Hitch Hikers by Ian Dolby - HTML preview

Not having any health insurance, they were both at the mercy of the public system, which although high quality, meant lengthy and painful delays waiting for surgery, given their wounds were considered non-life threatening. Therefore, Luke received a very perplexing and frustrating phone call from Jimmy’s phone the following Monday morning.

‘Hello Jimmy. I hope you’ve got some good news for me this time.’

‘I am hoping that is so,’ announced an unfamiliar foreign voice. ‘Would that be the Mr Emery?’

‘Yeah. Who are you and how did you get this phone?’

‘My name is Doctor Rajid Singh, and I am calling you from the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie.’

‘Another bloody wog. What’s going on? Why are you using this phone? It’s not yours.

Are you trying to flog me something?’

‘Such interesting manners of speech you have in this country, Mr Emery. In my country, if some person were being flogged, it would mean a grievously painful beating for a 215

serious offence. However, I am a doctor of medicine, so there will be no flogging where I am concerned. In addition, I am fully aware that this is not my telephone.

I am trying to explain the situation, if you would give me the opportunity to do so. Also, I must record my most strenuous objection to being called a ‘wog’. It is a very derogatory term to use when addressing a fully-qualified doctor of the medical profession.

Particularly as I am the one who is trying to help your stricken colleagues. It is my belief they are your colleagues because one gentleman has your telephone number on his telephone, has called it many times, and it is this telephone which I am presently using to have discourse with you.’

‘Yeah, righto. I don’t need your life history – just get on with it and tell me what the fuck’s going on.’

‘What is going on, Mr Emery, is beyond my highly educated understanding! I can only tell you the very small portion which has been brought to my attention. We found this telephone in the possession of a man who was brought here by ambulance from Wynyard on Saturday morning in a very damaged condition. Another man, who appears to be his friend or colleague, accompanied him and he is also most grievously injured.

Policemen have them under 24-hour guard and they are remaining most closely in attendance to them. This is very disrupting of the smooth functioning of this hospital.

The other patients are not happy to see so many guns and other implements of restraint and destruction, although some of the younger nurses seem to be very enjoyable with this situation. I do not know why this is so... ’

‘Jesus Christ! Is this a reading from War & Peace? Will you get the fuck on with it and tell me what’s happening?’

‘You should not be taking the Lord’s name in vain, Mr Emery. This is not a good thing to do. Also, I do not think you are a very nice person and if it wasn’t my duty to assist my patients in the best way possible, I would not continue to talk to you!’

‘Oh, spare me from a sensitive wog! Okay. I’m sorry for being rude and I won’t do it again. Is that better? May we please proceed with your report?’

‘Ahh! That is an improvement, Mr Emery, and it suggests to me you do know how to be polite. Now, to answer your previous question. Your first colleague, the larger of the two, is not able to talk and has a most serious brain concussion. Therefore, I have been using the telephone in his possession to make the telephone calls to the persons who were listed as having been ‘recently called’. I happened to take notice that your number was one of the most frequently called numbers, except for one very curiously 216

named number, listed as the ‘Daily Planet’, but I thought I would try your very frequently called number first.’

‘Yeah, terrific. You’re a real Samaritan. Will you please get on with it?’

‘Yes, Mr Emery. Now that you are conversing politely with me, I shall proceed forthwith.

The name of this man is James Fitzroy and his companion has the name of Anthony Jacobs. Do you have the intimate knowledge of these two gentlemen?’

‘Bloody hell! Of course, I don’t have intimate knowledge of them – but I do know them, if that’s what you mean. In fact, they work for me. What did you say their problems are?’

‘That is a most interesting and useful piece of information about the two gentlemen and very good to know, because we have no other knowledge of them, but now we do have this small piece of knowledge, it will be most helpful for the policemen.’

‘I don’t give a shit about what is or isn’t useful. Why do I always have these sorts of conversations with people? First that bloody wombat Jimmy and now some wog doctor in Tasmania. What's wrong with you people? Just tell me! Please?’

‘Oh, dear. Mr Emery, you are doing it again and I am compelled to be making you the warning that should you be calling me a wog once more, I shall be forced to conclude our discourse.’

'Yeah okay, okay. I apologise for calling you a wog, but I'm buggered if I know why you're so upset about it. The old bloke down the road at the local shops calls himself that.’

‘Ah, yes, Mr Emery. But I am not the old bloke down at the shops. Now perhaps we can proceed with my lengthy report, as I have a great amount of work to do today and your gentlemen are taking up a disproportionate amount of my time.

They are both of them very badly damaged. Mr Fitzroy’s jaw is broken in three places and he has lost several teeth. He is not able to make speech, nor will he be partaking of the solid food for a considerable time. He has also sustained a very grievous injury to his testicles which is causing him a great deal of distress, both physical and mental. I regret that it will be a long time before he can be taking his pleasure with the ladies again.

His colleague, Mr Jacobs, has sustained a very bad injury to his left knee to the extent that the entire joint will have to be replaced with an artificial one. He has also sustained an injury to his testicles and one has had to be removed. He too, will have to be refraining from any form of sexual arousal or activity for a long time. Additionally, he has three broken ribs, a punctured lung and severe contusions to the face, but it is my informed expectation that he will recover from those in the fullness of time.’

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‘Yeah, yeah! Do I really need all these details? I mean, that's your job, isn't it? Just fix

'em up and send them on their way.’

‘If you will allow me to continue, Mr Emery, there is a very good reason for my lengthy report. That reason is that Mr Fitzroy wishes for me to communicate his thoughts to you from a note he managed to type on the Head Nurse’s laptop computer. The note reads as follows and I am making this quotation directly from the computer – ‘ Hello Boss. I’m

sorry we are in hospital and I hope you can help us with money and a lawyer

‘cause we need both very urgently. The cops have grabbed us, but I don’t know

all the charges yet, although there has been talk of attempted abduction, assault

with a deadly weapon and public affray, but I promise, we didn’t take any of our

clothes off, really Boss! I don’t know where that one came from. But anyway,

there are a lot of charges. We got in this trouble ‘cause we found the girls for you

in Wynyard and almost had our hands on them, but they somehow managed to

clobber us and got away. I don’t know where they’ve gone, but at least they were

there on Saturday morning, by themselves. We didn’t see your wife, although we

think that your father-in-law might have been there as well, but it was about a

week earlier when Tony thinks he spotted him in a pub on the waterfront. Please

help us out, Boss. We’re going to be laid up for a long time and that’s before the

wallopers get stuck in for their pound of flesh.’

‘That is the ending of the message, Mr Emery. Do you have a reply for Mr Fitzroy? ’

‘Yeah. I’ve got a reply,’ Luke snarled. ‘Tell them that they’re bungling idiots, deserve what they've got and can get fucked. They're sacked!’

‘Oh, dear. That is not very compassionate behaviour by you. I’m afraid that will not please Mr Fitzroy very much. He is most distressed by this whole affair! ’

‘Listen, you Indian... person. I don’t care what you think or how distressed that fuckin’

busted-arse wombat might be, but those two clowns have cost me a great deal of money and may have blown a deal worth millions.’

‘Very well, Mr Emery, I will pass that message on to your employee, Mr Fitzroy. Please do not try to make the telephone call directly to either gentleman, however. They are not in any condition to answer, but I shall let you have my telephone number if you do have a change of heart and wish to communicate with or to help them. They really do appear to be in a very bad situation and will need help.’

After he hung up the phone, Luke held his head in his hands in despair. The Middle East deal was hanging by a thread, with the potential buyers wanting better proof than just his repeated assurances that the girls were unmarked, un-damaged and intact. To 218

top that off, his tame goons had cocked things up again. Worse, they’d drawn a large amount of police attention to him as their employer. There’d been no word yet that Janice had made a formal complaint against Jimmy and Tony for attempted abduction, but perhaps that was still to come. And what was that bit about not taking their clothes off? The man’s gone loopy. It must be the concussion.

Maybe it was time to pull his head in and go low profile for a while, but he really didn’t want to pass on the chance to make such a big score with the sale of the girls. But there again, what guarantee did he have they were still virgins? He really didn’t know a great deal about the medical side of that condition – maybe he should have consulted somebody before getting into this mess? And if he’d been able to keep them close to hand, almost in a lock-down situation, he might have been able to be more certain of that. But now with them running around loose over three states, who knows what grubby little appendages might have been actively reducing the value of his prize assets.

The fact that he felt not a shred of compassion for them, nor even the fact that they were his own daughters, didn’t bother him in the slightest. His focus remained on making the most of what he desperately hoped was their still un-molested state.

After considering these latest developments, he decided to take a last shot at retrieving the girls, by hiring a small team of professional investigators he’d heard good things about. The next step would be to get rid of all the other incompetent fools still fruitlessly combing the eastern states at vast expense.

CHAPTER 42...Luke at home...Monday pm

A smooth, husky female voice quietly purred, ‘Steel Associates, how may I help you?’

Mentally bracing himself, Luke replied, ‘I’d like to speak to Mr Xavier please?’

‘Certainly sir. May I have your name?’

‘Luke Emery.’

‘Just a moment, Mr Emery. Mr Xavier will be right with you.’

There were several clicks on the line and then a cultured British accent quietly announced, ‘Xavier.’

‘This is Luke Emery, Mr Xavier.’

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‘So my secretary said. I am aware of you, Mr Emery, or at least of your very unsavoury reputation. But hopefully this call is only about business, so what can I do for you? ’

‘I need three people found as quickly as possible.’

‘Broadly speaking, who are these people, Mr Emery?’

‘One adult female and two eighteen-year-old females. They’re my wife and two daughters.’

‘Ah, yes. I know of your efforts to locate them, but are you aware that many other persons are also on their trail?’

‘Ah...............’

‘May I take that to be a negative? I thought so... very sad, the state of this mercenary world. I also believe your efforts to date have been, shall we say, embarrassingly ineffective.’

‘What? What do you mean by that?’ Luke spluttered.

‘Oh, come now my dear fellow. The lack of results to date speaks volumes. Numerous contacts, but a failure to follow through despite having several teams of men on the job.

Now you have two employees with severe injuries, in hospital under police guard, some of which were apparently inflicted by the two young ladies you seek . Were your men fools or grossly incompetent? Or both? Only you know that.’

‘But I.....’

‘No, Mr Emery. You're the captain of your ship and all responsibility starts and stops with you. Which tars you with the same brush, so to speak.

But to return to business. Are your family to be just located, or are they to be removed from wherever they are found and delivered to a nominated address, with or without their consent?’

Finally, Luke got a chance to speak, the extent of Xavier’s very detailed knowledge coming as a serious shock. And what was that bit about other guys looking?

‘Well, I’d like them found and delivered to my home address, if that's possible?’

‘My dear fellow, of course we can do that. Anything’s possible if one is prepared to pay for it!’

‘Ah... yes. That was my next question. What are your fees?’

‘Modest, my dear man, quite modest, considering that we work on a no live delivery, no pay basis.’

‘Excellent! That's what I like to hear. But how much?’

‘This job, taking into consideration we actually have to locate the subjects and transport them against their wishes, will be $25,000 per day or part thereof.’

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Luke actually spluttered for a moment while his tongue tried to catch up with his racing thoughts.

‘But... but, that’s ridiculous. I can’t afford that!’

‘Oh, what a pity. In that case, if you’re officially declining our services, we might have to find them ourselves and place them on the open market. I’ve heard there are some very handsome offers floating around at the moment for a matched pair of, shall we say, young and unmarked white goods.’

‘You can’t do that. That’s unprincipled. It’s unethical! You're the service provider, not a competitor.’

Xavier chuckled delightedly. ‘My dear Mr Emery, we have the luxury to be whatever we like! There are no rules in this game, as you apparently need to learn. The market decides what is reasonable, and if the goods are as described, then the return is obviously very lucrative. Why should we pass up this opportunity for a fast earn, as the saying goes? By the way, Mr Emery, the goods are as described, aren’t they?’

‘Well, to the best of my knowledge they are. I mean, I don’t have a medical certificate guaranteeing their condition, and I’m certainly not in a position to verify it myself or I wouldn’t be needing your ridiculously expensive services.’

‘Oh, dear. That is a serious problem, because a medical certificate is exactly what you should have at the very least, and to have the items running around loose, subject to the vagaries of human nature, so to speak, is very, very careless of you. ’

‘Yeah, yeah! Whatever! But I’ll bet they’re still as described. Their mother will be looking after them.’

‘You may well be betting very heavily on that belief, Mr Emery. The people you are negotiating with are known to be, dare I say, unscrupulous in the extreme i f they believe they are being made a fool of or misled in any way. They have a very distinctive way of rectifying that situation. In fact, it is so distinctive that it's been a long time since anybody dared to make that particular mistake.’

Luke swallowed hard, trying to unstick a suddenly dry throat, and he lost a lot of his previous bluster.

‘Okay, I get the point. But I’d still like to come to an arrangement with you, if you will do the right thing and not mess me around.’

‘Very well, Mr Emery, based on the currently uncertain condition of the persons you seek, we will confine our interest to the locating and seizure of the three ladies, and their unharmed delivery to your home address as requested.

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Additionally, I will need a recent, good-quality colour photograph of each of them, the girls with all their clothes on, if you please. Those photos will be collected by one of my associates who will call at your house within twenty minutes of me receiving verification from my bank that four days’ worth of fees have been lodged in advance.’

‘FOUR days’ worth?.... Oh, shit!.... Alright.’

‘Excellent. Our terms are as follows: you are to make an initial deposit of $100,000

followed by a payment of $25,000 for each day of the operation, commencing with today. This is to ensure you remain four days in credit for the duration of the contract.

This will continue until your items are delivered safely to your house, or I inform you we cannot secure your items. Any variation or delay in this payment will cause immediate termination of the contract and total forfeiture of the remaining fees in credit.

If you follow these instructions to my satisfaction, all remaining credit will be transferred back to your account at the successful conclusion of the operation.

In the unlikely event we are unsuccessful for reasons beyond our control, we will transfer all monies back to you after I verify the targets are not available. Are you agreeable to these conditions?’

‘Well, I suppose that I am, but why is your bloody daily rate so high?’

‘Because we are the best, Mr Emery, and we take all the risk. You take no risk! We are, after all, talking about committing forcible abduction or kidnapping, unlawful restraint and assault, among several other minor crimes, some of which would cause my associates to be incarcerated for a very long time were they to be caught.

The fact you have called us suggests that you aren't willing to personally take that risk, Mr Emery, nor do you have the training or expertise to even direct such an operation.

The proof of your gross incompetence is currently languishing in Burnie Hospital. Need I say more?’

‘No, bugger you!’ Luke snarled in frustration. ‘I’ll do what you ask, but you’d better produce results.’

‘Really, Mr Emery. Such petty insults and threats should be beneath you, but I suppose you have already stooped as low as anyone could go, so I shouldn’t be surprised. You really should give up such an unhealthy lifestyle. I mean – living in the shadows and messing about with children the way you do is dangerous to your health and not conducive to a long life. Nor a free one in the longer term, if I may offer a piece of gratuitous advice.

As for results, I’ve covered that subject, but we will need all the current information you have as to the whereabouts of the targets. A brief summary of your search efforts and 222

information gained, should be presented to my associate when the photographs are collected.

I believe that now concludes our discussion for the moment. Either myself or my secretary, Miss Julie, will be in touch when we have information or need a question answered that might assist our operation. Don’t forget the daily payments, Mr Emery.

Good bye.’

There was a sharp click which left Luke staring at a dead handset, his mind whirling as he contemplated the cost of $25K per day, with $100K up front. Numbly, he replaced the handset and set about transferring the required money to Xavier’s account, the details of which had already been texted to his mobile, as well as writing a report listing all the info he’d gathered from the search so far. Along with the positive sighting in Wynyard, he included the various references to the Whitsundays and a boat with a cat.

As promised, exactly twenty minutes later, a knock at the door proved to be an attractive young lady who declined to come inside, but waited patiently until he’d finished the report and rounded up some photos of the three ladies. The only one of Janice included him, so he savagely attacked it with scissors, before stuffing everything in an envelope he handed to Xavier’s associate who departed with a quick smile which could have meant anything, but said nothing.

CHAPTER 43... Firebird... Shepherds Bay, Hunter Is...Sunday Sunday was spent lazing about, the ladies looking enticing as they stayed in pyjamas all day, with the much cooler south wind howling through the rigging with a high-pitched scream, while a deep, droning counter-tone was generated by the hollow carbon mast acting like an eighty-foot bass organ pipe. Still, the heavy insulation I’d had built into the cabin top and sides for temperature stability also did sterling service as sound insulation so it wasn’t too noisy inside.

Mid-morning, the SatPhone rang and it was Annette.

‘Hi Harry. It’s good to speak to you. Is everybody well?’

‘Yes, thanks Annette. All well, although it was a close call on Saturday.’

‘Ah, yes. Rob let me listen in on the call from Janice. I've also skimmed the files and I’m stunned with the content. It’s great evidence, provided it will be allowed in court.

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But getting back to your near miss, you were lucky the bad guys were clumsy and incompetent. It could have been very nasty.’

‘Exactly. We’re just about to have a round-table to make a plan for the future. By the way, how did you and Rob get on?’

‘Well, let’s say that it was a rather rocky start, but everything worked out rather well.

Anyway, I won’t keep you from your round-table, but there’s a piece of information you need to consider. Yesterday afternoon, Luke made contact with a gentleman who calls himself Mr Xavier and who runs an organisation called Steel Associates. His real name is Terry Johnson, a seriously-bent, Pommy ex-copper and currently a well-spoken thug living in Melbourne, who left the UK in a hurry fifteen years ago, just ahead of a hit squad after he did the dirty on the wrong people.

He set up a security and investigation service out here, using mostly UK immigrants like himself – some ex-military and others bent ex-coppers. They specialise in muscle-for-hire, celebrity protection and snatch-and-deliver, all for exorbitant fees. The business has proved extraordinarily successful, as they are very good at their work.

However, the short version is, Luke has engaged their services at $25K per day, w ith $100K upfront, to take over the search, snatch and deliver operation for Janice and the girls. We think the cost will empty his bank accounts in very short order, but he’s said it’s really only the girls he wants. Getting Janice back would be just for revenge, so we might want to avoid that.’

‘I presume Luke’s updated them with all the latest info on the search so far?’ I asked.

‘Yep. ‘Fraid so. The first instalment of money’s been paid, so the contract is now active and a crew will arrive in Wynyard very soon asking pointed questions. I do hope you’re not still there?’

I chuckled, slightly bitterly, ‘No, we aren’t. But I’m kicking myself for having learned that lesson a bit late. We’re back in isolation again, but we may move again shortly, after hearing that. How much of a threat are these guys going to be?’

‘Very serious, I’m afraid. Please don’t underestimate them. They have a reputation to maintain, so quick results are paramount. They even have a ‘no gain, no pay’ clause in their contracts which so far, they haven’t had to honour.’

‘That shows an impressive level of confidence in their abilities,’ I observed dryly, ‘but makes it a lot harder for us.’

‘It does. But hang tough, Harry. We’ve got about 60% of the paedophiles in the photos and videos named, thanks to computer-aided facial recognition. Once we have enough, we plan to have the various State Police Forces make the arrests. Timing is critical, 224

since the Melbourne headquarters must be raided at exactly the same time as everywhere else. If we can wrap that place up, we’ll grab a lot more evidence, and free some of the kids involved. These bastards are very slippery and they’ll lawyer-up in an instant if given a chance.’

‘Well, that’s a good bit of news. We didn’t know how you were going to proceed, seeing as how the ACP is so compromised.’

‘Yeah. It bothered us for a while. But this way, the ACP is by-passed and it prevents any small group in any law enforcement organisation from suppressing the info or stopping the arrests.’

‘Sounds like it should work, so we’d better update Hillary and Debbie as well. It might affect their investigations. Can I ask you to let her know when you’re about to start the arrest ball rolling? Perhaps her story will help wrap it all up neatly.’

‘I’d forgotten about her. Yes, it would stop any attempt at cover-up. I’ll make that call in time.’

‘Great. So those files were really good?’

‘Oh, yes. Very damning. By themselves, we’re almost certain they’ll be admissible in Court, but if we can add more confirmatory data from the house, particularly if we can rescue some kids and score some fresh photos, that should wrap it up well and truly.

That’ll leave defence lawyers nothing to work with!’

‘Terrific work, thanks Annette! We’ll have our chat, then try to pull our heads in a bit more.’

‘Bye Harry. Take care and keep your head down.’

The others looked at me expectantly, so I passed on Annette’s info first, then looked around the table at the crew. ‘Unfortunately, I must apologise that I’ve become very careless about security,’ holding up a hand to stall any protests, ‘and yes, we’ve all become complacent. Nevertheless, the extra exposure was necessary for the face -to-face contacts with Rob, Hillary and Debbie. The wider we spread this information, the safer we’ll be from retribution, although this new threat by Steel Associates is a far more serious matter.’

That drew nods of agreement, as Janice asked, ‘What’s our best plan now? Do we stay here or will we be safer on the move?’

I waited to see if anyone else had the same idea as me and was pleased when Angie spoke up, ‘What’s wrong with doing both? If we stayed in one place for just three or 225

four days, then moved on to someplace else, wouldn’t it make it harder for the new bad guys to get a line on us?’

I smiled, ‘That’s my choice too, so we need to pick some comfortable but isolated locations which are still fairly close to Melbourne, and also close to a re-supply location.’

Zoe flashed a rueful grin at her sister, ‘Bugger! There’ll be even less chance of meeting some boys.’

Janice flashed a motherly look, ‘Probably best to keep those raging hormones in check for now. You’ll have your chance in good time.’

‘Actually,’ I added, thinking fast, ‘that gives me an idea. Maybe hiding in isolation isn’t the best way to go. Aren’t school holidays coming up soon?’

‘Yes, they are,’ Zoe confirmed, ‘but what’s it got to do with us?’

‘Because I’m thinking we might be better off hiding in plain sight.’

The crew looked puzzled, so I elaborated ‘If we join in with a bunch of other boats, pretending to be an extended family, maybe we’d attract less attention.’

Everyone got that, and the girls brightened up at the thought of mixing with young people again.

‘Let’s try this. When the weather lets up a bit, we might head back east to what appears to be a sheltered little bay on an island called Erith Island, about half-way across Bass Strait.’

‘Sounds good,’ Janice offered, ‘but isn’t it going to be isolated?’

‘Yep! But it will clear our trail from this area, and we can stay there until the holidays start. We still have to stay low profile until we can try to hide in a crowd. Then we might head for Lakes Entrance and the huge Gippsland lake system. It gets very busy around there at holiday time, so that should do the job. As lovely as it is, we’ve been in this area too long already.’

Sandy agreed, ‘Yeah. Too long and too often in one place.’

‘Exactly. We’ll head for Erith Island as soon as the weather moderates. We should make it in a day. When supplies get low, we can run across to Lakes Entrance for a bit of civilisation.’

The girls looked pleased with the plan, but Sandy had reservations.

‘Don’t you think sailing around the Lakes in a 60-foot cat with an all-female crew is going to stand out a bit much?’

That raised a general giggle, so I grinned sheepishly, ‘Yeah, righto. I’ve forgotten what we look like to outsiders.’

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Sandy replied, ‘That’s the big thing. We do stand out, particularly since Janice and the girls are very blonde. How about at least a hair colour change for the girls?’

The girls liked the idea, and exclaimed in unison, ‘Going pink or green might be fun.’

Janice squashed that idea. ‘Sorry. If we go that way, it will have to be black or brown.

Pink or green is going to draw even more attention.’

They immediately started an argument as to who was going to be a Goth and who would be a brunette. Half listening, it crossed my mind that the Goth-look for both might be a most effective camouflage, although how it would fit with their dark tans I’d leave to the ladies.

The rest of Sunday

The female crew stayed in their pyjamas, which continued to be distracting. Outside, the wind still howled and rain-squalls still hammered across the scrubby island, but the anchors held securely and the diesel heater did a great job. Reading, board games and movies was the extent of activity, interspersed with curses when Jasper went to pee or poop and returned dripping wet, drying himself against the nearest set of legs, before Zoe grabbed him with a towel.

Despite the confinement, everyone was in high spirits with a plan to follow and the prospect of seeing new places. After a feed of Angie’s tasty toasted sandwiches, the girls found a comedy movie we could all enjoy, while I made we older folk some NQ tea.

The girls asked to try a sip which I was happy to do, but they weren’t enthused. The movie was a hoot and with everyone scrunched together on the lounge, another round of NQ tea went down easily. ‘Jeeze, Harry,’ Sandy slurred, getting stuck into hers. ‘Are you trying to get me pissed so you can have your wicked way with me?’

‘Maybe,’ I replied airily, a comment that provoked derisive howls from everyone.

‘Oh, all right then, yes. Is that better?’

‘Much!’ Sandy purred. ‘Honesty is best, ya know.’

‘I dunno about that,’ I grumped, ‘it always gets me into more trouble!’

By the end of the movie, frequent yawns were in evidence, so there was a general rush to pee, brush teeth and head for bed. It was no surprise that Sandy joined Janice and me in our preparations for bed, then joined us in it. What was a surprise was Sandy took the centre position between us, instead of outside on Janice’s side, but she and Janice seemed to like the arrangement just great.

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On this occasion, with the wind howling outside, it was my turn to enjoy a rare treat with Sandy’s lovely body beside mine, so we made the most of it.

CHAPTER 44...Offices of Steel Associates...Monday

A chime sounded softly from the multi-line phone set on the ornate desk.

‘Yes?’

‘Mr Peter on line four, Mr Xavier.’

‘Thank you, Miss Julie.’

‘Xavier. You have a progress report?’

‘Yes, Mr Xavier. We concentrated on the last sighting in Wynyard, Tasmania, and have developed a lead. Many locals, particularly the patrons of a hotel near the harbour, have identified the subjects and their mother from photos we showed them, but all claim they left town, either by car or by air, and possibly in company with an older man who could be the girls’ grandfather. However, some others thought he left several days before them. We cannot find any trace of the ladies on the airline records, including from Melbourne onwards, nor did they hire a car locally. ’

‘Continue.’

‘The only anomalous piece of information was gained under duress from a young girl who worked at the hotel near the harbour. She admitted that the subjects spent time in the company of some people off a yacht moored in the harbour. Although we have a rough description of the yacht, we don’t know if they left with it.’

‘I urge caution, Mr Peter, you know my rule about hurting civilians in the course of an investigation. Just what form did this ‘duress’ take?’

‘She was intercepted on her way home by two of our men, blindfolded, and taken to a local football ground where she was pegged out on the grass. Her clothes were removed and she was questioned, but she was not molested or hurt in any other way.

After questioning, she was untied, allowed to dress and to continue on home.

Unfortunately, her level of anxiety at the time was gauged to be extreme, although she managed to depart the scene without outside assistance.’

‘Hmmm. I consider that to be excessive and unnecessary force, Mr Peter. That will draw additional police attention, and they’re already highly agitated about the happenings on Saturday morning. Connections will be made which may hinder the investigation.

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I require you to immediately discipline the two operatives who made this interrogation.

As their supervisor, I will deal with you later. A successful resolution of the situation would go a long way to mitigating your treatment somewhat. Do not fail me again.’

‘Yes, Mr Xavier, that will be done and may I offer my apologies for their thoughtless action?’

‘You may, Mr Peter. Apology accepted. Now, what is your plan for taking advantage of this information?’

‘With your approval, Mr Xavier, I will commence a search for this yacht using a chartered seaplane. There are indications the boat has made several visits to the town

– therefore, it must be hiding in an unpopulated area, not far away. There are a number of ports and off-shore islands to the northwest of the town within a reasonable distance, and it is my intention to search there.’

‘Very well. That action and associated expenditure is approved, but do try very hard to minimise any further civilian casualties. We want a clean pickup of the subjects without drawing any more attention from the authorities!’

‘Yes, Mr Xavier. It will be as you say.’

CHAPTER 45... Firebird... Shepherds Bay, Hunter Island...Monday am Next morning was late in arriving for the whole crew – even Jasper was slow in calling for his breakfast which was nearly unheard of, so we three stayed put and I indulged in a glorious repeat romp with Sandy, despite Janice giving a very bad imitation of still being asleep. In fact, by that stage of our joint relationship, none of us minded who did what to whom, since it was all very happy and relaxed.

Finally, we roused sufficiently to take turns to use the bathroom, not bothering to dress, which amused the girls as we passed back and forth below the companionway where they were having breakfast at the table.

I dressed, then ventured out on deck where I noted the weather had improved slightly, although low cloud still streamed across the island from the southwest. A quick check around the wet decks in the chilly wind revealed all was well, so I shook the contents of Jasper’s toilet mat overboard and left it for the next shower to rinse clean, while I retreated back into the warmth below.

I found the girls watching another movie, and the ladies had returned to the warm bed, so I made a command-level decision and joined them.

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Later, the girls bravely ventured down with mugs of tea, so I roused myself sufficiently to sit up and be revived by the hot, sweet liquid.

‘We put extra sugar in, Harry, thinking you might need it,’ Zoe remarked cheekily.

I poked a face at her, ‘Ha, ha, ha, young lady! Very droll!’

A great deal more of the day was spent in the warmth of that bed, dozing, chatting and laughing about little things that had happened, so it wasn’t until late afternoon that we rolled out, showered and dressed to find the rain gone and a rather bleak sun just on the point of slipping behind the massed cloud banks to the west.

In a fit of enthusiasm, I stirred everybody into going ashore for some badly needed exercise. Jasper went a bit nuts after several days cooped up, so we played with him while we trotted up and down the wet beach, keeping moving to ward off the chill.

Finally, the ladies cried enough and we returned aboard where I stowed the dinghy in its protected nest in case of further showers.

Tuesday

Morning dawned much brighter, although the wind still blew strongly from the southwest and was bloody cold. I hauled the second anchor up as we were able to lie very comfortably to one, even in the strong breeze. We were in the cockpit, just sitting down to a feed of fresh, hot pancakes for morning tea, when the sound of a low -flying aircraft stifled conversation.

I ducked out clear of the overhead in time to see a single-engine floatplane, a Cessna 206 by the quick glimpse I had, roar low overhead in a steep bank. There was only one passenger and the pilot, but the passenger had a camera to his face.

The winds and low-level turbulence were kicking the aircraft around badly and I momentarily admired the pilot’s skill as he made a curving approach to the small bay and lined up for a crosswind touchdown on the smooth water near the beach.

With a curse on my lips, I turned back to the cockpit, pancakes forgotten.

‘Bugger it, this is trouble! Janice, take the girls and get below! Go right for’rard into our dressing room and get on the floor, but crack the overhead hatch first and don’t come out unless I call.’

They went, Angie having the presence of mind to grab three plates, mugs and cutlery as she left, dumping them in the sink on the way past.

I looked at Sandy. ‘You’d better grab your Glock and some extra mags. These guys won’t mess around.’

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She hustled below as I tripped the concealed latches on the fittings which hid two pump-action shotguns stowed in the back of the steering station seat. I grabbed two boxes of shells from under the chart table and retrieved my special handgun, a Grizzly Mk IV .44 Magnum pistol, from behind the circuit-breaker panel. One shotgun was a Remington 870 Express that took a rifled slug for hard-hitting, long-range action, while the other was the TAC 14 short-barrel model loaded with Magnum shells with SG

pellets.

I dumped the opened boxes beside the guns on the helm seat and had all three weapons loaded and ready by the time Sandy came back up, her Glock loaded, and with a spare magazine stuffed into each pocket.

I turned to Jasper, who alerted by my tone, was lurking like a black shadow in the doorway to the saloon. I pointed to a spot on the cockpit floor, just beside the port boarding stairs, ‘Bad guys Jasper, stay low.’

He looked at me, flattened his ears out sideways, which with his dilated pupils gave him a pure-evil, devil-cat appearance, and gave a soft growl. Already in attack mode, he slithered across the cockpit floor to crouch in the shadow of the stern seat. Sandy took a quick look at both of us, shook her head in wonder, then focused back on the Cessna.

Unfortunately, the floatplane made a good touchdown on the upwind float and taxied toward us, the pilot using his water rudders hard to counter the weather-cocking effect of the strong wind.

Sandy tucked her Glock into the back of her shorts, which worked for her, while I did the same with my LAR Grizzly, except that at close to 2 kg and 320mm long, I wasn’t going to be doing much leaping about. Not if I wanted to keep my pants in place or avoid shooting my bum off.

The pilot was finally able to turn so he was approaching us into the wind, straight at our stern. His passenger climbed out on the starboard float holding a mooring line, although his partly un-zipped padded jacket was bulging suspiciously on the left side.

‘Watch him, Sandy,’ I called over the clatter of the idling six-cylinder IO-520 Continental and the muted buzz of the three-blade prop. ‘That dude's armed.’

‘On him!’ she called back, without shifting her eyes from the passenger who had clipped one end of the mooring line to a ringbolt on the underside of the Cessna’s wing.

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Sandy was propped casually against the starboard stern seat, one foot up, back leg braced, her right hand on her hip, very close to the Glock in her waistband. I hoped her prominent, bikini-clad breasts would provide some distraction for our unwanted visitors.

I was standing beside the helm seat, the three weapons out of sight beside me, while I held onto the overhead grab rail with my left hand, a vacuous grin on my face.

‘Smile for the nice gentlemen, dear,’ I called, as the pilot cut the engine, swinging the plane left at the last second, allowing the passenger to step lightly across to our boarding platform and take a round turn on a cleat with his mooring rope. Sandy had to duck slightly as the Cessna’s right-wing tip swung so dangerously close to our cockpit overhead that I could have reached out to grab it quite easily. But didn’t.

With a big, false smile, our un-welcome visitor spoke. ‘Morning Missus, good morning sir. Please excuse our dramatic arrival like this, but we’d like to discuss a matter of mutual interest.’

I didn’t move as I replied in a calm, level tone, ‘Consider yourself excused, so long as you take your wing-tip out of my face and your aeroplane away from my boat.

Preferably in the next thirty seconds. Permission to board is refused and will be so noted in the ship's log. Under maritime law, your continued presence constitutes an act of piracy, the penalties for which are rather severe.’

The pilot hadn’t moved, and I could still see both his hands gripping the instrument panel coaming, his eyes temporarily glued on Sandy’s chest. The passenger was only put off stride for a moment, before shaking his head and replying, ‘That’s not very hospitable sir, seeing as we’ve flown out here, at great expense and in great discomfort, just to talk to you.’

‘Not interested,’ I replied. ‘My previous statement stands. Fuck off!’

‘But please, at least allow me to introduce ourselves – I’m Mr Peter and my very capable associate over there is Mr Jordan. We are from the investigative firm of Steel Associates, and have been hired to locate and return three female persons to the company of their rightful father and husband, Luke Emery.’

‘What makes you think the persons in question are here?’ I asked in my most relaxed manner, draping my right hand casually across the back of the helm seat beside me.

‘Oh, it’s amazing what people talk about under duress. Also, the ladies in question weren’t quick enough to vacate the cockpit when we flew over.’

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His mouth smiled, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes, ‘The wonders of digital photography, you see. I made a quick review of the photos I took during our flypast and I’m afraid I’ve identified all three.

Since they are here, I do hope we can avoid any unpleasantness. If you’d just ask the ladies to present themselves, we can comply with your request that we be excused.

We’ll even let them take a small bag with them, although we don’t have a great deal of spare space, so luggage must be limited.’

‘Gee,’ I replied, ‘What a wonderful offer. I’m sure they’ll consider it very carefully. Like sometime in the next thirty-odd years.’

‘Oh no, sir. Very droll. We don’t have that sort of time to spare, so I must insist you call the ladies up here.’

I gave a sardonic laugh, ‘It sounds like an 'or what' is attached. Care to elaborate?’ I challenged.

‘Or we will have to take more drastic measures to ensure compliance. Either way, sir, the ladies will be leaving with us in the next ten minutes. That is a certainty.’ He smiled at his cleverness then made the huge mistake of advancing up the stern steps, stopping just on the top step, but failing to see the motionless black head and partly open jaws almost beside his right foot.

I love ultimatums and hate bullies, so I turned my head and called, ‘Janice! Would you come up here, please? Alone.’

There was a faint answering call and after a few moments, remaining unseen, she spoke from the doorway, ‘I’m here.’

‘Okay. Stay right there and answer this question. Do you and the girls wish to go with these gentlemen and be re-united with the person who claims to be your loving husband?’

‘No, and most emphatically no!’ was her instant reply.

‘Thanks, Janice. Please return to your previous location.’

I shrugged and smiled at Mr Peter. ‘Well, there you have it, from the lady herself. Can’t be fairer than that! Therefore, I have to ask you for the last time to remove yourself and your aeroplane from my boat.’

Mr Peter slowly shook his head, his close-set eyes fixed on me, ‘Oh, dear. I was so very afraid it would come to this. I hate to inflict pain, but you’ve left me no choice. ’

His next mistake was turning to call to the pilot, while reaching into the left side of his jacket, his hand coming out with a black pistol clutched in it.

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‘Mr Jordan, would you mind coming up here? This gentleman will need some additional.......Ahhhhhhhhh!’

A combination of fright, terror and incredible pain caused his rising -pitch scream as a huge black shape launched vertically up from seemingly nowhere and clamped a set of razor-sharp fangs around his right arm. He stumbled backwards as the 25 -odd kilogram weight of Jasper, sounding off with his own ear-piercing, unearthly yowl of rage, thumped into his chest, causing him to miss the step behind and perform a backslide down to the boarding platform, his head bashing painfully on each riser. Jasper stayed clamped to him, his jaw continuing to wrench back and forth at his forearm, razor-sharp claws raking every other part of his body within reach, sending clothing, then blood and chunks of torn-off flesh spraying in all directions. Vainly, his screaming undiminished, he tried to dislodge the maddened beast who was steadily ripping his lower right arm off and disembowelling him at the same time.

Given the bloody carnage happening just in front of the aircraft’s nose, Mr Jordan obviously had no intention of getting out of the aircraft’s cabin, but he wasn’t averse to doing what he could, by groping under his seat and coming up with what looked like a tiny, black machine pistol. As Jasper continued literally ripping the shit out of Mr Peter, Sandy snatched her Glock from her waistband and opened up on the pilot.

The moment Peter went down, I’d grabbed TAC 14, stepped forward and aimed for the cockpit as well.

I saw Sandy get some hits, which made the pilot duck briefly, and squeeze off a short burst that seemed to go straight up through the wing beside his head. While parts of the airframe deflected some of Sandy's 9mm rounds, at least she had plenty of them, a handy feature of the Glock. But the TAC 14’s SG pellets hardly spread at that range and acted like one solid mass of steel shot which just blew through everything in it’s path and kept on going. The first round blew a hole in the engine cowl, releasing a cloud of white oil smoke, but the next removed most of Mr Jordan’s head, which immediately ended any chance of further opposition.

I lowered the TAC 14 and after checking Sandy was safe and gun lowered, stepped forward to see how Jasper was doing with Mr Peter. It was not a pretty sight with blood, guts and bits of flesh all down the steps and over the boarding platform. Jasper was playfully engaged in pulling out a length of large intestine, but I decided to call him off, which he reluctantly did, spitting out the tasty morsel and giving me a reproachful look as he slunk past, blood dripping from his muzzle.

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I patted him and offered a ‘Good boy. Well done!’ but it didn’t go over too well, as he sat on the top step, grumbling and sulking, still eyeing the length of ropy, pinkish intestine.

Mr Peter was more than a bit worse for wear after Jasper's attention, and seemed barely alive, his right arm literally hanging by a thread of tendon and blood spurting in diminishing gouts into the water. Jasper’s claws had messily disembowelled him, and the dispersed contents of his abdomen added to the horrific scene. Not to mention the stink.

‘I don’t think he’ll be any further problem,’ I commented dryly to Sandy as I carefully emptied the TAC 14 of the remaining shells before laying it down.

Sandy was doing the same with her Glock, by removing the magazine and clearing the chamber, ‘Love your perceptive nature, Harry,’ she quipped, trying the lighten the tension.

‘Good-o. Let’s see if these clowns have anything interesting on board that might help us, then we can do some garbage disposal.’

Showing great resilience, Mr Peter had somehow made a few feeble movements toward the Cessna’s float, bobbing just beside his head, but he clearly had only seconds to live. I approached him carefully, but caution wasn’t necessary, so I hauled his remains onto the float, stepped over him and pulled the door open.

Mr Jordan was definitely having a bad-head day, and had made a rather disgusting mess over his side of the cockpit. There was also a very strong smell of fuel, so I hurriedly grabbed a laptop, camera and briefcase from the middle seat, and passed them back to Sandy. As an afterthought, I grabbed the Mini-Uzi and a gym bag from the floor. It held a bunch of spare magazines, boxes of ammunition and another pistol.

A quick look around showed nothing else useful or important, so I left the door open and stepped back to Firebird.

‘What do you want to do with that lot?’ she asked.

‘There’s fuel pissing everywhere. I think the short burst he fired went straight through one of the wing tanks, so we might just untie the thing and let the wind carry it off a way before we fire a flare into it. The water deepens quickly about a 100 metres out, so it should hide the evidence. Sharks will take care of the bodies. ’

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CHAPTER 46...Shepherds Bay, Hunter Island...Tuesday So that's what we did. It would be a sad end for a very nice aeroplane, but with bullet holes and blood and guts everywhere, there’d be no easy explanation for its condition.

Even without the bodies.

After untying it, the gusting wind quickly blew it away. In fact, I had to hurry to dig out the flare pistol from under the stern seat before it had drifted too far.

The wind turned the Cessna’s nose toward us as it drifted and showed a stream of fuel pouring from the inboard end of the left wing and splashing into the water. I waited until the wind blew the fuel slick away from our stern, before firing a flar e into the shimmering pool around the left float. There was a soft whoosh as the Avgas ignited, a cloud of black, greasy smoke unfortunately going up with it, but within seconds, the once-proud Cessna was a seething mass of flames.

‘Feel like some target practice?’ I asked Sandy with a grin.

‘Sure,’ she answered, ‘but why waste rounds on it. Most will burn anyway.’

‘True, but it’s over pretty deep water already and the quicker it sinks, the less attention it can attract.’

‘Oh right,’ she caught on, ‘the floats.’

‘Yep. Try your hand with the Grizzly.’

I handed her the gun and she grunted as she felt the weight of it.

‘Bloody hell, Harry! What possessed you to get a cannon like this?’

‘I've always wanted to be able to say, 'Make my day'. Haven't you?’ I grinned.

‘Oh, no. Got it. Dirty Harry – you idiot.’ She thumped my arm, adrenaline fuelling her muscles so that I stumbled, before adding, ‘I wanted a handgun with massive stopping power; didn’t need to conceal it, so size doesn’t matter.’

I handed over a full magazine and watched as she checked the rounds for freedom of movement and correct seating, then expertly slipped it into the butt, clicking it home precisely without the dramatic slamming tactic of an amateur which could dislodge or jam a cartridge.

The high spring tension on the slide also made her grunt for a second as she cocked it, but then braced herself, and squeezed off the first round. There is nothing subtle about a .44 Magnum, both in recoil or in sound, but Sandy was pleasantly surprised that the recoil was relatively manageable. Despite the range, her first shot was on target and I had to remind myself that she was rated Expert Instructor in the Police Force.

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A great chunk of aluminium tore off and spun away from the left fl oat, the whole aircraft becoming difficult to see through the smoke and flames.

After that sighting shot, she squeezed off the remaining six rounds and really tore up the float closest to us, causing the Cessna to settle very quickly on that side. A quick magazine change and she stitched a line of holes up the wing, while I joined in with the 870 Express, pumping two loads of rifled slugs into the wing tanks as well. That did the trick, and as the aircraft settled wings-level in the water, gouts of escaping air and fuel showed the job was complete. Minutes later, the fire consumed the remaining spilled fuel and the remains slid quietly underwater.

The strong wind quickly dispersed the smoke and the waves dispersed the small oil slick. Hopefully, within an hour, that would be gone as well, since the wind was set to continue all night and the next day.

I grinned at Sandy as I cleared both shotguns and she did the same with the Grizzly.

‘Great job partner, but we’d better clean up Jasper and the mess on the boat before we get Janice and the girls up.’

She grinned back, her chest still heaving from the adrenaline pumping through our systems, hard lumps showing through the bikini top. Being in a gunfight tends to do stuff like that, and regardless how experienced one might be, it takes a while for the system to burn the adrenaline off. The bit of necessary target practice was part of the wind-down process.

‘I’ll take Jasper, if you like, while you wash off the boat.’ Sandy offered.

‘Done.’

She coerced the reluctant Jasper over to the starboard stern shower, while I unrolled the saltwater wash hose and quickly hosed off the blood and muck. With the high pressure delivered by the pump, it all came off cleanly and wasn’t long before I’d finished and rolled the hose up again. I helped Sandy with Jasper, who at least had stopped sulking now he was the centre of attention again.

With everything clean, I called the ladies out of hiding, although they looked quite fearful and worried. Sandy and I got hugged and kissed before Janice looked around and asked the big question, ‘Where are they? We heard all the shooting and didn’t know what was happening. We were waiting for them to come below to drag us out, but all we heard were gunshots. We didn’t even hear them fly away.’

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She looked around the cockpit and saw the pile of guns on the cockpit table. ‘Bloody hell, Harry. Where did they come from? And why is Jasper soaking wet? What the hell happened up here?’

The relief of surviving the encounter started Sandy giggling at her barrage of questions and I had a few chuckles myself, but before Janice became upset, I held up my hand.

‘Okay. Hold it. We’ll tell you everything, but let’s go inside and warm up with a mug of tea. Then we can tell the story properly. Sandy and I are just a little bit wired at the moment.’

Janice peered closely at me, ‘Are you all right? Are both of you okay?’

‘Yep. We’re both fine. Now, how about that cuppa?’

The twins had been watching and listening with wide eyes, but my question broke the spell as they darted into the galley, ‘Oh, sorry, Harry. Won’t be a moment. You just sit and relax.’

We did while the girls produced tea and sandwiches.

‘To start at the end, I can say those guys won’t be a problem again, and it may be some time before the others pick up our trail again.’

With that reassurance, Sandy and I proceeded to tell the whole story. We didn’t gloss over anything, particularly Jasper’s part in proceedings, causing the three of them to direct strange looks at the vicious killer-cat, laying on the settee with his still-damp head on Zoe’s lap, accepting her scratching as his due and purring loudly.

‘Jasper really killed one of them?’ Angie asked, interrupting our story.

I looked carefully at her before answering. ‘Yes, he did. He was simply protecting those he loves, because bad guys were threatening us. They were armed and could have shot him. Jasper didn’t strike until Peter drew his gun, but Jasper was the quickest. We won’t go into gory details, but he’s wet because Sandy hosed him off.’

Both girls were silent, then Zoe gave Jasper a hug and softly said, ‘Way cool. Good pussy, you protected us.’

Janice had her own questions after looking over the pile of guns still out on the cockpit table.

‘Are those all yours Harry?’

‘They are now,’ I grinned. ‘I told you I had a few guns tucked away. The Glock is Sandy’s service pistol – the machine pistol is a Mini-Uzi from the bad guys, as well as another pistol that was in the bag full of magazines.’

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Sandy coughed. ‘I retrieved the pistol Peter was drawing. Their two pistols are Glock 19s and along with the Uzi, are all in 9mm, although my service Glock is .40 S & W . We now have plenty of ammo for them all.’

I smiled at her, ‘Lovely. I hate throwing guns away. They can be so terribly useful.’

That generated a general laugh, until I was prompted to finish the story, about getting rid of the bodies and the aircraft which I did without embellishment.

‘Was that really the best thing to do?’ Janice asked. ‘I mean. Wiping out all trace of them? You two are, after all, the police.’

‘Absolutely. If they and the aircraft disappear without trace, there’s no evidence they even found us, so we’ve temporarily cut that line of investigation. They obviously know about the boat from reports, but everything stops back where the seaplane took off from.

However, I think we should head for Erith Island now. It’s a 10 to 12-hour sail which means arriving at night, but that’s no problem. If they do come this way searching for their missing crew, there’ll be nothing to see.’

The plan was met with general approval, and Sandy became our new Chief of Security.

While the girls cleaned up tea things and stowed the galley for sea, I checked the deck was secure. The dinghy was already stowed and we only had one anchor out, so there was only the main to get ready for hoisting. I fired up the generator to do some battery charging and power the winches, although the two wind generators had been doing their job well. The wind was still strong, so it was going to be a fast, wet ride. I sent Janice around to close all hatches and portholes, and dog them down tightly.

Sandy gathered up our augmented weapons collection and took them inside for inspection and cleaning.

I was rather pleased I’d saved the mini-Uzi. They have a well-deserved reputation for reliability, although at 1,000 rounds per minute, they chew through the 25 or 32-round magazine in less than 2 seconds, although by using the common 9mm round, they were easy to feed. It was a welcome addition to my arsenal and it seemed to be in good condition, but Sandy would report after she’d stripped and checked it. The other gun she’d collected, as well as the gun in the bag, was the smaller-framed Glock-19

that was more easily concealed as a carry weapon. Sandy's Glock was the full -size service version Model 22.

As a bonus, the pilot's bag contained several hundred rounds of 9mm ammunition, plus five extra loaded magazines for the mini-Uzi.

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I was careful getting underway because the winds were strong and gusting. They weren’t the best conditions for a sail across the top of Tasmania, but at least we would be running on a very broad reach. I looked forward to see how Firebird handled the conditions.

It was nearly 12:00 by the time the anchor was stowed for sea and with the 50% reefed main already hoisted and flapping madly, I unfurled the inner staysail and let it haul our bows around. As we came around beam-on to the wind, Firebird accelerated quickly and momentarily overpowered, heeled more than the usual 5º, but the pressure eased as we turned onto a broad reach to pass clear of the bottom of Three Hummock Island.

I took the wheel at first, delighted with the way Firebird really kicked up her heels and ran downwind.

Even with greatly reduced sail, our speed soon climbed into the high teens, going over twenty knots in the gusts. The wind averaged over thirty knots, so I expected that once clear of the influence of the two main islands, it would increase further. And so it proved as we rounded the southern tip of Three Hummocks Island and bore away on track for Erith Island. The mean wind speed climbed to over thirty-five knots and the seas started to build.

With the higher wind speed, and since the track to Erith Island was now almost straight downwind, I deliberately steered a little to the south of that direct course so there was no danger of the sails being caught by a slight change of wind direction and being ripped over to the other side in a mast-breaking gybe.

We slowed slightly with the more downwind heading, but it was safer and more comfortable. I made some small adjustments to the mainsail size to balance the steering, but it was still exacting work keeping the boat running straight, especia lly since the waves built up clear of land and gave us some serious surfing.

It was an exhilarating ride and I was totally enjoying myself, especially after the grossness of the morning. I turned the autopilot on to see if it could cope, and to my surprise, it did, keeping us straight while surfing at speeds up to 25 knots and correcting in time to prevent broaching. However, I could hear the steering motors working very hard.

Zoe was hanging around, keen to take the wheel, but a bit concerned whether she could handle it, so I let her have a go and after a while she was doing well, learning how to anticipate a yaw before it developed into something worse.

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She admitted it was fun, but very hard work, needing total concentration. When she tired, she turned the task over to George who did the job without complaint, apart from the high drain on the batteries which the wind generators replenished.

Thus, riding the remains of the tempest, we fled on into the waning afternoon and toward an uncertain future. Behind, we left all regrets and concerns of the morning in our boiling wake, along with two dead bad guys and a wrecked aeroplane. There was the minor matter of when they’d be missed and what sort of a search would result, but for now, out of sight was definitely out of mind. By mentally looking ahead, not behind, the carnage we left became of lesser consequence as the miles streamed past.

The ride was remarkably good, given the conditions, and none of the crew seemed bothered. In fact, everyone went about normal on-board routine as though we were still at anchor. After our evening meal, which was tasty toasted sandwiches and hot tea. I deliberately asked the crew while sitting around the table. ‘Does anybody have any problems over our actions this morning?’

There was only a brief moment of thought, before they all shook their heads.

‘Excellent. In that case, we’ll leave it as far behind as possible, literally and metaphorically. Sandy and I are trained to live with our bit, but I’d like you all not to dwell on what happened, although you are welcome to voice any concerns you might have.’

Only Angie spoke straight off, ‘As Zoe and I see it, those guys were going to take us no matter what, and had loaded guns to make it happen, so they got what they deserved.

No regrets here.’

Zoe nodded agreement.

‘Great. Thanks Ange.’

I looked at Janice, my eyebrows raised, but she smiled gently and shook her head, ‘I can’t improve on that. Angie said it perfectly. They wanted to harm us, but thanks to you, Sandy and Jasper, we kicked their arses instead. Good riddance and no regrets .’

‘Excellent. Needless to say, what happened here today should never be mentioned to anybody outside our close circle, no matter what. I'd prefer not to have to argue the finer points of self-defence and piracy in Court.’

Janice answered for the three of them. ‘We understand and our secret is safe.’

We left the subject, and I spoke about our arrival at Erith Island.

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‘It’s 18:00 now, and we should make Erith at about 21:00 this evening. We’ll have to be careful, but there shouldn’t be any problems. All our gizmos are running and know exactly where we are.’

They were reassured, so I continued to keep an eye on the radar and chart plotter, but apart from a few freighters and some large fishing boats, the Strait was very quiet tonight. The wind didn’t ease much as dusk fell, but when we made the course change to thread the 800-metre-wide channel between Dover and Deal Islands, I dropped all sail and fired up the engines.

We slid sedately into increasingly sheltered waters, the wind easing further as the waves dropped away to a light chop when we approached our parking spot close in to the beach at the southern end of West Cove.

As reported in the Pilot books, the anchorage was excellent with a sand bottom and a few weed patches. Once the anchor was down and dug in, I shone our powerful spotlight around, but we were quite alone.

As Erith Island has quite high hills, the average wind strength had dropped considerably, but perversely, the steep sides of the hills produced some very powerful bullets or strong gusts, which were accelerated on the down side, before roaring out across the water, shaking the mast and the whole boat like a dog with a bone. It was a little un-nerving to the crew at first when these hit with no warning, but after we’d snugged everything down securely, everyone was too tired to be bothered any further and slept well.

CHAPTER 47... Firebird... Erith Island...Wednesday am Next morning, I was up early and a quick check revealed no changes had oc curred during the night. I’d made two of my usual brief inspections during the night, by standing up in bed and sticking my head through the access hatch. This morning, the clouds had lifted considerably and patches of blue sky grew larger which brightened our surroundings, now shown to be a very pretty little bay only about 500 metres across, open to the east, with scrub-covered hills around the other three sides. Just one kilometre to the east, across a north-south channel, Deal Island provided shelter from all but the worst easterly gales. The anchorage was still deserted , the island uninhabited, and with a bit of luck it would stay that way. However, being a stepping-242

stone on the route from the mainland to Tasmania, we could expect other small boats at some stage. Hopefully, they wouldn’t pose any danger.

After checking Firebird for any signs of wear or damage from our fast and rough run, I treated the deck and fittings to a fresh-water wash. Then it was time for a mug of tea, as the crew, apart from Jasper, were still fast asleep. The green-clothed hills surrounding the little bay gave it a different outlook to our last anchorage, and to my mind, made it more interesting.

Feeling the need to stretch my leg muscles, I looked forward to some bush walks, having little concern about meeting other people.

The water covering the sandy bottom was absolutely gin-clear and I could see an amazing variety of small aquatic life busily going about their business, occasionally chased by a larger predator. I also remembered these islands were the last stronghold of the Australian fur seal and hoped we might see some.

Which in turn inspired a mental note to get our resident fishing experts, the girls, on the job, as we needed to supplement our pantry. Jasper, who sat happily by my feet , showed no sign of his terminal encounter with Mr Peter yesterday and was his usual affectionate and playful self.

I hadn’t long finished my tea, when there were signs of life from the galley and soon Zoe showed up balancing a plate of hot, buttered toast and two mugs of tea. She parked herself on the trampoline nearby, Jasper in close attendance to scrounge some toast.

‘Angie and I wanted to thank you and Sandy for yesterday,’ she said between mouthfuls of toast. ‘We didn’t get around to it then, but we appreciate what you did and understand how difficult it must have been to kill both those men.’

I smiled at her, ‘You’re welcome. Actually, killing bad guys who are trying to kill you isn't hard at all. It's the cold-blooded stuff that few of us like. But, as always, I’m glad we came out on top without any of us getting hurt.’

‘Amen!’ she replied. ‘Now we just have to keep one or two jumps ahead of them.’

‘Yep, that’s the difficult part, since this lot are much more capable and with better resources. Unfortunately, we don’t know how much longer we have to keep ducking and dodging. I just wish the various authorities would hurry up and co-ordinate their raids so this whole mess can be wrapped up.’

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She looked wistful. ‘You know, despite all the bad things that have been happening, it will be very hard to give up this lifestyle and go back to Uni and a new life on-shore. We can see why you love boating and living on this beautiful boat.’

I smiled gently, ‘It's going to be hard for me too, princess. I've become very fond of you two and your Mum. But you do need to finish your education and plan a career; if that's what you want.’

She looked down at the deck and said in a soft, sad voice, ‘What we'd like most of all, Harry, is for all of us to stay here with you, Sandy and Jasper. But I guess that's not going to happen.’

‘No, my darling girl, it’s not. But if your Mum agrees, you can come join Jasper and me and hopefully Sandy, when you have semester breaks. We may not be close by, but that's what aeroplanes are for.’

She looked up at me, her eyes brimming, ‘Oh, could we? That'd be fantastic!’

I smiled and nodded. ‘Of course. Once this nonsense is over, we can get back to a normal life.’

She looked around as if seeing the boat and the setting around us in a new light, ‘Well, yes we can. But it’ll be nothing like this. And no one has adventures like we've had.’

‘No one would want some of your adventures,’ I countered with a grin. ‘But once all the bad guys are locked up, you can talk about it all you want. Or not, as you wish. Your call.’

She gave me a shrewd glance, ‘You're very understanding, aren’t you? I mean, you've only set rules when we've needed to be protected, but you cut us a lot of slack most of the time. We expected you to act like a father figure, but you're like an older brother who's looking out for us, and that feels really good. From the start, you’ve treated us like adults and even though we're eighteen, that doesn't happen very often.’

It was my turn to find a piece of rigging to inspect carefully so I could avoid answer ing.

Zoe giggled, ‘Sorry Harry. No reply necessary, but I've got tell Angie that we can come here for our holidays.’

‘Only if your Mum agrees,’ I called out to her disappearing figure.

‘Yeah, yeah, whatever!’ was the frivolous reply.

A happy shriek from the large hatch over the girl's cabin suggested Angie thought my offer was a pretty neat idea, but I wasn't prepared for the delightfully naked body erupting from the hatch as it was flung wide open and Angie sprang through it before wrapping herself around me.

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‘Oh, thank you, thank you Harry! We were so frightened we'd never see you all again. It would be wonderful to spend our holidays on board. We're sure Mum will agree.’

I tried hard to confine my hands to just stroking her velvet-smooth back, but it was difficult. Finally, she backed off and I tried to regulate my breathing again.

‘You're very welcome, especially if you greet me like that every morning! I could get awfully used to it.’

She gave a cheeky grin as she went back below via the cabin hatch.

‘I'll happily do that for you, Harry. Anytime, anywhere.’

I waited a while to allow things to subside, and had just picked up my empty mug, when there was a soft 'whoosh' under the bow behind me. Turning, I saw to my delight, a grinning, heavily whiskered face with huge brown, expressive eyes poking up from the water. Moments later, with another soft 'whoosh', a second, much larger seal reared up beside the first, flippers gently moving as they kept perfect position.

Turning my head slightly, I called quietly back to the cabin,

‘Girls! Quickly, come up here, but don't make too much noise! ’

I heard noises behind me, then two bodies, one still naked, pressed in beside me and hung over the pulpit rail.

‘Oh, wow!’ was the joint response, as the seals, far from being frightened by the extra audience, seemed delighted to see the girls and deliberately splashed water up at us with their flippers. Zoe darted back to call Sandy and Janice up as well, and moments later, they joined us in marvelling at the playful, happy creatures. Our visit ors weren't put off either by Jasper sticking his sleek, black head over the side to peer down at them, even when he mewled softly, almost like asking the question, ' Who are you guys?' Although he showed signs of wanting to jump into the water, I told him 'No' until we saw how the seals behaved around humans in the water. I'd read that the males could grow to well over 300 kgs, which was a lot of seal to wrestle if push came to shove.

Still, it was hard to imagine the happy pair below us having any aggressi ve habits against humans.

‘Can we feed them?’ asked Zoe. ‘We've still got some decent-sized bait fish un-frozen.’

‘We shouldn't,’ I said, ‘but bugger it! Get some and see what they do.’

She quickly returned with a handful of decided smelly mullet we'd been saving for fish bait. Leaning over the bow rail, she dropped one to the biggest seal and laughed when he reared up almost to her fingers and caught it neatly with his gleaming mouthful of massive teeth.

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‘Far out!’ she laughed. ‘That's awesome!’

She threw one to the smaller seal we thought was probably the female of the pair and she caught it just as easily, gulping it down in two quick bites and a toss of her head.

She was a pale brown on the top of her head, with a creamy throat. Her much larger mate was darker in colour, and had a distinct ruff of fur around his neck. They both seemed happy to be close and after accepting more fish, dived and splashed around the anchor chain as if putting on a show for their feed. After we ran out of baitfish, we continued watching until they splashed their flippers at us a few last times, before flashing away.

‘Magic!’ seemed to be the common reaction to the encounter as we sat down to breakfast in a mood of wonder that some wild animals could interact so easily and peacefully with humans.

After breakfast, we walked the beach for a while, until I suggested we should start letting our friends know about yesterday's attack and its gruesome outcome. It took until lunchtime to get the word out, and all were unanimous in their approval for our actions.

Bob Casey, was really chuffed to hear how the fight went, but the only news he had to offer was that Greg James was out of hospital, with the wounds received from the bashing healing quickly, and he would make a complete recovery. He was also dead keen to join us, but knew it wasn't going to happen.

Annette only said her side of the investigation was proceeding well, with virtually all the adult faces in the photos and videos now identified, and the list of public figures had grown disturbingly long.

‘We’re close to being able to get a bunch of search and arrest warrants,’ she advised ,

‘but it might be a week or so before we can organise the raid timings with interstate Police forces. As you realise, it's no good picking up just one or two.’

‘Thanks Annette, understood. We'll stay low-profile, but we'll need to head for civilisation before long to restock.’

‘Okay. Hang in there and we'll move as fast as we can. If anything changes, I'll call.’

‘Thanks, and make sure you don't turn over the wrong rock,’ I said.

She chuckled in her warm throaty manner, ‘Will do. Bye guys.’

Rob was suitably cryptic about the visit to Yass. He said so little, that Janice knew he'd got on so well with Annette, that his lengthy bout of celibacy was over.

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Hillary and Debbie were shocked to hear of the attack and insisted on all the grisly details for the eventual story, but were pleased to hear the raids and arrests might be happening soon.

After lunch, the clouds had gone, although the wind was still fresh, along with the temperature. We went ashore again and ventured into the bush where there were walking tracks everywhere, mostly animal, although we knew there wasn't anything large on two or four feet left on the island. There were supposed to be white-lipped snakes about, but the cold temperature kept them well-hidden.

Anyway, the bushwalk was fun and Jasper had a wonderful time chasing anything and everything that moved. We covered a lot of ground and our legs were aching by the time we were back aboard, so all slept well again.

We had three more lovely, relaxing days at Erith Island before the shit hit the fan....again.

CHAPTER 48...Steel Associates Offices – Melbourne...Wednesday

‘Good afternoon, Steel Associates. How may I help you?’

‘Good afternoon, Miss Julie, this is Mr Raymond. Is Mr Xavier available?’

‘Certainly, Mr Raymond. Good to hear from you. Please hold and I'll transfer you.’

....‘Xavier.’

‘ Good afternoon, Mr Xavier, this is Mr Raymond with a report.’

‘Proceed, Mr Raymond, recording started.’

‘I'm currently located at Burnie and as discussed, Mr Peter and Mr Jordan chartered an amphibious seaplane from Hobart to continue the search along the coast to the west, including the islands offshore.

They took off yesterday morning from Wynyard Airport at 09:00, but haven't reported back or been sighted since. My assistant, Mr Steven, had been driving west along the coast and reported a seaplane flying past Stanley at 09:24, heading at low-level along the coastline to the northwest, but that was the last sighting or report I have received. ’

‘Was their plan to return to Wynyard at some time during the day?’

‘Yes, Mr Xavier. They were to do that after they had looked at all the ports along the coast to the west and then make a sweep over the islands just offshore. Apparently there aren't many private yachts in that area, so the subjects should have stood out.

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The weather has been very bad in the whole north-west with low cloud, strong winds and rain showers, so visibility would be poor from the air. Nevertheless, they would have needed to refuel at some point. The aircraft has a total endurance of about 5

hours.’

‘How long will it be before the company owning the seaplane gets worried and wants it back?’

‘Ahh... that's where there's a bit of a problem, Mr Xavier. The charter company wouldn't hire out the aircraft to our own pilot, insisting they supplied their own , but as you know, we couldn’t have a civilian aboard during the operation. Therefore, Mr Peter offered the pilot a substantial sum of money to spend the day in a motel, but he was reluctant to do that, saying he would lose his job if anything went wrong. Mr Peter therefore made the decision to heavily sedate him so he could sleep all day without making a fuss.

Had Mr Peter returned as planned, the pilot could have returned to Hobart this morning, with no further problems. I.....’

‘Cut to the chase, Mr Raymond! And tell me about the problems!’

‘Yes sir. Firstly, the seaplane hasn't returned, and it was due back in Hobart this morning. Second, the pilot has protested most vigorously about being drugged against his will, and the motel owners have called the police and the aviation authorities, since this occurred on their premises. The charter company want to know why their pilot was forcibly grounded and where their aeroplane is. They're talking about pressing hi-jacking charges, including unlawful detention of their pilot and forced drug use.’

‘Are you telling me, Mr Raymond, you didn't have this pilot under your direct control at all times? That you allowed him to lie in a motel room without supervision or restraint?

And am I to understand that the police and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority are now investigating a kidnapping, drugging and aircraft hi-jacking situation? In addition to which, they're also looking for a missing aircraft?’

‘I'm afraid that is the situation, Mr Xavier. I must offer my most sincere apologies for my lack of foresight in allowing Mr Peter's plan to proceed without sufficient supervision. ’

‘I have to say, Mr Raymond, I am extremely disappointed with the performance of all three of you. I could go so far as to say that I am stunned that you and Mr Peter have allowed this situation to degenerate to such a degree. Have you, at least, been able to avoid the attention of the police?’

‘Yes Mr Xavier. I left the area immediately the pilot woke up at the motel and started making a fuss. I'm currently down the coast at Burnie, but avoiding all contact with the public.’

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‘Very well. Continue to avoid attracting attention from anyone. I need you to gather as much information as possible about the situation as it develops. You will need to move back to the Wynyard area to achieve that objective, but keep a very low profile. Very low!’

‘Yes sir. I can do that and will report as soon as I learn anything new. ’

‘All right Mr Raymond. If you can complete these requests effectively, I will consider a slightly lighter punishment for your extremely incompetent in handling of this situation.

Report regularly and get results!’

‘Yes, Mr Xavier. Thank you for the opportunity to redeem myself. I'll not let you down again.’

‘One more thing before you go, Mr Raymond. It has come to my attention that our client has taken additional steps to retrieve the packages by putting out a general contract. It was only a rumour previously, but is now confirmed. Naturally I am very unhappy the field may have become cluttered with amateurs trying to achieve the same result as ourselves, so I would be obliged if you would also look out for any evidence of bounty hunters in your area and report immediately if there is any.’

‘Certainly Mr Xavier. I'll do that, but so far, I've not seen nor heard about anybody like that.’

‘Good! Keep looking and listening and report regularly.’

Xavier then treated himself to a very rare outburst of cursing, followed by an even rarer triple shot of Speyside's finest fifty-year-old, single-malt Scotch Whiskey.

CHAPTER 49... Firebird...Thursday

Next morning, the seals returned for a feed, and trusted us enough to show off their baby. Although it was hard to call a fifty kilo seal a baby, he ate most of the fish we tossed down. They played around the boat like the previous day, diving under the hulls time and again, and circling the whole boat several times at high speed. After that, we bushwalked again, covering the island more easily as our land legs built up strength.

Jasper loved the walks. He’d always liked the beaches, but the bush was such a different environment, where he had so many different smells and things to chase after, he was totally exhausted when we returned to the boat.

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Firebird...Friday

Friday was a lot warmer, so we all ventured into the water for a welcome swim and found it bracing, but not too cold. Having a warm northerly blowing really helped. We hadn't been in long when the girls let out a shriek that would have raised the dead, had there been any handy to try it on. The cause was a familiar, be-whiskered face that popped up in the middle of our little group, followed by the other two. Our seal family had come visiting and seemed delighted to have their new human friends in the water with them.

I was very wary now we were in their environment, especially with the pup present, but when the girls started playing with him, the adults responded in kind. Although fast, strong and agile, they seemed to sense that humans were fragile and played gently, not minding if the girls cuddled the pup. Jasper merowled loudly a few times, before joining in as well, the seals treating him as just another playmate.

Jasper took it in good spirit and splashed them when he could, or batted at them with a soft paw, no claws. They didn't demand their daily feed while we were playing, but Zoe decided to feed them anyway, so we stayed still in case they got a bit carried away and chomped on a hand instead of a fish, but my fears were groundless as the seals ate in a most genteel fashion. They didn't snap at or near any of us, but made sure the pup got a decent share. Once the feeding was over, they played around us for a little while longer before making several leaps right out of the water as they took their farewell and disappeared as three brown flashes toward the channel.

We dragged ourselves wearily out onto the stern, rinsed off then lay around in the sun to dry off, enjoying the warm wind after days of cloud and cold winds. The big sunbed hanging out over the stern was the most popular spot, with all four females sprawled out over the white, padded mattress, heads pillowed on various portions of each other’s anatomy.

‘What an extraordinary experience.’ said Sandy into the languorous silence, ‘Those seals were almost as switched on to human emotion as Jasper is. For totally wild creatures, they were so gentle with us.’

A collective ' ummmm!' was the only reply she was going to get, so she slipped back to drowsing.

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CHAPTER 50... Firebird... East Cove, Erith Is...Saturday Weather-wise, Saturday was a repeat of the previous day, and a return visit by the seals just made it special. They were as frisky as before and just as careful not to harm us. We were all feeling the effects of being in another beautiful, peaceful place and losing all the tension of the last encounter with our hunters. Just after lunch however, as we had settled down to various low-effort interests, our peace was disturbed by a powerboat quietly easing into the bay from the north side of the main channel and anchoring at the far end of the bay, about 500 metres from us.

It looked to be about 44ft long, with lovely sweeping lines that would be very sea -kindly.

It had a slightly raked centre wheelhouse with a low-set trunk cabin aft, and looked a lot more business-like than most of the top-heavy, plastic gin palaces which are flogged off as boats these days. Nevertheless, just because it looked like a good sea boat didn't ease my sense of foreboding, even when I thought I was just being paranoid.

The tension, however, racked up a few notches when Sandy eased up beside me and said quietly, ‘Nice boat, but they might need watching!’

I was standing in the saloon, binoculars to my eyes, watching the visitor through our tinted windows, ‘Yes, my thoughts too. There's not been any movement on deck, and they dropped the anchor remotely, which is a bit unusual in good weather but maybe it's an older couple. Still, it's a very pretty boat and I'd be annoyed if it did turn out to be crewed by bad guys. Pretty boats are supposed to belong to good people, and that's my piece of philosophy for the day.’

Sandy laughed, but then followed me over to the chart table, intrigued when I started flipping switches on the main panel. ‘Okay, what are you up to now?’

‘A magic new toy I had installed a few months ago, just before I came south, but I've not had a chance to use yet,’ I explained. ‘It's a mast-head camera system, with full-colour electro-optical and passive infra-red cameras, both with 80X zoom and image stabilisation. It can take 4K stills and video, record to a separate drive and be viewed in real-time on a monitor. It's in a streamlined, waterproof housing which blends in with the masthead so it looks like a mast-cap, and is not very obvious even when it's opened up and operating. The software which came with it does Facial-Recognition and Automatic Target Tracking.’

I flicked another switch to display the image on the chart table monitor and was rewarded with a razor-sharp picture of the shoreline to the south of us.

‘Wow!’ exclaimed Sandy. ‘How sharp is that?'

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She was even more impressed when I worked the little joystick and zoomed in on a bush, under which an unsuspecting sparrow was having a tug-of-war with a large worm.

Every detail of the little bird was sharp and distinct, right down to the individual barbs of each feather.

She laughed delightedly, ‘Okay. Now you're showing off, but what if that bird is in a bush only a 100-metres away?’

By way of answer, I slowly rolled the zoom back, letting the shrinking picture tell the story. Luckily there were cross hairs to mark the target, because the little bird and his prospective meal had disappeared from normal view, but were, according to the laser range finder, 573-metres inland. I couldn't even pick out the bush under which the epic struggle for survival was taking place.

‘That wasn't the limit of the zoom, either,’ I quietly informed her, ‘and we can get a similar performance at night under either a low light setup, or go to full processor-enhanced infrared composite vision for hi-resolution under total blackout conditions.’

She smiled, ‘I'm impressed. It should be terrific on any covert surveillance job. ’

‘Yeah. And it should be for about $350K installed.’

‘Holy crap, Harry! I hope you didn't have to pay for all of that?’

I grinned, ‘No way. I had quite a bit of help from Auntie.’

Sandy grinned back, knowing that the ACP, who I did some work for at times, would have been happy to fund the whole thing – after all, where else were they going to get the best and most effective water-borne, covert-surveillance platform in the country, crewed by an operator trained at vast expense and conditioned in war.

I panned the camera around to the north, pulling the zoom back to wide-angle until our mysterious new neighbour appeared in the picture. A click on one of the joystick buttons locked the cross hairs onto the centre-mass of the hull and I slowly zoomed in.

Oddly, for such a beautiful day, various blinds and curtains covered nearly all the windows and portholes, so there was very little to see. We could, however, clearly see the name of the boat, Orion printed on a circular life-ring hung on the side of the wheelhouse.

I thought I saw a hint of movement deep in the shadows of the wheelhouse which had no curtains, but it was hard to be sure. Time for the hi-tech!

I moved a knob on the dedicated camera control panel and the picture changed to a monochrome, pale greenish blur that flared and faded a few times as the sensors and filters sorted light intensities out. Abruptly, after a few more moments of fuzzy crap which made me think I should go get my money back, the picture cleared to a sharp 252

green-grey image. It took us a few moments to interpret what we were seeing, but suddenly realised that we could see a very sharp outline of the boat and a slightly less sharp view of what was inside it. Virtual X-ray vision, courtesy of the computer-enhanced, Hi-Definition IR!

There were two persons aboard, one male and one female. The vision wasn't clear enough to get an idea of age, but they weren't kids at least. The man seemed big and well built, while the woman was – well, female, with the necessary curves and bumps.

As we watched, the man went aft from the wheelhouse and sat down with her, drinking something hot, to judge by the flare of light from each mug, while a bright area nearby might have been the cooktop in the galley. Of greater interest were what looked like two handguns they seemed to be cleaning.

After a while, the man got up and moved up into the wheelhouse again, where he stood still for a long minute looking at us through binoculars, before returning to the aft saloon and resuming his seat.

‘Periodic check on us, I guess,’ I said to Sandy, who nodded agreement.

‘I don't like the look of those handguns they're cleaning,’ she commented. ‘Whoever they are, they're trouble. I'm guessing they're not here to fish or to play hide-the-sausage!’

‘Yeah. We'd better tell the others and have a round table.’

‘Do we need to keep a constant watch on these characters?’ she asked.

‘Not for now,’ I replied, ‘although we can leave the camera running and start recording.

The IR is the latest passive type with no cooling gas required, so it can be operated indefinitely. We might, however, flick back to colour EO mode to keep watch. I don't think they'll start anything during daylight.’

‘No,’ Sandy agreed, ‘it’ll probably happen tonight.’

I looked at her, ‘Just thinking ahead – maybe we shouldn't advertise who's on board.

They'll expect Janice, the girls and me, but perhaps you might stay out of sight as best you can, either here in the saloon where the tinted glass will hide you, or down below. I might get Jasper to do the same, although he's easier to hide since his boobs are much smaller!’

She poked her tongue out, but agreed, so we called the others inside to gather around the dining table and discuss the latest threat. They wanted to have a look at the picture generated by my whiz-bang camera, so I flicked back to IR to show them the benefits of X-ray vision. Suitably impressed, we discussed our responses.

‘Are they two more of the new bunch of goons chasing us?’ Janice asked.

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I’d been thinking about that, and replied, ‘No, I don't think so. I'm going to call Annette in a moment to see if Luke has involved anybody else in the search apart from Steel Associates. I can’t imagine a Steel snatch and grab crew would comprise a man and a woman on a fairly slow boat. I mean, the guys who hired the seaplane, came armed with a sub-machine gun. They wouldn't send a couple looking like they’re on a three-day cruise.’

‘But maybe they don’t know about the last crew we whopped?’ Angie said with considerable insight. ‘In which case, they don’t know we can fight back.’

I smiled at her enthusiasm and belief in our invincibility. ‘Good points, except they’ll know their crew is missing, but maybe not where or how. And you're right, they don't know how well we can fight back, especially now we have extra weapons.

As for finding the last crew, there are a lot of places to search and the winds should disperse any fuel or oil slick very quickly, so I doubt the wreck will be found.’

‘Okay,’ Sandy agreed, ‘that all sounds plausible, but who the hell are this pair?’

‘I’m guessing Luke has hedged his bets and put out a general contract. That would make them bounty-hunters.’

Sandy looked concerned, ‘Oh, terrific! Just what we need.’

I nodded. ‘I'll call Annette and see if she can confirm the theory.’

As I placed the call, I realised I didn’t know if Annette could take encrypted calls without raising suspicion, but I got lucky and caught her at her desk with all her files at her fingertips.

‘Hi, Harry. What's new?’

‘We're still in the same location as our last call, but we have visitors, a male and a female in a 44ft displacement cruiser called Orion. Their behaviour is suspicious since they've been keeping us under covert surveillance since they arrived. I've got some rather hi-tech camera gear on board which has allowed us to see inside the hull to an extent, and at present, they're cleaning a pair of handguns between visual check -ups on us.’

She whistled. ‘That’s some camera you've got if it lets you play Superman! I'd like to see that sometime.’

I chuckled, ‘When this is over I'll be happy to show you everything, but for now, a couple of quick questions.’

‘No such thing from you,’ she fired back, ‘but go ahead.’

‘Firstly – could you look up the boat name and check the registered owner?’

‘No problem. Next?’

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‘From the transcripts of Luke's phone and email intercepts, has there been any reference to him issuing a public or open reward for finding Janice and th e girls?’

She was quiet for a minute and I heard her keyboard clicking as she searched. ‘Ah, yes, here we are. I thought I'd read something about it. He issued a reward notice quite some time ago, even before he called in Steel Associates, and it hasn’t been withdrawn.

In fact, I think I read recently that he might have increased the amount to something like 40 or $50K.’

My heart sank with confirmation of my theory. ‘Terrific! That means these geezers might be bounty hunters.’

‘C’mon, Harry. That'll give you something to do. I mean, really, you've had several days slacking around in the sun, so what do you expect?’

‘Ha, ha. Very droll! But thanks for the intel. We'll get back to you when we know more.’

‘Okay. I'll chase up the boat registration and advise. Meantime, hang in there and please be careful.’

We disconnected and I relayed what Annette had said.

‘So they’re after us,’ summed up Janice, sounding angry, ‘but they're not professionals, just some private dudes out to make money out of the girls.’

I nodded. ‘Yep. That about sums it up. But don't forget they're carrying guns, so they obviously don't mean to mess around. It also suggests they don't mind if people get hurt, unless they think just flashing guns will make us hand you over. ’

‘How are we going to handle it?’ Zoe asked, looking at me. ‘I presume you've got a plan? You usually seem to.’

I grinned, ‘As a matter of fact, smart-bum, I do. It's not very complicated, since the bad guys don't have a lot of options. Basically, they have to come to us and Sandy and I think it’ll be tonight when we should be well asleep. Therefore, it's important we give the impression we don't suspect a thing. Meanwhile, we prepare to greet our visitors in a manner befitting their low-life status!’

‘Good plan, Dirty Harry,’ Zoe grinned. ‘So, what do you want us to do?’

‘Sandy stays out of sight so they won't know our full numbers, and Jasper will too, once I've spoken to him.’

The beast in question was lying on the saloon floor, carefully watching and listening, pricked his ears forward.

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‘Janice, you and the girls could spend some time on the foredeck, sun baking and reading like normal. I want this pair to get a good look so they can confirm you are who they think you are. I'll move around the boat doing normal maintenance chores.

‘And what do we wear?’ Angie asked with a cheeky grin.

I laughed, ‘Probably what you usually don't, I suppose. It won't hurt to give our hidden watchers a dose of high blood pressure. The male one anyway!’

That raised a laugh until Janice got back to practicalities. ‘And the plan for tonight? I mean, are we just going to let these people come to us? Can't we go to them? What if....?’

I held up my hand to stem the tide of questions, ‘Back up the bus! Legally, we can't approach them with any aggressive intentions in case they really are just a couple with anti-social habits having a boating holiday. They have to make the first hostile move.

But with our spy camera, we’ll have plenty of warning of their movements, intentions and firepower. It's a case of hope for the best, but prepare for the worst .’

She nodded, ‘But I'm worried we have to let them come aboard before we can react.’

I smiled, ‘That's not a big problem when the unwary are involved. Apart from our considerable firepower, intelligence-gathering and superior planning abilities, there are a few surprises I have in store to help us gain and keep the upper hand.’

She subsided, only slightly mollified by my words, so we broke up the conference and let Janice change into her bikini, while the girls did the reverse. With towels in hand, they wandered up on deck, chattering brightly while Sandy and I monitored our watchers.

The guy was up in the wheelhouse again, binoculars raised and stayed there for quite some time, eventually joined by the woman.

I clued Jasper into what was going on, much to Sandy's amusement, and as usual, he seemed to understand. When I finished, he happily assumed his sphinx-pose on the saloon mat. In case he needed it, I moved his grassy toilet mat to the stern boarding platform, since the breeze caused us to lie with our sterns mostly hidden from sight of the Orion.

‘How do we play this tonight?’ Sandy asked, now we were alone and both felt the pre-action tension ramping up.

‘Normal routine after dark, except you and Jasper still keep out of sight. After an early bed time, then lights out, you and I keep watch in here,’ I replied. ‘They won't come over straight away.’

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She nodded and looked forward to where the girls were stretched out in the sun with Janice propped up against the bow rails, reading.

‘Nothing much going on now, by the look of things. Feel like a bit of messing around?

We can resume the planning bit later.’

My arm didn't need much twisting, so in minutes we were naked on Sandy's bed doing lots of lovely messing around, before getting down to some serious business. It all went so well, that it was a hour before we emerged, relaxed and somewhat sleepy, to find nothing had changed, either with our crew or the watchers, so we resume d our planning session.

CHAPTER 51... Firebird... East Cove, Erith Is...Saturday pm That evening, it was as planned. Sandy kept involved in the conversation by perching on the companionway steps beside the dining table. We had dinner, then played games, Scrabble being the best so Sandy could still join in.

Jasper found it all very interesting and possibly a bit puzzling, as he alternately sat with Zoe or Sandy. We deliberately made an early night of it, and everybody headed off to bed with a great show of yawns and stretches. I made my usual lap around the upper decks, making sure everything was in its place, including the placemen t of two small mats, laid at the top of each of the stern boarding steps. Under the cover of darkness, I carefully poured a bucket of seawater over each mat, before securing the twin stainless wire safety lines tightly across the top of each entrance.

I took the shorter of the two boat hooks, the one with a razor-sharp edge ground into both sides of the curved hook, and propped it up in the forward corner of the cockpit.

After making sure Jasper had his final pee, I returned inside leaving the door half-open.

Making sure the masthead anchor light was on, I turned on a couple more switches on the auxiliary panel and also set the digital radar running with a 400-metre guard zone.

The girls already had their cabin lights on and had decided it would be more comfortable to sit up in bed reading, rather than sit in the darkened saloon, so I joined Janice and Sandy in our cabin.

For once everyone was fully dressed and stayed that way.

We read and chatted quietly, the hatch over our heads wide open. After a while I called for lights out and made sure the girls had complied. Then the wait started .

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There was no fooling around with either lady tonight as they were both too uptight and edgy, Janice repeatedly asking about this and that, until I had to tell her to be quiet so we could hear what might be happening outside.

With all the early warning systems in place, including the best of all, Jasper, it probably wouldn't have mattered if we'd had a party raging. I think we all dozed a bit despite the tension, until about 02:00 when there was a soft, repeating two-tone chime from the speaker above the bed, suggesting the radar had detected a moving target. Sandy and I were moving even before Jasper padded in to give a soft growl and Janice slipped out of bed to her shelter spot in the forward dressing room.

We were already dressed in snug-fitting black gear; Sandy looking particularly erotic in a pair of Angie's black tights that clung lovingly to her more generously-curved bits, plus a dark blue tank top that was much too tight. The erotic look was enhanced by the Glock 22 strapped around her waist and a black bandanna around her head. I had the compact mini-Uzi strapped across my chest in a makeshift quick-reaction rig, with extra magazines in pouches at my waist.

We completed the arsenal with a Gerber Mk II knife strapped to a leg. It was as much for show as anything, but still very effective and frightening at close quarters. As we gained the saloon, I grabbed the Remington TAC-14 pump-action shotgun I'd positioned earlier, while the girls scurried past in a crouch, heading for Janice as part of our plan.

At the nav desk, the radar was still beeping softly, so I killed the alarm and looked at the heavily dimmed display which showed a sharp target heading slowly for us, about 200 metres away.

Flipping it off, job done, I selected the low-light camera and dimmed the green-toned, high-resolution picture of a dinghy with a male and a female aboard, powered by a small outboard, on a curving track which would keep them well seaward of us until they could make their quiet approach from downwind.

As they got closer, the camera showed it was the same man and woman with their handguns in holsters. At about 100 metres, the outboard was shut down and tilted, then they paddled silently toward our stern. A few minutes later, they reached the starboard boarding platform. ‘Showtime,’ I muttered quietly, trying to damp down the adrenalin pumping through my veins. They were out of sight for a minute, until we saw the man's head cautiously poke above the upper step, the woman close behind him.

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‘Close one eye,’ I warned Sandy as he stepped forward to unlatch the safety lines across the top of the steps.

I'd just closed one myself, when there were a series of very bright blue flashes and a brief, choking scream from the man who seemed to be doing a happy dance on the top step, hanging onto the safety lines for balance. The woman grabbed him to help, let out a loud scream as she danced for a few seconds, before falling backwards down the boarding steps.

‘What the fuck...’ Sandy said softly beside me, as the man finally collapsed in a heap on the steps, a dying shower of blue sparks showing curling wisps of smoke rising from him in several places.

‘It's an electric cattle fence controller,’ I muttered back to Sandy, ‘with boosted amperage. 80,000 volts at 200 to 300mAh. The high voltage breaks down the skin resistance and the current level, while very low, is particularly bad for the heart, although supposedly outside the lethal range. But we'll find out. Watch the girl though; she only got a brief hit and could be dangerous.’

‘Good one, Harry,’ Sandy muttered back, sliding the cockpit doors open. ‘I'm glad you didn't warn me. I might have been worried or something.’

I gave her a quick pat on her thinly clad rump, before reaching over to the control panel and flicking two switches. One turned off the electrified fence system, the other turned on a pair of powerful LED spotlights mounted under the cockpit roof and aimed down the boarding steps. The effect was to light up the whole stern like daylight and totally blind the woman who was crawling lopsidedly around on the lower step, while Sandy and I could see perfectly.

I unhooked the safety lines and bent to inspect the crumpled mess, but pulled back at the sharp stink of burnt meat and voided bowels. Instead, I poked him with my boot, but there was no response. I pushed harder and the odorous remains sort of flopped and squelched back down the steps to the disoriented woman's feet.

The brief jolt of electricity she’d copped when she grabbed him was enough to scramble her balance and co-ordination, as she was making awkward attempts to draw her gun. The trouble was, the gun was on her hip and she was groping roughly in the vicinity of her crotch. Or maybe it was just a bad time to have an itch.

However, she must have been recovering quickly, finally managing to find, draw and fire the thing – three, flat sharp cracks echoed across the water, causing me to drop 259

and Sandy to draw and fire her Glock over my head in one fluid motion, hitting the woman's right shoulder and making her drop her gun.

By the time I lifted my head, Sandy had stepped down, carefully avoiding the messy, smelly lump of the former partner, and retrieved the woman's pistol from beside his remains. She dug his pistol out from under his carcase while sh e was there and pushed the shocked woman back up the steps. I looked her over carefully as she came closer, but she seemed to have no other weapon visible on or under the skin-tight jumpsuit.

Sandy roughly shoved her down into a seat, before expertly handc uffing her, thoughtfully threading the chain through the seat drain-hole to prevent her bailing out overboard.

I turned the big lights off, switched the normal cockpit lights on and called Janice and the girls up with the first-aid kit. We then turned our attention to our captive.

She was a good-looking woman in her mid-thirties, I guess, her long, dark hair tied up in a ponytail. As we'd seen on the IR camera view earlier, she was nicely proportioned and would have been very pleasant to look at under normal circumstances, especially in her jump suit. Unfortunately, large, melted patches of fabric, with painful -looking, blistered skin showing through, marred her appearance. Despite the burns, the bullet graze line across the outside of her shoulder was probably the most dominant pain source. Sandy cut away her jumpsuit sleeve, flushed the wound clean, dusted it with antibiotic powder and bound a pad tightly over it.

The woman's eyes were part closed with pain, and by the smell hanging over her, she had lost bladder control at some point, but still smelled a lot better than her partner.

Sandy was on a roll, so I let her carry on with the bad cop routine by smacking the woman hard across the face to focus her attention.

‘Okay, Blossom. Let's hear your story! And don't think about making up a load of bullshit! Anything I don't like the sound of, I'll smack you around some more. Let's start with your names.’

‘I'm Teri Adams and the bloke you electrocuted was my cousin Gerry Adams. I suppose he's carked it?’

‘Yes, he has,’ Sandy replied, with a distinct lack of emotion, but drawing a little gasp from the listening girls in the saloon. ‘He’s learned that it's not polite to board someone else's boat without permission.’

Teri gave a mirthless laugh and shook her head in dismay. ‘Oh fuck! What have we done? I mean, look at you guys – you look like fuckin’ commandos with shotguns, 260

knives and that sub-machine gun. Gerry said it'd be a pushover. Just come over here in the middle of the night, wave our little guns around, then demand the girls be handed over.’

I stepped forward and spoke quietly, ‘And who were you supposed to pass the girls on to when you got hold of them?’

‘The dude who posted the reward. I don't know his name, but he's in Melbourne, I think.

His number is back on the boat. The deal was – as soon as he got the girls back, he'd hand over $50K in cash, no questions asked. And now Gerry's dead and I may as well be. It's not even our boat – I just borrowed it for a few weeks.’

Sandy gave her a hard kick on the side of her thigh. ‘Oh, cut the crap! We're not interested in that shit! You two came here to kidnap two girls at gunpoint and you expect sympathy? Give me a break! Do you know the penalty for kidnapping?’

Teri looked at the floor and shook her head slowly, so Sandy enlightened her.

‘Try twenty-five years just for the kidnapping bit, then toss in assault with a deadly weapon, unlicensed firearms and unlawful trespass. You might see the light of day when you turn 70.’

As tears flooded down her cheeks, I thought it was my turn to play semi-good cop, so I asked, ‘Who else is involved in this little kidnap scheme?’

She looked up at me, ‘No-one, I promise. My uncle owns the boat and lets me use it when I want, so it was no problem to borrow it for a while, but he didn't know about this caper.’

‘Got that. But how did you know we were here?’

She shrugged. ‘We didn't. The dude who let the contract said you were on a boat with a cat, running around the Bass Strait ports and islands. This was the second island we looked at 'cause it's closest to Melbourne where we started from. We checked Deal Island over there yesterday, and if you weren't here at Erith, we were going to do the Flinders group, then move west. You could say we just got lucky or very unlucky as it's turned out.’

That long-winded speech seemed to drain her meagre resources as she slumped in her chair and closed her eyes, fresh floods of tears running down her cheeks.

Sandy pulled me into the saloon and closed the heavy sliding door, still keeping an eye on our prisoner.