At first they seemed reluctant to say why they’d failed to return from their evening ashore. The guilty pair looked around furtively.
‘Miss Mercy, she is not with you?’ asked the first mate.
‘No,’ replied Hawkins coldly, ‘Miss Mercy is not with us. You won’t be seeing her again.’ The pair looked at him curiously, but he didn’t elaborate. ‘I’m waiting,’ he said. The captain finally spoke.
‘Two nights ago, Miss Mercy, she told me she was organising a little surprise for the two of you. She said she wanted to do it all herself—and she gave us a holiday. Told us we could have two days off. We were to return tomorrow morning.’
‘But you’re my crew,’ said Hawkins through gritted teeth. ‘I hired the boat; I give the orders, Not my—, not Miss Mercy.’ The captain grinned at Hawkins, nervously.
‘True boss, but Miss Mercy, she even scarier than you!’
‘And she paid us well, boss,’ chipped in the first mate. But their smiles faded as Hawkins slammed his palm flat on the table.
‘Well I hope she paid you very well indeed,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ve been speaking to the boat’s owner. And you are both fired!’ And as he stood up, he leaned heavily over them. ‘And you can tell the rest of your worthless crew they’re out of a job too.’ Then, turning on his heel, he strode out of the bar, leaving Charlie to follow in his wake.
But as she began to walk away, the captain pulled at her sleeve.
‘What about the fire?’
‘Fire,’ she said, confused, ‘what fire?’
‘Miss Mercy she said there might be a small fire on board, and we were not to worry. If the boat was damaged, she would pay.’ Charlie shrugged her shoulders.
‘Well, she must have changed her mind; there’s been no fire on board. In fact that’s one of the few things that hasn’t happened!’
She hurried outside and found Hawkins waiting impatiently for her. He had hailed a cab and was chatting to the driver.
‘We’ll go back to the boat to collect our things, then go straight to the airfield. We’re due to take off in an hour.’
‘Michael, those sailors weren’t really expecting to go back to the boat,’ she said, as they drove along the waterfront to where their boat was moored.
‘I know. They were lying,’ he said. ‘That captain wouldn’t drink, or allow his crew to drink, on the day he was expecting to go to sea.’
‘He told me Mercy mentioned the possibility of a fire. What do you suppose she meant by that?’
‘Rose, I told you I don’t want to hear her name again,’ Hawkins said, then turned to stare out of the window. Charlie was left alone with her thoughts. It looked as though Mercy had planned to set fire to the boat, but had she planned to kill them first? And had Mercy planned to die with them? They would never know, but somehow, Charlie doubted it.
The flight back to São Paulo was a silent one. Hawkins seemed withdrawn and although he swore he would never speak of, or think about, his daughter again, Charlie suspected he would grieve for a long time.
When the plane landed, Hawkins preceded her down the steps to the tarmac. Then, turning, he held out his hand.
‘Rose, I’m sorry you were involved in all this. I don’t think we will meet again, do you?’ She took his outstretched hand, but it was the merest of touches, as though he was brushing her out of his life. ‘Goodbye, Rose,’ he said, and turning towards his waiting car, he left her standing alone.
‘Oh, don’t worry about me,’ she said out loud. ‘I can take a taxi.’ But he was gone.
During the drive back to her hotel, Charlie finally gave in to the chilling thought she’d been trying to avoid all day. Hawkins had said they were unlikely to meet again. He was tired and probably still in shock following the events of the past forty-eight hours. But at some point he would remember Rose Fitzpatrick sitting quietly by his side throughout the hours he had recounted his story. She would constitute a risk to his security. And she knew Michael Hawkins would not be willing to allow that risk to remain. Luckily, he didn’t know her real name or where she was staying, but even so, the whole affair had suddenly got even more dangerous than before.
CHAPTER 38
Sitting in her hotel room a couple of hours later, Charlie scribbled down everything she could remember from Hawkins’ history, and that of Grace and Mercy. She still had no proof, and Hawkins was still holed up in Brazil, but there was enough detail of his past life, she suspected, to cause the police to investigate. Most importantly, there was news of Hawkins’ change of name and second marriage during his voyage back from South Africa all those years ago. Hopefully that, together with the pictures of Hawkins Charlie had taken during their trip, would be sufficient to raise interest in a case which to all intents and purposes was dead the day Sir Fredrick Michaels’ clothes and car were found abandoned in the coastal car park in Kent.
Charlie packed her bags and phoned the airport; there was a seat free on the flight leaving the following day. She booked it. There was nothing else she could think to do here in Brazil, and she couldn’t spin out her investigation of Nigel Atkinson any longer; it wasn’t fair on Damien. She just hoped the whole experience hadn’t been a dangerous waste of time. She tried, for the fifth time since arriving back at the hotel, to ring Suzanne. She knew her sister would be worrying about her. But there was no answer on the office landline or at the flat, and her mobile was switched off. Where could she have got to?
Reluctant to pass the evening on her own and unwilling to spend more money on an expensive meal in the hotel restaurant, Charlie headed down town to a little bar and café she’d frequented with Mercy over the weeks before they left for Rio. She took a table in a dark corner and ordered a beer.
‘Drinking alone?’ The male voice was deep and only slightly accented. She looked up warily but was pleased to recognise Felix, the guy from Mercy’s running club. She’d met him a couple of times since that first morning and had found him good company. As far as she could tell, he still hadn’t recognised her or remembered how they’d originally met.
‘Felix, what a nice surprise,’ she said. ‘Will you join me? I was just going to order some food.’
He grinned and pulled out the chair she pointed to.
‘Sure, why not. Great to see you again, Rose.’ He took a long pull from his beer and then putting the glass down, turned towards Charlie, with a serious look on his face, ‘I wanted to say how sorry I was to hear about the accident in Rio.’
‘How did you know...’ Charlie began, but then realised, ‘of course, through the club.’
‘Yes, we heard from her father earlier this afternoon. He told us there’d been an accident and she wouldn’t be returning.’ He shook his head. ‘How very sad. She was such a talented athlete—and a nice lady too.’ Charlie kept quiet, deciding not to disabuse him of his view of her late friend. It wouldn’t help anyone to know just what had happened on the boat. Felix went on: ‘In fact I sometimes wonder how such a nice woman could come from such a terrible father. I guess it’s the fact she was out of his influence for all her formative years.’
‘Maybe,’ said Charlie, noncommittally. Then she realised what he had said about Michael Hawkins. ‘Tell me; what do you have against Michael Hawkins?’
‘Not a lot at the moment, and most of it is circumstantial. We know he’s involved in deals with some of the drug cartels in Colombia and Peru. And he’s been quietly buying up properties in São Paulo and Rio for the past decade. Let’s just say he’s not one of the most enlightened landlords in the country.’ Felix paused and gave a deep sigh. ‘In fact that’s how I first got involved in all this. My grandmother was one of his tenants. She got behind with her rent and he evicted her. She died not long afterwards.’
‘Felix, I’m so sorry.’
‘And although the doctor’s certificate says pneumonia, I will always blame Michael Hawkins. If she’d stayed in her own home, it wouldn’t have happened.’
; ‘But that’s very difficult to prove.’
‘Of course it is; and evicting someone who’s behind with the rent may be immoral, but it’s not actually illegal. Believe me, I looked for some sort of proof that Hawkins broke the law, but he’s very clever. He does everything by the book.’
‘Not always he doesn’t,’ said Charlie. Then she put her hand over her mouth as she realised what she’d done. Her companion turned to her and gripped her arm tightly.
‘What? Tell me! What do you know about Hawkins? Is it anything I can use against him?’
‘No, I don’t think so; not here in Brazil, anyway.’ She took a deep breath and stared at the young man, as her mind churned. Could she trust him? Was it safe to be open with him? She’d always considered herself a good judge of character—although her recent experience with Mercy had dented her confidence somewhat. But his next words were as shocking as they were unexpected.
‘Rose,’ he said, taking her hand, ‘or should I say, Charlotte, you saved my life once. I know I can trust you. How about you taking a chance and trusting me as well? Maybe together we can do something?’
‘Saved your life,’ she stuttered, ‘what do you mean?’ But even to her own ears, the words sounded unconvincing and she wasn’t surprised when he laughed at her.
‘Did you really think I would forget you? The woman whose team finally ended my ordeal and got me back home?’ He shook his finger at her. ‘You can grow your hair, you can change the colour, you can even change your name. But your eyes will always give you away.’
‘How long have you known?’
‘I recognised you as soon as we met. I would have said something before we parted that day, but I wanted to see if you would recognise me. I was going to tease you on your lack of observation.’ He grinned. ‘But then you started asking questions about Mercy and I couldn’t be sure what you were doing here in Brazil, so I kept quiet.’
‘Well, in my defence,’ she said, ‘I recognised you too. But I was under cover and you were an added complication I didn’t need.’
Charlie stared at him, her thoughts undecided. Then she thought: What the hell? I’ll be out of here tomorrow. She told Felix everything she knew about Michael Hawkins, his early life in South Africa and Mozambique, his transformation into Sir Fredrick Michaels when he returned to England, his involvement in the counterfeit drug trade and the brush with death that caused for her sister, Suzanne. Then she brought him up to date on the latest chapter, with Hawkins faking his own death and fleeing from Britain to South America when his schemes looked likely to come unravelled. And, reluctantly, she told him about the nightmare on the Pride of Kharkov, destroying his original picture of Mercy.
‘And now, I’m going back home with a bit more information, and a verbal confession, which I’m hoping will enable us to get some interest from the police.’ She rubbed her hands across her face. ‘But to be honest, I’m wondering if we’re ever going to get anywhere with it. He was a respected civil servant who’s believed to have taken his own life while the balance of his mind was disturbed. No-one’s going to want to reopen that case.’ She paused and sighed, ‘And even if they did, he’s safely here in Brazil. Look how long it took to get Ronnie Biggs back to England. And in fact, despite the 1997 treaty, we were denied permission to extradite Biggs. He came home on his own in the end. I suspect that wouldn’t happen with Hawkins.’
Her companion looked at her thoughtfully. Then he nodded his head.
‘But it would help your case, would it not, if he was back on British soil and could be identified?’ he asked.
‘Absolutely, it would. But I can’t see that happening, can you?’
He shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her, tapping the side of his nose.
‘Oh I don’t know. You never know what can be arranged, do you? I have an idea, but I need to think it through before I talk about it.’ Then he picked up the menu lying on the table. ‘Now, Rose, or should I say, Charlotte, let’s forget all about Michael Hawkins for the moment and enjoy the rest of our evening. I’m starving; let’s eat.’ Charlie grinned at him and nodded. Then she held out her hand to shake his.
‘Charlie,’ she said. ‘My friends call me Charlie.’
Felix didn’t say anything more about his idea during the rest of the evening, and Charlie was left wondering exactly what he was planning. In the cab back to the hotel, she decided to cancel her flight of the following day, and extend her room reservation for a little longer.
As she crossed the foyer on her way to the elevator, she heard the one voice she’d really been missing: Suzanne’s.
‘Charlie, there you are! Where on earth have you been? I was beginning to get really worried.’ She turned and threw herself into her sister’s arms. After the two women had hugged, she pulled away.
‘I’ve been into the city for supper. And I might ask you the same question. I’ve been trying to ring you all afternoon.’ She wondered if Suzanne would miss the fact she’d deliberately misunderstood the question. She guessed not; and she was right. Her sister gave her one of her ‘I may be the younger sister, but I’m the adult’ looks; then smiled and took Charlie’s arm.
‘Well, I guess we have a lot of talking to do, don’t we? But let’s not do it here. Your room or mine?’
‘Oh, definitely yours,’ said Charlie with a grin. ‘Mine’s been occupied for a good while and yours is still going to be neat and tidy.’
CHAPTER 39
By the time Suzanne had brought Charlie up to date on her investigations and the conclusions she and Damien had reached on Sunshine Supplements and Super Fit, Charlie was finally ready to tell Suzanne the full story of her encounters with Mercy Gove Hawkins and her father. Neither sister was completely happy about the actions of the other, but in the end, they were just glad to be reunited and safe, if only for the moment. By the time they finished talking it was almost dawn. Charlie left Suzanne getting ready for bed and stumbled back to her room. They agreed to meet at lunchtime to start planning their next actions on the two projects.
Around two in the afternoon, Felix rang.
‘Charlie, can you meet me downtown—same place as before—early this evening. There are a couple of guys I’d like you to meet.’
When the Jones sisters arrived at the bar just before six thirty, Felix was sitting at the same table. He was deep in conversation with a tall, well-built man, who looked to be in his late thirties. The two men stood then Felix looked over towards the door.
‘Here’s Benji; right on time! Ladies, sit down and I’ll introduce you to the team.’ The four were joined by a huge, baby-faced youth wearing a Grateful Dead tee-shirt. Felix caught the eye of a passing waiter and ordered beers all round. Then he turned to Charlie and Suzanne. ‘Ladies, let me introduce you to the Trio de Paulo: this is Demetrio,’ indicating the older man, ‘or should I say Dr Demetrio. And this young man,’ pointing to the large youth, ‘is Benji. He’s the best logistics brain I’ve ever worked with. Guys, this is Charlie from England and I’m guessing this is her sister, Suzanne. They’ve also had a run-in with our Mr Michael Hawkins and I think between us, we might just be able to come up with a solution to all our problems.’
Felix went on to explain that the three of them had served together in the Brazilian army; he and Benji had been doing military service while Demetrio was a regular soldier, serving in the medical corps.
‘We were the only three in our troop from São Paulo, so we naturally oriented to one another and spent a lot of our free time together as well as sharing duties. When we were stationed here in the city, we often spent Saturday afternoons with my gran, enjoying her feijoada.’
‘No-one ever cooked the pork and beans quite like Grandma,’ Benji broke in, rubbing his not inconsiderable belly.
‘We all loved Grandma,’ said Demetrio, ‘and that’s why we were so upset when we heard what happened.’
‘Well I can understand that,’ said Charlie. ‘When I heard what his gang
had done to Suzanne, I just wanted to kill him.’ She paused and shook her head. ‘Actually, that’s not true; we didn’t know who was in charge at that point, but I wanted to kill someone—anyone.’
‘And that’s why I called the guys here tonight, Charlie. I think we can bring this whole messy situation to a satisfactory conclusion. But you’re going to need to help us.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes, you. Hawkins has a small, unobtrusive but very effective security team. And after what happened on the yacht, he’s going to be even more wary than ever. You need to lure him into the open. Then you can leave the rest to us.’
And as the three men explained their plan, for the first time, Charlie and Suzanne began to hope they might be able to solve the Michael Hawkins problem after all.
‘Hawkins.’
When Charlie rang the phone number she’d been given by Mercy two weeks before, she expected it to be answered by the maid and she wondered if Hawkins would actually refuse to take her call. After all, he’d been quite clear on the tarmac when they returned from Rio: ‘I don’t expect we’ll meet again,’ he’d said.
‘Michael, it’s Rose, Rose Fitzpatrick.’
‘Rose.’ There was a long pause, then, ‘what can I do for you?’ Charlie took a deep breath and crossed her fingers.
‘Michael, I think we need to meet.’
‘I don’t think we have anything to talk about, do you? That part of my life is over.’
‘Oh I think when you hear what I have to say, you’ll want to meet me. It’s about something Mercy told me; and something she gave me for safekeeping. A diary...’
‘Why would I be interested in the scribblings of that woman?’
‘Because they concern you, Michael. Mercy told me not to read it, but after the accident, I didn’t know what to do with it. I didn’t want to just throw it away, but you didn’t want to even hear her name.’
Deception! Page 20
