The Orlando File Omnibus : (Omnibus Version-Book 1 & Book 2)

by Irvine, Ian C. P.

  "Good book?"

  He looked up, smiled at her, and closed the novel, placing it on the bar counter beside his drink.

  "Wilbur Smith. Perhaps the best author on the planet. Thought I'd read something topical."

  She looked at the title. A single word, 'Rage', ran across the front of the book, the author's name written in gold underneath. It was one she had already read and she had loved it.

  "Rage? What’s it all about…sounds a bit 'angry' and violent." she smiled innocently back at him.

  "Not really. It's a novel set in the years running up to the abolition of apartheid in South Africa…sort of gives you an idea of the cultural events leading up to Mandela being elected.

  "Would you recommend it?" she asked, smiling at him, her eyes twinkling in the light from the bar lamp.

  "Absolutely…actually, I've only got about eighty pages left to read. If I finish it before we land, I can give it to you, if you would like?"

  "Oh…I would like that very much. Thank you…"

  Kerrin adjusted his position in his seat. Was the lady coming on to him? He picked his whisky up and took a sip, his eyes appraising her quickly over the edge of the glass. Kerrin reckoned she was about twenty-eight years old. She was smartly dressed, a pearl necklace complementing an elegant pink cardigan and a chic blue skirt. Her eyes were emerald green, her long auburn hair, cascading over her shoulders and disappearing down her back. The only thing wrong with her, as far as Kerrin was concerned, was that her breasts were slightly too large for his taste. Kerrin was more a leg person. Still, if he had been a single man, and maybe just a few years younger, he would have been quite attracted to her.

  Laura followed his eyes as he scanned her body, and was pleased when he smiled back at her when the assimilation had been completed. Why were men so obvious? Yet she had to admit that she found Kerrin quite attractive too. He seemed to be very laid-back, quite cool and self confident, and he had an incredible smile. Laura could normally make up her mind about someone in the first few seconds of meeting them, and with Kerrin she realised two things.

  Firstly, she liked him. And perhaps she was even interested in him.

  Secondly, she immediately recognised that Kerrin was not the sort of person that fell off his chair every time a gorgeous woman walked past. He was not the type to be easily led by looks, but belonged to that rare subset of the male species that actually looked behind the external appearance and saw what was inside the person. There would be no point in carrying on flirting so overtly with him. That approach would just turn him off. No, if she wanted to have this man, she would have to flirt with his mind and not what was in his trousers.

  The idea excited her. She knew she was playing with fire, perhaps dancing a little too close to the flame, but this was something she had never done before. This was new. Seducing the man who, sometime in the near future, she may be asked to kill.

  "So will this be your first time in South Africa?" she asked.

  "Yes…and you?"

  "Me too…but I'm afraid that for me, this will be more business than pleasure. Not enough time to play…"

  "But you're lucky that your work takes you to such nice places. Just think of all those people who never get the chance to travel abroad at all."

  "Oh, I suppose you're right. It's just that I hate these long trips abroad by myself. No, don’t get me wrong, I find them exciting…but sometimes you get a little tired of being away from home so much. You get so lonely…" She replied, turning towards him.

  "May I ask what's taking you down there then? Who do you work for?" he asked. He seemed genuinely interested.

  "Oh…I don't actually work for anyone really. I have my own business. I work in the travel industry. I'm just coming down to check out a new idea I've had."

  "Sounds interesting. Is it a secret or can you tell me what it is?"

  "I suppose so. You can be my market research. Tell me what you think of my idea…I'm thinking of running specialist adventure holidays for Americans in South Africa. I'm going to start off with Specialist Windsurfing holidays, and I'm going to spend the next few weeks checking out the hot windsurfing destinations."

  "It sounds a great idea. I love windsurfing, and that's the reason I'm flying down too…I'm a journalist, and I want to write something about windsurfing in the Cape."

  "Wow, that's a coincidence." She smiled back, and they both laughed nervously.

  "Can I introduce myself? My name's Kerrin. May I ask you what your name is?"

  "Carol. You can call me Carol…"

  "Well Carol, can I get you another drink?" Kerrin asked her, signalling politely to the stewardess for some attention.

  "Please. That would be nice."

  The conversation flowed easily between them. At first Laura tried to manipulate it, attempting to extract some valuable information from him, but after a while she just relaxed and started to enjoy the conversation for what it was.

  Kerrin was an interesting man. Although he revealed little about his personal life or his work, he willingly shared his ideas and views with her about politics, religion and the arts. Laura found herself enjoying his company.

  She definitely was dancing too close to the flame.

  She was surprised by how much she was warming to this man. How much her body was becoming attracted to him. How much she wanted him…Perhaps, this had not been such a good idea after all.

  "Kerrin…It's been wonderful talking to you, but I'm going to be really selfish and leave you to finish your book, so that you can give it to me tomorrow morning." She stood up and stretched out her arm to shake his hand.

  As Kerrin shifted the glass from his right to his left hand she noticed the flash of gold on the wedding finger. She was even surprised at her own reaction to it.

  She was disappointed.

  As Laura walked back down the stairs Kerrin smiled to himself. He may be old and fat, but it was true that some women were still attracted to him. He hadn't lost it after all. He couldn't wait to tell Dana that he had been hit upon, and to tease her about it when he called her the next day!

  Chapter 21

  Day Fifteen

  Cape Town

  South Africa

  Kerrin hated long-haul overnight flights. He hated the jetlag that hit a few hours after he stepped off the airplane and usually accompanied his every move for the following week.

  Over the years he had developed his own theory on how to survive the ravages of international travel. His rules were simple:-

  1: Don't sleep on overnight flights.

  2: When arriving, do your best to adapt immediately to the local time zone by staying awake until the normal time of the day that you would consider going to sleep.

  3: Drink lots of water on the flight.

  Staying awake the whole night was the hardest part to do. If he slept, he knew he would feel terrible the next day. If he didn’t sleep, he would just feel very tired. Either way, he would be exhausted.

  Tonight though, keeping awake had not been a problem. Although his conversation with the attractive woman in the bar had taken his mind off things a little, he couldn't help but think more about James's death.

  It wasn't every day that you found out one of your best friends had been murdered. And it was probably because of Kerrin: if Kerrin had not got him involved, James would still be alive now!

  The cabin crew switched the lights back on and did their best to wake the sleeping businessmen and women in as polite and as charming a way as possible. Kerrin stretched over the empty seat beside him and lifted the shade on the window, allowing himself to see out and give himself his first glimpse of the African continent.

  They were flying parallel to the mainland, several miles out to sea. As Kerrin watched, a golden sun rose, signifying the start of a wonderful cloud free day ahead.

  A smiling stewardess brought him a tray with fresh coffee, orange juice and what did its best to look like freshly made scrambled eggs with bacon and tomatoes. Starving, Kerr
in wolfed down the contents of the breakfast, and catching the attention of the stewardess asked if there were any possibility of a second helping. She smiled back, returning shortly with a second tray.

  Thirty minutes later, the 747 jet flew over Robben Island, the island prison of Nelson Mandela, then turned back towards the mainland, circling the mountain range and massive plateau that is Table Mountain. As he looked out across the cityscape of Cape Town, sprawling across the base of the mountain range, Kerrin couldn't help but feel excitement in his chest. An excitement which was swiftly accompanied by a twang of guilt.

  Guilt that he would be exploring Cape Town by himself, without Dana by his side.

  And guilt because he could feel such positive emotions, when only a few days before his friend James had been murdered.

  A short while later the plane disembarked, the business passengers leaving the aircraft first. As he reached into the overhead locker, Laura made her way past him to the exit. Surprisingly, in spite of the overnight flight, she looked remarkably fresh.

  "Good morning, I hope you slept well," she smiled at him.

  "Oh no, I never sleep on overnight flights…and besides I had a lot of reading to catch up with…which reminds me, would you like the book we talked about?" he reached into his bag and offered his copy of "RAGE" to the attractive lady.

  She took it gratefully, and flashed him a wide smile, her green eyes twinkling in the bright cabin lights.

  "Thanks…I'll look forward to reading it."

  As she moved past him, she turned and looked at him once more.

  "I hope you have a pleasant stay…you never know, since we're both here for related reasons…maybe we'll bump into each other again?"

  "That would be nice, but in case we don't, I hope that you have a fruitful stay." Kerrin replied.

  "Thanks, I'm sure I will. I fully intend to. "

  Laura smiled at the man one last time. She liked him. More than she should. Sadly though, next time they met, she would probably have to kill him.

  --------------------

  It was almost ten o'clock in the morning before Kerrin had loaded his luggage into the trunk of his white Toyota Corolla at the airport in Cape Town. Instead of taking a cheaper local rental company, he had opted for the more expensive Hertz option, feeling more comfortable in the knowledge that should he break down anywhere in the expansive countryside outside Cape Town, Hertz could arrange for his car to be picked up without any hassle. He didn't like the idea of driving several hundred miles away from Cape Town into the Karoo desert, or breaking down in the mountains, and then finding out it was his responsibility to fix the car and return it to Cape Town. No, for peace of mind he would pay the few extra dollars it cost.

  From the airport he took the N2 motorway into Cape Town, already grateful for the air conditioning he had insisted upon there being in the car. Outside, the sun was blazing in a cloudless sky and the temperature was creeping up into the thirties. Thankfully, a light breeze was blowing in from the east, which would make it more bearable when outside the car.

  He was heading into the town centre. On the plane he'd had a chance to read a section from the "Lonely Planet Guide to South Africa", and following its suggestion he had decided to have lunch in the wharf area of Cape Town harbour. He would give himself a few hours to do a spot of sightseeing, then in the afternoon he was going to head out along the coast road to Langebaan. According to the map it was about three hours' drive from Cape Town, and hopefully he would get there about six o'clock, giving him enough time to find a hotel somewhere.

  He had agreed to meet Alex Swinton in two days' time, but Kerrin was going to do his best to find him either later that night or the next day. He wanted to try and reach him as soon as possible.

  The N2 petered out, and scanning the overhead motorway signs, Kerrin managed to follow the roads down to the back of the harbour.

  The car-park bordered the wharf area, which consisted of a large modern shopping complex and a number of old boathouses which had been converted into shops, bars and restaurants. Walking through the shopping mall, Kerrin came out onto the quayside, where directly in front of him a large number of fishing boats, pleasure craft and tourist ferries huddled and rocked together in the water of a large harbour.

  On the right hand side, the skyline was dominated by the awesome and magnificent panorama of Table Mountain. The mountain rose steeply from the bay beneath, sheer cliffs a thousand feet tall rising to a plateau, which looked as flat as the top of a kitchen table. From where he stood he could see a cable car making its way up the side of the cliff.

  The mountain range of which Table Mountain was a part, ran along Kerrin's right hand side, stretching along the coastline as far as he could see.

  To his left, large cargo ships blocked the view of the ocean, but the smell of the sea beyond filled his nostrils. Squawking seagulls chased the fishing boats returning from a day at sea, and some seals swam amongst the boats in the harbour and basked on one of the harbour walls.

  The air was filled with the sound of people laughing and having fun, and the water was alive with the reflections of the boats and the colourful marine buildings bordering the harbour.

  His senses thrilled to it all, and Kerrin was lost in the moment. What a place!

  All thoughts of the reason he was here were momentarily forgotten, and for a few minutes Kerrin was a tourist, seeing a beautiful new city through the eyes of a traveller. If only his wife Dana had been here to share the experience with him. It was incredible.

  He walked along the edge of the quayside, admiring the boats in the harbour, and sharing the excitement of the tourists milling around the dock. He had wandered for an hour before he realised how hungry he was, and then he followed the smell of pizza to one of the many pavement restaurants overlooking the harbour. He ordered a large cold 'Castle' lager, and a Four Seasons pizza, and settled down in his seat in the sunshine, studying the view of the mountain above.

  This was the life.

  The drive to Langebaan was interesting, although almost disappointingly the massive mountains that formed such a dramatic backdrop to Cape Town slowly began to drop behind him and diminish in size. Soon he was just driving through flat, featureless countryside devoid of houses or farms.

  The tarmac road ran on for miles straight ahead, green and brown bushes, called 'fynbos' by the locals, covering the otherwise barren ground on either side. Occasionally Kerrin got a glimpse of the sea, and every now and again he could see seagulls swooping down low to pick up scraps from the road.

  About three hours after he had left Cape Town he drove through a small group of buildings which formed the town of Langebaan. After passing through the town Kerrin circled round and drove back into the centre of the main street, stopping in front of what was obviously the only hotel in town.

  He parked, and stepped out of the car. A wall of heat hit him broadside and he suddenly understood why the main street was deserted. Everyone with any sense was hiding inside the air conditioned buildings. He stretched, walked round to the back of the car and pulled out his suitcase and hand luggage.

  From outside, the hotel didn't appear to be anything special, but walking through the door into the air-conditioned reception area, he was pleasantly surprised by the tasteful interior. The hotel had a homely feel to it, with a distinct Dutch influence immediately apparent in the choice of décor. There was a bar, and a restaurant on the left which spilled out on to an open veranda overlooking the main street, and on the right there was a spacious lounge. From the hall, a sweeping staircase led up to the three floors above. Before entering, the hotel had appeared deceptively small and cramped, yet once inside, it was spacious and relaxed. Kerrin realised that several of the buildings on either side of the original façade must have been absorbed into the hotel. The biggest building in town, Kerrin guessed that this place was probably the hub of the community, the bar beside the restaurant probably the only one in town.

  "Good day, may I help you s
ir?"

  A young lady asked, stepping out from the restaurant to behind the reception desk at the base of the staircase. Kerrin was struck by her beautiful blue eyes and her long blonde hair. He guessed she was about twenty three years of age.

  "Yes, I hope so. I was wondering if you have a room for a couple of days?"

  "I believe we do. You're lucky though, at this time of the year we are normally quite full."

  She smiled at Kerrin and typed a few things on a computer keyboard, scanning the screen as if making the choice of a room.

  "Is it just for yourself? Would a single room be okay? No smoking? Okay, and for how many nights would that be sir?"

  "Two nights for now, please."

  "May I see your passport for a moment please sir?" she asked politely, taking it from Kerrin's outstretched hand and typing the passport number into the computer.

  "There you are, sir…" she said, pulling down a key from the board behind her. "Room 348. Breakfast is included in the price, and is served between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. in the restaurant… would there be anything else I can help you with sir?" she smiled again.

  Kerrin hesitated, then bent down and unzipped the sports bag he had used as his hand luggage on the plane. He reached inside and pulled out the postcard from Alex Swinton from an inside pocket. He straightened up and showed the woman behind the desk the picture on the front of the card.

  "Actually, I'm a journalist from America, I've come here to do a story on windsurfing in the Cape. I'm meant to be meeting one of my friends here, at the entrance to this park…can you tell me where it is?"

  The woman looked at the card and smiled.

  "It's not far from here. You just keep going out of town, and after about four miles, on the left you will come to a tarmacked road which will take you down a dirt track to the entrance gate of the park…it’s about ten minutes tops."