The water was continuing to rise and had now reached the level of his nostrils. It had smelt slightly of rotting vegetation, but this odour was suddenly cut off as the air in his nasal passage was replaced with cold water. It was now streaming down his nose and into the back of his mouth. He tried to spit the water out from his mouth, but more of it kept finding its way in. The water hitting the back of his throat was making him cough violently, but he managed to briefly get this under control while he tried desperately to breathe slowly out of his mouth.
Realisation suddenly dawned on him. The water was rising and it wasn’t going to cease. Even if the rain stopped, there would still be plenty of water flowing into the drainage system. He was going to drown, and so he had very little time left to live. There were none of the flashbacks over his life that people often talk about as death approaches, just blind panic.
He tried to move his body again, but it proved to be impossible. He was at the mercy of the rising water.
I must try to focus, he thought to himself. Don’t panic, keep calm. Try to avoid swallowing the water.
As much as he tried not to though, he couldn’t help it. Water was running into his mouth and down his throat. He couldn’t breathe as he realised his airway was full of the cold, dirty water. He tried to cough the water out again, but more just came into his mouth.
His lungs were now desperate for air, and he breathed in deeply. No air was available though, so all he inhaled was the muddy water. He instantly gagged and tried to push the water out. As he did so, his lungs sent out a desperate signal for oxygen, and his body automatically tried to suck in a huge gulp of air.
But still there was no air. It was just water that his lungs found. They sucked in again, and even more of the ice cold liquid was drawn into his chest. His lungs were now full of water and he finally ran out of breathable oxygen. His heart went into a painful cardiac arrest. His brain started to shut down, at the same time as his lungs burst under the pressure of the water.
The last thing he remembered seeing was the metal case, just inches away from his eyes. He reached for it one last time, but his vision went black and his right hand went limp. Then all his worries were over.
Chapter Fifty Three
Cole and Hedge walked down the river bed for about half a mile, but saw no sign of Robinson. They eventually gave up and started to head back the way they had come. It was now raining, quite heavily, so they decided to look for some shelter.
As they retraced their footsteps, Hedge had been trying to figure out how Robinson had managed to give them the slip. There were no obvious hiding places or escape routes, and the land here was quite flat, so they would have spotted anyone running away from the river bed.
He was still pondering this, when he noticed just ahead of him, laying upside down with its four feet pointing skywards, was a dead rat. He walked over to it. It wasn’t the unfortunate animal that he was interested in though, and he brushed it aside with this rain soaked shoe. What he was actually focused on was the metal cover next to where the rat had been lying. The drain cover had attracted various items of debris, because the rain water was flowing into it through small holes in its surface. The dead rat and the other debris had accumulated as they had been unable to pass through into the drain.
Hedge leaned down and hooked the fingers of his right hand around a handle on the drain cover. As he lifted it, water rushed into the gap he had now created. Looking down into the cavity, he was interested in where the water ended up. What he saw though was not what he expected to see. There was a ladder leading to a small ledge. Below that, he could see a pool of water which had risen to the level of the ledge, and rather oddly, sticking out from the middle of the water was a pair of human feet, clad in some rather elegant leather shoes. The feet were completely still.
‘Cole, I think you had better come over here and have a look at this.’
Cole sauntered over and leaned his head over the side.
‘Yes very nice. I bet they cost at least two hundred dollars for a pair like that. Pity, but they don’t look like my size.’
Hedge shook his head. It wasn’t the reaction he had been expecting.
‘Could be our man don’t you think.’
Cole nodded. He was still smirking from his previous remark.
They realised that the drain was quickly filling up with water, so if they wanted to find out who the feet belonged to, then they would have to act quickly.
Cole jumped in, descended the ladder and took hold near the top of the protruding legs. He tried to pull the body out of the water, but it seemed to be wedged in tight. Hedge had also climbed down the ladder and was trying to help. They grabbed hold of one foot each and pulled. Eventually the body came free and they lifted it out of the pipe. It wasn’t easy as they were getting drenched by the dirty water flowing into the drain from the open cover above.
They finally managed to haul the body onto the platform at the foot of the ladder. The first thing they noticed was that it was indeed their man. Mr. Robinson lay there looking up at them with a terrified expression fixed on his face. Next, and somewhat obviously, they realised that he was dead. He had clearly drowned in the drainage pipe somehow. Finally, and most surprising of all, was that his right hand was clenched firmly around the handle of a metal case.
The drain was filling up with water fast. It had already reached the foot of the ladder.
‘See if you can get the case out of his hand, and then we need to get out of here. This river bed will be under several feet of water very soon,’ said Cole.
Hedge prised open Robinsons fingers and grabbed the handle of the case. He then followed Cole up the ladder. They left Robinson’s body where it was. It would be too difficult for them to try and take it with them.
They made their way back to the car. Hedge laid the case on the back seat next to their sodden jackets. Cole switched the wipers on full and drove slowly back to San Juan. The rainfall from the tropical storm was making driving difficult, and twice they had to detour around flooded sections of highway.
Back at their hotel, they changed out of their wet clothes and met in Cole’s room to examine the case. It had two matching locks either side of the handle. Cole produced a small, hard plastic tool, which looked a little like a fishing hook, and he used this to open the locking mechanism.
Inside the case they found what they had expected. It contained just over sixteen million dollars worth of Bearer Bonds. The documents were printed on several identical pieces of paper, each for various amounts. The paper was thick, and heavily embossed. There were silver coloured seals at the bottom right hand corner of each of the bonds, and printed underneath the seal was the name of the bank that would redeem the bonds. It was an American bank, and the address was in Manhattan.
‘Looks like me and you are going to New York,’ said Cole.
Chapter Fifty Four
The American Airlines Boeing 727 touched down at George Bush International Airport just after ten o’clock in the morning. They had decided to fly to New York via Houston, at the request of Hedge. He hadn’t been back to his parent’s home town since their funeral, which he realised with a little surprise, was eighteen years ago.
Cole had agreed to his request for the detour as he felt more relaxed now that they had recovered the bonds. They had met with a British government representative in San Juan who was going to arrange transportation of the contents of the case to New York under the protection of diplomatic immunity. This means they would pass through US security and customs without attracting attention. They would collect the bonds from the British Embassy once they arrived in New York. Their own baggage was also still under diplomatic immunity, although they decided to ditch the Glock’s back in Puerto Rico. Cole felt it was unwise to keep hold of them any longer, and they shouldn’t be needed again.
Hedge had lost touch with his Texan relatives over the years, so he wasn’t planning to call in on anyone in particular. All he really wanted to do was to visit
the graves of his parents, if he could find the churchyard. He had called his uncle back in London to get the location details. So as they came out of the terminal building they hailed a nearby taxi and set off.
The airport was to the north of the city, whereas the address of the church they were seeking was in a place called Friendswood, which was to the South-East of the centre of Houston. They explained what they were looking for, and the driver seemed confident he knew where he was going. The traffic was heavy, and the going was slow, but forty five minutes later they found themselves outside a grey stone church in a quiet neighbourhood. Hedge recognised the building from the last time he was here, all those years ago.
They paid off the taxi and took the phone number of the company, for the return ride. Cole patted Hedge on the back and said he was heading off for a diner he had spotted on the corner of the street. Hedge said he would join him there in a while. He then headed into the churchyard and began the search for the graves of his parents.
It didn’t take him long, as the graveyard didn’t cover a large area. He found the two headstones side by side. When he had initially attended the burial, he hadn’t seen the final headstones as they had not been finished. They looked very smart, he thought to himself. The stone was white marble, with the names and date of death engraved carefully in each.
He reached into his jacket pocket and took out his wallet. He opened it up and pulled out a small photograph. He always carried that picture to remind him what his mum and dad had looked like. He stared at it closely now, and then looked up again at the headstones. His parents were here, he thought, buried in the ground just in front of him. He hadn’t seen or spoken to them since he was ten years old. It was so sad that they were taken from him when he was such a young boy. He remembered again how alone he had felt at the time. No child should have to go through that pain, he thought to himself.
He closed his eyes to see if he could still remember them in his mind. As he stood there, he tried to block everything out and just focus on his inner memories. He was concentrating so hard that he didn’t hear the footsteps approach behind him.
‘Excuse me sir, can I ask you what you are doing? What is your interest in these two people,’ said a young female voice.
Hedge opened his eyes and turned his head towards where the voice came from. Standing just behind him was a young woman, maybe around twenty years old, he guessed. She was dressed casually in blue jeans and a plain white shirt. In her hand was a small bunch of wild flowers.
‘Hello,’ he said, ‘I am just paying my respects to my parents. This is where they are buried.’
She looked back at him, and her bright blue eyes seemed to grow larger as she spoke. ‘You must be mistaken. The two graves in front of you belong to my mother and father. My mother died just after I was born. I was an only child.’
The two of them stood staring at each other. There was no one else in the churchyard and so all around them was very quiet. The only noise was the occasional rustle of leaves as a gentle wind moved the branches of the nearby sycamore trees.
Hedge roused himself from his silence and moved a step closer to the girl. ‘My name is Tom Millar, and the graves here are definitely those of my parents. The names match, as does the date when they died. I don’t see how they can be your parents as I have never had a sister. Let me ask you a question. Do you know how the man and woman buried here died?’
The girl lifted her chin up with a look of defiance. ‘I should know, as they are definitely my parents. They were killed in a car crash in England. I was told that my dad died instantly at the scene, but my mother managed to hold on for a few days. I’m glad she did, as I was born three days after the crash, somewhat prematurely though.’
Hedge took a pace back as if he had been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. He stared at the girl. Yes, there was something he saw in her that he recognised. Was it the eyes, or the defiant look, he wasn’t sure. It was probably a combination of both things.
‘It seems unbelievable, it can’t be, but it doesn’t make any sense.’ Hedge said the words slowly as he was struggling to understand exactly what he was hearing.
‘I was told that there were some complications with my mother immediately after the crash. She was flown back to the States for emergency treatment. She must have been pregnant. I never knew. No one told me about you. That doesn’t sound right. Why wasn’t I told about you?’
‘I don’t know,’ the girl replied. ‘My name is Maddie by the way, Maddie Miller. I always knew about my parents of course, but I never knew about having a brother. I was adopted and raised by my father’s brother, my uncle. Yours too I guess. He and his wife couldn’t have children of their own, so they were glad when I came along. They didn’t have much to do with the rest of the family, they kept themselves to themselves.’
‘But why didn’t they tell you that you had a brother,’ said Hedge.
‘I guess they didn’t want to risk losing me to some other part of the family. Who did you live with after our parent’s death?’
‘I stayed with mum’s brother and his family in London. They obviously didn’t know about you either. They attended the service for mum and dad back in England, but they didn’t come over to the funeral here in Houston,’ he said.
Maddie had a puzzled look. She was deep in thought. ‘I know I was born very premature, but my new family here must have pulled a lot of strings to keep my birth quiet. They must have been desperately worried about having to give me up,’
They stood there awkwardly for a little longer, both looking at each other but not knowing what to say. Then, with a broad smile on her face, Maddie stepped forward and hugged her big brother. They held each other for a moment. Hedge felt overcome with emotion. He suddenly didn’t feel quite so alone in the world.
The embrace was awkward and they moved away from each other. It was going to take some time to get used to having a sister, Hedge thought.
He explained that he had a friend with him and so they both headed off towards the diner, where they found Cole seated in a quiet corner tucking into a large double cheeseburger.
He looked over at them as they headed towards where he sat. ‘Didn’t take you long to find yourself a pretty young lady friend then,’ he said with a grin.
‘Always the funny guy, aren’t you Cole. Well I have some news for you, I found more than a friend, this young lady here is Maddie, my sister no less.’
Cole stopped eating and looked up at the young woman in front of him. She was attractive, and he noticed that she had a very determined look about her, like someone who always got their own way. Her light brown hair was long, and it dropped to below her shoulders, covering the top of her white shirt. She smiled at him.
‘Well I can see the resemblance, although she’s much better looking than her brother,’ said Cole.
They ordered some coffee, and a pot of hot tea for Hedge, and they sat together talking. Hedge explained to Cole how he had managed to have a sister. He then told his sister how he and Cole had ended up in Houston, and about their journey from the UK, to Dubai, and then to the Virgin Islands. He left out some of the detail as it all seemed a bit unreal to him still. It was an awkward conversation, as they were both studying him as he spoke. He fiddled the sugar bowl as he spoke, before finally placing it on the left side of the table, next to the tomato ketchup.
Hedge was keen to meet Maddie’s adopted parents, but she advised against it. She explained that they had always been wary of the wider family, and were not likely to be friendly towards him. Instead, they agreed to meet up in New York in a few days time. She thought perhaps that one day soon he would be able to come back to Houston and meet her family. He agreed with that approach. They chatted a little more, exchanged phone numbers, and then they said goodbye to each other. Hedge and Cole called a taxi and headed back to the airport, leaving Maddie at the church yard. She gave her new brother a final hug and said she would see him soon.
It was cold and windy when
they arrived in New York. They went straight to the airport information desk and asked the helpful lady on duty if she could assist by booking two rooms at a centrally located hotel. They then took a taxi from the airport and went directly to the hotel, which was two blocks down from Times Square.
During the taxi ride Cole had been talking about what they needed to do while they were here.
‘Obviously we need to sort out these bearer bonds and recover the money. We can get on with that tomorrow. I am hoping that will not be too problematic. We can collect the case from the British embassy first thing in the morning.’
Hedge thought it would be ok. Although he was a financial person, he didn’t have much experience of these particular types of bonds. It seemed quite risky carrying a case containing sixteen million dollars around the streets of New York without any security. The sooner tomorrow was over, the better, he thought.
Cole continued his briefing. ‘We also have another matter to deal with. I have received some information from London relating to the man who deposited the money in the accounts in Dubai. I asked them to investigate further to see what they could come up with. It turns out he has an apartment here in New York. So we are going to track him down to see if he knows anything about what happened to Angel’.
‘Do you have a name and address,’ said Hedge. He wasn’t sure if he wanted anything to do with this particular person, and secretly hoped he wouldn’t be asked to go along to meet him.
‘Yes, we are going to pay him a visit this evening.’
‘Wonderful,’ said Hedge sarcastically.
Somehow he just knew that this would not be a social call.
The Palindrome Cult: A gripping, page-turning, crime suspense thriller, its fast pace takes you from London to New York, via Dubai and the Virgin Islands. (Hedge & Cole Book 1) Page 20
