people standing around a seated woman holding the hand of her son. The woman, Simon’s mother, was wearing a black dress, black gloves, a black hat, and a black veil, which completely covered her eyes. Behind her, stood several strangers all wearing dark clothing and looking more like witnesses than friends. He had never met any of these strangers, and never cared to learn who they were. He always felt a deep sorrow every time he saw himself as a frightened six–year-old boy.

  “Simon, you’d better get going or you’ll be late for school!”

  “Thanks mum!!!” called out Simon, snapping out of his reminiscence.

  The roads in Malaysia were challenging and often chaotic. Motorcycles and cars fought each other to get to their destination, and the hot humid days only added to the frustration of drivers. As Simon arrived at the school entrance he noticed a familiar face waiting for him at the bike stand. The boy standing there was smiling timidly at him and not displaying any of the aggressive behaviour he had earlier on the beach. Simon smiled back, cautiously; he was still worried the same gang could attack him again.

  Trying to ignore the boy waiting for him, he continued to the bike rack and proceeded to padlock his bicycle.

 
“You no have worry about me lah,” stated the boy

  “As I recall, what ever your name is, it’s not me that should be afraid” replied Simon in perfect Malay whilst looking around for the rest of the gang.

  “Simon, my is name Nhat and I am here simply to thank you for saving my life” looking embarrassed by the admission.

  “So Nhat, how do you know my name?” Simon continued in Malay.

  “It was given to me by a foreigner who wanted me to kidnap you” stated the boy now also speaking in Malay

  The thought that someone wanted to kidnap him, suddenly made Simon feel like jumping back on his bicycle and riding to his mother’s workplace.

  “Simon, never show fear to a predator as it will give it the confidence to attack.” Simon could hear his father’s voice.

  “So Nhat, are you here to try a different approach?”

  “No, I am here because I am in debt to you and wanted to repay you for this morning” whispered Nhat whilst looking down at his left toe protruding from the old pair of leather shoes passed from his older brother.

  “How?” queried Simon.

  “The man that paid me is currently staying at the Park Royal in Penang, he had told me that my friends and I would be paid $1,000 US dollars, if we brought you to a warehouse near the beach. We were to make sure that you were beaten up a little, so that you wouldn’t try to escape when we handed you over to him,” explained Nhat unemotionally as if reading a newspaper article.

  “So, since you’ve failed your first attempt, what happens now?”

  “The stranger told me this morning that he doesn’t tolerate failures, and he ordered my friends to leave and planned to kill me. If it weren’t for you I would be dead lah. My friends told me what you did. Before the stranger left, he told me that if I, or any of my friends spoke of the kidnapping to anyone, he would not be so merciful next time.”

  “Nhat, is the stranger still at the hotel?”

  “Yes”

  “Do you know why he wanted to kidnap me?”

  “No. We initially thought you were simply a rich kid that would be worth a lot of money to your family. But after I left the beach, I went to search for you and enquired about you. It didn’t take long as we don’t have too many blonde teenagers living around here,” replied Nhat with a slight hint of a smile

  “And what did you find out?”

  “That you live with your mother lah. Your mother works at a local shop and barely makes enough money to get by. You are very good at sport and compete in the local football team as the striker. Your teachers also admire you because of your ability to learn languages. You don’t have any friends and at school keep to yourself.”

  “So, again, Nhat why are you here?”

  “Because I wanted revenge on the stranger, but don’t want to go anywhere near him. And, I wanted to thank you for saving my life. I simply thought I could achieve both by giving away the stranger’s plan.”

  Simon felt a shiver down his back as he realised that someone could be watching.

  “Nhat, you’d better leave as it’s not safe to be around me lah.”

  “Simon, … when I was trying to find out where you lived, I saw the foreigner sitting in a car across the street from your house. He knows where you live.”

  As soon as Nhat revealed that last bit of information, he proceeded to walk away. Nhat walked to the corner of the school building and then disappeared.

  Simon, cautious not to do anything erratic which would show fear to the stranger that may have been watching, slowly picked up his school bag and calmly walked amongst other students into the school even though struggling not to throw up. During the day, unable to shake images of a violent struggle between himself and the kidnapper, he took every opportunity to look out the window hoping of not seeing the stranger waiting for him.

  With only 30 minutes left in the school day, Simon could no longer maintain his composure and decided to fake feeling unwell but instead of visiting the school nurse, he walked towards one of the school exits. He could collect his bicycle tomorrow. Whilst walking down the empty school corridor, he decided to take a quick detour and drop his books off at his locker. Students’ lockers were all located in the main corridor where they completely covered one of the walls. All the lockers were painted in grey and were the height of most Malaysian children. Simon, who was the tallest boy at the school, had to bend over so that he could see the top shelf. He did not keep much in his locker, as he owned very little. His textbooks were always borrowed from the school library. His pencil case content comprised solely of: a pencil, a small metal ruler, a sharpener and an eraser. In fact, the only other school items stored in his locker were two writing books used for the various subjects. “Possessions were like ships anchors!” would say his mother- they made it difficult to pick up and leave.

  Simon had spent most of his life moving every 6 months.

  In the locker, at his mum’s request, Simon always kept one of his passports, usually that of the nation they were currently living in, and five hundred American dollars. His mother explained that it was to be used only in the event of an emergency. For many years Simon asked what an ‘emergency’ might be, but his mother always gave a vague reply. Although Simon no longer asked, over time he came to believe that his mum had a shady past that forced her to always be on the run. He always thought that one day his mother would confide in him that she simply ran away from home from her family and did not want to be found. For now, he was only worried about her safety and hoped that if the time came that her past caught up to them, what ever it is, he would be able to protect her. Although they lived a simple life, it was obvious to Simon that his mother had access to money as they had multiple false passports and hidden money in various currencies.

  As Simon entered his combination locker numbers, he noticed two men in suits entering the corridor. He instantly recognised them as the school principal and a local police Inspector. Simon’s mother, who was able to speak fluently in 6 languages, often got extra work translating foreign correspondence. Simon, visiting his mother during some of her translating assignments, had met the Inspector, and found him to be amicable and interesting. Simon decided to leave his schoolbooks and writing items in his locker. He wondered if the recent kidnapping attempt would be considered an emergency. He decided to simply close the locker and, as originally planned, leave the school before the “end of the day” bell rang. As he turned towards the rear exit, the principal called out to him in Malay.

  “Simon could I please have a moment?”

  “Hello Simon” added Inspector Lau in a heavy accented English.

  The inspector, like many locals, was a short and thin man. Although his calm demeanour and continuous smile made him look simple, his eyes revealed a confident and intelligent man.

  “Hi Inspector. Sure Mr. Chin, how can I help?” replied Simon in Malay with a friendly smile.

  “Simon, Inspector Lau is here to ask you to go back with him to the Police Station Lah. He simply needs a favour,” continued the principal, somewhat unable to hide a concerning look.

  “Sure, as long as I’m not in trouble!!” joked Simon with a sheepish smile.

  “No trouble Simon! If all kids around here were as well mannered as you, I would have little to occupy my days!” replied the Inspector with a wink taking the opportunity to switch back to Malay.

  Without further words, the Inspector directed Simon to the police car.

  Simon was aware that the Inspector had something serious on his mind. As Simon got into the police car, he said goodbye to the principal. He then began to speculate as to the reason why the Inspector had picked him up from school. The first two thoughts were that someone may have reported the fight on the beach, or that the police were aware of the kidnapping attempt. Instead of continuing to guess, he decided to sit back, close his eyes and focus on the other issue at hand - how to tell his mum that someone had attempted to kidnap him. The drive took only a few minutes. To his
surprise, when the car stopped he was not at the police station, but at the local hospital. Simon’s instant fear that something had happened to his mum was immediately confirmed in the Inspector’s eyes.

  “Simon, this morning your mother came to do some work for us and shortly after arriving she fainted. Although she regained her senses a few minutes later, we thought that she should come and have some tests just to be safe. Your mother is ok. In fact she initially joked about the event and continued on with her work. It was only when I threatened to handcuff her, when she agreed to go to the hospital. Now, your mother does not know that I came to get you, in fact she made me promise that I would never tell you about her fainting episode.”

  The Inspector and Simon sat silently in the car staring at the traffic on the road.

  “Inspector, if mum was truly ok, you wouldn’t have come to the school to get me.”

  “Simon, I am not a doctor and, to be honest, I am unsure that I should say anything as it might unnecessarily alarm you, but, did your mother say anything about not feeling well lately?” asked the Inspector.

  “No! In the last 5 years, she hasn’t even had a cold. Why?” replied Simon still in Malay, as he did not want the Inspector to switch back to English and possibly lose some of the details in the translation.

  “Simon, before my wife died, she too had similar fainting spells and when your mother regained her senses she admitted that lately she has had headaches and drowsiness. She also seemed to not remember a conversation that we had had a few minutes before she fainted. As nobody initially saw her faint, I am worried that it might have been a fit. My wife experienced the same symptoms lah”, the Inspector said sadly.

  “Thank you Inspector, I will do my best not to cause more worry for her” Simon said as he opened the door and without further words, got out of the car.

  As he was walking away, the Inspector called out to him “Simon, I am here if you need me!”

  Simon raised his hand and waved without turning back to face the Inspector.

  Inside the hospital, nurses and doctors were busily going about their daily routine. Patients were resigned to wait to be attended to by the reception staff. Simon, not wanting to queue with the rest of the patients and visitors, decided to walk around the hospital until he found to one of the wards where he could ask for directions. As he walked around the corner down the main corridor, he quickly took a glance towards the entrance to see if the Inspector was still in his car. To his shock, instead of seeing a police car, he saw a taxi pulling over with the foreigner in the back seat. Simon instantly broke into a run towards one of the wards that he could see at the end of the corridor. Once there, he found a nurse who happily informed him that her station computer showed that his mother was located upstairs in wing 2E. Simon, unable to wait any longer, raced down the length of the corridor in the opposite direction to the main entrance and entered an empty elevator. Once on the second floor, he then sprinted towards his mum’s bedroom. Once at the room door, he felt unable to open it as he knew his world was about to collapse. After a minute, Simon managed to regain some composure and entered into the hospital room.

  “Simon?” his mother called out surprised to see him there.

  “Hi mum!” replied Simon struggling to sound normal.

  “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at school!!?”

  “Mum, if you’d a good excuse to leave early and miss out on getting homework, wouldn’t you take it?” replied Simon with a big smile in an attempt to hide the fear that was building inside of him.

  “How did you know? Let me guess, Inspector Lau!” stated Candice before Simon could open his mouth.

  Candice was a tall medium built lady with blonde hair always tied in a ponytail. Although she owned a few dresses, she generally opted to wear loose hemp pants and t-shirts instead.

  “I could kill him!” she added looking out the window at the far side of the hospital room.

  “Mum, he looked really worried. In fact, he seems to care about you more than just a friend.”

  “What are you insinuating young man?”

  “Nothing mum. He just ….” but Simon decided not to continue.

  “Simon, I only have two loves in my life. I lost one at sea and the other one stands in front of me. I do not wish to have any others. Ever!”

  “Mum, it’s ok. I‘d be happy if you found someone else. I know that you and the Inspector have a lot in common, and that it’s probably the reason why you spend so much time at the pistol range with him.”

  “Simon, you have a vivid imagination. The Inspector and I are really good friends and nothing else. Simon, I know that you want nothing more than to finally settle down somewhere and have a ‘normal’ life”.

  “Mum, what’s wrong?” interrupted Simon.

  “Simon, come and sit next to me.”

  Once Simon sat next to his mother on her bed, Candice placed one of her hands on his.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “There is no easy way to say this, but I have been told that I have a brain tumour.”

  “A brain tumour?” repeated Simon hoping that he misunderstood.

  “Yes. The doctors think that I have 3-6 months to live” Candice lied as she had only been given 1 month.

  “What!?” screamed Simon, feeling the room suddenly spinning at a rapid rate.

  “Simon. I know this is bad, but I need you to keep calm as I need your help.”

  “Keep calm? Mum!! I have nobody left in this world except you! How can I keep calm?” called out Simon unknowingly wiping away his tears using the back of his hand.

  “Simon, you are not alone!” whispered his mother, looking anxiously into Simon’s eyes.

  “Mum, what aren’t you telling me?”

  “Simon, what I am about to tell you is something that has been kept from you for your own safety. It is the real reason why we continually move from one continent to another.”

  Simon, prompted by the “safety” word, suddenly remembered the attempted kidnapping earlier that morning. For what seemed an eternity he stared into his mother’s eyes and felt the confusion, anger, and pain build up inside of him. He sat there on his mother’s bed unable to do or say anything.

  Outside the room, staff were moving around, talking to one another, and directing visitors to their family or friends.

  At the end of the corridor a tall slim European stood staring at the bedroom door.

  Simon sat numb with grief eating away within him like a cancer.

  The European, known as Agent 3A and in other circles as Whisper, contemplated what his next move would be. Just as he was analysing his options, he noticed a doctor exit an office. Whisper stood up and calmly walked into the office where he was pleased to find a computer. To his surprise the computer had no password protection and patients’ medical records were easily accessible: it only took him 2 minutes to learn that the boy’s mother had most likely less than a month to live.

  Early that morning he also found out that arrangements had recently been made by Candice to move out of her rental property within two weeks: he wondered why a patient with terminal tumour would plan to move home. Whisper initially assumed that they had become aware of his presence and were going on the run again. But this reasoning made no sense, as only 6 people in the world knew of his existence and only 2 of them knew of his current location and his mission.

  Whisper felt uneasy as in other missions he always had ample background information. However, in this case, he had only been presented with a basic report that stated that this family was linked to someone in the underworld. He was also told that Candice and Simon might be located somewhere in Malaysia. Five weeks of following leads had eventually brought him to Butterworth, where he found the targeted family. Recently, Whisper also realised that, years earlier whilst on a surveillance mission which required him to attend a funeral, he had already crossed paths with them. Although he did not recollect whose funeral it was, he remembers seeing Candice
and her child arriving in a black limousine. Whisper believed that what had kept him alive all of these years, was the fact that there were no such things as coincidences. The idea that a mission carried out many years before was related to these two people was not a ‘coincidence’.

  “Simon, please say something!”

  As Simon opened his mouth to speak, he heard the door opened a few centimetres. Simon felt his skin crawl and a chill travel through his body. Was he becoming paranoid? The man he saw this morning was obviously a professional and, if he attempted another kidnapping, he would wait for a better, safer opportunity. Simon’s thoughts then fell on the word ‘kidnapping’. He started to realise that the origin of the word most probably came about from a ‘kid’ having been ‘napped’ somewhere in history. He just never thought that one day he would be such a kid. The thought, for some reason, seemed humorous. Not only was he becoming paranoid but was also losing all sense of reality – how could he see anything amusing and be in so much fear and pain.

  A young nurse of Indian origin entered to check on Candice. She placed a thermometer in Candice’s mouth, and then made a note on the medical chart clipped at the end of the bed.

  “Excuse me madam, I just wanted to let you know that visiting hours finish in a few minutes” stated the nurse.

  “It’s ok Deepa, this is my son Simon.”

  “Hi Simon. Pleased to meet you!’

  “Hi” replied Simon still thinking about the morning beach event.

  “Madam, I was referring to the gentleman waiting outside.”

  “What gentlemen?” asked Candice curiously.

  “There is a tall blonde man waiting at the end of the corridor who enquired in which room you were admitted to. I assumed that he was a friend of yours.”

  “Thank you Deepa, but I do not know any blonde man. He might be looking for someone else.”

  “Mum must be a lawyer coming to see you about your will, as it seems that I have been kept in the dark about a few things,” intervened Simon in attempt to end the conversation about a person who he learned of earlier that morning.

  “Well, that could be the case, as the gentleman is wearing a black suit that I have only seen in those American legal TV shows,” stated the nurse apologetically.

  “Great! I was only admitted today and already the vultures are hovering in the sky!” stated Candice attempting to turn Simon’s act of rebellion into a humorous reply.

  “Well madam, you have no fever and you seem to have some colour back in your face. Let me know if there is anything that I can do for you. Just simply press the buzzer,” stated the nurse as she walked towards the door with thermometer in hand. Then, just as she started opening the door, she turned around and sadly looked at Simon. “I am sorry that you are here. I too was sitting in this room two years ago. I will take good care of your mother and if there is anything I can do to help you, please feel free to ask.” Then, before Simon had the chance to reply, the nurse left.

  Candice lay quietly for a few minutes considering if the gentleman outside was a threat. She had been so careful and the last thing she needed was to go on the run again at a time when she needed palliative care

  “Mum, why didn’t you tell me about your illness? What did you mean when you said that I am not alone?” Simon asked as he fought back tears.

  “Simon, what I am about to tell you is the only secret that I have ever kept from you. Although you are right in thinking that I have known for sometime that something was wrong with me, I have only come to learn of its seriousness 2 weeks ago. I didn’t initially go to a doctor as I was frightened of what I might find out. It now seems that if I had seen a doctor a month ago, when I first became aware of my illness, it would have made no difference.”

  “Mum, I am not really angry about the secrets, it’s just that I don’t know how to deal with it. I am scared of losing you and I am upset with myself that I am letting anger spoil what is quickly becoming our last moments together.”

  “Simon, you are as brave and kind as your dad is,” Candice found herself saying.

  “Mum, don’t you mean to say as dad ‘was’?”

  “Simon, this might come as a shock, but your dad is still alive.”

  Simon suddenly felt the back of his hair stand up and his mouth instantly dry up as his mother’s words echoed in his mind.

  “What? But how? And why?” asked Simon shaken by the realisation that he just lost what little control he had of his life.