Elephants can't hide forever (19 page)

Mike was a good judge of character, and for a few seconds he looked into Charlie’s eyes.

“Done.”

Charlie looked stunned, but things like this happened in these parts Both men grinned simultaneously and extended their right arms, deal secured.

Two more tinnies were cracked open in the way of a celebration, and the conversation turned to the logistics of the sale. As the sun began its descent across the creek, a long range, ocean going
trawler, technically know as a passagemaker rounded the headland, and made its way sedately through the Marina. Mike commented to Charlie, “Nice looking boat.”

“That’s a relief” said Charlie “It’s yours.”

The sixty footer was expertly reversed into the berth, and Charlie and Mike both greeted the passengers warmly as they alighted with photos and stories to take back home. As the last of the
passengers left, the skipper, Jane, Charlie’s daughter, made her way to the front of the boat to secure the moorings. Charlie slapped his hand in admonishment.

“Forgot to mention one thing, Mike, Jane comes with the boat” he said rather apologetically.

After four beers, and in this idyllic setting, Mike could only say one thing.

“Fair enough.”

Jane, having secured the vessel, made her way down the wooden boards and waved to both men. “Hi Dad, who’s this then?” she asked, extending her hand to Mike’s
outstretched arm.

Mike spoke first, and realised with his alcohol induced grin, fuelled by the euphoria of his recent purchase, he hardly looked the part.

“The new owner” he slurred slightly.

Jane looked at her Dad. Charlie looked at Mike. Mike looked at Jane, and all three burst out laughing. There had been no time for any ice to form, no time for Mike to consider if he really
wanted to be working with a woman, the deal was done, so all three decided the best thing to do was to retire to the Nautilus Bar, to discuss the way forward..

The Nautilus Bar has a veranda that fronts onto the creek. As the sun sets, the locals arrive, all dressed in their Sunday best to watch the daily event. Mike just watched in amazement as the
sun disappeared; the locals politely applauded, then they also went home. Mike had lived his life on instinct and coincidence, and he knew at that moment this was right for him.

The months had passed faster than any other time in Mike’s life- not only had the chance meeting with Charlie Allington been his salvation, but, and Mike was still pinching himself, he and
Jane had become lovers and in the last few weeks bought a small condominium together, overlooking the Four Mile Beach. Charlie was overjoyed; he had also lived his life by chance and was eagerly,
if somewhat prematurely, awaiting his first grandson...

Mike Tobin had indeed found Paradise.

The Singapore Airlines 757 from London touched down right on time. Crammed with holiday makers desperately peering through the portholes to catch their first glimpse of the
Antipodes, no one really noticed the two passengers leaving the first class cabin. That in itself was amazing for Dave Penny and Richard Sykes, known in the badlands of South London as the
enforcers, had arrived in tropical Queensland in their best Saville Row threads, looking every inch city businessmen- not for them panama hats and floral shirts. They felt no need to blend into the
environment, neither did they give a monkeys, for their sheer physical presence and intimidating looks encouraged the inquisitive to soon look away and avoid eye contact.

They sailed through Customs, although when asked the purpose of their visit, and replying ‘vacation’ caused a few raised eyebrows. A taxi was summoned, which took them to the Holiday
Inn on the outskirts of town, where they checked in for a couple of nights.

Down in the bar on the first night, they were running through their plans again.

“So, tomorrow morning” said Penny, “We hire a car, we know this Mike fellow is just up the road, so it will be a piece of piss finding him, we spend a couple of days watching
him, we have to assume he won’t come back voluntary, so we’ve got to suss out how we persuade him otherwise.”

“That’s not going to be easy” Sykes said, “This isn’t our usual target, we can’t break a couple of bones or cut off an ear, but we need to get him on that
plane in one piece and willing to play ball.”

“Agreed” replied Penny. “So, once we’ve got his profile we try every thing possible to persuade him that one million pounds is his for the taking, and do we know if he
needs the money?”

“We know very little, well absolutely fuck all, apart from he’s got some kind of boat, he takes the tourists out on, that’s it” commented Sykes.

“OK,” Penny continued, “There’s one option, if he doesn’t need the money now, maybe if his boat accidently caught fire, that might put a different complexion on his
views.”

“Not forgetting his house as well” Sykes added maliciously.

“That’s a plan then, of course once we’ve had a good look at him and his lifestyle there’s bound to be other avenues where he’s vulnerable, let’s just hope
he’s a normal bloke who would sell his Granny for a million, let alone do what he’s best at.”

And with that both men retired for the night.

The next morning the enforcers left the hotel and walked the short distance to the local Hertz Rental, where they picked up a decent Toyota and a comprehensive map of the area and then made
their way up the Cook highway towards Port Douglas, still in their Saville Row suits and ties.

Forty minutes later, the Toyota pulled up in Wharf Street, Port Douglas. The two men walked into the marina, found a couple of local fishermen, who knew of Mike, and who pointed them in the
right direction of Mike’s berth. They soon spotted the Kiosk, and were surprised to see a young woman sunning herself in one of the tatty chairs that were parked along side.

“That’s interesting” said Penny. “Who do you think she is?”

“Probably just the hired help, but if she’s anything more it could be interesting” commented Sykes.

They strolled past without making contact, not wishing to show their hand until they had surveyed the area. However, in their smart suits with the sun scorching the tarmac, they were drawing
unwelcome attention to themselves. Jane had noticed them from the moment they appeared on the wharf, and thought it strange that they seemed so disinterested in their surroundings, but soon
dismissed them as they disappeared into the car park.

The two enforcers had rightly concluded that Mike was out on his boat, so decided the best course of action was to wait and watch. About four pm Mikes boat appeared round the headland.

“This looks like him” said a very sweaty Dave Penny, “Shall we go and talk?”

“Let’s just see what happens first” replied Richard Sykes.

Mike followed the same routine that he had learnt since acquiring the boat. Having waved farewell to the customers, he and Jane double checked the ropes which secured the boat to the dock, then
headed off, hand in hand, passing within three meters of the thug’s car, towards the Nautilus Bar.

“Well, now that’s interesting,” Sykes said, watching the pair as they turned the corner.

Penny replied, “They’re obviously a couple, we didn’t know about that, so that might change things, he’s less likely to want to risk his freedom if he’s committed
to that woman, so we’d better get a plan together and assume he says no, but hope he says yes. However, there’s nothing we can do in these strides, we don’t want people
remembering us, now it looks like we’re going to have to get heavy,” and with that Sykes reversed the Toyota and the two thugs returned to the Holiday Inn, Cairns.

That night in the bar, the two men sat hatching their plans.

“So we’re agreed then” Penny was saying, “Tomorrow we go to the boat, we’ll talk with the woman, double check she’s his partner, then we book the boat for the
next day. We go out to sea and tell the man what we need him to do. If he agrees, fine and dandy. If he says no and can’t be talked round, we tell him no hard feelings, and we’ll go
elsewhere, then we’ll get to him through the woman, that means we’re going to have to snatch her, and hold her as ransom, the problem then is finding a secure place to secure her,
we’ve got to reckon he’ll be gone for several weeks so it’ll have to be a good remote hideout, then one of us is going to have to stay here to mind her, whilst the other goes back
with him.”

“Fucking hell, that’s a hell of a risk” replied Sykes.

“Listen, mate” came the reply, “We’ve taken fifty grand of Mouse’s money, how can we go home and tell him it’s a non starter and give him his dough
back?”

“Jesus, this is going to get messy, how about if we have to take the girl, as soon as he’s on the plane we kill her and dump the body somewhere out in the sticks, there’s miles
of bush out there where no one goes, then get the hell out of this country, that’s less of a risk.” stated Sykes.

“I agree, but this bloke Mike Tobin is no fool, if he agrees to come back he will sure as eggs is egg, want to talk to the girl regularly, also he’s bound to have some heavy mates,
it would be better for us if we give the girl back safe and well, less chance of him coming looking for us after its done” was Penny’s answer.

“Yup, fair point, let’s hope he needs the money, cos if he doesn’t we’re sure going to have to earn ours” was Sykes’s reply.

The next morning the two men, now dressed in more suitable attire, made their way back to Port Douglas, parked in exactly the same spot as before, and walked across to where Jane was
sitting.

“Morning, love” said Penny cheerily, “Would the boss be around?”

Jane recognised the two men from the previous day,
odd
she thought
one day in suits then the next in shorts
. She decided not to mention this fact, but asked, “Who wants to
know?”

“That would be telling, love” answered Sykes, who had perched himself rudely on the other chair.

“Well you’d better tell me what you want, because he won’t be back for several hours,” Jane told them.

“We want to charter his boat, tomorrow if that’s OK?”

“For how many?” Jane asked.

“Just the two of us” was the reply.

There was something deeply suspicious about this, Jane thought, yesterday these guys walked past in suits, then today they turn up looking like tourists. The only answer she could come up with
was perhaps they were businessmen who were going to make an offer for the boat, but why the secrecy? She was also well aware that her new partner had a deep and dark past. Since she had known Mike,
they had discussed their previous lives, but Mike had always said there was a lot of his life which he couldn’t divulge, and she had respected that, but this was now giving Jane cause for
concern. It was likely these two characters were from that part of his life he was trying to forget.

Jane went on the defence. “Well, we’re joint owners” she said (which wasn’t quite true). “Tomorrow we’re fully booked, in fact the next six weeks are nearly
booked as well, I can squeeze the two of you in on most days, but it’s impossible to let you have the boat without disappointing all the people that have booked already.”

Dave Penny dug deep into his back pocket and produced a bundle of notes that looked like, and was, ten thousand dollars.

“Does this change things?” he asked.

Jane was not only offended, but by now getting worried. This happened in the movies, not in Port Douglas,

“That’s not how we do business, you’ll have to go elsewhere” she stated with as much coldness as she could muster.

Penny shoved the money back in his trousers. “We’ll be back at four to see the boss” was his response, and both men walked off without any acknowledgement of Jane.

Jane was really worried by now, and found her hand trembling. Who were these two Brits who thought they could walk into their lives like this, make unreasonable demands and expect them to be
met? She knew this was going to be big trouble, but didn’t know what to do.

The hours that passed between the men leaving and Mike returning were the longest of her life, her imagination was running wild, and when eventually Mike turned the headland it was fair to say
she had never been so pleased to see him.

Mike walked down the gangplank and realised something was wrong as soon as he saw Jane. She came running up to him, threw her arms around him, and in a sort of gibberish speech, told him the
gist of what had happened.

Mike quietened Jane down and took stock of the situation. There were plenty of people across the world who would like to harm him, but also plenty who would want to employ him legally or
otherwise. He was erring towards the latter when Penny and Sykes reappeared.

“You must be the boss then?” enquired Penny extending his hand.

Mike ignored the act of friendship. “Who wants to know” he asked.

Richard Sykes responded: “Mr Tobin, Mike, we’ve come a long way to talk with you about making you rich, and we have a little business proposition to put to you, but it’s highly
sensitive, so if we could hire the boat for a day, we could talk privately where no inquisitive ears are.” He threw Jane a sneering look.

“Listen” said Mike, “There’s no way I’m going out on the ocean just us three, I’ve never seen you before in my life, if you want to talk let’s go inside
the boat now.”

Sykes and Penny glanced at each other; “OK” said Penny, “but just the three of us, she stays on the quay”, nodding at Jane.

“She’s my partner, she comes aboard with us, or you can fuck off,” Mike said getting agitated.

So it was agreed, reluctantly, that the four of them should adjourn to the privacy of the boat to discuss the deal.

Mike and Jane listened intently as the two enforcers went through the story. They spoke of the Brinks Mat, and the events leading up to the incarceration of Mouse; they talked of Danny Gallagher
and how he had also ended up with Mouse on Her Majesty’s Pleasure. They told Mike that for one million pounds sterling, cash, Mouse was willing to pay for his early release, and he was
willing to pay half of it up front, as soon as Mike had hatched an agreed plan. They spoke of the breakout, and the fact that how it would be achieved was down to Mike, but that any resources
needed would be found. They recognised that he was the expert; they knew Mike had been specifically trained at the American school of SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) and that he was
the best in the business, they had researched well.