It was these devices that she now used to entertain herself, yet again. The equipment in her exercise room would get her started, before she would try out her new toy, bought in New York a week earlier. The experience should be rewarding if all she’d been told about this gadget was anything to go by. So, tonight, she would take care of herself.
Pilessar thought no more about Castille or the Barbados operation he was going to oversee from tomorrow afternoon. She expected him to complete it quickly and be able to return to Miami on Saturday, Sunday night latest, to be ready for the new work week.
***
It was coming up to 11:50 p.m. in Block #5, cell 10 in HMP Dodds. Besides the BPS officers, there was at least one prisoner who was still awake, despite the main lights in the institution having been earlier turned out promptly at 8:30 p.m.
The prisoner was Jasper Power. He had gotten word that tomorrow would be a big day for him. Yes, he would return to court for the legal system to most likely convict him for a range of offences. From his perspective, that potential experience was now far from his mind. His big day meant something completely different! He was sure that he would not sleep in HMP Dodds again for a long time, starting with tomorrow night. His ‘friends’ on the outside would hopefully see to that tomorrow morning.
Power closed his eyes tight as he lay on his bunk. He wanted to spend some time with Marcia Leach tomorrow afternoon once the initial commotion about him had died down. Two weeks earlier when they were last together, they had made love after midnight on Rockley Beach…
***
At 11:55 p.m., JJ initiated his sign-off routine by playing his ‘out’ song Three Degrees When Will I See You Again. He reminded patrons that he’d be back in the DJ’s seat every Monday and Tuesday night, ETT. He then handed over P’s Disco to DJ Grover ‘GP’ Price.
Price’s usual intention after JJ’s set was to shift the feel of P’s Disco to more suit and satisfy its younger patrons who had been arriving in their numbers since 11:15 p.m. and would soon fill P’s Disco to its capacity.
Price got his set up and running by thanking JJ for doing a great job over the past four hours with his BIT music. He normally played some contemporary dance music to keep the energy levels high in P’s Disco. But tonight, his instinct told him to change things up a little with a couple of smooth jams before reverting to hype. First up, The Weekend I Feel It Coming, followed by Ne-Yo Sexy Love. Having got that itch out of his system, Price hit the up-tempo stuff, starting with a second Ne-Yo song Because of You, followed by another tune from The Weekend Can’t Feel My Face.
Price was in his zone. JJ’s BIB colleagues were left in his capable musical hands.
***
Chapter Seven
Upheaval
WEDNESDAY, 18 APRIL
One of JJ’s greatest pleasures as a dad on returning home on evenings from work or at nights after P’s Disco was to locate and kiss his children. Angela was thirteen and Andrew ten. Tonight, they were fast asleep. After kissing them on their foreheads in bed in their rooms, he tip-toed into the master bedroom so as not to disturb Vanessa. Her bedside lamp was on, so he undressed quietly before entering the bathroom and closing the adjoining door behind him. After urinating, showering, brushing his teeth and gargling he felt refreshed yet sleepy, so put on a pair of boxer shorts before returning to the bedroom and climbing into bed.
He kissed Vanessa lightly, not wanting to wake her up.
“How was your BIT show?” she asked, turning to snuggle up to him.
“Awesome. My preparations helped. Fred, Charlee, Joe and Stef came by. I left them there.”
“Don’t they have work tomorrow?” she asked him sleepily.
“Only Stef at his surgery. Fred and Joe have the next couple of days off and Charlie is on a week’s leave from QEH. So, they’re all entitled to be out late,” said JJ, making himself comfortable next to Vanessa.
“Lucky them!”
“Yeah. I’m gone early in the morning, so the school run is all yours, V.”
“No problem.”
“Night, babe.”
“Night back.”
***
P’s Disco was scheduled to close at 3:00 a.m. Fred, Charlee, Joe and Stef had thought of leaving around 2:00 a.m., but conversations with Pilgrim about the outcome of the forthcoming Test Match between the West Indies and England pushed back their departure.
Once Pilgrim had left them for a second time to return to his office to check on the night’s takings, Stef ordered another round of drinks before speaking.
“Fred, Joe has the last of her jokes for the night, so don’t tell me that that you know what it is and want to tell it to us rather than her,” said Charlee.
“Nothing like that! I have something better to say.”
Fred turned to look at Charlee and said to her, “I have a question to ask you…”
Dropping onto his left knee, Fred reached into his right pants pocket and retrieved an item.
“Charlotte Nadine Piggott, in front of these two good persons, in this place and on this 18th day of April 2018, will you please marry me?” he asked.
Shocked, Charlee stood up, both hands on her mouth which by this time was gaping open. She was also trembling, Joe, Stef and Fred noticed.
“I… I… Yes, Fred. Oh my God. Yes!” Charlee responded.
With that, Fred rose from his knees to hug Charlee. They then kissed for what seemed like an eternity. Coming up for breath, Fred pulled away and opened the box that was in his hand. He carefully removed the engagement ring and holding her shaking left hand, he placed it onto the appropriate finger.
“Well, it seems to fit,” said Stef.
“On yeah, it sure does,” said Joe in agreement.
Seemingly lost in wonder, Charlee just continued to stare at her hand, before bringing it up to her face for a closer examination of the diamond engagement ring. She burst into tears, mumbling, “Fred, you’ve made me so happy. I don’t know what else to say –”
“Yes sounded pretty good to me, Charlee,” Fred replied, hugging her again. He then shouted to P’s Disco’s remaining patrons.
“Hey everybody, this woman just agreed to marry me. I’m the luckiest man in the world, no, I’m on top of the world, at least in here tonight.”
P’s Disco patrons turned to look at him before letting out loud cheers. Individuals came over to offer their congratulations. Some slapped him on the back, others offered to buy the engaged couple a drink.
After another five minutes, Fred said, “Well, as it’s past our agreed 2:00 p.m. witching hour folks, I’m ready to hear Joe’s last L&H joke for the evening. After that, once her joke is not about me, or marriage, I’ll go home to take in the full meaning of what I’ve just committed myself to with this young lady sitting by my side.”
“Fine, okay.” Joe motioned them all to be silent. “Well, I had one L&H joke left to tell you guys but, because of the special nature of tonight, I’ll give you two. Here goes. In One Good Turn, Ollie and Stan discuss who should chop up some wood. Stan says, ‘Well, I don’t know anything about cutting wood,’ to which Ollie replies, ‘Well, you ought to! You once told me that your father was in the lumber business.’ Stan replies, ‘Well, I know he was but it was only in a small way.’ Ollie asks, ‘What do you mean in a small way?’ Stan replies, ‘Well, he used to sell toothpicks…’ Get it?”
“Nice one, Joe. Small way…toothpicks!” said Charlee with her infectious giggle.
“And the last one, honey?” asked Stef, certain that this joke would be one even he did not yet know.
“This one’s short and sweet! In Another Fine Mess, Ollie tells Stan, ‘Call me a cab,’ to which Stan replies, ‘You’re a cab.’ Get it?” asked Joe.
The other three persons in her group looked at each other in puzzlement and for some form of comprehension of the joke that had just been told. Then they got it, and started to laugh as they collected their belongings to leave P’s Disco.
As they ma
de their way towards the club’s exit, their laughter grew louder – so much so that one of the remaining patrons looked around sharply at them and said to his friend.
“That lot had a good night.”
***
The 5:00 a.m. telephone call made by Mrs Lewis to her son Bertram Lewis in his upstate New York, USA apartment was, to say the least, unusual. Not only the time of it, but the content. What she told her son greatly alarmed him, so much so that he made a determination to get on the first available flight to Barbados to be with his mum. Mrs Lewis was upset, though not yet at the point of crying. Lewis wanted to get to the bottom of this unusual and worrying situation. Nothing like this had ever happened to anyone in their family before, at least not to his knowledge. Also, as his mum was never one to panic easily, it increased his concern. Being unattached, it would be easier for him to respond to his mum’s needs than it would be for his younger sister Caroline Lewis-Greenidge, who lived in Texas. She had a husband and two young kids to manage along with her busy job at a Texas University, so it would take her much longer to get home to their mum.
Lewis instructed his mother to contact his father’s secretary first thing that morning and call him back on his mobile with any new information. Once she’d agreed to do so, Lewis set about making his arrangements to fly to Barbados as soon as possible. He knew his dad’s office would not be available to the public before 8:00 a.m., so he did not expect his mum to call him back before 8:30 a.m. at the earliest.
Switching on his computer, Lewis checked to see whether there were any economy class seats available on the 1:00 p.m. AA flight to Miami. There were six open seats. He booked and paid for one of them on his personal credit card. His flight would arrive in Miami in good time to enable him to make AA’s daily 6:45 p.m. flight to Barbados, once they were seats! His luck was in. Three first class seats were open. Lewis now also booked and paid for one. He knew from past experience that it was always difficult to get an economy class seat on that evening flight to Barbados unless you had booked it well in advance of your travel date. Lewis noted that he would arrive in Barbados at 10:05 p.m. He would take a taxi to his parents St George home as it would be too late for Mum to drive out to the airport for him.
How Lewis missed having the daily direct flights to Barbados from New York on AA. Yes, there was now a low-budget direct option thrice a week, but that airline only flew on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Even if this was one of those days, the flight usually left New York at 9:20 a.m. and he would not have had sufficient time to make it today. Hence his pursuance of the New York-Miami-Barbados option. Something told him to resist the temptation to book his return flights for Sunday afternoon/evening.
Today will be a long flying day for you Lewis boy, he thought to himself before starting to shave. He would call his sister from New York airport once he knew more from his mum, as Lewis-Greenidge would still be asleep at this time of the morning, given the time difference.
Lewis opened up his carry-on suitcase to start packing the few items he would need for the trip. He kept a set of clothes back in Barbados, including a dark suit, a couple of white shirts, half a dozen ties, training shoes and running shorts for the gym he frequented in the Sheraton Centre mall complex when he was at home.
Always a proactive person, Lewis anticipated that if nothing else, his presence in Barbados would give his mum some peace of mind. He also thought of his clients and his business contacts who would be affected by his absence for the rest of the week at a minimum. Lewis called his secretary Roni Garcia, at 6:00 a.m. when he knew she would be up. Lewis explained to her what his situation was and of his proposed absence from the country for the next few days. He would confirm to Garcia exactly what he was doing by 8:45 a.m. or so through another call. She should postpone his appointments with clients for the rest of the week and re-arrange them for the same time and day of the following week. He decided to write notes for Garcia to pass to his law partner who would, in turn hand them to the two judges whose courts Lewis was scheduled to appear in on Thursday and Friday respectively, requesting adjournments for the cases he was involved. Knowing the two judges concerned as he did, Lewis felt that the adjournments would be secured. Also, out of courtesy, he decided to prepare short explanatory e-mails to the prosecuting attorneys in both cases. No point in pissing them off too. Whatever new dates the court set, he would accept in the circumstances.
2018 had already been a challenging year! The winter had been long and harsh. Lewis would use this opportunity to get some warm sunshine on his back for the next few days. He fully expected the problem in Barbados to be solved quickly, certainly within the next forty-eight hours max., given the prominent position his dad held in Barbados’ public service.
Lewis also recognised that, all things being equal, he might just get to see at least one day of the Test Match at New Kensington Oval during his brief visit. This was something he had not done for a while, as he certainly could not watch a Test Match in New York.
***
Jasper Power woke earlier than usual on this Wednesday morning. He laid on his bunk in clear contemplation of what he expected the day would bring forth. Power was optimistic that he would not need to spend another night in this St Philip facility, in this cell and on this bunk. Some place more comfortable was certainly beckoning him…
***
JJ left his Christ Church home just before 7:00 a.m. He was keen to arrive at BIB HQ in good time to link up with the other two members of his Gold team whom he had led for the past five years. They would leave in good time to receive their briefing from Superintendent Innis at HMP Dodds ahead of their rendezvous with the other members of today’s prison run (PR) team (RBPF and BPS officers) at 9:00 a.m.
BIB’s main task today was to accompany the weekly PR. Such assignments were still relatively new to BIB operatives. Over the past two months, BIB’s three operational teams had undertaken a total of twelve PR assignments, accompanying Barbados’ most dangerous and other criminals when called upon by prison authorities to help escort inmates housed in the institution. At BIB HQ, PR’s were perceived as ‘riding shot gun’ exercises.
Today, JJ’s Gold team would follow the RBPF and BPS vehicles from HMP Dodds, the island’s sole prison facility in St Philip to the District ‘A’ Magistrate’s court just outside of Bridgetown and back to the prison. Each PR exercise normally took around five hours. The Gold team planned to leave BIB HQ just after 8:00 a.m. to ensure arrival at HMP Dodds by 8:30 a.m. Anticipating no problems with today’s assignment, they expected to be back at BIB HQ by 1:30 p.m. when they would complete the required paperwork. The rest of the day would be theirs along with tomorrow. They would then join the other two BIB operational teams at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning, enabling BIB to play its roles in the elaborate nine-day ECC security screen. Set up primarily for the Test Match, the screen would also cover the international soccer match, a pop concert and a Commonwealth Sports Ministers’ Conference.
Specifically, BIB operatives were to help with VIP security by keeping not only both teams’ squads and officials, visiting International Cricket Committee (ICC) officials, thousands of local, Caribbean and British supporters plus local, regional and international media safe and protected over this period.
Mohammed Carr (code number F40) and Jayne Bixley (code number U21) soon arrived to join JJ in BIB’s Conference Room. Following a review of their instructions, they headed for their vehicles to collect any personal equipment required for the PR exercise. They had agreed to travel in JJ’s vehicle for the twenty-five-minute journey to HMP Dodds.
***
As JJ waited for Mohammed and Jayne, he found himself reflecting on the Christmas presents he had received from his work colleagues. One was a book from Colonel Burke that he had so far only managed to read the introduction and Chapter 1 of. The Art of War by Chinese military strategist Sun Tsu. A few lines from that first chapter had stuck with him on his initial reading late on Boxing Day night, and so he had re-read and
underlined those lines with a red marker as they were relevant to BIB’s work. JJ’s Google search indicated that the book dated back to the fifth century BC. The version he’d been given was the first annotated English Language translation published by Lionel Giles back in 1910. JJ had wanted to read more but had not found enough ‘quiet time’ to do so recently. He now planned to spend part of the afternoon and tomorrow reading Chapters 2, 3 and 4 to understand the concepts presented therein. His underlined lines were in verse 18 and they explained what The Art of War meant:
“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, whenever able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near…”
JJ had interpreted those lines to mean that all warfare is based on deception.
Mohammed’s knock on his driver’s side window brought JJ back to reality.
“Sorry!” stated JJ by way of apology. He unlocked his vehicle’s doors to allow Mohammed and Jayne to get in. This enabled Gold team to depart from BIB HQ for the run to HMP Dodds.
***
Colonel Burke rarely used his RED team (his three team leaders), but one notable occasion was the investigation of the attempted assassination of Motby two and a half years earlier.
Mohammed and Jayne made up JJ’s Gold team. Mohammed was thirty-eight-years old and had been with BIB from its inception. A former Barbados Fire Service officer, he had been spotted by Colonel Burke who had observed him responding to a major motor vehicle accident on the ABC highway. On being invited to try out for BIB, Mohammed had to be encouraged by his father, an old friend of Colonel Burke’s, to grab the opportunity. Thankfully, all had gone well and Mohammed had quickly settled down in BIB and was soon doing a fine job. JJ had no difficulty in choosing him to be part of his operational Gold team when BIB had established its three teams.
Hung Out to Dry Page 9
