Until it was dark, they kept a distance from the perimeter of the factory, taking up a viewing position in a nearby warehouse. In conjunction with FBI officers, Dino had set up a control centre - but he was firm with the Feds. This was his gig. He was in charge. If anything happened to the three hostages they would have him to deal with.

There were a dozen SWAT agents, a couple of TL people and Amri, still sitting on the floor in a kind of shocked calm. He had refused to leave even though he was aware that there was nothing he could do from now on. But even Dino did not have the heart to send him away; the guy was a wreck after what he had seen.

Long range sights had shown them little; they had only Al Bakhti's word that this was the place where Annie and the kids were being held. The only information that in anyway backed up his assertion was when a man in dark clothing, a black cap jammed down on his skull, left to return a short while later with a stack of food from some burger joint. It was inconclusive but suggestive that the deserted building was not quite so deserted after all.

"OK....we've got cover now. I need to know how many are holding them, where exactly their location is, if we can reach them without use of weapons...we do not go loud in ANY circumstance unless we have no alternative to save lives. I and I alone make that decision. Is that clear?" Dino had called the team leaders together and they had studied building plans, exits, entrances, roof access until they had a very clear picture of the entire compound. It was a rabbit warren and to attempt to storm it would be fatal. He had no doubts about that. Whoever these people were, they had taken out a highly experienced bodyguard in seconds and left him dead on a busy city street. Men like that would have no compunction about killing their hostages if threatened - or using them as a human shield.

His stomach churned at the image and he thrust that down away from him. He must not dwell on who they were or what they meant to him. If he let the personal nature of this reach him then he would fail to do his job. This was a hostage situation, one of many dozens that he had resolved over the years. Step by step he would approach this calmly and in the full knowledge that only his clear thinking could ever save them. Emotional attachment must be at a minimum; it could only cloud his reason.

"We are not engaging them in dialogue. The only card we are holding is that they do not know we are here or that their position is known. That gives us an element of surprise and enables us to plan an extraction. But that cannot be entertained until we have the details of the conditions of the hostages and their position. I'm going in on a recon with two men. This is strictly exploratory. But I want the whole team stood up. If I indicate - then they better be ready in a heartbeat...got that?"

They nodded. He took two of his own men, Brennan and Phillips who fortunately just happened to be in town. They were experienced hands, Phillips even knew Terry well from the old days - and they knew the way he liked to work. There was a rapport between them that would be instinctive.

Dressed entirely in black, faces darkened, blending like wraiths into the dark night, they silently scaled the wall and crossed the compound. They observed men positioned in fairly concealed spots on lookout but they were not expecting trouble and their attention was poor. It was easy to evade them and pass on.

The plans had shown up a back door which had once been a staff entrance; it was bolted. He toyed with breaking it but couldn't risk the noise. Raising his eyes, he assessed the drain that led up to the flat low roof and shinned up it until he reached a foot hold indicating for the others to join him. Flat out, lying on the tin roof sheets, they crawled up to the centre of the building. There they found a large skylight that looked out onto the factory floor. Night sight goggles showed no activity on the floor.

That left the upper gallery. All the offices had been strung out along the upper storey overlooking the shop floor. These rooms were hard to reach having no external windows, but he was sure that was where Annie and the kids would have been taken. Pulling out the map, and using a pin light to read it, he estimated where the small toilet on that floor was.  Making his way to the maintenance shaft, he left the two men outside and slipped into the small space which provided the access between the ceiling of the prefabricated offices and the roof.  Grateful for his relatively narrow frame, he wriggled forward and found what he was looking for. There was a panel in the ceiling of the john for electrics and plumbing.

Easing out the sheet with his knife, he hung down into the space like a bat and listened. There were voices, muted and distant, but close enough to indicate he was on the right track. Pulling up and replacing the panel loosely, he moved further along until he was over what he estimated was the large outer office. Again he found an access panel but this time he was more careful. Lifting a corner only, he attached a tiny device and replaced it. It only took a few seconds for the receiver in his ear to crackle into life. The signal from the tiny digital camera was being received in the control centre. They had a visual.

"We can see them. The mother and children are in the far left hand corner north, northwest of your position. They are stationary, sitting on the floor. I can make out four armed men in sight but I think there are others - somewhere out of range. They are heavily armed - really packing, man, sub machine guns, hand guns, knives - like a fucking arsenal in there. You move in, they haven't got a chance. Not a chance...we have to talk with them..." Wilder the FBI agent suggested.

"NO...not yet...let me think..." Dino sat back and ran through scenarios in his head. "I'm coming back out....I want to see what gives for myself....wait...do nothing yet..."

The launch sped upstream but even though it took only seconds for it to disappear round a bend in the river, it was longer than Terry felt he could stand to stay motionless. His lungs were bursting for air, his chest throbbed and he was aware that he was possibly moments away from a crocodile attack. Reaching into the waistband of his pants, he dragged out the flick knife that Nick had slipped into the narrow hidden pocket as he had hauled him over the side. He opened it out as he surfaced, treaded water and gratefully took his first full gulp of air, at the same time watching the water for movement, swimming backwards towards the nearer bank.

He saw the displacement in the water and dived down in time to meet the first crocodile. Feet together he rammed it in the jaw with force sufficient to temporarily shock it.  With every ounce of strength he had left he then thrust out and swam as hard as he knew how, half expecting the shattering clamp of teeth savaging his legs any second. There was another surge below him, he rotated and met the second crocodile as it opened its jaws to strike. Weaving to the side, he used the knife and put out an eye, stabbing the blade deep into its brain. The animal rolled in pain and a cloud of blood gushed out across the water; it was enough to take the attention of the crocodiles on his tail away and the chance he needed to escape. The scent of blood was drawing them to the dying animal.

The bank was a few feet away; he almost threw himself at it and yanked his body out, scrabbling to get his legs up, still shuddering with the horror of the proximity to the crocodile as it had made its assault. But he had made it. He was out of the water and apparently in one piece. For a second he almost gave into the desire to laugh and lie there stretched out with relief but he shook that from him. He was still in danger on the riverbank and now without a weapon.

Forcing himself to his feet, he staggered away from the water's edge into the forest, adrenalin giving him some ability to move ahead when in fact his body was almost at the point of collapse. He couldn't hold himself straight, his chest felt as if it was caving in and each breath was painful; he reckoned cracked ribs at the very least, if not a punctured lung. But somehow he dragged his carcass further into the cover of the trees.

Sliding down to sit at the foot of a tree, he opened his shirt and ripped off the tight band of padding that covered his upper chest, yelping as his chest hair was pulled off with it. The bullet proof protection, a new state of the art material that was still in the experimental stage, slim enough to be virtually undetectable but strong enough to withstand a high powered bullet at close quarters was saturated with the pig's blood sachet that had been punctured when Nick had fired. It had amused Nick to use pig's blood -another insult to the Islamic enemy that Terry had thought unnecessary but had not felt serious enough to fight about.  Throwing the padding away from him he examined the damage; his chest was severely bruised around the place where the bullet had impacted, the skin was cut and bleeding. But it was superficial injury and he would be able to get treatment soon.

He hadn't got a clue where he was. But the tracker device in the sole of his shoe should give them a fix to within a 50 metres range. It couldn't take too long - they had been following the signal since they left. All he had to do now was wait it out.

It was over. He had done it. The chances of success of this action had been barely 50-50 on paper but somehow they had pulled it off. So many variables had been out of their control and if the worst had come to the worst he had told Costello that he himself might have to be expendable to carry this one through. And he suspected Costello was cold blooded enough to have taken him up on that had they not given him the gun he required or if he had not been able to switch the cartridge. They had relied on the type of firearm that the men had been packing on previous meetings but there was always the chance that an incompatible weapon would have been produced and Costello's tricks would have been useless.

Somehow he had carried it off - that guy had hands like a close up magician. Terry groaned at the memory of how he had almost drawn attention to what he was doing by spinning the gun after he had swapped the cartridge - but that was typical Nick. He had had to taunt them. On the other hand that had made it seem so much the better. No one running a scam would have done anything like that - so that fucking mad bastard did. It made him grin to think of it and he rested his head back on the tree and laughed out loud for sheer relief and the overwhelming knowledge that he was free of it now. The gamble had paid off.

But his good humour didn't last long. Act one was over but he was far from out of the proverbial woods yet. He had survived the near impossible part of the job and was now facing an even worse scenario - the conundrum that he didn't even understand.

They had been fed some tasteless fast food; even Liam hadn't shown much interest in eating. The remains of the food still lay scattered in their waxed wrappers around the floor. Liam had dropped off to sleep his head lying on Annie's lap while she had stroked his hair back to soothe him. Zoe was still awake wriggling about unable to find a comfortable position to sleep in. She was always more fussy and a lighter sleeper than her brother. Annie herself just sat staring out at the silent men who, apart from muttering to each other, made no attempt to communicate.

"Mum?" Zoe suddenly whispered.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Mum...I was thinking...where did you meet Daddy?"

It was hardly the question that she had expected but in a way she understood. Zoe wanted to take herself far away from where she was but she wanted to have her parents close. Somehow the subject was exactly what Annie wanted to talk about too. It made her feel safe just to cast her mind back to those days.

"Met Daddy? Let me see. It was in London. I shared a flat with Auntie Mel and one night we went out to a bar and bumped into your Daddy..."

"Did he ask you for a date?' she giggled, her hand over her mouth, amused at the thought of it.

Annie grinned too. "No. He actually rather liked Auntie Mel at first..."

"Auntie Mel? Oh NO!" Zoe chuckled and then went on, "That was because she's got blonde hair..."

"Gee whiz, Zo, that makes me feel great," Annie laughed. "Anyway a while later I met your Dad again and he remembered who I was and...."

"....You had a date!"

"No...we had an argument...a few weeks later Daddy came and apologized although actually it hadn't all been his fault and then he asked me...."

"...on a DATE!" she shouted and Annie nodded.

"Did he kiss you?" 

"On the first date?" Annie asked. 

Zoe frowned. "Are you not supposed to?"

Her mother chucked her chin." I'm only joking. 'Course he kissed me and I was smitten..."

"What's smitten?"

"I fell for him...head over heels in love..."

"Did he ask you to marry him then?"

Annie lay back and remembered Terry's inability to give her even the slightest indication of how he felt about her in those days, despite their friendship - and extremely active sex life. It was a little difficult to discuss all that with a little child.

"Er...no...he took a while longer than that. It took him nearly a year to get round to that..."

"A year!" Zoe gasped.

"Yes...a year...we got married just before Christmas and...."

"Then you had sex and I was born!" she added.

Annie repressed a giggle. "No...you were born eighteen months later. We...wanted some time to ourselves first before we had babies..." she replied carefully.

Zoe thought about that. "Mum...what's sex like?"

It occurred to Annie that this had to be the most surreal place to try and explain the facts of life to her daughter. "It's very nice," she answered lamely.

"Bea says you don't have sex just to have a baby. People have sex for fun as well. Is that true? But it's so gross, Mum. I think kissing would be nice - but I don't think I want anyone to put his willy in me..."

"Of course you don't! You are a little girl and not ready for all that stuff. But eventually you will have different feelings about boys and you will meet someone whom you really like and then it will all seem different..."

"You mean I'll want a boy to do it? Do you ask Daddy to do it? Or does he just say when you have to let him?"

Annie again tried to grasp how bizarre the world of adult sexuality must be to a child. "It isn't like that, Zoe. We do it when we both want to. It just sort of happens, you know? When you love someone and want to be close to them, you just find yourself making love to them. It doesn't seem gross to you then."

"Do you do it in bed?" She was struggling with details.

"Er...mostly..." Annie answered floundering now.

"Bea says that it's quite noisy...she's heard her Mum and her boyfriend..."

"Zoe...you shouldn't listen so much to Bea. If you want to know something, ask me or Daddy...."

"Daddy? I can't ask Daddy! He would be embarrassed!" she exclaimed.

"Daddy would not! He knows all about girls."

"Does he? Does he know about periods?" she whispered breathlessly.

Annie chuckled. "Oh yes....he certainly does. Sweetheart, he knows everything about me and I about him. That's what's so wonderful about being in love, Zoe. You discover all about this person who is so different from yourself."

The little girl relaxed against her mother. "I love Daddy. I want to marry a man just like him when I grow up..."

Annie hugged her close. That was a pretty tall order for any young man to live up to. But she reckoned that one day someone would come along and sweep her little girl away from her Daddy whatever she imagined now. If only this nightmare could be ended. As Zoe slipped into sleep, Annie choked down the sombre thoughts that threatened to take hold of her and let her own mind relive the past. Ten years. All the things they had done and shared. Worth it? Even it this was to be the end of the story?

She smiled to herself as a tear trickled down her cheek. 

Worth every moment - both good and bad. 

In her mind, she recalled him and  was again lying in his arms and the world was far away and nothing else mattered but the two of them. Wherever he was in the world and whatever he was doing at least she knew one thing quite clearly. He knew how she felt and they had left nothing unsaid. It was some comfort to know that. But the thought of what it would do to him if any harm should come to her and the children was almost worse than contemplating her current distress. It would kill him. He couldn't get back from something like this. She knew he had invested too much this time and suffered too much in the past. God help him to cope if he were left alone.

It took them two hours to find him and his condition had not improved in that period. His breathing was increasingly laboured, he knew he was dehydrated, it was possible he had ingested a water-born bacteria from the river - it was a fallacy to imagine that these waters were clear. Effluence and sewage from kampongs was poured liberally into them not to mention the many insects capable of biting and transmitting highly infectious diseases. Those might take days to emerge but a bout of dysentery might set in within hours. His head ached and he felt nauseous. Time would tell.

Despite the tracking the two men had had problems reaching his position; they had left their vehicle and proceeded the final mile or so on foot through tracks through the jungle that were barely there. When their tracker display showed him as being in their vicinity they simply shouted his name as being the simplest method of location. If he was still conscious, that was.

They heard his answering shout. Breaking to a run, Anders and Hewitt brushed through the trees in the direction of his voice laughing when they got close enough to catch his words.

"You planning on getting here by dinner time? Don't let me hurry you or anything. What was the excuse this time - you had to read the map upside down like a girl?"

"Try falling off near a fucking road junction then...Jesus Christ, who do you think we are - Tarzan and Mowgli?" Will laughed.

"I hate snakes," Kyle complained as they knelt by him and checked him out.

"Thought you grew up over here..."Terry answered breaking into a burst of coughing at the effort that shouting had taken.

"That's why I fucking hate snakes..." he replied plausibly. "Can you walk? Cos I don't fancy carrying you..."

Terry staggered to his feet, helped by them, hunching over, the pain in his chest worse now. They gave him a bottle of water and mineral salts which he drank gratefully. Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, smearing blood and dirt he bit back sardonically. "You couldn't, blue eyes. Haven't got the upper body strength. You'd have trouble lifting my wife...and she's about 110 lbs...and if you ever try, I fucking kill ya..."

The two men laughed and supported him as they set off back through the trees towards their vehicle. 

It was a relief to lower himself into the back seat of the air conditioned Landrover and he rested back closing his eyes as they bumped back over the rough track. Every judder shook through him and made him gasp. He was not in a good way. But he had to stay alert now more so that ever. It is at moments like this when you are most vulnerable.

"So...what went down...?" Hewitt asked as he played with the dial of the radio.

"It worked. Dickhead played it to the hilt. He thinks he's getting an Oscar. Do they do one for bad acting?" Terry replied. "Throw me a cigarette."

"It'll make you cough."

"Good," he murmured as Hewitt flung back a pack and a lighter. He took a deep drag and launched into a hacking cough that pierced his chest. But the smoke lulled him as the buzz of nicotine hit his brain.

"What's up?" Anders asked. "Any damage?"

"Dunno...chest cage is bust. Impact. Better that a bullet in the heart though..."

"Too right. Let's see if the local radio do the job for us hey..."

The midday news in English broke into their conversation. They listened until the final announcement before smiling broadly:

Chambermaids at the Mandarin Oriental hotel made a grisly discovery this morning when they came to clean two adjoining rooms. They found the bodies of two Australian nationals; both had their throats slit. Police have not yet realized their names. It is believe that the two men were in Kuala Lumpur on business - they both worked for an International security company. It is not yet known whether their deaths are the result of their profession or a private matter...

"What's it feel like to hear your deaths announced on the radio?" Terry asked.

"Wait until the evening news. Then you'll know," Anders grinned.

"So Nicky boy, wherever you are, it's all up to you now. Wouldn't want to be in his fucking shoes right now," Hewitt observed.

"He'll be in his element. Star of the show. Only man I've ever met who has no understanding of the word fear. But then again, there isn't enough in his head to warrant it," Terry answered but his respect evident despite his sarcastic comment. "He'll need that nerve of steel over the next few months. Imagine that night and day..."

The others shook their heads. It had been easy to select Nick for the final stage of the operation. He had volunteered as soon as it had been mooted. "Gotta be me. I'm the only one with balls big enough. Plus I can act the pants of the rest of you." Terry had reminded him that acting like a fucking bastard was not acting if you actually were one. Costello had taken that as a compliment.

They drove on in silence for a while. Terry studied the two men in front of him and scanned the car. Lying in the tray near the handbrake was Hewitt's Browning automatic. Hewitt had pulled it from his belt and tossed it down as he had sat in the passenger seat. Anders was still carrying and they would both have knives. It was possible that there was another gun in the glove compartment and if they had any sense they would have concealed them in the door pockets. But he still had the element of surprise.

Leaning forward as if to help himself to the bottle of water on the floor, he snaked out his hand and retrieved the gun, placing it at Anders' neck. The men in the front froze even as the car carried on down the road. "Pull over. Get the fuck out of the car. Either of you go for a gun, I take his head off."

Zoe dropped off to sleep and Annie eased her to the floor, her head resting on a folded up jacket. She lay back and watched the men, wondering if they intended to sleep and if there would be any chance of any moment when they would drop their guard. But what would she do then? Was there anything she could possibly do? How could she escape - they would never give them that much rope...

"Hey...now the kids are asleep...maybe you want to earn some points for good behaviour, honey?"

She looked up with a start. One of the men who seemed to be one of those in authority, was approaching her. The other men ranged around the walls or sitting around on chairs seemed amused. A few were laughing.

"Don't even think it. I'd rather be dead..." Annie retorted, aware as she said it that it was unwise to provoke him in any way.

"Don't worry, you soon could be...if your old man doesn't play ball..."

"Is this about my husband then?" Annie grasped at that comment to change the topic.

"No. This is about you and me, darlin'. To start with anyway. After that...well...let's just say you better be a good girl if you want them to lay off your daughter. You know what I mean?"

There was no answer to that. It was about as clear a threat as could be made to a mother. There was no possible choice, was there?  She had been prepared to die for them, still was. To have sex with these animals to save them was never going to be in doubt. Moving her comatose son and laying him next to his sister, she stood up and stepped forward nearer to the man. "Not here. I don't want the children to see if they wake. Take me somewhere else. I don't care what you do. You can all play if you like...just don't touch them. Please....I beg you, don't touch them..."

He did not reply, just gave a bitter laugh, reaching out his hand to stroke her face. She moved her cheek away. "I said sex. Don't try to touch me like a lover..." He shrugged and grabbed her hand, pulling her against him.

They were both taken by surprise. Liam appeared from nowhere and jumped at the man, biting his arm, forcing him to let go of his mother. He drew blood and the man shouted out and swore in pain.

"Get off my Mum!" The little boy put himself in front of Annie and pushed her away, facing the man up, his little chin thrust out. Annie could see he was afraid but he was angry too and that anger was taking him past his own fear.

"You fucking little ...." the man brought his hand down across Liam's face and hit him hard. Liam rode the blow but stayed on his feet, whimpering a little. Annie tried to hold him back. "No...Liam...no, please....!" but he shrugged her away.

"Don't touch my Mum!" he repeated, spitting the words out. The man roared in temper and picked Liam up roughly, tossing him over his shoulder and striding over the toilet. He threw the child bodily against the wall, Annie could hear the thwack against the wall . She cried out. "Don't hurt him...please....don't hurt him..." The door was slammed and he wedged a chair under the handle.

"You can cool your fucking heels in there in the dark, ya little motherfucker..." he shouted. Liam kicked the door hard and shouted, "I'm not scared of you, you bastard!" For a long time he kept up the row, battering his fists on the door and shouting insults. Annie had never seen him lose his temper so badly. In many ways, Liam was a pretty placid boy. He had plenty of fights in school but they were usually quick flashpoints and he cooled down quickly. The rest of the time he was easy going and laid back. This display of wild rage was quite unlike anything she had ever observed in him before. But then - this situation was hardly normal, was it? Who knew how anyone ever responds to such events until they occur?

She was scared for him on another level, too. Liam hated the dark. He always had. They had to leave a low light on in his room at night or his door open and a light on the landing outside. Terry said he had been the same as a kid. He had had to have a nightlight. He used to grin and shake his head at the memory, unsure when he had grown out of the need. Liam would be so frightened in that filthy room without a light and still so worried about her; she could hardly imagine what he was going through.

The noise had woken up Zoe who had immediately started to cry. Annie sat back down and held her; her daughter was distraught about Liam but had fortunately not witnessed any of the events that had led up to the whole thing. The incident, however, seemed to have rattled the man sufficiently for him to back off for a while as he went to dress his injured hand, cursing under his breath. But Annie didn't for one moment imagine he had forgotten what he had planned to do. If anything, he would be even more fired up to make her pay for what her son had done.

But for now, she contented herself with calming her child, rocking her back and forth in her arms, singing softly in her ear to soothe her and willed Liam to calm down and know that she was close by and safe.

Dino watched the exchange with his heart in his mouth. When the guy had gone for Annie he knew this might be the one chance they got. The idea of using her as decoy in this way was something he did not want to contemplate - but there was no denying that the attention would be deflected whilst they toyed with her and if they moved quickly... Then Liam had woken up and had almost immediately launched himself at the man like a little terrier dog. It made Dino want to smile amidst the horror as he watched the stubborn little face challenge the armed man. God, he was so like his father.

He flinched when he saw the slap the child took and then the further impact against the wall. But he saw his chance. "I'm going in for the kid....Get the others in readiness. The minute they lay a finger on the mother then we move....it's not ideal but they're separated and attention is deflected....relay everything to me and wait for my word..."

As he threw out commands, he finished suiting up and almost ran out of the building, aware that he had to do this quick. Who knew how long before they made an attack on Annie?

Back in his former position on the roof, he crept forward to the toilet and prised open the panel again. The room was now in darkness. Liam was still making halfhearted kicks at the door and whimpering, but his rage was giving way to fear now; Dino could sense the child's panic.

"Hey...Liam....Liam....calm down...!" he hissed from a few feet above the boy's head. Liam stopped whimpering and listened .

"It's me. Dino. I'm above your head. Don't speak. Just listen. I'm gonna shine a thin light down. I want you to get your bearings. Look about the room, OK?"

Dino flicked on the pinlight and pointed it down until he picked out the child's face. Liam gasped as if he had thought up until then that he was imagining it all. "OK...Liam....you got me...you listening, son? Climb up on the toilet seat....then the cistern.... Do that for me, will you - but try to be quiet, hey?"

Liam nodded and sniffed, wiping tears from his face. He climbed up onto the seat and started to step onto the cistern when he suddenly stopped.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Dino asked.

"Why do you want me to climb up?" The boy whispered.

"I'm gonna reach down and lift you out through here. Then I pass you to some of our guys waiting...hurry up..."

But he didn't move. He appeared to be thinking. Dino saw him look back to the door. "No! I can't."

"Sure you can....you're nearly there; I can almost reach you. Come on, Liam...please...."

"No. I'm not leaving my Mum and Zoe. I'm not leaving!" His voice began to rise; Dino knew that he was close to tears. It was immediately obvious to him that the child was adamant and he knew enough about his father's stubbornness to suspect that this was not about to change whatever he said. He swore under his breath but answered calmly.

"It's OK, Liam. Your Mum would want you to come with me. This is helping her. She just wants you safe...."

"NO! I'm staying. They're gonna hurt her. I won't let them."

"Liam...you can't help from in here....your Mum..."

"...My Dad would want me to stay. He wouldn't leave her, would he?"

Dino sighed. "Your Dad's a grown man. You're a little boy, Liam. They've got real guns. There's nothing you can do...."

"NO!" This time his voice was louder and possibly had been heard from outside. The boy jumped down from the seat and stood with his back against the door. He was making it nigh on impossible for Dino to intervene.

He paused and gave the impasse some thought. Whispering into the receiver, he asked for a status report.

"No change. It's quieted down. The little girl is crying and the mother is with her. The men have backed off for now...."

"Liam...OK...you wanna stay....you stay...but you gotta help me now. If you stay you have to do something. No more temper tantrums. No more tears. You want to be the man of this family? Then you act like one. You with me? Just nod if you understand..."

Liam nodded apprehensively.

"You have to get out of here and tell your Mum I'm here. We need a diversion. Do you know what a diversion means? Something that makes them look away..."

Liam nodded again.

"Ask them nicely to let you out. Tell them you'll behave. You want your Mum. Anything - but try to get them to let you back. I'll be here. If bad things happen, I'll be straight in....OK?"

He nodded for a third time.

"I'm gonna close this panel. Then you call them nicely. You got that? Tell your Mum quietly that the moment we have a clear run, we'll be in. You all get under something then and you don't do ANYTHING else, Liam. Leave it all to us. OK? And Liam....you're Dad would be so proud of you. Even though he'll kill you for doing this, ya know?"

Liam suddenly grinned. Dino grinned back. He closed the panel and left the little boy in total darkness again, listening though the crack for what he did next. There was silence for a while and then his voice called out again, desperate now, frightened.

"Hey, mister...I'm scared...I want my Mum....please let me out...I promise I won't be naughty again."

There was no reaction. Dino grimaced. 

"Please...." suddenly Liam started to make a wheezing sound like an asthmatic. "Please let me out...I need my inhaler....I can't breathe...I've got asthma..."

Inhaler? Was Liam asthmatic? Dino tried to remember ever seeing him with an inhaler. Zoe had one - she'd been detected as a small child. But Liam?

There was a pause. The radio in his ear crackled. "They're opening the door....seems they don't want the kid to collapse on them..."

"Get out...You fuck with me once more, breathing won't be a problem for you anymore. You got that?" The man yanked him forward and dragged him back to his mother.

Annie looked stunned. Zoe looked up and opened her mouth to say something; her mother covered her lips with her hand and whispered in her ear as Liam was thrown bodily at her and fell in a heap across her knee. He was still making a wheezing sound. Pulling out Zoe's spare inhaler from her bag, she let him suck on it. He coughed a few times and then curled up on her knee, sucking his thumb.

"Big hero, hey? Still needs his pacifier? Afraid of the dark?" The man jeered.  But he left them alone and went back to light up a cigarette with the others.

"Mum?" Liam whispered in her ear. "Uncle Dino's on the roof. He needs a diversion. Then we have to get under something and he's coming in with some men. We're alright, Mum. I'll look after you now!"

Anders pulled over sharply and killed the engine. 

"Out...one at a time...Hewitt first....where I can see you...go and kiss that tree..."

Hewitt eased out of the seat and did as he had been instructed. "Now you....no false moves...."

Terry stepped out, repressing the involuntary grunt as the effort sent shards of pain along nerve endings. He stumbled slightly and Anders caught the movement but Terry was quickly on it again and barked at him to go hug another tree.  He indicated one at a distance of about four feet from each other. Flipping the trunk open, he helped himself to a rifle and thrust the hand gun into his waistband. In their bag of tricks he found two sets of handcuffs and walked over to the men.

Kicking Hewitt's legs wider, he yanked his arms behind his back and cuffed his wrists, knocking him to his knees, retrieving the knife he was carrying in his belt and thrusting his head to the red earth with his boot.

"Anders....your blade...throw it into the bush...." He complied. "Put these on...behind your back...." He threw him the other set of cuffs and watched as Will bound himself. "Kneel. Back to Hewitt. No eye contact."

He stepped back and released Hewitt from the ungainly position he had found himself in.

"OK....now....let's talk, shall we....I wanna know which of you is the mole, hey? Or maybe both?"

There was a silence as the two men contemplated his words. "What the fuck you on about?" Anders asked. "You're the one with the agenda all your own, mate...what's this about?"

Terry frowned. This had not been the answer he had been expecting. "Clever... throw me a curve, hey? Not gonna work. I know someone set me up. Gotta be one of you. You tell me what the fuck this is about or I...."

"Set you up? Set you up with what? Who? I've seen the pictures...if you are out of your depth with those boys, then it sure as shit isn't anything to do with us, mate," Hewitt answered. "But we're onto you, mate. Canberra has the evidence. Anything happens to us, you're the first one they'll come looking for...."

Terry shook his head, wondering if he was hearing this right. Evidence? Pictures? Canberra? It suddenly occurred to him that maybe he was wrong. Something else? Something he had never imagined?

"Will someone explain to me what I'm supposed to have done?" Terry snapped. Anders looked round.

"That woman. I saw you with her. Don't pretend you don't know what we're talking about. If you're gonna take us out, then don't keep me waiting...."

"...Woman...? You talking about Hseuh? What do you know about her?" Terry asked, the wheels of his brain turning over.

Hewitt laughed ruefully. "Not as much as you, mate, apparently. Why don't you tell us what you're doing with a woman like her..."

"Woman like her...?' Terry repeated inanely. "What do you know? What the fuck do you know?" He broke into a fit of coughing at that point. His breathing was deteriorating rapidly.

"You need a doctor, mate....what's this about, Terry?  I think you need to come clean...I don't know what you think we did but...mate, you're in some shit...and you can't deal with this alone...if we wanted to we could still take you...how long you think you can keep this up?" Will addressed him softly. There was affection in his tone and a realisation that their worst fears were ungrounded. This was not a traitor, but a man on the edge.

"She set me up...but I don't know why...I just thought it must be..."

"...It's not us. Do you know who she is?"

He shook his head. "No...I know only what she told me. She lied..."

"Mate...she's a dangerous woman. Works for some billionaire...he's been dealing with our Islamic boys...we thought you were playing both ends...we spent the past week following the pair of you...still got a guy on her..."

"Jesus Christ... I'm so confused...keep running it round in my head...I thought maybe you were gonna take me somewhere....wanted to take you first...while I still could..." Terry sank to his knees and bent double, unable to keep upright any longer. "I taught you guys well, hey? You've gotta give me that, hey?" He attempted to laugh as he threw Hewitt the keys to the cuffs and sat on the floor panting; they unfastened each other and went to his aid.

Lifting him between them, they eased him back onto the seat. "We'll be at the airstrip soon. They've got paramedics on hand, sir. Hold on..."

"I fucked up..." he grabbed Anders' hand. "I fucked up so bad..."

"No, you didn't, sir. You got us this far. We couldn't have done it without your lead.  It's out turn to bring you home. Get some rest. We'll talk about this later..."

"I want her...you got anything on that bitch, I want to know..." Terry struggled against the pain, spitting out the words now.

"Easy, sir...when you're better....we'll show you what we've got...let it go now, sir...let it go..."

Annie tried to digest what her son had told her. Dino? How could he know? How? But he did. They had a chance. All she had to do what create a diversion and he could move in. It was easy.  If she offered herself for sport to them then they would take their mind off the game. They were men. If their dicks were engaged their brains wouldn't be.

But it had to be slick. She had to think how to set it up. Like Liam had used his brain. God love him, how he had thought of the asthma angle? It was a sheer stroke of genius. But then it was something he was familiar with. Half the kids in his class were asthmatic, his own sister was. It had been one of the reasons that they had started her swimming so early on; it was good for her breathing. He knew that a kid having an asthma attack always got attention fast. Boy, was he smart. Her respect for her son rose immeasurably and she felt humbled by what she did not know about her own children. Just because he was a lazy student didn't mean he was stupid. He was much like Terry had been as a child. Not interested in academic study until he had found a reason to be. Didn't negate the fact that his IQ was off the scale - way higher than her own - and she was the PhD of the family.

Sitting there, she wondered how she should make the offer so that it did not seem false. There was only one reason a mother would be prepared to give them what they wanted. So she had to play on that.

"Liam....stay with Zoe...I'm going to talk to the men. If things start to happen then you make sure you both hide under that table and you don't come out for any reason until the shooting stops. You got that. Wait for Dino to get you. Promise?"

The children nodded and clung to each other. 

"I want you to close your eyes and ignore what happens. If the men look as thought they are hurting me - they are not...I just want them to drop their guard..."

She stood up and began to walk over to the group of men. They immediately grasped their weapons and eyed her up suspiciously.

"I'm here to make good on a promise. You promise to leave my kids alone from now on, you can have what you want. Deal?" She addressed them straight and they considered her offer.

"You owe me good. The little bastard bit me..." The first man growled.

"So bite me back....that what you want?" Annie answered. He smirked and stroked his groin lewdly.

"You look like you might even enjoy this, baby...."

"Rather depends on you, doesn't it? You know how to please a woman?"

He laughed. "Don't play games with me, honey...you haven't got a clue...let's see what you've got then....a bit on the skinny side for me but...a cunt's a cunt, hey?"

He dragged her close to him and ran his hand up her legs cupping and gripping hard between her thighs, making her cry out. Then he pushed her to her knees and opened his fly.

Grabbing her by the chin and squeezing, he muttered... "No teeth. Ya got that?"

"The mother's with them. Looks like he wants a blow...she's on her knees - but they're all watching. Might be the only chance we get..."

"Go, go go... Code Red....Wait for the word..." Dino replied and he opened the panel, dropping into the bathroom silently.

Creeping forward he pushed at the door. Sure enough, he could see the scene ahead. The group of men was all focused on Annie and their leader. He had pushed her face into his groin. It wasn't hard to imagine the rest. Dino opened his mouth to give the command.

Liam ran at the man again. It all happened in an instant. One of the other men went forward and raised his gun, cracking the barrel across the boy's face sending Liam skittering away under the force of the blow. The leader pushed Annie from him and screamed, holding his groin.

"LOUD!"

Dino burst through the door already firing. Liam was lying against the wall near him; he kicked his prone body behind him. Zoe scuttled under the table near her, screaming, her fingers in her ears. Annie tried to crawl away. He took down the two nearest men but the rest went for their guns.

The man with Annie caught her and hauled her up, placing a knife at her throat. He was grimacing. She had clearly injured him in some way. Jesus, she must have bitten his dick. Dino wasn't sure whether to be impressed or worried. They had one mean angry bastard on their hands now.

His own men burst on the scene almost immediately, scaling down from the ceiling panels or breaking through the doors. But they had a face-off. Annie was being held and no one dared move.

"Zoe, honey....you crawl back over to me....that's a good girl....back here to Liam...." Dino whispered over. The little girl came back sobbing and went to hold her brother. The two children were passed to his men and carried out, crying for their mother.

"Let - her- go. You can't win now. No reason for anyone else to die...." Dino held his hand up.

"She bit me...the fucking little slut....and you're not going to chance I slit her throat. You know you won't. I'm gonna step back and you are gonna let me leave by those back stairs. Car outside. Anyone comes near me....she's dead anyway...."

Annie breathed deeply, her eyes wide with fear. But she was calm. He wondered if she would understand?

"Down, boy down...let's talk about this, hey...we just need to think rationally. You want a clear run? You got it....nothing in the way....you got it....go to ground....we can deal....NOW!"

A sharpshooter in the roof aimed and shot the back of the man's head away. Annie dropped to the floor. The rest of the men threw down their weapons and held up their hands.

"Annie!" Dino scrambled over to where she was on the floor; it had happened so fast he was unsure whether she had been hurt.

He rolled her over and to his relief, he found her uninjured. Just scared to death. Shivering with fear and revulsion and covered in blood. But it wasn't hers.

"My babies...."she wailed.

"They're safe....we got them out....it's over, honey....sweetheart, it's over....you did good....you all did so good...." he was shaking himself, the let down of tension making him feel weak with relief. He wanted to throw up. He choked the urge down.

Holding her to him, he rocked her in his arms like a baby. She was all right. Christ, she was OK...he still couldn't imagine how he would have faced Terry ever again if any of them had been hurt. Or faced himself.

But another fear that he had repressed surfaced. He had risked his own life. He could have died tonight. He hadn't considered Melanie and Nathaniel once.

"Did he hurt Liam...is he all right? I told him not to do anything...I told him..." Annie sobbed as Dino helped her to her feet and supported her out of the door to the lift.

"You might as well tell the sun not to shine, honey. He's his Daddy's boy. Didn't get that from the wind, did he...? You got one helluva kid there. He made it possible. This was a real bad deal, Annie. Not sure we could have done it any other way...."

Annie groaned at the memory. "But what does it mean for Terry? I don't understand, Dino. What is it all about? Will this make things harder for him?"

He shook his head. "I have no idea who these men are or what this about. Sense tells me it's connected to Terry's operation but I do not know what they wanted. But maybe he does. They must have approached him...wait until we contact him..."

"He'll be out of his mind...Dino, what must he be thinking? We have to let him know...we have to let him know!!!"

"I know, sugar...I'll call him now....let's just get you to the hospital....check you all out...looks like Liam will need some treatment..."

That took her mind off Terry. She rushed over to where the little boy was nursing a very swollen face and a possible broken arm. It looked like his cheekbone had been shattered. Considering what he had done, he was lucky. But it didn't make his mother feel any better as she rocked him in her arms.

Dino left them there sitting on the ground in the forecourt of the factory, surrounded by the law enforcement people busying themselves with rounding up the men still living or able to walk while they waited for the paramedics to arrive. The kid was hurt but he wanted his mother more. Smiling on the scene before, a distraught mother clasping her child to her, his little hands reaching for her and his head hidden in her breast, Zoe resting her face on her mother's back and her arms tight around her neck, he had to smile.

As he raised his eyes from them, he saw the slumped and pathetic figure of Amri Bakhti standing a few feet away, tears running down his face. The poor guy had witnessed it all from the monitor; he had watched in impotent horror as the events had unfolded. It was hard not to pity him.

"Annie?" Dino called to her softly. She looked up and he indicated Amri.

"You? Why are you here?" she gasped.

Dino broke in. "He saw the kidnap. It's because of his quick thinking that we are here. I think the debt is paid, honey..."

Her mouth fell open but she raised her hand up as if in acknowledgement. The young man bowed his head. Then a strange thing happened. Zoe left her mother and threw herself into his arms; Liam beamed over a wide smile and called out his name. The children did not know anything about this man except he was their friend; an adult who was there to protect them. Annie smiled sadly. She was glad someone was able to show him the thanks that he deserved for saving their lives.

"All debts are paid, Amri," she whispered back at him.

She wondered if it really helped to ease his soul.

They took a military plane from Subang airport that had been provided by the Australian Air Force. As the three men left the vehicle to cross the tarmac, Hewitt and Anders supporting Terry between them, the car was cleared of weapons, other equipment and documents and then handed over to the embassy official who was present with a few senior members of the Malaysian military. An honour guard was formed as they made their way to the plane steps; all the air force and army personnel on board saluted as the three men approached.

"It's an honour..." a captain began.

"Leave it out, will ya...I've had enough of that shit to last a lifetime," Terry muttered in temper.

The man looked awkward and stepped back, but the soldiers still held the salute until the three men were on board.

"Get him some attention...he's in pain..." Anders handed him over to the paramedics. A few nurses helped him onto a bed and a doctor rushed forward.

"Wait...Will...call Dino...let him know I'm okay. Check that Annie and the kids are fine...someone is trying to get at me....I think it might be through them....My family...please...you have to contact my..." The oxygen mask cut him off and he gulped the air gratefully. Anders backed off and left the professionals to it.

"He gonna be all right? Hate to see him like that. He's always so...you know?" Hewitt asked.

Anders smiled and put his arm round the younger man. "Take more than that to bring him down... He'll be fine when he gets attention and some sleep. But he's worried. And he's angry. Wouldn't like to cross him when he wakes up, mate. Not sure this is finished yet, Kyle..."