Chapter 18: Greg Steel abducts Jared Pond and ships him off to China. 7th May 2021.

Jared Pond was staring at the wall of his prison cell. He didn't like the fact that Greg had locked him up in a secret RAKI facility instead of in a normal jail cell. Something was amiss and he wondered what he would do. He wouldn't tell anyone which websites he had posted the video on. The world needed to know and the video was real, there could not be any other explanation to his imprisonment. But was Jared's imprisonment Greg's idea, or was Scurry Morrissett behind it all?

"Speaking of the devil!" Jared thought when Greg Steel and Michael Walker entered the cell. Greg spoke:

- Good news, Jared. You are free to go. Scurry doesn't want to hand you over to the Chinese government.

Jared:

- What about the video? Did you analyse it yet?

Greg:

- That is a question of national security that I will not disclose to civilians.

- Follow me. I'll escort you out.

Jared sighed of relief. Once he was out of this mess, he would hide in outback for a while out of sight for Chinese agents. It had been a while since Jared was camping by himself in the wilderness. There was something cleansing with enjoying the clear night sky of the Australian outback. Jared's thoughts didn't get much further than that. He felt a pinprick in his neck when Michael injected him with a sedative. Jared tried to stand up and fight, but he didn't get far and he collapsed unconscious to the floor.

***

When Jared woke up, he was on a private jet. He was bound to a chair and surrounded by four Chinese agents and Greg Steel.

Jared felt dizzy and he mumbled:

- Greg? What is going on?

Greg taunted Jared:

- Isn't that obvious? I am selling you out to the Chinese Ministry for State Security.

Jared:

- Why? I thought that we were friends?

Greg:

- Friends? You were my disrespectful subordinate. I accepted your philandering and gambling as you delivered results.

- But Jing offered me something better. USD 30 million for delivering you to China.

Jared:

- He is never going to pay you! You are being duped.

Greg:

- He already paid. Besides we are refuelling the plane in Singapore. I'll get off there.

Jared:

- You'll never get away with this!

Greg:

- Oh, I am sure that feckless Scurry will fire me for this. But what else can he do? Issue an international arrest warrant and cause a diplomatic crisis with China? You don't think he cares that much about your well-being, do you?

Jared:

- Fuck you, Greg. You'll pay for this crime. I'll come after you myself.

Greg:

- No, you won't.

Having said this, Greg electrocuted Jared with a Taser. Then he gagged Jared to avoid listening to Jared's ranting. The plane landed and Greg got off. Jared could hear that the employees outside was refuelling the plane. He tried to scream but he was bound and gagged so it was to no avail. "Oh, if I only had one of those Bond gadgets," Jared thought, but he didn't. One of the Chinese agents injected some more sedative into Jared body, and he fell unconscious.