“Audrey Wetherby.” My mother knows her.
Ben called over a guard. “I need to talk to my lawyer.” He said.
Hemi Heke sat on the bed and put his head in his hands. He had been locked up for more than two years. Two years for murdering a couple of guys he had never met and certainly never killed. OK, he wasn’t perfect. But murder? Never. It had nearly killed his mother when he was found guilty. He owed it to her to set the record straight. Suddenly he missed his mother’s voice.
“Hey. I need to make a phone call too.” He said.
“All in good time,” replied the guard.
C H A P T E R 6 2
Audrey could feel the walls closing in on her. She could hear the dogs along the rocky waterfront below her cottage. When will they stop fucking barking? The noise is driving me nuts. Dogs were forbidden on the Hihi peninsula because of the strict kiwi zone rules unless, of course, they were kept on a lead. She also hated the sound of dogs knowing that she had half a dozen pet sheep on the property and a stray dog could kill them in minutes. She wondered why sheep simply froze in place when attacked by a dog. They had no chance.
She was beginning to feel a little frozen herself. Her property was surrounded by cops; she had one of the drug dealers’ lawyers staying in the Kiwi cabin; she had thirty million dollars worth of stolen cocaine hanging on ropes in her water tank and the love of her life had left to work in the business of the woman she had shot in the head only days ago. This time, she may have taken things a little too far. Getting away with murder was what she did well. Getting away with stealing a Mexican Cartel’s cocaine stash was something else. She needed to direct attention away from Hihi and out into the ocean waters.
She had watched Mr. Slater walk the property from one end to the other. You are not going to find it! He had also gone down to Honeymoon Beach and walked around the cliffs to Rocky Beach when he heard the police leave the area. At seven o’clock he walked into her office to ask about local restaurants. She recommended the Indian Curry Restaurant in the Mangonui Township. She figured it would give her just the time she needed, at least an hour.
She checked on all the other guests. Two couples were barbequing on their desks and the other couple was enjoying their hot tub and drinking wine. Music was playing happily in the distance.
Audrey leapt into action. She climbed down into the water tank and carefully pulled out one of the large bundles of cocaine. Stuffing it into her backpack, she closed up the tank, removed the ladder and replaced it in the bush nearby. She took the small private road down to Rocky beach where she kept her fishing dingy. Throwing the heavy bag into the small boat she motored out into the bay. When she reached the cruiser she anchored around the far side and climbed the ladder onto the deck constantly checking to see if she was out of sight of the shore. It was becoming dusk and the light was getting dim. She put the bags of cocaine under a seat on the top deck and covered them with life jackets. Before she left she sliced a hole in a bag and watched as the white powder slowly leaked onto the deck. She climbed back down the ladder and into her dingy and headed for shore.
As she was tying up the boat she heard a sound and spun around. She came face to face with a complete stranger. “Nice evening for fishing.” he said. “I am Detective Wiley. I stopped by your office but it was closed. Catch anything?” he asked.
“You scared me.” She said. “I didn’t see you approach.”
“Oh I have been here for some time,” he said. “I watched you head out towards that big cruiser out there. “
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she said calmly. I couldn’t resist driving around it. It is also anchored in my favorite fishing spot.” There is no way he could have seen me climb onboard. The ladder is on the far side of the boat and I kept my head low and below sight.
“Do you know to whom it belongs?” he asked.
“Yes. A lawyer, Mike Slater, he is staying in one of my cabins. It must be worth over a million dollars. I guess the law is a profitable business.”
“Mike Slater,” repeated the Detective. The name on my list. What is he doing here? How could he afford a boat like that?
Audrey saw his sudden interest. “Yes, I thought it was so strange he anchored off my private beach and rowed to shore. I wondered how he knew what beach led to my property. You can’t see the cabins from the bay. I was curious so I rowed out to see if anyone else was on board. I didn’t see anyone though. Well, I have to get back to my guests. Nice to meet you Detective Wiley.”
“Mind if I follow you up? I parked my car by your office.”
“By all means, Detective. It is a lovely night isn’t it? We are having a great summer. Shame about all the drug business though. It must be keeping you all busy.
She is good, so calm and communicative. “Yes. It must be difficult for you having us hanging about while you are trying to run your business.”
She laughed. “No, not at all. It adds intrigue and excitement to the place. The police have already searched all our properties around here. I feel quite protected.”
As the detective walked towards his car she asked, “I don’t suppose Mr. Slater’s boat had anything to do with the drugs found on my property? You might think me rather stupid, but I did wonder. But then, I realized that the police did a search of the beaches this afternoon and I am sure they would have checked his boat. Wouldn’t they?”
“They would need a warrant to check his boat. But I wouldn’t worry, I am sure he has nothing to do with the drug case. .”
“I was just going to put in a call into Detective Bromley. He might like to know Mr. Slater is staying here tonight. He is Steve Mill’s lawyer. I looked him up on Google.”
“You check out all your guests’ backgrounds?” asked Wiley suspiciously.
She laughed. “Only the ones I suspect of drug trafficking. What else does a nosy landlady do to while away her lonely hours?”
“I’ll let Detective Bromley know.” But not until I check out his boat first, I might have just made a million dollars.
C H A P T E R 6 3
Audrey didn’t believe Detective Wiley for one moment. What was he doing snooping around my beach? She picked up the phone and called Detective Bromley herself. He answered immediately. She explained her situation. The boat, the lawyer, the strange access to her property from Honeymoon Beach, his association with Steve Mills, his background, her fears about him staying in her cabin. “Could you check out his boat?” she asked.
Bromley agreed that Mr. Slater’s visit was a little too timely. Had he found the drugs and stashed them on his boat? He made a few phone calls and arranged the warrant, the dog handlers and the forensics team to meet him at the Mangonui Wharf at six o’clock for an early search on the boat. We had better find something or we will be in the shit. Fucking with a lawyer won’t be pretty if he is clean.
He wondered why Wiley had not called. Audrey said he had met her on her beach and he had just left her office. What the hell is Wiley doing in Hihi? He never mentioned he was coming up here. He called Wiley’s cell but it went straight to voicemail. What is he up to?
Wiley was up to no good. If the cops found the drugs before he did he wouldn’t get his pay off. It meant he had to get to the boat before the cops did and he knew just how to do it. He would wait until Tiromoana was closed for the night. He knew where Audrey’s dingy was kept and he would take a little trip out into the bay and do his own search. In the meantime, he was hungry. He couldn’t remember the last time he ate. He decided to pick up some fish and chips from the Mangonui Fish and Chip shop and eat them in the car. He might even take a nap after his meal. He had at least a couple of hours to kill.
The fish and chip shop was humming with activity. While he waited, he couldn’t help but hear the local gossip. “They were searching Hihi beach and the harbor all day.” Said the woman behind the counter. “I heard the cops never found anything. Dreadful, isn’t it – cocaine coming into our area,” said a customer. “I hope they find it,” anoth
er customer added “It is bad enough with all the weed and P around. We certainly don ‘t need cocaine.”
He left the restaurant and returned to his car. Parked next to him was Detective Bromley. “I thought it must be you.” Bromley said walking over to him. “Audrey said you were up at her place.”
“I was just coming over to see you.” He lied. “My stomach got the best of me and I stopped off for some fish’ n ‘chips.
“Where are you staying? Or are you heading off back to Auckland?” asked Bromley
“Think I’ll head on back.” He replied. “It’s been a long day.”
“What bought you up this way?” Bromley was curious.
“Oh I was at the Kaikoe prison this afternoon and thought I would come up and see how the search was going. By the time I arrived everyone had pretty much gone. So I stopped off at Tiromoana to get a feel of the place. What do you think of the owner, Audrey Wetherby?”
“She seems like a nice lady.” Bromley said cautiously. “Why do you ask?”
“Just seems like bad things follow her around.”
“What do you mean?”
“The murders at her previous Lodge and now these murders. Don’t you think it is maybe too much of a coincidence?”
She was never a suspect or even a person of interest in those cases. The far north is a breeding ground for drugs and crime. I guess she has just got caught up in it all. At least she warned us about Mike Slater and his boat. We are doing a search onboard at dawn. “
“Oh. Great. Yes, she mentioned it to me. That is why I was on my way to see you. Looks as though you have it under control.” He said covering his ass.
“The coastguard are keeping a watch on the boat until then. We cannot afford to lose any evidence overnight. Bromley looked at Wiley intently.
“Well, I leave you to it. Good luck tomorrow.” Wiley pulled away and headed off back into the night.
C H A P T E R 6 4
Audrey watched the coastguard’s lights circle the cruiser as she sipped her second glass of wine at her favorite table overlooking the bay. Detective Wiley was on to her. She knew that. But she had used him to her advantage. There was no way he could remove the drugs from the boat tonight. The fact that he had not called Detective Bromley immediately after leaving her, indicated that he wanted to find the drugs himself. Joan had warned her about him. He had been waiting in her home when she had returned last night. He had broken in with no warrant. He was after the drugs, they were sure of it. Joan said he had even visited Staci. What did he know? She wondered? One thing was for sure, he didn’t know where they had stashed the rest of the coke and he never would.
She had seen Mike Slater return from dinner and do another torch lit wander around the property. She half expected him to interrogate her and was surprised when she saw him turn out his lights at midnight. She wondered if he had seen the coastguard anchored next to his boat. She doubted it as the view from the cabins overlooked the Hihi Township and the tidal estuary, not Rocky Beach or Honeymoon Beach like the view from her cottage.
She knew she would sleep like a baby tonight. She just had to wait until they found a nice twenty kilos of cocaine neatly tucked away on Mr. Slater’s million-dollar boat. Then the search would go off shore and she could put Plan B into action.
Audrey finished off the bottle of wine, picked up the empty bottle and returned inside. I wish Joan was here to celebrate with me. She would be so proud of me.
A dark figure watched her turn out the light. He made his way into her office and turned on her computer. So, Audrey Wetherby, you think you can outmaneuver me? I don’t think so!
C H A P T E R 6 5
It was chaos. Audrey awoke to the sound of helicopters and police sirens. She grabbed her robe and ran outside. She had the best view of the bay. It was swarming with police boats. The coastguard was alongside the cruiser. They have found it!! They have bloody found it! Thank God. It is over.
She made a call to Detective Bromley. It went to voicemail so she left a message. “Audrey here, Detective. I see you did a search of the boat. Did you find anything? Should I be concerned here?
She ran inside and threw on her clothes and headed off to the Kiwi Cabin. He was gone. His car was gone and there was no sign of him. Where the fuck is he? Did the police already pick him up? Shit! She ran back to the cottage and grabbed her binoculars. She could see movement on his boat but she couldn’t identify who they were. Damn!
She turned on the morning’s TV Breakfast show and saw the helicopters hovering over the bay. “The police are searching a sixty foot Ocean Alexander Cruiser anchored since yesterday in Doubtless Bay by the Hihi peninsula. We have information that the boat belongs to Auckland lawyer, Michael Slater. Mr. Slater is the lawyer for Steve Mills who was arrested ten days ago for drug trafficking. We have word that they have found drugs onboard and are waiting for confirmation. We will keep going live to the scene as more information is released.”
They don’t say if he has been arrested. If they haven’t arrested him he is on the run. He will know he has been set up. Oh Joan, where are you. I need you now.
Her phone rang. It was Detective Bromley. “Audrey, yes we found something on his boat but we haven’t been able to locate Slater. I am guessing he is not at your place. We checked your beach and there is no sign of his dingy. He can’t have gone far.”
Unless he’s on another boat. “ What do you want me to do, Detective? Should I be worried? Is he likely to come back here, do you think?”
“I am sending an officer over to you now. He should be there any minute. He’ll keep an eye on things until we have Mr. Slater in custody.”
“Thanks Detective. I will just be glad when all this is over and things can get back to normal.”
“You’re not the only one, Audrey.”
Her attention went to the TV. A helicopter was hovering over Bruce’s beachfront next door. They had a camera on the beach. She could see Mike Slater’s red dingy on the beach. Then she saw him running into the deep bush in the hills beyond. It will take dogs to find him in the dense bush; it goes for miles down the peninsula.
It took all afternoon and a dog tracker to finally capture Mike Slater. It made national and international news.
“Commercial quantities of Cocaine found onboard a sixty foot cruiser belonging to Auckland Lawyer, Michael Slater, in Doubtless Bay this afternoon has resulted in his arrest and felony charges of importing, trafficking and possession of class one drugs. Mr. Slater, if convicted, could face a lifetime behind bars. The cocaine was packaged in the same plastic waterproofed bags as the earlier cocaine found nearby at a Hihi cabin resort resulting in six men being arrested and charged with the same crime. Superintendent Peter Barton confirmed that there might still be a large quantity missing from what they understand was a 100-kilo drop off in the Hihi area.
As Detective Wiley watched the evening news he realized his one million dollar reward was still an option. Damn that woman for sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong.
C H A P T E R 6 6
Joan had heard on the evening news about Mike Slater’s capture and arrest. Clever Audrey. Brilliant move! I hope you kept enough for us. Joan was working late at the Paradise. It had already become her second home. She couldn’t believe it was still her first week on the job. Already she knew every staff member by name and had familiarized herself with her regular sex workers.
The décor in the Paradise was sophisticated, feminine and sensual. If Joan didn’t know Frankie was responsible for creating such a masterpiece she would never have believed it. There were fifteen separate suites, a reception area, lobby bar, lounge and two offices in each of the ten national locations.
Brothels provided the safest form of prostitution with over fifty percent of all sex workers choosing to part with half of their income for the benefits they provided. One third of New Zealand sex workers still worked privately and eighteen percent worked on the street. To run your own business required marketing savvy
and general business skills. It was a lucrative business and one that Joan knew very well. The upside of being a free agent was keeping all of your earnings. Now Joan was running brothels she knew what it was like working on both sides of the business. Her girls, she vowed, would be well looked after. Her weekly meetings covered what johns to be wary of, what high profile customers were scheduled and, most importantly, any special requests that needed to be planned for.
Cleanliness and protection from disease was paramount. Every customer must shower prior to sex and wear a condom with no exceptions. A triple head massage shower room was located in each suite. Some of the suites even had air jet baths for sensual water massages. Between customers, the suites were cleaned and linens replaced immediately. A raised king size bed sat in the middle of each suite draped in expensive royal-red linens color-coordinated with floor cushions in a spacious lounge area. Marble tiles, glass counter tops, black, red and silver accessories and huge red dyed sheepskin rugs on the marble floor creating a warm cozy environment.
Paradise’s sex workers were the most sought after girls in the business. Each sex worker offered her own individual style and personality. Attire varied from corsets, suspender belts with black sheer stockings, schoolgirl uniforms, virginal white nurses outfits, black leather and whips, fifties obedient housewives and more.
During the last economic crisis many brothels couldn’t afford to drop the price of the girls but rather reduced the minutes. Instead of $250.00 an hour they offered $100.00 for fifteen minutes. It was a popular choice. Additional income could be earned from Greek (anal sex) providing another $100.00 and kissing (thought of as the most personal) generating an extra $50.00. The Paradise, however, was not marketed to the average john, but rather the top end of the market. Paradise girls made from $500.00 per hour to $2500 per hour. Many customers were happy to pay $5,000 for the pleasure of an escort for the evening. Frankie’s clever product marketing provided a broad spectrum of sexual needs to the elite. The Paradise customers came from every corner of the world and were ensured complete privacy and discretion.
The Murder Trail: The Audrey Murders - Book Three Page 11
