In the Shade of the Blossom Tree

by Joanna Rees

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  After the banquet lunch, when all Jai’s guests had gathered to eat alfresco on the lawn, the tranquil peace of the siesta hours had descended on the island, but Lois felt too elated to sleep. Adjusting the wide brim of her sunhat and smoothing out the front of her short sundress, she quietly closed her bedroom door and tiptoed carefully along the corridor and down the grand main staircase of the house to the front doors.

  She didn’t want to bump into anyone. She wanted to be alone. To get her head around all of this. And this was the first moment she’d had to herself to think.

  With each passing hour, her audience with the great tycoon seemed to grow in significance rather than shrink. And Jai Shijai’s knowing looks across the table at lunch had only confirmed the feeling that something monumental had taken place.

  But what? She wished she’d had the chance to discuss it with Roberto, but he’d be asleep now back in Vegas and anyway Jai Shijai hadn’t said anything specific that she could report. And besides, there was something about the way in which Jai Shijai had spoken that had made her suspect that Roberto knew more than he’d told her.

  Was Roberto really planning on sending her to China? That was the question on which all other questions hinged. And what would her life be like if he did? She could handle it, couldn’t she?

  If Cara could spend some time out East – during vacations at the very least – although it might initially be a problem for her ex-husband Chris, it could be the chance of a lifetime for her daughter. A new country, new sights, new friends, new opportunities . . . Cara would love it. And in between Lois could still fly back home and see her as much as she did now. Then later, when Cara was older, maybe she could even join Lois out here. At an international school, perhaps. By then, Lois would have saved up enough money to fund a carefree expat lifestyle.

  She let out a long puff of pent-up breath. Then she smiled, rolling her eyes at herself.

  One thing at a time, Lois. Don’t run away with yourself, girl, she cautioned. Roberto Enzo hadn’t mentioned any of this to her. In fact, she had only Jai Shijai’s hints to go on. And he was a renowned player of games. Roberto might not be planning half the things Jai Shijai implied he was. She’d have to bide her time, she realized, and wait for Roberto to reveal his hand.

  Stopping to look around, she noticed that she’d already crossed the main lawn leading down from the house to the sea. She’d been so busy thinking, she hadn’t been paying attention to where she was going. She was just about to retrace her steps when she saw, through the trees, the far beach and the yacht moored at the jetty that she’d seen from the top of the pagoda.

  There was no one around. The sun was beating down as she pressed on through the brushwood. It looked like the perfect place for a swim.

  As she reached the shore, Lois saw a man on the deck of the yacht, silhouetted against the bright blue sky.

  ‘Hey there,’ he called out. His voice was deep, accented. Australian, she guessed.

  She waved her hand vaguely, uncertain whether or not to approach him. Was he inviting conversation, or just passing the time of day?

  Was he the man she’d seen earlier? He was wearing the same colourful swimming trunks. His bare legs were tanned and his vest was ripped and covered in oil. He had curly blond hair greying at the temples and a deeply tanned, craggy face. He looked like he’d spent all his life outdoors. But fit as he clearly was, he looked too old to do the boyish somersault she’d witnessed earlier.

  She suddenly felt ridiculous being here for no other reason than that she’d been lost in a daydream. She searched for something purposeful to say and remembered the underwater observation tunnel Kai had told her about when she’d first arrived.

  ‘Hi,’ she called back, walking along the jetty. ‘I heard there was a tunnel to an aquarium . . . going out towards the reef,’ she said, stumbling over her words in an attempt to explain herself.

  They were all alone out here. Something about the way in which the man was staring at her made her want to explain herself.

  ‘It’s around there.’ He pointed half a kilometre along the beach to where a patch of blue glass glinted in the surf.

  But Lois could tell he wasn’t impressed. ‘Isn’t it any good?’ she asked.

  He shrugged. ‘Why look at the fish through Perspex? You can do that at a city aquarium. Out here you might as well see them in the wild. The same goes for the dolphins . . .’

  ‘Dolphins?’

  ‘There’s a colony here. I’ll show you if you like. I was just about to set sail,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, I’m not sure . . .’ she began, but she had to admit the guy’s offer was tempting. She was already fully prepped for the tournament tomorrow night. She couldn’t do anything more until Anthony and Guido turned up tomorrow morning and she had to brief them. Until then . . . well, she guessed she was free.

  ‘Why not?’ he asked.

  ‘Because . . . because we only just met,’ she said, but she was smiling.

  He shrugged. ‘You look fairly trustworthy to me. You’re on this island, so you’ve obviously been vetted. No seriously criminal past. Anyway, what’s the worst thing you can do to me?’

  She laughed, trying to think of an excuse, but he was already untying a rope. He lowered a small metal gangway from the yacht on to the wooden jetty by her feet.

  Lois didn’t even know the guy’s name, but she assumed he was a fellow guest of Jai Shijai. Would it really be OK to take off with him on his yacht like this? It felt so indulgent. But it was too late to back out now. He was already reaching out a tanned, muscular arm to help her on board.

  Throwing caution to the wind, she stepped on to the passarail and took his hand.

  The man’s grip was strong, like he’d be able to hold Lois suspended in the air, no sweat, if she slipped.

  ‘Hey, Zak, we’ve got a passenger,’ he called.

  Zak?

  A teenage boy appeared. He was wearing very similar swimming shorts to the man and there was no mistaking the fact they were related.

  ‘Hey,’ Zak said and Lois smiled, everything suddenly making sense.

  ‘I think I saw you earlier from the top of the pagoda. You were doing a dive?’ she said, as she stepped on to the yacht’s teak deck.

  Zak laughed. He was about fifteen, but he already had the confident swagger of a man twice his age. He crossed his arms and stared at her, shaking his floppy fringe out of his face.

  ‘If I’d known I had an audience, I’d have put on more of a show.’ He had an Australian accent, too. ‘Were you really spying on me?’

  ‘I just happened to see you, that’s all,’ Lois said.

  ‘And now you’re here,’ Zak said with a wide grin. ‘What did I tell you, Dad? I’m a babe magnet.’

  His charm was so over-the-top that Lois laughed. The older guy rolled his eyes. He’d lifted up his Ray-Bans so that they pushed back his hair. He had hazel eyes and he smiled with them, as well as with his mouth. His full lips were pale with sunblock and his face seemed so open and friendly that Lois couldn’t help but smile right back.

  Zak stepped down into the cockpit. Lois started to follow, but before she’d even taken her first step, both the man and Zak yelled the word ‘Shoes!’ at the same time, in the same tone.

  ‘Oh.’ Lois laughed, slipping off her flip-flops. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘I’m Aidan Bailey,’ the older guy said, finally introducing himself.

  ‘Lois Ch—’ Lois started, but right at that moment a gust of wind tipped her hat off her head. Zak grabbed it, giving it back to her with a flourish, and Lois laughed.

  ‘Take a seat, Lois “Ch”,’ Aidan said, gesturing to the squashy white leather cushions in the cockpit. ‘And let’s set sail.’

  Soon they were cruising, the wind filling the sails, the boat tipping at a gentle angle. Lois felt like a queen as she sat back, enjoying the sensation of the yacht gliding on the water. She was glad now that she’d come with Aidan and Zak. This was fun. She looked b
ack towards the island with its grand house and landscaped vistas. It was nice to get away for a while, to let the breeze blow her tangle of worried and excited thoughts away.

  Aidan made a final adjustment to a rope before jumping down into the cockpit to join her. Zak stayed at the prow, crouched down, winding a rope around a cleat.

  ‘I take it you’re a guest of Dr Jai’s too, then?’ Aidan said, leaning back in his seat with a contented sigh.

  ‘Kind of. But I’m here for business as well. At least as far as the game’s concerned. I’m running security. To make sure it all stays above board.’

  She noticed his eyes sparkling with interest. Or was it surprise?

  ‘Not that it wouldn’t do otherwise,’ she added quickly, not wanting to offend him. ‘I mean the other guests I’ve met seem perfectly honourable to me. And I’m sure you’re the same.’

  He laughed. ‘Honourable,’ he said. ‘I like that. I’ve been called quite a few things in my time, but never that.’

  Lois shifted in her seat, unsure what he meant. What was he implying? That he was someone to be trusted? Or not?

  ‘I didn’t notice you at lunch today . . .’

  ‘Not my thing,’ he said. ‘I’m here for the poker, not to network.’

  Lois was confused. ‘I thought all business people networked. Wheeling and dealing. I thought that was the main point of these get-togethers. And the gambling was just an excuse . . .’

  ‘Not for me. I’m in a . . . let’s just say . . . different line of work to the rest of them.’

  ‘How different exactly?’ she asked.

  ‘I run a security company. Military personnel, that kind of thing.’

  ‘You’re in the army?’ Lois asked.

  ‘Was. For a long time.’

  ‘Dad provides his own armies now,’ Zak chipped in, joining them in the cockpit.

  ‘You’re a mercenary?’ Lois had said it before she realized how rude it sounded.

  Aidan winced. ‘I don’t like that word,’ he said. ‘It gives off the wrong connotations. Fact is, I’m choosy about who I work for.’

  ‘He fights for the good guys. Isn’t that right, Dad?’

  ‘I try my best,’ Aidan said, in a tone of voice that suggested, to Lois at least, that sometimes it wasn’t as simple as all that.

  She’d read lots of press about the private companies contracted to work in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. The way she’d heard it, there were government backhanders involved and plenty of profits too. But who was she to judge? She hardly knew the guy. Maybe he was as principled as his son made out.

  ‘So what’s your connection to Jai Shijai?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ve met him once or twice at the tables. There’s a private baccarat game I go to in Shanghai sometimes. But then I got an invitation here,’ Aidan continued. ‘Flights thrown in. Yacht too for me and Zak to stay on. It’s our week together, you see, so . . .’

  ‘Dad doesn’t think I’m house-trained,’ Zak interjected, leaning towards Lois confidentially. ‘That’s why he won’t let me stay in Jai Shijai’s palace. He thinks I’m a liability. I might break something. What’s it like inside there anyway?’

  ‘Very plush,’ Lois told him. ‘There’s more staff than I’ve ever seen in my life. I have to say, my rooms are astonishing.’

  ‘I’m sure they are,’ Aidan said firmly to Zak, patting the cushion on the seat. ‘But we’re staying here. Us and the stars. Now make yourself useful and fix the lady a proper drink. And bring up some snacks,’ he added, playfully kicking Zak’s ass as he jumped through the hatch into the galley below.

  There was a small pause as they both watched him go. Lois smiled. In spite of all his bravado, Zak was a graceful kid. Lois wondered what his mother looked like. And where she was.

  These two seemed so self-sufficient, it was possible she’d passed away, Lois thought. But she doubted it. The phrase Aidan had used – ‘our week’ – implied he was divorced or separated from Zak’s mother. Either that, or still married. But it would have been pretty strange for a married man to invite a woman on to his yacht in front of his son.

  Stop playing cop, she reminded herself. It’s none of your damn business whether he’s married or not.

  ‘So you’re a star-gazer then?’ she asked Aidan.

  ‘Not in the astrological sense, no. Star signs and all that stuff? Load of old twaddle, if you ask me. But aesthetically, yes. I love the stars. I’ve spent so much of my life outdoors and on the move in war zones, sharing my space. For me, having this . . .’ he gestured out towards the ocean and sky, ‘it’s my ultimate luxury. What about you? How does a nice San Franciscan girl like you end up policing a tycoon’s poker party in the middle of the ocean?’

  ‘Now you put it like that, it does sound pretty weird,’ she said. ‘But how did you know?’

  ‘Know what?’

  ‘Where I’m from. I never said—’

  ‘Didn’t have to. I’m good with accents. And I’ve worked with plenty of Yanks in my time.’

  Lois whistled, impressed. ‘You should have been a cop.’

  He smiled. ‘Funny. You’re not the first person to say that.’

  ‘That’s how I started,’ Lois said. ‘As a cop . . .’

  She gave him her potted history, skirting around why she’d left the SFPD, sticking instead to the same line she spun most people – saying she’d been offered a job in the private sector that she’d been unable to refuse.

  She also skimmed over the whole issue of Fight Night. Aidan seemed like a man of the world, but you could never tell how people would react, or which one of Hudson’s stories they might have already bought into instead of the truth.

  Jai Shijai’s grilling had been enough for one day. Now she just wanted to relax.

  So she lied to Aidan instead. She told him an easy fiction: that she’d led an ordinary life, and had worked her way up through an ordinary casino chain. And soon the conversation started bouncing back and forth as if they’d known each other for years.

  Lois found out about Zak living in Sydney with his mother and how he was hoping to make the next Olympic team as a free diver. And she heard all about Aidan and Zak’s other adventures, including a trip earlier in the year to the base camp of Everest.

  Meanwhile, they continued their short journey, travelling on a wide arc around the island and over towards the coral reef, until all too soon it was time to drop the sails.

  ‘Time for a dip,’ Aidan announced. ‘I don’t know about you guys, but I’m boiling. Lois, why don’t you use the cabin to change?’

  As Aidan and Zak set about dropping the sails and anchoring the boat, Lois went down below. The galley of the yacht was beautifully appointed and looked far more sophisticated than Lois’s kitchen at home.

  Stepping out of her sundress in the cabin, Lois looked at herself warily in the mirror. She’d got some tone back at last, she thought, even though she’d had to take her training programme extremely gently following the months of physiotherapy she’d had to endure after the shooting. Her scar still ached, even though the last skin graft had been done three months ago. But at least her costume hid its rawness.

  She went back through to the galley and was just about to climb the stairs to the cockpit when she heard Aidan and Zak talking above her.

  ‘I get first dibs,’ Zak was saying in a hushed whisper. ‘She’s here because of me.’

  ‘You don’t get dibs,’ Aidan said. ‘You’re fifteen. So show her some respect.’

  ‘But she’s hot, Dad.’

  ‘You don’t have to tell me that,’ Aidan laughed. ‘But just don’t go making an imbecile of yourself, OK?’

  Lois waited a few seconds before heading back up into the cockpit. Even so, Aidan and Zak both looked like little boys who’d been caught red-handed.

  ‘You heard, didn’t you?’ Aidan said.

  ‘Every word.’

  ‘Busted, Dad,’ Zak called, as he hopped past Lois on to the top of the cabin. Then,
like she’d seen earlier, he jumped up into the air and somersaulted into the water.

  ‘Show-off,’ Aidan shouted after him. ‘Sorry about that,’ he added to Lois. It was hard to tell with his tan, but she was sure he was blushing.

  ‘Don’t be. I’m flattered. Really.’

  It was the truth. She was flattered. Aidan was an attractive man. Overhearing him talking about her like that had given her a real boost.

  ‘They grow up quick, huh?’ Aidan said, watching as his son cut away from the yacht in a powerful front crawl. ‘I sure didn’t have the balls Zak does when I was his age.’

  ‘He’s a sweet kid. You’ve done a good job.’

  ‘Nah,’ Aidan said. ‘It’s all his mother’s doing. I just stroll in occasionally and take him on holiday. I’m around so little that I still have the novelty factor.’

  ‘I wish I could say the same,’ she said. ‘My ex-husband looks after my daughter. And . . . well, her father’s no fan of mine . . . and she’s ended up the same.’

  ‘Oh,’ Aidan said. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

  ‘Yeah, well, it’s a long story,’ Lois said.

  His eyes sparkled as they held hers. ‘You could tell me all about it some time . . . if you wanted.’ His voice was so soft and his eyes so serious that, for a fleeting moment, Lois felt capable of doing just that. Of trusting him completely with the truth about her life.

  But then Zak shouted out from the water. ‘Come on, you guys, get in here. It’s fantastic.’

  Aidan smiled. He held his hand out to the platform at the back of the yacht. ‘Shall we?’

  The sea was deliciously cool and clear. As she swam, Lois peered down at the blurred view of the coral. She could see so many fish darting in shoals beneath them, she wished they had dive equipment with them. She and Chris had learned to dive on their honeymoon in Mauritius years ago. It had been one of their happiest times.

  And it was only now that it hit her how long it had been since she’d had a proper break. A real vacation, when she’d been spontaneous like this and fully opened her eyes to the world around her. She was determined to enjoy every moment.

  A little way off, beyond the coral, the surface of the water broke and Aidan pointed. She saw the backs of two dolphins.