Beijing Private Eyes - Part 7 Cold Storage

They woke up with throbbing heads, Evie lying on a rough wooden bed and Mark on a mat on the floor. Both were dressed only in shirts and underwear.

     “Where are we?” Evie muttered, sitting up and looking around the room.

 

Apartment view through security bars, Taiyuan, China  (Photo: M Griffiths)

 

Beijing Private Eyes - A foreign teacher in Beijing meets an unexpected and attractive visitor in need of assistance. He offers to help and things begin to get complicated.


Read Beijing Private Eyes - Part 1  Arrival  here, Part 2  Lights, camera...  here, Part 3 - Room service here, Part 4 - Ancient History here, Part 5 - Party time here, Part 6 - On the Road here


(For my six peak oil short story competition entries set in Australia and China see here)

Part 7 - Cold Storage

by Matthew Griffiths

They woke up with throbbing heads, Evie lying on a rough wooden bed and Mark on a mat on the floor. Both were dressed only in shirts and underwear.

     “Where are we?” Evie muttered, sitting up and looking around the room. Mark, sitting against the wall watching her, followed her eyes. The room was rectangular with the door at one end. At the other end was a small window with security bars on the outside. Along one side, in the middle, was the bed. The mat lay on the floor against the opposite wall. In the far corner was an old metal bucket with a square piece of plywood covering it.

Outside the window other buildings were visible, filling the field of vision. Red brick walls. It seemed they were looking up at them. The room was mostly below ground level. The floor had been recently, but ineffectively, swept.

“Looks like some sort of store room maybe. It’s below ground to keep it cool I think.”

“I’m cold. Why did they take our clothes?” Evie shivered. She looked at the bed and picked up thin blanket spread over the mattress and wrapped it around her.

Mark thought about it. “Part of the psychological softening up process. Make us less likely to fight back or escape. If they were really serious they would have taken them all.”

“Where did you get that idea from?”

“TV of course, or maybe a book.”

      She wiped her face. “What was that stuff on the cloth?” Evie asked. “Smells horrible.”

“Chloroform or something. Some kind of knock out drug.”

Evie shifted uncomfortably on the bed “I need to pee.”

Mark looked around the room. He got up and walked over to the bucket and lifted the plywood. “Here it is.” He looked at her with a wry smile. “You go first.”

She screwed up her face. “Thanks.”

She slowly made her way over to the bucket. Mark went to the door and began trying the handle and examining the hinges.

            Evie finished and sat back down on the bed. “That was a very subtle pretend ‘look at the door while I was peeing’ thing by the way.” she said with amusement in her voice.

“Actually, I was looking at the door for real. A little rusty but solid. Can’t see us getting out this way.” He moved to the bucket and peed, replaced the plywood, then stood under the window. The plaster was cracked and chipped. The outside surface was worse. Bits of plaster had chipped off. He looked at the other buildings, trying to get his bearings. The sun was coming from the right. He looked at his watch: Just after 8am. That meant the window was facing north. He fiddled with the window latch, at last managing to turn it and open the window inwards a little.

            He heard a low noise from above. He craned his neck to try and see what it was but it receded into the distance. A swirl of breeze blew some dust in through the window. Mark coughed. He could smell something chemical. He’d spent enough time in chemistry labs. What was it. Sulphur? And petrol or oil maybe?

            He turned to Evie “I think this is an old factory of some kind. Chemicals probably.” The noise overhead returned. He stood on tip toes and looked up again and saw a plane fly over. It was heading north. “There are planes flying over.” he said.

He waited and a couple of minutes later another one flew over in the same direction. From the engine noise it sounded like they were descending. “Can’t see much.”

“The view from here is ok.” said Evie.

            He waited a few more minutes listening for more planes. He took a breath and shouted out the window. “Jiu mi ah. Jiu mi ah.”

“What’s that?” asked Evie.

“Chinese for ‘Help’” said Mark. He listened for a while longer and then turned. “Ok. Here’s what I think. We’re in an old factory somewhere south of an airport. If we are still in Beijing then I think we’re in the old factory district in the south east of the city. There was all sorts of stuff here before they decided to shut it down a while ago and move the polluting industries further out of the city. Most of the land is contaminated so it hasn’t been redeveloped yet.

“So what next?” Evie asked.

“Dunno. Wait and see what happens when they come back I suppose.” He sat back down on the mat and looked at her sitting on the bed. “This is very Chinese.” Mark chuckled “In Chinese trains they have two classes, soft sleeper and hard sleeper. They call them that because they don’t like the words First Class and Second class, this being a classless society of course. You’re being given the first class treatment!”

She shrugged.

            They sat silently for a while. Lost in their own thoughts. Something clicked in Mark’s mind. “You know,” he began “I’m remembering something from last night. The guys that kidnapped us, one of them looked familiar. I think I saw him when some people came to have a meeting with Zhang last week. He looked dodgy and this would be right in keeping…”

 “Get off the grass!” Evie interjected. “Out of 1.4 Billion people you reckon you recognise the guy that kidnapped us?”

“They don’t all look the same you know.”

“I had noticed.” she replied.

“He came with someone to meet Zhang at the studio last week. And the car had Tianjin number plates. Don’t you think it’s more than coincidence that we get nabbed just after a long dinner with Zhang. We wanted to go early remember and he didn’t want us to leave. It takes about an hour and a half to drive from Tianjin. A bit more to get over to the west side of the city. If he phoned them when we got to the restaurant they would have had enough time to get there and get ready.”

“Rubbish. You’ve really have been watching too much TV. Everyone here has been really nice to me. I can’t believe any of them would do this.”

He shook his head and took a deep breath. “Ok, ok. Given that they kidnapped us rather than just robbing us means they want us for some purpose. Most likely they will ransom us for money. That could take a while.”

“Brilliant.”

He waited in silence for a while and then made a couple of attempts at conversation. She gave only half-hearted responses.

            “You’re grumpy this morning.” he noted dryly.

“No breakfast and no phone.” She replied fiddling with her hands. “Not a good combination.” She lapsed into silence then remarked “Not to mention stuck in a hole with no means of escape.”

Mark grunted in agreement. He began to think through a plan of sorts. Finally he spoke. “Ok. I’ve been thinking.”

She looked up.

“Let’s assume that we are going to be ransomed. If all goes well then we get out and everything is fine. If not, then we need some contingency plans, especially if we get separated. We’ll ignore the Zhang angle for the moment since we can’t agree on that."

Evie harrumphed under her breath.

He continued, “For a start. I’m a nobody. Not worth much. I don’t have a rich family or anything so they can’t get much for me. My employer is unlikely to bother spending up large either. At the very least it will take longer to get anything out of them. You, on the other hand, are famous, and work for a studio with millions behind it. I have a feeling you are the real target.”

She looked at him and nodded uncomfortably. “Maybe.”

“If we get separated and you get out you have to make yourself safe as quickly as possible. Don’t worry about me. With a bit of luck they’ll just let me go somewhere and scarper. ”

She gave him a doubtful look.

Mark counted off on his fingers, “Step one - contact Mei. If you don’t get your phone back you’ll need to contact her at work. Her full name is Li Xiaomei. Say it after me: Li Xiaomei.”

“Lee shau may” she repeated.

“Again.”

“Lee shau may”.

“Ok. Good. She works for Accenture in HR. Accenture is a multinational IT consulting firm.  You can google it and find the number.”

“Lee shau may, Accenture HR.” she repeated. “Got it.”

“Step 2 - When you reach her tell her what happened, and then get her to let you into the apartment. Step 3 - Get your passport and ticket and get on the first plane to LA.”

“But what about you?”

“Mei will tell the embassy and then get the police or whoever she trusts to find me. Tell her I’m in an old factory south of the Airport. She has contacts around the city. It shouldn’t take her long to get something moving. And like I said, I think they’ll let me go once they get some money from the studio.”

He stared at her. “Promise me you’ll go as soon as you can. I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay around after this, whoever is responsible. Promise?”

            “What’s with the martyrdom complex?” she asked. “Don’t you want to get out?”

“Of course…”

“Then why try and get rid of me. Maybe I can help get you out.”

“Maybe, but the longer you stay the more danger there is. There’s no point in taking unnecessary risks.”

“When did you become so paranoid? I know this is not a great situation but still…”

“I just want you to be safe.” he said quietly, closing his eyes.

“I don’t get you at all.”

 

After a couple of minutes he looked up at her. “How about I tell you a little story.”

“Ok, shoot.” she sat on the bed her arms wrapped around her legs.

“Once upon a time there was truck driver. He was tired, heading home after a long day on the road.”

“You? I didn’t know you drove a truck.”

“No, not me. Anyway, this truck comes to a bend in the highway. The driver falls asleep and crosses the centre line. The truck smashes into a car coming the other way. The two people in the car die instantly.” He looked up at her slowly. “My wife and our young child.”

“Oh Christ.” Evie flushed pink and her hand covered her mouth. Her eyes moistened. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

“It’s ok. You couldn’t know. I don’t like to tell people much.”

Evie sprang off the bed and sat down beside him on the mat. “I’m so, so, sorry.” She laid her hand on his arm.

Mark nodded and then leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

 

After a while he opened his eyes and patted her hand. “Sorry to drop that on you.”

“It’s ok. I shouldn’t have been so stubborn.”

“I want you to be safe. Promise me ok? If you get out contact Mei and then get on the first plane to L.A.”

            “Ok, but you have to promise me too.” She looked him in the eye. “The first phone call you make when you get out will be to me in L.A. I’ll give Mei the number. And then you have to get on a plane and come and visit. You’ll need a holiday after this. And getting away from these guys is probably a good idea for you too.” She paused. “I owe you after all your help. And there’s a French place on Melrose that does a great salmon tartare. My shout.”

He looked at her closely. “Ok, its a deal.”

 

 

An hour later they heard a vehicle approach the building and the sound of door opening. Evie sat on the bed wrapped in the blanket. Mark sat on the mat on the floor. They heard footsteps growing louder until they stopped outside the door. 

There was a loud knock

“Stand back from the door” said a voice in Chinese from outside the door.

“What did he say?” Evie asked.

“Would you like tea or coffee?” Mark replied. ”Just stay put.”

The door opened. A man stood in the doorway with a knife in his hand. He waved it in front of him as he entered the room. Mark and Evie sat still and looked at the knife. Another man stepped in behind him and put two plastic bags down by the door. The third man entered behind him and held out a phone to Evie.

“Zhang” he said.

She reached out and took the phone “Evie here” keeping her eyes on the man.

“Are you fine?” Zhang asked.

“Not really. We’ve been locked in a room by some bad guys. We’re in an old factory somewhere. Can you help us?”

“They want money, lot of money. It will take time to arrange this. Maybe tomorrow we can swap money and get you out.”

“Tomorrow?” Evie asked looking at Mark

“Wait calmly. I will do what I can. Now, give the phone back to the man.” said Zhang.

“Ok.” She handed the phone back. The man listened and grunted a few times.

Finally he stated bluntly “Mingtian.” and ended the call. He stepped back and said in heavily accented English: “Tomorrow.” They shut the door and Evie and Mark listened as a padlock clicked shut and the footsteps moved away up the corridor. The car engine started and then moved away. It was quiet again.

            Evie put her head in her hands. Mark went to the bed.

“Are you ok?”

“No.” she muttered. He sat down and put his arm around her.

           

After a while curiosity got the better of them and they looked in the bags. Food, water and tissues. Enough to last them until tomorrow at least.

“I won’t drink too much so I don’t have to use that thing.” She waved at the bucket. They ate and felt better.

Then Mark suggested they swap lists: top ten favourite movies, favourite actors, least favourite actors, all time best movie lines, “Frankly my dear….”

           Eventually, when they had exhausted their movie knowledge Evie said, “Ok. What about this guitar man? Your top five songs ever.”

“Oh, ok. Alright, here goes: Leonard Cohen – Everybody knows, U2 - Still haven’t found what I’m looking for – that’s so me, REM – Losing my religion, Muse – Undisclosed desires, and a mushy one: Lighthouse Family – High. ”

Evie nodded “Not bad.”

“Yours?” he asked.

“Oooh, umm, Adele – Someone like you, Oasis – Wonderwall, Jewel – I was meant for you, Avril Lavigne – Complicated, and … You’re Beautiful by James Blunt

Favourite band or singer?”

“Lately Adele. She’s got a bloody good voice.”

“For me – still Leonard Cohen. Hard to beat 40 years of greatness. With Billy Brag a close second.” He pondered the next question. “Ok. Now what is the band secretly you like but would never admit unless you were locked in a store room in Beijing and no one else would ever know.

“You first” she said.

“ABBA, totally ABBA. Just don’t tell anyone! And you?”

“You’re smarter than you look.”

“Eh?”

“You made me forget I was stuck in this hole without any idea how to get home. At least for a while.”

“Sorry. I kind of ruined it at the end there.”

 

The sun eventually went down and darkness descended on the room. There was no switch for the single bulb hanging in the centre of the ceiling.

“Must be on the wall outside, probably not connected anyway.” said Mark.

“Ok, early night then.” said Evie yawning. She glanced at the mat and back at Mark.

“Would you like to join me in first class? This blanket is pretty thin and I think we’re both going to need extra help to keep warm tonight.”

He lay down carefully beside her on the hard narrow bed. It creaked as he shifted his weight trying to occupy as little space as possible.

Evie spread the blanket over them both. “Night.”

 “Yeah, sleep tight.”

 

********

Read Beijing Private Eyes - Part 1  Arrival  here, Part 2  Lights, camera...  here, Part 3 - Room service here, Part 4 - Ancient history here, Part 5 - Party time here, Part 6 - On the Road here

 The final part, Part 8 - Fight or flight, is here.

(For my six peak oil short story competition entries set in Australia and China see here) 

 

 

Tell me what you think. Constructive comments welcome.

If you like the stories tell your friends.