The Kidnapping

General Saetang couldn’t speak, but he communicated his feelings about the nighttime incursion clearly by his bulging eyes filled with equal parts of wrath and fear. All he could see was a group of men, dressed head to toe in black, with black balaclavas covering their faces. Austyn knelt down in front of the general, who was trussed up like a pig on the floor. ‘Mr Garner is getting impatient with you, general.’ General Saetang’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He’d treated Gideon Garner with nothing but courtesy since the man came to his country. Gideon needed the protection from the general and, after his wife went missing, the general’s manpower in locating her. General Saetang needed Gideon’s deep pockets. He thought it was a mutually beneficial arrangement and had come to see Gideon as a friend. What was the meaning of this kidnapping attempt tonight? He wanted to ask, but his mouth was gagged and he could barely make a sound. Austyn kicked him in the stomach, twice. The