Hitch Hikers by Ian Dolby - HTML preview

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‘What the fuck are we going to do with her now?’ Sandy demanded angrily. ‘This is such a total cockup. These people are morons to think they could just waltz up to us in the middle of the night and demand we meekly hand the girls over.’

‘Oh, and don't forget these,’ she added as she handed me the two pistols taken from Teri and Gerry.

I was surprised how light they were, for what seemed like a full-size pistol.

‘Okay. I'll bite. What are they?’

‘Someone’s idea of a good close-range pistol. They’re Kel-Tec PMR 30’s, loading a .22

Magnum cartridge. It's actually a very good gun – light, accurate, reliable and with a nearly flat trajectory out to twenty metres or so, and a thirty-round magazine. Not a lot of stopping power at a distance, but good up close if you've got a steady hand.’

‘Excellent. They'll make a good addition to the armoury. I guess ammo is easy to get?’

‘Oh, sure. And they’re good things in the right hands.’

‘Fine. Now, about our captive; I think you should flash your badge and formally arrest her for actual assault with a deadly weapon, attempted kidnapping and trespass. We'll have to somehow turn her over to the Victorian Police, since we can't keep guard on her for too long.’

Sandy thought a moment, ‘That'll be a problem. Any official involvement will mean a full investigation and we can't afford to get bogged down right now.’

‘True,’ I replied, ‘but she won’t know that. Perhaps when you report to Bob Casey, he might be able to suggest a way.’

‘Yeah, alright. I'll sound him out. I'll have to report this latest incident anyway.’

‘We'll have to report this to everyone on our list, so let's do it once we've tidied things up and buggered off. But first, I thought we’d search their boat for any more information or stuff that’ll be useful. Then we can head for the nearest civilisation with both boats as soon as it's daylight.’

‘What about the man, Gerry?’ Janice asked, a tremble in her voice.

‘He’ll go overboard. We can’t officially explain his condition, so the story is, he fell overboard in the initial scuffle, drowned and drifted away in the dark. I don’t think Teri will challenge it, and there won't be any remains left with seals and white pointers as the clean-up crew.’

The girls nodded agreement, looking far more resolute and accepting of the horrific situation than Janice.

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CHAPTER 52... Firebird... East Cove, Erith Is...Sunday The remaining hours of darkness were busy with clean-up duties. Teri, our captive, was fed some painkillers, allowed to hang her bum out over the stern for a toilet break, then was laid out on the cockpit settee. She was handcuffed to a grab rail and had her ankles strapped with tape.

Sandy shocked the hell out of her by flashing her Police badge with the usual ID

notifications, before formally arresting her on a list of charges that could see her incarcerated for the next forty years. Teri didn’t notice and Sandy didn’t dwell on the fact she was a Queensland copper.

Her cousin's stinking remains were unceremoniously pushed overboard, the normal sweep of tide through the little bay ensuring the body would be carried out into the channel.

I cleaned the stern steps and cockpit of various body fluids with powerful detergent and bleach. I found one bullet hole in the cockpit overhang, and it was quickly patched with white epoxy putty. Seeing it made me glad I’d ducked.

The girls helped with the cleaning, treating the whole affair as another part of their wild adventure. While they initially wanted to feed our captive, I noticed they were becoming increasing angry toward her. Their main complaint was the steady stream of bad guys still coming at us. Since she was the only live body they’d had a chance to vent at, she copped it!

Their level of maturity under the threats to their freedom continued to amaze me .

Finally, they checked with me before they made Teri some toast and wanted to know if they could wind her up a bit. I waved my hand carelessly, ‘Sure, go for it. Wind her up all you want. She’s the one who nearly shot me and wanted to kidnap you.’

They traded whispers and evil grins, then when the toast was ready, I heard them say to Teri, ‘We thought you might like something to eat, even though you were going to kidnap us and take us back to our paedophile father.’

‘What? What are you talking about?’ Teri answered. ‘Whose father?’

‘Our father, you dumb bitch.’

‘Are you saying the dude who let the contract is your father?’

‘Yep,’ was the joint answer. ‘As well as being a paedophile, he was going to sell us as sex-slaves to some jerk-off in the Middle East.’

‘Bullshit! No father would do that!’

‘You're half-right. No normal father would do that, but ours isn’t, and that’s his plan.’

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She looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘Do you have any way to prove it?’

Angie shrugged. ‘What does it matter? We don’t care whether you believe us or not. If it was up to Zoe and me, we'd just dump you.’

‘What? You mean you’d let me go?’

Angie gave an evil laugh. ‘No way. We can't afford to let you walk. It’s much safer to get rid of you permanently. You and your idiot cousin tried to make a dollar by grabbing us against our will. Just so our filthy, rotten father could sell us for a lot of money.’

Teri blinked at the change in tone of Angie's voice.

‘Do you seriously think we care about your miserable, fucking future? We just pushed your cousin's stinking remains overboard without blinking an eye, so getting rid of you isn’t a problem. Look at where you are. We dump you overboard out near the channel, after making a few knife cuts. The sharks will pull you apart before you can even think about swimming ashore. Problem solved.’

Teri's eyes reflected pure horror, totally convinced these pretty young girls were stone-cold killers.

‘But you can't just kill me like that?’ she protested weakly.

‘Really? Why not? You didn't care about our fate when you came to snatch us for money.’

‘But we didn’t think... we thought it was just a family dispute.’

‘Really! What sort of ‘family dispute’ is it where the father offers to pay $50K to retrieve his wife and daughters? You didn’t think that strange? Fuck me! You’re even stupider than we thought.’

‘But we thought $50K was the going rate. We've never done anything like this before.’

With devastating logic, Angie replied. ‘Well, I guarantee you won’t be doing anything else again. Wake up dummy! You're the ones who came in the middle of the night with guns in your hands. You tried to shoot Harry, but couldn’t even get that right. You knew what you were doing all along – the pair of you just got a severe attack of the greedys.

More fool you!’

Teri blinked away a fresh flood of tears, ‘But there must be some way I can be worth something to you?’

Angie looked thoughtful. ‘Buggered if I know what you could do. You're not very good-looking, and way too stupid to be good in bed, so that's out. I do the cooking and the Skipper and Zoe run the boat, so you’re no use there. Maybe if you've got a shitload of money, you could try buying your way out, although we're all pretty well cashed up for 264

now.’ Angie shook her head and with a rueful expression, said, ‘Nope. Sorry. Can't think of anything useful.

‘But.....’

Angie hardened her voice abruptly. ‘No! No buts! Like, if we kept you, we're going to have to guard you. Then we have to haul you down to the toilet occasionally, although we could just tie you to the stern platform and let you piss and crap yourself all you wanted. Oh, yes. We also have to feed your stinking, rotten body. And as I'm the chief cook, that really pisses me off – wasting good tucker on you. Have I left anything out?

No? Well, there you have it. You have zero value and are a drain on our resources and time.’

If Teri had her hands free, she would have been wringing them by now as she pleaded with these steely-eyed killers. ‘Please can I talk to the Skipper? Maybe he'll have a different view of the situation.’

‘Hmm, I doubt it. Even though he's a man, waggling your tits and pussy at him won't help. You might have noticed that the rest of the crew are female – that means we get to outvote him. A big cock only goes so far when it comes to voting rights around here .’

Teri saw her last chance blowing away with the breeze, ‘But I don't want to die!’ she wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Angie lowered her face so their noses were almost touching, and in a quiet, but hard tone said, ‘And Zoe and I don't want to be sold to a pox-ridden, goat-fucking paedophile on the other side of the world either! Think about that, you rotten, money-grubbing bitch! Now eat your toast before I shove it up your diseased fanny!’

Angie stood up – her face flushed with real anger at the stupidity of this piece of thoughtless garbage, while Teri turned her face away and broke out into a fresh flood of wailing, convinced that her demise was imminent.

The girls came back inside and saw we had heard the exchange. We all trooped down to our cabin for a private talk.

‘What can we do with her?’ Angie asked, perched on the end of the bed, ‘Is there really anything to gain by trying to convince her about our story?’

Sandy shook her head, ‘Nah. Ignore her. You can still have some fun winding her up if you want to, but we’ve decided to turn her over to the Victorian Police, after I talk to my boss about how we can make that work.’

Angie looked thoughtful, ‘We think she was genuinely shocked about Dad, so perhaps she and her dopey cousin were just stupid.’

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‘Yep, they were and are just that. Nothing more.’

Angie and Zoe exchanged one of those twin-type glances, before Angie asked casually,

‘Can we really throw a big scare into her? Like, pretend we’re going to shoot her or something like that?’

Janice looked worried, Sandy thoughtful, so I said, ‘Guns aren’t meant to be played with. Accidents happen too easily, but there might be a way that ’s safe, provided you do exactly what I say.’

They nodded seriously, so I went up to the saloon where Sandy had been cleaning and checking our haul of weapons and selected one of the Kel-Tec 30's. I found a magazine that was about half-full and stepped into the cockpit. I didn't look at Teri, stretched out on the seats and sobbing quietly. I just inserted the magazine, worked the slide, flicked the safety off and aiming out over the water, squeezed the trigger. I was rewarded with a sharp crack, a mild recoil and a splash about where I'd aimed, 50

metres off the beam. It was fun, so I did it again.

Ignoring Teri's renewed whimpering, I returned to our cabin.

In front of the girls, I removed the magazine, ejected the loaded round, then emptied the magazine. I showed Angie the empty magazine and the empty firing chamber, inserted the magazine, then handed her the pistol, butt first.

She looked at me with questioning eyes.

‘It’s okay. I’ve set the stage for you up top and the gun is guaranteed empty. When you’re up there, go through the motions of cocking the gun and flick the safety off.

I suggest you aim at her head as it's the quickest way to kill, and with a small calibre like this, it's the least messy. You'd better hold it against her ear. That way the small slug won’t ricochet off bone, then squeeze the trigger. I’m confident you’ll frighten the shit out of her, so be prepared for a clean-up.’

Angie nodded, worked the slide then squeezed the trigger. There was a smooth, oily click as the action fired. She did it again, then smiled at Zoe.

‘C’mon, sis. We’ve got a bitch to shoot.’

We followed and stopped inside the saloon, watching as Angie approached Teri, who looked at her, and then at the black, menacing form of the gun held steady in her hand.

‘Oh no, no! Don't do this. I'll do anything you want, but please don't do this to me! ’

‘Pity you didn't think of that when you and your moronic cousin hatched this stupid plan that would enslave me and my sister for life.’

‘But we didn't know about that,’ she wailed. ‘I told you!’

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‘Too bad, bitch! Time to pay the price for your greed and stupidity!’

Angie cocked the gun, flicked the safety off, placed the muzzle close to Teri's temple and started to squeeze the trigger.

‘Hang on Angie,’ said Zoe, ‘the bullet might not go in like that. Stick it in her ear like Harry suggested.’

‘Oh, bugger. Sorry, I forgot.’ She jammed the muzzle into Teri’s ear and squeezed the trigger.

Teri had shut her eyes and howled, although the loud click of the hammer falling on an empty chamber, silenced her protest.

Angie lowered the gun, a look of immense satisfaction on her face despite the stink of voided bowels and bladder which filled the cockpit. I waved Janice and Sandy back, as I stepped out of the saloon and without speaking, held my hand out to Angie, as she calmly flicked the safety back on and handed the pistol to me, butt first in approved fashion.

‘Sorry about the mess, Harry,’ she said, ‘but we’ll clean it up.’

‘No problem,’ I replied, taking a quick look. ‘No harm done.’

Beside us, the recumbent form of Teri Adams lay unmoving along the settee, until after a while, her head slowly turned and she stared up at us with a look of abject terror frozen on her face, her eyes wide like a rabbit caught in a car's headlights. Her mouth tried to work, but with little success, obviously in deep shock.

‘Nice acting, by the way,’ I commented casually, as I reloaded the magazine with the loose rounds from my pocket.

‘Thanks, Harry. But if we’re going to play with real guns, you'd better teach us to shoot them properly. That was almost fun.’

‘Yeah. It is fun, but I'll get Sandy to teach you – she's the professional instructor.’

‘Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.’ She reached up and gave me a hug and a kiss. ‘Thanks for everything!’ she whispered.

Zoe did the same and I knew what she meant. A reply wasn’t necessary.

Teri remained deeply shocked by her brush with death, so the girls left her in her own mess, and I was glad I'd removed the thickly padded vinyl seat cushions before parking her there. It would make the clean-up easier.

Back in the saloon, Janice was visibly getting into outraged mother mode.

With hands on her hips, she demanded, ‘What was that all about, Harry?’

Angie stepped forward, her hand on my arm to forestall my automatic response.

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‘It's nothing to do with Harry, Mum,’ she stated. ‘Zoe and I needed to have some payback against these mongrels who keep coming at us. In this case, we wanted to put the biggest scare into her we possibly could.’

She gave a wry grin, ‘I think we achieved that objective, don't you?’

Janice nodded, lost the attitude, and had a little cry as she enfolded both girls in a mother/daughter hug type thing.

When that finally broke up, Angie announced, ‘Payback isn't over yet, however! Harry said we could handle it, so we're going to finish it properly. She's not getting away without paying the most severe penalty we can devise.’ She delivered a stern look at her Mum, who finally nodded, while Sandy and I smiled benignly.

‘Right.’ Angie stated, ‘We're going to do the clean-up, so could we have the handcuff key please Sandy?’

Sandy handed it over without comment, as Zoe grabbed some cleaning gear from under the galley sink and they headed back up to the cockpit. Janice looked at us and rather ruefully uttered the understatement of the year, ‘I think my little babies have grown up.’

Sandy and I refrained from saying, 'We did say!' but Janice got the message anyway.

CHAPTER 53...East Cove, Erith Is...Sunday

Fifteen minutes later, we heard a half-choked cry from the stern area, followed by a loud splash, so we ventured out into the cockpit, with Jasper asked to remain in the saloon, since he was the back-up guard and enforcer. The seats were now squeaky clean, as was the cockpit floor and a pleasant lemon scent replaced the foul odours from before. A razor-sharp filleting knife lay on the table beside the handcuffs.

We spied the girls down on the boarding platform, both giggling. Angie held one end of a mooring rope, Zoe the end of another one.

Stepping closer, we saw Teri had been stripped naked, her tattered, stained and bloodied jumpsuit stuffed in a plastic bag, while the rope Angie was holding had been tied tightly around her neck. Zoe had the other end of her rope tied tightly to Teri's ankle.

They had shoved her over the stern into the water, presumably to clean her off, and in case she decided to object to her treatment, all Zoe had to do was pull up on her rope 268

and Teri was neatly upended. They gave us a demonstration of how well the system worked, even though Teri hadn't become feisty. It must have worked, as all was peaceful, except for Teri's spluttering and choking.

‘How does that look?’ Angie asked. ‘Is she clean enough to let back on board?’

I couldn't help myself and called out, ‘Yeah. Looks pretty good to me. Her bum's clean as well.’

That earned me a poke in the ribs from both ladies and a genuine giggle from the girls which was welcome to hear, as they reversed the load on the ropes and Teri's head emerged, hair plastered all over her face that had turned a bluish tinge, coughing and retching seawater.

‘Good work girls,’ I called, ‘although that might be enough. Shall I put the kettle on?’

‘Yes please Harry. We won't be much longer.’

‘Good-o. I'll call when it's ready.’

They waved and turned back to their unhappy subject, who wasn't going to be invited to the early morning tea party.

When Janice and I brought the tea out, we saw the girls had handcuffed Teri, naked, shivering and totally dispirited, to the handrail beside the boarding platform. For good measure, they’d tied one ankle to a cleat well out of her reach and were in high spirits, more like their old selves, which was great to hear.

‘Did we do well?’ Angie asked, a little anxiously now the hard part was over.

‘You did beautifully,’ I responded, ‘and I'm proud of you. I'm sure your Mum and Sandy are too.’

They nodded enthusiastically, and the girls beamed, tension flooding out of them as they sipped the hot tea, to which I'd sneakily added a heavy measure of dark rum. They were too wired to notice and shortly after we had a pair of slightly intoxicated girls loudly replaying the funniest parts of their involvement with their latest kidnapping attempt.

We had breakfast soon after the sun struggled above the horizon, revealing what promised to be a beautiful day, the wind still from the north and quite warm. Normally I'd recommend we stay put and enjoy the idyllic setting, but a live captive, uncle's boat and yet another dead body meant making fresh plans.

Therefore, we sat inside for another round-table conference, with Teri well out of hearing range down on the stern platform.

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I started with, ‘My plan is to go search their boat and retrieve any documents, ammunition and weapons they might have left there. We then check their boat out to make sure there's enough fuel and supplies to be able to reach the mainland.’

‘Where are we going to head for?’ Janice asked. ‘Are we still going to turn Teri over to the police?’

‘Yes, but that’ll depend on what Sandy’s boss comes up with. We can't keep her and we definitely can't let her go. I checked the charts and Port Welshpool is the closest port. It's only a small town, but hopefully there'll be a Police Station somewhere close by, although before we talk to any local coppers, we'll have to come up with a cover story for what's happened.’

‘Okay. What's your suggestion?’

I looked at Sandy, who, by way of answer, got up and retrieved the SatPhone from the chart-table charger, and dialled a number from memory, putting it on speaker so we could hear.

‘Good morning sir, this is Senior Thomson with a report on my activities.’

‘Ah...and a very good morning to you too, Sergeant.’

‘Ah...sir. It's Senior Constable Thomson calling, not Sergeant.’

‘Oh dear, my fault for not telling you. I have the pleasure to inform you that you've been promoted to Sergeant as of two weeks ago. Congratulations, Sergeant Thomson. ’

‘I'm overwhelmed, sir and thank you very much, but I urgently need to report some further happenings.’

‘Of course, Sandy. I'm just having a bit of fun with you. Delighted my request to the Commissioner was approved immediately. But please, go ahead, I'm recording. ’

She then proceeded to bring him up-to-date, and once again he was very pleased with the outcome of the attack, but appalled it had happened so soon after the last o ne.

‘We have a problem with what do with our captive, sir. We'd prefer not to have to shoot her just to keep the news of this mess quiet, and we'd have housekeeping problems with keeping her aboard under constant guard.’

‘Oh, I don't think there's any need for further bloodshed Sergeant, although if the prisoner decides to make a run for it, that’s a different matter. However, I just happen to have been to a seminar on Interstate Service Co-operation, where I met the Inspector in charge of the Foster Police Station, which I believe is just west of Port Welshpool. We had some good times and for reasons I won't go into, he owes me a few favours, so I reckon I can twist his arm enough to take your prisoner off your hands.’

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‘That would be terrific, sir,’ Sandy replied. ‘Harry’s just looked it up and says Foster isn't far from Port Welshpool, which is where we plan to head within the next couple of hours. We could be there early evening or tomorrow morning. Can you let me know soonest if your Inspector friend is able to help?’

‘No problem Sandy. I fact, I was only speaking to him last week to arrange a fishing trip down that way when I take some overdue leave. I'll get back to you shortly, but in the meantime, congratulations on your promotion, and to all of you for dealing so well with yet another attempt to grab the girls.’

‘Thank you sir, on both counts. I'll standby for your call.’

Sandy looked at me. ‘How about that? What a coincidence that old Bob knows an Inspector down here. Let's hope he comes good with a plan.’

‘Yeah. It would make things much easier. I wasn't looking forward to making up a story that would convince a Victorian copper, without having to flash my warrant.’

Sandy looked at me thoughtfully, ‘You can do that?’

‘Very reluctantly,’ I replied. ‘Breaking cover is never a good idea since people always leak info, no matter if you threaten them with Divine Retribution or even worse, the National Security Act.’

I let Janice call Rob to report, but asked her to keep it short. She did, while also asking him to let Annette know.

I called Hillary and passed on the short version, even though she demanded full details.

I told her we might be in Victorian waters as early as tomorrow and she was naturally keen to meet up as soon as possible.

It was another fifteen minutes before Bob Casey called back to say his mate, Inspector Jack Pearson from Foster, would meet us at the Port Welshpool Public wharf at 09 :30

tomorrow morning, if that was suitable. He gave us a number for Jack in case we were delayed, but suggested we might like to call him anyway. With those details taken care of for the moment, we continued with the plan to check out Orion.

Ignoring Teri’s naked form on the stern platform, I decided that we'd take their boat's dinghy rather than re-launch ours, so we left Jasper in charge, but out of sight while we all went to look at our prize.

It was an impressive boat, well-designed and built, and if I were in the market for a small powerboat, it would be my choice of ride. All was ship-shape aboard, so it was probably Teri who was the real boatie. There were two cabins forward of the 271

wheelhouse and both were reasonably tidy. We went through everything and found hundreds of rounds of .22 Magnum ammunition for the PMR 30s, as well as various knives. Gerry had a large amount of cash stuffed in his bag which we grabbed, as well as his wallet with driver's licence and any other ID we could find relating to him.

Angie selected some basic underwear and clothes for Teri, although I had the feeling she wouldn’t see them anytime soon. We left the rest of her belongings, thinking she could pack up in the morning.

I checked Orion's systems as best I could. There was plenty of fuel for the run back to the mainland, as it was only 55nm. If the Orion could make 8 to 10 knots and we left before 12:00, we should easily be anchored for the night on the west side of Snake Island, which sat blocking the direct approach to Port Welshpool. I planned to keep Firebird away from the port and hopefully any direct association with the Orion, since we'd be leaving it behind for its rightful owner – Teri's uncle.

I made a note-to-self to get his phone number, but in the meantime, I took Zoe on the rounds of inspection, while Angie looked through the stock of supplies for anything we could use.

‘How would you like to drive this thing to Port Welshpool?’ I asked her.

‘What, by myself?’

‘Not quite,’ I smiled, ‘Sandy would be with you to help with lookout duties and pee breaks, and I'd have Firebird in close company with the radar going. Plus, we have a marine VHF radio to chat on.’

She grinned, ‘It sounds like fun. Sure, I'd love to. But are we going into port t onight?’

‘No. I'll show you on the chart where we'll anchor around the corner from Port Welshpool overnight. Then tomorrow, Sandy and I will take Teri in the Orion up to the port and meet the Police Inspector.’

She grinned again, ‘Sounds great, Harry. Good fun.’

The boat was quite well equipped for day trips, but lacked radar and an autopilot, but with two to handle steering duties, they'd be fine. We tested the engine, a very nice six -

cylinder Yanmar diesel which seemed to be overly powerful for the boat size and displacement, but it fired up instantly and idled smoothly.

Perhaps Teri's uncle just liked extra power. I let it run for a while so Zoe could see how all the systems worked, including testing the winch and the gearshift, but the boat had been well maintained and after everything was checked, I shut the engine down.

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We found a chart and I drew our course, but since that direct track went through a couple of little islands, I commented we might have to deviate around those to avoid scratching the paint. That earned me a poke in the ribs, but it was a good sign her sense of humour was back.

In the aft cabin, Angie, Janice and Sandy had piled up the food we could use, leaving enough for the crew to nibble on during the trip. I was pleased to see several bottles of rum included in the haul.

Loading all our booty into bags, we filled the dinghy and returned to Firebird, where Jasper gave us a warm welcome, while receiving a very frosty one from our captive who seemed to have recovered from her clean-up procedure very quickly.

‘When do I get released from here?’ she demanded.

I hand-balled that one to Angie.

‘When Zoe and I decide, bitch-face,’ she snarled. ‘Every demand like that will make it longer.’

That was an effective argument stopper, so we ignored her whining protests and got on with lugging all our booty inside. I noticed the items of clothing for Teri were taken below without comment. When all was stowed to Angie's satisfaction, I called a brief conference.

‘Zoe and Sandy are going to drive the Orion to Port Welshpool. We'll leave shortly and travel in close convoy, but we won't go into port until tomorrow morning. ’

I looked at Sandy, ‘Take your Glock and extra magazines, just in case, but that's all you should need. There's plenty of basic food, drinks and water aboard to keep you going, and we should be anchored off Snake Island well before dark. We should.....’

I was interrupted by a shriek of terror from the stern, and after we'd rushed out to see what was happening, we cracked up with laughter. Our naked captive had forced herself up the steps as far as the handcuff's and the rope would allow. The source of her terror was our newest best friend, the male fur seal, having heaved most of his massive bulk up onto the stern platform to see if this human had any fish to bribe him with. Not finding any fish, he seemed content to nuzzle her in places she apparently didn't want to be nuzzled, but that wasn't going to deter the seal from giving her a good, friendly going over with his whiskery face and cold, wet nose.

Unfortunately, she didn't seem to appreciate his friendly attention and continued to sound off as though she was about to be eaten alive. We let him have his way with her for a few more minutes, but when the female and her pup popped their grinning heads 273

up to see what all the fuss was about, Zoe went down the steps on the other stern and lured all three away with smelly fish handouts.

Teri's shrieks abruptly shut off.

‘You rotten bastards!’ she screamed, in response to our continued laughter. ‘You knew he'd come up after fish. You might have warned me. Arseholes!’

‘What? And miss seeing you piss yourself again?’ Angie retorted, as we noticed the yellow puddle she was lying in.

Several more uncomplimentary remarks were directed up at us, until Angie called out to Zoe who was scratching the little pup's chin, his mother benignly looking on, ‘Hey, Zoe. The little princess over here needs to be washed off again.’

‘No. No, I don't! I'm just fine like this,’ was the quick reply. ‘I love lying in my own piss. I just got warm.’

‘Sorry, precious,’ said Zoe, shaking her head in mock dismay. ‘That's not allowed.

Special guests aren’t allowed to get comfortable.’ She tipped the rest of the fish from the bucket into three gaping mounts, scooped up a load of seawater and marched across to the other steps and tossed it accurately down onto the cursing woman.

‘Here we are. Lovely fresh seawater, strongly flavoured with rotten fish. Must be good, the seals like it.’

Wisely, Teri shut her mouth. The water washed her urine away and soaked her again, as we prepared for sea, leaving her there.

CHAPTER 54...Erith Is / Snake Is / Pt Welshpool, Victoria...Sunday Preparations didn't take long and once I saw Orion hauling anchor, I did the same. We led the way, with Zoe hanging off our starboard quarter. We tested the radio, and found a channel fairly free of the endless fishing boat and drill-rig tender chatter. I trimmed sails to maintain around nine to ten knots into a short, choppy sea, letting Zoe adjust her speed to match. Orion looked to be travelling all right, although bouncing around and tossing a lot of spray over her bow, while we were bobbing along very comfortably under reduced sail.

I had Zoe make a radio check every thirty minutes, but they had no complaints and sounded like they were having fun.

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We'd left at 11:15 and the chart plotter suggested in its annoyingly precise way, that we would arrive at our designated anchoring point at 17:42.

And we did, after successfully dodging contact with Hogan Island and a cluster of un-named little rocky islets not far off the coast. We safely entered the wide, sandy channel leading to Corner Inlet, between Snake Island and the nearest chunk of mainland which was Wilson's Promontory. The water smoothed in the shelter of the land and a couple of miles up the channel, we tucked ourselves in a small gutter against the Snake Island shore, well clear of the busy channel.

I'd deliberately left the care or otherwise of our prisoner to Angie, although she didn't need to do much on the trip, except wander out occasionally to see if she'd fallen overboard. I anchored first, then had Zoe do the same, but very close so that we could raft up with lots of fenders between the hulls for the night. Two boats tied together tend to disguise the lines of both, so I was happy with this small subterfuge. I made sure there were the necessary anchor lights burning, but naturally, we all stayed on Firebird.

‘How's your prisoner?’ Sandy asked Angie with a grin.

She laughed, ‘Very unhappy. I left her on the boarding platform the whole way over and I think she got seasick since there's a bit of mess around her. I'd have thought her stomach would be empty by now, but I washed her off with fresh water. ’

‘Very generous,’ Sandy grinned, ‘but what's your plan for the night?’

‘Ah! For the last part of our diabolical plan, we need the co-operation of Jasper,’ she said, looking at me.

I shrugged, ‘Let's hear it. I’m pretty sure he’ll understand.’

‘Oh, it's not too difficult. We thought we’d sit her on the toilet on Orion, handcuffed to some pipework, with Jasper on guard outside the door. That way, we don't have to sit up all night. She can have a towel to drape over her, and we’ll take all her clothes from her cabin and the key to the boat. But I can't see her getting out past Jasper.’

We all had a good chuckle and I thought Jasper would be happy to do the guard-cat bit.

It took some organising, but we managed to set it up as Angie had suggested. Angie fed Teri a sandwich and a bottle of water after we'd eaten, then the girls carefully untied her and led her up to the cockpit. Most of the defiance had left her, but both Sandy and I had too much experience with supposedly docile prisoners to take chances. Still, she stayed quiet and didn't curse anybody.

That was until she met Jasper.

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The girls had her in the cockpit, both hands cuffed in front, with Zoe hanging onto the ankle rope. The cockpit lights were off and she didn’t see Jasper's black form in the dimness.

Teri bravely asked, ‘What are you going to do with me now?’

We let Angie run the show again. ‘We're all tired so we're going to bed. But you're going to spend the night cuffed to the toilet aboard Orion. It won’t be a good idea to try to sink the boat, since you’re the only one aboard. You’ll have a bottle of water, and the best part is that you'll have your very own, personal guard all night.’

Teri sneered, ‘At least one of you gets to stay awake watching. That's something. ’

Angie shook her head. ‘Sorry bitch! We're all going to be asleep, but you haven't met our other crewmember, Jasper. He's the guard.’

Teri looked around, ‘Where is he? I didn't know there was another one of you.’

‘Right here,’ I said, taking my cue. ‘Jasper. Here boy. Come and sniff this bad person.’

My beautiful big cat rose and silently padded forward out of the shadows, his hu ge gleaming green eyes fixed on Teri, who jumped with fright as he seemed to appear from nowhere.

‘Holy crap! What the fuck's that thing?’

‘This is Jasper, and he's looking after you tonight. But be careful what you say. He already doesn’t like you, and gets upset when he’s verbally abused. That’s not a good thing. Anyway, he's going to check you out, so stand very still unless you want to be mauled.’

I squatted down beside Jasper's head. ‘This is a very bad lady. She tried to hurt the girls, just like the last bad man you ate,’ I emphasised the latter, and Jasper obliged by emitting a soft, deep, rumbling growl. ‘She's not to leave the room where we put her, unless I‘m there. Understand?’

Once again to everyone's disbelief, my big cat turned his head and looked at me and huffed a meaty breath in my face, as if to say, 'Of course I understand. You humans must think I'm stupid!'

Despite her obvious uneasiness, Teri still managed to bluster, ‘This is bullshit! I don't know what that thing is, but he can't understand you speaking to him like that. You might fool others, but not me.’

I smiled and shrugged, ‘As you wish. But you shouldn't test his patience. Once Jasper starts on you, he won't stop.’

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Jasper stepped closer, briefly sniffed her over with obvious distaste, stepped back, and let loose with his loudest and most spine-chilling yowl. Teri would have jumped overboard in fright if Zoe didn't have such a tight hold on her ankle rope – all her bluster was gone in a flash.

With those niceties dispensed with, we escorted our newly subdued and still-naked prisoner to the toilet on board Orion, sat her down cuffed securely to a thick water pipe with her hands in front, draped a towel over her head and shoulders and left her, closing the door after turning out the light.

‘You can do what you want,’ Angie called out, ‘but Jasper will be lying on your mattress on the floor outside the door all night. If he hears anything he doesn't like, he' ll break the door down, in which case you won't survive. Sweet dreams.’

A string of filthy curses followed us out, until Jasper gave one long, savage growl, then abruptly, quiet was restored.

I was up several times during the night to check the boats' position and each time crept silently down near the toilet cubicle to listen, but she stayed quiet. Each time, of course, Jasper was sitting up waiting to be patted, emitting a soft, rumbling purr.

Next morning, we marched our prisoner, stiff, sore and cold over to Firebird where she was treated to a hot shower on the stern platform. She remained under close scrutiny, mine included, since I really don't mind looking at any shapely, naked females, especially one taking a shower. We took her restraints off, since Jasper sat just one step away, emitting a rumbling growl every few seconds to remind her that jumping overboard would be futile. I took the precaution of mentioning that Jasper loved swimming, and as Snake Island was named for the countless, deadly tiger snakes which thrived there, going ashore wouldn’t be a good option either.

The last bit wasn't true, since the island had few if any snakes, but it helped keep our prisoner docile.

Right on 09:00, Teri, now dressed in her own clothes, with Sandy and me on board Orion, were ready to head for Port Welshpool. At the last moment, I allowed Angie to come, leaving Janice and Zoe minding Firebird with Jasper as a watch-cat. We hauled Orion's dinghy up on the stern davits, and towed our own RIB to make the run back after our delivery. Zoe waved forlornly as we rumbled away up the channel.

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There was a steady stream of private and commercial fishing boats as well as big rig tenders, moving up and down the channel, so we were just one more unremarkable boat in the crowd.

By 09:20, we were nosing into a space on the wharf between the public boat ramp and the commercial slipway. Sandy decided to handcuff her prisoner to a handrail down below, now that civilisation was close at hand.

We tied up and waited for Inspector Jack Pearson to arrive, although we didn’t expect him in a highway patrol car, complete with multi-coloured stripes and light bar, wheeling into the dirt parking lot, attracting a lot of attention. A uniformed female Sergeant and a tall, slim man in neat, casual clothing climbed out and wandered down toward us.

Sandy and I stepped out to greet them, leaving Angie inside out of public view, keeping an eye on Teri.

Inspector Pearson introduced himself as Jack and his Sergeant as Jill Tracy, a solidly built, amiable woman with a laid-back manner who, nevertheless, looked highly competent.

‘Don't say it!’ Jack said, matching our grins. ‘We cop that shit all the time.’

They addressed Sandy as Sergeant, showing that Bob Casey had pre-warned them and accepted her status, but weren't so sure about me. As we swapped brief CVs, I smiled to ease the tension that seems to build when police officers meet officially with those they regard as from the 'Dark Side', and said, ‘Let's just say that, under the strictest confidence, I'm associated with the Commonwealth mob. ’

That raised a pair of eyebrows.

‘Ah... so is this an official Commonwealth operation?’ Jack asked.

‘Yes, it is,’ I said, ‘but due to the nature of the investigation, there's nothing you'd discover with a call to the front desk. However, such a call could open a very large can of worms that could screw-up the operation, but if you really need to have reassurance this is all legitimate, I will reluctantly show you a document, but you'd both have to sign the National Security Act first.’

Jack waved his hand dismissively, although with a look on his face that suggested he had just bitten into a particularly sour lemon. ‘No need. Bob vouched for Sandy and yourself, so I'll accept it, but I'm sure you understand we country coppers hate it when something's going down in our area and we know fuck-all about it.’

I thought a moment, glanced at Sandy who nodded, then asked Jack, ‘How much did Bob tell you?’

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Jack grimaced, ‘He's a great bloke with an excellent reputation, but he didn't say much either.’ He gave me a hard look then bluntly stated, ‘Despite me saying I'll do him a favour, I really need to know a bit more about why we're here to collect a female prisoner under what I regard as very peculiar circumstances. By that, I mean a Queensland Police Sergeant working undercover with an ACP deep undercover operative, turning up with an arrested Victorian citizen accused of atte mpted kidnapping, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. Plus, the associated

‘conspiracy to commit’ stuff.’

I looked at Sandy again and, bunging it on a bit, sighed theatrically. ‘Okay. I can understand your concern and I don't want to put you or Bob in a difficult spot, so we'd better sit a spell and we'll give you the short version of the situation. ’

That at least earned me a reluctant smile as Jack said, ‘Any version, so long as it's not the bullshit one, will be very welcome at this stage! ’

I nodded then asked, ‘We have Sandy's prisoner here on board, and she can't be allowed to hear any of what I have to say, even though she's managed to involve herself in part of it. There's also a young lady with us who is one of the reasons for the whole thing.’

That really raised his and Jill's eyebrows, so Jack looked around and noted, ‘It's a nice day. If you've got any folding chairs aboard that thing, we could sit out on the stern deck. We need to hear this straight. No crap!’

Sandy found some chairs; I asked Angie to join us and handcuffed Teri back in the forward toilet where she'd be well out of hearing and couldn't open the door. The gaffer tape over her mouth had a lot to do with keeping her quiet.

It was really very pleasant on the rear deck, especially when Angie whipped up some tea and coffee, as well as finding some choccy-chip biscuits they'd stashed away.

When seated, I launched into a much-abbreviated story of what had been happening so far. To avoid any official unpleasantness or the need for premature investigation, I left out the Hunter Island seaplane attack, but described the first at Wynyard, since it was already a matter of Police record, but glossed over the demise of Gerry Adams at Erith Island, by saying that he'd fallen overboard early in the fight and must have drowned, because his body wasn't sighted again. The news of his death deepened the pall of gloom, hanging like a small thunder-cloud over our visitor’s heads, especially when I handed over his and Teri’s identification.

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Sandy tried to ease the potential drama over the death by adding, ‘If you regard his demise as happening in Tasmanian waters, then it isn't your problem. At least for now. ’

Jack gave a wry smile. ‘Good try Sandy, but I could apply that reasoning just as easily to the happenings involving Miss Adams. The only difference is that you lot have lobbed her and this boat into my lap.’

It was just as well Sandy and Angie were there to corroborate my story, Commonwealth copper association or not, since in Jack's view, we were talking about some serious shit going down. I told Jack that the guns they used were lost overboard with Gerry’s body, and made no mention of the bullet hole in Firebird or the electrified defence system. Neither he nor Jill were dills, and both knew there was a lot more to the story than the heavily sanitised version they just been fed. They were polite enough to at least consider if what they heard could be massaged into a plausible report for the files, and to justify the holding of a female on the charges listed.

‘Let's make sure we're perfectly clear on what you're asking,’ Jack stated, leaning forward in his chair to emphasise the point, ‘You want us to hold this person for a week or two until the various State Police Forces get their collective arses into gear and move together on this paedophile ring?’

I nodded, ‘That's about the size of it, Jack. Even though she and her dopey cousin weren’t involved with the paedophile ring, if she's released beforehand, I reckon she’d go straight to Angie's father trying to scam some money for the information, and that'd blow the whole thing. But if you can think of another way to keep her incommunicado until then, we'll go with it.’

‘I know how difficult this must be for you,’ Sandy chipped in. ‘It's not an arrest on straight-forward charges which can be argued about in court.’

‘You're damn right there,’ he said ruefully. ‘In fact, I'm not sure what to do. I mean, based on your report, I can certainly arrest her on a whole heap of charges, that's no problem. But how do I keep her locked up long enough?’

Sergeant Jill leaned over and spoke quietly into his ear at length. I only caught a few words like 'paperwork' and 'lost...... system'.

Jack sat back and thought a few moments. ‘Sergeant Tracy has made some helpful suggestions which would be improper for me to share with you, so here’s what we'll do.

We'll arrest this Teri Adams on charges of attempted robbery and piracy, provided you and Sandy are prepared to make written statements at your earliest convenience. An email will do for starters, but sworn, witnessed testimony will have to follow before long. ’

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Sandy and I nodded agreement. ‘Done.’

‘We'll leave all mention of attempted kidnapping out of it for now and can hold her, pending further evidence, for another two or three weeks, by means which don't concern you. But I must be informed as soon as the real deal breaks open, or my arse will be well and truly in a sling. I trust that'll be acceptable?’

Sandy and I smiled with relief. ‘That'll be terrific and it will be as you say,’ I responded.

‘Now I guess Sergeant Thomson had better retrieve the prisoner and do the appropriate hand-over duties.’

‘No need for that,’ Jill smiled. ‘I can base the arrest on your complaint and we were fortunate enough to be able to arrest the individual concerned before she escaped.

That way there's no interstate politics involved.’

‘That'll work for me,’ Sandy said admiringly. ‘I'll just retrieve my handcuffs.’

‘Excellent,’ Jill grinned, ‘but I'm really busting to hear the full story behind all this. It beats the hell out of arresting drunken sailors and chasing abalone poachers! ’

I gave both a serious look. ‘I'm not exaggerating when I say that if you inadvertently let word of this get out, it won't just be an official reprimand that comes down from on high.

Please remember that some of these rock-spiders are very high up in both the ACP

and Victorian Police Force, and they won't go down quietly. You can't talk about this to anybody in case they're involved. We were shocked to discover exactly who was involved!’

Jack nodded seriously. ‘Don't worry. We've got a tight crew at Foster and will keep a lid on this.’

With that, we wrapped up the briefing session. Sandy retrieved her handcuffs, Jill going along to make the formal arrest on the modified charges. I passed the contact details for Teri's uncle to Jack, so the boat would be taken care of, while Jack promised to clear things with the commercial slipways guys who owned the jetty.

It was a greatly subdued Teri who emerged from the wheelhouse, cuffed and firmly in the grip of Sergeant Jill, to be marched away to the police car, not even bothering to look back.

I'd given Jack all our contact details – and promised to have an email report based on the modified charges to him within twenty-four hours. That concluded our work, and with those loose ends tied up, we cleaned up the morning tea things, closed the boat as securely as we could, then boarded our dinghy for the fifteen-minute, high-speed trip back to Firebird.

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Ten minutes after getting back on board, the dinghy was stowed, the anchor raised and Firebird was under sail, heading down-channel to the open waters of Bass Strait. I kept the wheel, while the ladies checked that things below decks were ready for sea.

CHAPTER 55... Firebird... Snake Is/Lakes Entrance, Victoria...Sunday Fortunately, the next cold front was at least a couple of days away, so the warm nor -

westerly was still blowing quite strongly, giving us a delightfully fast, beam-reaching sail along the amazing Ninety Mile Beach, which stretches from near Port Albert, just east of our departure point, in an unbroken, gently sweeping curve north-east to Lakes Entrance.

With no rocky reefs to create trip hazards, we stayed close inshore for a change of scenery and fairly flew along in the nearly calm water. There was only the slightest swell to remind us we weren't in a sheltered bay. Little towns like Woodside Beach, the delightfully named Seaspray and The Honeysuckles, were followed by several more which were interesting landmarks plotting our rapid passage, since we mostly stayed less than a hundred metres offshore. The ladies were delighted with the change compared to our usual sea-only views, and spent most of the day up on deck, where even Jasper found it interesting to see the land slip past so close and so fast.

The only drawback to being this close inshore was that manual steering was essential in case of unexpected shallows or a rogue swell which might break to seaward of us, but the exhilaration more than made up for the extra work, especially with Zoe to relieve me. The occasional larger swell did hump up, but we were easily able to angle out and over it with no risk.

Twice, when we came across people swimming in front of a village, we cheekily veered even closer, staying just clear of the shore break and passing within talking distance of the swimmers, delighting them to see a large sailing boat travelling so fast and so close inshore.

It was one of those rare, magical sailing days, where the warm breeze and cloudless sky added to the thrill of speed in calm water close to land. The loudest sound was the hissing of the bows parting the water and the flat, bubbling wake. It also made the miles fly past and helped us once again to mentally and physically leave the latest 282

round of nastiness behind. It was all so therapeutic that I could see the mood of the ladies lifting. My sense of depression was soon evaporated by the peals of laughter floated back from the foredeck when a pod of dolphins found us and decided to play under our bows.

The calm water and strong breeze kept our average speed up, so thankfully we approached the Lakes Entrance bar with a comfortable hour of daylight to spare. The offshore breeze which had made our run so smooth, was just as effective at flattening the bar approaches, and we were able to cross this potentially very dangerous bar without drama. Once through the narrow entrance into what is probably Australia's most beautiful and extensive lake system, we turned hard left into a shallow channel. It was opposite the arm that led east to the town itself, but we only went about 400

metres before anchoring in clear, shallow water. There were very few boats up this channel, so I planned to take the dinghy to town in the morning for supplies, before finding a cluster of holidaying boating families to hide amongst.

Everyone was in a very upbeat mood after the exhilarating sail, with the girls particularly excited at the prospect of maybe meeting some teens their own age.

‘We can't let you loose in Lakes Entrance,’ I warned. ‘Just remember what happened in sleepy little Wynyard. Lakes is fairly jumping during school holidays.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Zoe grumped, ‘we know, but jeeze, Harry. We really need to talk to somebody our own age for once. Not that you guys aren't fantastic. I didn't mean that!

But we'd just like a change.’

I smiled, ‘I do understand and no offence taken. But in the morning, your Mum and I wi ll take a run up town to do some shopping. After that, we'll go looking for a bunch of boats to blend in with. We’ll find some young people for you.’

Zoe nodded glumly, ‘We'll settle for that.’

Despite the girls getting toey for some teenage company, we had a happy evening in our little anchorage with the lights of the town off to the east. Next morning, the cold front still hadn't fronted, so the warm northerly made a swim before breakfast a pleasant interlude with all the ladies choosing to keep their bikinis dry. After breakfast, Janice and I loaded the dinghy with shopping bags stowed under a spray cover, and headed for town.

It was a fast and fun run down to the entrance channel and up Cunninghams Arm to the town. I'd checked where we could safely tie up closest to the supermarket and brought along a collapsible trolley.

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Supermarkets are rarely located for the convenience of boaties!

The closest spot was beside a protruding semi-circular sandy beach adjacent the centre of town, so we motored in and pulled up close to the trawler jetty. The small beach was already covered in holiday visitors, doing most of the things generally associated with the sun, sand and water.

We hadn't even left the beach when the stand-out amusement of the day occurred.

The sound of car horns blowing and some raised voices heralded the appearance of an extended family of Orthodox Jews, beautifully dressed in their traditional finery, emerging in a long line from a surf-board and boat hire store just across The Esplanade. Two plastic, two-person kayaks followed them, each carried by a store employee and a young male family member. Strangely, they decided to cross the road in a single-file line which halted traffic for several minutes while the whole procession straggled across and threaded between the glittering ranks of parked cars.

With the family so immaculately dressed in traditional clothing and looking so totally out of place among the near-naked, tanned bodies of the rest of the tourists, it was an immediate attention-getter. As the kayaks were placed on the sand near the water, I nudged Janice. ‘Let's sit a moment, this has serious potential.’

We perched on the wall edging the footpath, along with others stopping to do the same.

The family attracted even more attention when they gave no sign of intending to do anything sensible, like take off some of their fancy clothes and wear something suitable for paddling a kayak.

Giggles started when big Poppa, his distinctive hat jammed firmly in place, donned a yellow life jacket, which clashed horribly with the rest of his finery. Demonstrating commendable leadership, he walked awkwardly down to the first kayak, sand filling his shiny, black dress shoes, and plonked himself firmly in the stern seat.

Unfortunately, the kayak was still high and dry on the sand, and it took the combined efforts of four of his boys to slide Poppa's 130kg bulk, together with that of the youngest daughter, complete with skirt, leggings, headscarf and life jacket, into the water. It was then very obvious that neither Poppa nor daughter had the slightest idea of what to do with the double-ended paddles.

Their problems multiplied when one of the boys, bravely getting his best shoes and pants wet, enthusiastically pushed the kayak away from shore. With cries of encouragement from the tribe, all looking like yellow-breasted penguins in their life jackets, the two hapless wannabe boaties, flailed at the water with their paddles as though beating it into submission, but not moving forward.

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‘Thirty seconds!’ I muttered to Janice.

‘In your dreams!’ she snorted. ‘Fifteen at best.’

‘Loser buys the first two rounds?’

‘Done!’

I lost because Poppa and the little girl gracefully toppled sideways at the twelve second mark, Poppa's hat remaining firmly in place until splashdown, as the four sons in their Sunday best ploughed into the water like a Baywatch Rescue Squad to save them both from the terrors of the deep.

Anti-climactically, Poppa came to rest on his side, paddle still clenched firmly in hand, in less than a metre of water, provoking a round of applause and laughter from the crowd. There was more hilarity when he extracted himself from the kayak, stood upright, re-seated his sodden hat and as dignified as dripping clothes allowed, strode back to shore after making sure that youngest daughter was safe. The boys were left to retrieve the kayak.

He earned another round of applause.

We detoured via the pub where Janice demanded and enjoyed her liquid reward several times over, before we wandered off to find the supermarket. Angie's short list was quickly filled, although there were enough of each item to fill the trolley. Despite her warning, we added a few treats for everybody, including Jasper who was very tolerant of his diet, so long as there was plenty of it.

Back at the dinghy, we noted with surprise that the Jewish family had commendably persevered to the extent that both kayaks were being slowly and carefully paddled around the shallows. We quickly loaded up, then steered a wide course around th e adventurous family, before speeding away down the arm.

‘There’s a good collection of boats here,’ I commented to Janice.

‘Yeah, heaps. But no good for us. The girls will just want to go ashore. We’d lose them for days!’

‘True,’ I agreed. ‘We'll look elsewhere.’

Steel Associates' Office...Monday morning

‘Good morning, Steel Associates. May I help you?’

‘Good Morning, Miss Julie, this is Mr James. Is Mr Xavier available?’

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‘Yes he is, Mr James. Just one moment and I'll transfer you.’

..... ‘Xavier. Go ahead Mr James.’

‘I have a sighting report, Mr Xavier. As you know, I'm currently in Lakes Entrance and I’ve made a positive sighting on the mother, Mrs Janice.’

‘Please continue, Mr James.’

‘I sighted the woman in a supermarket and she appeared to be with an unidentified adult male. They were buying a lot of groceries and I followed them to the closest harbour beach where they loaded a small dinghy, then motored away. ’

‘Excellent, Mr James. Did you see what boat they went to?’

‘No. Mr Xavier. I couldn't see them go to any particular boat since there are so many boats anchored here at the moment and my car wasn't close by. This was a totally random sighting.’

‘That's very unfortunate, Mr James. So their boat is either there or nearby. You will have to be much more diligent, now we know they are in the area.’

‘Yes, Mr Xavier. But unless they come ashore more frequently, it will be impossible to track them down without a boat.’

‘Very well, then hire one immediately.’

‘I've investigated that, Mr Xavier, but the only hire boats available here are very small and slow, and can only be used in a restricted area of the back arm behind the town.

There are larger ones available from places further up the Lake system, but they need to be booked many months in advance for summer school holiday time.’

‘I'm not pleased by that news, Mr James. We need to track these people immediately before they disappear again. This contract has cost far too much already in personnel, money and police attention, and I am very concerned about what might have happened to Mr Peter and Mr Jordan.’

‘If I may say, Mr Xavier, I've been advised by some locals that the only way to safely and effectively get around this area is with a substantial boat. Bad weather and strong winds cause many boating accidents and the Lakes' area is huge. What about the company boat at Blairgowrie? As this is so urgent, could we use that? ’

‘That is not the company boat, Mr James – it's my very private and personal boat. But I suppose in this situation, you may be right. I'll contact Mr David to get it ready to depart as soon as possible and have Miss Corrine accompany him. She’ll be useful in handling the female targets. Do you think the three of you will be sufficient to find and restrain the targets?’

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‘Oh, yes, Mr Xavier. There's only a woman and two girls, with one man who appears to own the boat they're on. I have the appropriate weapons and restraint devices with me and don't anticipate any problem once we locate them. ’

‘Hmmm. I seem to remember Mr Peter saying something very similar before he set out in that seaplane. Be careful, Mr James. I suspect there are aspects to this investigation which are not what they seem.’

‘Yes, Mr Xavier. May I presume that Mr David will contact me on his arrival in Lakes Entrance?’

‘You may presume that, Mr James. I'll have them moving within the hour and anticipate they will be with you later this afternoon or this evening. Please keep watching the area for any trace of the targets until your backups arrive.’

‘Yes, Mr Xavier. Thank you sir, for this opportunity to complete the contract. ’

‘That’s a very rash assumption, Mr James. Eyes open and keep in touch.’

Patrons in the Sports Bar at the pub were slightly surprised at the outburst of cursing from the chubby, fair-haired man perched on a stool in the corner, apparently directed at the mobile phone still clutched in his hand. Those nearest him heard him mutter,

‘Bloody David. That useless, self-opinionated surfie prick! Just because he runs Xavier's boat for him, he gets sent out here. He's not a field operative – he's just a boat bum! And that slack tart Corrine has probably fucked her way through the whole company by now, but does she look at me? Oh, no. Reckons she's too good for me!

Fuckin’ bitch!’

Steel Associates' Office...Monday morning.

‘Miss Julie, would you mind getting Mr David on the phone, please?’

‘Certainly, Mr Xavier. Won't be long.’

..... ‘This is David.’

‘Good morning, Mr David, this is Miss Julie. Please hold for Mr Xavier.’......

‘Mr David. What's your location?'

‘Good morning Mr Xavier. On-board Seeker, sir. Just doing a routine check of all the systems as per the maintenance schedule I drew up.’

‘Very good. So, is it ready to go?’

‘As always, sir. Fully fuelled, watered and provisioned with the basics as you have instructed. Just the stock of fresh food needs topping up.’

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‘Good, very good. I have an urgent job for you. Load whatever additional supplies you need and take Seeker to Lakes Entrance ASAP. This is a job to locate, pickup and deliver three females, one adult and two teenagers, back here. If you can't obtain the additional supplies quickly, proceed without them since it's essential you be there by this evening. Is that achievable?’

‘Yes sir. No problem with any of that. I can have the food stocks topped up within the hour and the offshore wind will let me make a high speed run. That will leave plenty of time to get there by late this afternoon.’

‘Excellent! You've always been very dependable Mr David, and I greatly appreciate it.

I'm also getting Miss Corrine to join you, and you will meet with Mr James who is already at Lakes Entrance. You have his number in the company notebook, so call him when you get in. At this stage, Mr James will be in charge of the operation as he has all the details of the targets. Questions?’

‘Do we need any more weapons? There's already a handgun and a shotgun aboard.’

‘Good question, but no, I don't think so, Mr David. That should be enough. Mr James has some additional items I believe, but the targets are considered soft and shouldn't need anything more than frightening to ensure compliance with your directions.’

‘Very good, sir. I'll attend to the re-stocking immediately, but when should I expect Miss Corrine to arrive. I mean – do I wait for her, or leave on schedule?’

‘What is your estimated travel time to Lakes Entrance?’

‘About 5 hours, sir. It's 11:00 now, so if I leave by 12:00, I can comfortably be there around 17:00. Do I wait beyond that departure time?’

‘No. If she's not there by 12:00, leave without her and she can travel by road.’

‘Very good, sir. It will be as you say.’

‘A final word, Mr David. Please be careful. We currently have two operatives missing in action under strange circumstances. Something odd is happening and so far, I don't know what it is. That makes me uneasy, so watch your back! ’

‘Yes sir. I will.’

CHAPTER 56... Seeker... David...Slip C12, Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, Mornington Peninsula

Whistling happily to himself, David trundled the last load of fresh food down the walkway of the finger wharf to the boarding ladder beside the cockpit of the AB68

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sports cruiser and started transferring it aboard. He’d guessed at numbers for catering, allowing for up to 6 persons for 3 weeks. There was always plenty of canned and frozen food stowed below, but nothing beat fresh stuff. He loved cooking and had attended classes at the local TAFE to improve his skills. Taking care to avoid scratching the gleaming finish of the upper works, he moved the various cartons through to the galley.

At 68-feet long, the sleek, low-slung boat with its Ferrari-red hull, looked like a speedboat on steroids and was a showpiece of Italian marine art, or so David believed.

The pair of MAN 1900 horse-power V12 diesels driving Rolls-Royce water jets, could push the monster to a top speed of over 60 knots or nearly 117 km/h in fairly calm water, or let it cruise all day at 45 knots. The deep-vee hull design allowed it to maintain a high speed even in choppy conditions, but as with any boat, in really rough seas it was reduced to a crawl, although it was a very seaworthy design and could safely survive the roughest weather when handled properly.

Below decks were three cabins – the luxurious owner's suite in the bow and a twin and a double located under the saloon, all with en-suites. Two tiny crew cabins were located in the bow with twin bunks in each, and a shared bathroom and were accessed via a deck hatch. The superbly equipped galley was amidships with a spacious white leather lounge and dining table opposite that doubled as an office/workstation. There was an upper saloon with a dramatically-styled jet-fighter driving position, a wet bar and another sumptuous lounge area. The driving position had a full suite of navigational and electrified equipment to take care of the running of the boat and the whole thing was fully reverse-cycle air-conditioned.

The walk-through, white painted engine room was David's special pride and he kept it and the twin V12 MAN diesels immaculate. Being paid to look after, live aboard and occasionally drive the beast for Mr Xavier were a dream come true for the ex-professional surfer and ex-lifesaver, so he took the job seriously, didn't screw around and looked after the beautiful boat very well.

Scoring the job with Steel Associates was a case of being in the right place at the right time, and to this day, he didn't know exactly what his strange employer did.

That is, apart from talking oddly and surrounding himself with a bunch of very hard, tough men and women who presumably investigated things using some very dodgy methods. He knew the operatives frequently carried and used weapons, but he tried to stay away from that side of things. The run out to Lakes Entrance should be a hoot, 289

especially since the sea would be flat with the hot northerly blowing off-shore and he could really open the engines out properly. He rarely got the chance to do so, since Mr Xavier really didn't like being on the water. As great as his job was, it was frequently boring, so any opportunity to leave the dock and cover some serious distance at speed was very welcome.

He'd heard Mr Xavier had acquired the boat through a shady deal, but being allowed to play with a boat worth well-over $6 million, he didn't care about its history. He didn't know this 'Miss Corrine' chick either, except that she was listed as an 'operative'. He had about fifteen minutes to stow the fresh food, before he was due to cast off, so Miss Corrine had better present her ‘operative’ arse very soon or she'd be hitting the road by herself.

Being a normal male, with the appropriately ravenous appetite for females, he hoped she'd be attractive, but guessed that messing around between the hired help was pretty much frowned on by the boss, so he mentally tucked his dick back where it belonged and got on with the job. He divided the last of the thick-cut rib-eye fillet steaks and prime lamb chops between the fridge and the freezer and had just started the two diesels to let them warm-up, when there was a yell from the wharf.

‘Hey! Is this thing the Seeker?’

Stepping out into the spacious cockpit, he saw a diminutive female standing on the finger wharf, a large duffle bag slung over her shoulder. At first glance, she looked to be not much more than a child, but closer up, he saw that she was just of small stature, but definitely had all the appropriate female bits in all the right places. Even her features were very acceptable, with long red hair tied in a ponytail flowing down her back and constantly being blown about in the stiff breeze.

‘Well, is it or isn't it?’ she called back, impatient with his inspection. ‘If you don't know, say so and I'll bugger off and find some other dickless wonder who also won’t know where the bloody thing is.’

‘Ah... yeah! This is Seeker and I'm David. I presume you're Miss Corrine?’

‘Thank Christ, I found the bloody thing! But it's just Corrine thanks. None of that Miss Corrine bullshit. We're in Australia and most of us don't talk like there's a bowl of plums stuffed up our arse! Leave that for our esteemed boss.’

David smiled at her candour and surprisingly she smiled back. ‘Sorry, excuse my bad manners, please come aboard and call me Dave. I was just about to cast off. Mr.... I mean, Xavier told me that if you didn't make the 12:00 deadline, you'd have to drive.’

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‘Fuck that for a joke! Why drive when I can be carried there in the lap of luxury?’ She retorted, swinging her duffle effortlessly over the railing, letting it drop to the deck with a metallic clank, before following it herself with a swing of delightfully tight , jean-clad legs. Standing before him, she barely came up to his chest, but something in her manner warned that there was a lot more to her than initial looks suggested.

Grinning, she stuck a hand out and said, ‘Pleased to meet you, Skipper.’

Dave blinked, since she had the grip of a Russian wharfie and he quickly revised his initial impression even further upscale, while he mentally shoved his dick further back out of reach.

‘Likewise,’ he responded weakly. ‘Grab your gear and I'll show you your cabin.’

‘Great! It's been a rush since I got Xavier's phone call, 'cause I really didn't want to drive.’ She looked around as he led her through the sumptuous saloon and down the curving stairs to the lower deck.

‘Hey. This is really something. I've not been on a boat like this before. It's more like a small palace. Are these handrails real gold?’

‘No. But they are 18ct gold-plated,’ he replied with a grin, as he showed her the double cabin, opening off to the left after a 180º turn off the companionway. ‘It was built for an Italian billionaire, but he decided that it was way too small for him, so he dumped it straight back on the market and ordered the biggest one they make, a 145 -foot monster that's more than twice this size. Somehow, Xavier got wind of it, and made a shady deal to snag it. And here it is! $6 million plus of Italian design genius and we get to play around with it!’

She caught some of his infectious enthusiasm for the boat and grinned back at him.

‘It's really great! I love it. But if it's Italian, it’s gotta be fast. Is it?’

Dave smiled, ‘Oh, shit yeah! Wait and see. It was ordered with the biggest motors that would fit, so we have about 900-horsepower more than standard. It really does get up and boogie for a big boat. We've got a long run on a calm sea, so I think you'll be impressed. Anyway, stow your gear and I'll get us out of here.’

‘Can I help with anything?’ she asked, following him back up to the saloon after casually tossing her heavy duffle on the double bed.

He pointed as they reached the upper deck where the sound of the idling twin V12

diesels was a subdued bass rumble which shivered the air, ‘Sure. If you can untie those mooring lines from the boat end and pile them on the dock, they’ll be ready for our return.’

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‘Okay,’ she said happily, and nimbly hopped back over the railing, while Dave took a few moments to admire the fit of her jeans again. The way the front of her shirt was being jiggled around also caught his interest, just as she looked back and caught him.

‘See anything you like?’ she challenged with a cheeky grin.

‘Ah... yes, lots, if you excuse me saying so. You're very attractive.’

‘Thanks,’ she said simply, ‘you're not bad yourself, so consider yourself excused.’

That wasn't the reply he'd expected and couldn't think of a suitable answer, so he concentrated on easing Seeker out of the berth without transferring any paint. Two engines, a bow-thruster and water-jet drives with a joy-stick manoeuvring control made tight quarters docking easy, even with the gusty wind, so as they backed up, Corrine was easily able to jump back aboard, leaving the mooring ropes neatly bundled on the wharf.

‘Thanks for that,’ he said, spinning the wheel as he engaged forward drive. The note of the diesels didn't change as the reverse buckets lifted and the sleek boat quietly gathered speed. Two or three people waved cheerily to them as they growled slowly along the bobbing lines of boats tied up in the rows of berths, staying well under the speed limit.

Once clear of the marina complex, he increased power slightly, letting the boat rise gently onto the plane. There were channel markers to follow, as well as other boats going both ways, so he needed to be careful and held the speed at a comfortable fifteen knots. The flooding tide was swirling through the Heads against the strong northerly wind, creating a choppy sea, so he prudently kept the speed down until they were around the point of Fort Nepean and had turned southeast into calmer water.

Noting that the size of the swells rolling in from Bass Strait wouldn't worry a bathtub, he slowly opened the throttles, after warning Corrine.

She promptly tucked herself in beside him at the helm station, holding on to the handrail set below an instrument panel that looked as if it was transplanted from a jet fighter. As the growl from the engines steadily rose to a mighty bellow, the boat shot forward, a boiling white wake blasting out behind it. In moments, they were doing 40

knots with the throttles only half open and Corrine was bouncing up and d own, yelling with excitement and delight. Dave felt the boat riding easily, pleased it needed no trimming, but kept the speed steady as they soon rounded Cape Schanck – then the mass of Phillip Island slid past as they closed on Cape Patterson and Wilsons Promontory, the southern-most part of mainland Australia. It wasn't until they made the 292

turn to the northeast past the promontory, he decided to stretch the big boat's legs properly.

With Snake Island slipping astern, he could safely angle in toward shore and as they passed the start of Ninety Mile Beach, he opened the engines up to 95% power.

The big V12’s exhaust note rose to a spine-tingling howl of turbo-charged fury, and Seeker seemed to launch herself into another realm of speed, noise and white -spray, with the speedo sitting firmly on 63 knots. Corrine had a feverish grin on her face and losing herself in the moment, clutched Dave's arm in excitement.

‘Fuck! This is almost better than sex!’ she spoke up over the howl of the engines, her head swivelling back and forth as she tried to see everything at once.

He grinned back at her, ‘I'll have to take your word for that. It's been a long time between drinks for me.’

She gave him a quirky look, before resuming her ceaseless scan of everything happening around them.

After a while, he throttled the engines back – the speed dropping to 40 knots again. ‘Do you want to drive for a while?’ he asked.

‘Fuck, yeah!’ she said enthusiastically, so he changed places with her.

‘It'll feel quite light and sensitive at this speed, so be gentle with the wheel movements.’

he cautioned. ‘Think smooth and try a few wide turns to get the feel of it, but don't go any closer to the beach than this.’

Corrine nodded, fiercely concentrating on following his instructions, and it relieved him that she obeyed them perfectly, feeding in a small amount of wheel left and right, to smoothly carve a boiling white arc on the glittering green water. After a few minutes of carving turns, he suggested she tighten the turns a bit more, pleased with her delighte d shriek as the big boat just seemed to suck down onto the water and haul its bulk around, without the slipping and sliding a boat with standard propellors would have done. For its size, the thing turned like a small speedboat, and the grip in the turns was so much that quite strong G-forces were generated. They had to brace themselves to avoid being flung across the saloon, until finally, Corrine straightened out the course, aligned it parallel to the beach and handed control back to Dave.

To his great surprise, she gave him a quick kiss as they changed places on the helm seat again.

‘Thank you,’ she said simply. ‘That was one of the most fun things I've ever done!’

He looked at her. ‘Really?’

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She nodded, ‘Yep! Try being a girl in a man's company with testosterone fumes floating around like smog. Even to just maintain my lowly status, everything I do has to be better than the men can do. It's very rare to be offered a chance to do something fun and interesting, without some swinging dick making a competition out of it!’

Dave saw an opening and casually asked, ‘So just what is your job with Steel Associates?’

‘Oh, apart from being an escort for female targets, I do the really dirty work when needed. I kill people.’

He was instantly sorry he'd asked the question, but bravely followed up with, ‘So who are you supposed to kill this time?’

She laughed at his expression, ‘Nobody, silly. On this job, I'm just the token female escort in case the targets need a female around to settle them down, but if things really go tits up, well...’

‘Oh, sorry I asked.’

‘Don't be. It's just a job like any other, and if it didn't pay so incredibly well, I'd do something else more boring, but much safer.’

‘But where did you learn that particular speciality? I mean, it's not a trade that's offered at your local TAFE campus. Is it?’

She giggled, ‘You're funny. I'm ex-Army and was in Special Forces for five years, where they found I had a talent for silent killing as well as sniping, but I took a bullet through my side in Afghanistan. I was rescued by this crazy-arsed Major who took out half the bad guys shooting at me and got us out, but he got shot up in the process.

They gave me a medal, an honourable discharge with a piss-ant pension, and the dubious benefits of some very lethal training which had limited use in the civilian world.

So, I ended up with this lot. But as you might or might not know, it’s hard to leave a company like this. I know too much.’

‘Well, unfortunately or fortunately, I really don't know. I'm just the hired boat driver. I don't go on jobs unless it's to act as a nautical wheelman. But I can understand you would know a lot of bad things about the company. I guess Xavier wouldn’t like you just resigning and disappearing back into the world at large.’

She patted his arm, ‘Well put. It's actually really refreshing to meet and work with a normal person who only lusts after my body, rather than someone who is trying to deprive me of it at the first opportunity.’

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She suddenly gave Dave a mock glare, ‘You aren't going to try to kill me, are you?’

Then laughed at his startled expression. ‘Only jerking your chain, lovely man. I know you aren't.’

He grinned weakly, appalled at the turn the conversation had taken, ‘Oh, well in that case, please put me down as just lusting after your body. But I quite like the way you think as well.’

That bit of flattery earned him a rather longer kiss which was very pleasant for a man suffering a severe shortage of attentive females.

CHAPTER 57... Seeker... David & Corrine – Lakes Entrance...Monday Just after 17:00, the long, low boat eased into the main anchorage in Cunningham’s Arm, Lakes Entrance, after an exhilarating but uneventful run. Even the bar was flat, and while Dave would have liked to fill the capacious fuel tanks immediately, the refueller had gone home for the day, so that little job would have to wait until the morning. Seeker looked like a predatory red shark gliding amongst a swarm of baitfish as she growled quietly between the triple-story, floating gin palaces and sundry other private and hire boats.

Finally, Dave selected a clear area which would ensure he remained clear of the generally drunkenly-incompetent holiday crowd, dropped anchor and secured the engines. A large bank of lightweight lithium batteries and a well-silenced generator would ensure all electrical demands would be met instantly and with a minimum of fuss.

‘We'd better call James,’ he said to Corrine. ‘That’s what Xavier said.’

‘Careful! He's a total fuckwit.’ she warned. ‘But he's probably in charge because he's already on the job. The trouble is, he couldn't organise a root in a brothel, but I suppose we'll have to work with the goose.’

‘I've not had the pleasure,’ Dave said diplomatically, dialling the number listed.

‘Huh! Haven't missed much.’

‘Err...Yeah. Hello? This is James.’

‘Good afternoon Mr James, this is Mr David. As instructed by Mr Xavier, I’m reporting the arrival of Miss Corrine and myself in Lakes Entrance with Mr Xavier's boat. I understand that we are to place ourselves at your disposal.’

‘Yeah, that’s fuckin’ right. About fuckin’ time you got here. Shit! What've you been doing all bloody day? I've been sitting around like a stale bottle of piss waiting for 295

youse slack arses to turn up! Anyway, I need to get aboard immediately, so come and pick me up.’

‘Certainly, Mr James. Would you care to tell me where you are at this moment? We’re anchored in the bay opposite the hotel in the main street.’

‘Where? You in the hotel? I'm in the hotel! Where the hell in this fuckin’.... are you playin’ games with me, boy? Cosh I’m warning.... ahh fuckit! Spilt me beer again.’

Dave rolled his eyes, guessing from his confused babble that Mr James had apparently spent the day at the hotel and hadn't been sipping lemon squashes. Speaking slowly and deliberately, he replied, ‘No, Mr James. I said we have anchored the boat in the bay opposite the hotel. I'm afraid we can't actually get any closer.’

‘Well, you still need to pick me up. I'm in the Sports Bar....’

The phone went dead, and he looked in bewilderment at Corrine who'd come down with a sudden fit of the giggles. ‘He hung up!’

‘Yep, I told you he's a fuckwit, and the stupid prick is pissed as well from the sound of that. Xavier will tear him apart when he finds out. But I suppose we'd better go get him.

He couldn't find his arse with both hands in broad daylight, let alone find his way out to a jetty.’

They launched the dinghy and motored ashore, tying up at the closest jetty between a couple of local cruise boats bedded down for the night.

They wandered through the hotel, taste buds tantalised by the delicious smells wafting out from the huge dining area, and found James propped up in the Sportsman’s bar.

He had two large duffels at his feet, a schooner of beer tilted at a precarious angle in one hand, and was waving the other wildly in the air while bullshitting a couple of pretty girls perched on stools at the next table. Corrine stopped short, stuck her arm out to hold Dave back and strained to hear what the stupid wally was saying.

‘...So as soon as my crew comes and picks us up, we're going on a cruise around the lakes.’

He leant drunkenly toward the nearest girl, a pretty brunette, slopping beer onto the carpet at her feet, ‘You girls will love this trip. We're only messing... fucking... around since we're supposed to be working for the boss, but this will be a creamy side job on a flash boat and we'll make some decent......’ He belatedly recognised Corrine stalking toward him, a look of fury on her face, and swayed back upright.

He plastered a patently false smile on his ugly mug and made a grand, sweeping gesture of welcome, but unfortunately, it was with the hand holding the beer, most of 296

which sheeted in a broad spray over the bare legs of the girls, with the rest going over three guys at the next table.

Although the girls shrieked in surprise and the guys erupted in anger, James was so far gone he didn't notice and blithely waffled on, ‘Here they are. See, here's the lovely Corrine and this other bloke, whatisname! I told you my crew were coming to get us.

Come on girls – we'll go look at the boat, then get your gear from the motel and we'll all go for a super-duper Lakes cruise.’

Dave supposed it would have been a real giggle – this drunken, balding, tubby little man desperately trying to impress the two nicely dressed, attractive girls, but spraying them with beer instead, as well as pissing off three other guys. Corrine took charge in a very decisive manner, placating the guys at the table by saying they were taking the drunken idiot home immediately and sending Dave to the bar to get them a double round.

She ignored James, who had immediately forgotten Corrine and Dave and was peering myopically into his glass, wondering out loud where all his beer went. Instead she spoke to the girls who were trying to wipe up some the beer still dripping off their legs.

‘We're sorry about that, girls. He's a fuckwit at the best of times, and worse when he drinks. We actually have come to pick him up, but can we get you some more drinks to make up for all this?’

The brunette chuckled, ‘Oh that's alright, no harm done. He seemed fairly harmless at first, but the barman had already told him no more and to get out. Still, he had a nice pickup line with the boat and the Lakes cruise.’

Corinne gave her a look. ‘Oh, some of that wasn't bullshit! We do have a boat. Dave and I just arrived and we’re parked just across from the pub. But it's not his, we're not his crew and we’re all supposed to be working. He's going to be burnt toast as soon as the boss finds out.’

They flashed a quick meaningful glance at each other, before the blonde laughed and waved her hand dismissively as they slid off their stools, their short skirts dragging up, showing a lot of bare, tanned thigh that attracted Dave's approving glance. He picked up James's bags and as Corinne helped their very unsteady owner off his stool, the brunette said, ‘We were just going in to have a meal. You're welcome to join us if you can park that goose somewhere. We like people with boats.’

Dave looked at Corinne. ‘We do need to eat, and I don't feel like cooking tonight. I suppose we could dump numb-nuts in a bunk and come back.’

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She shrugged and flashed a warm smile, ‘Yeah. Sounds good to me. Let's do it.’ She turned to the girls, ‘We'll be back in ten or fifteen, ladies. Have a drink on us while you're waiting.’

‘We just might do that,’ the blonde said in a delightfully husky voice. ‘We'd better have a wash down first, then we’ll be in the dining room. Don't be long though, we're both starving!’

Corrine waved as they staggered away with their burdens. The girls chuckled and watched with amusement as the tall, handsome guy with the broad shoulders, and the pretty, diminutive girl who looked like a teenager, but acted a lot tougher, helped the semi-comatose fool across the road and out along the jetty opposite.

‘It looks like they really do have a boat, if they're going somewhere in that,’ the blonde murmured to her friend, as they watched the dinghy curve away from the jetty and head for the biggest, sleekest and by far the most expensive boat in the little bay.

‘Yes! So if the boat is real, what about the deal shit-for-brains was talking about? Will that be off now do you think?’

‘Maybe, but let's sound these two out over dinner and see what we can find out. But look at that. They really are going to that beautiful big boat. How good is that?’

Dave and Corrine had a fearsome struggle to wrestle James up to the cockpit.

‘Where are we going to put him so he won't cause any trouble?’ Corrine asked, as they carelessly let his limp body thump down onto a cockpit seat. ‘Because we'll have to tell Xavier about this immediately. It's practically a terminal offence for an operative to be drunk on duty, but to be this far out of control and involving civilians is much worse.’

David gave her a worried look, ‘He won't ask you to kill him, will he?’

Corrine laughed and patted his cheek tenderly, ‘No. I don't think it'll be that drastic, but thankfully he's finished as far as Steel Associates are concerned and he'll probably be confined somewhere until this operation is over. By what we heard when we walked in there, he's arranged some private deal with those girls, so we need to find out what it was.’

‘Yeah. It's a bit strange the way they're so interested in the boat. However, I do have the perfect place for this turkey,’ David said with a broad grin. ‘The crew berths are in a small cabin right up in the bow, with their own toilet and shower, so he won't suffer too much. We can lock him in since the only way out is via the deck hatch. Drag him up this way.’

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They dragged him for'rard, dumped him heavily down the steep stairs, then wedged him upright him in the tiny shower cubicle, after tossing his bags on a bunk.

‘That's for when he wakes up and has a chunder or three,’ Dave said. ‘No way I want him to mess up the cabin.’

‘We might check these bags before we go,’ Corrine said, ‘in case he's got something useful in there.’

It was just as well they did, as a thorough search of both bags produced a gym bag holding two compact, small-bore pistols, thirty boxes of ammunition for them, several pairs of handcuffs and three wicked-looking knives with dull black, razor-edged blades, as well as a manila folder full of papers.

‘Wow!’ said Dave. ‘He's well equipped. What are the pistols?’

Corrine picked one, expertly ejecting the magazine and working the slide.

‘They're Kel-Tec PMR-30s, firing a .22 Magnum round. Very popular, since they’re a good, reliable little pistol, but limited stopping power unless you're fairly close, in which case they do a bloody good job, especially with hollow-points. Having thirty rounds in the magazine also helps with the stopping duties,’ she added with a grin.

‘Can you show me how to use one, some day?’ he asked, surprised that his interest was aroused in wanting to learn about a gun. Or maybe it was the instructor who'd spiked that interest.

‘Sure, no problem. There's plenty of ammo for them.’

Before they left with the hardware, Corrine checked the fat manila folder.

‘This looks like all the task briefing info. He won't be needing it again after Xavier gets through with him,’ she said. ‘But I meant to ask earlier, if this is the crew quarters, where do you camp when you're aboard?’

Dave jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the solid bulkhead behind them, ‘I live aboard full-time and usually kip in the master stateroom unless Xavier is here showing off to mates or clients. But his limit is day trips – the shorter the better. He hates being on the water and never sleeps here, so he doesn't care where I sleep. If visitors are due, I always clean everything up so it looks like nobody lives here. It's surprising what people get up to when they're on a boat, even for a short time. I'm always washing sheets after a day trip.’

She laughed at that, but asked, ‘I didn't know you lived aboard, so how does that work out?’

He grinned, ‘Perfect for me and the same for Xavier. I love the boat and it's just like living in a super-luxurious apartment onshore. I'd be here doing minor maintenance 299

most days anyway, so this way Xavier gets his boat maintenance, 24-hour security and driver all in one package.’

She smiled admiringly, ‘Good setup, dude. Beats paying a fortune for some dump onshore. Anyway, let's go have a feed.’

‘Yeah, let's. But what's the go with those girls do you think? The bit we overheard dickhead saying, sounded like some sort of private deal. Surely he wouldn't be stupid enough to try to claim the reward for himself? Although it might explain why he wanted the girls to help.’

She shook her head. ‘I don't know, except he is stupid enough to try it, so we need to find out how much they know. We’ll have a meal with them and try to learn some more.

But we buy our own drinks and decide what to do with them after that. ’

‘You got it. Good plan.’

Corrine was struck by a thought, ‘How about this. If we don't learn anything over dinner, I'll give you a nod and you invite them out to the boat for coffee. I've got a few things in my bag that might get us some answers.’

Dave immediately looked worried, ‘This won't become messy, will it?’

She grinned and patted his arm. ‘No, dear! Strangely enough, I actually try not to kill people. But despite having nice tits and long legs, they can still be up to no good, can’t they?’

David smiled, ‘Okay, Boss.’ Then ducked away from the friendly punch she threw his way. On the way back ashore, Corrine called Xavier.

‘Good evening, Mr Xavier, this is Miss Corrine with an interim report.’

‘Good evening to you, Miss Corrine. I must say I was expecting to hear from Mr James.’

‘I'm afraid that won't be possible, sir. Unfortunately, Mr James became excessively intoxicated this afternoon while waiting for our arrival, and may have been discussing some aspects of the current operation with two female civilians. With the assistance of Mr David, I have taken the step of confining Mr James while he recovers , and we determine the extent of the security breech he's created.’

There were a few moments silence. ‘That is very grave news, Miss Corrine. I commend you and Mr David on your actions, but I am very disturbed by Mr James’s lack of control. Despite the delay this will cause your search, I shall dispatch Mr Robert to your location to retrieve Mr James and return him to Head Office. Therefore, I must ask you to remain at that location until he arrives, which may not be until later tomorrow.

Do you know the extent of the leak of information to these civilians?’

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‘Unknown at this time, sir. I overheard some words relating to the operation as we approached Mr James and the civilians in the hotel, but the conversation was interrupted by our arrival and Mr James' advanced level of intoxication. Mr James ha d also attracted the unfavourable attention of the hotel staff who were about to evict him from the premises for being drunk and disorderly. However, Mr David and I are currently proceeding to socialise further with the two civilians to determine what information may have been passed.’

‘Excellent, Miss Corrine. Even if the delay causes us to temporarily lose track of the targets, I'd be very appreciative if you and Mr David would proceed with the mission as soon as Mr James has been collected. May I presume you have taken possession of the briefing files which were in Mr James's care?’

‘Yes, sir, I have the files, although we haven't gone through them yet, as we wanted to inform you first and get your instructions how to proceed.’

‘I appreciate your tact, Miss Corrine – you are proving very capable and I won't forget.

Mr David is also proving most resourceful. Please read the files at your earliest opportunity and if you need further information, contact me directly at any time. Are you willing to proceed without additional resources?’

‘Yes, sir. We can handle things and I'll report every two or three days or as we gain more information.’

‘That will be excellent, Miss Corrine. I wish you well.’....

She'd had the phone on speaker, as they were still slowly motoring ashore, so Dave heard the full story.

‘He sounds pleased with us, but James is in deep shit.’

‘Yep. His arse is grass. He'll be lucky not to go swimming with cement boots. While being pretty much intolerant of drunks, Xavier takes a security breach very seriously.’

Dave grinned, ‘Yeah. I sort of gathered that. We'd better play things straight. ’

‘Damn right!’

CHAPTER 58... Seeker... David & Corrine...Lakes Entrance – Monday They found the two girls at a restaurant table, a cheery glow about them and several empty glasses littering the tabletop.

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‘Sorry we were so long,’ Corrine said as we sat, ‘taking care of James was a bit more involved than we'd hoped, but he’s safe now.’

‘He'll have a sore head in the morning,’ the blonde suggested, ‘and I'm Allie and this is Jackie, by the way.’

Corrine made their introductions and after Dave fetched another round of drinks, they consulted the menu.

‘The lamb shanks bourguignon is terrific,’ Jackie said, ‘we had them last night.’

‘That sounds good to me,’ Dave said, ‘I cook them myself, but I'm always keen to try a professional’s version.’

That was a good conversation opener and gave Corrine a chance to watch and listen as Dave, Jackie and Allie bounced recipes and cooking tips back and forth, although by the end of dinner, she still hadn't picked up on anything that sounded out of place.

The girls owned and operated a hairdressing salon in Melbourne, and came to Lakes two or three times a year to unwind and try to meet interesting people, mainly attractive guys. They were staying at the motel attached to the pub, since it was handy and reasonably priced.

‘Have you met anyone interesting so far this trip?’ Corrine asked cheekily.

‘Only you two,’ Allie answered candidly. ‘They're a pretty staid lot this time of year, and there’s lots of overseas tourists.’

‘How about James – did you know him before this?’ Corrine asked innocently.

Allie shook her head, setting her blonde curls bouncing about, ‘Nope. Never saw him before. What about you guys? Do you normally work with him?’

‘Nah,’ said Corrine, ‘only once. He was a bloody wombat then and worse now.’

Talk bounced back and forth a bit longer, until Corrine gave Dave the nod and he suggested, ‘Would you ladies like to join us aboard for some coffee? I can run you back afterwards.’

That livened the girls up as they exchanged a quick look, then both nodded enthusiastically, ‘Oh yes, please. We'd love to see the boat,’ said Jackie.

The girls took a pee break and were ready to roll. They boarded the dinghy reasonably gracefully, which meant nobody actually fell in the water, and were soon on Seeker.

As Xavier's skipper and hired greeter, David was used to putting on the dog and pony show that visitors to the Seeker seemed to expect. To the usual chorus of 'oooh's,

'ahhh's' and 'wow's', he led them around the highlights of the boat. The tour finished back in the saloon where he selected low, indirect mood lighting, quiet background music and turned on the underwater LEDs around the stern which always attracted fish.

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Being a warm evening, he steered them to seats in the cockpit while he went to make Irish coffee.

‘Please excuse me a moment,’ Corrine said, ‘pee break.’

She went straight to her cabin, and collected a small pill bottle and a book-sized leather pouch. She shook two white tablets from the bottle, then ducked out into the galley, where she left the pouch handy.

‘Which are the girls' mugs?’ she asked Dave.

‘The two green ones,’ he indicated.

She dropped a pill in each mug, waited until he had filled them with brewed coffee and a healthy dollop of Jameson's, then carried them up top, Dave following with theirs.

‘Here we are,’ she said. ‘Sorry to run out on you, but when you've gotta go...’

More chitchat was exchanged as they all settled and sipped the heady, steaming brew.

‘Nice brew, Dave,’ Jackie said, smiling appreciatively. ‘You seem to be a very fortunate dude having a beautiful boat like this at your disposal.’

Dave shrugged, ‘Yeah, it's a great thing all right, but I could never afford to run it, let alone own it outright. That's the boss's privilege. He's a very wealthy man. ’

They both nodded. ‘What's this job you're both here to do?’ Allie asked casually.

Corrine picked up on that one by replying, ‘Oh, some guys did the dirty on the boss over a business deal, and he wanted us to visit them and suggest they pay him back what they owe. They're supposed to be on a boat somewhere around here.’

Allie's eyebrows rose, ‘No offence, but I would have thought it would require more people if you're going to play debt collectors on a corporate scale.’

Corrine smiled gently, ‘We can hold our own, but as you say – it’s a corporate-size debt which just needs an accountant, which is me. James is being taken back to Melbourne tomorrow afternoon. Then we can get on with looking for these guys. ’

‘Oh, okay. I hope things all go well.’

Corrine smiled, ‘I'm sure they will. It’s our job to make sure they do.’

After that little fishing attempt came up with bare hooks, talk returned to more general topics as the girls took in the lovely scenery with the lights of the town reflecting off the smooth water, and the endless murmur of the surf just beyond the sand dunes to the south.

The first sign that Corrine's pills were working were when Jackie gave a mighty yawn, apologised profusely, then her eyes slowly closed and she slumped down in her seat.

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Allie might have been concerned for her if she hadn't also been affected the same way and just as quickly. Within seconds, both girls were breathing deeply.

‘Shit, that was quick!’ Dave exclaimed. ‘What the hell are those pills?’

Corrine shrugged, ‘I don't know, but we use them quite a lot when we need to knock a subject out for a while. Afterwards, they generally don’t know what happened, which is a very useful effect.’

‘Sounds like a super Roofie.’

‘Yeah, sort of. But there's something else we use as well. Watch them a moment, I'll be right back.’

She went below to the galley, returning with her leather pouch. From that, she withdrew a small bottle of liquid with a sealed rubber top, a thin hypodermic syringe and a sterile packet of fine needles. A sealed packet of sterile wipes completed the kit , and Dave watched as she expertly filled the syringe, swabbed the inside of Allie's elbow, then gently slid the needle into a vein. Only a small amount was injected and the very fine needle seemed to leave no mark.

Jackie received similar treatment, then Corrine packed up the kit, sealed the used needles in a small container and carefully rinsed the syringe.

‘What happens now?’ Dave asked, as both girls snored on.

‘In about ten minutes, they should partially wake up, but they’ll be drowsy and very compliant. We need to find out what they talked to James about and this is the quickest way to get the truth.’

‘That’s handy.’

‘Yes, it is. The pill is just the knockout so I can inject them. It stops them being evasive or lying when questioned.’

Corrine continued to monitor the girls' pulse and respiration rate until first Allie, and then Jackie stirred and mumbled sleepily. Over the next few minutes, they woke up more fully, not seeming to be aware that they'd been knocked out, but also not as aware of their surroundings as before either.

Corrine then asked Jackie a series of simple questions that were verified by just looking at her driver's licence, which they had found in her purse.

Dave noticed that her answers were a bit mechanical, even though she spoke clearly but slowly.

Then Corrine cut to the chase. ‘What was the plan you discussed with James this afternoon?’

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‘He told us about the three people you're trying to find and asked us to help him find and grab them instead, because there's been a reward of $50,000 offered by the girls'

father. If we could do it, he'll split the money with us, which he said is a lot better than what he gets paid.’

Corrine looked at Dave, ‘Oh the stupid prick! He really thought he could get away with that.’

She addressed Jackie again, ‘What was your part in this?’

‘He was going to give us information about the location of the people and then send you in the wrong direction so we would get to them first. It seemed like it should work and let’s face it, we could sure use the money.’

‘So simple, yet so stupid!’ mused Dave. ‘Having us do all the work and he'd reap the reward.’

‘That's about it,’ Corrine replied as Jackie slowly turned her head and smiled at Dave.

‘You're nice,’ she said. ‘I want to go to bed with you. Can we do that now?’

Allie seemed to rouse herself slightly, ‘Don't be greedy, Jackie. I want him as well.’

‘No problem. We can both take him to bed. That’ll be even more fun.’ Jackie giggled while Dave looked a bit uncomfortable.

Both girls then drifted off into a light sleep.

Corrine grinned at Dave's expression. ‘I should have warned you they'd have absolutely zero inhibitions while under this drug. The effects will slowly taper off, but they'll still say and do odd things for a couple of days. We might have to look after them for a while. It wouldn't do to have a pair of uninhibited nymphomaniacs runni ng loose around town.’

Dave saw the funny side of that, but a nagging thought popped up. ‘As you just said, what are we going to do with them, since we can't turn them loose. Even if they don't remember being knocked out, thanks to bucket-mouth James, they'll still know what we’re really doing here.’

Corrine thought a moment. ‘Bugger! I hadn't thought of that. We really will have to hang onto them. They wanted to go on a boat trip – so let’s give them one. Anyway, I have to report to Xavier. He might want to send them back with Robert.’

‘That’d be very bad for them,’ Dave cautioned. ‘From what I've heard, he's a real arsehole with females. I mean, apart from being a bit greedy, the girls are reasonably innocent and don’t deserve Robert.’

‘Yeah. I suppose you're right. I'll try to think of something clever to tell Xavier.’

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