Chapter Thirteen
Clarity glanced at her watch. It was close to five thirty. She got ready to close the logbook and yawned, looking at Bartleby´s bed with envy, when a voice coming from the tablet inside the hollow book echoed in the room.
"Bartleby, are you there, this is powerboat 5." Clarity thought on her feet.
"This is Virgy," said Clarity. The pilot of the speedboat joked that he would appreciate some feminine company after the long stream of liquor delivery, and, this time seriously, that Chubby Caddy had promised them, each pilot of the speedboats used to deliver liquor, the company of a pussy liner.
"We´ve got one either delivery or pickup pending for Oleanne, ten boxes of rum for Sankarn Cove in Prickly Pear Island, are we going for drop-off there or is she providing some alcohol to us?" Regardless, thought Clarity, she needed to know who was Oleanne.
"Drop-off, she needs some cases of gin for several yachts, come and pick me up, I´m at the 'Lady Moura', I´ll go with you to deliver the package, I´ll bring some Hendrick´s Gin for us after delivery." The pilot rejoiced at the thought of spending half an hour with a good looking woman.
"Ok, we´ll pick you up at the stern." Clarity put the logbook in place and exited Bartleby´s bedroom, making her way to the stern of the boat, the back of it. Fifteen minutes later, a speed boat holding two men came to pick up Clarity. The pilot was wearing a worn sweater and khaki army pants, the other was wearing a grey jacket. In the back of the boat, Clarity could see a pile of cases of alcohol, ready for delivery. As it was still cool, Clarity donned an extra turtleneck that the pilot had brought, and she held on to a rail, as the boat rode out into the open sea. After a ride of an hour and a half, they reached the island of Prickly Pear, one of the islands north of Virgin Gorda and slightly south of Necker Island, the island belonging to British magnate Richard Branson. The sun had come up from the horizon, and Clarity enjoyed the warm rays and the sight of dawn on the ocean.
Clarity was surprised to see Cobbler´s yacht, although it matched her thought and logic that one of Cobbler´s assistants was Oleanne. She led the pilot to the yacht and found Cobbler with Optesia onboard Cobbler´s boat. She was somewhat aloof, but he was glad to see Clarity. Clarity told the pilot to wait a moment. She pushed Cobbler towards the bow of his yacht.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Go along with me, we´re dropping off some cases requested by the lady who is Oleanne, the woman who led Optesia to the Shawab." Clarity walked back to the stern of the boat, and lifted her face to look at the pilot.
"Drop off the cases over there by the dining area."
"Are you sure this is the right place, we usually drop off the alcohol on the other side of the island."
"Yes, it´s here, we´re awaiting payment for these cases through bitcoin," said Clarity.
"We don´t know anything about bitcoin," said the pilot, "these cases will be part of the next transaction, because there are no more scheduled deliveries." He lifted his hands up.
"We´re finished, finally," said the pilot. He spoke to other pilots who were making their way back to the tanker, which had instructions to leave for Panama that same day.
"Stay here for a while," said Cobbler, handing him a bottle of whisky. The pilot nodded and opened the bottle, withdrawing his attention from Clarity. Cobbler took Clarity by her arm and they walked to the flybridge.
"What now?" Clarity explained that this was the call center of Oleanne, and that Oleanne was a woman. The woman certainly wasn´t Optesia, and it wasn´t Cathy. Tiffany was ruled out because she´d been on the 'Lady Moura' when Flower had called the call center of Oleanne.
"Where´s Eve?" asked Clarity.
Twenty minutes later, Clarity found herself walking a trail on Prickly Pear island on her own, heading towards a refuge where Cobbler kept the alcohol to be served to his clients. She´d insisted on going there by herself, while Cobbler tried to get in touch with Tiffany. After another half hour, she found a woman, her back facing Clarity, inside an old refuge for the keepers of the island, surrounded by telecommunications equipment and cases of spirits. Clarity overheard a woman and knew that she had reached the call center of Oleanne.
"This is Oleanne, call center," said the woman, "get ready to board the tanker, the party on the 'Lady Moura' is over."
It was Eve and she was talking to Chubby Caddy. Clarity turned on her decryptor and called the Coast Guards number, saying she´d found the center of communications of an illegal alcohol distribution ring and she was the one who´d sent the information regarding Oleanne.
"We´ll be there in half an hour," they said.
"Ok," said Clarity. She gave the approximate location of the 'Lady Moura', and told the Coast Guards to alert all the executives onboard of Bartleby´s illegal liquor distribution business.
"We can´t be there in both places, but we can be over there in two hours," they said. Satisfied, Clarity turned off the decryptor and pushed the door of the refuge open.
"Eve," said Clarity. The woman turned around, startled. She recognized Clarity from her brief stay on Cobbler´s yacht. Clarity pressed the woman to a direct confrontation.
"So you´re Oleanne?" The woman inquired about Cobbler, and Clarity told her that he was with Optesia. A look of disappointment showed on her face.
"I take care of all the orders of liquor that Cobbler gets and this is where we store the alcohol, only I come here."
"Why did you get involved with Oleanne?" The woman turned off the communications equipment, looking apprehensive.
"I got in touch with the Shawab and began working for him, providing information on Cobbler´s clients, and finding women looking for money in Virgin Gorda. Then Bartleby got in touch with Oleanne through me and got involved in this transaction as the middleman."
"You don´t like Cobbler?"
"Cobbler ignores me just like he ignores Cathy and Tiffany, he was with Optesia and that´s where his heart is. I got jealous and sensed that Optesia liked all things spiritual. So I sent her to be initiated. I wanted to be a Sugar Baby with Bartleby instead of Tiffany, but Cobbler refused. And I know Tiffany received initiation. I want that as well and I think Oleanne can bring me to that. The Shawab has promised me that I might receive initiation through him if I do a good job with Oleanne."
"Tiffany received Initiation from who? Who initiated Optesia?"
"This woman known as Thesmophoria, she lives on the other side of the island, she keeps refusing to teach me until she sees Optesia alive and well again or she receives the gold bar of Lady Fortuna, but no one knows where that bar is. It seems that something went wrong with Optesia´s initiation." The door opened and Cobbler came in, learning the true allegiance of his assistant to the Shawab.
Clarity reached the settlement on the east side of the island, which included a few homes. Following indications by Eve, she reached a one floor house with a roof made of straw. She knocked on the door and an old woman showed up.
"I´m Thesmophoria," she said. Clarity didn´t have the gold bar of Lady Fortuna nor the photo that Tiffany had shown her, but she remembered the code on the obverse of the bar.
"I´m interested in learning about the Mysteries," said Clarity, "I don´t bring you Lady Fortuna and I don´t know much about anything spiritual. But I´m an honest independent spiritual seeker. I know the code on the gold bar is B235336, and I´m willing to spend some time with you to learn what you know. I´ve seen Optesia and I´ve helped her get back in touch with Cobbler." Thesmophoria brought her index brushing up and down the side of her nose. She gave Clarity a piercing look.
"And?"
"I´m glad they´re together."
Thesmophoria´s expression was deadpan. She didn´t smile nor say anything. She opened the door widely and pointed Clarity to the modest living room of her home.
"Come in," she said.