by Tony Park
The American started to protest, but dived for the floor when Alex pulled the trigger. He’d aimed high at the last second. Jane cowered away from Alex when he approached her, but he picked Mitch’s knife up off the floor and used it to cut the rope binding her handcuffs to the wall. Realising she was now free, she pulled the clip from her breast.
Alex picked up her sarong and tossed it to her. She caught it and held it up to cover herself.
Mitch got to his knees and said, ‘Alex, she was about to tell us –’
Alex squeezed the trigger again and the next bullet punched a hole through the baggy sleeve of Mitch’s Hawaiian shirt.
‘Holy fuck, you could have –’
‘Shut up,’ Alex barked. ‘On the floor, face down, hands behind your back. You, too, Henri. I would have expected better of you,’ he said to the Frenchman as he sent him sprawling from the kneeling position to prone with a kick in his rear.
Jane knelt beside Mitch while Alex covered him, then reached into the American’s shorts. She found the handcuff key she had seen him slip in his pocket and unlocked the bracelets. She rubbed her wrists.
‘Put them on Mitch,’ Alex said to her, and she nodded. When she’d seen the Chinese freighter and confirmed to herself that Alex was part of the pirate gang that had attacked the Penfold Son, she’d been terrified about what he might do to her. Now he was her saviour – though for how long, she had no idea. The thought crossed her mind that this might all be part of some elaborate ruse to make her trust Alex.
‘Here,’ he said, tossing her a long plastic cable tie. ‘Do the same to Henri.’ She complied, although she needed Alex to press the hard black barrel of the pistol to the Frenchman’s temple to force his silence and stillness. Jane’s hands were shaking as she pulled the tie tight.
‘Alex, don’t be a fucking idiot, man,’ Mitch wailed. ‘She was going to spill the beans, and now you’re going to let her get away.’
‘I’m taking her to the mainland, where she’ll be free to do as she pleases.’
‘Non, Alex. Mitch is right this time,’ Henri said. ‘She will tell the police and that will be the end of you and the island – of all of us.’
Alex looked at her, the pistol moving naturally with the direction of his dark eyes. He raised an eyebrow in silent question.
‘Jesus Christ! I don’t know what’s going on, Alex, and that’s God’s honest truth. God, please don’t hurt me,’ Jane said. Her hands still trembled as she wrapped the sarong around her and knotted it together between her breasts. ‘I just want to get out of this place – off this island. Please, Alex, please. If you let me go free I’ll keep your secret.’
Her shoulders heaved involuntarily and she sucked in lungfuls of air as she fought to keep her composure.
‘Don’t listen to her, man, or you’re crazier than I ever thought. You’ll ruin this for all of us, Alex,’ Mitch whined.
‘No, Mitch, you’ve already done that. On your feet.’
‘Wait,’ Jane said. Her body had stilled now and she glared at him.
‘What is it?’ Alex asked.
Jane found the two alligator clips and knelt beside Mitch. ‘This is going to hurt you much more than it will hurt me,’ she whispered to him as she placed a clip on each of his earlobes. He screamed.
Alex stood by, the pistol hanging loose in his right hand. A slow smile crossed his face as he watched Jane grip the handle of the field telephone and crank it.
10
Alex lowered the binoculars and pointed. ‘Land.’
Jane kept her distance from him, at the far end of the bridge, and stood with her arms wrapped around her body. She looked across at him, then out towards the coast. She was biting her lip.
She’d been silent for most of the trip on board the Fair Lady, though she’d been curious initially about the menagerie lashed to the aft deck in cages, and wriggling about in safely tied hessian bags in the lounge cabin. He’d explained to her that on the way to taking her to South Africa he’d be finding a new home for the wildlife they’d captured from the Peng Cheng.
He’d deliberately refrained from asking her anything about the missing package, as it was clear to him she was still traumatised by her experience on the island. At one point in the voyage, when they’d crossed the wake of a speedboat, he’d reached for her elbow to steady her as the boat rocked, but she had snatched her arm away from him and moved to the stern. Even though she had returned to the bridge she was still wary of him. He couldn’t blame her.
Mitch was the other passenger on board. He was in one of the staterooms below. Bound and gagged, though lying on a comfortable bed. Alex regretted the way things had turned out, but Mitch had been a festering problem for some time. Unlike the rest of the gang, Henri included, Mitch was a felon who’d found himself a job as a military man – not the other way around. The American’s avariciousness and aggressiveness had been an asset in some of the attacks they’d carried out, and a liability in others. Ironically, Alex had always feared that if anyone were to kill during a raid it would be Mitch. In fact, it had been himself, on board the Penfold Son.
The smart thing to do would have been to kill Mitch, tie him to one of Sarah’s old Land Rover engine blocks and dump his body in the clear blue waters of the Bazaruto Channel. The other smart thing would have been to kill Jane.
‘Alex?’
‘Yes.’
‘What . . . what are you going to do with me, when we get ashore?’
It was as if she was reading his mind. ‘I’m taking you to Johannesburg, if you still want me to, that is.’
She nodded. ‘I think so. Aren’t you worried, like Mitch and the others were, that I’ll tell the authorities about you – about your secret life?’
‘I’m not going to kill you, Jane. If I’d wanted to I would have already done so.’
‘You haven’t asked me any questions yet, either. So I’m going to ask you one. Why did you and your men raid the Penfold Son?’
‘The captain of the Peng Cheng, the Chinese ship you saw tied up in our harbour, confessed that he’d made a delivery to your skipper. He thought it could have been diamonds and that was good enough for us. We had no plans at all to take on the Penfold Son, but my guys and I were still on board the Peng Cheng when the drop-off took place. It was a spur of the moment thing.’
‘A spur of the moment thing? Just like that you decide to find a helicopter and hijack a huge cargo ship?’
He shrugged at her incredulity. ‘I am a pirate. How well did you know Iain MacGregor, the Penfold Son’s captain?’
She bit her bottom lip and paused for a few moments while she thought about her answer. ‘Reasonably well – as much as you get to know someone in two weeks. He was a bit dour for my liking, but professional, from what I could see.’
He could tell she was holding something back. ‘He was killed in the attack.’
‘What?’ She recoiled from him and stared, as if seeing him in a new light.
‘It wasn’t me, or any of my men. I’m a hundred per cent sure of that.’
‘You were shooting at us from the helicopter, Alex – right at the bridge. I was there.’
‘Yes, but that was just to keep your heads down. I knew that on a ship like that nine-millimetre bullets would just bounce off the armoured glass. It worked, too, as I saw you drop to the floor.’
She nodded. ‘You’re right, he wasn’t hit then. He . . .’
‘He what, Jane? Did he give you something, tell you something?’
Jane turned away from him and looked out to starboard, towards the coastline which was now visible as a low line of green through the shimmering heat haze. ‘I can’t believe he was killed. Why should I believe you that you or your men didn’t do it?’
‘When you get back on the mainland and read a paper or check the net, or talk to your boss, you’re going to read that MacGregor was killed by pirates, and I want you to know, for your own safety, that it isn’t true.’
‘What do you mea
n, for my safety?’
‘Who were those men on board who were firing back at us? They weren’t ship’s crew, obviously. They were too well armed and well trained.’
‘Why the bloody hell should I tell you, Alex? You’re a pirate, for god’s sake. This is all too unreal.’ She started to walk aft.
‘Were they in on the transfer?’
She stopped, and though she didn’t look back, he knew he’d made a breakthrough. ‘Alex, you’ve been good to me, and don’t think I’m not grateful to you for rescuing me from Mitch.’
He stood at the helm, saying nothing, as she turned to face him.
‘Are you saying that . . . that those men killed MacGregor?’
Again, he let the silence hang there, waiting for her to answer her own question.
‘They didn’t know anything, but perhaps . . .’
‘Perhaps they worked it out, or got the information from MacGregor by force? In that case, they’ll be as keen to get their hands on the diamonds as I am.’
‘I presume you searched my gear?’
He nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed.
‘And me, Alex? While you had me drugged with that ‘saline’, did you examine me?’
‘I swear to you, on the grave of my father, that I did no such thing, Jane, though . . .’
‘Yes, I’m sure Mitch wanted to.’
He nodded.
‘Well, thank you for that.’
‘You believe me, then?’
‘I do.’
‘Then trust what I say about MacGregor. My men didn’t kill him. In fact, I’m rather ashamed to say we didn’t get inside the wheelhouse as we were outgunned by a motivated, organised opponent. I expected a walkover. I did kill a man though, I think.’
She looked confused.
‘It was one of the men firing at us – security, mercenaries, whatever they were . . .’
‘A mix of both,’ she said.
‘I’ve never killed in any of the crimes I’ve committed. I’m not proud of it. Whatever those men were up to, none of them deserved to die. I’m being honest with you, Jane.’ He eased back on the throttle and checked the GPS. They weren’t far from where he would make landing, a deserted stretch of sandy coastline south of Vilanculos. With his cargo on board – human and animal – he couldn’t risk pulling in at the port.
She moved back closer to his side. ‘Why are we slowing?’
‘I’ve got some business to attend to.’ He turned and walked back to the galley and unclipped and opened a drawer under the granite benchtop. He drew out a long carving knife, its blade curved from years of sharpening. He saw Jane’s widened eyes and said, ‘Don’t worry. I’m not going to give him what he deserves.’
Alex went below, drawing the pistol from the belt of his tan chinos, and dragged Mitch from the bed on which he lay. ‘On your feet.’
‘Going to kill me?’
‘You know I should.’
He pushed him up the carpeted stairs, using the gun to prod him along. On deck, with Jane standing by watching, he motioned for Mitch to walk towards the stern.
‘What are you going to do, Alex, make me walk the plank?’
‘Yes.’ Alex, keeping the pistol trained on the American, moved to a fibreglass pod containing a self-inflating life raft. He cut the securing ties and kicked it overboard, keeping hold of a long rope that uncoiled through his hands. As soon as the container hit the water he yanked hard on the lanyard and the compressed air inside it activated and the raft blossomed into its full size. ‘Jump overboard, into the raft, Mitch.’
‘Very melodramatic. Going to cast me ashore with no provisions?’
‘There’s water on board. Jump in before I change my mind and shoot you.’
Mitch turned and looked at Jane. He stared hard into her eyes. ‘You’ll pay for this.’
‘Enough idle threats,’ Alex said. ‘Jump.’
Mitch stepped off the rear deck and, despite his best efforts to retain his balance, pitched face forward into the bottom of the raft. Alex tossed the carving knife into the boat. ‘Use that to cut the cable ties on your wrists. Oh, and be careful not to cut yourself or stab the boat.’
‘Thanks a lot, buddy.’
Alex unfastened the line securing the raft to the Fair Lady and returned to the bridge. He punched in a new coordinate and turned north, heading parallel to the coast, and away from Mitch – forever, he hoped. The raft was a shrinking spec on the otherwise pure blue of the Indian Ocean. It wasn’t far to shore, and Mitch had a paddle. Mitch would be OK, but Alex wondered where he would end up. If Jane told the Mozambican police about what was really happening on Ilha dos Sonhos, then Mitch might actually be better off alone.
In a way, he didn’t care if she did shop him to the authorities. Danielle was right about his obsession with getting the hotel up and running; but he, too, was being honest with her when he said he wanted to go straight. Perhaps this was the shake-up he needed to start afresh as an honest man.
‘What are you thinking about?’ Jane asked.
‘Going straight.’
‘I thought all boys wanted to be pirates.’
‘Maybe it’s time for me to grow up. Are you going to tell the police about me, about the island?’
‘I don’t know. I haven’t made up my mind.’
Alex nodded. He could see her predicament. She had been caught in the crossfire – literally – over an illegal act that had taken place on board the flagship of the company for which she was the legal counsel. It wouldn’t be good for her career at Penfold Shipping to raise the alarm if her bosses were involved in diamond smuggling. Nor would it be good for her career as a lawyer if it were later discovered she’d been giving legal advice to a bunch of criminals.
‘I really need to use a phone, you know. You must have communications from this boat – and don’t give me that rubbish about broken generators.’
He smiled. ‘Of course. But think about what you’re going to say. I’m a criminal, Jane, but I don’t want to see you become embroiled in something that’s not your business.’
She frowned at him. ‘It is my business if employees of Penfold Shipping are involved in smuggling. It’s also my duty to report it to the managing director.’
‘As long as he’s not involved. I’d play it cool if I were you.’
‘I don’t need your advice, Alex. Why haven’t you asked me where the package is?’
‘I haven’t got around to it, that’s all.’
She laughed at his honesty.
‘I don’t have it, but I do know where it is.’
‘Are you going to tell me?’ he asked.
‘No.’
‘Then I should probably feed you to the sharks. But first, make your phone call.’
Alex opened a drawer under the control panel and handed Jane the satellite phone, which was like an oversized old-fashioned mobile phone. He showed her how to turn it on and returned his attention to the shoreline. ‘I take it you want me to make the call with you around,’ Jane said.
‘It’s your business, but it’s not going to change anything. I won’t harm you if you tell him the truth about me.’
He was a riddle, with his softly-softly approach. By rights, and by law, she should call the police and report him and his entire pirate gang. But the seeds of doubt he had planted in her mind – about Piet van Zyl and his men, about Iain MacGregor, and even George Penfold – had taken hold.
By his own admission, Alex had killed a man in the raid on the Penfold Son, and for that he should be held to account and punished. However, she was inclined to believe Piet van Zyl had questions to answer over the death of Iain MacGregor, who had entrusted something of great value to her. Alex had more information about that mysterious package than she did. Jane had not even opened the parcel and was surprised to learn it might contain diamonds. If she had not fallen in with Alex and his men, what would Van Zyl have done with her? She, too, had fired a gun at a man, and had discovered that she was capable of kil
ling.
The way Alex had just treated Mitch had convinced her that he was not involved in some clever plot to lever a confession from her. He had genuinely intervened to save her from torture or worse. Ironically, Mitch’s threat of pain had worked on her and she had been about to reveal the location of the package when Alex had turned up.
She wondered what Alex’s next move would be. Would he try to charm the location out of her? He was a handsome man, but her heart belonged to another man, even though he was married and her boss.
Her life had been so normal until a couple of months ago. And here she was on a boat off the coast of Africa with a self-confessed killer and would-be hotelier. Bizarre.
‘George, it’s me!’ she said when an excited Gillian connected her.
‘Jane, where are you? Are you hurt? I’ve been worried sick about you.’
She was pleased at his words, and the sincere tone in his voice. ‘I’m fine, George. I’ve had a bit of a rough time, but I’m safe and on my way to Johannesburg.’
‘What happened to you?’
She explained, as Alex listened in, that she had made her way to a lifeboat when the Penfold Son was attacked – which was the truth – and had lost consciousness and awoken on an island owned by the man who had found her. That, too was the truth, though even as she spoke she asked herself what was making her withhold important information. Alex might yet turn out to be a monster who was even now toying with her.
‘I’ll fly out immediately. When can you get a flight?’
‘Um, you know I don’t fly, George. I’m going by road.’
‘Well, I’ll be there to meet you, at the Melrose Arch, the hotel you were booked into. Call me again when you have a better idea of your ETA.’
‘Got it. It’s so good to hear your voice, George.’
‘Yes, well, I’ve got company here, Jane.’
She wouldn’t have said anything intimate over the phone, but she thought he could have given a little hint of his feelings for her, no matter how veiled.