“Some companies I’ve never heard of, too,” Ligia said with a nod. “It seems that the case has sparked a lot of interest.”
“Looks like we’ll be growing more flowers then, bro,” Aitan said with a grin as they followed the girls over to a patch of grass to enjoy their lunch. As the flowers grew wild on the island, this meant a lot less work for the men, who were already overstretched now that they had lost their main boat.
Kalliope sat at her man’s feet after dishing out the food and drinks, and leant into his thigh contentedly.
“We can finish here and go check out the fishing boats,” Aitan suggested. He was a keen fisherman and much preferred messing about on the boats to working in the fields. As one of the strongest men on the island, it made sense for him to work on the heavy jobs in the fields though, as it saved so much time.
“I’d like to see who’s placing orders for our flowers first,” Rechavia said with a frown, “I wouldn’t put it past Durango to be up to something.”
They finished their lunch and returned to the huts. Sitting around Ligia’s little table they stared as the laptop fired up again. There were dozens of e-mails popping up, mostly enquiring about ordering flowers.
“Wow. At this rate we’ll soon be able to replace the ship,” Aitan said with a grin. Rechavia looked satisfied that the orders were genuine, having recognised many of the companies who were contacting them, and set about replying to the messages.
“I’ll go check on the fishing boats, we’ll need them all in ship-shape to transport the flowers,” Aitan said as he got up.
“I want to go and see how Ademia is, I’ll walk with you,” Ligia said as she quickly packed a basket of goodies for her friend.
“You look tired, pretty maid, why don’t you stay with me a while?” Rechavia suggested kindly as he noticed Kalliope stifle a yawn.
She smiled at him. She hadn’t been entirely sure whether he would want her company today but it seemed she needn’t have worried.
“Stay as long as you like,” Ligia called over to her friends as she and Aitan left. They were always in and out of each other’s huts, so Rechavia and Kalliope felt quite at home here.
Once they were gone, Kalliope knelt down and placed herself at the side of Rechavia’s leg. She leaned her head on his knee while he typed away. Every now and then his hand would drift down to stroke her hair as she drifted off into a relaxed daydream.
Rechavia tapped away at the keyboard. More and more e-mails came through as he worked and he was surprised to hear from the Eastland Police. They wanted the coordinates for where the boat had sunk. He was amazed to hear that they planned to send down some frogmen to examine the extent of the damage, having already taken Zigor Durango into custody. Rechavia’s fist thumped the air as he tried to conceal his elation, so as not to disturb the beautiful woman who appeared to have fallen asleep on his lap. He stroked her hair again, feeling so proud of her.
Kalliope only stirred a couple of hours later when Aitan and Ligia returned. She lifted her head slowly from Rechavia’s lap and smiled up at him.
“I’ve got some news, pretty maid,” Rechavia said with a broad grin.
“Already?” Aitan came over to sit at the table while Ligia set down her basket and came to join them.
“The police have already got Durango in a cell.” Rechavia’s eyes were shining with joy.
“Wow, that was quick!” Ligia said with a gasp.
“They wanted to move quickly in case he went to ground.” Rechavia explained, “He’s got a lot of contacts who could help him.”
“I’ll bet he has!” Aitan rolled his eyes.
“He’s been charged with attempted murder and he’s admitted everything. Didn’t have much choice given the evidence against him. They even checked out the damage this afternoon and confirmed that it was sabotage. They’d slashed the tube to the cooling system, just as Farris suspected. He’s being sentenced tomorrow. We can take a couple of boats over, can’t we?” Rechavia asked Aitan.
“Yeah, I’ve checked them out and they’re all fine. The smallest one could do with a bit of bodywork before it goes as far as Eastland, but we can certainly take a couple over. I’d better let Farris and the Doc know.” Aitan grinned as he got up again and went to leave. Ligia followed him out to say good-bye and put some water on to boil while she was out there.
Kalliope squeezed Rechavia’s leg from her position at his feet.
“Do you want to go, pretty maid? I understand if you’d rather not. It might be a tough thing to witness?” He stroked her glossy black hair as he asked her tenderly.
“Try keeping me away!” Kalliope enthused. “I want to see that bastard’s face when he sees you’re still alive and well, and I can’t wait to see how long he gets put away for! Do they kill people like him on the mainland?”
Rechavia chuckled and continued to stroke her hair. “I’m afraid not, pretty maid, more’s the pity. It would be interesting to see how he fares in gaol though, they don’t take kindly to murderers these days. I’m sure the inmates will be up in arms when they find out what he did, especially as there was a lady on board.”
Kalliope turned a serious face up to him. “Rech, you do know I didn’t…well…do anything with him, don’t you? I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.” Her big green eyes pleaded him to believe her.
“I know,” he said, stroking her hair again.
She sighed with relief and set her head back on his lap with a smile. Thank God!
“Tea?” Ligia arrived with a wooden tray.
Kalliope’s head slowly came up and she beamed at her friend. “Yes please.”
They sat at the table speculating about the forthcoming proceedings.
“What about that Mrs. Loidi?” Ligia asked, “Her name will be mud after this, especially if it gets out that she propositioned Zigor.”
“It’s Yera I feel sorry for,” Kalliope said. “She can’t realize what a bastard Zigor is or she wouldn’t have wanted to marry him in the first place.”
“He’s a plausible rogue though,” Rechavia stated, a little ruefully. “He knows how to fool a girl. I’d say he’s probably had a lot of practice.” He squeezed Kalliope’s hand and kissed the top of her head. She sighed. He understands.
“He’s the fucking fool!” Dr. Jay strolled in, large as life. “Oops, sorry ladies,” he said, noticing the women in the room.
“Hi Jay,” Rechavia reached over and shook his hand, not wanting to move Kalliope from her position.
“Hey, have I missed a cup of tea?” The doctor joked as he shook hands with his friend and smiled at the girls. Ligia shot to her feet and went outside to fetch some, giving Aitan a quick hug on her way through. The men sat down. Kalliope went to get up, seeing they had company, but Rechavia’s strong arm held her in place. She sighed and relaxed into him again.
“How is everyone?” Rechavia asked as Ligia passed round tea to the latecomers.
“Ademia’s asleep. She has been for most of the day. I’ve given her some strong painkillers. She must have been in agony with that arm. It was broken in two places, poor love. Farris is sitting around feeling sorry for himself. He cracked a couple of ribs but he’ll be OK. He’s stir crazy already, but I made him stay there to look after Ademia, it’s the only way I can get him to get any rest. Lovely tea, Ligia.” The doctor winked at her and she flushed.
Aitan pulled his girl onto his knee. There was a spare chair but this was more fun.
“Will they be coming tomorrow?” Kalliope asked.
“I’m not sure yet. Ademia would be better off staying here, but I don’t know if I can convince Farris to stay behind. He’s champing at the bit!” Dr. Jay shook his head in despair as he took another drink of his tea.
“Melantho and Sapphire have offered to stay with Ademia,” Ligia explained.
“Those girls are golden,” Dr. Jay declared. “They’ve been scurrying around after us all day, making cups of tea and cooking meals. We moved back into the big house to make room fo
r everyone. I was thinking, actually, that house would be quite useful as a surgery. It’s got extra bedrooms in case anyone needed to be hospitalized, and there’s plenty of room to see someone in private without disturbing the rest of the household. There’s a spare room downstairs I could dedicate as a surgery. What do you think?”
“Brilliant idea,” Rechavia enthused with a nod. “That could work quite well.”
“Absolutely,” Aitan said with a grin, “that could work really well for what you’ve got in mind, eh, Jay?”
Dr. Jay gave a massive grin and slurped his tea. “Well, yeah, there’s that as well,” he admitted.
“What?” Kalliope asked with a puzzled frown.
“He wants Ademia to move in with him and Farris,” Aitan explained.
Rechavia rolled his eyes. “Well it’s about time, mate.”
“You’ve no objections then?” The doctor looked a little relieved.
“Whatever makes you happy,” Rechavia said with a wide smile.
“And she obviously makes you very happy.” Aitan patted him on the back.
“Is that what Ademia wants?” Kalliope asked, feeling a little surprised.
“She doesn’t know yet,” Dr. Jay said with a sly smile, “but she’ll want it all right.”
The men laughed and the girls shook their heads. Dr. Jay was really handsome, as was Farris, and Ademia was a lovely girl. Kalliope smiled. She wanted to see her friend happy, and she always seemed to have fun with those two men. As Sirens, they were all used to entertaining more than one man at a time, and it really seemed to be Ademia’s forte.
“When will you ask her?” Kalliope asked with a sincere smile.
“We’ll tell her when she’s better and all this is over,” the doctor replied. “Until then she’ll be living with us anyway. She just doesn’t know it’s permanent yet.”
Kalliope grinned. Dr. Jay was as dominant as Rechavia when he wanted something. Kalliope loved that aspect in a man, she realized.
Chapter 16
Next morning two small fishing boats set out for the mainland. Rechavia took the lead, as usual, with Dr. Jay and Farris along with Kalliope and a couple of Ademia’s friends, Hebe and Naida. Dr. Jay had insisted that Ademia stay behind and rest, with Melantho and Sapphire looking after her for the day. He had wanted Farris to rest too, but, as usual, Farris had other ideas. No way was he missing this!
Aitan’s boat followed them out. He had some friends of Farris aboard his little vessel, Marinos, Delmer and Blandon, as well as Ligia and, of course, Pallas. It had been thought best to keep Farris away from his friends for a while, as they had a habit of getting up to mischief when they were all together. Delmer had already nearly got himself thrown out of the courthouse for shouting out to the judge on their previous visit!
It was still dark so they had to use lamps. The air was a little cool, and the girls pulled their shawls around them. Rechavia considered suggesting that the girls start wearing more clothes when they visited the mainland, but as his eye caught Kalliope’s shapely body in her gold bikini, he decided to keep quiet. They could always use blankets until the sun came up.
After Dr. Jay had read the riot act to Farris, he was very concerned that today went well for the islanders. The men concentrated on their passage while the girls chatted.
“Will he get put in gaol for the rest of his life?” Naida wanted to know. The girls were very concerned about what had happened to Ademia as a result of Zigor’s wicked actions.
“I certainly hope so,” Hebe said, adamantly. “He deserves to die for what he did. They could all be dead by now because of him, so it’s only right.”
“I don’t think it works quite like that, sweetheart,” Farris said with a chuckle. “The fact that he didn’t kill anyone might just go in his favor.”
“But that’s not fair,” Hebe insisted. “He could have killed them all, surely that’s the point!” The petite auburn-haired girl had quite a fiery temperament.
“I wonder if it’ll be Judge Roberts again,” Kalliope said.
“I hope not for his sake,” Dr. Jay said with a grin. “Any more of us lot and the poor man’ll have a heart attack!”
The girls laughed, even Hebe.
“I don’t know, I think he’d quite like to put Durango away for a while,” Rechavia said thoughtfully. “He seemed to be quite sick of the sight of him last time we were there. He might even claim compensation from him for his own medical bills.”
They laughed again. Kalliope handed around some griddle scones and lemon water for breakfast. Being only a small fishing boat there was no galley, so she wasn’t able to heat anything up, but at least they could have some sustenance.
“Are you OK, Kally?” Dr. Jay asked as he took a scone from her. He was aware that she had been quiet since they left. Today must be quite hard for her, given her dealings with Zigor Durango.
“I’m fine, thanks.” She managed a nod and a smile before handing the food round to everyone else.
Rechavia and Dr. Jay exchanged glances, but nothing more was said.
* * * *
Aitan’s boat was a lot more rowdy. The men tucked into the food and drink that Ligia had packed for the journey, and laughed about their expectations for the day ahead.
“They should hang him!” Delmer announced through a mouthful of flatbread.
“They need to hang all of them!” Marinos said, taking a swig of his drink.
“I don’t think they do that anymore, dear,” Pallas explained calmly. “I think a gaol sentence is the best we can hope for. And I believe it is only Durango who is being sentenced today.”
“What will happen to the rest, Pallas?” Ligia asked with a frown. “After all, he didn’t actually do much himself, he just paid everyone else to do his dirty work. Will they get sent to gaol, too?”
“I think that is another matter, dear,” Pallas said ruefully, nibbling at a griddle scone. “From what I understand they will look at each person’s case individually. Durango is the ringleader so he will be dealt with first, but I am sure he won’t go down quietly.”
“You’re right, there,” Aitan concurred. “The man’s a coward. He’ll try to blame everyone but himself. I’ll bet he’s told the police everyone who was involved in the hope that he can shift their attention to one of the others. The bloke who slashed the cooling system tube will have a lot to answer for, too. I’ll bet he’ll be up next.”
“Too right, mate.” Marinos nodded. “He’s the real killer.”
“No way, Durango arranged the whole thing. He’s a fucking murderer!” Delmer shouted.
“Language, Delmer,” Aitan warned.
The sailors weren’t used to being in the company of ladies on their trips, and very often forgot the offence their ‘colorful’ language could cause. Delmer gasped as he looked at Ligia and Pallas. “I’m so sorry, ladies,” he said, immediately calming down. “I forgot my manners.”
“That’s all right,” Pallas accepted graciously.
Ligia just smiled at him. It was nice to be considered a lady.
“It will be interesting to see who gets the most blame,” Blandon said quietly. He was a very mild-mannered young sailor who hated any confrontation.
“It will,” Pallas agreed with a smile, “but it will be for the judge to decide, not us.”
“Unfortunately,” Marinos interjected.
“Yeah, I wish I was the judge today.” Delmer was quietly seething.
* * * *
By the time they all moored up in the big harbour at Eastland the sun was shining brightly. Watching the ladies remove their shawls, Rechavia grinned to himself, thankful that he had kept quiet about his suggestion about them wearing more clothes. Dressed in their little bikinis, the young girls gracefully climbed out of the little fishing boat, helped by the doctor and Farris.
They all trooped down the road to the courthouse and were relieved to see that everyone was still arriving. They were able to occupy a couple of benches toward the fron
t, and the sailors all ensured that the women had a good view.
Some police officers arrived, leading a group of handcuffed men into a couple of benches near the front. Ligia gasped when she saw Benat Ugarte arrive, unshaven and cuffed to one of the officers. His eyes were down as he took his seat. Jakinda Loidi was cuffed to a female officer. Her usually salon-perfect hair was limp and straggly, and she wore no lipstick. Her clothes were not designer-made. She wore a simple shift dress which hung over her ample bosom like a tent.
Kalliope pointed to Yera and Palben, who arrived together. Both were smartly dressed and looked very apprehensive. They took their seats without speaking. Ligia and Kalliope shook their heads in sympathy.
Zigor Durango was led in by two officers, to whom he was cuffed. He looked unkempt, his hair totally out of control, unshaven and with creases in his ugly prisoner’s uniform. His complexion, which was pale at the best of times, looks almost ghostly. He glanced over at the crowd and scowled when he saw Rechavia smirking at him. His face screwed up into the most hideous gargoyle-like expression as he glowered at the handsome sailor, who put a possessive arm around Kalliope. Kalliope didn’t wish to look at Zigor’s ugly face, but instead concentrated on the gorgeous hunk beside her, gazing lovingly into his deep brown eyes. Just looking at Rechavia made her feel calm and safe. The knot in her stomach, which had clenched as soon as she saw Durango walk in the room, promptly dissipated as she focussed on the man she loved.
Eventually the judge arrived. It was not Judge Roberts, but a slightly younger man, who carried himself with great importance. He nodded to the staff, who nodded back, and took his seat with a signal for the rest of the house to sit. The man introduced himself as Judge Stiles and announced that he was here to sentence Zigor Durango on several charges including conspiracy to murder. He went on to say that Durango had already admitted to the charges brought against him when questioned by police officers, and had been most helpful in supplying the details of a number of other criminals who had been involved in the incident, most of whom were present in this courtroom.
Submission of the Siren Page 16
