Truthseekers Page 7

  On her return from below she saw and her nose told her that Socks had emptied some pretty rugged material into the ocean. In fact it was barracuda heads and a mixture of blood and fish entrails. This blood and guts approach was sure to have the hungriest of the great whites circling the back of the boat in no time.

  In just under a minute Stacey and the group could make out three huge dark shapes nudging the rear of the boat. The sharks must have been right below them all the time. Their viewing time had arrived. The sea itself was also in quite a churn and the shark boat, which was only around thirty-five feet, was bobbing up and down restlessly.

  “OK everyone, it’s time to get in the cage. There is enough room for eight in there so feel free to move around a bit, yet be careful getting in. The sea is quite rough today,” said Abbey who was standing by the wheel. She continued:

  “Ladies first… Socks – could you help Stacey into the cage please?”

  Socks got up and Stacey was already moving to the ledge of the aft of the boat. Two steps and a bit of dangling and she would be through the yellow ring and into the cage. As Socks was right next to her, the smaller of the two men, Jack got up and went alongside.

  “I help,” he spoke in broken English.

  Yet there was to be no help. A carefully disguised plan was always for Jack to ‘help’. He and John had decided that this had best look like an accident so even if police were involved their covers would allow them to give the necessary statements and then disappear, mission accomplished. Jack was to get Stacey up onto the lip of the cage, where he would produce a short but deadly cutting blade from the inside of the sleeve of his wetsuit. He would then assist and slice at the same time, cutting her deep on her exposed skin of her foot and drop her not into the cage, but use the roll of the boat to have her fall helplessly over the side. The sharks already frenzying over the blood would do the rest. They had figured her screams from the cut would be taken as her losing her balance. The sharks would dispose of any evidence to the contrary. In essence it was a good plan to make a horrid crime look like simple misadventure.

  Socks had been told by John at the dock, prior to Abbey and Stacey’s arrival, that no one of colour was to touch them or the white girl, playing the ultimate white man card with an African man. Yet Socks was never great at simply being a white man’s boy, so when Abbey asked him to assist he jumped up readily in indignation. John’s anger subsided, yet Socks could feel he had enraged the blond man.

  The missing part and ultimate folly of John and Jack was their research on Abbey. Abbey was a wise and resourceful individual and she acted quickly. For her everything slowed right down at the moment Jack got up, almost as if she were in The Matrix itself and her instincts and training took over.

  Jack moved past Socks and to the edge of the boat. He deftly and swiftly removed the blade from his sleeve and taking Stacey by the arm as she delicately balanced, prepared to slice her deeply across the foot and, as she screamed and went off balance lifting her leg, pretend to grab her only to push her into the now swirling frenzy below allowing nature to take its course. He never got the chance.

  “You cut that girl and it will be the last thing you ever do.”

  Abbey, sizing up the situation in a flash, had grabbed and loaded a spear gun she kept next to the wheel and had it aimed squarely at Jack’s chest. Abbey was a natural and this process of drawing the spear into a firing position had taken just a few seconds. Even John had felt he had only taken his eyes off Abbey for a second to watch the end of the researcher, his blood lust momentarily short-circuiting his common sense. It would be a moment he would forever regret. He considered making a move, but he knew he was just one step too far away.

  Stacey’s mouth was agape, she had one leg over the side of the cage and she was literally holding onto her murderer for balance. Socks too had stopped just one foot short of Stacey and Jack. It was then that everything went into slow motion and Stacey’s life past before her eyes.

  Jack made a split-second decision. He lurched toward Stacey with his free right hand, wielding the knife and then realising he had been caught, changed his plan in a split second in his mind. Instead of slashing her foot and pushing her into the ocean he dragged her toward him, knowing that Abbey would fire instantly and that he could use Stacey as a shield her catching the spear. He knew that then Abbey would be spent and John would quickly dispose of her. He would then throw Stacey to the sharks as was the plan, then deal with the black man who seemed too thin to cause any issue. Then he and John would steal the boat and make their way. Sadly, like many macho men brought up in military style, he had totally underestimated Abbey.

  His lurch immediately made Abbey release the trigger on the spear gun, yet she did not correct for his lurch as he had assumed anyone would. She would never do that. Her Special Air Services training that saw her serve in a variety of African countries and win countless battles against the pirates of Somalia and the jungle mercenaries of Rwanda was complete. She was a weapon and they had totally underestimated her. She had played games of life chess before and in a weird way she enjoyed the challenge. Immediately she had seen them talking to Socks at the dock, she knew they were there for some evil. It was almost as if they had played into her hands.

  Jack was hit in his right lung, throwing him backwards at a tremendous force. He was almost covered by Stacey but in his jerking movement and surprise at being hit his grip loosened and he fell backward, releasing her and yet teetering for just a second to realise his demise as he reeled over the side of the ship on its upward sway, giving him an extra second to consider his life’s end. He hit the water and started screaming. It was to no avail. Sharks literally tore his limbs apart and he was soon quiet, a simple stain on the ocean of the world.

  At the same time Abbey fired John launched at her. He was less stupid and knew she would always fire. He didn’t know who she was, yet he knew she was something to be reckoned with. In one blow she finalised her shot into the chest of Jack and in a sweeping blow knocked John off his feet, the spear gun cutting across his face and leaving a deep gash in his right cheek.

  Stacey had fallen hard on the deck and had crushed her pretty nose. The impact had knocked her a little senseless and she lay there, knowing blood was flowing from the bridge of her nose and not quite knowing anything more.

  Socks had immediately stared in disbelief at the scene yet his natural instinct had made him turn and move toward Abbey. This was in the direction of John, who having just been smacked by the spear, and seeing his brother going over the side to a gruesome end had nothing but vengeance burning in his mind. He regained composure from the hit and as Abbey was coming to him for the second time she yelled “No, Socks!” He dived uselessly toward the stronger assailant, heroically blocking Abbey’s path.

  John was quick to dispatch the amiable black man and with just one grab and click Sock’s torment in trying to fit in, his role in rebuilding apartheid, ended – his neck snapped and life force literally cut off in one motion.

  This left Abbey and John facing each other.

  “Who are you bitch?” John taunted.

  “I am your ticket to judgment!” Abbey snarled back, looking down at the bleeding Stacey and her dead staff member.

  John had been looking uselessly for a weapon of any sort, yet couldn’t find one. Abbey still clung to the now useless spear gun, yet she with all her training could make it a weapon and she knew John would be carrying a knife. He was.

  John drew the knife and looked at her. It was a Mexican standoff with neither prepared to go first. John had found himself after the hit being circled by Abbey and as such was right near the wheel and throttle of the boat. He gunned the motors. Abbey thought instantly about attacking him, yet even with her deft training in seven different hand-to-hand combat techniques she did not underestimate him, nor did he underestimate her. She knew that soon the boat would tug on its anchor and the whiplash would allow him to surge at her. It did.

  As the boat h
it its anchor the rush and strain made the front of the shark diving boat whip up. This threw John directly at Abbey; he had hoped she would not feel this and his move would allow him the rush off his feet so he could strike. She simply used her 4th-dan Aikido skills and sent him scuttling past with urgency and momentum. In the off-balance world of the rough ocean she had slipped and fell in the manoeuvre and found herself unguarded from behind. She knew John would pounce and she knew that if he did his strike would be quick and somewhere she would feel the misguided and misplaced sense of heat from a knife strike. It always felt hot and she grimaced, yet on this day there was no heat. She leapt up and spun to face her foe.

  There was no John. He had gone. She knew not where. The boat had shifted to a slow drag of the anchor across the bottom sand. The ride was jagged. Yet no John, there was no sign of him. It was like he had vanished into thin air. She watched out the back for several seconds, maybe ten or more before tentatively relieving the throttle and bringing Stacey to her knees. John was gone. Socks and Jack were dead, and Stacey was gushing blood from her nose and was in a stunned state. Not wanting to stop, Abbey dealt with the wrenching of the hull due to the anchor and brought a shaken Stacey to her knees, sheltering her from the fallen Socks.

  After some minutes she brought the boat to a stop. She hauled anchor and attended to Stacey all the time being on watch. Stacey had regained her thoughts and was starting to place things. But she was struggling to understand what could have happened.

  “Abbey, what happened, who were those men?” expelled Stacey.

  “Honey, I believe they were here for you. Someone does not like you or what you guys are up to.”

  “Is everyone all right?” Stacey looked up for the first time through watery and blurry eyes. “Oh my god…is that Socks… is he all right?” she said.

  “No he’s not,” Abbey replied, bending down instinctively to check his pulse yet knowing from all her training that the break had been deadly and immediate.

  “Stacey – please look away.”

  Stacey did so in shock and Abbey simply lifted Socks’ corpse and threw it overboard. Stacey looked up in shock when she heard the splash. Abbey simply looked at Stacey and pulled a towel to her bleeding nose.

  “Forget it, I will pay his family well. Socks is gone. This is South Africa and no one wants the police involved, not even the family. You are going to help me now find the people who sent these monsters. There is a debt I am going to settle.”

  Stacey had already started crying, yet it wasn’t coming from her pain. She had gone into shock, that part where you feel like you are watching a movie with you in it and it just doesn’t seem real. Looking up through the tears she quipped:

  “Oh no… I guess this means you are going to have to meet David.”

  11

  The Embraer Legacy 650’s jet engines had only just been turned off and as the drone still pierced ears on the Cape Town tarmac David had the door open and was running down the steps. Rocko followed him holding his ears. This plane was nearly as loud as when David played that damned Les Paul guitar of his, Rocko thought.

  After a quick dispatch through immigration the two got into a pre-booked hire car and sped off on the N2 south into Cape Town and on to Camps Bay.

  David drove at a speed that might have even gained the attention of the South African police, who normally didn’t turn an eye at even 140 kilometres an hour. Rocko set the GPS and guided David through what seemed a menagerie of streets up the side of Table Mountain and over the crest opening up the expanse of Camps Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

  “Wow,” said Rocko. “I never get sick of this place. Did you know this is the largest chunk of crystal in the world? It’s a whole fricken’ crystal mountain.”

  David nodded. Today he was focused on one thing – making sure Stacey was ok. He did, however, know Cape Town and Table Mountain. He had spent a bit of time there on business, as had Rocko over the years. He knew that the mountain was literally a giant sundial, and that it was also a gigantic national park, which encapsulated caves where the earliest humans had lived. He and Rocko had been in those caves, done processes to tap into the ancient wisdom there and previously had worked with a local white shaman who had shown them that despite general history, much of Table Mountain was actually carved by some ancient race maybe millions of years ago. He knew about the upright standing stones and lintel at Calk Bay, in view of everyone who lived there yet were mostly oblivious to it. He was aware of the carving of Nefertiti in a rock, and the eye of Horus in another, and the relationship and acoustics of the mountain during the various equinoxes and solstices. In fact the mountain even sung in some of the caves and rocks, but today they had raced quickly from Cambodia stopping only to refuel on the run in India and Somalia of all places. A woman called Abbey Bec had called his cell and while he had spoken to Stacey she had made little sense.

  “Turn left here, David,” said Rocko, who in many ways was glad they had arrived. He wasn’t good with rollercoaster car rides like the one David just gave him over the ridge of the mountain. “It should be the third house on the right.”

  David looked right and the view from the road was stunning. The third house from the right only had a gate and entrance that went down the hill. They were at least 600 feet above the bay, Camps Bay beach directly below, framed by the famous strip known for its touristy cafés and stunning white sand beach complete with boulders of volcanic granite at each end creating not only a superb family beach and surf spot but with Table Mountain and Lion Head at the back, possibly the most beautiful beach in the world, and certainly the most beautiful suburban beach.

  David pushed the intercom but before he could talk the tall gates with the jagged razor-sharp iron on top opened and he saw beneath him a cypress-lined drive that wove down a hill expanding out into a stunning Mediterranean building and gravel car park. David was used to good homes in this part of Cape Town, but this was something that well topped his own home in New Zealand.

  “Who the hell is this Abbey Bec, Rocko? Do you think she’s Cecil Rhodes’ great-granddaughter or something?”

  “Rhodes was gay, dude. I think he died of an STD.”

  David gave Rocko the look and said: “I know that Mr Serious… I simply meant this chick is freaking loaded.”

  They parked the car and as they stepped out a well-dressed black man greeted them.

  “Welcome to Cape Town, gentlemen. My name is Zachariah – Miss Bec and Miss Stacey are awaiting your arrival. Please follow me.”

  David and Rocko followed the man down a few steps and through the large entry hall framed with stone castings of African elephants on either side of two sizable double doors. A further few steps down a massive living room opened to floor-to-ceiling French doors that were concertinaed back to reveal a stunning balcony, barbeque area and some of the most amazing views directly across the beach and ocean stretching over 200 degrees.

  Both the men turned a glance to each other that said it all and Rocko couldn’t help himself as he spluttered: “Shark Cage diving my ass.” Just then they heard running footsteps coming from a room on he left.

  “Oh my god – it’s you…” Stacey was running towards them, arms out.

  “Stop,” called Rocko holding up one hand. Stacey stopped dead in her tracks. Both David and Rocko took in the sight. Her nose had a bandage over it that made her look like a greyhound in training and there were two almost black circles around the eyes that made them hollow and receded.

  Rocko took down his hand.

  “Ah Stacey, it is you. Thank God. I thought we had accidently strolled into a reshoot of Kung Fu Panda.”

  “Very funny,” Stacey pouted and gave Rocko a good and friendly slap on his head. Then she grabbed him and gave him a squeeze, and turned the same attention to David.

  “Come sit down, I have food here and drinks.”

  Stacey took the boys to an informal setting in the second room, which seemed to be a day room attached to the large entran
ce lounge. There was coffee, cakes and some sandwiches set out on a silver platter. Rocko winked at David, cast aside the cakes and set forth on the club sandwich triple-decker. He was happy.

  She went on to tell the boys over coffee her story of how she met Abbey, who Abbey was and what happened on the shark cage diving trip. They just sat and listened. She then told them how Abbey had taken her back to her own house, where they all were and had looked after her over the past thirty-six hours.

  “We need to meet this Abbey,” said David “Where is she?”

  “Right behind you Mr Clark.” Abbey stood in a doorway behind where David was sitting. She was dressed in an off-the-shoulder thin designer top, three quarter tight pants, mid-sized heels and a blue scarf highlighting her blue eyes. Her hair was flat-ironed straight leaning to one side and part covering her right eye. To finish her look was her scent, subtle and a delightful feel of wildflowers. David stood and turned. He actually felt himself do a double take. Rocko looked across at Stacey and got up simply saying:

  “Ok – well that’s that then. I saw a bottle of scotch in the other room. I might just grab that and go outside. This is going to take a while.”

  “Mr Rizotto,” Abbey said smiling and strolling over to him. “I’d rather you got that scotch and a few glasses so we can all toast this meeting.”

  She lent in and kissed him on one cheek. Rocko felt the scent of the woman come over him and hugged her drawing her close.

  “Hey Rocko…” David smiled. “Miss Bec is not a chew toy, now get that scotch.”

  Rocko let go and David extended his hand to Abbey. She grabbed it and he drew her close taking in her scent and gave her a hug. “Thank you,” he said quietly in her ear. He couldn’t help but notice how her body fit with his. This was a new feeling for him, one he had not had in a long time. He also noticed that she did not move and hugged him back until he felt the eyes of the others on him and a little self noticing he pulled back, clearing his throat and took his seat.