“Oh my…” JJ started to respond. He loved taking a regular sea bath, but had never been keen to be out in or on the water for too long a period although he’d done so years ago when on secret BDF missions.
“I know what you’re thinking JJ. I admit that the journey will be uncomfortable for you, but it is essential that we do it this way for the stealth of the mission at hand. Our RBPF and BDF Heads are aware of your assignment. You’ll be pleased to know that your return journey will be by air and therefore more pleasant, once we’ve recaptured Power –”
“What? Am I to bring back Power on LIAT?” interrupted JJ.
“Good God, no. We’ll use one of the BDF planes to come and get you and Power. You’ll have active RBPF, BDF and BIB support for that part of the assignment…but only after we’ve grabbed Power. JJ, we need to get this guy back here, ideally by Monday night. The PM’s expecting it, so no mistakes.”
“Yes, chief, I may need some luck to meet your deadline, but I’ll give it my best shot as always,” stated JJ.
“I appreciate that. Oh, and by the way as I had promised earlier, here’s your stuff back.”
Colonel Burke handed back JJ his BIB equipment.
JJ took the items, but soon returned most of them to Colonel Burke. He retained his BIB ID badge and also took the secure BIB mini-computer that BIB operatives used on overseas assignments.
“Can you please keep the rest of these items until my return,” said JJ.
“No problem. Time to get going. You’ll leave from Marsh’s Cove in St James, that’s the Coast Guard’s licensed boat repair facility’s location. It’s at the end of Gibson’s Road,” said Colonel Burke.
“I know it.”
“Good. I’ll call ahead to say you’re on your way over.”
“Thank you. See you in a few days,” said JJ, rising from the chair, picking up his special backpack before fitting in the two items he had been given.
“One more thing, JJ. Here’s a list of three possible persons who might be involved in keeping Power under wraps in Vincie land.” Colonel Burke slipped JJ a piece of paper which he now carefully secured.
“That info came from a good friend of mine. Pass it over to Chief Inspector Terry ‘TG’ Gomez, Head of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force’s (RSVGPF) Response Task Force (RTF). He’ll decide what they do with that information as it’s no longer of any concern to us. Remember, your objective is a simple one. With Vincie help, recapture Power. Once you advise me that’s been done, I’ll get trans-p over there for you and Power pronto,” stated Colonel Burke.
“Got it,” answered JJ.
Seeing JJ to the door, Colonel Burke said, “I noticed that you’re using Fred’s personal vehicle. I’ll have Riley Morris pick it up tomorrow morning and return it to Fred at his place.”
“You sure? I’d prefer Riley to drop it back at my home instead as I’ll need it once I return…”
“No, you won’t. I’ll have your BIB vehicle waiting for you at the airport when you get back.”
“Fine, but won’t Fred wonder how it got back there?”
“No worries. I’ll explain what’s taken place to Fred when I see him at HQ tomorrow.”
“Okay chief. Oh, and by the way I also have something for you on the Deputy Governor.” JJ passed Colonel Burke the DVD he’d had Pilgrim prepare for him.
“I’m certain Samuel and Margaret can find something on that to enable them to help the police boys in their search for Dr Lewis. They are good at finding needles in a haystack, so their review is necessary. The DVD is from P’s Disco last Tuesday night. I’ve looked it over. Miles Sugar Roberts, remember him from when the PM was shot? He was seen just outside P’s Disco. That in itself was not surprising as that’s his nightly hangout, but I could not help but notice that he was in that part of St Lawrence Gap unusually early that night. Might be worth one of our people having a word with Roberts, sooner rather than later.”
“Gotcha, JJ. Great thinking. Best of luck with the trip, and JJ, be safe.”
“As always, chief.”
“Please tell Commander Madley I also wish him and his crew well with their overnight assignment.”
“I shall.”
***
By 7.00 p.m., all was set for Rickson’s release. They were greeted by two special persons who had come to see him off and wish him well for the rest of his stay in Barbados. Liz Brathwaite presented Rickson with a bouquet of flowers and a green envelope containing three sets of tickets for him and his two friends to join her in the Barbados Tourism Hospitality Inc’s box for the remaining four days of the Test Match at New Kensington Oval. This would be a sort of make-up, compensation to them for the early morning trauma they had suffered in St Lawrence Gap.
The second person was Keith Henderson, QEH’s CEO. He informed Rickson that the medical cost for his stay at QEH had been waived. In addition, he should return to QEH’s outpatients department for treatment on the gunshot wound at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, the day before his scheduled return to Britain. At that time, Rickson would also be given correspondence about his injury to take back to his private doctor where his treatment could be continued. Finally, a taxi was waiting outside to take Rickson and his two friends to their south coast hotel. This taxi would also be available to collect them from their hotel and take them to and from New Kensington Oval for the remainder of the Test Match. It would also collect Rickson on Thursday at his hotel for the return journey to and from the hospital. There would be no cost to Rickson for these journeys.
Rickson thanked Brathwaite and Henderson for taking such good care of him over the past couple of days that he was in the QEH’s care and for the Box seat tickets provided for the following days. Originally, they all had Test Match tickets in the Hall & Griffith (Upper) stand for all five days of the game. They could now sell those tikets for the remaining days of the Test match.
Rickson, McPiers and Aitken left the QEH in fine fettle, as the English say.
***
JJ left Colonel Burke’s home in Fred’s personal vehicle for the west coast boat repair location. He understood that the intention was to set off on the overnight journey to a neighbouring Caribbean island at 8:00 p.m., with the intention of arriving at their destination sometime between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. pre-dawn Saturday morning.
JJ hoped for a smooth journey but did not anticipate having a comfortable boat ride that night.
***
Oistins Bay Gardens had rapidly filled up by 7:15 p.m. with locals and visitors to Barbados alike. Other night spots across the island were also coming to life. This was Friday night in Barbados. Rum shops stood ready to accommodate their weekend karaoke sessions, while church youth groups were assembling to spend a few hours of gamesmanship, prayer and other forms of spiritual fellowship.
For Barbados’ security services, their efforts continued in seeking to locate Dr Albert Lewis and the two culprits from the St Lawrence Gap attempted robbery/shooting incident. Of course, efforts to recapture the now sole remaining escaped prisoner, track down those responsible for the escape itself and the fallout related from the death of the former Deputy Superintendent of Prison, were also in focus.
***
Thirty minutes after leaving Colonel Burke’s house, JJ arrived in Gibson’s Road. He parked Fred’s personal vehicle carefully in the small parking lot before making his way to and entering the boat repair complex. He was met by Madley.
“Hi, JJ, ready for a sea ride?”
“Guess so! How you doing, Commander?”
“Good. Boat’s fuelled up, food’s onboard and now that you’re here, we’ll be ready to go shortly.”
“Sounds great. By the way, Colonel Burke sends his best wishes for a successful mission.”
“I’ll thank him on my return. Let’s do this thing.”
***
Fred called JJ’s home around 7:30 p.m. As he was used to calling JJ on his BIB phone, knowing that he no longer had it, Fred had to look up the
Johnson’s landline in the telecommunications directory.
Vanessa Johnson answered the phone.
“Good night, Johnson’s residence.”
“Hi, Vanessa. Fred here. Can I speak to JJ?”
“He’s not here.”
“Oh! It’s not like him to be out on a Friday night, away from you and the kids. You’ve no idea where he is?”
“No.”
“Okay, Vanessa. Sorry if I’m being too nosy.”
“That’s okay, Fred. You’re not. We’re all fine. JJ is too, I’m sure. He’s doing something for Colonel Burke. What, I do not know. Why don’t you call him to find out what it is?”
“I might just do that, Vanessa.”
“Good. Thanks for calling, Fred. Goodnight.”
“Bye.”
With that, Vanessa Johnson hung up the telephone.
Fred was concerned.
So, JJ is off doing a job for the Director and I have no idea what it’s about, he thought.
Fred decided to call Joe in case she knew something he did not. She might be able to shed some light on what had transpired and what JJ might now be up to with Colonel Burke.
Fred and Joe had earlier agreed to both check in on JJ and his family first thing the following morning to see how they were doing before going into BIB HQ. Fred knew better than to call Colonel Burke at home on a Friday evening. Once he was not at work, Colonel Burke’s Friday evenings were sacrosanct for having dinner at home with Diane. This was paramount and he would not appreciate being disturbed during his evening meal. To call after dinner on a Friday evening, even about JJ’s ‘assignment’, would be pushing it, so Fred decided to speak with Colonel Burke in the morning.
The call to Joe was not helpful as she had no idea what JJ might be up to. Neither JJ nor Colonel Burke had placed her in their ‘loop’ of Friday night activity, though she too was now keen to learn what JJ was up to on Colonel Burke’s behalf. They decided that they would ask Colonel Burke what was happening with JJ when they met with him at BIB HQ the following morning, after of course first checking in with Vanessa.
Tonight, Fred was the senior BIB operative on call until 12:00 a.m. for the ECC security project (just in case BIB was required in any related emergency). The BIB roster showed that JJ was to be the senior BIB operative on call for Saturday night, with Joe leading on Sunday night. However, given JJ’s unavailability, Fred suspected that Colonel Burke would fill the void himself, as he had been known to do before.
Dinner with Charlee was next on Fred’s agenda. She’d come off duty from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital a few hours earlier, gone shopping on the way home and on arrival at their now shared apartment, had showered before starting to prepare their evening meal.
Fred had not mentioned what had transpired with JJ, but once they sat down to eat, Charlee had innocently asked him, “How’s JJ?”
Fred had responded, “He’s fine, I’m hoping to see him in the morning to help him sort some stuff out.”
“Good, let’s eat,” said Charlee.
Fred tucked in. “This lasagne taste’s great. Can we save some for tomorrow evening?”
“No fear, there’s plenty there, enough for an army,” was Charlee’s response.
***
Operation ‘Fishhook’ was a sensitive and important assignment, with Fifty required to transport a BIB operative to a neighbouring Caribbean country. With Madley as Fifty’s captain, he had as his crew two of the best seamen in the Coast Guard whom he’d carefully chosen because he could trust them to undertake this type of mission. They were not normally part of any Fifty’s crew.
Fifty’s cargo was JJ Johnson, and Operation ‘Fishhook’ got underway. There was a lot at stake.
JJ loved taking regular sea-baths with his family or on his own after exercising on the beach. But boy, being out on the open sea in the dead of night, had never been his thing. The Caribbean trip he was undertaking in pursuit of Power was only going ahead with Colonel Burke having secured Tenton’s co-operation. This was the second part of this assignment and it could not have gotten off the ground had the first part not been secured by gaining permission for JJ’s visit to St Vincent and the Grenadines. That had been done through an old and dear friendship between two Caribbean pals.
The result? JJ now found himself making his way, not exactly comfortably, across the Caribbean Sea. Once his assignment was ultimately successful, JJ anticipated being officially restored to the BIB fold.
***
Friday nights, year-round in and around the south coast seaside town of Oistins, Christ Church was always busy. This Friday night was set to be busier than normal, with several thousand extra visitors being in Barbados for the ongoing Test Match, Saturday’s international football game and Sunday night’s big concert. Though everything had been shaken up by news of Wednesday’s prisoners’ escape and Thursday morning’s attempted robbery and shooting in St Lawrence Gap, the usual Friday night activity in Oistins was set to go ahead unchanged. This would enable local and visiting patrons to interact with resident venders offering food, drink, souvenirs and entertainment to go on unhindered.
Included in tonight’s attending patrons were visiting cricket lovers, their partners and families. The majority of them were British supporters who’d either attended or had watched at least part of the Test Match on television. Their intention was to have a great time sampling the local food, particularly the varieties of fish, sampling the drinks on offer and ultimately dancing to the local music that was always on tap from the Resident DJ, live band or individual stalls who also enjoyed competing with each other to see which could play music the loudest or be most amusing on the night.
Yes, this night would be memorable for many of Oistins visiting patrons.
***
Colonel Burke finished his evening meal with Diane. He checked his watch. JJ should be underway by now.
He called Fred, who by now had also finished his meal with Charlee and was in the process of washing up the plates, cutlery and utensils used to prepare their meal.
“Goodnight.” It was Charlee who answered the phone.
“Oh, good night, Miss Piggott. Colonel Burke here. May I please speak with Fred?”
“Sure. Just a minute.”
“Thank you,” said Colonel Burke.
Charlee took the phone to Fred and whispered, with her hand over the mouthpiece.
“It’s the Director.”
What’s up now, Fred thought. News about JJ? Or has one of the cricketers or a VIP gotten themselves into trouble with drugs, have troubled a young lady or whatever. It’s surely early for any of this to have happened already on a Friday night…
Fred took the phone from Charlee apprehensively, but someone not knowing him would never know what his true disposition was when he spoke.
“Goodnight, chief. How may I help you?”
“Hello, Fred! I trust all’s well at home?”
“Sure is, we’ve just had a lovely dinner. I’m now tackling the washing and drying up.”
“Been there and done that. Fred, you remember Miles Sugar Roberts? He’s the guy who hangs out mainly in Christ Church, St Lawrence Gap in particular. I need you to go find him later and ask a few questions. I’ll send you a note shortly on what I want you to ask him. We need to follow up a lead from JJ that might be connected to Dr Lewis’ disappearance.”
“Good. Two questions. I didn’t know that JJ is working on that case. When I spoke earlier with Vanessa, she mentioned that he’s doing something for you. Can you fill me in on what he’s doing please, and can I help him?”
“No to both of your questions, Fred! Just find this Roberts guy for me. I’m aware that you’re BIB’s team leader for tonight’s duty related to the ECC security project, so you’ll need to be available till midnight, just in case something crops up on that front. But I need you to find Roberts after your shift is over.”
“Alright. Do you want me to report back to you tonight once I have found him, or can I
do so when we meet at HQ in the morning?”
“Morning’s fine. Nine o’clock as agreed. I’ll e-mail the questions for Roberts before I turn in.”
“I’ll find this guy, chief. Should I detain him at BIB overnight or just get answers to the questions you’re sending?”
“The latter. Goodnight to you and Miss Piggott.”
“Right. Night, chief.”
Charlee looked at Fred expectedly.
She’d heard his side of the conversation but was unsure what it all meant. Fred had not told her about JJ’s situation, but on her arrival home she had observed that Fred’s private car was not parked in its usual place. Charlee knew that Fred occasionally lent his car to his sister, but whenever he’d done so he had told her how long the car would be with her. It was strange that so far, Fred hadn’t said anything at all about one of his most prized possession. Perhaps he would mention it later.
“What’s that about?” Charlee asked.
“Oh, just Colonel Burke…being Colonel Burke. He needs me to find, and speak with someone later tonight. He’ll send me what he wants me to ask them. It’s all confidential, so he couldn’t tell me the specifics over the phone. It shouldn’t take me long to find and speak with the man, but I can’t do anything until after midnight when my EEC shift ends. Once I get going, I fully expect to be back home no later than 2:00 a.m.”
“All right, guess you have to obey the Director. That still leaves us a lot of time before midnight for each other, know what I mean?” said Charlee as she approached him with a big smile.
“Sure do. I just need a few minutes to finish up here and I’ll join you in the lounge.”
“I’d prefer the bedroom…”
“I get it, Charlee, the bedroom it is.”
Fred turned his attention to finishing off his kitchen chores. What he would do after would be more fun with Charlee’s cooperation.
Hung Out to Dry Page 31
