Right

How about someone posting a new chapter over the Christmas period, huh? Huh?

Who's next?

Who's next, who's next? Who who who is next?

Repeat. Ad nauseam.

Chapter 12

Well, here goes nothing...


Caro stared into Ryan's eyes, looking for some knowledge of what was going on, all the while trying to hold back another wave of sickness. Certainly he recognised the woman, but how did he know her? And more to the point, what had he told her?
"Uh, surprise?"

They stepped into the lift, maintaining an uneasy silence among oblivious members of the public as they slid toward the ground floor. When it stopped the doors opened and everyone else piled out, leaving them to their mutual uncertainty.
"Well, I could do with another coffee. Are you two going to join me?"
Caro didn't want coffee, nor did she really want to be with her husband. She had a feeling that enduring those things made for a much safer option than staying with Philé on her own. As much as the woman seemed to have rescued her, there were clearly higher priorities in play than her safety. She risked giving her new 'friend' what she hoped was a warm smile as she answered.
"Yes, that's an excellent idea."

"So, how did you come to be in Iceland?"
Ryan's tone was suspicious, but his interest sounded genuine enough, or so he hoped. Philé's response was laced with equally bogus goodwill.
"The big reunion wouldn't be the same without your wife. Isn't that right, Caro dear?"
Caro nodded, but looked decidedly the worse for wear. Perhaps she was hearing the same sinister undertones as Ryan.
"I think I have to go to the bathroom. I don't feel well. I'm sorry."
Ryan made a little fuss for her, all the while trying to find some reaction from Philé. The stranger definitely didn't like the idea of having Caro out of her sight, but had to let her go nonetheless. With his wife out of the way, Ryan quickly got back to business.
"What's she doing here?"
"Like I said, we're arranging a reunion. She's part of the old team, right?"
Ryan frowned.
"I don't know who you think we were, but I don't like this. Why are you so interested in Eddie?"

Caro pretended not to notice the man who followed her. He probably thought he was being subtle, stealthy even, but some people were obvious no matter what. It helped that she had seen him before, when Philé had broken into her hotel room.
She acted casual as she entered the ladies, then opened the small window as wide as it would go before picking a cubicle.

"Don't you worry about that. Let's just say it's in everyone's best interests that we find him quickly. Before anyone else does."
Ryan's concentration was wandering. As much as he was wary of the threatening tone, there was something about it that brought his thoughts back to her figure. Under other circumstances she might have been just another pretty - but distant - woman, but the pressure of his crazy situation made her much more than that. Even more so now that she seemed to have kidnapped his wife...
Damn, his wife! There was only Caro now. That was the mantra that ran over and over in his head as he watched her, slender fingers lifting her cup to moisten full, dark lips.

After what seemed like an age without the little woman coming out of the bathroom, her 'minder' followed her in. In a sudden panic he saw the window open, a conveniently overturned bin providing an easy step up to it. He quietly swore to himself as he sprinted back out, headed for the back of the building.
Caro waited several breaths, climbed down off the toilet seat and made her own way out.

The conversation had gone nowhere for several minutes, prompting Philé to allow herself a little smile. Ryan's attempts to get information from her were fruitless, much like his efforts to keep his mind on task.
They were interrupted by her phone. She looked at the screen and stood quickly.
"I'm sorry, I should take this."
She accepted the call as she walked, moving quickly out to the lobby.
"What is it?"
"I lost her."
She sighed. There would be strong words with whoever had assigned him to her, but shouting at the low primate wouldn't achieve much.

His meeting now down to just him, Ryan was surprised when a waiter approached his table and placed a shot glass on a serviette.
"Sir, this is from the lady over..." He stopped gesturing, looking around in confusion. "I'm sorry, she seems to have left."
Ryan shrugged, knocking back the drink and wondering whether to put the glass on another table before the others returned. In moving it, he noticed ink bleeding through the napkin. Sure enough, on the other side was a cryptic message:

Are you becoming expendable? Take care.
Love, GSE

Who's next?

What I said.

Chapter 11

Well here is Chapter 11... I'm no literature fiend so please forgive mistakes. I don't rate my ability to paint pictures with words so I just concentrated on the plot really. I hope you like it. Feel free to suggest changes, additions and deletions.

Ryan awoke, immediately feeling that nasty taste in the back of his throat that told him that he had drank more than one too many 7up and vodkas last night. As he recalled the awful nights sleep he had just endured, he turned over to try and find the hotel room clock. As he found the bright red glow, his focus slowly worked its magic and the numbers gradually became clear. “10:07”.

“Shit” Ryan muttered to himself, he knew this meant he had missed breakfast. Although he gave a slight smurk to himself as he threw a fake gun pose towards the clock, as he noted the James Bond reference in the last 3 digits, made by the glowing LED’s.

“Grow up dickhead”, he told himself afterwards.

As Ryan dried himself after his refreshing shower, he continued to gradually piece together more of last night. It had all started with a few drinks in a small, but what seemed a very exclusive bar. He felt Phile had fitted much better in the swish bar than he had, looking absolutely majestic in her long body hugging dress showing off her talented curves. He remembered that he continually had to keep bringing the conversation back to the hunt for Eddie, after all that’s why Phile had convinced him to follow her out to Iceland. He was eager to get moving as quickly as possible, but last night it seems Phile was totally disinterested in discussing further plans, which seemed odd to him. In fact on one occasion she grabbed his hand and told him to relax and enjoy the evening, “We can talk about Eddie later” she whispered in her velvet tones. Her lack of interest had continually confused and narked him but he continued to bite his lip and eventually made a conscious decision to leave it and just try and enjoy the rest of the evening.

Later on they both moved onto the Opera, where they watched a divine performance, the name of which slipped his mind at the moment. What certainly hadn’t slipped his mind is the absolute heavenly voice of the beautiful lead singer. Throughout the performance he recalled how he had continually slipped away into an almost trance like state as the vocalist with her doll like appearance was able to seemingly hypnotise him in to a state where all his troubles just lifted from him. The problems he was having with Caro and the search for Eddie just evaporated away in these moments. Unfortunately Phile had kept bringing him back to reality by whispering something to him or brushing parts of his body in a way that would be very uncomfortable if it was just a normal work colleague. Phile would apologise claiming it was an accident, but he wasn’t so sure, although he couldn’t of really cared less either. At these moments his mind would return back to Caro. What was she doing now? Had he been too harsh to her? Would she be coping in London without him? She’s probably pissed again he would think to himself.

What happened after the show was still a bit of a blur to him, although he does remember Phile asking if he’d like to go back to her hotel for one last drink at the end of the night. He declined, as he thought he’d had enough and wasn’t completely trusting of Phile yet, or himself for that matter. So they hailed separate cabs and departed in different directions.

Ryan stared into the dark black coffee as he sat in the bright but bland hotel bar trying to recover from last night’s hangover. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do for the rest of the day but right now he didn’t care he just needed to get rid of this pounding head. A group of bubbly woman had caught his eye on the other side of the bar as they muttered in their native tongue. He noticed some of their handbags where hanging from the tables by some hooks, which he thought, was a clever idea. As he was gazing in their direction, the woman finished their drinks and stood up to leave, taking their handbags and hooks with them. As Ryan contemplated this handbag hook thing, the ladies wandered off and behind them a familiar face came into view. He quickly glanced back to his coffee, to prevent eye contact, and began racking his brains for whom this face belonged to. A few seconds later the guy got up to leave and Ryan caught another glance. It clicked, it was the guy who was speaking to Phile in the hotel bar in LA, when they met for their first drink together. “Too weird”, he thought, he felt uneasy but for some reason decided to follow him. The guy took the lift and Ryan followed via the stairs hoping to catch him on one of the corridors of the hotel. Unfortunately this wasn’t some fictitious movie chase and the chances of guessing the right floor at the right time was too slim, so Ryan quickly gave up and returned to his room.

Ryan became increasingly uncomfortable about the sighting and along with the weak shower and uneven bed he had endured, he decided he wanted to get the hell out of this place, there are plenty more hotels after all. He hurriedly packed his belongings becoming increasingly agitated as he did so, and was feeling the urgent need to get some fresh air. As he left his room he weighed up whether to take the lift or stairs. Ryan had never been fond of lifts since a child and always preferred to take the stairs but today he was in a rush so he thought he’d brave it, after all it was only a few floors.

The lift began descending but then began to slow a few floors before the ground floor. Ryan shut his eyes and muttered a wish to himself that this wasn’t the lift breaking down. Of course it wasn’t, and as he heard the bing sound he knew it was just the lift stopping to pick up some more people. His heartbeat started to return to normal as he told himself off for being so panicky and the doors started to open. Ryan caught a glimpse of some matted female hair through the widening gap and then time suddenly seemed to slow, to almost a complete halt, the lift doors slowly revealed more and more of the soon to be new occupants. It wasn’t was it? It was. What the… “Caro!” Ryan was meant to say but as he opened his mouth nothing come out. At the same time his eyes locked onto Caro’s eyes which moved to the left and if instructing his to do the same. Ryan’s gaze obeyed and then locked onto a new face, another familiar one. This one was Phile’s!