Chapter 19
Charlie spent only a few seconds back at El Campo with me, before he disappeared off to the Maldives again, but this time with Halcyons keys in his pocket; and it was like a relay race. His plane screeched to a halt, the door opened, he raced down the steps (Vincente was long gone), grabbed the keys from me and was back inside in the blink of an eye – well almost - with me shouting over the engines (compared to Avon’s - they were pussy’s) about ‘extra expenses’.
‘He would willingly pay me for the pleasure that he was shortly going to be experiencing’ he screamed, with a broad grin all over his face, and on arrival back in the Maldives he went in search of an owner of a fast boat, any fast boat, just as long as they wouldn’t mind going for a quick trip into ‘international waters’, and could keep their trap shut. He then visited Halcyon, and after removing the padlock that firmly secured her to the jetty (the key was on his new key ring, although he had a universal key (bolt croppers) tucked in his belt, just in case) and quickly prepared her for sea. Just as he was contemplating leaving he noticed another key on a hook above the chart table with the tag ‘storage locker 28’, and the marina’s logo on it, ‘it might be worth a visit’ he though, and it was, inside was the large outboard (the smaller one really did look quite ‘dinky’ on the arse-end he thought), the oversized life-raft, several sails, the generator and a load of other goodies – including several cans of fuel, Charlie immediately thought ‘ballast’, except for the fuel - ‘accelerant’. Finding a willing helper and a trolley they emptied the store and transported its contents to the Halcyon, and once the ballast had been evenly distributed throughout the boat he slipped his helper $50 US and asked him to return the key to the office ‘I don’t think it will be needed any more’, he said.
There was a nice breeze blowing so he decided not to ‘faff about’ fitting the large Mercury, instead he would sail out to meet his new friend (bringing back fond memories of his time on the ‘Broadsword’, ‘there can’t be much difference, after all Halcyon is only thirty feet shorter, and sadly lacking in helpers’) and started the tiny vintage Johnson to let it warm up. Slipping the lines he let the breeze blow the Halcyon away from its jetty for the last time, but just before he knocked the outboard into gear Shaun arrived, breathless and in a ‘flat panic’. He assumed that Shaun must have seen him pull the jib up, and then let it flap uselessly in the breeze, in preparation for when he got under sail.
‘What are you doing?’ he screamed.
‘Going for a quick potter’, he said.
‘You can’t, it’s my boat and I won’t let you’ he stupidly shouted, as Halcyon drifted further away from him.
‘You can’t stop me, I have the owner’s permission’ Charlie replied, with a wicked grin on his face and waving the ‘spare’ keys in his general direction, at the same time thinking that he hoped that he would try and stop him, ‘I would take great pleasure in snapping his scrawny little neck’. He then engaged forward gear, but before revving the engine he shouted back at Shaun ‘and both of you had better be in your office when I get back’ and gunned the motor. When clear of the Marina he had no problems hauling up the main, and killing the motor for its last time he sailed off towards the horizon.
He had no problem locating his new friend either, using the state-of-the-art Radar, which Caroline had asked him to slip into his hand luggage on his way back, ‘you can get a new one, or two, now you are getting your ex gratia payments’ he laughingly told her, ‘what ex gratia payments?’ she said: ‘bang goes Andrews’s surprise’ he thought.
After the cans of fuel were emptied, inside and out, Charlie jumped aboard the RIB and fired a flare into the cabin. The fire took hold immediately and they slid away to a safe distance and then hove-to, he didn’t want any brave sole coming to the rescue and try and put the fire out. Vicente had assured Andrew that as long as they were in International Waters they could do whatever they liked to Halcyon, just as long as she didn’t leave a large oil slick behind. Charlie had worried that the hull wouldn’t sink when the fire and water met, but with the last of the fuel he had soaked the gold lettering on her transom and it helped with her demise, that and the wooden planking.
As they watched her slip below the slight swell the RIB’s owner turned to Charlie and said ‘It’s a pity you didn’t tell me it would take this long, I could have brought a couple of steaks along and we could have had a nice barbie’, and then seriously continued ‘that it was sad to watch such lovely little boat end its days like this’.
Charlie glanced at him and he knew that it was ‘end of conversation, even with his friends in the bar’.
He dropped Charlie off in front of their Office block, but he still hated it, no matter how high the rents were, and went inside. They were waiting for him as instructed and the first thing that Franklin said was, ‘Have you got the envelopes?’
‘What envelopes?’
‘That were in the box’, he said in exasperation.
‘Why’ Charlie asked.
‘Because they had nothing to do with the scam money, we were keeping it safe from, sorry for, the tax man’.
Charlie couldn’t help but chuckle, ‘poetic justice he thought’, although Itza had had an inkling. Apparently his parting comment to Andrew when he had left the conference room had been ‘do you mind if I ‘cold call’ them, they have a nice little thing going, with plenty of room to expand (with the right advise of course) and it would mean you will get your ‘investment back all the sooner.’
‘Consider them the first instalment of your ‘pay-back’ package.
Shaun glanced at the floor and whispered ‘what has happened to the Halcyon, we love that boat’.
‘I know, that is why I have just taken great pleasure in setting it ablaze and sending it to the bottom of the sea. Taking the money back only hurts you in your wallet, Andrew wanted to hurt ‘you’ as well, to give Suzanna and Charlotte some measure of revenge I would imagine’ (but he guessed that neither of them would ever know what really happened today), and Shaun started to cry.
‘Good’ he thought, and then Franklin asked their first sensible question, ‘are we going to prison?’
‘No’ he reluctantly said ‘but there are some non-negotiable conditions attached’.
They sat around the table and Charlie laid out my plan, they had noticed with some trepidation the disappearing funds from their various accounts that very morning, and had correctly guessed that I was behind it, and also realised what ‘clout’ I had in the real world.
‘But that was illegal’ Shaun whined.
‘Oh, I agree with you one hundred per-cent, about as illegal as stealing it from the dead in the first place I would imagine’, he replied, and they quickly continued on to the next item on the list.
Sliding a slip of paper over to them he said ‘ensure that this amount is paid into that account on the last day of each month, starting this month, then after twelfth payment double it, and then continue paying it for a further nineteen years. You will notice that it is in pounds sterling, you had better hope that the exchange rate is good to you’.
‘We won’t be able to afford it, especially after the first year’ Franklin said.
‘Yes you will, they have no intentions of destroying you or your Company, in fact the happier that you are out here, the happier that they will be back there. I have been reliably informed that this enterprise of yours is quite the little money spinner, and even after you have paid your dues to the Taxman and Mr Michaels it still has the potential to achieve great things, possibly even globally, and to that end a gentleman called Itza will be contacting you in the near future to give you some advice on ‘expansion plans’, trust him, because whilst most of us disagree, he thinks that you have been punished enough, but he is scrupulously honest so don’t try to cut any corners. He predicts that with the right motivation i.e. you now have nothing to fall back on, you will knuckle down and repay Mr Michaels ‘loan’’ within five years, or even less, but, and they are big bu
ts, on the conditions that the two of you become ‘recluses’, as of this instant, all photographs of you will be removed from all advertising, both printed and on-line, you will shy away from all publicity, you will have no Facebook, twitter or any other social media accounts, and Itza will not only be you and your company’s financial advisor, but his people will be your go-betweens as well. If Wonga can be represented by group of puppets then I’m sure you can think of something suitable.
‘But Wonga are ‘payday lenders’, we are in another league altogether’ Franklin said, obviously his feelings were well hurt.
‘A rose by any other name, …..’ Charlie quoted, then that was the end of that particular point on the list as well.
He then went through the other items, like the trashing their real passports, and ‘you will not apply for new ones, in a short while you will be officially dead, and that is how you will stay, capisce?’ and a word of advice, don’t try to use your false ones either, the UK and US Border Agencies have already ‘red flagged’ those names. If you do try and travel to the US, UK or anywhere in the EEC then the next time you see me I will not be so nice and friendly, stay in this part of the world, and out of the lime light, and we will all be happy, oh and just to let you know ‘certain people here-abouts, both in business, and private individuals, will be sending us regular reports on the both of you for the foreseeable future, ‘please don’t give them something to write about’, and finally, there will be no contact with either of your ex’es (no short phone calls to hear their voices, no mystery post cards from far off places), or any old friends or acquaintances for that matter, however innocuous, do you fully understand and agree with those conditions?’
‘Yes, fully’ they mumbled.
‘Well live long, and prosper, as Mr Spock would say’, Charlie said, and then he stood and walked over to the refrigerator and removed a small bottle of water.
‘Deduct it from the loan’ he said.
‘On the house’ Franklin said, ‘I wouldn’t want to inadvertently overcharge you and you have to come and pay us another visit’.
Charlie chuckled, and as he left the room he thought ‘I like that – he is staring to grow on me, not a lot – but a little’.
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