Road to Redemption

by Michelle Dalton

  Mina made her way back to her study.

  Swivelling in her chair, she glanced out of the window. She’d get them through this without a fuss. She had to. She couldn’t send Ray away—that much was clear.

  Her heart lurched as her thoughts drifted back to a time when she considered herself innocent, naïve and completely in love.

  Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the old oak, dappling her skin in patches of gold. It highlighted his mop of milky-white curls which hugged those bright blue eyes.

  “I could stare at you forever.” His words caressed her heart.

  “We have to go soon. My mom will wonder where I am,” she replied as she stroked his face.

  Ray shifted slightly where he lay snug and warm between her legs. It was late afternoon and they’d managed to escape after rushing through their chores.

  Their hidden place was rarely visited by others, all the way down the bottom of the vineyard at Nooitgedagt. A small clump of old oaks and the odd willow hugged the crystal waters of a stream which separated Nooitgedagt from the farm next door.

  “Six more months and I’ll be done with school.” He leaned forward and stroked her cheeks and neck with his hungry lips.

  “And then what, Ray? What will that change?” She loved him so much it hurt, but she was sixteen and coloured. Unless they left the country, which she could never do, was there a future for them? Sure, apartheid was no more—but that did not mean prejudice had died overnight.

  “And then to hell with everyone. I am my father’s heir.”

  “So?” she snapped.

  “You are mine!”

  “And you’re mine.”

  She took his hand and slipped it between her legs then reached for him. He reacted instantly to her touch growing hard where he lay naked and beautiful between her legs.

  Lifting slightly, he perched his tip against her entrance, “You will always be mine, Mina van der Westhuizen, and no one can change that!”

  He slid inside her.

  Mina’s stomach flipped, and the spot between her legs grew moist and hot at the memory of a time when her life was bright with promise and filled with love. What an absolute fool she’d been to believe any of it. Some part of her still believed his broken promises, but the rejected single mother inside of her raged against the memories and feelings his presence had reawakened.

  3

  Derek Le Roux sat down at his kitchen table, a white envelope clasped in his trembling hands. It had no sender details, but he recognised the writing. How could he not?

  Inhaling deeply, he grabbed the unused butter knife beside his breakfast plate and slid it inside the corner, slicing open the lip of the envelope. This was the first time he’d heard from his son since his sentencing more than six months ago. And according to his calendar, Ray had completed his first week at the farm.

  A tremble moved from his hands to the tips of his fingers as he pealed open the single-page letter.

  Pa.

  I need to say so much. But every time I try to, I have no words. There are no justifications to pardon a man like me. I don’t deserve forgiveness. I will try not ask for forgiveness, but to say sorry.

  Sorry I disappointed you. Sorry I destroyed your trust in me. Sorry I ruined your good name.

  Derek placed the letter face down on the table and bit back the wave of emotion threatening to overwhelm him. Wiping tears from his eyes with the back of his hands, he returned to reading.

  I owe so many so much. After all, sorry is just a word, but I don’t know how else to convey my unrelenting grief over what I have done. Shelly—I treated her and Thomas like shit. But more than that, I hurt someone who meant more to me than my own life. I threw her away like a used dish rag. I know why I did it, not that it excuses my actions, but I owe her a better explanation. And you. I ruined everything you worked so hard for. My selfish actions almost got you killed. Ma died thinking I was a failure …

  My self-hatred destroyed so much that was good. Perhaps someday I’ll stop being a coward.

  I’ve been given one last chance. I vow not to waste it. Redemption Farm is beautiful. I promise not to let you down again.

  A flicker of hope lit Derek’s heart. When he’d testified for his son, he’d had a word with the magistrate beforehand. Smittie was an old friend; he’d asked the man to make sure Ray was sent to Redemption Farm. He knew beyond a doubt that it was his son’s last chance for healing, for facing the truth and maybe leading a better life.

  He turned in his chair and called out, “Grace!”

  It was time to let Mina’s mother know what he’d planned.

  “Mommy?”

  A gentle voice drifted across the warm breeze and stirred the grass.

  Mina pushed up from where she lay dressed in a pair of denim shorts, sans T-shirt. Ray lay beside her, his birthday suit reflecting the gold of the sun he bathed in.

  Mommy!”

  Mina shot straight up from where she lay on her double bed. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned then gasped when she found Lullu sitting at the foot of her bed, eyes wide, cheeks flushed.

  “Were you dreaming of my dad?” Lullu, dressed and ready for school, asked.

  “Wha—why … erm, no!”

  “You were moaning weirdly. Who’s Ray then?” Lullu dropped her head and glanced at her through wispy black lashes.

  Mina had long ago sat down and explained to Lullu that her father was gone. She’d never bothered asking much about him and Mina had assumed that Derek le Roux was enough of a male figure in her daughter’s life—but this!

  Mina swallowed hard.

  “It must have been a nightmare.” She reached out and tucked a loose strand of sunshine behind her daughter’s ear.

  “Are you still going to watch me train this afternoon before I go to help out with the harvesting?”

  Mina wiped a shaking hand down her face. Thank goodness Lullu hadn’t asked more questions. Mina turned and dropped her bare feet to the floor as she glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Six-thirty a.m.

  “I’ve told you, no going down to the warehouses for the time being.”

  “Maaa.” Lullu dragged out the word, balling her small, strong fists. “There’s a blanket I want to get Boesman, and I need to work if I want to afford it.”

  “I’ll buy it for you.” Mina sighed. “Besides, you can help Becky out around the house.”

  “Agh. I hate housework.”

  “Well, it’ll have to do for now.”

  “I don’t get it. Why won’t you just tell me why?” Her daughter pleaded.

  “Because I’ve decided it’s no place for a young woman, and that’s what you almost are.” Mina lied.

  “So what, a small girl is safer?”

  “Agh, Lullu, it’s just…” Goodness this was harder than she imagined. Where were the days when her little girl simply believed and accepted everything Mina told her?

  “Did I make a mistake? What aren’t you telling me? I’m one of the best at harvesting, and you know it.” Lullu stomped her foot.

  “You’ll just have to pretend you’re a big girl and that you understand for now. Besides, I could do with one of those awesome milkshakes at the coffee shop.” She proffered her daughter a smile, hoping her attempt at a bribe worked.

  “Since when do you like milkshakes?” Lullu giggled.

  “Since today.” Mina reached forward and grabbed her daughter, pulling the lanky-limbed teen into her arms. She promptly began to tickle her.

  “Sto-o-op.” Lullu laughed as she twisted around, trying to grip the hand causing her laughing fit. “I’m still upset. But a milkshake might fix it … a little.” She squinted at Mina through her index finger and thumb to indicate what she meant.

  “Good. I need to shower and get dressed.” Mina sighed inwardly. The distraction had worked this time, but Mina knew it would not keep for long. Lullu was a perfectly sculpted creature who owned equal parts of the good and bad in both her and Ray, and unfortunately, every ounce of
their combined stubbornness too.

  “School first, and this afternoon after practice, it’ll be you, me, and the shops. But first you need to catch that bus or you’ll be late.” She patted her daughter’s bottom as the girl stood.

  With Lullu off at school and her morning planned, Mina sat at her desk, a steaming cup of coffee beside her.

  She’d pushed open her large windows and was enjoying the soft sea breeze drifting in. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. The dreams she’d had every night since Ray’s arrival (Check time line!) stayed with her during her days. His touch, his smell—goodness, she had to find a way to forget. Life was a funny thing. Just when you thought you had it sorted it’d always throw the next curveball.

  “Miss! Miss!” Klein Piet ran up to her window, eyes wide and lips pale.

  “What now?” Mina rose.

  “There’s groot kak …”

  A bucket of imaginary ice tipped over Mina’s head.

  “Sorry, I mean big shit ... agh, miss, I don’t know the words, but Baas Ben, he sent me to fetch you ’cause they broke into warehouse five.” The young boy huffed as he leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. His hazel eyes watched her intently. He had a way of making her feel uncomfortable even though he’d never given her reason to doubt him.

  Mina gripped her cell phone from her desk. “Tell Ben I’m coming,” she said, and hastily made her way down to the warehouses. Shit a brick! This close to harvesting, she prayed the Abalone were okay. She had insurance on her crop, but fuck sake it still cost to lose or suffer damage.

  “God damn bloody poachers!” she muttered as she stomped down the slate-paved steps of her garden, past the inmates’ living quarters, and toward the farthest warehouse numbered five, where abalone was prepared for harvesting or repatriation to the ocean beds.

  Poaching was one of Africa’s greatest enemies. It stole, slaughtered, and destroyed without mercy, all for the gain of those who sat high and mighty in their glass towers believing myths of what ground-up horns and shells could provide.

  In all her years of having owned Redemption, they had only ever once experienced trouble. She’d thought the security she’d had installed after a heads up from West Coast Conservation last year would have been enough—apparently not.

  Huffing, she tapped the phone screen and dialled the local conservation trooper’s number. “Marnus!” she blurted into the receiver when he answered.

  “I heard. Ben called. We’re on our way. I’ve let Abbe at the police station know too.”

  “Thanks. See you soon,” she replied gratefully and tucked her phone into her pocket as she rounded the western corner of the warehouse, pushed past a few inmates who greeted her solemnly, and entered.

  Her heart crashed to the concrete floor beneath her feet. Fuck it was worse than bad… it was…

  “They took half our crop.” Ben came to stand beside her.

  “And the remaining abalone—are they damaged?”

  “No. Simon heard a ruckus and disturbed them.” He nodded toward one of her permanent staff. “We saved one more batch they left on the beach.”

  Mina looked up. Ben’s face was hard, his eyes cold, and he did not look back at her.

  “And what about the alarm? Why didn’t it go off?” Mina turned and walked to the keypad beside the door.

  “Tampered with. Whoever did it knew how to get around this specific system.” Ben grunted.

  “What? But there’s supposed to be a failsafe for that. The security company had better have answers.” Mina placed her balled fists on her hips.

  “You’ll need to take that up with them. Maybe think of hiring a new group altogether,” he muttered, not looking at her, but focusing on the empty benches where once, baths full of adult abalone had sat.

  “This group—are there any of them you suspect?” Mina whispered.

  Ben sighed as he rubbed his eyes with a large calloused thumb and index finger. “Hard to say. They’ve been here for around a week. Doubt that’d be enough time, but I’d not discount it.”

  He turned his dark gaze on her. “And you. You’ve read their files …” He paused as though to think on his next words. “Do you suspect anyone?”

  Mina’s insides flipped. Was Ray capable? And had Ben made the connection?

  She shook her head. “No.” She’d contact Cape Prisons for more background on them all.

  Ben didn’t reply, his eyebrow cocking.

  Voices and footsteps drew their attention as Marnus, the local conservation trooper, and Sergeant Abbe Deloise stepped in to the warehouse.

  “It’s obvious they used a skiff. The trawler probably sat anchored on the far end of the bay.” Abbe pointed to drag marks left in the soft white sand of the beach edging the abalone warehouses. “They must have come in on the tide.”

  Mina swallowed hard. “Why now? We’ve been here for years—not a single issue.” Lifting her hand to her brow, she gazed out over the cerulean waters. It was a beautiful day. The ocean lay flat as a lake, the sun bright and bold. “We have state-of-the-art security.”

  “Ja, they made quick work of that. I’ll have to speak to your security company, employees and inmates. Also, give me the numbers for the delivery companies that are made to the farm—it could be anyone. I’ll need everything you can give me on past inmates, especially those who were not able to complete the program,” Abbe requested as she turned around and walked toward the area which had sustained the most damage. All the troughs which had once held adult Abalone were gone leaving a gaping emptiness in the benches specialy built to hold them.

  Mina followed Abbe, her hopes dashed and her mind reeling when she noticed a hooded expression flash across the sergeant’s face as she watched Ben Meintjies hand out orders at the far end of the building.

  “He’s trustworthy,” Mina blurted. feeling suddenly defensive.

  “Is he?” Abbe glanced at her. “Mina, at this stage, I’m not sure who is who anymore. With state officials dipping their hands into any pocket they want”—her glance bounced from Ben to Marnus and back to Mina—“and corruption using the old apartheid excuse, you need to be careful. Poaching on the west coast has increased in the last months. This new bunch have no regard for life and are connected to some powerful people.”

  A shudder snaked its way down Mina’s spine. “I will, but I also vouch for all my people.”

  Abbe simply shrugged and walked toward Ben.

  Mina sighed deeply as she gripped her phone to call her security company. She scrolled through the numbers as she strolled back to the house. She wanted an explanation, and they’d have to come out and replace the keypad. Perhaps a call to Derek? His son-in-law was an Interpol agent who’d busted the child-trafficking ring down in Cape Town—perhaps he could help?

  Next call was her insurance, and then …

  “Mina?” A voice that hadn’t changed a bit over the years settled like a bonfire in her centre. He could still turn her insides to mush. Mina froze, looked up, and swallowed hard.

  “Ray.” Her reply was a mere whisper as her gaze got caught in his astonished baby blues.

  “Wh—how …?”

  Gathering all her strength, Mina raised her trembling hand, glancing past him to make sure Ben and everyone else were nowhere near them. “Not now. No one can know.”

  It was all she could muster.

  “But—”

  “Not now!” she hissed. “Get to the mess hall,” she ordered and took off like a bolt toward the house. Every nerve fibre, cell, and shard of what was once her heart dug into her shattered soul, electrifying her body. Her chest throbbed and her lungs froze as she hurried toward the safety of her home. She really had to learn to carry her asthma pump around with her.

  4

  Ray stood, his limbs frozen as she strode away, her back ramrod straight, fists clenched. She was shocked, but her eyes had told him she was not surprised.

  His blood raced along the corridors of his body and his heart throbbed a pai
nful staccato, begging for release from its cage.

  She was as beautiful as she’d been on the day he’d broken her heart. The scent of China roses invaded his memories. His hands clenched open and shut and his gut churned with a need that threatened to override his will.

  His Mina was as beautiful as ever. But the years sat etched along the corners of her eyes and mouth. In the few moments life had allowed him to look at her, anger, fear, and, right in the very depths of her gaze, a shattered love had shone bright like the warning flicker of a lighthouse lamp. All had fought for first place; none had won.

  He was the storm who’d destroyed her precious innocence, and for that, there was no going back.

  Forcing a hard breath in to his lungs, he held on to the affirmation taught to him at rehab.

  I am safe. I am stronger than my need! I am in control.

  What in all the heavens was she doing here? And why didn’t she want anyone to know about them?

  “Le Roux! What the fuck are you just standing around for? Better days! Move your arse.” Ben’s voice thundered, splintering his thoughts. The burly man came to stand beside him. “I know you were involved with that crooked son of a bitch down in Constantia. The courts let your involvement in kid smuggling go … just remember I’m watching you.” He poked a stubby finger into Ray’s chest. “Now get a move on.”

  Ray bit back the anger at Ben’s assumption. He simply nodded as the man walked off. He wouldn’t bother defending himself or the fact that his involvement had been drug-related. He was a shit, but he’d never harm a kid. Never!