“Let me think a minute. Yes, there might be a couple no, three persons that spring to mind. I’d suggest you follow-up on with your Vincie colleagues on them. Got a piece of paper?”
“Of course, but why don’t you just tell me their names?”
“Not my style. Remember this morning? I’ve always found that the written word is more powerful than the spoken word,” said Hunter.
Colonel Burke passed Hunter a small covered notepad.
After a few seconds, Hunter returned the notepad. Lifting the cover, Colonel Burke saw nothing on the first three pages, but on the fourth page were three names of businessmen.
“You sure that these persons are still in these positions?”
“Yes, or at least they were there up to three months ago. I haven’t heard that any of them have died, retired, been fired or sold out. The Vincie papers and the internet would have carried it had any of those things happened. My info should be good for your use.”
“Then that’s fine by me. I’ll pass this information to JJ. He’ll be able to ask his opposite number to look into their recent dealings. We may get lucky and be able to connect one of them to this Power thing. JJ should have something to give our Vincie cousins at the start of his sojourn.”
“Right. I’d now like to return home and get back to my TV please. And don’t call me tomorrow while I’m at the game.”
“Yes, sir. Thanks again. Appreciate your time.”
“My pleasure, Trevor. Wish JJ good luck for me.”
***
Chapter Eighteen
Significant Discoveries
Fifteen minutes later, on his way to P’s Disco, JJ wondered if things might somehow have been different had he made it his business to speak with Dr Lewis on Tuesday night. But he hadn’t.
How important that might turn out to be in helping local law enforcement agencies track down Dr Lewis was as yet unknown. It never dawned on him that Dr Lewis’ disappearance might or could, in some small but important way, be connected to the couple of missing prisoners, Field and Power.
***
It was around this same time that Field, accompanied by his mother and an attorney-at-law, presented themselves to the RBPF officer working the Incident Desk at Oistins police station in Christ Church.
“Hello, may I help you?” asked the RBPF officer, not looking up from the Incident Book he was reviewing.
“Yes please. I’m Jenson Clarke, attorney-at-law. I’m here to present and return my client, Mr Warren Field, to police custody. Your people are looking for him after his escape from legal custody last Wednesday.”
Constable Roosvelt Dryer had by now looked up at the three persons standing before him. He recognised Field immediately, even before his lawyer had finished explaining why they were there.
“Uh…yes, of course, you are. Please take a seat. Excuse me a minute,” he said.
Reaching for the black telephone that was located on the second tier of the Incident Desk, Constable Dryer dialled four numbers. He spoke softly to Station Sergeant Donald Avery who was the officer in charge of Oistins police station. Less than a minute later, Station Sergeant Avery had moved from his office at the back of the station to the Incident Desk. He was accompanied by two burly RBPF officers. They went directly to Field.
Station Sergeant Avery spoke first with Clarke. Next, he spoke directly to Field before reading him his rights and arresting him in front of his mother and Clarke. There was no fuss as Field was taken into custody.
A few minutes later, Field’s recapture was communicated to Jeremie and Innis. Within another half hour, Field would find himself handcuffed to a RBPF officer in the back of a darkened vehicle and on his way back to HMP Dodds. The vehicle he was travelling in was preceded by a RBPF motorcycle outrider. He knew he would eventually find himself back in court, this time facing additional escape charges.
***
Back at P’s Disco, JJ was able to confirm that it was indeed Dr Albert Lewis who had been captured by the CCTV footage as he had entered and left the club during the early part of the previous Tuesday night.
“There! I knew I’d seen him that night,” exclaimed JJ.
“Found something, JJ?” asked Pilgrim, hearing JJ’s excited exclamation.
“Yes. Come, let me show you.”
Pilgrim exited his inner office and came to sit down next to JJ, who played back the images, lasting for just over an hour which showed Deputy Governor of the CBOB Dr Albert Lewis’ approach and entry to P’s Disco at 8:15 p.m. until he left at 9:55 p.m. During that time, he was on his own, appeared to order a couple of drinks and a meal while appearing to enjoy the music. He had seemingly coughed a few times and interfaced with one person, P’s Disco waitress Zelda Hughes.
“Double P, can you get me a still, a screen shot of Dr Lewis sitting at the table eating his meal, showing the time? Actually, can I also get ones of his arrival and departure? A copy of the video for the hour or so while he was here would also be helpful please.”
“Sure, won’t take long. I’ll send a copy of everything to your phone and put a set on a disc so you can pass it on to whoever you want, okay?”
“Yes, thanks a million, Double P.”
“No problem, anything to help you out. Does this make me some sort of detective, JJ?” asked Pilgrim mischievously.
“I guess so, Double P…” answered JJ, satisfied that his hunch had paid off.
As JJ was about to stop viewing the footage and close down the replay machine, he noticed someone he had not seen for a while in the background just outside of P’s Disco.
Miles ‘Sugar’ Roberts!
JJ didn’t expect to see Sugar Roberts in this video – at least not this early in the night. He recalled that Roberts did not normally get to P’s Disco before midnight. So why was he in the area so early, at 10:17 p.m. to be precise? Here was a new lead for someone, if not JJ, then someone else at BIB or preferably the RBPF to pursue. Surely, they would need to establish why Roberts had been there, this early, on this Tuesday night. Who knows, Roberts might have knowledge of something that could be handy to the people investigating the Deputy Governor’s disappearance, the subsequent prisoners escape or even the attempted robbery and shooting incident several hours later. JJ would mention Roberts to Colonel Burke when he saw him later. He would also hand over the copy of the DVD that Pierre was preparing on Dr Lewis’ exit from P’s Disco to allow Colonel Burke to do whatever he wanted to with it. Perhaps he would share it with Jeremie and Vickers who was the lead RBPF investigator on Dr Lewis’ case.
Another reason why Roberts might also be a good person to track down about these three incidents, was that a $20,000 reward had been offered by a private citizen for information that would lead to the recapture of Power, the most dangerous of the two escaped prisoners. JJ knew Roberts. A sum like that dangled before Roberts might help him ‘remember’ or provide something that would aid the situation.
JJ would later pass this information to Colonel Burke when they met.
***
Around 3:40 p.m., Castille used one of the mobile phones he possessed to call his boss.
“Yes.”
“Trouble. Our pretzel’s gone AWOL. Funds remain unsecured. I’m tracking. Locals not being as helpful as I had expected. Return delayed. Unsure of new departure date. Sunday unlikely so possibly Monday night or Tuesday afternoon latest.”
“Let’s meet Tuesday night. Same time, usual place?”
“Fine.”
“Deal.”
***
Meanwhile, Pilessar’s coded WhatsApp exchange from the previous night with her proposed Barbados-based Caribbean counterpart was not conveyed to Castille. There was no reason for him to know of her imminent visit to Barbados. They certainly would not be meeting up while in country. Their visits to Barbados were for completely different reasons, so would remain compartmentalised. Ideally, Castille’s return to Miami would not clash with her own proposed return on Monday afternoon, unless something fur
ther went wrong with his assignment.
Speaking with him reminded her that she had not finalised her travel arrangements to and from Barbados for Sunday and Monday respectively. She called in her assistant and directed her to correct this oversight.
Five minutes later, her assistant entered her office. Did Pilessar want to arrive in Barbados on the morning or afternoon flight, given that there are two daily flights between Barbados and Miami? Pilessar recalled with amusement the ‘All American Pizza Man’ phrase she had used in her WhatsApp exchange. It meant AA (airline) and PM (afternoon).
“What time does each flight leave Miami and arrive in Barbados?”
Her assistant told her.
“Let’s go with the earlier option out and late option back,” Pilessar said.
“Very well.”
***
Ambassador Carter returned the call to Vickers as she had promised to do before the end of her working day.
“Chief Superintendent Vickers. May I help you?”
“My, my Johnny, so official. Are you trying to impress me?”
“Hi Meredith. I don’t think so, at least not any longer. That’s the way I always answer my office phone. You’ll have to call my private mobile to hear me answer differently.”
“Really! You’d better let me have that number some time so that I can hear the less official you. Hey, I’m back in Bim in another three weeks for a week. Perhaps we can meet up while I’m in town?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“Good. Now to why you called me. My team reported nothing negative about Dr Lewis. Our WB contacts also spoke highly of Dr Lewis as an employee, colleague and person. In short, no red flags. All clear.”
“That’s good to know. Appreciate your call, Meredith.”
“Anytime, Johnny. Have a good weekend. Keep Barbados safe and…see you in a few weeks then?”
“You bet! Thanks again. Enjoy your weekend too. Bye.”
“Bye, Johnny.”
That’s all good news, thought Vickers. Now, how will I handle Meredith when she comes home?
***
Just after 4:00 p.m., Barbados’ newest, smallest but arguably fastest and most powerful Coast Guard vessel, HMB Shark, was seen quietly leaving HMBS Pelican, the Coast Guard HQ located next door to the Bridgetown Port alongside the Spring Garden highway in St Michael.
HMB Shark, nicknamed ‘Fifty’ because it had been commissioned in December 2016 shortly after Barbados’ fiftieth anniversary celebrations of independence from Great Britain, carried its usual Captain and four-person crew. Officially, Fifty was being taken for its third standard six-month service at its customary west coast boat repair facility a little early because a navigation instrument was mal-functioning and required fixing. Fifty was still under the three-year warranty provided by its overseas manufacturers, so the work required would be undertaken without cost to the Government of Barbados within a forty-eight-hour period by the licensed boat repair facility on island.
Not many of HMBS Pelican’s personnel noticed Fifty’s departure. Just before it left, a couple of senior Coast Guard officers were told not to be concerned about Fifty’s absence for a couple of days. There was nothing seriously wrong with Fifty but it was required for an exercise, hence the vessel’s repair ‘cover story’. Similar things had happened before, so the senior Coast Guard officers noted the story and carried on with their normal duties for the rest of that day.
Once at the boat repair facility, Fifty’s Captain and crew members were met by Commander Ted Madley and given forty-eight hours leave to coincide with their vessel’s inability to fully function operationally over the period. There was no need for the Coast Guard or BDF HQ to issue a public statement on Fifty.
It’s late-afternoon relocation had earlier been orchestrated by Madley on the specific instructions of Tenton. The faulty navigation instrument which allegedly required fixing had been used by Madley who claimed to have recognised some dysfunctional attributes in Fifty’s navigational system the previous day when he had accompanied the vessel’s crew on one of their routine patrols down Barbados’ west coast. After being summoned to BDF HQ for a one-to-one meeting with Tenton at BDF HQ in St Ann’s Fort, Madley had returned to HMBS Pelican and written-up his previous day’s ‘findings’ for completeness and the record. He shared his navigational ‘issue’ about Fifty with his two immediate subordinate officers. They accepted what he told them without question. The word was issued to Fifty’s Captain and crew to take their ship to be checked out at the west coast boat repair facility.
Besides Tenton and Madley, no one else within the BDF and Coast Guard family knew of the exact assignment being proposed for Fifty after it had left HMBS Pelican.
An hour earlier, Madley had therefore invited two of the most reliable seamen he could trust into his office for a ‘chat’.
“Do you fancy an overnight sea journey with me?” he asked. Both men accepted his offer.
With that sorted, Madley had headed home to his kitchen to prepare some food for the journey.
***
It was just after 5:20 p.m. when JJ kissed Angela, Andrew and Vanessa before leaving his home in Fred’s personal vehicle. With Andrew set to write the eleven-plus exam in another three weeks, this was a crucial time for him. Nevertheless, Andrew, precocious Andrew, would welcome the chance to be the ‘man of the house’ for the next couple of days. Angela would miss her dad more being a ‘daddy’s girl’, but Vanessa would make a fuss over her to keep her upbeat in JJ’s absence.
Having earlier packed his wet gear and supporting equipment in his special backpack in the trunk of Fred’s personal vehicle, JJ drove away from his home a worried man. Not so much for himself, more-so about Vanessa. Her concern for his situation was palpable to him but thank God, she’d managed to hide her concern from their children. His wet gear and other equipment should enable him to cover any eventualities he encountered in the field, whatever his task might be and wherever his destination was going to be. It was clear to JJ that it would not be a cold one, so the equipment that had served him well before he had joined BIB, would again do so now, but in BIB colours, as it were.
***
The close of play score on Day 1: West Indies 325 for three. None of the English bowler’s figures were that great. The off spinner was nearing his century after a torrid afternoon but had managed to capture two wickets. A run out had accounted for the third wicket, which meant that both of England’s opening bowlers and first change medium pacer had not broken through in any way during the day. With one West Indian batsman, the number three being well over a century and now close to one hundred and fifty in fact, he was sure to sleep well tonight. He had a reputation for compiling high scores once he got past a hundred. England’s bowlers planned to get a lot of rest overnight as tomorrow looked like being another tough day. West Indies might collapse in a heap during Day 2’s morning session, but that seemed to be something that the team has cured by their recent performances.
Day 2 would see how quickly the West Indies would be able to push on. Despite the game’s situation at the end of Day 1, another capacity crowd was expected at New Kensington Oval on Day 2 England’s Balmy Army would again be in full voice, hopefully being none the worse for drink and after getting a good night’s rest.
But a Friday night in Barbados was available to the visiting cricket lovers to explore and enjoy, members of the Balmy Army included!
***
JJ arrived at Colonel Burke’s home at 5:45 p.m. for their 6:00 p.m. meeting. Colonel Burke was not yet there, so Diane greeted and kept him company with some small-talk until he arrived around 6:25 p.m.
Colonel Burke apologised for being late. JJ simply waved off the apology. He knew Colonel Burke could be late sometimes, but there was always a good reason for it. Colonel Burke waited until Diane had left them in private before he told JJ what was going on and specifically, what his assignment was to be.
***
The ‘chance’ early eve
ning meeting (that later proved to have lasted for ten minutes) between a middle-aged man and a female of a similar age, took place in Oistins, Christ Church. It looked normal enough. The two were simply conversing, doing nothing wrong. They were certainly not broking any laws.
***
Word had come down during the late-afternoon from Dr Ronald ‘Ron’ Hayes, Chief of Surgery at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) to Rickson that he would be discharged that evening. This news was shared with and welcomed by his two friends, McPiers and Aitkin who had left before the end of Day 1 of the Test Match to look him up.
***
Colonel Burke explained to JJ what the assignment he wanted him to undertake was. As usual, he outlined the SNARL Cycle (Situation; Normal – or not; Action required; Result achieved; Lessons learnt) around the Operation ‘Fishhook’ assignment. JJ agreed to play his part, though he had a question.
“Makes sense, but why not fly me in? It would save us all some time. Memory tells me that LIAT has a last flight from here to St Vincent at 10:00 p.m. three nights a week. Friday is one of them.”
“You’re right. But we don’t want to go commercial. Also, one of the BDF’s planes is down. The second one, along with the RSS aircraft, are on assignment as I speak. Their pilots will be beyond their duty time by the time they get back, in another hour and by 8:30 p.m. respectfully. In any event, we can’t give the game away by flying you in. That might signal to all and sundry that we’re onto Power, enabling those who’ve looked after him here and may be doing so over there. We’re therefore going to move you in quietly and clandestinely by sea, under the cloak of darkness.”
Hung Out to Dry Page 30
