had managed to remain undetected. The BMW had kept to the 125km speed limit which the little Honda motorcycle had at times struggled with. In his thin suit at that speed Dennis had been freezing.
He continued going straight for a distance then took the next right. There was a barrier here also but it was unattended and down and he was able to squeeze the bike past it. He rode along this stretch of road which was lined with containers. In the gaps between them he caught glimpses of the BMW X5 running parrallel to him. Beyond the BMW was a large container ship moored at the dock. As he passed the next gap Dennis realised the BMW had stopped. He shut off the engine of the very noisy scrambler dirt bike and got off it and wheeled it between two containers and propped it against one. He crept along the rows. At the end was a chain link fence at least ten feet high with razor wire atop it. Dennis kept in the shadows when he got to the fence. The BMW was a couple of hundred metres away and Dennis watched as all the doors opened and men got out. They half dragged, half carried Hutchinson whose hands were tied. A hood was placed over his head. They bundled him to a metal gangway and pushed and prodded him up it. Twice he tripped and stumbled and was yanked roughly back to his feet and forced on.
“Bastards!” Dennis said out loud.
He watched until they’d disappeared inside the ship and then took his phone out. The battery was almost dead. He selected Natalie from his contacts list and rang her and she answered almost instantly.
“Peter is that you?”
“Yes….”
“Where the bloody hell have you been?” she cut him off, “I’ve been worried sick.”
“I haven’t got long. My battery is almost dead. I’ve followed the kidnappers to Naples….”
“Naples?”
“Yes. Listen don’t interrupt I don’t have much time. They’ve taken Hutchinson onto a ship. I can’t see what it’s called but it’s a large container ship. I need you to get hold of De Luca….”
“He’s here now.”
De Luca looked up from the notes he was taking. He and his men were going over Hutchinson’s hotel room for clues.
“Is that him?” he called out to Natalie, who nodded.
De Luca clicked his fingers at Ferrara.
“Get forensics up here.”
He took the phone from Natalie.
“Mr Dennis it’s De Luca.”
“Cesare my battery is almost dead. I’ve followed Hutchinson’s kidnappers to Naples port. They’ve taken him onto a container ship, I don’t know its name, I can’t see it, sorry. I’m going to try and get on board….”
“No Mr Dennis. That is precisely what you’re not going to do. I will give you the address of the nearest police station once this call is finished and you will report to them and wait for me to call you again. Understood?”
“Understood,” Dennis said.
The phone bleeped and he took it away from his ear to look at the screen. The battery symbol was now flashing. The display said ’insert charger’
“My phone is almost dead.”
“Okay Peter. So we don’t have much time. We’ve received a demand from the kidnappers. They want something called the Von Brest journal. Natalie has told us all about it but she doesn’t know where it is. We’re assuming Hutchinson doesn’t have it, though they’ve turned his room over looking for it.”
“It’s in the safe in our room, my room.”
“Natalie will look. Where is the key she’s just asked.”
“In the pocket of my red and white check shirt.”
“She’s got the key. She’s just going to look.”
“Cesare I stole a motorbike to follow them.”
“Don’t worry about that Peter. I’ll get my men to sort it out. Right we’ve got the journal, thank you. Now Peter I need you to….Hello….Hello….”
The phone was dead. De Luca clicked his fingers at Ferrara again.
“I need you to get hold of the port authorities in Naples. I want the name of whoever is in charge there. Find out the name of a large container ship moored there. There can’t be that many and find out who is head of the police in Naples. I want to speak to him as soon as possible. Once you’ve done that get the car. We’re taking a trip to Naples.”
Dennis looked at the blank screen. He pressed the power button on the side of the phone. Nothing. He put the phone back in his pocket. The wind was getting up. Strong gusts had begun blowing. He looked up