Predator Island

by Douglas Cameron

  “When do you expect to be able to start the construction?”

  Horus was silent for a moment. “Within a year, two at the maximum.”

  “Is this all within your original time frame?”

  “No, the time frame starts when the bulldozer and crew are on the ground. We will have dropped what is needed for shelter prior to the crew being on the ground. We want to be able to drop prefabricated sections of the housing from helicopter, but the range will be a problem. Our best bet would to fly them in from a ship sitting off the island.”

  “And the cost?”

  “Covered by your contributions,” Horus said.

  “And what are you contributing?” Ramiro asked, having sat straight up in his chair when the talk of money started.

  “The idea behind the project and the ability to make certain that it happens.” Horus responded in the blink of an eye.

  “How do we know that our money will be safe?”

  “Your money went into a fund in a bank in Panama. You were all given a password and username. You can keep tabs on the money twenty-four seven. Monthly expense sheets will be provided, and you can match them with the money in the fund and the withdrawals. A fee for our services of $250,000 per annum will be withdrawn at the beginning of the fiscal year.”

  “When does this fiscal year start?”

  “When you have approved the plan.”

  “Are there any more questions at this point.”

  There weren’t or at least they weren’t asked.

  “Then we will take a break for lunch and reconvene at 2:00 p.m.”

  Chapter 12

  Declercq and Carmen came out and asked everyone to move away from the table for five minutes, so most of them made for the men’s or ladies’ restrooms to relieve and/or freshen themselves. Monica and Gloria were happy to be alone again.

  “I was right,” Monica said, “He can’t see us and knows where we are through the cards. I don’t know how they can read the cards, but they can.”

  “I think there is a GPS chip in the card that tells your location.”

  “Sure, that’s it. What an idiot I am! Tell you what, let’s see if after lunch we can go upstairs and find our rooms. I want to see what they look like and what clothes they picked out for me. I tell you, I find their ability to give us what we want to drink and snack on uncanny. They must have done some deep work.”

  Gloria laughed. “With you, it’s easy. All you need to do is read the magazines and listen to interviews.”

  “Yeah, but they don’t know what color my knickers are or whether I wear a bra or not. I’ve never said that.”

  By the time everyone had finished and returned to the table, it had been covered with a gigantic white linen table cloth that hung evenly all around and there wasn’t a wrinkle or crease in it. Each place was set perfectly with sterling silver and white linen napkins.

  Lunch started with soup: onion, minestrone, or consommé; followed by beef bourguignon, chicken parmesan or blackened red snapper. Accompanying the entrées were parsley potatoes, green peas with tiny onions, carrots; and either a leaf lettuce salad with choice of dressings, Caesar salad, or shredded head lettuce with oil and vinegar; dessert was apple pie, chocolate cake, a cheese plate or a fruit plate. Conversation was lively with people talking to each other, getting to know them. Not a word was mentioned about what had transpired prior to the luncheon.

  Gloria and Monica had kept an eye on the time and excused themselves at 1:35 p.m. and walked to the doors leading to the hotel’s foyer. Looking through the glass they could see no one in the lobby. Monica pushed on the left door and it didn’t give. Gloria pushed on the right with the same effect. Monica rapped on the door, but not one showed themselves.

  “Is there a problem, Ms. Bartlett?”

  Declercq had come up behind them as silently as a cat, which is the way he always seemed to be. Monica whirled around. “Yes, there is. I wanted to see what my room is like and maybe catch a breath of fresh air.”

  “I’m sorry, miss, but no one is permitted outside the confines of the meeting room until today’s session is over. It’s a security issue after the attack this morning.”

  “But they weren’t after us. They were after … Juan.” She couldn’t help but giggle.

  “Yes, miss, but if you were taken hostage then they could get at … Mr. Esteves.”

  “Oh, feck,” Monica said. “He doesn’t give a fat trump about me.”

  “Excuse me, miss, but I am not certain what you meant.”

  “Oh, ahh, to trump is to pass gas through one’s arsehole. I believe you Americans say ‘fart.’ So he doesn’t give a big fart about me.”

  “I see. Thank you for that elucidation. And I am not American, I am Dutch.”

  “Oh, from Holland.”

  “No, miss, from the Netherlands. North and South Holland are two of our twelve provinces. I am from Utrecht.”

  “So we’ve both learned something but that doesn’t help …”

  Declercq had whirled around and started off for one of the windows where Ramiro was standing with a lit cigarette in his hand.

  “I’m sorry, Señor Esteves, but smoking is not permitted inside.”

  “I don’t care. I am nervouz and I needz a cigarette. You juzt go tell your Mr. Horuz or whoever he iz that if I cannot go outzide for a zmoke, I am going to zmoke in here. I am certain that it’z not going to bother anyone.”

  Declercq was silent for a moment and then he said, “Very well, sir. I understand.” And he walked to a panel in the wall beside the doors leading to the foyer, inserted a key into the glass cover, opened it and pushed a red button to prevent the smoke detector from going off and turned a dial one click to the right which turned the circulation fan up one notch. Closing the panel cover and locking it, he turned around and saw with satisfaction that the smoke was being drawn up and that Carmen had arrived and given Señor Esteves a crystal ashtray.

  “Thank you, sir,” Declercq said seemingly to no one and returned to his duties, noting with satisfaction that Ms. Bartlett and Mrs. Mitchell were conversing with Mr. Kinkaid and Mr. Emerson. On the other hand, Señor Esteves, Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Parmelee were in a huddle near the window. One was good; the other bode evil. How evil only time would tell.

  Chapter 13

  “Welcome back,” Horus greeted them precisely at 2:00 p.m. “I trust you all enjoyed your meal. I think we are done with the infrastructure unless there are further questions.”

  Horus paused but no one said anything.

  “Hearing no questions, let us proceed. We have the lion, tiger, brown bear (which will be a grizzly), and black bear. Except for the lion and tiger, we will proceed through my prepared list alphabetically. Please note that some of these entrants you might not back as the potential winner, but we want to have a big enough pool to make it interesting.

  “The caracal is a wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and India. It is a medium-sized cat of sixteen to twenty inches at the shoulder and weighs between eighteen to forty pounds. It is a carnivore preying on small mammals, birds and rodents. It can leap higher than 9.8 feet and catch birds in mid-air. It stalks bigger animals until within sixteen feet and then runs the prey down and kills with a bite to the throat or back of the neck.”

  As he was describing the animal a brief video of it was shown although none of it included it hunting. Videos or pictures would be shown for each of the animals being discussed to help the people who didn’t know about them familiarize themselves with the animals.

  “It is an ideal predator for the fauna of São Rochelle,” Horus concluded.

  “I like the way it gets birds,” Monica said. “I can hardly wait to see it in action.”

  “It doezn’t ztand a chance in the competition,” Ramiro said. “It iz too zmall and would be eazy prey for a lion or tiger.”

  “Could be,” Phil said, “but they have to catch it first.”

  “Although it may not win, I think it
deserves a chance,” Harvey Gladstone said.

  “Me, too,” Gloria said.

  “Majority rules and the caracal is in,” Horus said.

  “The next one I am certain is familiar to you all,” Horus continued. “The cheetah. This speed demon lives in eastern and southern Africa and a few places in Iran. Characterized by a slender body, deep chest and spotted coat, it stands twenty-eight to thirty-five inches at the shoulder and weighs between forty-five and one hundred fifty-nine pounds. This puts it bigger than a leopard (which we haven’t gotten to yet) and much smaller than a lion. Specializing in speed, the cheetah hits forty miles per hour in a sprint but can go seventy miles per hour for a short distance. This is the reason for its hunting technique which is to stalk its prey to within three hundred thirty to nine hundred eight feet and then chase it down. Its usual method of kill is to trip the prey and bite it in the throat, holding that bite until the animal suffocates.”

  “Bigger than a panther? Really?” Harvey Gladstone said.

  “Perhaps I misspoke,” Horus said. “It is taller than the leopard.”

  “Well, since you brought in that comparison, tell us about the leopard,” Phil said.

  “I agree,” Ramiro said. “and alzo, ze panther. Let’z get all ze catz taken care of – at leazt the big catz.”

  “Then add in the jaguar. That’s my favorite,” Issaack said.

  Everyone voiced agreement.

  “Then we move forward with the jaguar which is next alphabetically and therefore easiest to find on my list,” Horus said. “The jaguar is the only member of the Panthera species in the Americas. The other members are the lion, tiger, snow leopard, and leopard.”

  “The cheetah’s not a panther?” asked Monica.

  “It is another species,” Horas said “and is the only member of that species we are considering. And before anyone asks, the cougar – also known as mountain lion, puma, and catamount – and also panther is another species: the Puma.”

  “We will include that in the discussion though, won’t we?” queried Waldo.

  “Yes, we shall. Can we move on now to the jaguar?”

  Assent heard from the bundle (except for Ramiro), Horus continued.

  “The jaguar is seen very many places in the Americas: ranging from Argentina and Paraguay north through Central America and Mexico to the Southwestern United States. Its numbers are third behind the lion and tiger. El Tigre, as it is known in Mexico, weighs between one hundred twenty-four and two hundred eleven pounds. It only stands twenty-five to thirty inches at the shoulders but varies from 3.7 to 6.1 feet in length even though its tail is the shortest of any big cat being only eighteen to thirty inches in length. It is a stalk-and-ambush rather than chase predator and will even go into the water after prey. One of the amazing features – at least to me – is that it has a very strong bite and can pierce the shell of armored reptiles. Its favorite killing method is to bite through the skull between the ears of its prey and into the brain killing it.”

  “Ugh,” Monica said. “That’s deadly. With the stalk-and-ambush style, that’s my choice. Scary.”

  “Any other comments about el Tigre? Mr. Esteves, you have been exceptionally quiet at the table.”

  “I am juzt liztening and learning. My Englizh is not zo good and I am liztening hard to underztand.”

  “Would you like a Portuguese translation?”

  “That iz out boundz for diz meeting. I am doing hookay,” Ramiro said.

  “Then it’s time for the leopard which has a wide range in the part of Africa below the Sahara and in parts of Asia. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar but not as heavy, relatively short legs although a long body and big skull. Preferring prey weighing between twenty-two and eighty-eight pounds, …”

  “What’s it do, carry a scale and ask potential prey to step on it?” Harvey Gladstone said.

  This brought a smile to Ramiro’s face but not too many noticed.

  “That’s a joke, right?” Horus said. “What it means is that it knows what it can attack and doesn’t go after things that are too big. That size range was given in the research material that I consulted.”

  “I understand,” Harvey Gladstone said. “I was just trying to make a funny.”

  “I likez ziz funny,” Ramiro said.

  “Okay. Done with that?”

  No one said any more.

  “The leopard stalks the target animal trying to get within sixteen feet … No tape measure needed, Mr. Gladstone … before pouncing and killing by suffocation, biting small animals in the back of the neck and larger in the throat. Small animals are eaten on the spot, but larger animals are dragged away and hidden to be returned to later. Leopards are strong enough to drag a young giraffe weighing two hundred seventy-six pounds nineteen feet into a tree. This has been documented.”

  “Zat’z zome ztrength zere,” Ramiro said. Members of the group were surprised at his understanding when he has just pled difficulty understanding.

  “Although we have already included the lion in our list because of its status as an apex predator, let me make some comments. Lions prefer prey weighing between 420 and 1,210 pounds and have a preference for wildebeest, buffalo, zebras, giraffes and gemsbok. You might think that an animal that size might give a lion trouble but males can weigh five hundred fifty pounds and where possible hunt in prides, the name for a group of lions. In the hunt, lionesses are given the privileged position of being on the flank of prey and as a rule, males do not participate in group hunts. They are not known for their stamina and tend to run fast only in short bursts so it is necessary to get close to its prey before attacking. Since we are going to try to limit ourselves to one of each kind, we are most likely going for a male lion since they prefer solo hunts.”

  “Good choice,” Phil said. “Serial killers hunt alone and are most always men.”

  Chapter 14

  “Are you inferring that women are not capable of killing?” Gloria said. “Because I take exception to that inference.”

  “Does that have anything to do with the fact that two of your husbands died shortly after you divorced them? I believe that the divorce agreements stipulated that in such a circumstance you were the prime beneficiary.”

  “You bastard!” Gloria was livid. Her face turned bright red and her hands were clenched. “I was never – never – considered as a suspect in their deaths, which were never considered as homicides. One was a heart attack and the other an automobile accident.”

  “Still, accidents can be made to happen,” Phil said.

  “You mean like the shark killing your partner?”

  Phil started to rise from his chair and surprisingly Harvey Gladstone reached an arm out to stop him.

  “That’s enough,” Horus said. “If you two have differences you cannot iron out, then I suggest you withdraw from this group.”

  “I apologize,” Phil said. “I think it is the excess alcohol with which I am being plied. That Dead Man’s Chest rum carries a big kick.”

  “It doesn’t give me the hiccups,” Monica said quietly.

  Gloria said nothing but just glared at Phil.

  “May I continue?” Horus said and did. “The snow leopard’s territory is the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. On São Rochelle, we will place it on the volcano’s slope, but it will have to come down for food. Although they kill their prey for the most part, they are not above eating carrion and will hunt domestic animals. They kill animals two to four times their own weight. They weigh between sixty and one hundred twenty-one pounds, but males are known to weigh as much as one hundred sixty-five pounds and females under fifty-five pounds. They have a stocky build and are short legged, standing only two feet at the shoulder and a body length of thirty to sixty inches. Add to that a tail that runs from thirty-one to thirty-nine inches and they appear bigger. Their kills are impressive for their size including horse and camel. Because they live in mountains, their modus operandi is to attack from above, usually lying in wait. In
terestingly a kill lasts them for a while. A yearly kill of twenty to thirty adult sheep suffices for one adult.”

  “And it’s such a cute animal,” Monica said. “I’ve seen them in several zoos.”

  “From such a small animal, let me say something about the tiger. While the lion has been given the title of The King of Beasts, the tiger is the largest cat species. The male Bengal tiger, the kind most people think about when you say ‘tiger,’ will have a nose to tail tip length of one hundred ten to one hundred twenty inches and in the range of four hundred nineteen to five hundred sixty-nine pounds. In contrast, the Siberian tiger has a head to tail tip length between seven-five and ninety-one inches and weighs between three hundred ninety-seven and six hundred seventy-five pounds.”

  “These guys are fat,” Harvey said, patting his own stomach as though associating himself with the Siberian tiger.

  “They are nocturnal hunters for the most part and ambush their prey using body size and strength to knock the victim off balance. With larger animals, they get a bite on the throat and then hang on with their powerful front limbs until the prey is suffocated.”

  “Suffocation seems a popular killing method with the cats,” Monica said.

  “It's a popular method of killing anyway,” Issaack said. “When a person is sleeping, it’s easy to place a pillow over the victim’s face and hold it down.”

  “Is this said from experience?” Waldo said with a grin.

  “I won’t comment on that,” Issaack said, making a gun out of his right hand and mimicking shooting Waldo who threw his hands up and played dead for a few seconds. Then both men laughed.