Tropic Rescue (Tropic Ryden Book 2) by John Triptych

Author:John Triptych [Triptych, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Singapore, Indonesia, pirates, strait, Malacca, green beret, special forces, travel, thriller, crime, action, Adventure, wayne stinnett, heist
Publisher: J Triptych Publishing
Published: 2021-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

BY MIDMORNING I HAD accompanied the John Lie on her return trip to Singapore. The now freed hostages were questioned briefly by the Indonesians before being set free, and I was not allowed to participate. Even though we’d been provided with the transcripts of the police debriefing, none of the questions the authorities asked had anything to do with the still missing Filipinos.

I sat side by side with Ray in the hotel room as he activated his laptop and initiated a livestream chat with the congresswoman who was back in the Philippines. For the next several minutes Ray made a short briefing and summarized what had just occurred.

Gertrude continued to sit casually on the sofa inside her luxurious condominium suite when her eyes shifted towards my direction. “Have you been enjoying your all expenses paid stay over there, Ryden?”

It seemed she thought I was wasting both her time and her money. “I’ve come under fire more than once, ma’am,” I said. “I’ve also learned a lot with regards to what’s happened.”

“Looks like the Indonesians have this situation well in hand,” she said. “Perhaps we ought to just follow their advice and wait until the pirates contact them again to arrange a second ransom for my countrymen, no?”

I shook my head. “I doubt there’ll be a second ransom demand.”

“What makes you so sure, Ryden?”

“The other pirate group that’s running this whole operation are after something else,” I said. “They won’t let the Filipinos go until they get it. Therefore there won’t be a ransom demand, at least not in public.”

“Do you know what it is that they’re after?” she asked.

“I have a hunch,” I said. “But I need more time to confirm my leads.”

“You told me it was drugs, right?” Ray asked.

“I think it might be something else now,” I said. “Something just as valuable, and it would make others kill for.”

“Yet you do not know what it truly is, nor have you gotten any closer to finding my countrymen,” Gertrude said.

“I don’t want to make excuses, but the people I’ve been trying to get clues from haven’t been exactly cooperative or trustworthy,” I said. “I’ve been trying to get some interviews with the newly freed hostages, but I’m being stymied.”

It looked like Ray was also starting to lose patience with me as well. My remark about having untrustworthy colleagues in this investigation must have felt like a slap in the face for him. “You were there with the Indonesian Marines, but you failed to find the hostage takers,” he said.

“That whole thing was a stunt,” I said. “Kolonel Joko Nonk is either incompetent or he’s part of this whole affair. The syndicate whose behind this knew exactly what we were going to do and they were ready for us. They got the money and slipped away clean.”

“Even if you are correct, Ryden, it would only mean that you are up against more powerful forces than you can handle on your own,” Gertrude said. “Perhaps it might be better if we just drop all this.

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