The Crocodile Nest

by Des Hunt

  ‘Hurry up, Lora,’ Luke whispered. ‘Hurry up!’

  Chizza’s mobile rang. He pushed a button and grunted a welcome. After listening for a while, he said, ‘Yes! Yes! I’ll come!’ He broke the connection and swore loudly enough for the others in the room to turn and glare.

  Luke rushed back to the bar where he could keep an eye on the door to the games room.

  A minute passed and Chizza still hadn’t left. Luke began to panic. Maybe the man was going to finish the job first. If he did, the evidence would be lost forever. Then suddenly he appeared, storming off towards the car park. Immediately, Luke was back in the games room. He’d had in mind removing the computer and hiding it somewhere. However, one look at the screen and he knew that wouldn’t be needed. The computer was still on, with a sign resting on the keyboard.

  DO NOT USE!

  Chizza was still logged on as administrator! It was just what Luke needed—absolute access to everything.

  He ran to the office. ‘Do you have blank CDs?’ he asked Ellie.

  ‘CDs and DVDs. Which do you want?’

  Luke opted for two DVDs.

  ‘Why do you need them?’

  He explained.

  Ellie looked at him for a moment before saying, ‘Be careful, Luke. If he finds out, he will become very nasty.’

  Luke nodded and left.

  Back in the games room, he removed the sign from the keyboard and sat down. The woman working beside him turned and said, ‘He told us not to touch it! He’s making them so that we don’t have to pay anymore.’

  Luke scanned around the computers. All the card readers had been removed and stacked in a box beside Chizza’s briefcase.

  ‘Just want to check something,’ said Luke. ‘He knows me. He won’t mind.’

  The woman shrugged and turned back to her screen.

  For a moment Luke once again considered taking the computer away. In the end he decided it would be too obvious. The software would be enough to show that skimming and phishing had occurred. He slotted a DVD in the drive and set to work copying everything that looked suspicious. There was more than could fit on one DVD. He would just have to take as much as he could.

  The first DVD took eight minutes, which was pretty quick. The question was how long would it take Chizza to find out that somebody had fiddled with the plugs? Was it long enough to burn another disk? Luke decided to give it a go.

  He was about halfway through the second one when his phone rang.

  It was Lora. ‘He’s just finished and is back in his truck,’ she said. ‘Have you done it?’

  ‘Not all of it! Can you stall him?’

  ‘No! He’s pulling out now.’

  Luke looked at the screen. Four minutes to go. Maybe he had just enough time.

  ‘Thanks, Lora.’

  ‘Don’t let him catch you.’

  ‘I won’t,’ he said with more confidence than he felt.

  While the DVD continued to burn, he closed every other program he’d used so that it would be just as Chizza had left it. After that, all he could do was watch the timer count down ever so slowly.

  Three minutes to go.

  ‘C’mon, c’mon,’ he complained.

  Two minutes…

  Then he heard footsteps clumping down the corridor. Chizza was coming—he’d run out of time.

  Next, a voice called out. ‘Chizza!’ It was Ellie. The footsteps stopped. Luke froze.

  ‘What?’ came the reply, seemingly from just outside the door.

  ‘Could you have a look at my computer, please? It is doing some strange things.’

  There was a grunt, followed by heavy footsteps heading away.

  ‘Thank you,’ said Ellie. ‘I appreciate it.’

  One minute…

  Now it was counting down in seconds. When it reached ten, the drive whirled noisily for a moment, before opening and ejecting the disk. Luke grabbed it along with the other DVD, put the sign back into position, and hurried from the room using the quickest way out of the building.

  Back at his place, he sat on the bed breathing deeply. That had been close—far, far too close. Slowly his breathing calmed, but he didn’t relax. Chizza might still find out what he’d done, and he half-expected the man to bash angrily at his door at any moment.

  However, when after twenty minutes nothing had happened, Luke decided that he’d got away with it. Chizza would have finished clearing the computer by then. He’d probably already left to go to the next place.

  Yet, just in case the man had discovered something, Luke decided to hide the disks. He couldn’t keep them in his room: that would be the first place Chizza would look. The second would be Ham’s room. Andy’s workshop had lots of suitable places, but was also a bit obvious. Then Luke thought of the perfect place: the bush chooks’ nest. They didn’t seem to need it anymore, and nobody would ever think of looking there.

  A short while later, it was done. The DVDs were sealed in their cases and hidden beneath half a metre of jungle rubbish. The evidence was secure. Now all that he needed was a reply from Brian. He’d check for that again as soon as he’d confirmed that Chizza had left.

  There was no reply from Brian before or after lunch. By then it was two o’clock—four o’clock in New Zealand. Probably only an hour before Brian finished work.

  Luke considered sending another email, before thinking of a better idea. He’d get Ellie to do it. Then she’d have the information as soon as it came in. He printed out Brian’s last email from almost a month ago. On it were Brian’s email address and direct dial-in telephone number. If Ellie wanted, she could give Brian a ring.

  Ellie was busy, but agreed to get onto it as soon as she could. She said that she’d probably email first, and if that didn’t work then she’d use the DDI number.

  That was fine by Luke: now that he had the disks, some of the earlier urgency had gone. Even if Chizza had cleared all the computers he serviced, the evidence that would convict him still existed. If the police didn’t come today, then it was no big deal. While Luke wanted the situation over and done with, he wasn’t going to let it, or anything else, wreck his big night out with Lora.

  Luke woke to a soft knocking on the door. He’d lain down on his bed hoping to waste a bit of time, and had ended up sleeping.

  Still half-asleep, he got up and opened the door, expecting it to be Ellie or—even better—Lora. Instead, it was Chizza.

  ‘Hi,’ said Chizza. ‘I came to apologize for my behaviour last night.’

  Luke stepped back in surprise. Chizza’s face reflected his words—the man looked truly remorseful.

  ‘It was stupid what I did,’ he continued. ‘I get carried away sometimes.’

  Before he could stop himself, Luke was accepting the apology with a nod. He was more surprised than anything else. ‘That is good,’ Chizza said. ‘We are friends again?’

  Luke didn’t know what to say, so once again he nodded.

  Chizza nodded in return. ‘Good! Good! Now I would like to do something to make it right. I will take you to see Crazy Hazel’s nest. You will come?’

  This was even more of a shock. The chance to see Crazy Hazel! But something inside told Luke to be cautious. ‘Do you think we should?’ he said. ‘Andy said we shouldn’t go near her.’

  Chizza smiled. ‘That was at night-time. If we go quickly, it will still be daylight. Andy said it was OK at this time of day.’

  Luke was in two minds: he didn’t want to go with this man, but he did want to see Crazy Hazel’s nest. It could be the highlight of his holiday. And if Andy said it was OK, then maybe it was. ‘All right,’ he eventually agreed. ‘But I’d better go and tell Ham.’

  ‘I have told Ham we are going. He is working now.’

  Luke looked at his watch. It was four-oh-five. Ham would’ve been working for two hours. ‘Will we be back by eight o’clock?’

  Chizza nodded vigorously. ‘If we go quickly, we will be back before it is dark. Get something warm and let us go.’

/>   Luke grabbed his sweatshirt and cellphone before following Chizza out to the front of the workshop where the vehicle and boat were parked. He had a look in the workshop, hoping to check with Andy that it was truly OK, but the place was empty.

  Next thing, he was in Chizza’s vehicle travelling the same road as the night before. This time he sat in the comfort of the front passenger seat. Still, it didn’t make him feel any more comfortable inside—the hollow feeling in his stomach suggested he was doing the wrong thing.

  Chapter 25

  As Chizza and Luke travelled to the creek, Ellie was close to finishing up for the day. There was still no email response from Brian in Auckland. Should she give him a ring? Yes, it was time they got some things sorted out. She wanted this all over before her bosses came up from Brisbane early next week.

  The DDI number got an out-of-office reply. She left a message as requested, but realized that with the time difference there was little chance of any response before morning.

  Thinking that a reply might have come to Luke’s mailbox, she went looking for him. He wasn’t anywhere in The Nest, nor in the pool, so she went to the workshop to check his room. Andy was there, sharpening a spade.

  ‘Is Luke in his room?’ Ellie asked.

  ‘Nah. Haven’t seen him all day. Don’t know what he’s up to. Sorry, luv.’

  ‘If he comes back, could you pass a message on for me? Tell him I’ve had no reply from Brian.’

  ‘Sure thing. But I’m off in a moment—maybe you should leave a note in his room?’

  Ellie decided to check with Ham first. On her way back to the office, she called into the restaurant. Ham was flat-out getting salads ready for the dinner rush. Her heart seemed to miss a couple of beats. Ever since she’d first arrived at The Crocodile Nest, her feelings for Ham had been growing stronger. It was for him, more than anything else, that she wanted this business with Chizza cleared up quickly.

  ‘Ham!’ she called over the counter.

  He looked up and gave her a wonderful smile. ‘Hi. I was just thinking about you.’

  With an effort, Ellie pushed her feelings to one side. ‘Have you seen Luke?’

  Ham shook his head. ‘Sorry, Ellie. Not since breakfast.’ He looked up at the clock on the wall. ‘Didn’t he say he was having dinner over at the Reef Sands? Maybe he’s already gone there.’ He gave a little chuckle. ‘He’s got his eye on Lora—more than likely that’s where he’ll be.’

  ‘Yes, maybe it is.’ A pause. ‘Will I see you later?’

  ‘If you want.’

  She gave an eager nod, before returning to the office. For a moment she considered giving the Reef Sands Resort a call, but decided to let Luke enjoy his night out with his girlfriend. It wouldn’t make a lot of difference if she spoke to him that night or in the morning. It was already too late for the police to come up from Cairns today. Best to leave everything until morning.

  By the time they turned onto the dirt track, Luke was wishing he hadn’t come. Not because Chizza was any less friendly—quite the opposite. The man seemed too pleased and satisfied; as if things were working out just the way he’d planned. Plus all the clothes on the seat behind, and the boxes tied down to the deck, suggested that after they’d seen the crocodile Chizza was going somewhere other than home.

  Then there were the letters sitting in the tray between the two front seats—probably about forty or fifty of them. Each time the vehicle turned a corner, the letters would fan from side to side, allowing Luke to sneak a glimpse at the addresses. They were to places all over the world: Japan, Germany, the UK, the USA, New Zealand…Either Chizza had lots of friends or he did business in lots of different countries.

  The launching place looked no different to when they’d left the night before. Nothing had happened during the day. Last night, the isolation hadn’t worried Luke; now, it seemed threatening.

  As Chizza concentrated on backing the boat trailer into the water, Luke let his hand slide over to the letters. He picked up one and felt along it with his fingers. There can’t have been much inside, because it flexed quite easily. That was until his fingers got to the end and found something stiff: something about the size and feel of credit card. Now Luke knew what they were: they were Chizza’s letters to his mules around world. Maybe he sent off lots every week, but Luke thought not. This number suggested he was rushing to finish all the scams he could before disappearing.

  ‘What is happening?’

  Luke jumped.

  ‘What is happening?’ repeated Chizza. ‘Do I have enough room that side?’

  ‘Um, ah!’ Luke turned around in his seat. ‘Looks like it. Yeah, it’s OK. The trailer’s already in the water.’

  ‘Good! Then come,’ said Chizza, ‘I will need help with the launching.’ He pulled the handbrake on and left the cab. A moment later, Luke followed.

  It took only a couple of minutes to get the boat off the trailer and floating in the water.

  ‘You hold, while I park,’ said Chizza.

  Luke held the boat steady, wondering if it might be better if he let the thing go so that it floated away. That way he wouldn’t have to get onto the boat. Visiting Crazy Hazel didn’t seem so important anymore. He considered telling Chizza that, but instead took out his phone and sent a text to Lora:

  Gon 2 c crazy hazel nest wth chizza. Cu@8.

  Just as he was pressing send, Chizza returned. ‘What are you doing?’ The tone was no longer as friendly as before.

  ‘Sending a text to Lora. I’m meeting her for dinner later.’

  ‘What did it say?’

  ‘Just that I was going to see Crazy Hazel’s nest.’

  ‘Did you say my name?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  Chizza gave Luke a black look. ‘Give me the phone,’ he said quietly.

  Luke looked at the display to check that the message had gone. It had!

  ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘It’s already gone.’

  Suddenly Chizza lunged forward, grabbing Luke by the wrist. The phone fell to the ground. Without letting go of Luke, Chizza leant over, picked it up and then threw it far out into the estuary.

  ‘You will not need that anymore,’ he growled. ‘Now get into the boat.’

  Before Luke had a chance to struggle, the big man had lifted him high enough so that he toppled onto the deck. A moment later, Chizza had pushed the boat from the shore and was clambering aboard.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ asked Luke, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

  Chizza didn’t answer until after the motor was started and they were well clear of the shore. ‘Nothing that should cause you harm.’ He paused. ‘I will put you on an island while I go to get something.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I want the disks that you made on the computer this morning.’

  ‘There are no disks,’ said Luke.

  ‘Yes, there are: two of them. And you will tell me where they are. Then I will go to get them. If they are where you say, then I will come back quickly, and take you off the island and let you have dinner with your girlfriend.’ He waited for some reaction from Luke. When none came, he went on: ‘If not, I will leave you there. It will get dark. The crocodiles will come and you can have dinner with them instead. You will be the main course.’ He laughed crazily at his joke—so loudly that birds feeding on the bank took to the air.

  ‘It does not matter to me which happens,’ he continued. ‘If I get the disks, you will stay alive. If not, then you die and the disks are lost forever. It is for you to decide, Luke. Live or die—it is your choice.’

  Chapter 26

  Lora was sitting in the bar of the Reef Sands Resort, surrounded by people—thirteen of them. Not one of them would have been under sixty. Most had a drink in front of them and, even though few of the drinks were alcoholic, the oldies were all in high spirits.

  Beth had brought them together to hear their views about tourism for older folk. She was working on her plan for something in Whitianga. Lora’s job
was to take notes, and there were plenty of those.

  ‘My main gripe,’ said a large woman from America, ‘is that I can’t get T-shirts that fit.’ She pointed in the direction of the resort shop. ‘They’ve got lovely things with a local flavour, but you’ve got to be anorexic to fit into them. It’s the same everywhere.’

  A long discussion about clothing sizes followed, which Lora tried to record accurately, even though it seemed to go all over the place.

  Then out of the blue, an elderly man who had not spoken before yelled ‘Lavatories!’

  Everyone stopped talking and turned to him. ‘What about lavatories?’ asked Beth.

  ‘There aren’t enough of them at these tourist places. When I’ve gotta go, I’ve gotta go. The sphincter’s getting a bit weak these days. And if I have to rush off to find a place, it just makes things worse.’

  There were a few little nods of sympathy, but nobody was prepared to admit that they had the same problem. Lora smiled and wrote:

  Toilets: old sphincters get tired.

  She was about to draw a little diagram alongside when her phone chimed, indicating that a text had arrived. It was from Luke: he’d gone with Chizza to see Crazy Hazel’s nest. She felt a surge of annoyance that he was going anywhere with that man, especially seeing they had a date tonight. However, she relaxed when, checking the time, she saw that there was more than three hours to go. Plenty of time for Luke to see Crazy Hazel and get ready for their date.

  She turned her attention back to the old people, who were now discussing pills. Apparently it was a real hassle to get replacement pills when you’d left yours at the last hotel. From what they said, Lora figured that half of these people were kept alive only by the marvels of modern medication—miss out on a day and you ended up dead.

  Luke sat in the boat trying to sort out his options, which wasn’t easy with Chizza talking non-stop. The man seemed determined to prove how clever he was.

  ‘Everything you did on those computers was recorded in a log file,’ he was saying. ‘Every keystroke, every email, even your pathetic attempts to get into the system files. All I had to do was look at the daily log and I knew what you did.’