It was a far cry from Miami and Washington, and the deaths he had come here to investigate.
A far cry indeed.
"Kerrin? …Is that you?"
A man stood up on the far side of the beach bar crowd, and walked towards him, beer in hand. At first Kerrin didn't recognize him. His hair was bedraggled and still wet, his blue wetsuit gathered round his waist exposing a muscular, hairy chest. The man came towards him with his hand stretched out, and as Kerrin took it in his, the stranger wrapped him into a powerful bear hug.
"Kerrin…it's good to see you man! How did you find me?"
Kerrin was taken aback by the sudden show of affection from the stranger, and stepping back quickly, he looked him in the face. About five-foot-six, a squat-muscular frame, and thick biceps, his hair had been dyed blonde, and he had shaved off his beard. But now he was closer up, Kerrin recognized him.
He had found Alex Swinton.
--------------------
It was an incredible view. The vista that stretched out before them took her breath away. It was a beautiful day and from the top of Table Mountain, Laura could see for miles. She was leaning over the wall just outside the top cable car station, and from where she stood she could see right over the edge of the cliff.
The cliffs of the mountain fell vertically beneath her for a thousand feet, before it hit the sloping ground, which then rolled down towards the bay of Cape Town at an angle of about forty-five degrees.
As she looked over the edge she felt a strange and sudden twinge in the pit of her stomach: the height and the sheer cliffs repulsed her from the edge, and yet simultaneously drew her towards it, and for a second she experienced a bizarre urge to climb on top of the wall and jump over the edge.
She pushed back with her arms from the top of the wall, and took her eyes from the dizzy fall beneath her.
Cape Town, or Kap Stadt as the locals called it, lay stretched out in the bay beneath her. The city fitted into a natural amphitheatre, a curved bowl surrounded by a wall of stone and mountain, the harbor area being where the stage should be.
On the left as she looked out to sea, the city was bordered by a large hill rising to a sharp point, called the Lion's Head. Beyond the foothills of Table Mountain on the right, the vista was a stark contrast, with flat land stretching out as far as the eye could see, bordered by a broad silver line of sand running along the edge of the coastline.
Turning to look behind her, she could see that Table Mountain ran flat for several miles before it started to rise and fall in a line of mountains which eventually petered out into the sea in the famous Cape Point, the most southern part of the African Continent.
On her left beyond the Lion's Head, her eyes followed a range of hills, which her map told her were called the 'Twelve Apostles' and led to a famous fishing village called 'Hout Bay'. Beyond that lay another peninsula and miles of golden sands.
The sea extended around her on three sides, the land only continuing to the North on her right.
The man beside her pointed to the flat land in the distance.
"That's where we're going next. Langebaan is about three hours drive over there…"
At first she had found his South African accent quite hard to understand, but after fifteen minutes she had begun to understand him a bit easier. Dirk Van Der Waal was an impressive man. Reliable, strong, intelligent and deadly. He was the leader of the in-country team that she had been using to track down Alex Swinton. She had never met him before, but when she stepped out of the cable car at the top of the mountain, she spotted him instantly beside the look-out point opposite the exit, their prearranged meeting point.
She had studied his file several times before she had flown out, and she knew he could be counted on should the situation get ugly. His team were mainly made up of South African ex-army or air force. Before being recruited as an FBI Overseas Agent, Dirk had spent several years in Namibia, Angola and Zimbabwe. He had served for two years in the South African equivalent of the UK's Special Air Services and his file showed that he had led many interesting and dangerous covert expeditions in the days leading up to the end of Apartheid in South Africa. Impressive was not the word.
In real life, he was even more handsome than the large photographs in his file. When Laura shook hands with him for the first time, she felt irresistibly drawn to the man before her. Over six foot tall, blonde and blue eyed, Laura could easily make out his powerful muscular body beneath his loose fitting T-shirt and long, green trousers. He oozed sex appeal, and Laura knew that his looks were just another of the many weapons that Dirk had mastered over the years.
"Make no mistake about it Laura," she told herself. "This man's a killer. He would eat you up and spit you out before breakfast!"
She found the idea strangely appealing.
"Did you bring the weapons?"
"Yes, as requested. They're in the van. Don't worry. Johan is guarding them."
"Excellent. Let's get going then. It's important that we get to Langebaan as soon as we can. Kerrin Graham came in on the same flight as me. He's not meant to meet Alex Swinton for another two days, but I'll bet your bottom dollar that he's headed straight out there now, hoping to find Swinton as soon as possible. We have to get there first. We've already wasted six hours by meeting up here. We should have met there."
"I'm sorry, Agent Samuels, but we didn't know until last night that you were coming, and we couldn't take the risk of meeting in town…"
"Don't call me 'Agent'. Call me Laura, and I'll call you Dirk."
"As you wish. Okay, then let's go. I took the liberty of sending my colleague Marieke ahead of us to Langebaan. She'll be there now, trying to locate Swinton before we get there. If he's there at all. Most likely he won't turn up for another two days…"
"No Dirk, that's where you're wrong. My gut instinct tells me the guy's there now. I'll bet you that even as we speak he's out there windsurfing in the sea. I hope he enjoys it, because with any luck today will be his last time. Our orders are to terminate him. Officially this is a Code Green Operation. Once it’s over, it never happened. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Laura. I understand."
As Laura looked at Dirk, she saw that he was smiling, and she recognized the look in his eyes. Laura had never admitted it to anyone before, but she got a thrill, almost sexual, whenever she pulled the trigger on a gun and ended someone's life. From the way Dirk's eyes suddenly glistened at the mention of their mission, it would seem that he and she were the same. They both enjoyed to kill.
Chapter 22
Langebaan Bay
South Africa
The past couple of days had been fantastic. For the first time in months Alex Swinton had been able to put the dreadful happenings at Gen8tyx behind him. He had lost himself in a world of adventure, danger, sun, sea, and sex. Meeting Angelique had been the best thing that had happened to him in years.
Their attraction to each other had been instant. That they both shared the same passion for windsurfing was the icing on the cake. They had spent the past five days windsurfing together for most of the daylight hours, before collapsing exhausted in Angelique's bed at the end of the day, where they exhausted themselves even more through an insatiable union of their bodies.
Angelique had been the catalyst that had helped him forget the life he had fled, and through her the guilt had been lessened. Although it had only been two days, he knew now with absolute certainty that they had a future together. She was his new start, someone with whom to build a new life.
He had never intended to go back to America. Now he had a reason to stay in South Africa.
But first, he had to meet with Kerrin.
He was hoping that Kerrin would give him closure on the Gen8tyx affair. The guilt had been building up for the past few weeks, and before Angelique had arrived on the scene, he was scared that it would tip him over the edge. If Kerrin knew what he had done and had come to face him about it, he would confess.
There were no extradit
ion agreements between South Africa and America. Even if he did confess, he would be safe here. He could go on to build a new life, and a new company to rival Gen8tyx right here in this new land. South Africa was a land waiting to be born. It had a vast ocean of talent just waiting to be tapped. Alex Swinton would tap that potential, and through him the dreams of their group in Gen8tyx would finally be recognized.
Yes, Alex had been looking forward to meeting up with Kerrin. For Alex, it was going to be the start of his new life.
"Alex, wow…sorry, I didn't recognize you there for a moment! You look so different from when Martin introduced us on the golf course. I'm glad you recognized me, because if you hadn’t I would never have spotted you!" Kerrin blurted out. Smiling, and with a new hair style, the relaxed and tanned man standing before him now looked at least five years younger than the man he had met several weeks before. The clean South African air and the windsurfing were obviously doing him a power of good.
"…And I wasn't expecting to see you for another two days…but hey, it’s good to see you. I've been looking forward to your visit. We need to talk," he patted Kerrin roughly on the side of his shoulder. "…But what brings you down so early?" he asked, his blonde eyebrows lifting up questioningly as he spoke, worried that Kerrin already knew what he had done.
Kerrin threw the others in the beach bar a quick glance.
"Sorry, I don't think it's a good idea to talk here…Can we go somewhere else?"
"Sure…listen, where are you staying? I could do with some food. I'm starving."
"I'm staying at the Langebaan Hilton." Kerrin joked in reply.
"Oh…you mean 'The Constantia Gardens Hotel’? Don't knock it pal, it's not only the best hotel in town…"
"..It's the only hotel in town!" Kerrin finished the sentence for him.
Alex laughed.
"Kerrin, give me a second or two. I've just got to say goodbye to a friend."
Kerrin watched Alex walk back across to where he had been sitting. A very pretty woman looked up, and smiled at him. Alex bent over her, whispered something in her ear. She laughed aloud and then looked across at Kerrin, waving a hand at him. She said something back to Alex, who looked at his watch, replied, and then kissed her again on the lips.
"She's lovely,” Kerrin said as Alex returned.
"You're telling me…She's the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"So where are you staying then? Not at the hotel?"
"No. That would be a little too obvious. I'm trying to lie low at the moment…I was sleeping on the beach, but now I'm sleeping with Angelique at her place. Couldn't have worked out better."
"When did you meet her?"
"Just last week,…a few days after I got down here."
As they walked back to the car and drove back into town, Alex told Kerrin the story about how they had met.
"Can you drop me off just here? That'll be fine. I'll grab a shower, change and then meet you in the bar at the hotel in thirty minutes? How does that sound?" Alex asked.
"Sounds like a plan. See you then." Kerrin agreed.
When Alex walked into the bar thirty minutes later, he was a changed man. He certainly spruced up well. He wore a green shirt, and a pair of thin, cream, cotton trousers which were ideal for this hot climate. His Vans shoes were sensible but stylish with it, the tell-tale brilliant white along the edges showing that they were still almost new. With a pair of new Ray Ban sunglasses perched on top of his head, and a thin gold chain hanging tastefully around his neck, Kerrin couldn't help but admire the way the man looked. Alex strode purposely across the bar towards him, and took his hand firmly in his own.
It was obvious to Kerrin that this was not a man who seemed as if he was about to commit suicide. Like the others, he seemed to be enjoying life to the full. Someone who had everything to live for. The better question to ask was, had he killed the others?
"Beer?" Kerrin asked.
"Yes, but not one of those Castle lagers you're drinking…they're worse than American beers, if that's possible. I'll have one of those German imports please…a bottle of Becks!"
"Coming right up. Do you fancy sitting outside for dinner? The restaurant has some tables overlooking the street. There's a nice breeze, and we can see the sea from there."
"Okay. Sounds good."
Alex followed Kerrin outside, taking a seat on the veranda at a table overlooking the street.
"Cheers!" Kerrin lifted up his glass and toasted Alex.
"Cheers to you…and thanks for coming, although I still don’t know exactly why you’re here." Alex lifted the cold beer to his lips and drank half the bottle in his first sip. "Aah…that's better. I've been looking forward to that."
"Alex," Kerrin began."Let's get straight to the point. I'm here to warn you. To try and save your life and to find out what the hell happened at Gen8tyx. I want to know who killed my brother-in-law and his and your friends, and why they were all killed?"
Alex's face became very serious. The smile disappeared, and a haunted look took its place. In the space of a few seconds Alex seemed to have grown older and very tired. For a while neither of them said anything, and they sat in silence, Kerrin waiting for Alex to open up. When he did, it was almost in a whisper.
"I tried to warn Martin…I told him to get out…I'm sorry he didn't make it. He is…was, a good man." Alex said somberly, his voice suddenly deeper and almost monotone.
"What happened Alex? Who killed him, and why?"
Alex put the bottle down on the table, and turned his face away from Kerrin. He looked out to sea, his mind cast back to the events in America.
It was dark now, the sun had gone, and in the heat of the African night, the rhythmic pulsing of crickets provided a natural musical backdrop to their conversation.
"What do you know about Gen8tyx?" Alex asked Kerrin, turning back to face him.
"Not much…"
"Do you know what we had achieved?"
"No…"
"Okay, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything…but first, tell me how Martin died."
"He was trying to escape America. He'd told his wife and kids to fly to the Bahamas by themselves, and he had taken his private Lear Jet and flown it out to meet them there. Only he never made it. His plane blew up in mid-air. The official investigation didn't come up with anything. I've been digging around and it looks to me like it was shot down by a US military jet. Of course, the US Air Force deny it, and say they have no record of any flight intercepting Martin's plane."
He left it a moment, watching how Alex took the news. He said nothing.
"Alex, I know about the meeting that took place at Sam Cohen's house. I know that Henry Roberts called the meeting, and I know that you all planned to launch your own company. I suspect that's why everyone started to die…" Kerrin hesitated. " I also know that you called Henry Roberts at his home and had an argument with him the night he died…"
"What else do you know?"
"Not much…but Alex, it looks bad for you. You’re the only one left alive. Everyone else is dead. I don’t think you did…but…"
"…But you're wondering if I killed the others?"
"…Basically…Yes. It could look like that!"
"And what do the police think?"
"Well, when I left last week, officially the police had closed their files, but…"
"So, why don't you leave it at that? You don’t know what you're messing with."
"I was about to mention that the police have just started looking at all the deaths again, starting with Henry Roberts." Kerrin lied. What he was saying was not strictly true, but he needed to provoke a reaction from Alex.
"And?"
"…And they found out that Henry Roberts was murdered. Injected with a muscle relaxant. Something to make him look like he'd had a heart attack. Someone obviously didn't want him to wake up from his coma…"
Alex looked away again, his face turning up to the sky for a second before he swallowed hard and faced Kerrin.
"You don't know the potential of what we discovered. If you did, well, then you'd understand…"
"Try to help me understand. Tell me what the hell was going on at Gen8tyx!"
"First of all, you have to believe me when I tell you that I didn’t kill Sam, or Tom or Mike. I had nothing to do with Martin either…It was the Company…they knew what we were up to, and they were trying to stop us from going public with our results. Trying to stop us from setting up our own company, one which would make the new treatment available to everyone, to the whole of mankind…"
Kerrin noticed that Alex had not mentioned Henry's name. Why not? Had he accidentally left it out, or was it deliberate?
"And Henry Roberts? Did you kill him?"
"Kerrin, you've got to understand. If you did, you would have done exactly the same."
"Done what?"
"Tried to stop him!"
"Who? Henry Roberts?"
"Yes…it was him or us…I tried to save the others…I tried to save Henry too…"
"How?"
"When we met at Sam's place, Henry had got us all together to tell us what he thought was happening. He had fallen out with Gen8tyx's founder, David Sonderheim. He brought us together to warn us in advance that the company was going to move to California…that Gen8tyx was going to be going through big changes…and that those who didn’t move with the company would be kicked out …"
"And nobody else knew anything about this beforehand?"
"We knew something was up, but we didn't know exactly what. Sonderheim had been recruiting new scientists into the company without consulting us. We all thought it was something to do with natural expansion, preparing for future growth. We were just about to issue a press release about our discoveries…just about to share our findings with the world. Then all of a sudden, two days before the big press conference, ….wham!…everything was cancelled. No explanation, nothing. Just that it wasn't going to happen. A week later Henry called the meeting at Sam's…"
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