Chapter 5
2923 Words
They entered the room and Kesia suddenly realized that she had to pee really bad. All the excitement the last hour had made her forget about her own bladder. While she went to the bathroom Luke unlocked the safe and took out the briefcase.
”Oh, the mysterious briefcase!” Kesia exclaimed when she came out.
”Yes, it’s time for you to know what’s inside.”
Kesia walked over and sat down next to Luke on the surprisingly soft couch. He clicked the briefcase open after putting in the four-digit code and looked at Kesia.
”Are you ready?”
”Yes. Go ahead.”
He opened it and Kesia raised her eyebrows when she saw what was in it.
”Are those real?”
”Does it matter? They look real, right?”
”Yes, of course but are they?”
”Yes, they are. More or less. We just don’t have anything but blanks to put in them. They are for show, Kesia, nothing else. The reason why I wanted you to know is because we seem to have gotten the aggressive kind of seekers, which means we need to be a little aggressive as well.”
Kesia nodded. She fully understood what he meant. Still, a small, uncomfortable and nervous ball was taking shape in her stomach.
”Wanna hold one?” Luke asked and grabbed one of them.
”No thank you. Unless it is absolutely necessary I will avoid touching them.”
She began to get up but Luke grabbed her hand. She stopped and looked at him.
”I hope you know” he said, ”that I will do everything in my power to protect you.”
Kesia smiled.
”I know, Luke. I feel safe with you.”
”Good. I don’t want you to feel like you left home an innocent girl and comes home as an experienced woman. I want you to still have your innocence when you come home.”
When she looked at him, she saw another Luke that she had seen last night, when the woman came around. He had been an ass then. Now he was a gentleman.
”You’re kind of hard to figure out” she said and leaned her head to one side, narrowing her eyes.
”On the contrary. I’m a straightforward kind of guy. What you see is what you get and all that stuff, you know. That’s me.”
He let go of her hand and closed the briefcase again. He took it back to the safe while Kesia went into the bedroom to change. Lukes words echoed in her head and she smiled a little to herself.
Luke had chosen the restaurant in which they were going to eat lunch. It was a fancy place and everyone seemed to know who they were when they arrived. They obviously knew Luke from before. A waiter met them at the door and led them to a table deep into the restaurant. The privacy was total.
”Why always so secluded?”
”Why not? There is no harm in being discrete.”
”True but we already lost this round, right? We could be in the front of the restaurant, by the windows. Our seekers does not look for us anymore.”
”Sure, but I didn’t know that when I made the reservation.”
The waiter came around with menus and for a couple of minutes they sat quietly, looking through the different dishes.
”We have to talk about what happened today” said Luke after a while, without looking up.
”Ok” said Kesia, waiting for him to continue.
”We can’t fall for that trick again, if they try the same thing. We have to talk about what to do if they, for example, abduct you.”
He looked up now, looking really serious, almost worried.
”Do you think they will try that again? They know you’ve played before, right? They know you have some experience? So, they know you won’t fall for it.”
”That’s probably the whole reason why they took me. They knew I wouldn’t fall for it but they could guess that you would.”
The waiter came around again and provided them with water. He asked if they had decided what to get and they put in their order. The waiter nodded politely and went away.
”Did they play by the rules? Is it allowed to do what they did?”
”Yes, for a maximum of two hours and never at the time of departure or arrival. They are not allowed to break into our hotel room or anywhere else for that matter.”
”How did they get you?”
”They claimed to be the cleaner so I opened the door. Rookie mistake, I wasn’t thinking.”
”What other tricks can we expect?”
”I don’t know. They’re unpredictable, that’s for sure, but a classic move is for them to pretend to either be a couple in love, asking us to take their picture, or they hit on us at a bar somewhere. Their advantage is that they know what we look like. We don’t know what they look like and they will probably try and continue to hide their faces for as long as possible.”
”It seems unfair to me, that they know what we look like. We should know who to stay away from. Wouldn’t that be more fair?”
”It might seem unfair but they need some kind of advantage. They don’t have anything else.”
”So, after this first round, what’s the score?”
”Well, we solved the clue, that’s two points for us. We got the briefcase with our footprints as well, that’s another two points.”
”But how many points did the seekers get for getting us on camera?”
”Four points” he answered.
”So, the first round is a tie?”
”Yes, which is the same as a loss.”
As they left the restaurant, Mike waved at them from the other side of the street. They crossed and Luke had a short, whispering conversation with him. Kesia couldn’t quite make it out. Luke gave Mike something and then he looked at Kesia.
”Lets take a walk” he said and offered her his arm.
Kesia smiled a little and grabbed it. She couldn’t help but to feel safe and happy by his side. She liked traveling the world with Luke, even though they hadn’t gotten very far yet. In spite of this mornings events, she felt excited thinking about the adventures they had ahead of them. A smile danced around on her lips.
”What are you smiling about?” Luke asked.
”Oh, nothing” she said with a shrug, ”I’m just enjoying this nice time in Cape Town with this handsome stranger by my side.”
”Handsome, huh?”
”You know you are, Luke, no news here.”
He smiled back at her.
”True. A handsome asshole.”
Kesia laughed and pinched his arm a little. He winced and grabbed her by the hand instead. The weather was mild enough to enjoy and it wasn’t too much people on the streets. The sun even came out for a while and Kesia took a deep breath. After a few blocks they saw the ocean and she remembered Lukes boat-plan from the day before. With this mornings events she hadn’t thought about it at all. As they got closer to all the boats in the harbor, the sky cleared more and the sun felt warm on Kesias skin. She closed her eyes and enjoyed it for a moment while Luke went to make arrangements for them.
”Come” he said and grabbed her hand.
She followed him down the wharf. They passed many beautiful boats, some of which reminded Kesia of her grandfathers boat that they used to go on when she was a child. It hit her that it had been at least ten years since she went on a boat. Although she might still remember some details about how to maneuver a sailboat. They stopped by a motorboat at the far end of the wharf and Luke offered her a hand to help her jump aboard. Kesia rejected it and got herself on the boat.
”This isn’t your first time” Luke said with a little impressed smile.
”No, sir!” Kesia answered.
Luke untied the boat before jumping aboard himself, bringing the rope with him. Kesia sat down in the stern and enjoyed the sun. The soothing sound of the water going against the hull was so relaxing to listen to. Luke checked out all the levers and buttons by the steering wheel before he put the key into the ignition and turned it. Kesia flinched at the sharp sound of the engine. Luke backed the boat out from the wharf and turned it around before he accelerated and steered towards the open sea. It wasn’t easy to maintain any kind of conversation with the deafening sound of the engine so they didn’t try. After a while Luke slowed down and stopped the boat. He turned off the engine and turned to Kesia.
”Now I have you all to myself” he said, looking very pleased with himself.
Kesia smiled.
”Oh yeah? What are you going to do to me?”
”Nothing that you don’t want me to do.”
He sat down next to her and ran his hand slowly across her back.
”Can I ask you something?” she said.
”Anything.”
”Why do people generally think virginity is hot?”
Luke thought for a couple of seconds.
”I think it’s the thought of having something that no one has ever had before you” he said, ”and to be someones first is probably very special. I have to assume that you have preserved your virginity for a reason, saving it for someone really special perhaps, which makes it very attractive to be that someone special. Maybe the thought of teaching someone something new is also enticing.”
”Something new? Virginity and ignorance is not the same thing you know.”
”But there are things you can’t know unless you’ve experienced them.”
He suddenly got up and took out his phone. It was on silent but he received a call. Kesia watched him as he answered. The brown hair gently moving in the breeze and the eyebrows pulling together a little, forming a wrinkle in his forehead. He peered with his blue eyes, first at the water and then suddenly at Kesia. His beard moved a little when he tightened the jaw.
”I see. Thank you” he said and hung up the phone.
”Who was it?”
”The hotel” he said, ”there has been a break-in in our room.”
”What!? What did they take?”
”Nothing. As far as they could see. The safe is apparently intact.”
”And both suitcases are in there, right?”
”Yes.”
”So we’re good?”
”Probably but we should get back” he said and reached to turn the key in the ignition.
”Wait, Luke” said Kesia and he stopped himself. ”We only just got here, could we at least enjoy ourselves for a bit before going back?”
”Enjoy ourselves how?”
Kesia removed her sweater.
”Maybe by going for a swim?”
Luke smiled.
”Ok” he said and took off his shirt. ”Your bikini is in that bag over there.”
”Wow, you packed my bikini? Thank God! I thought I was going to have to swim naked.”
”What? I shouldn’t have packed it…” said Luke with a mischievous smile.
Kesia turned away from Luke, took off her bra and slipped into her bikini top within seconds. Before Luke had even taken off his pants, she was in the water.
”Quite the little fish aren’t you?”
Kesia just smiled and disappeared under the surface. Luke was quick to join her and when she came back up for air, he was there, right beside her. She put her arms around his neck and he grabbed her by the waist.
”This is nice!” he said and leaned forward to kiss her.
”What are you doing?” she said and leaned back to avoid his mouth.
”I can’t kiss you now?”
”No, Luke, you can’t.”
”But at the airport…”
”At the airport our relationship was different” Kesia said and let go of Luke. ”We were practically strangers and you kissed me to take mind off the game and the flight. And it worked. Then you slept with a hooker.”
”She’s not…” Luke started but stopped himself. ”So, nothing will happen between us?”
”I don’t know. Maybe down the road but for now, no.”
Luke looked a bit disappointed as Kesia swam back to the boat. He followed her and they both got up and grabbed a towel.
”Let’s go back” said Kesia while drying her hair. ”We should deal with the hotel room.”
Luke didn’t say anything but stepped over to the steering wheel and turned the key. Kesia was startled by the roaring sound of the engine. Luke didn’t seem to mind, he accelerated and within minutes they were back at the wharf. He had still not said anything since they got out of the water and Kesia tried to think of a way to get him talking. Luke slowed the boat down and turned off the engine. The last few meters, they just drifted slowly. When the wharf was within reach, Luke took the rope at the bow and climbed on the outside of the rails. He vigorously jumped on to the wharf and drew the boat in. Kesia waited until the boat was close enough to step onto the jetty gracefully. Luke got the rest of their stuff from the boat and then he gave the key back to the man they had rented it from.
”So, when was your first time?” she asked as they walked towards Mike who was waiting for them by the road. She chose this subject in part because she was actually curious but mostly because she thought that it was a subject that he would want to talk about.
”When I was thirteen, in one of the schools bathrooms” he said, shortly. Kesia didn’t know what to say to that. Somehow, it made her sad.
”Ok, and was it nice?”
Luke looked at her like she was an i***t.
”Of course it wasn’t nice. No ones first time is nice.”
”That is so sad! Why can’t it be nice?”
”Well, you don’t really know what you’re doing, you’re uncomfortable and it’s over so fast that there is no time to make it nice. It just happens and then it is over.”
They had reached the car and Mike opened the door. Luke nodded politely at him and got in. Kesia thought back to her own time in seventh grade. There was this girl in her class that once had s*x with a boy from the other class in a bathroom. They got in a lot of trouble for it but they were also really troubled kids. She wondered if Luke used to be a troubled kid. Maybe it would make sense if he was. How do you ask someone about such a thing?
”So,” said Luke, interrupting Kesia in her thoughts, ”when we get back, we need to check all our personal belongings. We don’t know what they were after. Maybe they weren’t interested in the briefcases at all.”
”Do we assume it was our seekers?”
”Who else would it be?”
”I don’t know. Random people?”
”Why would random people break into our hotel room?”
Kesia shrugged. He was probably right.
When they stepped into the room it looked like no one had ever been there. They had cleaned it up completely. The valet told them that the police had been there and taken pictures, interviewing the staff and left a direct number for Luke and Kesia to call if they wanted to ask any further questions or give any other information.
”We won’t be needing any number” said Luke and tipped the valet to make him go away.
”Check all your stuff” he said and Kesia went into the bedroom. She looked through her suitcase and all her clothes were still there. In the bathroom, the towels had been changed, of course, and on the little shelf stood all her toiletries, nothing missing.
”Do you miss anything?” Luke asked when she came back in the living room.
”No. You?”
”No” Luke said hesitantly.
”What?” Kesia asked when she heard the sound of his voice.
”I’m starting to think that they did this just to startle us, or maybe to make a point. They want us to think they stole something but they didn’t.”
Kesia shrugged.
”Well, the most important things were in the safe, right?”
”Yes” Luke dropped everything and went over to the safe. ”They said it was intact but they don’t know what we have in there. Let’s check.”
He opened it up and took out the briefcases. The big one with the handguns, and the smaller one with the footprints. He gave the smaller one to Kesia and opened the bigger one up to check. He could quickly make the assessment that nothing was missing from it. Kesia opened up the smaller one and took out one of the little black cubes. They looked exactly like the ones she used to build with as a kid, only these had a golden engraving that said L&K which she assumed stood for ’Luke and Kesia’.
”How many do you count?”
”Ten”
”That’s all of them.”
”So, they really didn’t take anything? Then I guess you were right.”
”Yeah, so it seems.”
Kesia sat down on the couch and sighed.
”This is how it’s going to be, right?”
Luke sat down next to her on the couch.
”Yes, I’m afraid so.”
”I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Of course they want to win, just like we do.”
”Do they know where we are going next?”
Luke thought for a bit and then his face changed drastically and he stood up, like he just realized something.
”What if they planted a bug?” he said and looked at Kesia. ”What if that is what they wanted to find out and they hope we are just going to tell them?”
Kesia looked around for the paper with the clue on it and the key that went with it. She couldn’t see it anywhere.
”Do you remember what we did with the clue?” she asked Luke.
”No, I think we just left it on the table.”
”So, it’s very likely then, that they found it and took it.”
”Well, I’d say it’s just as likely that the cleaner deemed it as trash and threw it out.”
”I don’t find that as likely. We have to assume that they know where we're going, maybe even when we’re going. Is there anything we can do?”
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