by Drew Lindsay
A petite Tongan woman in her mid to late 40’s stood on the sand, waving to them. She embraced Sophia. ‘I was told that your husband had passed away and I am so sorry for you my dear.’
‘You’re Lesilei,’ said Sophia.
‘I’m so glad you remembered. I’m the manager here. And this must be Ann. Lesilei hugged Ann and then stood back to look at Ben. ‘And the big man is Ben.’
Ben extended his hand and Lesilei shook it warmly. ‘I trust you were able to accommodate us in the same fale as Sophia and her husband shared on their last trip?’
‘Certainly. “Fatai” is one of our deluxe fales and has two bedrooms as Sophia knows. It is perfect for two couples, or a couple and a single.’ Lesilei looked somewhat confused but immediately regained her composure. She was a reasonably well proportioned woman with a round face and warm smile. Her brown hair was short and stilled in tiny curls. ‘Come to the bar for a welcome drink.’
They followed Lesilei to the restaurant and bar only a few dozen steps away.
“****”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Claudia Abrams stayed at a cheap hotel a short distance from Auckland International Airport. Her flight to Tonga was at 8.30 the following morning. She would need to be at the airport a couple of hours before that. She had checked in luggage and her only carry on items were a laptop computer and camera. To date she had never been questioned concerning a bone handled knife with a seven inch blade tucked into her checked in luggage. Obviously such an item would never have made it through carryon luggage and even her choice of clothing which included a black ski mask may have attracted attention should her checked in luggage face more intensive scrutiny. She had lots of excuses to provide should anyone actually question her about various items.
She worked on her laptop, bringing up several photographs of Ben Hood and two video clips. She watched the video clips several times. She knew of his reputation as an unarmed combat fighter, as she had been trained to be for many years. She liked his face and fit body. She noted the short grey hair and the lines on his face. He had taken her quite by surprise outside Sophia Hunter’s home some nights before. His casual confident manner and very open approach had astounded her. She flicked strands of black hair away from her deep hazel eyes and ran one of the video clips again. She felt herself becoming sexually aroused. This excited her on the one hand and confused her on the other. Men were way off limits to Claudia and had been for years. This man was an obstacle to overcome, not someone to play with. She shut down the computer and closed the lid. She stood under the shower for a long time with soap and oil, giving her body the satisfaction it needed to function without the distraction of a man, especially a man like Ben Hood.
‘I’m not standing out there in the middle of the bloody garden to take a shower,’ said Ann. ‘What if people are looking at me through the fence?’
‘The fences around the showers are surrounded by jungle,’ said Ben. ‘No one will be watching you, other than the parrots.’
‘Damn noisy buggers,’ said Ann.
‘They are demanding a show,’ said Ben. ‘Sophia and I have showered and now it’s your turn.’
‘Is the water hot?’
‘Solar heated and steaming. Hurry up. We’re due at the restaurant in half an hour.’
‘I don’t want anyone coming in here to use the toilet or anything. That would be really weird if you know what I mean.’
‘She’s into weird,’ said Sophia, from the twin bedded room off the walk through robe.
‘No one is coming in,’ said Ben. ‘It will be the best shower you have ever had.’
‘I’m used to tiles around me in the shower, not plants and flowers and damn jungle.’
‘Limit the shower to a few minutes,’ said Ben. ‘Water and electricity are precious on this island from what I have learned.’
‘They’ve got back up generators,’ said Sophia. ‘They can turn them on any time they like.’
Ben walked out of the bathroom and across an open walkway into the main fale room and sat on the lounge. He leaned back and sipped a scotch with ice. The wind had picked up and was roaring through the hundreds of tall coconut palms which surrounded the fale. He could see the ocean through the front louvred windows. On the sides and rear, thick jungle surrounded them. He looked up at the tall thick coconut poles which supported the thatched timber roof. Joseph Hunter had lived in this room and he had been here for a reason and it wasn’t just a holiday.
Ann screamed. Ben leapt to his feet and reached the bathroom door in seconds. She had left it unlocked. He walked in expecting the worst. Ann was standing naked with her arms crossed over her breasts and water cascading over her body. ‘There’s a fucking lizard trying to get into the shower!’
Ben saw the large mottled green gecko at the edge of the shower. He reached the creature in a few quick strides and picked it up. It struggled briefly and then seemed to resign itself to the fact that it was a captive and not being injured, and stopped moving. Ben turned and walked past Sophia. He stopped briefly. ‘She scared the poor thing half to death,’ he said.
‘I scared it!’ said Ann, spluttering as the water ran over her face. ‘I almost had a fucking heart attack!’
‘If you’re done scaring the wildlife, please get out of the shower,’ said Ben as he left the room and released the gecko on the grass at the front of the fale. The creature ran straight back onto the deck and up a palm thatched wall into the roof.
‘Ben’s seen me naked more times than any man in the last 6 months,’ said Ann as she washed shampoo from her hair. ‘I think he put the damn thing in here on purpose. We already know he’s a boob man.’
Sophia laughed. ‘Perhaps he’s just into Aboriginals darling,’ said Sophia as she left the room.
‘I can’t help it if I’m stacked,’ said Ann, turning off the shower and reaching for a white fluffy towel.
‘It’s a curse, I know,’ said Sophia from their bedroom which was only separated by a thin thatched wall about 8 feet high.
‘Will you pair shut up and get ready for dinner,’ said Ben as he walked back into his side of the fale. ‘I’ve got a drink ready for you in the lounge here when you can both put some damn clothes on.’
The dining room was huge and built in traditional Tongan style with massive coconut tree poles providing the main support for the curved thatched roof. The wall facing the ocean was constructed almost entirely of glass louvres. The lighting was low with candles on each table. Two young Tongan girls waited on them. The only other occupants of the restaurant were two couples and one single male. Ben kept his eye on the male, noting his clothing and facial features and the fact that he was continually texting with his mobile phone. The meals were delicious. Soft Tongan singing came from boxes high in the roof in each corner of the room. Geckos climbed the palm branch thatched walls. Ann was beginning to realise that the gecko creatures were everywhere and she just had to get used to them.
Ann sipped her white wine and looked at Ben. ‘How do I rate physically out of 10?’
Ben put down his red wine and looked into her deep brown eyes. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘Well you’ve seen me almost naked once and totally naked once. Give my body a rating out of 10.’
‘No.’
‘I won’t be offended. I work out a lot.’
‘I can see that,’ said Ben.
‘Leave him alone Ann,’ said Sophia. ‘He’s not here to play silly games with you.’
‘Well I don’t know anything and you say you don’t know anything so why the hell are we here other than to play silly games?’
Sophia looked at Ben. ‘You got an answer for that one mate?’
Ben glanced at the table where the man on his own had been seated. He was gone. He looked back at Ann. ‘Ten.’
‘You’re pulling my leg,’ she said, sitting back in her chair.
‘He probably rates every naked woman he’s seen at ten,’ said Sophia.
; ‘Not all of them,’ said Ben.
‘I’m flattered,’ said Ann.
‘We’re here to try and find a very important necklace as you both know,’ said Ben, lowering his voice. ‘We’re following a trail that seemed to reach dead ends in Australia but may lead us forward in Tonga.’
‘I’ve given you notes of everything I know,’ said Sophia. The wind suddenly picked up and the candles on each table flickered. One of the young couples leaned forward across the table and kissed.
‘We’ll run through those notes again tonight,’ said Ben. ‘There is no TV here so I’ll have your full attention.’
‘No TV is disgraceful,’ said Ann, sipping more wine. ‘I’ll just have to play on the internet.’
‘No internet unless you are in the restaurant and that is restricted to well outside meal times.’
‘And people pay for this isolation?’ asked Ann, her eyes wide.
‘I would,’ said Ben.
‘We all know you’re a bit different,’ said Sophia.
‘One of the couples is looking at us,’ said Ann. ‘They think we are a threesome. How funny is that?’
‘Not very,’ said Ben. ‘Drain your glasses ladies. We’ve got a brief meeting before bed.’
Ann rolled her eyes. ‘I don’t want a damn brief meeting. I need a man for God’s sake. There is a big Tongan cook out there who would do nicely.’
‘You leave the cook alone,’ said Ben. ‘We’ve got work to do first and a king to meet and then you can go catch a man.’
Ben’s powerful LED torch lit the sandy track back through the jungle to their fale. The small walkway lights were barely adequate to show the way, and some of them were not working. Flying foxes swooped overhead and the jungle was full of rustling and snorting and grunting from creatures that shrank from Ben’s torchlight. Ann gripped Ben’s arm tightly as they made their way towards the fale. She stumbled now and then and was obviously quite tipsy. Sophia almost ended up falling into a large bougainvillea bush as she tripped on the side of the sandy track. She grabbed hold of Ben’s free arm. ‘That was nice wine,’ she said.
‘Obviously,’ said Ben.
Once inside, Ann slumped onto the lounge in the main fale area and looked at Ben’s king size bed mounted between four huge poles. Sophia sat beside her. Ben poured three small glasses of Baileys Chocolate Irish Cream over ice and placed them on the low timber table between the lounge and a single chair.
‘Where did you get this?’ asked Sophia.
‘I packed it,’ said Ben.
‘Why?’
‘I thought you might like it as a nightcap. It will help you both sleep. Once you are both asleep, you’ll be no trouble.’
Sophia sipped her drink and put the glass back on the table. Ann kept her glass and sat back with her long legs crossed. ‘He couldn’t have hidden anything in here,’ said Sophia.
Ben glanced up at the lofty ceiling. ‘Perhaps he did. Perhaps this is exactly where he hid it.’
‘Do I sense that sunbathing and snorkelling is not on the agenda for tomorrow?’ asked Ann.
‘You guys can go snorkelling. I’m going to tear this damn fale apart,’ said Ben.
‘How the hell are you going to get up there?’ asked Ann, looking up at the ceiling.
‘I’ll find a way.’
‘I’m sure you will.’
‘There has got to be something,’ said Ben.
‘There might be something,’ said Sophia, sipping her drink. ‘The bastard loved to play mind games. I personally think he would have involved someone else, just in case something happened to him. He knew he was playing a dangerous game.’
‘Who would he have trusted here?’ asked Ben.
‘Miss fucking South Pacific…who knows?’ said Sophia.
‘I’ll get to her soon,’ said Ben.
‘I’m sure you will,’ said Sophia.
Ben ignored the remark. ‘Tomorrow we search here and see what turns up.’
‘Probably a damn lizard,’ said Ann.
It was almost 11pm and the jungle noises had kept the girls from sleeping. Ann threw off the sheets and sat up and turned on a small torch. ‘I know I’ve had a bit too much to drink but I’ll flip you a coin for him.’
‘One of us can’t just march in there and demand to sleep with him.’
‘He’s a man. He’ll handle it,’ said Ann.
‘I wanted him first.’
‘You were suffering bereavement.’
‘The hell I was!’
‘I’ve got a five cent Tongan coin here. I’ll flip you for him,’ said Ann.
‘Where did you get that?’
‘I found it on the floor in the airport police office.’
‘I didn’t see you pick it up,’ said Sophia.
‘I’m quick where money lying around is concerned,’ said Ann. ‘I was born in Redfern you know.’
‘What year is the coin?’
‘2005,’ said Ann, squinting at it in the torchlight.
‘That wasn’t a good year for me.’
‘It’s the only damn coin I have.’
‘What’s on each side?’ asked Sophia.
Ann shone her torch back on the coin. ‘A chook on one side and coconuts on the other.’
‘You’re bloody joking!’
‘Well they look like coconuts. They might be yams or something. There is a palm branch there too so you can’t get them confused with the chook on the other side.’
Sophia sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. ‘So whoever wins the toss just goes in there and climbs into bed with Ben.’
‘That’s the idea.’
‘And then what?’
‘Fuck him,’ said Ann.
‘What if he says no?’
‘He won’t say no. He probably wants both of us.’
‘He’s too old to be into that,’ said Sophia.
‘They are never too old to be into that.’
‘He looked worn out tonight,’ said Sophia. ‘Perhaps we should just let him sleep.’
‘What do you want…the chook or the coconuts?’
‘This is ridiculous.’
‘Don’t you want the chance to ride him?’
‘I don’t believe I hired you as my personal assistant,’ said Sophia.
‘Well I’m not going to lie here all night listening to something chewing at the wall of our bungalow.’
‘It’s probably just a pig or something.’
‘There were supposed to be wild horses on this island years ago. I think a horse is chewing at our walls.’
‘Flip the damn coin,’ said Sophia. ‘I’ll take the chook.’
‘I wanted the chook.’
‘I’m not fond of coconuts,’ said Sophia.
Ann put the small torch between her knees. ‘Alright, you can have the chook.’ She flipped the small silver coin and grabbed it in her right hand. She slapped the coin down on the back of her left wrist and moved her right hand away. The coconuts were up. Ann put the coin down on the side table between their beds and stood up in her tiny silken nightdress.
‘Make sure you give him some fair warning. He’s got a damn big knife in there with him.’
‘I’m not after his bloody knife,’ said Ann.
‘He’s on edge,’ said Sophia. ‘We’ve had enough problems.’
Ann left the room. Sophia lay back in her bed listening to the noises of the jungle and the distant booming of the surf. She envied her friend’s win at the flip of a coin. Minutes later Ann returned to the room and sat on the end of her bed. ‘He’s locked the fucking doors.’
‘What?’
‘I can’t get in.’
‘The front wall is only 7 feet tall. Couldn’t you just climb over it?’
‘It’s crawling with lizards.’
‘Geckos.’
‘Whatever. I knocked on the side door and he wouldn’t answer. He must be in a deep sleep.’
‘That’s that then eh?’
Ann pulled the sheets up over he
r breasts. ‘I’ll get him eventually.’
‘Why?’ asked Sophia, her eyes heavy with sleep.
‘Because I want him.’
‘I don’t think he’s for the taking,’ said Sophia.
The fale went silent. Ben slid the Jungle Warrior knife back into its sheath and drifted into light sleep. It wasn’t the kind of sleep he enjoyed. Light sleep brought out the demons to play in his head and sometimes they were very real and very hard to forget the following morning.
It was only 8.30 pm in Sydney, three hours time difference from Tonga. Isaac Ford rang a special international number and waited until it answered. The deep male voice that answered was rough and angry. He had been aroused from sleep. ‘Why would you ring at this time you arsehole?’
‘Careful James. You are on dangerous ground just now,’ said Isaac.
‘I know she’s here,’ said Army Sergeant James Amasio as he rolled sideways in his bed. ‘There is nothing I can do about that.’
‘I don’t know if she has the necklace,’ said Isaac, ‘but there’s a good chance she knows where it is,’
‘I believe the king is aware of this. It’s a feel-out operation.’
‘She has a highly trained bodyguard with her as well as her personal assistant. The bodyguard is…’
‘I know who the bodyguard is. I’m not stupid.’
‘You won’t get near her unless the bodyguard is out of the way.’
‘I’m not going there,’ said Amasio.
‘Then get someone else to go there. The bodyguard needs to disappear and the fear of God needs to be instilled into Mrs. Hunter so that she will talk to you. Are we on the same wavelength James?’
‘I have to tread extremely carefully at this point,’ said Amasio. ‘I have the feeling that the king treats me with a degree of suspicion.’