Release

[Ludub]

Thank you, all of you for the kind comments, and once again, a massive apology for the massive gap between chapters. I just don't seem to have time to write these days. Work is very very busy and I don't have the energy during the week anymore  Anyway, here is the next chapter. I hope you like it.

Chapter 12

 

Ricky looked up when Kyle and Heath walked through the door and gave them a nervous little half-smile. She was sitting on one of the chairs in the waiting area outside Cameron’s office, with a takeaway coffee in one shaky hand, and her phone in the other. Her eyes looked tired and puffy, like she’d been crying all night, and her cheeks were streaked with the vestiges of yesterday’s makeup.

“Hey Ric!” called Kyle, as he made his way over and kneeled down in front of her. He put his hand on his knee. “What’s going on?” he asked, “Cam said he has news?!”

“Yeah” she replied, “He… he got a call… after Heath left… Some colleague in China… He said he had to go into the office because there was something going on… Something big… A breakthrough or something…”

She pursed her lips together for a moment and shook her head. She was so angry with Cameron right now, she felt like she could burst!

“He won’t tell me what it is!” she said, “He won’t tell me what that call was, or what’s happening, or why they want us down here… and I’m just about ready to strangle him!"

“Join the club!” snorted Heath, “I mean, what?! He’s just left you sitting out here all night?!”

“No” she sighed, “I had to sort Casey out… Had to send him over to one of his mates… so, I only just got here.”

She hadn’t wanted to bring Casey down here until she knew what was going on, and whether it was good news or bad news. He didn’t need to be messed around anymore than he already had been, and she hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up about something that probably wouldn’t happen. She did wonder how he would react if Brax actually came home. Would they get on? Would it be strange for him to suddenly have a father again after so many years? And how would it affect his relationship with Cameron… and with Josh? She didn’t want him to lose what he had.

“Yeah, we would have been here sooner too” said Kyle, “But we had a few things to sort out… We had to take Josh to the hospital.”

She looked up at him then, suddenly remembering what had gone on last night. She’d been so worried about Josh, and about Heath when he’d taken off like that, but all of that had gone out the window when Cameron had got that call. She felt a little guilty now, she hadn’t even asked what had happened.

“Oh God!” she gasped, “Is he okay?!”

“Yeah… He’s okay” said Kyle, “Just a few stitches in his hand… No biggie…”

“Yeah, he’s fine” agreed Heath, looking a little guilty, “Anna’s got it covered.”

She nodded and looked back towards Cameron’s office a little anxiously. She didn’t know what was going on and she couldn’t help feeling a little resentful towards the man for that. They were supposed to be getting married! They were supposed to be starting a new life together, as equal partners! Surely, that meant that he was supposed to tell her everything?! That he was supposed to confide in her?! How could she trust the man if there was always going to be this barrier between them?! This ‘Federal Agent’ side to him, where he just went off and did his own thing, and hid important information from her?

Whatever this ‘breakthrough’ was, it was clear that it was about Brax, so this very definitely concerned her! How could he just keep it from her?! Something as important as this?!

“So, we just wait here?” asked Heath, the frustration obvious in his voice. “Can’t we just go ask him what’s going on?!”

She gave an angry snort and shook her head at him.

“No, we can’t!” she said, “We have to wait for his boss to get here… Cos he needs authorisation… ‘apparently’.” She spat the last word a little bitterly.

“Just sit down, Heath!” said Kyle, taking the seat beside Ricky and putting his hand on her knee. “They’ll tell us when they tell us…”

Heath gave a loud huff and went to stand directly outside the door to the office, crossing his arms across his chest, and leaning his back against the wall. He didn’t like being kept waiting.

“You okay?” asked Kyle, giving Ricky a worried look, “You look really tired.”

“Thanks” she said, with a sarcastic smile, “Way to make a girl feel good!”

“You know what I mean” he said, throwing his arm around her and pulling her towards him for a hug.

“You don’t look too hot yourself” she said, looking up at him, “When was the last time you got some sleep?”

He smirked a little. He hadn’t slept more than a few hours for weeks now, so she wasn’t wrong there. Heath and his escapades last night certainly hadn’t helped.

“Where’s Ben?” she asked, leaning her head on his shoulder, “Is he coming?”

“No” he said, “He wanted to be here, but he’s still trying to get his aunt to take the kids for us… He’ll be here later if he can.”

“That’s good” she said, “You should have him here for you… for support.” There was a slightly resentful tone to her voice as she said it, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“You have Cam” he said, “You know he cares about you… loves you…”

“Does he?” she sighed, “He kept all this stuff about Brax from me… Maybe I don’t know him as well as I thought I did?”

“Don’t say that!” said Kyle, “You know that’s not true!”

Now that he knew there were investigations under way, and that the authorities were actually looking for Brax, any suspicions that he’d had about Cameron had kind of melted away. Most of them, anyway. He could understand the urge to protect Ricky. She’d been so upset after the false alarm in Brisbane that time, that they’d all been a bit worried about her. He might have done the same himself.

He gave her shoulder a little squeeze.

“He’s just looking out for you” he said, “Doesn’t want you getting hurt… You can understand that.”

“Can she?” huffed Heath, from his position down the hall.

He wasn’t as convinced by Cameron’s story as Kyle was. He didn’t like the secrecy or the underhandedness of it. Something about this whole thing just didn’t sit right with him.

“Maybe she should ask herself why Cameron would want her to find Brax?” he continued, “I mean, it’s not exactly in his interest, is it?!”

“Shut up, Heath!” snapped Kyle, “You’re not helping.”

“All I’m saying” said Heath, “Is if he can hide something like this from us, what else is he hiding?”

Suddenly the door to the office opened and Cameron stood in the doorway.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence” he said, frowning at Heath, “Good to know what you really think of me!”

He turned and looked at Kyle and Ricky and gave them a little nod to follow him through to the office.

“What’s going on?” asked Heath, “Why did you drag us down here?”

“Is it good news?” asked Kyle, with a hopeful tone, “Did you find Brax?!”

Cameron stood in front of the three ‘Braxtons’ and couldn’t help frowning a little. They all looked so wide-eyed and full of hope, staring at him like that, almost like children. The problem was that he really wasn’t sure how to answer that question. Was it good news? Was it bad?

Well, that all depended on how you looked at it…

 

*****

 

They sat staring at the TV screen with trepidation as they watched a British documentary about the sex industry and the manufacture of sex toys for the western market.

It was an in-depth look at mainstream sex shops in countries like the UK, Australia, and the United States, many of which were high-street chains. The reporter was investigating claims that toys sold in these shops actually came from sweatshop factories in third world countries, and that conditions in those factories were beyond deplorable. It was alleged that they were being run like prison camps, and that the workers were being held there against their will.

A British-Chinese reporter had been sent in undercover to film with a secret camera.

The camera work was very shaky as a result and much of the recording wasn’t well lit so it was hard to see what was going on. People were speaking in Chinese so the programme had had to be subtitled, but the TV reporter narrated with a well-educated English accent.

The piece of the documentary that Cameron wanted them to see was an undercover recording of a high-security factory in Guangdong province.

Posing as a new security guard, the reporter was being shown the ropes, and escorted around the factory by one of the older security guards. He was being shown the different work areas, as well as the shower room facilities, eating areas, and ‘recreation’ yard where all the searches took place.

He’d been given a gun. A fully automatic assault rifle.

“Suddenly I’m being issued a frighteningly big gun” said the reporter, narrating over the shaky footage, “…and he’s showing me how to load it and keep it clean. This is supposed to be a factory. A place where men and women come, voluntarily, to earn a living… Instead, it’s being run like a concentration camp.”

The camera takes the viewer down a long corridor with doorway after doorway of small cell-like rooms. It’s clear that families are living squashed together in squalid and cramped conditions. There are bunk beds crammed into spaces barely big enough to fit them. The cells all appear to have some sort of stove set-up, so it’s clear that workers are having to live and eat in their cells. The reporter looks inside one of the cells and sees ten faces inside. It’s shocking because it’s barely big enough for two!

“The last option for people on the brink of destitution…” the reporter continued, “Once a worker signs a contract, they’ve committed themselves to a minimum of five years indentured servitude. They can’t leave. They can’t quit. They have no say in anything from that point forward. Essentially, modern day slavery.

It’s a gruelling schedule of 15 hour days. 7 days a week, 365 days a year…

Food is earned, and workers are often punished by having their food allowance revoked… and the guards rule this place with an iron fist… Everywhere I look, all I see is fear… Any wrong step and you could find yourself in solitary confinement for a day or two… or have your food taken away for a week!”

Grey faced Chinese men and women filed past the camera with their eyes fixed on their feet, never raising them to look at the reporter, or to speak to him unless spoken to. They thought he was simply a new guard, and they were treating him with the respect that a fully automatic rifle tended to afford you.

“This reporter saw men being forced to kneel for hours in a courtyard, while guards patrolled the lines and searched for contraband… I was told that drugs were rife here… and the factory boss will not tolerate the use of drugs among his workers…”

The camera showed a yard with hundreds of men kneeling with their hands behind their heads. It was raining and the men had no shirts on. Floodlights illuminated the yard, in a sickly blue light, as guards with Alsatian dogs made their way up and down the lines.

“There!” shouted Cameron, pressing pause on the recording, “That’s him!”

All three of the Braxtons leaned forward and squinted at the screen. About three rows back, there was a man with grey hair, and green eyes, and skin just slightly paler than the others. He was hard to make out because the camera work had been shaky to begin with, and freeze-framed, it was all a little blurry… but it was unmistakably Darryl ‘Brax’ Braxton kneeling there.

Even if they hadn’t been able to recognise his face, no-one would have missed the tattoo on his chest. There it was! Plain as day!

‘Blood and Sand’ in stark black lettering.

“Oh, my god!” exclaimed Ricky, as she covered her mouth in shock.

Heath shook his head, as though in disbelief, but a smile began to grow on his face. He glanced at Kyle and the two men shared a little moment of pure relief.

“It’s him!” said Heath, beginning to tear up a little, “It’s really him!”

“He looks so different” said Kyle, reaching out and touching the screen in a tender sort of way, as though he could reach in there and touch the man himself. “He’s so…” he said, searching for the right word, “He’s so…”

“Old” said Ricky, looking at the screen with tears streaming down her face, “…and thin… He’s so thin!”

His ribs were very visible and his pelvic bones were sitting out like knives. This was not the muscly surfer that she’d been in love with all those years ago. This was not the man with the twinkly eyes, golden tan, and big broad shoulders that she’d loved so much. This was a walking skeleton, with sunken cheeks, and grey hair. He looked old and frail and sad… But despite all that, she felt her heart lurch, and her stomach all a flutter. He was Brax. And she wanted him home!

“Is this it?!” asked Ricky, turning to look at Cameron, “Is this the only time we see him?! Is there more?!”

Cameron shook his head.

“No, I’m sorry, Ric” he said, “This is the only footage we have… but we know he’s there… or…at least, he was there, a year ago.”

“A year ago?!” exclaimed Heath, “How are we only getting to see this now?!”

“It only aired a few days ago” explained Cameron, “On British TV… Someone noticed the western man in the footage, and the tattoo… and well… it took a while for the trail to get to us.”

“So, what do we do now?” asked Kyle, still staring at Brax’s image on the TV screen, “How do we get him back?”

“I don’t know” said Cameron.

“What?!” gasped Heath, jumping to his feet, “What d’ya mean, you don’t know?!”

“Exactly what I said” answered Cameron, “I don’t know… not yet anyway…”

“You have to find him!” said Ricky, looking up at him with tears in her eyes, “You know where he is now! You can’t just leave him there! Not in a place like that!”

“That’s not what I meant…” Cameron began to say, but Heath cut him off mid-sentence.

“We’ll go and get him ourselves” said Heath, “Just tell us where that factory is!”

“First plane out” said Kyle, unable to tear his eyes away from his big brother. He felt like his heart was going to burst. “We’ll go… me and Heath.”

“You can’t” said Cameron, with a heavy sigh, “Don’t you think I’d go and get him right now if it was that simple?! We sent people out to that factory two weeks ago, even before we knew about any of this… It’s gone! The one in that documentary? Empty! …Stripped down and abandoned!”

“The photos you were looking at earlier?” asked Ricky. She remembered him looking at photos of an empty warehouse on his tablet. She hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but flashes of it were coming back, and they looked a lot like the hallways in the film they’d just watched.

“Yeah” he said, looking a little surprised that she’d been spying on him, “Those photos… There’s literally nothing left!”

“So, he’s just gone?!” asked Kyle, looking up at him with eyes wide with fear, “We’ve lost him again?!”

“They’ve moved” shrugged Cameron, “Upped sticks and moved somewhere else… Taken every machine, every bunkbed, every scrap of evidence with them…”

“And we don’t know where” stated Ricky, as her whole body seemed to slump in defeat, “He could be anywhere…”

“Anywhere in China” said Cameron, “And that’s a pretty big place… but we’ll find him.”

 

*****

 

Kyle made his way up the stairs towards his apartment. He’d chosen to take the stairs instead of using the lift because he needed a little time to think. He plodded slowly, lost in his own thoughts. He wondered what he was going to say to Ben?

They’d found Brax! They’d finally found him! And he was alive… and he was…

Well, not exactly healthy, but well enough, he supposed. He didn’t look like he had any really bad injuries or disabilities… He was still in one (very skinny) piece.

He should be happy!

But he wasn’t…

They’d found him… and then just as quickly, it felt like they’d lost him all over again! Like he’d been snatched out from under their noses before they could even catch their breath.

He was out there somewhere, in some horrible prison camp, being threatened, and probably beaten, and more than likely starved to death… and there was absolutely nothing that he could do to help him! He felt so utterly powerless… and he couldn’t stand it!

Over the years, he’d imagined all kinds of terrible scenarios, with Brax being hurt and abused in every way possible. The not knowing was what had tortured him the most. The uncertainty of it all. Sometimes, he’d caught himself thinking that it might be better if Brax had died. He always felt guilty about it, but he told himself that at least that way, they’d know that he wasn’t in pain. That he was at peace. Part of him had wanted that for him… and for all of them.

…But somewhere in the back of his mind he’d always thought ‘Not Brax! He’s invincible! He wouldn’t die… And he wouldn’t let himself be a victim either!’

And yet… there was Brax, on his knees in the pouring rain, reduced to skin and bones…

Pathetic.

His heart hurt just thinking about it.

He got to the landing and stood outside the door to his apartment for a moment. He didn’t want the kids to sense his sadness. He had to pull himself together and put a brave face on… for them… like always…

He took a deep breath and put his hand in his pocket to find his keys. Just then, there was a squeal of laughter inside the apartment, and he smiled a little when he realised that Dax was behind the door. Or he’d run past it laughing anyway… That little boy could always put a smile on his face, no matter how bad he was feeling…

He nodded to himself.

‘Just smile’ he told himself, ‘Smile…’

He put the key in the lock and opened the door. He was shocked to see Phoebe kneeling in the middle of the floor with a towel wrapped around a very wriggly naked Dax. He’d obviously just had a bath because his hair was still wet. No doubt they’d have another fight on their hands when it came to getting him dressed.  

“Hey Kyle!” laughed Phoebe, as she struggled to keep control of him, “Surpri-ise!”

[pembie]

1 hour ago, Ludub said:

She nodded and looked back towards Cameron’s office a little anxiously. She didn’t know what was going on and she couldn’t help feeling a little resentful towards the man for that. They were supposed to be getting married! They were supposed to be starting a new life together, as equal partners! Surely, that meant that he was supposed to tell her everything?! That he was supposed to confide in her?! How could she trust the man if there was always going to be this barrier between them?! This ‘Federal Agent’ side to him, where he just went off and did his own thing, and hid important information from her?

 

Has Ricky gotten her rose tinted glasses on here or what giving Brax like angel status? Cameron might be hiding things yes But that is what Brax did all the time anyways. Like that was  what their whole relationship was based on So poor Cameron being shunted down to being a very untrustworthy man

The prison camp scene I thought was great felt like it was taken right out of one of those real like prison documentaries that are on the TV Great detail But man oh man Brax sounds really old But hopefully he still has his coolest about him well coolest is the wrong term maybe the means to still act the twat Like a old biker or something

[Ludub]

12 minutes ago, pembie said:

Has Ricky gotten her rose tinted glasses on here or what giving Brax like angel status? Cameron might be hiding things yes But that is what Brax did all the time anyways. Like that was  what their whole relationship was based on So poor Cameron being shunted down to being a very untrustworthy man

Haha! So very true! But then, it's been 10 years and she may be glossing over that aspect of her relationship with Brax. Also, maybe she thought she was getting something different with Cam? 

13 minutes ago, pembie said:

The prison camp scene I thought was great felt like it was taken right out of one of those real like prison documentaries that are on the TV Great detail

Thank you!  I tried my best with this bit. I was thinking something like Dispatches. Hope it came across that way.

[pembie]

3 minutes ago, Ludub said:

Haha! So very true! But then, it's been 10 years and she may be glossing over that aspect of her relationship with Brax. Also, maybe she thought she was getting something different with Cam? 

Thank you!  I tried my best with this bit. I was thinking something like Dispatches. Hope it came across that way.

Dispatches is that the one where the Presenter gets to live amongst the prisoners for awhile to see how it is?

[Ludub]

No, Dispatches is an investigative documentary programme on Channel 4. I think you're thinking of Grant Mitchell from Eastenders! lol! 

[Guest]

Great chapter

oh so Brax is alive wonder if Cam will find him?

Brax looking old I thought he would be forever young.

Hmm wonder why Phoebe is back

Update again soon

[Ludub]

4 hours ago, Kristen said:

Brax looking old I thought he would be forever young.

Well, it is 2027. 

[Red Ranger 1]

As pembie says, Ricky seems to be in a very similar relationship except on the other side of the law.Guess she attracts secretive macho types.As Cameron said, uncertain whether this is good or bad news: They know what's happened to Brax but it's not good and they don't know where he is now.Answers that just lead to more questions...

[Inactive User]

Great chapter

Really intrigued about why Phoebe is back.

Looking forwards to this chapter xx

[Ludub]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read and comment (as always). And I know this is getting a bit repetitive, but apologies for the big delay. Doing my best not to leave it too long but life is busy at the moment. Hope you enjoy it!

 

Chapter 13

 

4 weeks ago…

His eyes flew open, his hearting thumping violently, to the sounds of heavy booted footsteps in the hallway, and the shouts and screams of the people at the other end of the hall. He could hear doors crashing open and the shouts of the guards as they dragged workers from their beds. They were coming!

“Get up!” he whispered to his wife, jumping out of the bed, “The guards are coming!”

He hated to see that look on her face. That look of fear and dread that he knew far too well. He’d seen it far too many times before and it made him feel utterly powerless! He couldn’t protect her! He couldn’t keep her safe. No matter how much he liked to pretend that he could.

“Pack a bag!” he whispered, as he turned and put his arms out to lift the kids off the top bunk.

They were already sitting up, and Bo was staring down at him with eyes wide with terror. He looked frozen to the spot and his little hand was gripping his sister’s arm tightly. His fingers were digging in and turning white, but Lin was simply staring at the door, and listening to the noises of the guards in the hall. He could see her shaking as she held her brother’s body close.

It broke his heart that they had to go through this nightmare time and time again. They’d seen far too much in their little lives.

“Come on!” he coaxed, as he lifted Bo out of Lin’s arms, “Shhh shhh… It’s okay!”

In an instant, both young children were out of the bed and were standing behind him, backed up against the wall. He was using his body to shield them as best he could and preparing himself for the moment that door flew open.

Jiao grimaced at him as she put together a small bag, stuffing inside it some essential belongings. Just a few clothes, and a doll that she’d made for the kids out of some scraps of material. She’d already hidden the small amount of money that they’d saved, slipping it into her underwear when she thought that Cheng and his family weren’t looking.

He put his hand out to her and softly caressed her belly. He didn’t say anything and neither did she. They didn’t have to.

He pushed her gently to stand behind him with the kids.

It was clear from the noise outside that the guards had almost cleared the room next door and they would be coming to them next.

He looked behind him then, glancing down at the children, and giving a nervous little smile in an attempt to reassure them. The children looked up at him, silent and trembling. Bo was holding his mother’s hand tightly with his little pudgy hand. Unfortunately, this was not the first time that there’d been a midnight raid, so the kids were well trained. They knew to stay quiet. They knew to stay close too and not to let go. It didn’t mean they weren’t scared though… especially after what had happened last time.

“They’re moving us!” whispered Cheng, huddling in a similar way with his wife and children on the other side of the room. They looked just as frightened. “I heard Rooster...” he said, keeping his voice low.

With that, the door flew open and Cheng never got to finish that sentence…

 

*****

 

“Daddy!” squealed the little boy, as he wriggled free and ran straight at Kyle as he opened the door. “Where you go?!” he demanded to know, “You not here for cornfwakes!”

Kyle couldn’t help laughing, as the little boy hugged his arms around his leg, and then grinned up at him with the cheekiest crinkly-eyed grin. Dax was obsessed with breakfast cereal and insisted on feeding both him and Ben in the morning. He’d obviously been upset to find that he wasn’t there.

“Daddy had to go help Auntie Ricky” he said, as he reached down and hoisted him up into his arms, “But I’m back now… but what’s this?!” He pretended to look behind Dax’s ear in a theatrical way and then looked at him wide-eyed in mock surprise, “Have you got a cornflake stuck behind your ear?!”

“No!” squealed Dax, pulling his head into his shoulders in a playful way.

“I think you do!” he teased, putting his mouth behind the boy’s ear and making a sort of ‘nom nom’ noise. He giggled hysterically and threw his hands up to cover his ears.

“Noooo!” he squealed again, giggling like mad as he wriggled in his dad’s arms.

“It’s okay” said Kyle, laughing as well, “I think I got it…” He grinned as he started to carry him back towards Phoebe. “You gonna give mummy a kiss?” he asked, as he leaned him towards Phoebe.

Dax immediately planted a kiss on her cheek and then snuggled back with his head on his dad’s shoulder.

“Good to see you Pheebs” said Kyle, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she handed him a yellow Minion towel for Dax, “Wasn’t expecting you for a day or two.”

“I got an earlier flight” she said, smiling up at him and the small boy in his arms, “Couldn’t wait to see you all!” She gave him a concerned look as she helped him wrap Dax in the towel and start to dry his hair. She couldn’t help noticing how pale and drawn he looked.

“I’m glad you’re here” he said, in a tired sort of way, “I could do with a mate right now… Things are…”

“Yeah” she said, “I know… Ben filled me in… I was here when you called earlier but I wanted to surprise you”

“Well, mission accomplished” he said, looking out towards the hallway, “Where is he?”

“Oh, he popped out to get us some pizza” she said, with a smile, “He didn’t feel like cooking… and he didn’t think you’d want to either… after the day you’ve had.”

“Good call” he said, “…Not sure I have much of an appetite though.”

“More pizza for me then!” she teased, “I could eat a horse!”

“Nothing’s changed there then!” he retorted, with a mischievous grin.

Heyyy!” she scolded, giving him a light smack on the arm, “That’s not very gentlemanly!”

He gave a little snort and then looked towards the kids’ room. “And Gracie?” he asked, “Did Ben take her?”

“No… she’s sleeping” she smiled, “You can stand down… I’ve got her.”

“Better get this one dressed then” he said, with a little nod, as he went to sit down on the couch. There was a colourful pile of clothes on the sofa, all blues and yellows. Dax was a little bit obsessed with Minions. He set the little boy down on his feet in front of him and started trying to dry his hair.

“Noooo!” moaned Dax, as he started to pull away. He hated having his hair dried and he hated getting dressed.

“No, come on Dax” said Kyle, “We need to get you dry…”

He looked across at Phoebe and gave her a little wink before turning his attention back to his son. He was hoping that she’d play along with him.

“Why don’t we see how fast we can get you dressed, huh?” he asked in a playful kind of way, “Mummy Pheebs came all the way from America to see what a big boy you are… That’s really far! She had to travel on an airplane and everything!”

The child turned to look at her with eyes wide with wonder. “Airpwane?” he asked, “In the sky?”

“Yep!” laughed Phoebe, “On an airplane!”

Kyle stuck his arms out and started making the ‘neeeeeeeh!’ sound of an airplane and Dax copied him exactly. Phoebe couldn’t help laughing at the sight of the little boy dressed only in a hooded towel. He was like a funny little ‘flasher’, completely naked at the front, but with absolutely no sense of embarrassment.

“Okay, mate?!” said Kyle, wrapping the towel around him again to dry him properly, “Let’s get you dressed before Dadda gets home, yeah?”

“Nooo!” he moaned again, his lower lip starting to tremble as he got ready to throw a tantrum.

“Tell you what Daxxie?!” said Phoebe, taking her phone out, “Why don’t I time you? If you can get dressed in one minute, there’ll be a treat for you!”

“Tocolate?” he asked, with a smile stretched from ear to ear. He couldn’t say ‘Chocolate’ properly, not unless they made him repeat it over and over endlessly. He’d get the ‘ch’ sound only on about the tenth attempt.

“Maybe” she grinned back at him, “You’ll have to wait and see!”

He clearly took it as a yes, and glanced excitedly at the handbag that was lying on the floor. She always brought him chocolate from the airport and there was always a game involved before he got to have it. This time, it was getting dressed. He wasn’t thrilled about it, but she could see that he was weighing up his options.

“Do we have a deal?” she asked.

“Deal” he said, nodding and turning back to his daddy with his arms in the air. “Dax get dwessed weally fast!”

“Okay, Mummy Pheebs” said Kyle, picking up a t-shirt with a space rocket on the front and nodding at Phoebe, “Start the clock!”

A couple of minutes later, a very happy (and fully-clothed) little boy was sitting in the middle of the floor watching cartoons. His face was smeared in chocolate, and his fingers too, making the bath he’d just had seem rather pointless.

“So?” said Phoebe, as Kyle joined her at the dining table and slumped in the chair beside her. She pushed a glass of wine in his direction with a sad little smile. “Brax is in China?” she asked, “…Like, China, China?!”

“Yeah” he sighed, “China, China… but we don’t know where.”

“How messed up is that?!” she said, shaking her head incredulously, “I mean… Brax in China… I just can’t picture that.”

“It’s not the first place I would have looked either” he replied.

“But he’s definitely there?” she asked, “I mean… Ben said you saw him in some video footage or something?”

“Yeah, we saw him” he nodded, “He’s in some prison camp… or I don’t know, like a factory where they keep you prisoner…”

The haunted expression on Brax’s face flashed through his mind, and he felt his stomach tighten, and a sort of achey pain at his heart. He hated the thought of him being kept there like that. Ten years of slavery! Even if they got him back, what kind of state was he going to be in?!

He rubbed his face in a tired kind of way. This whole thing was really getting to him now.

“I mean, Pheebs” he said, “It’s just so weird. He was there! Right there! I could see his face on that screen… after ten years! He’s alive and he was just there! …I mean, there was a BBC reporter just wandering around this prison camp, and he must have seen him there… but he did nothing about it… He just filmed all these people being treated like slaves, and then he just left them there…”

“I guess that’s just what reporters do?” she sighed, “They can’t get involved.”

“**** that!” he growled, “Those people were being kept there like prisoners… and they waited a year to put it on the TV!” He shook his head in an angry and exasperated way. “A year ago, Pheebs! Maybe we could have found him! …Now there’s nothing there! They don’t know where the **** he is anymore! In ****ing China! If that’s not a needle in a haystack, I don’t know what is!”

“C’mon, Kyle?” she said, gently squeezing his knee, “This is good news! He’s alive! That’s a hell of a lot better than what we thought a week ago!”

“Yeah” he said, “I guess.” He ran a hand through his hair and gave a heavy sigh. “I just want him home, Pheebs…”

“I know” she said, “We all do.”

He glanced across at Dax on the living-room floor and gave a sad little half-smile. The boy was crashing two toy trucks together and making explosion noises as sound effects.

“The last time I saw Brax” he said, “I was sitting in the visitor’s room at the prison… with a face so beat up I looked like I’d been hit by a truck…”

She grimaced a little because she knew what had happened that day. It still amazed her that he’d been able to hold himself together like that. He’d been beaten and raped, and yet he’d managed to limp out to meet Brax. He was a lot stronger than he sometimes seemed.

“My… my boyfriend had just died” he continued, “And I… I don’t think I’d ever felt more empty… or… or broken in my life…”

He wasn’t looking at her. He was just watching Dax as he played on the floor, his eyes glazed and vacant. Lost in the memory…

“I was angry with him… Brax, I mean… I was angry at life, but I took it out on him… I said some horrible things… and…”

“C’mon, Kyle…” she said, “He knew you loved him.”

“I know” he said, glancing up at her and nervously biting his bottom lip, “…But that’s how he remembers me… That broken angry mess… He doesn’t know that I made a life for myself… that I’m married… to a great guy… and that we have two beautiful kids…” He gave a heavy sigh. “He doesn’t know…”

“Kyle, come on?” she said, tilting her head at him. She could see the tears welling up in his eyes.

“He… he doesn’t know anything… a-anything at all about my life” he stammered, the tears finally rolling down his cheeks. He wiped at them a little angrily with the back of his hand, frustrated at himself for getting upset. He didn’t want Dax to see him crying, so he held his hand up beside his face to shield his view. “I just… I want my kids to know their uncle…” he said.

“They will!” she smiled, “The cops know where he is now…”

Kyle started to say something but she cut him off.

“Granted, China is a pretty big place” she said, with a cheeky little smirk, “But the guy did send you a note in a dildo a couple of weeks ago, so he’s definitely alive! They’ll find him!” She squeezed his knee again and nodded at him encouragingly, “They’ll find him!”

He looked up at her and gave a sad little laugh. She was nothing if not optimistic.

She stood up to pour herself another glass of wine and took the opportunity to gently caress the side of his face.

“He’s coming home, Kyle” she assured him, “He is… I know it!”

He smiled at her and picked up his glass to clink off hers.

“So?” he said, “New tour, huh?”

“Yup!” she nodded, as she took a mouthful of wine, “Four whole weeks! And I’m headlining!”

“Wow!” he exclaimed, “That’s amazing, Pheebs! Hitting the big time?! I knew you could do it!”

He was proud of her pursuing her career in the way that she had and really throwing herself into her music. It looked like it was really paying off!

She gave him a sarcastic little smile and took a sip from her wine glass.

“Yeah! Phoebe Nicholson! …Wooooh!” she exclaimed, with her hands thrown theatrically in the air. “You’re looking at a top selling artist!” she said, pointing at herself with both thumbs, “A household name! …Turns out, I’m huuuuuge…”

He was smiling from ear to ear and looking decidedly impressed.

“In Asia!” she laughed, “No-one knows who I am in America, or in the UK… but somehow my sound really resonates with the Asian market… Japan, Thailand, China…I leave in two weeks!”

“China?!” he gasped, “You’re going to China?!”

She furrowed her brow at him. "Yeah" she said, "But, Kyle? ...It ...it is a pretty big place..."

 

*****

 

“And that’s the final decision?!” asked Cameron, “I mean… this is a breakthrough, Sir… We actually know…”

He was leaning over his desk and pinching at the skin above his nose. He had a tension headache, not made any better by this phonecall. The man on the other end kept cutting him off and talking over him. He wasn’t getting a word in edgeways.

“But, Sir?!” he pleaded, “I just…”

He sighed, as he got cut off again, and then nodded, even though the man on the other end couldn’t see him.

“Yes Sir, I understand” he forced out through clenched teeth.

He was angry, but he couldn’t allow his true feelings to shine through. Not when speaking with a superior, and definitely not with the Director of the Agency. Even if he didn’t agree with him.

“Okay, Sir… yes” he said, “I’ll speak to the family… break the news to them… Leave it with me.”

He hung up the phone and sat back with a heavy sigh. He didn’t know how he was going to tell Ricky and the boys. Part of him wished that he’d never shown them that video. It was going to be so much harder for them to accept now, and they were going to hate him for it.  He’d probably just ended his relationship with Ricky too?