As Burke was driving from Port Antonio that Friday evening he was wondering what had gone wrong. From all indications it was McCreed’s gunmen who had nearly wiped out his men. The man, whom Bucky and Mose had caught spying, hadn’t been alone, but they had failed to search for the others in the bushes. But now he reasoned, what were they doing so far from their base? After all, they were warned about the effectiveness of McCreed’s spy network. It seemed possible that both men had ventured from the camp for some unknown reasons and had been followed not by that one grower but by several. Their indiscretions had ruined his plans, but only temporarily, he told himself. The weed was still in the warehouse. With all those men dead, in hiding or in jail, it meant that he alone was in control of a warehouse with weed worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
With Ken either dead, in hiding, or in jail, he had lost his overseas contacts, but as this blew over he would begin to put out feelers. With the money from the weed, he would set up a fresh syndicate and with McCreed being taken care of by the security forces; he would make another try at controlling a sizeable portion of the Jamaican drug market. He drove the Mercedes Benz up the Junction Road. He would sleep at Nora tonight and in the morning he would go to his office as most Saturdays it was open until late afternoon. He had told her that he had to look at some properties in the country and might have to stay overnight. He listened to the radio reports and read the papers intensely. But there was no mention of the names of the survivors. He knew that several men had survived the massacre. Some had been arrested while others had gotten away. He wondered who were the men arrested and just who had gotten away. Would the arrested men finger him and would the escapees be on their way to find him and try to get some money from him?
He had burned some of his capital in employing all those guys along with weapons and ammunition. But it was Ken, Benny and Wally, who had put in the lion’s share. He had intended to sell the weed to help them replenish their funds. Nora lived off Hope Road. He drove through Stony Hill Road and dropped on to Constant Spring Road. He reached her house at eight o’clock that night.
***
Bull Mosely was among the twenty men, who boarded the truck at Harman Barracks. After his now infamous encounter with Grosset, he had become the butt of many jokes. He had pleaded with McDonald to give him a chance to redeem himself.
The once feared patrolman had become a laughing stock because of what Grosset had done to him.
Guy Kerr-Coombs and his twenty handpicked men left Up Park Camp at about the same time as McDonald.
Bendoo walked to the top of the road. As he walked, he thought about the letter he had received from Babs. It was very compassionate, she begged him to understand, but she wanted something less exciting. His life was too full of intrigue and danger. No, she wouldn’t be continuing their relationship and no, she hadn’t found someone else. He knew that he would call her when he returned and wish her good luck. He didn’t want their five-year relationship to end on a sad note. He had only a few minutes to wait before McDonald’s truck arrived and he boarded it. Wood was the driver.
“Is everything all right, Bendoo?” McDonald asked.
“Yes, Chief, no problem, I’ve told Camilla about the arrangements for her sister to contact her and that she’s just to keep calm and don’t worry.”
“Good, I hope she understands,” he remarked as the truck began to climb the hill.
“Bull Mosely is coming with us, he begged me to take him along. I’ve told him that if he does a repeat performance, I’m going to personally see that they throw him out of the force.”
“If we fail this time, Chief, all of us careers will be over,” Bendoo stated.
McDonald had to agree.
“It’s only two days; it’s going to be rough. All of us should be fit and ready when it’s over.”
“Are we going to start training the moment we get there, Chief?” Wood asked.
“Yes, Woody, time is crucial and we don’t have much to play with.”
The other truck was right behind them as they passed Leas Flat. Many pedestrians and motorists were looking at the two trucks with security personnel.
***
The men were punctual in coming to the meeting. Grosset was now smoking a pipe. All of them took seats on the couches.
“Until now we haven’t found Bendoo, Camilla or Gaskell Burke,” Ardez stated.
“Where have they disappeared to? I’ve been all over, looking for them,” the giant roared out his frustrations.
“The boss isn’t going to like this,” Ardez told them.
“Rattigan, have you any idea of places Camilla likes to go?” Premba asked.
“She’s interested in art, but I doubt if Bendoo and the security forces will let her out of their sights. They’ll probably try to get her off the island as quickly as possible.”
“We have people guarding against that possibility. She hasn’t turned up yet, so that means she’s still here. We found a house where he once lived, but the landlord said he told him that he was going to the States.”
“What about his family, have you tried to trace them? If we find any of them we could do something to them to force him out into the open,” Grosset suggested.
“K worked on that angle already, Bendoo doesn’t have any relatives alive.”
“K should keep a watch on the top army and policemen. Has he hired anybody else for us?” Grosset asked.
“He got three more, one Sergeant and two Inspectors. He’s using them to watch the top men in the police and the army, but so far Bendoo hasn’t showed up. He must be hiding somewhere and planning something.”
“We’re going to forget about Burke for the time being. We’ll kill him when he least expects it. Anyway, our main concern is Bendoo. We have to kill him and Camilla. K is working twenty four hours a day on the case,” he finished.
“Where are we going to find them though?” Grosset asked.
“We have to find him, Grosset. That traitor knows too much to live.”
The giant grunted.
“I can’t believe that Bendoo is a policeman.”
“I set up lots of times and think about it. I have to shake my head about how he came up here and tricked us. When I think about it, since he came up here he has never killed a man or even helped us,” Premba stated.
“We should have killed him when we captured him. I don’t know why the boss thought he was more valuable to us alive than dead,” Ardez declared.
“What unit did K say Bendoo was with before he came up here?” Grosset asked.
“He was a Detective Sergeant attached to Special Branch.”
“He should be watching them in case he tries to contact them,” Grosset suggested.
“As I said before, Grosset, K is working around the clock, trying to locate Bendoo.”
“Tomorrow, the boss wants us to meet him down at
the Factory. Dangler and some men from out in the country are going to be there too.”
“We’re returning to our posts now. Remember to be on the look out for Bendoo and the security forces.”
The men stood up and filed out of the room.
***
Gus McCreed just had a heated argument with Fred over Bendoo’s escape and his continued evasion of his fighters. Now, as he sat on his balcony, he wondered why he had kept Bendoo alive for so long after discovering that he was a traitor. Did he no longer have the urge to kill? He didn’t think so as he had just sent his men to wipe out a group of his enemies.
No, he wasn’t getting soft. He would have him killed just like every damn traitor should be. He lit a cigar; if Bendoo was killed, then Wareika might be saved. He knew enough about Wareika that an attack led by him might just succeed. His escape had temporarily halted the shipments of the drugs from Colombia. He had to call Miami and let them inform the men in Colombia to stop the shipments. He had invented a story that the Jamaican authorities were clamping down very hard. This was lost revenue and the sooner the traffic could resume the better.
It was a good thing that he didn’t know all of the contacts, only those in Montego Bay, but he still knew how it got in. So far no raids had taken place on the marijuana fields in the country, but it wouldn’t be long before the cops started raiding and intercepting the marijuana flights. Bendoo knew too much to live. He got up and paced the balcony. The night was cool as it always was in Coopers Hill. He had replaced the two Doberman dogs. He could see the bright lights of the city. Tomorrow they would be holding a big meeting at the Factory.
***
They reached Harkers Ridge late Friday evening. Tents were pitched on the large expanse of land, which lay far from the road. Beside the camp ran a river with clean, clear water; while on the other side of the river were a parochial road and thick bushes and trees not dissimilar to Wareika. The first thing the two companies of soldiers and policemen did was exercise with McDonald and Kerr-Coombs leading the way. All of them did laps around the field. The training was rigorous and both commanders tested their men to the limit. Bendoo knew the value of this training as he had no doubt that the Wareikans were at the same time undergoing similar training.
After they had eaten dinner the men divided up into two groups, one going into the thick undergrowth and the other going after them to flush them out. It was rough going and they didn’t finish until near midnight.
Guards were already posted when Bendoo returned from his bath in the river. He gave the password and went to his blankets. He fell asleep almost immediately.
When the call came for early morning exercises he could hardly awake.
They did some exercises then did several laps around the playing field, and then they had breakfast. When they finished eating it was on to target practice.
***
Burke had breakfast at Nora’s house and left at about seven o’clock that Saturday morning for his own house. He would change his clothes before going to the office. He felt confident within himself that there was nothing to fear from McCreed’s men. He constantly listened to the radio, but he could get no more information except that the police were still investigating the massacre. They couldn’t connect him to that incident though and neither could McCreed.
Ken, Mose and Bucky were either dead, in hiding, or in jail, he couldn’t believe it. The three men were so confident; boasting of their prowess with a gun that at times he felt it was a done deal. He had other things on his mind besides their failure. Suppose they found the grave of that grower. He had invented a story that it was Ken who had rented the place from him. As soon as he got to the office, he would draft up the rental agreement, forge the signatures, write a receipt and backdate it.
***
e had found Burke’s number and had telephoned his office on both Thursday and Friday. He was told on both occasions that he wouldn’t be in until Saturday morning. He had gone to the office at nine o’clock that morning but didn’t go inside; instead he parked the rental car in a side lane and waited outside of a bar opposite the man’s office. He wanted to make sure he didn’t pull any tricks on him. He drank a stout and smoked some cigarettes while he waited. He hadn’t heard from any of the others, but he doubted if either Mose or Bucky was dead. They could be lying low, devising a way to get some money from Burke or just get out of the island. Maybe Benny, Wally and Dickson were alive, and he wondered if they were, what they were up to?
Lance and Denton, a fighter from Grosset’s unit visited Burke’s office that morning. Lance was riding a S-90 motor cycle. They rode up to the office gate but didn’t enter; instead they circled and came over to the bar. It was then that Ken recognized them as McCreed’s gunmen and wasn’t sure that they weren’t after him. He whipped out his gun and fired, hitting Denton in his left shoulder and he fell off the motorcycle. Lance had also whipped out his gun and shot Ken in his left leg. He spun the bike around and raced up the road as Ken fired after him but missed. Lance fired back at him, hitting him in his right leg and he fell. Lance seeing the man fall, put up his gun and raced away not sure if Denton was dead or not.
Dressed in a new suit, Burke breezed into his office that morning.
Driving on the road, he was surprised by the number of people on the road and over by the bar. There were a lot of policemen over there too.
“What happened, Elaine?”
“They just had a big shootout over by the bar.”
“Were they trying to rob it?”
“No, Mister Burke, it doesn’t look so. They said one of the men was outside the bar from early morning. It seems that he was waiting on someone. The men on the motorcycle just rode up to our gate and when they saw him, they turned back and started shooting at him. That rental car parked down there, belongs to the man, who was waiting by the bar,” she said, pointing through the window.
“Three of them got shot, but it doesn’t look like any are dead.”
Burke didn’t comment on what she said.
“Is everything else all right?”
“Yes, Mister Burke.”
“Anybody called me or came to see me?
“Mister Wolfe and Mister Harrison came to see you, but they said they would call you on Monday. A man called on Thursday and yesterday too, but he didn’t want to tell me his name.”
“Nothing more, no messages or anything?”
“No, sir, nobody else called.”
“You look downcast, is anything wrong?”
“I’m all right, Mister Burke. It’s just the shooting I’m worrying about.”
“Are you sure, well, anything I can do, you let me know. I’m more than willing to help,” he told her as he made his way into his office.
It must have been Ken, who was calling him and maybe it was McCreed’s men, who had shot him. He had to do some thinking and fast as he wasn’t sure they weren’t returning to kill him.
He put his briefcase down on the desk and switched on the lights and the air-conditioning unit. He took off his coat and hung it in the small built in closet, which at present housed three more coats. From the floor of the closet, he took up a half full bottle of vodka. He went over to the other side of the small office and opened the glass door of the credenza and took out a glass.
From the tiny refrigerator he took some ice cubes and put them into the glass.
He poured some of the vodka into the glass and took a bottle of tonic water from the bottom of the refrigerator and poured out some. He used a drinking straw to stir it before dumping the contents down his throat with one gulp. He was tipping the bottle of vodka for another helping when he heard the sound of heavy boots coming into the office. He put down the bottle and waited. He heard a gruff voice asking for him and then there was a knock on his door. He opened it to reveal two men in the doorway. Both were in plain clothes.
“Who are you, and what do you want?” he asked.
“We’re the police,” the shorter of the two men replied, taking out his identification card. He showed it to Burke, it identified him as Detective Sergeant Glen Hastings of the Criminal Investigations Branch.
“Come with us, Mister Burke, we have some questions to ask you. We believe you can help us to find out what happened at Groves Valley, and what happened right in front of your office. You see how close it came to you,” the policeman told him.
“You must be joking, what am I supposed to know about that?”
“Gus McCreed’s men might be returning to finish the job. They might be on their way here now,” Hastings stated. His words had their calculated effect. Burke didn’t protest any longer.
“Take his gun, Charles,” Hasting directed the other policeman.
Burke reached into his shoulder holster and dropped the gun into a pouch, Corporal Charles Distant had.
He then took up his briefcase, put on his new coat and followed the two policemen out of the office. He tried to put on a brave face for Elaine, but doubted if he succeeded.
“Elaine, I’m just going with these two men to do some business. Take care of the office for me, if anybody calls, tell them that I’ll soon be back,” he said as he stepped through the door, the two detectives following closely behind.
***
Two hours after Burke left with the two policemen, his secretary was surprised by another visitor.
“Can I help you, sir?” she asked the man through the slightly opened door.
“My name is Dickson Lunan. I’m here to see Mr. Burke.”
She looked at the slightly built forty something looking man.
“I’m sorry, but he left for a meeting and won’t be back for the afternoon.”
“You can tell him that I came by. I’ll probably call him on Monday,” he told her as she closed the door after him.
****
“Dickson Lunan, so you’re back in Jamaica. We want to have a talk with you,” one of the men told him and showed him his identification card.
“I’m out here minding my own business, I don’t see what this has to do with the police, Sergeant Bent.”
“Maybe you can help us with Danny King, Brad Elliot and Jack Marriot,” the policeman told him.
Lunan looked downcast. How did these men get to link him to those men?”
“Okay, but you’re wasting your time with me.”
“We’ll be the judge of that, sir,” the other policeman said and took Lunan’s car keys from him.
Lunan was also searched and his gun taken by the policemen.
***
Lorena woke up with a headache that Saturday morning. She took two tablets and returned to bed. When she woke up again, she was surprised to see how late it was. Her breakfast was on a tray. She ate some of the food and drank the orange juice. She then took a bath and went over to the hotel’s lobby.
Since her break up with Paul she had seen neither her father nor Fred.
She felt like going up to Coopers Hill and confronting Fred. She would go up there on Sunday.
“Hi, Lor,” Bev, one of the receptionists, called to her. “First time I’ve seen you since morning.”
“I woke up with a terrible headache, but I took some tablets and went back to bed.”
“Paul isn’t doing his work, Lor.”
“We aren’t together anymore, Bev.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“He’s too deceitful, so I just ended the relationship.”
Guests were coming into the hotel and Lorena was pleased.
“I’m sorry to hear.”
“I will talk to you later, but everything’s all right now.”
“Business looks good,” Bev said. She was short and had a good figure. Lorena knew that Fred had tried to date her, but the girl had been sensible enough not to fall for his tricks.
“It looks like it, have you seen Fred lately?”
“No, it’s a long time since I’ve seen him.”
Lorena took a seat in one of the lounge chairs.
“You have this morning’s paper, Bev?”
“Yes, sure,” the girl replied, passing the papers to her. Lorena took them and began to read.
It was while she was dancing with Rory at his mother’s
birthday party that he called her Freddie’s little sister. She asked him what was he talking about and he had shut up. She asked him if he knew Fred and he said no.
The following morning Paul had gone to buy petrol for his car and to get some groceries. She had accidentally kicked over a briefcase he had on the floor and all his papers fell out. It was while she was putting them back together that she came across the photos, Fred, Paul and Rory at school in New York. Rory smoking marijuana. Paul holding a rifle and several other guns. Paul weighing marijuana to be sold. She didn’t look any further. She had gone home without waiting for him to return. Later she had telephoned him to let him know that it was over. He had said that Fred had nothing to do with his befriending her. She had hung up after telling him that she felt used.
***
The big meeting that was planned for the Factory had instead been moved to George Senior’s office with only McCreed, Ardez, Premba, Grosset and Rattigan in attendance. Senior was one of those, who had agreed to cooperate with the syndicate. Huntley and Clifton, two new but experienced fighters were made commanders, replacing Pennant and Bendoo. Ardez reported on Lance’s failure to kill Burke and that Denton was still in hospital. Gus reported that Camilla had left the island and that Burke was in police custody along with Dickson Lunan.
K had reported that he had seen no unusual troop movements and all commanders were still in place. That an attack mightn’t come at all was greeted with some amount of optimism by the Wareikans. The short meeting broke up after the men had refreshments.
***
Bendoo scored the best shot a perfect score in the target practice. Six o’clock caught them on their bellies up in the hills. It was real commando style training. He was sorry that it was so short. The nights found them practicing mock battles in the hills. That morning they practiced close fighting and the men got a chance to sharpen up their skills.
In the midst of all this he hoped that Camilla had returned home with her sister. He sat up in his blankets. Elizabeth had been due in on Friday night and they would be flying out today. Tomorrow was the final briefing because the men hadn’t yet been told the purpose of this intensive training course although some of them might have guessed. Neil McDonald and Guy Kerr-Coombs assisted by him would do the briefing. They would leave for Wareika at nine o’clock as the attack was scheduled to begin at midnight. He thought of the killers at Wareika, there were at least thirty-five men there, plus women, who could also use a gun. Bull Mosely had asked him to save Grosset for him. All hell was going to break loose when those two met.
He wondered what had happened to Fred and Lorena. How would she react when she found out that her father was a drug baron and McCreed and Fred were put behind bars? After they captured Wareika and raided the Factory they would start on the growers out in the country. That would bring McCreed to his knees, if they could capture some of the men at the Factory and Wareika they might turn witnesses against McCreed though he knew about the code of silence that was observed in the organization. He had heard that it was gotten from McCreed’s days as a mob hit man. Thus, those men, even if captured could probably prefer to spend a few years in prison knowing that after their release they would be well looked after by McCreed. They would have to find a way around that. He knew that many country policemen were taking bribes from McCreed’s men. Well, they would be rooted out. He rolled over on his back. The place was quiet, no smoking was allowed at night.
The men were disciplined and if they took that into battle with them, they would defeat the Wareikans. The soldiers were from Zebra regiment and the police from Mobile Reserve. He knew that Mc Donald had gotten the latter group because he knew most of them as he had been their commander up to five years ago.
Bendoo dropped off to sleep after this long period of meditation.