Collin and Lily took a taxi into Avarua. Lily stopped at the market while the taxi driver took Collin to the resort with a nine hole golf course. Collin found the tour guide at the resort. The man was a well dressed native. He was short like Collin but not as thin. Collin wasn’t sure how to explain what he wanted. The guide was wearing a name badge inscribed with: Charlie.
“Hello, uh Charlie,” said Collin.
“Hello,” Charlie answered with a British accent.
“Charlie, I need, hmm, want to go inland.”
“On a tour?”
“Hmm, not exactly.”
Charlie leaned close to Collin and whispered, “No marijuana on this island, mate.”
“What? No. I never. Let me start over. There is a place, possibly a clinic, located inland.”
“I don’t know of any inland clinic. There are some very private estates inland as well as a lot of banana trees.”
“I have the GPS location. Do you think you and I could take a hike and see what is there?”
“How much would that be worth to you? In New Zealand dollars, that is.”
Collin showed him two one hundred dollar New Zealand notes.
Charlie told him, “How about tomorrow? It’s better to start early and avoid the heat.”
Collin agreed. He would meet Charlie at six a.m. and the search would begin. Collin was worried about the girls. The island was very mountainous and it would be difficult to escape on their own if they wanted to leave Doctor Phelps and his guards.
Lily found Collin at the resort.
“This is a nice place.”
“Hi Lily. Yes, it is very nice.” Collin made sure he was far away from Charlie and continued, “I’m going to golf here tomorrow. If that’s okay with you.”
“That will be fine. I found a woman named Carol from New Zealand at the market. She invited me to visit the museum and have tea with her and her lady friends tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow is set then. Did you find all the fruits and vegetables you wanted at the market?”
“Yes. They will deliver the groceries this afternoon. Are you ready for the circle tour?”
“Yes. The pick up area is right outside.”
Collin and Lily walked out to the gathering spot for tourists taking the circle tour around Rarotonga. Collin was surprised at the number of tourists visiting the island. He found out later that this was the busy season for people from Australia and New Zealand to vacation in the Cook Islands. He and Lily joined the others for the four hour tour. The tour was one of the activities Lily had planned ahead of time to give their vacation a starting point.
About three hours into the tour Collin and Lily were standing with their tour group looking at a volcanic outcropping in a beautiful lagoon. The area is called Black Rock and according to ancient Maori beliefs, the souls of the dead leave Rarotonga from the outcropping to go to the afterlife. Collin thought he saw a familiar face at a fruit stand. It looked like Patricia from the Gene Search compound. But when he looked again she wasn’t there. He looked at the rest of the people on the beach. He didn’t see anyone else that looked familiar.
The tour ended back in Avarua just in time for dinner at a nice restaurant near the resort. After dinner Lily and Collin took a taxi back to the Wright’s house.
“Shall I make us some Mojitos Lily?”
“Sounds wonderful. I’ll meet you on the deck.”
Collin mixed the drinks and took them out to the deck. It had been a wonderful day. Now they could relax, listen to the waves, sip their drinks and wait for the sun to set.
Chapter Twenty-one
Gene Search: A Collin Carter Mystery Page 20
