'What the hell's going on?' I mumbled, taken completely by surprise.
‘Never mind what is happening.’ He moved closer to me. ‘I have a message for you. You have two hours to get out of this hotel and leave East London.'
'What are you talking about? I am here on holiday with the son of a friend of mine from Johannesburg.'
'No, you're not. I know exactly why you are here and why you came to South Africa. You are involved in something far bigger than you could have imagined. I am here to tell you to forget about your investigation and get the hell out of South Africa. I want you gone from the area by the time the vessel you are waiting for, ties up in the port of East London.'
'Who are you to tell me what I should or should not do?' I shouted at him. I was starting to get my wits about me, and I was annoyed.
'It doesn't matter who I am or whether you want to listen to me. I am telling you to get out of the country in the next twelve hours and not to interfere in something that will explode in your face. Listen to my warning, and act on what I am saying, as this is your final chance.'
While he said this, he was poking me in the chest to emphasise what he was saying. He also had a very menacing look on his face. His message delivered, he turned around, let himself out and was gone.
I was left standing in the middle of the room in a state of shock.
If I had been slightly confused before, I was now in the most confused state of my life. I couldn’t work out where Johan Nel fitted into the picture? I now doubted whether my meeting with him on the plane out from London was just a matter of chance. On the flight, I had also revealed far too much as a result of drinking a substantial amount of red wine. The only explanation I could come up with was that he must be a member of Hansie Joubert's gang. It was the only way that I could explain how he knew all about the imminent arrival of the Johannes Maersk and seemed to be well aware of why I was staying in the hotel.
My next thought was that my telephone calls must have been tapped. That would certainly be one way that they could have picked up my reason for being there. I hadn't been guarded in what I had said in my telephone calls. How naive I had been.
I had no alternative but to check out of the hotel and leave the city of East London as soon as possible. I hadn’t just my well-being to consider, I also had Reggie and Dale to think about. I couldn’t put their lives at risk after what had happened in Mombasa. Even if I did obey Johan Nel, we were all still in grave danger.
I called Dale on the house 'phone and told him to come to my room immediately.
A few minutes later there was a polite knock on my door. I let him in. He was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and wearing flip-flops.
'What's up?' he asked me. 'You sounded highly energised on the 'phone.'
'I had an unexpected early morning visit from a man that I had met recently. He gave me very explicit directions and a stark warning.'
‘Where had you met this man before?' Dale asked.
‘He was seated beside me on the plane when I flew from London to Johannesburg earlier this week. His name is Johan Nel, and he said that his job was working in the legal profession based in Pretoria. After what happened this morning, I now don’t believe that piece of information.'
'Did he say what he was doing in East London?'
'No, he just gave me a severe warning and told me to leave the city immediately otherwise harm would come to you and me.'
'How do you think that he knew your room number and also seemed to know why you were here?'
'I wish that I knew Dale. The only conclusion I can come to is that they have been tapping my phone and listening to my conversations with Reggie, Willem and Inspector Baird. It's worrying how much they must know. The boss of the operation, Hansie Joubert, must have his finger in a lot of pies and his network is Africa-wide.'
'So what do we do now?' Dale asked.
'We pack up immediately and leave the hotel and East London. Reggie arrives at the local airport at 10.30am, which is in four hours' time. We can’t go too far away until then as we have to pick him up. After that, we will go to the nearest town and find somewhere to stay. Needless to say, I will not be making any more telephone calls. We need to vanish off their radar until the vessel docks.'
'What did this guy say would happen to us if we didn't do as he directed?'
'He didn't say but left it to my imagination. After the helicopter incident in Mombasa, I think we can work out what they probably have in mind.'
'I had better go and get dressed and pack up my stuff,' Dale said.
'I'll meet you downstairs in the lobby in around fifteen minutes.'
Dale left me to pack and sort himself out. I did the same.
I paid for the two rooms and my telephone calls, and we were driving out of the hotel car park at 7.15am.
'Where are we going now?' Dale asked me.
'The hotel receptionist informed me that there is a small town, called Gonubie, on the coast about ten kilometres east of here. We will go there, get some breakfast, and hang around until it is time to drive to the airport to pick Reggie up.'
'Will we be going back to Jo'burg once we have him on board?'
'No, I have other plans in mind. We obviously can't stay in East London so we will have to find a place to hide away in for around twenty-four hours. I will also change this 4 x 4 at the Hertz desk at the airport to try and put them off the scent.'
'Will that be enough to get rid of them?' Dale still sounded worried.
'It's the best we can do at the moment, and, hopefully, they will be looking for the current vehicle registration. I certainly don't want to give up on the investigation now. I feel that we are getting closer.'
'With three of us on the team we should be able to cover most of the risks,' Dale chipped in.
I wish that I had Dale’s confidence; I still wasn’t too sure what exactly we were up against.
'If I feel that it is getting too dangerous I will back-off; until that happens we will keep going,’ I said. ‘Remember Dale, if you want to retire gracefully at any time because you feel the risk is too high, feel free to do so. I won't hold it against you. I can buy you a ticket at the airport, and you can fly back this morning.'
'I can't believe that there will be a shootout down here in the Eastern Cape in broad daylight,' Dale replied. 'I don't see any reason why I shouldn't stay involved.'
'Once we pick Reg up, we will head to a nearby town called King William's Town. The hotel receptionist told me that there is a safari park near there which is fairly isolated and is set back about a kilometre from the main road. Her parents run the place. Nobody will think of looking for us there.'
‘Will the hotel receptionist not tell them if they ask her what information she gave us?' Dale asked.
'I suppose that it is a possibility, but as long as they see us gone from the hotel I don’t think that they will bother with her.'
We found a small snack bar in Gonubie where we were able to get breakfast. From their menu, it looked as if they were more used to dealing with old ladies and tea parties. When they took our order for bacon and egg, I saw the waitress nip out to the local shop and return with the supplies.
When we had finished our breakfast, there was still plenty of time to kill before we needed to head for the airport. Despite the high wind, which was close to gale force, we decided to go for a walk on the white sanded beach. This wasn’t a particularly good idea as the wind whipped the sand up into a mini sandstorm.
'I can see the East London harbour mouth from here.' Dale said, pointing in the direction of the port and shielding his face from the sand.
'If we can't find a spot closer to the port, an option would be to come here. We would be able to see the Johannes Maersk arriving,' I said. ‘That's all we really need to know, and it would keep us well away from the danger in the docks area.'
'I imagine that the vessel is quite large so, even if the weather is bad, we will be able to see it arrive,' Dale surm
ised.
'We'll keep it in mind.' I was encouraged that we had cracked one problem and at little risk.
We went back to the carpark to get the 4 x 4 and head for the airport which was located on the other side of the city.
As we approached the airport buildings, a Boeing 737 painted in the SAA livery was on its final approach to land. We had timed our arrival perfectly and wouldn't have to wait around in a hostile environment. I parked in the Hertz returns area explaining to the person in charge that I wanted to change the vehicle. In the time that it took Reggie to come through into the arrivals area and collect his luggage, I was able to sign all the paperwork with Hertz to exchange the Toyota Landcruiser. I had no problem with the transaction and ended up with a 4 x 4 with Eastern Cape registration plates on it. The different plates should confuse anyone trying to keep an eye on us as the previous vehicle had Gauteng plates.
'Reggie appeared, laden down with his luggage and looking a bit haggard.
I introduced him to Dale, and we set off to get the Landcruiser. I kept a sharp eye out but didn't see any suspicious person looking at us with a keen interest. Mind you, I was pretty sure that somebody would have been logging us in and out of the terminal building.
'Where are we going now Vince?' Reggie asked me.
'We are going to a safari game park about fifty kilometres away from here called the Mpongo Private Game Reserve. I am pretty certain that nobody will find us there. The game reserve is also not far from the main road to Johannesburg. During our trip there, I will bring you up to date on what has been happening. It has been quite eventful.'
I told Reggie what had taken place that morning and how I had been told to get out of East London and, indeed, out of the country as a whole. I emphasised that I had no intention of leaving until the job that I had come to South Africa to carry out was complete.
'Where do you think that this guy Johan Nel fits into the scheme of things?' Reggie asked me.
'I have been trying to work that out, Reg, but as yet have not arrived at any conclusion. I can only assume that he is part of Hansie Joubert's team, and he has been told to get me out of the way before the containers arrive.'
'Vince, it seems more than a coincidence that he met you on the flight coming out here. Do you still think that was pure chance?'
'That is the most confusing part of the whole scenario,’ I said. ‘How could he possibly have known that I was coming out here with the specific objective of spying on his operation?'
'From what has happened since you arrived in the country, are you still of the same opinion?' Reggie asked.
'I have never believed in coincidences, Reg, and I don't intend to start now. He must have been tracking me from the time I got on the flight at Heathrow or probably, even before that.'
We arrived at the entrance to the game park where there was a guard hut with three armed men on duty. They contacted reception to verify that we could enter, and then opened the gate to allow us in. It wasn't long before we were checked in and allocated our rooms. The Lodge turned out to be an ideal place to hide. It was set back quite a distance from the road, and there were also the armed guards on the gate. I started to relax again in the knowledge that even if we were discovered, we would have plenty of warning and could defend ourselves with our guns.
We spent the rest of the day lounging around the resort. The owners even took us for a drive around the park at sunset to look at the game. There were no predatory animals, such as lions and tigers, but there were plenty of other less harmful species that were interesting to look at in their natural habitat. We, unfortunately, didn’t spot the recently purchased young elephants, despite the efforts of our guide. My kids, Michael and Victoria, would have loved the game drive.
It was a welcome relief to get our minds off the job in hand, and we all felt a lot more relaxed by the time we returned to our accommodation.
I asked the others to join me on the veranda of the bar. We needed to firm up our plan of campaign for the next twenty-four hours. The Johannes Maersk was due to arrive shortly, so we needed to decide how we were going to track the containers once they were offloaded.
When we each had a beer in front of us, I commenced the meeting.
'OK guys, your little holiday is over, and we have to get back to the business we came to the Eastern Cape for.'
'Remind me; when does the container ship dock in East London?' Reggie asked.
'I don't know the exact day and time, but, if everything is running on schedule, it should be anytime after 6.00am tomorrow morning.'
'Do you plan on going back to the city to watch it arrive?' Dale asked. 'If you like, I will wait down there and phone you at the game lodge here if I see the ship come into the port.'
'That's not a bad idea Dale, but I would prefer to keep us together in case we have to get out in a hurry.'
'We could park beside the main road and wait for the trucks to pass by.' This was Reggie’s suggestion. 'That would mean we wouldn't have to go to the town centre, and it will be a simple job to spot the blue containers.'
'Reg, if we stayed at the side of the road for any length of time, the local police would arrest us.' I couldn't picture us sitting in a car beside the main road for what might be up to two days.
'We are well concealed and safe here in the game park, but, unfortunately, we can't see what is going on,' Dale chipped in. 'Why don't we go back to Gonubie where we can see ships coming and going from the beach. It is also a very quiet place so there won't be anybody around to see us, other than the odd fisherman.'
'During our trip around the game park, I noticed another entrance gate at the eastern end of the property,' Reggie added. 'Perhaps, when it gets dark, we can ask the owner to let us out there. We can then travel down the back road into East London.'
'That sounds like a better idea Reg,' I said. 'I suggest that we leave here at 6.00am tomorrow morning; using the gate that you mentioned. That will be roughly an hour before sunrise so we can do most of the journey in the dark. We can then drive to Gonubie to observe the vessel arrive.'
'What do we do when it does arrive?' Dale asked.
'We will wait two hours and then travel to Queenstown, the first major town on the Jo’burg road. It will be an excellent spot to wait for the lorries. It is also quite a large town so we will be less conspicuous while we are there. I checked it out on our way down here.'
'Are you sure that the trucks will travel through that town,' Reg asked.
'Yes; there is no other way for them to go, provided, of course, they are going to Johannesburg,' I replied.
'So you want us to leave here at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning,' Dale said. 'What time should we get up at?'
'I suggest that we get up at 5.00am. I will arrange with the receptionist to have some coffee available for half-an-hour later. I will also ask the owner if we can leave by the other gate so as we don't have to travel on the main road.'
‘Let’s hope that it all goes to plan Vince,' Dale commented. 'I don't fancy being shot at.'
'I don't plan on getting too close to the enemy so we should be safe. We just need to be sure that they take the containers to the depot in Kyalami.' I tried to sound cool, calm and collected so as they weren't anxious about the task ahead; however, inside I was very anxious. There were too many unknowns.
'Let's go and have a beer and have dinner,' I suggested.
The following morning we were leaving the game park at ten to six via the less-used second gate which the owner had kindly opened for us. He had also organized everything else for us and had even arranged for breakfast to be available. He explained that when guests were staying, he usually did a dawn game drive, so the staff were used to early starts.
Dale was driving which left Reg, and I free to use our guns should the necessity arise.
Once through the gate, we travelled down a very narrow track for about three kilometres and then joined the main road towards King William's Town. Once through the town, we took the ma
in highway to East London.
Traffic was very light, and I started to relax.
My relaxation was soon shattered. We were passing an area, signposted as Mdantse Township, on a two lane highway, when we noticed a lot of blue flashing lights. It was obviously a police roadblock.
'What do I do now?' Dale asked with a note of panic in his voice. He was still doing the driving.
'Well we can't turn around and go back the way we came, so you have no alternative but to stop at the roadblock,' I answered.
'What happens if it isn't the police?' Reggie asked.
We were practically at the roadblock, so I didn't bother giving him a reply.
Dale pulled up beside two police officers. They were wearing high-vis jackets and body armour.
An officer came over to the driver's side window that Dale had lowered. He stuck his head in and looked at the three of us.
'Can I see your papers please?' he instructed.
Dale showed him his driving licence, and I offered him my passport.
'You are Major Hamilton.' He looked at me.
'That's right,' I replied.
'I am sorry, but you will have to come with me.' He sent an armed member of his team around to the passenger door, and I was instructed to get out. I was frisked for weapons. I had pushed my Glock down the side of the seat out of sight.
'The rest of you will have to come with us as well. Kindly get out of the car.' They frisked the other two as soon as they were standing on the road.
It was very clear that we were the reason for the roadblock as they immediately started to dismantle the obstruction.
I was put in one of the police vehicles and Reggie and Dale were put in another.'
'Officer, what about our guns? I don't want to leave them in the 4 x 4. There are also our bags.'
'Don't worry; we won't be leaving the vehicle here. One of my men will drive it to the police station where it will be locked.'
An African Adventure (Vince Hamilton Private Investigator Book 4) Page 21