South Pacific Affair

by Drew Lindsay

  George looked at the body and then back at Ben. ‘People will murder families because of this necklace?’

  ‘Yes they will,’ said Ben.

  ‘It’s 1 am in the morning. This had better be good,’ said the voice on the other end of the phone.

  ‘There was an attempted hit on the Tei family tonight. I’m with them now,’ said Ben. ‘The attacker is dead.’

  ‘Jesus!’

  ‘Do you want the address?’

  ‘I know the address,’ said Inspector Lolohea. ‘Stay put.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ said Ben.

  Ben drank a mug of dreadful instant coffee at the Central Police Station and glanced at his watch. It was just before 4 am. He had been questioned in detail about the attacker and provided a lengthy statement to Detective Inspector Lolohea. ‘Did he have any ID that seemed genuine?’ asked Ben.

  ‘No. Other than his photograph the rest will be fake. We are running his photograph through Interpol,’ said Lolohea.

  ‘He was with Nancy Fiumara on the island,’ said Ben. ‘She’ll know who he is.’

  ‘Are you sure it’s the same guy?’

  ‘Yep,’ said Ben.

  ‘I’ll send a boat for her at first light,’ said Lolohea. ‘You’re lucky he didn’t go for Sophia Hunter first.’

  ‘I had her covered,’ said Ben. ‘He wouldn’t have got near her. He obviously felt that Loa Tei was the key to finding the necklace.’

  ‘The Tei family are quite shaken,’ said Lolohea. ‘They are fortunate that you had been invited as a guest.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Ben.

  Lolohea watched him carefully. ‘You slept here.’

  ‘I was asked to stay the night.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘Loa gave me a treatment for sunburn,’ said Ben.

  ‘Yes, I can see and smell that.’

  ‘Are you my mother?’ asked Ben.

  ‘Are you telling me everything?’

  ‘I told you what happened.’

  ‘What did Loa tell you?’

  ‘She had an affair with Hunter. He had been pursuing her for almost a year on his regular trips to Tonga. She saw him a few weeks before he was murdered and he met her at a hotel in town. He dropped her at her home the following morning in a rented vehicle and that was the last time she saw him.’

  ‘She didn’t tell us that.’

  ‘She didn’t want anyone to know, especially her parents.’

  ‘Did they go anywhere else together before they went to the hotel?’ asked Paul Lolohea.

  Ben hesitated.

  ‘I need it all,’ said Lolohea.

  ‘They didn’t but he took off somewhere and didn’t get back to the hotel until late at night.’

  ‘Does she know where he went?’

  ‘No,’ said Ben. ‘He told her that he was late because something had gone wrong with one of the wheels on the car.’

  ‘Do you know where he rented the car?’

  ‘No,’ said Ben. ‘I was going to try and find out today.’

  ‘I’ll get that done,’ said Lolohea.

  ‘He hired some diving equipment,’ said Ben.

  ‘She didn’t tell us that either.’

  ‘Black pearl diving or something like that,’ said Ben.

  ‘They’re down near the jetty.’

  ‘That was to be my second visit of the day,’ said Ben.

  ‘No. Leave that to us. Go back to Fa Fa Island and let me do my job.’

  “****”

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  ‘You smell beautiful,’ said Ann, moving her face close to Ben’s chest. ‘Did she give you a massage with special oils?’

  ‘She did and my sunburn feels much better,’ said Ben.

  ‘Did she turn you on?’

  ‘None of your business.’

  ‘I’ll bet she did. She would have had you into bed so quickly that you probably left your boots on.’

  ‘We killed a guy, but it’s being kept quiet so you can’t tell anyone.’

  Claudia and Sophia sat up on their deck chairs.

  ‘He wasn’t at breakfast,’ said Claudia. ‘Was it him?’

  Ben nodded. ‘Armed to the teeth and even had a single night monocle. He came well prepared.’

  ‘How did you kill him?’ asked Ann.

  ‘That’s not important. The main thing is that he is no longer a threat.’

  ‘That’s why Nancy left early this morning as well,’ said Claudia. ‘We heard a launch just on daylight and the manager told us that Nancy had gone over to Nuku’Alofa. She didn’t have much else to say about that.’

  ‘She was taken in a police launch,’ said Ben.

  ‘Oh,’ said Ann. ‘No wonder Lesilei wasn’t talking.’

  ‘What will they do with her?’ asked Sophia.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Ben. ‘She’s a smart mouthed lawyer. She’ll think of a way to duck any nasty issues.’

  ‘So what are we going to do now?’ asked Sophia.

  ‘We can go home,’ said Ann.

  ‘Not yet,’ said Ben. ‘I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.’

  ‘Or die trying,’ said Claudia.

  ‘There is one less obstacle in the way.’

  Claudia got to her feet. ‘Well I’m packing and heading for the first flight out of here.’

  ‘Can I talk to you privately for a moment?’ asked Ben.

  ‘There is nothing you can say to me that you can’t say in front of your clients,’ said Claudia.

  Ben hesitated for a moment and then sat down on the edge of one of the deck chairs. ‘He almost got me this morning. I didn’t hit him the right way and he was much stronger than me. Loa’s father saved me by whacking the bastard over the head with a heavy pole.’

  Now it was Claudia’s turn to be silent.

  ‘I don’t think the threat is over,’ said Ben. ‘I’ve got this feeling that someone else will come.’

  ‘Are you asking me to stay to help you?’ asked Claudia, staring into his eyes.

  ‘It’s only for a couple of days. I need to do things back on the mainland.’

  ‘Loose ends?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Ben.

  ‘I work for the opposition,’ said Claudia.

  ‘You got fired,’ said Ann dryly. ‘We won you over.’

  ‘Yes you did,’ said Claudia with a smile. ‘It appears that Ben and I are both going soft for all the wrong reasons.’

  ‘He’s not going soft,’ said Ann. ‘Anyone can have a bad day.’

  ‘You’ll never find the necklace,’ said Sophia. ‘The twisted bastard could have hidden it anywhere. If he didn’t tell the slut he was sleeping with, he didn’t tell anyone.’

  ‘Two days,’ said Ben, looking at Claudia. ‘All expenses paid.’

  ‘By who?’ asked Sophia.

  ‘Me,’ said Ben.

  ‘She’s fun,’ said Ann. ‘She even taught me how to choke someone to death with a shoelace.’

  Ben glanced at Claudia with a serious expression on his suntanned face.

  ‘She’s lying,’ said Claudia. ‘I never use shoelaces.’

  Ann laughed and stepped down onto the sandy track leading to the nearby beach. ‘I’m going for a swim.’

  Sophia stood and stepped off the deck onto the track. ‘Me too.’

  Claudia picked up her beach towel and took a few steps after them. She stopped and turned to face Ben. ‘Two days.’

  He nodded.

  ‘How many times has the creepy guy gone past in that crappy little boat?’

  ‘Twice.’

  ‘I’ve not seen him before and he’s not from around here,’ said Claudia.

  ‘He’s not Tongan.’

  ‘Three passes and we’ve got problems.’

  Ben nodded. ‘I’m going for a shower and a sleep.’

  ‘My watch,’ said Claudia. ‘God knows why!’

  He heard her approach the bed. Muscles tightened instinctively and he was ready to fight. She had t
he good sense to stop well away from him. ‘He’s on the island,’ Claudia whispered.

  Ben opened his eyes. The setting sun sent golden rays flooding into the room. ‘Where?’

  ‘His boat has been dragged up into the jungle about 100 metres down the beach.’

  Ben rolled off the huge bed and pulled on a pair of jeans. He attached the jungle knife and sheath to the belt and pulled a black t shirt over his head. ‘These bastards don’t know when to give up,’ he said, pulling on socks and light weight boots.

  ‘They are well motivated,’ said Claudia. ‘Ann is in the shower and Sophia is in the hammock.’

  Ben pulled a small yellow underwater LED torch from his bag and clipped it to his belt.

  ‘How many of those things did you bring?’

  ‘Only two and my key ring LED.’

  ‘That’s three.’

  ‘I brought this one because Joseph Hunter had an underwater torch with him on his last visit to Tonga.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Sophia told me.’

  ‘What the hell would he want that for?’

  ‘He would have had a reason and I intend to find out why he was diving at night.’

  ‘Do we spread out and look for our new arrival?’ asked Claudia.

  ‘No. He’ll come looking for us. Just watch the jungle hens.’

  ‘I’ve been keeping an eye on them,’ said Claudia.

  ‘They run from anything even remotely threatening, otherwise they just wander around and scrounge for seeds.’

  ‘Surely he wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and take on one of the girls in the daylight?’

  ‘I’m starting to think that some of these people are running a little short on brain power,’ said Ben. ‘The goal is overpowering their use of common sense.’

  Claudia walked to the door. ‘You watch from here. I’m going for a little wander.’

  ‘That’s not such a good idea,’ said Ben.

  ‘I hate waiting,’ said Claudia.

  It took less than 5 minutes. Claudia screamed for Ben. He leapt off the deck and sprinted in the direction of her voice. ‘He’s in the jungle,’ she called. ‘He’s got a knife.’

  The trail had been cut through jungle that was so thick there was no way you could walk through it, let alone run through it. The trail wound its way around huge trees with hanging vines and thousands of palm trees struggling to push their way through the thick leafy canopy high above. The sun had set and the jungle was dark. Claudia was well ahead of Ben but he could see the Cree torch flashing through the wall of leaves and tree trunks. He caught up with her on the lee of the island. They both shone their torches out over the rocks which the low tide had exposed.

  ‘He’s gone to ground,’ said Claudia. ‘He didn’t come this far.’

  They doubled back along the narrow track and headed for the North West side of the island. Their torches sent powerful beams into the jungle on either side of the track. Ben spotted the tree house first. It was to the right of the track and high up in a banyan tree. The walls were made of thatched palm branches. The roof was covered in black plastic. There was one small open window facing them and an open doorway on the left side of the structure. There were no stairs or ladder.

  ‘Someone built it for a kid,’ Claudia whispered.

  ‘It’s been up there for quite a while,’ he said softly.

  ‘Do you think he went up there?’

  ‘You said he went to ground.’

  ‘I was almost up his arse. He might have scampered up that tree.’

  Ben shone his torch over the tree house. ‘Are you coming down mate or do I have to get you out another way?’

  Silence.

  Ben picked up a very long, dead coconut palm branch. ‘Give me your lighter or whatever you carry.’

  ‘I don’t smoke. I gave up,’ said Claudia.

  ‘You might be down to one or two a day and you try to mask it.’

  ‘I hate people like you.’

  ‘Give me the lighter,’ said Ben, holding out his hand.

  She slapped the tiny cigarette lighter into his palm. ‘You can’t just set fire to things.’

  ‘The wind has dropped. It will be okay.’

  ‘What if he’s not up there?’

  Ben looked towards the tree house and raised his voice a little. ‘We’re discussing having a bar b q old son. You’re on the menu. Are you coming down or do I have to set fire to your damn cubby house?’

  Silence.

  Ben lit the palm branch and held it up underneath the tree house. One of the dry thatched walls immediately caught fire. The flames spread rapidly. Ben pointed to an area opposite where he was standing. Claudia sprinted into position. Jake Hogzuk had often contemplated the way he may die but being burnt to death in a tree house wasn’t one of them. He felt the red hot flames and swirling smoke and decided that jumping was a better option than simply climbing down the tree trunk. By jumping he could hit the ground running and still get away from them. He failed to appreciate that he was several metres from the ground. His right ankle snapped like a twig as he hit a huge tree root on the ground and the hand holding the knife was snapped immediately after as Claudia disarmed him and put him in a choke hold that was tight enough to cut off his screams of pain.

  Ben slid the jungle knife back into its sheath on his belt. ‘Piece of cake,’ he said softly as he walked towards Claudia.

  “****”

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  Hogzuk was loaded rather unceremoniously into the police launch. Inspector Lolohea stood on the end of the timber ramp leading up to the side of the launch. ‘You could have burnt the whole island to the ground.’

  Ben stood back as a small wave threatened to soak his boots. ‘No wind. I burnt down a cubby house in a tree. Some of the boys put out the fire. No big deal.’

  ‘We know this bloke,’ said Lolohea. ‘He’s German and an ex-pat but someone has given him the green light to stay in Tonga. Now he really has our attention.’

  ‘He’s in a world of pain,’ said Ben. ‘He might talk.’

  ‘Maybe,’ said Lolohea.

  Paul Lolohea glanced up at Ann and Sophia as they walked onto the beach and stood next to Claudia. ‘Got quite a collection of beauties there,’ he said.

  ‘The dark one is interested in you,’ said Ben with a grin.

  ‘Ann Flynn.’

  ‘You remember her name.’

  Lolohea walked up the gangway and stepped onto the police launch. Two Tongan boys dragged the timber gangway onto the beach. The launch moved slowly into deeper water. ‘I’m not good with women,’ he said.

  ‘She wants someone bad,’ said Ben.

  Lolohea’s face was hidden in darkness but Ben suspected he was smiling. He was.

  ‘So now what do we do for excitement?’ asked Ann as they walked through the sand to the restaurant.

  ‘It’s Friday night,’ said Ben. ‘I’m up for a steak with chips.’

  ‘Boring,’ said Ann.

  ‘I’m up for that,’ said Claudia.

  ‘Why don’t you two get a room,’ said Ann.

  ‘We already have one,’ said Claudia. ‘Several actually. That seems a bit of a waste.’

  Ann stopped walking. ‘Are you moving in with us?’

  ‘There is no point in me paying big money to stay alone in the honeymoon suite,’ said Claudia. ‘There are three bedrooms. You can move in there.’

  ‘You can sleep with Sophia,’ said Ann. ‘She snores.’

  ‘I do not!’ said Sophia.

  ‘There is probably a perfectly good lounge in the fale,’ said Ben. ‘I’ll sleep there.’

  Ann snorted softly. ‘Sure, both in the same room and Ben on the lounge. I can smell the animal heat coming off the pair of you after that hunt in the damn jungle.’

  ‘That’s my suntan oil treatment,’ said Ben. ‘It doesn’t wash off easily.’

  ‘Animal heat,’ said Ann, striding ahead of them.

  ‘Thank you
once again,’ said Sophia. She glanced at Claudia. ‘Thank you for risking your life for us.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ said Claudia.

  The resort manager, Lesilei Heimuli approached Ben as they sat at the bar. ‘May I speak with you Mr. Hood?’

  ‘Of course.’

  She walked past the restaurant and into the huge library. Ben followed. They sat together on a long lounge. Candles fluttered in the breeze and fruit bats screeched overhead. ‘Please forgive my directness Mr. Hood but we are not used to any kind of violence on Fa Fa Island.’

  ‘I do apologise for what has happened,’ said Ben. ‘Would you like us to leave?’

  ‘I don’t understand what this is all about,’ she said. ‘Inspector Lolohea has assured me that you are a very capable man when it comes to dealing with violence but…’ Lesilei stopped talking.

  ‘I don’t anticipate any further violence,’ said Ben. ‘We are here for a very important purpose.’

  Lesilei nodded. ‘I can’t afford to have my guests put at any kind of risk.’

  ‘We will leave,’ said Ben.

  ‘Are you here for the good of my special island and my people?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Ben.

  Lesilei was silent for a long moment. ‘Then you must stay.’

  ‘I wish I could tell you more,’ said Ben.

  ‘Claudia has told me that she will stay with you and your friends.’

  Ben nodded.

  ‘She has suggested that you should all move to the main honeymoon suite where Claudia is staying. There are three bedrooms and it is very isolated.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Ben. ‘I’ll have the girls pack.’

  ‘There will be no additional charge,’ said Lesilei.

  ‘I’m happy to pay the extra,’ said Ben.

  ‘Leave your luggage on the deck and the porters will transfer it while you have dinner.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Ben.

  ‘You look a little sunburned.’

  ‘I’ve been well cared for,’ said Ben.

  ‘You smell of rare traditional oils,’ said Lesilei.