The three spooks booked their boat immediately they knew the wreckage had been located. The plan was to grab Ray Forbes (aka Max) when they found him on Dom Island, hold him at an Embassy and then arrange extradition.
Having been fully briefed, they felt certain that Mr. Short and Malenkov would murder Forbes, because of the drug connection and Malenkov’s downfall. They reasoned that Short’s daughter Anna had provided Forbes with the necessary drug dealer information, so he could rob Malenkov while masquerading as D.I. Marsh. They knew Mr. Short was a significant drug dealer, but there was insufficient evidence to arrest him. That being the case, they would have to protect Forbes and Anna Short.
No doubt Mr. Short was there to protect his daughter, but with Malenkov out for revenge, there was little hope of that.
***
Mr. Short believed Malenkov would kill his daughter, just for being with Ray Forbes. He was that sort of sadistic bastard. He must snatch Anna before Malenkov found her. So what, if Forbes died, it saved him the trouble.
To gain an advantage, Short sent one of his men to the harbor with instructions to disable the boat Malenkov had hired. That way, he would reach the island first.
Short also figured the spooks were not interested in Anna; he was certain of that and anyway, they would never harm her.
***
Yaakov Malenkov needed to find Forbes and Anna, before the rescue helicopter arrived. He sent one of his men to disable it sufficiently not to raise suspicion, so it could not get there until later that day.
He could grab Forbes and Short’s daughter on the island and hide them away in a derelict hotel on Majuro Atoll, until he got his £10million back, using the girl as leverage - then kill them both.
Future drug deals between him and Short were no longer possible, so there was no advantage to Malenkov in leaving the girl alive.
To keep Mr. Short and his men out of the way he sent one of his own men to disable Mr. Short’s hired boat.
Late that evening only two of the three boats left for Dom Island.
In the early hours of the morning, the dead body of a man in his early thirties was found. He was thought to have drowned, trapped in the cabin, when his hired boat sank at its mooring.