Chapter Fifteen
Riding a taxi with Hari, Clarity checked the official invitation to the party sent out by Mondialu via email to all the guests: Nanny Cay Resort, Caribbean Appetizers Party, a night by the superyachts anchored in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Nanny cay resort and marina was one of the top marine facilities in the Caribbean. Located between the capital of Tortola, Road Town, and the west end of the island, the area was known for being a well-protected marina, with admirable hills surrounding it, and a laid back mood, charming visitors. The dock and boat repair facilities accommodated up to one hundred and eighty yachts. A remarkable chandlery furnished with sailing equipment, a water sports centre, a small dive shop and friendly boutiques, added to the mystique of the area overlooking the Sir Francis Drake Channel.
Clarity noticed the taxi was slowing down, less than a mile before entering the marina area. A group of constables wearing shining white uniforms, black caps showing the seal of the British Virgin Islands, black pants and polished shoes, were blocking the road leading to Nanny Cay resort and Marina. Clarity stayed in the taxi, while Hari stepped out before the police officers approached their cab. Two constables immediately surrounded Hari, asking him for credentials. He showed them his smartphone and when prompted for additional documents proving his identity, the Sheik showed them a live view of his wild boar reserve in Saudi Arabia. The constables were not informed of the agreement that Hari had struck with police superintendent Guligher, and they placed him under arrest, after checking that he matched the identity of the Sheik who had escaped from prison in Tortola.
Clarity walked out of the taxi to clarify the misunderstanding. Another constable, a woman who matched the face of Clarity with a photograph provided by the prison of Tortola, arrested her as well, placing her in the back of a new Ford Interceptor police car, leaving her alongside Hari. Clarity felt powerless and somewhat appalled by the lack of coordination within the local police force, watching the built-in barriers and partitions of the police car, welded for the suitable containment of prisoners.
"There is a misunderstanding, Mr. Guligher has agreed to leave us free for another day."
The plea of Hari did not impress the constable driving their car, who was making calls to the prison and was being referred to the Commissioner of the police force and the local territorial station. After a final discussion with an assistant of the superintendent, the mistake was clarified, and he let both of the arrested go and get back into the taxi. Clarity was not very comfortable, since they had found no information on the Shawab, and they only had less than twenty four hours remaining, in order to avoid jail. For the past two days, Hari had been trying to get in touch with BICCC, in order to claim his money, but the local Cuban clerks had dismissed his request, saying there had not been any transfers from the British Virgin Islands in the previous week. Of course, they were lying, but they were receiving instructions to do so from Minint, the Cuban Ministry in charge of interior affairs, with lying blendng as a natural part of their job.
Clarity stopped in a shop and bought a pair of white Aladdin pants with floral patterns, sold by Shop Nobi, a loose blouse, and a pair of summer high heel silver coated bridal sandals bought by the shop from Ali Express.
"Give me your smartphone," she told Hari, "I need it to get your money back from Cuba."
The Sheik gave his device to Clarity. He would have done anything to recover his money, for retirement and his first business deal was no joke.
At ten thirty at night, they got past two private security guards and three constables guarding the entrance to the docks of the marina, boarding the Kabilah Huntress, a large yacht belonging to Nelson Mondialu. A broad passerelle was set up for the guests, about two hundred people coming from various islands in the Caribbean, and also visiting from places like Monaco, Capri, and the French Riviera. The Romanian millionaire was showing everyone that Jay Zee had sent him a message, telling him that he could not attend as a result of a problem with delivery of his champagne, and also because of a venue held by his significant other. The flashy middle aged man walked the guests towards a table displaying vodka that the host was showcasing, a bottle of Diva vodka fetching one million dollars for each bottle, whose center was closed and full of bright diamonds of several colors.
Clarity noticed Hakeem and Merhab gather with Plum and Julia around the vodka stand. The retainer of Hari was interested in knowing more about the immense value behind that bottle, something that the Shawab had requested. The Sheik approached his retainer, his features showing a blend of anger and frustration. She heard Hari get into an argument with Moghadam, asking him about why he had not called a lawyer for him to get him out of prison. The teleoperator moved away from the cluster of guests all wanting to taste the outrageously expensive vodka, and began to talk with several people, noticing that Nives was getting closer to her. The colleague of Plum finally reached her and whispered a few words in her ear.
"Is that what Plum said?" Asked Clarity.
"Yes."
"Tell her I agree."
She moved towards a group of journalists from the Consortium who had been invited to the party by local authorities. After some brief chit-chat, she began asking questions to the reporters about the various groups within the Consortium. One of them, Adrian Mogos, head of investigations for the Bucharest daily newspaper Jurnalul National, led her to the person she was seeking. Mihai Oyegbile was the person who did all the hacking that the reporters required when their investigations stalled. With a brief handshake, the teleoperator introduced herself and explained what she was seeking. The hacker saw no problem with the agreement she was proposing. Clarity took out a piece of paper and gave him the phone number of the Sheik's smartphone.
"Just his address book," she said, "with all of his connections. I want it in his file."
"All right, we will check into that, I can work with this. I'll ensure those in the Consortium board know of this."
"Nah, I want something else in return," said Clarity.
In return for the information she was providing, the teleoperator asked Oyegbile for a favor, to hack into the account of BICCC in Cuba, in order to recover the money of the Sheik. The hacker hesitated when he heard the sum to recover amounted to eight million dollars, and wanted to confirm what he was getting in exchange for his work.
"A list with all of the connections of the Sheik," said Clarity, "you won't have this chance again, he is going to change the number in a few days. If he doesn't do it, his family will, or his retainer will."
Sensing a unique opportunity to access a group of powerful people, Oyegbile agreed and Clarity gave him the banking instructions of the BICCC account which had been traced by the robo advisor software when the money of Hari had disappeared. The hacker himself disappeared in a cabin of the yacht with his laptop and a wi-fi connection. Two hours later, around three in the morning, Oyegbile confirmed that the money of Hari was in the account opened at Morgan & Kingsway in the British Virgin Islands.
"Thanks," said Clarity. Using the smartphone of Hari, she texted a message to Fanny Williams, alerting her that the money acting as capital for the Sheik, eight million dollars, had been transferred from one of his other accounts in Cuba.
As the party went on, Clarity got closer to Richard Carliss, introducing herself as a journalist, and teasing him about his good looks and charm. Being a man who appreciated good looking women, Carliss began to flirt with Clarity, who offered several drinks to the boss of the luxury champagne companies. With each drink, Clarity was tossing away the alcohol into the water, turning around without Carliss seeing her, acting as though she was swallowing one shot after another. Within twenty minutes of bantering, Carliss began drinking more to impress her. Within another twenty minutes, he was drunk. Clarity searched his vest pocket and found his smartphone.
"I bet there is a list of all the good looking women you date in here." Carliss wobbled and held on to the railing of the yacht. Clarity helped him hold steady and kept talking
to him.
"Are you really the owner of Veuve Ponsard? I love that champagne." Recovering partially from his inebriated state, Carliss grabbed his own phone and opened a business application, which showed that he was president and chairman of the board of the champagne company mentioned by Clarity. The teleoperator acted as though she was unimpressed, and requested to see more papers, the ones which actually showed that Carliss could buy a company, or sell the ones he owned.
"Oh really, you are not impressed by this? I'll show you what I can do," said Carliss. The businessman kept revealing more information to Clarity, because he wanted to bring the girl with light brown hair with him to his hotel room.
"All right, look, I can sell these companies whenever I want to, simply with a one click touch of a button, from my smartphone." Clarity moved closer to Carliss, nearly touching his cheek.
"Which button?"
"This one."
Carliss pointed to a button on the phone screen, but collapsed to the floor, dropping the device. Clarity grabbed the smartphone before the wireless item, a slim Gresso Regal made with unique materials costing about six thousand dollars, fell into the water. Tweaking with the management application, she found a way to type the amount that Veuve Ponsard and Laurent Varignon were worth, one hundred and three million dollars. She wrote the name of Hari as the buyer of the companies, and typed the banking instructions of the account where the money from Morgan had come in, instructing the application to send the money to the account of Carliss, which was also preset in his phone. Shaking the champagne owner, Clarity was able to lift his face, and she saw his eyes opening. After a few minutes of requesting another drink, he stood up again, his hand on the railing of the yacht. Clarity showed him the phone with the companies ready to be sold, and teased him further.
"I won't believe you are the owner of these companies until you sell them."
"I'm not selling my companies, I love them."
His eyes closed and he began to dream awake that he was already in his bed. She waved to Hari, who brought some water in a jar to wake up Carliss. She splashed Carliss in the face and sent Hari away as soon as the executive opened his eyes, noticing Nives not too far from her, a few feet away. She waved at her, explaining she had a catch for the night. Nives was somewhat suspicious.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I want to be invited to one of his events, champagne tasting."
Nives was not completely unimpressed, she sensed that the man was wealthy.
"Why should I help you?"
"Because this guy is loaded," said Clarity.
The teleoperator took out the wallet of Carliss and showed Nives his ID and a few credit cards. Then, she googled the name and found his photograph on the web, which listed him as the owner of two prestigious champagne companies. This time, Nives was convinced, she was willing to bed the wealthy owner, simply to get close to him and possibly become one of his mistresses or his sugar baby. Clarity whispered in the ear of Carliss, choosing her words carefully.
"Kiss her on the cheek and she will kiss you back if you sell the two companies you own."
Looking into the eyes of the attractive girl, Carliss became slightly more aware that a woman wanted to be with him. He kissed Nives on the cheek, looking for her lips. He glanced at the smartphone Clarity was holding, and Clarity lifted his right hand, extending his index towards the sell button appearing onscreen.
"Press the button, and she will be yours for the night."
"Why should I do this?" Asked Carliss, not knowing what he was being asked to do.
"Well, because she likes you," said Clarity.
Nives kissed him on the cheek and that was enough for the finger of Carliss to press the button slightly, selling both of his champagne companies to Hari. Clarity whispered in the ear of Nives.
"You can have him the rest of the night, keep him busy till one or two o'clock in the afternoon tomorrow."
Taking the smartphone of Carliss with her, the teleoperator left the champagne businessman with Nives, seeing them get inside one of the cabins of the yacht.