They smiled and agreed that she had better get a move on before they lifted the boom barrier for her.
“Thank you!” she smiled and winked. “We won’t be long.”
“Could you have taken any longer?” Zain complained from the passenger seat.
"I got us through, didn't I?" she replied seriously, clutching the steering wheel and looking straight ahead to find her way in the maze of narrow offshoots to the various department buildings. "And I hope you have a spare."
“Spare what?” Sibu asked.
“A spare tire,” she sighed laboriously. “If I slash one of your tires we will have a reason to stay here for longer without arousing suspicion. It will also make our presence here more credible.”
Zain shifted in his seat, looking impressed.
“Jesus! You are a sneaky little bitch, aren’t you?” he grinned. “I will have to keep my eye firmly on you!”
Cheryl just shrugged with a smile, playing along as not to alert him to her racing mind that was desperately formulating an escape plan. After they had parked the car in front of the building where she used to work, they entered the corridors feigning familiarity until they reached the lecture hall where Billy Malgas was packing up his material after another dreary class. They snuck into the auditorium, stealing low along the back rows where Cheryl’s blonde replacement had just brought two paper cups of coffee.
Cheryl overheard their conversation, with Zain and Sibu crawling by her side. She hushed them when her ear caught the words of the new assistant, confirming what Cheryl knew Billy had been hunting for throughout his career.
‘And once they hear of the secrets you have uncovered in your study of Nazi artifacts of post-World War II, they will be flocking to your lecture hall to hang on every word, every fact, every morsel of information they can.
“Oh my God!” she whispered. “They found it!”
“What?” Zain asked almost inaudibly.
Having no idea that the discussion concerned a mere hoax, Cheryl gasped, “Malgas found the Admiral Graf Spee!”
Chapter 6 — On Malgas’ Heels
After overhearing that Malgas had discovered the Nazi ship he had always chased since he caught wind of the possibility, the myth, Cheryl came up with a new plan. Not only would it free her of Zain and Sibu, but it had the prospect of making her rich. With the magnitude of wealth she would acquire assisting in such a find, she could leave her dirty, miserable life behind and get off the heroin and the cocaine once and for all. She could have her life back.
“What is that all about?” Zain asked her while they were crouched behind the rows of seats in the lecture hall.
"Sshh," she frowned. "They must not know we are here. Just wait. I'll tell you everything shortly." For once she received no reprimand or threat from them. Suddenly the lights went on. Sibu, Cheryl, and Zain froze in their spots, hardly breathing behind the wall of chairs, listening. They could feel the apprehension of the lecturer’s scrutiny across the auditorium. He thought he had seen something, but his assistant had picked up the rest of the materials and waited by the door until he was satisfied that nobody was there. Reluctantly, Dr. Malgas switched off the lights before closing the doors.
As the place darkened, Cheryl started at the cold grasp of Zain's hand around her wrist. It reminded her of the fear he imposed on her and she remembered that she was still a captive, regardless of the plans she had hatched. “Don’t think you’re going to get away while it’s dark, sweetie pie,” she heard his sinister voice right in her ear. “Where are they going? To the store room?”
“Listen,” she said. “Did you not hear what he said down there?”
“Yes, but what does it mean?” Sibu asked. “If it doesn’t have anything to do with the money you owe us, we don’t give a shit what he said.” He flashed his eyes in the glare of his cell phone light, meeting eyes with his associate. “Come on, Zain. Let’s just get the money or kill the bitch. She is just stalling for time, playing us for fools, man!”
Cheryl's body went cold at his proposal. She knew they were in cahoots above and beyond everything, and that Zain could easily follow to Sibu’s irrational suggestions.
“I have to agree, Cheryl. You are just leading us along in hopes of getting a chance to flee. But I swear to God, we will gun you down like a rabid dog,” Zain spoke against her face. Her stomach churned at the sensation.
"Listen to me!" she said, her voice a bit louder now. "We have to follow Dr. Malgas. Forget the store room. He just admitted that he discovered a shipwreck from World War II. Don't you get it? If they pull that wreck out of the ocean, the relics and Nazi gold, artworks, whatever the cargo was, would be worth billions!”
Zain and Sibu grew serious, their glances darting in silent debate in the timid illumination of a cell phone screen. They sat up.
“Cheryl, if you are playing with us…” Zain warned.
"I'm not playing with you! You heard it for yourself! If we can convince Malgas that we are useful to him in this recovery, we can all get a cut of the salvage. You can go your own way after I pay you what I owe and stacks more," she implored, trying to keep her words and scheme simple to satisfy their meager thuggish aims.
“It just sounds too good to be true,” Zain admitted.
“But we would never have known about it if you guys did not bring me here. None of us would have known!” she insisted. The three of them sat in the lights of their cell phones. They dared not make their presence known yet, especially at this time of the night.
“So now what? Do we take them hostage to find out…?” Sibu ranted, but Cheryl stopped him abruptly.
“Don’t be fucking stupid!” she scowled.
“What did you say?” he retorted, his vicious soldier’s face turning to stone again. But Zain lifted his hand, making sure they both saw his gun. “Shut it.”
"We have to follow them. I don't know where Dr. Malgas lives now, so we have to follow them. At least that way we will know where to find him," Cheryl told Zain as if asking his permission. Unnoticed she had shifted closer to him, when Sibu locked horns with her. “Once we know the details — where the wreck is and when they are going to salvage it — we can decide how to get on board the project. He trusts me,” she smiled in reminiscence, but her face soon turned cold, “so he will never see it coming when we take them all out.”
Chapter 7 — Reunion of Liars
It was time for Sam to make his way to Wrichtishousis, but he was still waiting for Billy Malgas to confirm his flight. He was horribly impatient, and rightly so since he had not heard from the lecturer for almost a week, yet he was the reason Sam had set up the meeting with Purdue. Not only did Sam elicit the help of Purdue as a silent partner of sorts, but apparently the wealthy, suave inventor had taken it upon himself to prepare a group of freelance professionals to assist him in this venture Sam had pointed him toward.
Billy Malgas was indeed a trustworthy man. Sam had no reason to fear that he would not show, or not keep to the arrangements, but it worried him that it took Malgas this long to confirm. Eventually, he called the lecturer to make sure Purdue and whomever he decided to include in what would be a costly project were not being held up unnecessarily.