The man took their smartphones and checked them carefully. Wenjie watched him. Like his buddy, he didn't seem nervous. Nevertheless, their approach showed, that they didn't want to leave anything to chance.

After checking the smartphones, he handed them to his companion, who put them in a metal box. "You spoke to Xu Zhengqing on the phone?"

Ding Wei nodded.

"Do you have a second smartphone?" He turned to Wenjie.

"No."

The man narrowed his eyes and scrutinized him. "I'm surprised you followed our instructions. No evidence of contact with the police on your smartphone. Not even with this Luo Jian. Neither in the last 24 hours nor in the past week."

"We're friends," Wenjie admitted. "Unlike us, he's not on vacation at the moment. I don't bother him when he's on duty." Hopefully the man wouldn't  check, whether there was a second SIM card in the smartphone. Then, he would find out that he'd been on the phone with Captain Luo for the past 24 hours.

"Besides, you've made it very clear, that Lin Zhiyue's life is in danger, if we don't do as you ask." His gaze roamed around. "Where is she?"

"At a safe place. We'll get you there soon. After we've scanned you." The man nodded to his companion, who pulled a device from his coat pocket. It resembled the object that Liao Detong's security service had used. But the men were certainly not working for the art lover. He would have chosen a different way to meet him. A written invitation, for example. 

"You're clean."

The leader nodded. Then he nodded to Wenjie. "Follow us."

Ding Wei and Sun Zhijian wanted to follow immediately. But Wenjie held them back. In return, he received another suspicious look from the man. 

"Who's to say that you'll let us go, if we come with you and that Lin Zhiyue is actually where you're taking us?" He had to stall them, so that the Taizhou police had enough time to follow up their leads. Apart from that, he assumed the kidnappers would definitely not let them go anymore. How could they talk to Xu Zhengqing then? The men would undoubtedly overhear their conversation with him. 

"Are you trying to stall time?" 

Damn. He had seen through him. Wenjie swallowed. 

The man smiled. "Your girlfriend is already waiting for you. She's fine. She's on one of the ships." He pointed to the jetty. 

"Just because I care about her, that does not make her my girlfriend", Wenjie muttered. 

The man grinned, but refrained from commenting on his statement. Instead he changed the topic. "This is not a good place to discuss our next steps. As long as you're with us, Monsieur can't get to either of you."

With this, he clearly expressed, that they had no interest in working with Xu Zhengqing. 

"Do you think, he will let you escape, when you stay? If he contacted you, he will have informed his contacts in Taizhou already and know where you are."

Wenjie breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the men kept their focus on Xu Zhengqing, everything would be fine. "He asked for a video conference in the afternoon and will try to find our location," he objected.

"Did he? Well. That will be meaningless."

That meant, the place they were to be taken to was secure. Presumably, the kidnappers used special technology to override the proper functioning of any tracking technology. This reminded Wenjie of Ding Shenghuo. 

"Tell us what you want from us first."

"You don't trust us," the man stated. "That's understandable. You're in a difficult situation." He approached him and stopped just half a meter in front of him. "What you're trying to do is just as untrustworthy for us." He looked down at him with a serious expression. 

Then he grabbed him by the shoulder and walked around him. "Let me put it another way. You will accompany us. Any more attempts to delay our little excursion will not be good for your friend."

Wenjie clenched his hands into fists. 

The man smiled. "Do we understand each other?"

Wenjie nodded. He dared not look around. That would put the men on alert. They mustn't get the idea of searching the area for their tracks. 

"Good." The elder released his hand from his shoulder and signaled him to go to the jetty. 

Wenjie slowly set off. 

They walked past the crane to the last jetty. A medium-sized cargo ship was anchored there. On deck, Wenjie saw wooden crates that brought back memories of the smugglers. Could the crates contain contraband? Objects of art? Paintings? Or were they empty? 

"Don't worry about our cargo," said the man behind him. 

"So they're not empty?"

"We don't have a vacation." He turned to one of the men on deck and gave him instructions. 

Wenjie walked past the crates. He didn't dare look back at the harbor. That would arouse the men's suspicion. 

They reached a descent, that led into the interior of the ship. Once inside, there was no escape, that much was certain. Nevertheless, the kidnappers seemed to be the lesser of two evils compared to Xu Zhengqing.

A slight jolt went through the ship.

"You associate the smuggling of your goods with the business you involve us in," Wenjie stated.

The man said nothing in reply. Instead, he fetched them to a rectangular room with nothing more than a circular table and a few chairs. There were water jugs and glasses on the table. 

"Have a seat. Your friend will join us shortly."

They took a seat at the table. 

Ding Wei seemed relatively calm to Wenjie. Sun Zhijian, on the other hand, was rather pale and clung tightly to his backpack, which he had pulled onto his lap. Wenjie placed a hand over his friend's hands. 

Zhijian swallowed noticeably. The situation was clearly overwhelming him. 

"Will you let my friends go, when your business is done and Monsieur is no longer a threat?" Wenjie addressed the man again. 

to be continued ...