The Tahitian Pearl

by Sean Blaise

  "He is an extremist, with the resources to be quite dangerous. He must be stopped."

  "I have a feeling he will be," Pierre said, looking down thoughtfully.

  "You look confused," Alexi said, placing his coffee mug down on the table.

  "No, I'm not. I'm just trying to think how I want to proceed from here."

  "In what regard?" Alexi asked.

  "Well, since I know who actually killed Mr. Dubois."

  Alexi looked steadily at Pierre, who now never wavered his glance. "And who was that?"

  "You," Pierre said, carefully placing the pipe in his mouth.

  Alexi to his credit, did not react. "And how did I do this?"

  Pierre smiled nodding his head as if he expected this response.

  "When I first told you on the phone that the Mr. Dubois was dead, it was obvious that you already knew it. I figured Dmitry had told you, seeing as he would have probably heard. Then you gave me Abdul, which was a stroke of brilliance."

  Alexi picked his coffee up sipped it slowly.

  "Abdul obviously had something to do with the attack on your yacht, and you used me to find out who he was working for, which I believe you had already suspected was the Sheikh. You see nothing about what has happened seemed to surprise you in the least. It was as if you expected it all. So, I started to do some digging."

  "And what did you discover?"

  "I discovered nothing but circumstantial evidence. You really are remarkably good," Pierre said with a smile.

  "I discovered that when Mr. Dubois, your corporate facilitator, began working on finding the treasure ship Tahitian Pearl, a phone repair company worked on the lines in his apartment building. It was at that time, I imagine, that you initiated the phone taps on his phones. You probably also cloned his e-mail and cell, which is all quite easy to do with the access he would have given you. He discovered the second Pearl, the nuclear bomb and naturally would have offered the information to you first. I think you paid him well for it and I believe you thought that the matter would be kept in confidence."

  "I paid him to be discreet with any information he might recover."

  "You did. Dmitry paid him the money and left, probably believing he had done everything as expected. I checked on your plane, it arrived a full day after the money was delivered to the man and picked up Dmitry and returned him to Yemen to join the vessel."

  "I fail to see your point."

  "Then, I realized that he was greedy, he had already contacted numerous other buyers to sell them the same information, before you gave him the money. With your phone taps on him, you knew this too. You kept your man Dmitry in the dark, to obtain plausible deniability, which again was brilliant."

  "I then looked up the assets of your various companies and discovered a flight of clients from Russia to Ville Franche the day of the murder. The plane I'm guessing made a stop to pick up a VIP along the way. You."

  "This is quite a story, inspector."

  "There are no flight records to corroborate my theory and I know it is a tall tale. It's why I could never bring it to my superiors," Pierre said with a wave. He puffed on the pipe a bit more letting a long cloud of smoke escape slowly. His cognac arrived and he lifted his glass to Alexi, "to your brilliant plan!"

  Alexi raised his glass and sipped it thoughtfully.

  "To make a long story shorter, you knew where he was meeting the other buyers, the hotel. That explains why Abdul, was there. He was representing the Sheikh. He was to obtain the information on the bomb’s location and kill you probably in the process, allowing the Sheikh to go after the bomb himself. You couldn't risk having Mr. Dubois give the information to anyone else, so you killed him quickly, and removed the fingers postmortem, to make it appear as if he was tortured. You fly back out the same night, and are waiting on your yacht when Dmitry returns, none the wiser."

  "And why did I do all this?"

  Pierre swirled his cognac in the glass looking at it thoughtfully. It was obvious that the answer to that question was the sticking point for Pierre.

  "I don't know. You obviously wanted to pursue the weapon; but you also wanted to flush out the other parties who would try to acquire it, which is probably why the international intelligence community is singing your praises at the moment. You turned over the plutonium to the IAEA, who you called yourself, as well as the Russian and American Ambassadors so as to prevent one of the world powers from exploiting the situation. I honestly have no idea what your reasoning would be to kill the man or take any of the risks you have, for no foreseeable gain."

  Alexi looked at Pierre as he pulled a cigar out of his pocket. He cut the tip off and lit it.

  "He was an unscrupulous man, monsieur Inspector. He sold weapons information to foreign governments and even worse to terrorists. He was a man lacking a moral compass, he was led by his greed and nothing more. Black market weapons, young girls sold into the sex trade, opium. If it had a profit, he facilitated it; regardless of what the end result was. Men like him, deserve to die, pardon my harshness.”

  Pierre nodded. "We suspected he was up to more than corporate facilitation."

  Alexi reached again into his pocket and pulled out the small black box. He turned the power knob and a green light came on. The box was sending out white noise that would destroy any conversation being recorded. Pierre smiled at the precaution.

  "I'm not recording this, Alexi. I have no case anyway, pure personal curiosity." Alexi nodded.

  "If I were to have done all you claim, I would be a very devious man indeed. But I am not. I merely try to protect my people; and the world from the extremists and crazy countries out there. Unstable men and governments are a threat to us all."

  Pierre looked at Alexi. The man wasn't lying, he believed everything he said.

  "I paid him very well for the location of the bomb. He decided to cross me. He was going to give evil men the precise location of it, which would have given these terrorists a chance to get the device and do real damage to the world. The exact location was far too dangerous a piece of information. I needed them to become exposed in their haste; so that I then could sweep them up in the direction of law enforcement like yourself, inspector."

  "But why? What do you care?" Pierre asked.

  "You wonder whether or not I'm just a bored rich man, looking for adventure? Or whether I'm simply trying to atone for past sins?" Pierre nodded.

  "A little of both. I believe that evil men on this planet need to be stopped. Governments are largely inept, and law enforcement corrupt or incompetent; but me, I have the reach and power to expose these people and stop them."

  "Without allowing the strings of the law to hamper your movements,” Pierre said.

  "Precisely."

  "Do you admit to killing him?"

  "I admit nothing, inspector. However, if you believe I am the evil one in the story, then please by all means, pursue me."

  Pierre stood up. Alexi did as well. Pierre held out his hand. "I have a feeling we'll be in touch."

  Alexi smiled, "Oddly enough, I find myself hoping so, inspector."

  Chapter 114

  Later that evening Alexi heard a knock on his bedroom door. “Come in,” he said.

  John limped through the door and sat down. He looked at his hands before finally looking at Alexi.

  “Before you tell me, I want to say thank you. You’ve saved me more times than I deserve,” Alexi said.

  “Alexi, I need time to decide what I want to do,” John said.

  “I know.”

  “You should have told me from the beginning what we were doing. You should have told me when Claire was taken. You owed me the truth.”

  “It was a mistake. If you decide to stay on, I won’t make it again.”

  “Is this going to be it? Is this the job? Taking on the world’s worst problems? Risking my life?”

  Alexi looked pensive. “I don’t know. But if we move forward, I will need more than a captain; I will need a partner I can rely on.�
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  “I’m not sure if I can be that. Hunting shipwrecks is one thing, this is another.”

  “I understand.”

  “Alexi. Did you tap my phone?”

  “Mr. Clark told you that?” Alexi asked.

  John was shocked that Alexi knew about Clark; but he shouldn’t have been. Alexi knew everything.

  “I never agreed to spy on you,” John began defensively.

  Alexi waved his hand dismissively. “I know you didn’t. You passed the loyalty test. Mr. Clark and I have a long history. He has been after me for some time. He is CIA.”

  “You know him? For how long? Why is he after you?”

  Alexi suddenly looked very tired. “A very long time ago, my beautiful wife, Ivana, the only woman I ever loved, introduced me to Clark at a party. They were acquaintances, through one of our joint ventures with an American company. When I met him, I immediately smelled CIA. He was trying to wiggle information out of her and turn me. But it became more than that. He was in love with her, I think. I do not doubt her loyalty to me, but I was gone often, and I did not give her the time she needed. Women are like plants; they need constant watering with love, or they will die. I do not know if Ivana or Clark ever acted upon what they might have felt.”

  John just listened.

  “I do not have a good past John. I did things, many years ago, that were very bad things. Awful things. I have spent my vast fortune and time I now have to try to right those wrongs. Not for me, but for Ivana. My awful past, it came with a debt owed, and my wife paid the price with her life. Ivana was murdered. A person I had crossed in my old life found me in my new one and took away the one person I loved. Every day, I wish it had been me instead. Mr. Clark has blamed me ever since for her death, and has pursued me, trying to find a way to take me down. I don’t blame him. Once the news broke that it was my yacht attacked and a crewmember flown to the U.S.S Enterprise he flew there immediately. It was an opportunity to get me once and for all. And I don’t blame you for trusting him.”

  “Did you tap my phone?”

  “Yes, all of the crew phones are tapped. I have many enemies John, and little trust left. Take your time, make your decision. But if you come back to me, there will be change. I will never do anything again and keep you in the dark. Go. No time limit, call me when you are ready.”

  John stood up.

  “One more thing John.” Alexi said with a pensive look in his eyes. “Ingrid.”

  “What about her?”

  “I think she could love you. She has never let anyone in. She has led a hard life with me, and I would like her happy. If you think you could love her, try, if not let her know and I will send her to work onshore. She has a right to be happy with someone and if that is not you, she should not keep hoping. I had a great and powerful love once, and I ignored it. Everyone should have a great love once.”

  Chapter 115

  John grabbed his sea bag and turned off the lights in his cabin. He checked his pocket for his passport and some spending money. It was odd leaving Tahiti to go on vacation, but he needed to go. It was time. He wanted to say goodbye to Sophia; but as he had anticipated once the story hit the news, she had exploded at him about betrayal. The hurt in her voice and eyes was more than he could bear.

  He walked towards the elevator when Ingrid stepped out of her room. She looked different than he had ever seen her, her face wasn’t hard anymore. There was something new in her eyes. Then something unexpected happened, she hugged John. As hard as he had ever been hugged in his life. He dropped his bag and held her.

  She finally broke the hug and looked at him with tears in her eyes. “John, I know you have to go. I just want you to know that I will miss you.”

  “I don’t know if I will come back.” John said.

  “If you do, I will be here. I don’t know what I am capable of, with matters of the heart. But if there is one thing I know when I look at you, is that I want to try. For you, I would try. I wanted you to know that.”

  She kissed him. It was soft, and simple and yet had more power behind it then anything he had felt before. He could feel the cold of her tears streaming down her face. Then she turned and was gone.

  Sweeney drove John to the airport in relative silence.

  “What are we doing John?” Sweeney asked.

  “About this job? I have no idea. I just need a break. It’s a good chance for you to take over.”

  “I don’t really want it.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you trust Alexi?”

  “I don’t know if I should. The amount of pressure this whole thing has caused is too much. I feel like I did after Beagle. I can’t go down that road again.”

  “No, you can’t. Where you headed?”

  “Raya Island, Thailand.” Alexi had arranged for his Learjet to take John wherever he wanted.

  They hugged and John stepped onto the plane without knowing what was next.

  Epilogue

  Mr. Clark sat in the BMW looking out the window. A silver Bentley pulled up in front of the BMW and an entourage got out. Clark watched the group with interest and finally handed his companion a Glock silenced pistol.

  Abdul took the weapon and chambered it.

  “Time for you to pay your debts, Abdul.”

  Abdul looked at Mr. Clark. Abdul had the weapon in his hand and Clark was unarmed. It would be so easy, he thought; but he knew the score. Besides he and the Sheikh had unfinished business.

  Abdul got out of the car and began walking up the street. He saw the flowing white robe of the Sheikh’s back in front of him. It felt good. Faris would finally get some payback. Abdul knew that nothing had changed for him. He just had a new puppet master pulling his strings. Abdul was getting tired of his strings being pulled. Maybe it was time to cut them.