by Dawn Tamayo
Oliver laughed and sat back against the padded white leather seat, “Don’t you think I know that?”.
Helen looked at him surprised, she hadn’t expected him to say that!
“I knew you had changed the minute you came back, you have been like a completely different person. But that doesn’t change anything. We are engaged, we are getting married next month and we will have a perfectly good life together and we can be happy.” Oliver pressed on.
“No Oliver, we won’t be happy together. I don’t understand why you want me to stay with you. I don’t love you. And I don’t want to live with you or be with you anymore. I am sorry but that is it.” Helen stood up to leave, she had said all there was to say.
“Where do you think you are going?” Oliver sprang to his feet.
Helen stepped back, relieved she was close to the gate off the boat. “I’m going home.”
“I’ll come with you, we can talk more there.”
“Not your home Oliver, mine. I have already moved out of your house, I took my things this morning.” She saw the realisation that she was actually going to walk away from him creeping across his face, “Oh and Oliver, I found my car too. I can’t believe you lied to me!” “I was just protecting you.” Oliver said, “It was for the best.”
“You were trying to control me, keep me as close to you or one of your employees as much as possible.”
“Is that what this is all about? We can work something out.” Oliver said as he closed in on Helen and she backed up against the gate.
“No Oliver, that is not what this is about. That was just the icing on the cake! I am leaving you and moving on with my life. I am going to live again, something I haven’t been doing for the past few weeks. I have merely existed here. I need to live!” She said exasperated as she threw her hands up in the air.
“If you leave me now, you may not have a life to live Helen.”
She looked at Oliver, he looked deadly serious. “Are you threatening me?” She couldn’t believe he would threaten her to make her stay.
“Not me Helen, but you have no idea how much danger you will be in if you leave me right now.” Oliver looked around and tried to pull her further inside the boat but she wouldn’t comply, she stood firmly where she was.
“Then let’s go to the police and get them to sort it out.” She pleaded.
“Not possible I am afraid.” Oliver said shaking his head.
“Then I will go to the police. I will not be threatened and let someone get away with it.” She said defiantly.
“You stupid girl, if only it were that easy. That won’t do any good either - the police are paid by these people Helen. Sometimes the police here will work for me, sometimes for them. They’re paid to look the other way. You will just make it worse for yourself, and for us.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about but if I am in trouble, or if my life is in danger because of you, then I suggest you pay a lot more money than the other people are paying to get me out of this!” Helen shouted at him shaking inside. She had no idea what he was talking about and she was beginning to feel real fear.
“It’s not that simple, all the money in the world may not get us out of this one. You have to understand how very much danger you are in right now Helen.”
“Then it sounds like the further away from you I am, the better.” She turned around and walked out of the gate and down the gangplank closely followed by Oliver. Helen felt his big hand take on a vice-like grip around her arm.
“Get off me!” She growled at him as she pulled away and half ran, half walked, back to her car parked at the edge of the marina. She had her car keys already in her hand as she unlocked it with two beeps, ready to get in.
Oliver beat her to the car and pushed his hand hard against the door so it wouldn’t open.
“Don’t do this Helen, I am begging you.”
Helen looked at Oliver, he looked desperate, but she was sure it wasn’t about love anymore. She didn’t know whether he was telling the truth, or if he was on some desperate power-trip and couldn’t face losing a battle or something he felt belonged to him. But if what he said was true then whatever he had done had put her, or maybe both of them, in danger and she was even more surer now than ever that she needed to get away from him, and fast.
“Tell me why I am in danger. Tell me who wants to hurt me.” Helen said feeling strangely calm even though she was asking life shattering questions.
Oliver didn’t say a word, he looked away.
Helen followed Oliver’s eyes and realised he had looked at his boat and then away across the marina. She looked at the boat wondering why he wouldn’t answer her question, and then for a moment she thought she was imaging things - seeing something that wasn’t there, but she was sure she wasn’t. She strained her eyes to see, shielding them from the late afternoon sun with her hand. She was sure she had just seen one of Romero’s friends from the night they had come over to his house to play cards. She couldn’t remember his name exactly, she had met a few of them that night, but he certainly looked at lot like one of them. Helen watched as the man walked quickly down the gangplank and for a moment he seemed to look directly at her. He stopped for a split second and then pulled his hat down further over his eyes and quickly walked away in the opposite direction.
“Look, just think about it Helen.” Oliver interrupted her thoughts as he stood looking at her.
“I don’t need to think about it. If you don’t tell anyone, then I will be long gone before whoever it is realises that I am gone, and I will be perfectly safe.”
“What do you mean?” Oliver looked down on her.
“I have a flight booked back to England the day after tomorrow. I am leaving Spain for good.”
Oliver looked at Helen for what felt like an eternity then he heaved a deep sigh and nodded. “Okay Helen, you win. I won’t tell anyone, I’ll say you have gone away on business for a couple of days if anyone asks. Go back to England and forget about this place. Forget about us. Go live your life Helen.”
Helen looked up at Oliver and nearly felt giddy with relief. Was he really saying this? Was he really going to finally let her go without any more fighting?
“Really?” She asked hopefully.
He nodded, “Just never come back here and never say my name again, to anyone.” Oliver leaned over and kissed Helen on the cheek. “I am sorry we didn’t work out. I think we could have been happy together, I really do.”
“I am sorry too Oliver.” She kissed him again on the cheek, relief flooding through every pore of her body. “Goodbye.”
Oliver stepped away from her little car and opened the door for her to get in. He quickly closed the door as another car pulled up alongside hers. Briefly she looked at the driver recognising the man immediately and then looked back to Oliver. Why was he here?
Oliver looked at Frank with annoyance, then back to Helen.
“I know that man. Who is he?” She asked Oliver through the open car window.
“He works for me. That’s Frank Hodges, head of my security.” Oliver said casually.
“I saw him in Benidorm a couple of days before I came home. He…”
Oliver cut her off before she could continue. “Don’t worry about him Helen. But it’s time for you to go now, that is if you still want to.”
Helen nodded giving Oliver a smile, she was pleased they could at least part as friends, and then she drove away.
Miguel had been crouched in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs listening to the conversation above him. It hadn’t been hard to hear what was being said since the man and woman had been talking so loudly. He couldn’t help smile, thinking Romero would be happy to hear that Helen had left Oliver and she was not in love with him. Romero hadn’t said much to him about Helen but he would have to be blind not to see what a great couple they made – the night he saw them together at Romero’s villa, it was like they had been made to fit together, completing each other! He also hadn’t missed the
look on his friend’s face when Romero bumped into Helen in Puerto Banus yesterday - he knew Romero had strong feelings for this woman. But he was intrigued to hear about the threats Oliver was delivering to Helen, and he was sure it had been no accident that she had turned up on a beach in Benidorm the way she had. Miguel wondered what really went on that night and how Oliver was involved in it. He cursed the man for stupidly putting his fiancée in danger, he didn’t understand how anyone could do that to someone they loved, but then again he saw it all the time as a police officer – this was nothing new. Miguel was in a hurry to get back to tell the Captain he heard Oliver Chapman confirm the police in that area were taking bribes as they had suspected – he despised corrupt police officers.
As soon as the voices faded away into the distance Miguel moved quickly from downstairs back up to the middle deck. Bending down quickly as he went, he placed a tiny black dot under a dark brown granite drink’s table on the main deck and then walked as fast as he could without looking too conspicuous down the gangplank. Quickly he glanced left then right, checking which way to make his exit so as not to come into direct contact with Helen and Oliver. But he couldn’t believe his bad luck as he saw Helen looking directly at him! For a moment he faltered, not sure if she recognised him or not. Then quickly he found his feet again and picked up the pace walking away from them. Miguel hoped that maybe luck would be on his side and Helen hadn’t recognised him, but he wasn’t convinced - he had seen the look on her face and something there said she knew exactly who he was. He only hoped she would be smart enough to get as far away from Oliver as possible, and quickly, for her own sake.
Romero sat tapping his foot against the floor as his mind pondered over the photograph Miguel had just sent him on his mobile phone. The Princesses’ logbook said it had been moved from the marina at Estepona directly into Oliver Chapman’s boatyard for repairs and then back to the marina last night. Nowhere did it show The Princesses’ little trip out to sea last night. He knew there was the possibility that Frank Hodges was working alone and had borrowed the yacht, falsifying the records. But he doubted it. Romero sat waiting for Miguel to get back - the photograph from him had a message attached telling Romero to wait for him at the villa in the hills. He told Maria to go ahead without him and keep an eye on The Princess this morning, so she had set off with Carlos as her back-up. Only Detective Spencer sat with Romero in the villa waiting anxiously for Miguel’s return.
Finally Miguel walked in the front door and Romero sprang to his feet ready to hear what his friend had to say.
“So, what happened?” Detective Spencer asked, directing Miguel to a chair.
Miguel took it and sat down. “The logbook has a false entry in it. It said The Princess was at the boatyard last night, but we know that it wasn’t.”
Both Romero and the detective nodded - that didn’t surprise them.
“Then as I was leaving Oliver Chapman came on-board so I had to hide. He was joined by a woman and I am sure it was Helen Jones.” He paused as he saw Romero look at him intently, “They had an argument, I could hear it all. She had come to tell Oliver Chapman that she was leaving him, but he didn’t want her to go. He told her that if she left him then she would be in danger.”
“He threatened her?” Romero felt his blood boil and he wanted to go over to Oliver Chapman’s office and pound his face in. No-one was going to threaten Helen, in fact as far as he was concerned no one was going to get near Helen in future if she didn’t want them to, he was going to see to that.
“No, not Oliver, he….”
“Then who? Why is she in danger?” Romero interrupted, alarm bells ringing in his head. He had always suspected the cut on her head hadn’t been an accident. Now he was positive, he had been right all along.
“I don’t know who, he didn’t say. And she didn’t seem to know why she was in danger either, or from whom. Helen wanted to go to the police to report it but he told her not to. Oliver Chapman confirmed that the local police are taking bribes both from him and whoever else pays them the highest price.”
Romero didn’t know whether to jump for joy or punch a wall. He was ecstatic to know that Helen had left Oliver, and she was not in love with him after all. But on the other hand it filled him with dread to think she was in danger and he couldn’t be right by her side to protect her, not until this operation was over. Then he remembered the look on her face when she saw him in Puerto Banus with Maria - he wasn’t sure he would ever get the chance to protect her the way he wanted to ever again, he didn’t think there was much chance she would ever let him near her again, not after yesterday! Even if he could explain to her it had all been an act for an operation, after the look in her eyes he wasn’t sure if she would forgive him for deliberately hurting her like that. Romero desperately wanted to pick up the phone to call her and tell her to wait for him if she wanted him. But he knew he couldn’t that, that was not a possibility right now.
Detective Spencer brought Romero’s thoughts back to the operation at hand.
“Did they see you?”
“He didn’t, but Helen did. I don’t know if she recognised me or not.”
He cursed, “Did she do anything to make you think she recognised you.”
“No. But I watched from a distance when I got out of the direct line of sight, and I saw Frank Hodges arrive in his car as Helen drove away.”
“Did she recognise Frank Hodges?” Romero asked interested to know how much Helen knew about what Oliver was up to.
“I don’t know. He drove up in the car next to hers, and she said something to Oliver, then she drove off. She didn’t speak to Frank Hodges at all.”
“What happened then?” The detective asked.
“Then Oliver got into Frank’s car and they drove off somewhere, but I wasn’t able to follow them so I don’t know where they went.”
“Okay. We’ve got enough to know that they are probably in this together, and that The Princess is being used for smuggling drugs into Spain.”
Miguel nodded, “And I managed to plant two listening devices; one under the Captain’s chair and one on the middle deck in the main seating area. We should be able to hear what’s going on now.”
“Good work.” Detective Spencer said, relieved this would give them a great advantage. “I will make contact with our informant, then we will just have to sit and wait for the next drugs run to take place, and then we can act.”
“How long do you think that will be?” Romero asked knowing it was a futile question, but he hoped it wouldn’t be too long then he could get to speak to Helen and try to explain it all.
“As long as it takes.” Detective Spencer said as he walked out of the room, he had a call to make.
***
Helen drove away filled with relief, but her mind was racing too. How was it that the man who thought he had recognised her in Benidorm and then claimed not to know here was suddenly here in Estepona? She was confused - Oliver said the man worked for him as his head of security, so why hadn’t she seen him before? It was obvious Oliver wasn’t happy when the man turned up, and he was definitely in a hurry for Helen to go at that point. “But why?” She asked herself. Helen blinked hard trying to focus on the road ahead of her, and she needed to stop thinking about Oliver and Frank Hodges for now because she was developing a splitting headache and she had to get back to her apartment quickly to get some headache tablets. She winced against the pain and tried to concentration on the road, relieved her apartment was only a couple of minutes away.
Helen put her handbag down and went into the kitchen to get a drink of water and took two Ibuprofen tablets. She looked around her apartment, there were just her two suitcases and a few pieces of paper left. She went to her desk and pulled out an envelope and wrote Cathy’s name and address on it. She looked through the pile of paperwork and found the document she wanted. She signed her name on the vehicle registration document and filled out Cathy’s name and address as the new owner. She smiled to herself, she w
ould miss her little car but she was happy she could do something good for Cathy since she had been such a good friend to her; and since she was going back to England, if she couldn’t have her little car, then she wanted Cathy to be the one to have it.
Helen felt sad at leaving Cathy and Juan, she genuinely liked them and could have imagined herself living on the Costa Blanca, having dinners at their bar or spending time with them. Then she realised the picture she had of them all included Romero - he was sitting there by Helen’s side whilst they were all smiling and laughing together. The reality of it not going to happen turned her picture sour, and she saw Romero with his new beautiful woman sitting by his side, laughing with Cathy and Juan, and she felt the stabbing pain once again.
Helen put the keys to her little car inside the envelope and licked it. She sealed it down and put it on the table next to her passport and aeroplane tickets. She decided to post the keys off to Cathy tomorrow, anything else would have to wait for today because her headache still hadn’t gone and she needed to lie down. First she picked up her phone and tapped in a message to Cathy, she would call her tomorrow to say goodbye properly if she could face it, but just in case she didn’t, Helen decided to send a goodbye text now.
Helen changed into a pair of leggings and a t-shirt and lay down on the bed putting her head gently on the pillows. She closed her eyes and silently wished she could open them and see Romero lying next to her, stroking her hair and muttering soothing words to make her feel better, but she knew that wasn’t going to happen. She willed herself to sleep to take the pain away, from both her head and her heart.
***
Romero lay on his apartment sofa-bed, hands behind his head blankly staring up at the ceiling. He had told the detective and Captain Manesco he was sure that Helen had nothing to do with the drugs, but now he needed time to really think it all over. In fact he needed to think a lot of things over right now! Romero had always trusted his gut instinct, and he was certain that Oliver Chapman was up to his ears in it and there was no way Frank Hodges would be taking Oliver’s yacht out without him knowing. In fact this made more sense since Marcus Martinez and Oliver Chapman were probably friends, or at least acquaintances, considering they both moved in the same elite yachting circles. That brought him back to Helen, he genuinely believed she didn’t recognise Frank, and therefore probably wasn’t involved with the drugs smuggling now. But that was now. What about before? Had Helen been involved in all of this before her accident? Did the Helen of the past know about Oliver’s involvement? Was her accident something to do with this, or was it no accident at all?