Without You I Have Nothing (71 page)

_{Joe was quick to
reassure him. "I can assure you of that. His son was one of the taxi
drivers killed by Dingo."}

_{Neither Peter nor Joe
could understand Bill's good humor as he hummed, laughed and cackled as though
he had taken leave of his senses.}

_{A member of the crew
brought them coffee which Bill gratefully welcomed, while the others, ignoring
their mugs, just watched him.}

_{The procession
continued, 'The Pony Stable', the TV News crew and far behind a water taxi with
the divers. Sedately they made their way down the Harbor until The Pony Stable
turned into Athol Bight and dropped anchor.}

_{Everyone looked at
the Commander inquisitively waiting for the next step in the sequence.}

_{The RSM grinned as a
crewmember hoisted a message board stating, ‘On Location’.}

_{Around the point,
with a spume of spray fishtailing from the rear sped the water taxi. It made a
wide sweep around the far side of 'The Pony Stable' before heading back towards
Circular Quay.}

_{The Commander was
quite at ease although no one was visible on 'The Pony Stable', not even the
guards. To anyone watching he could have been half-asleep. When the cameramen
left their cameras he growled, "Get back to work, you haven't seen
anything yet. Watch Cremorne Point and watch 'The Pony Stable carefully'. You
are about to have a news scoop.”  He closed his eyes, relaxing, as he knew his
plans were coming to fruition.}

_{His fellow
conspirators were not so relaxed. Peter, in his brightly colored life jacket
was circling the deck like a great white pointer shark ready to seize its prey.
The RSM was studying the decks of their quarry through binoculars trying to see
exactly what was happening on 'The Pony Stable'. Joe was watching Peter
carefully for any signs of hot headed, spontaneous reactions to rescue Jennifer
from the floating whorehouse.}

_{"Christ that
boat's sinking!” was the yell from one cameraman. The other cameraman shouted,
"So what, look what's coming around the Point."}

_{Three rubber duckies
thundered around the Point flying flags to indicate they were on a naval
exercise. Close behind was a Water Police patrol. One cameraman focused on 'The
Pony Stable' as it delicately settled lower and lower in the water. The other
swung his camera between the naval rubber duckies and the Water Police.}

_{The Water Police
pulled alongside 'The Pony Stable' and the police helped the women aboard the
police launch.}

_{It was obvious what
had been happening aboard 'The Pony Stable' as the women were in various stages
of undress and the men were naked.}

_{Peter was extremely
agitated, trying to scrutiny each woman as the police rescued them. When he
glimpsed a red headed woman, he recognized her immediately, even at that
distance.}

_{His scream like an
animal in pain made the cameramen pay particular attention to his words,
"No woman's face is to be recognized on the news. If it is, you answer to
me.”  The tone of his voice was enough to guarantee they complied.}

_{The Commander was
alert to the reactions of Peter as he was creating a scene that could undo the
smooth, carefully planned operation. "Take us back to the Yacht Club
immediately,” was his order.}

_{Back in the BMW
Office Bill beamed. "At last!  At long bloody last, I've nailed the
bastard. No more drug running for him."}

<sub>"Jennifer's safe
- well not as safe as we all wish, but I was concerned they were about to rush
out to sea and transfer the women to a ship in International Waters outside the
reach of the Navy. However, we've stopped that caper.</sub>

_{"The navy is
warned and we have the country covered and there's no way they'll fly out of
Australia as the expensive plane which carried the two Arabs is on fire even as
we speak. Strange that."}

_{The phone rang and
when he finished the call, his grin was even wider and was almost infectious. "The
divers are examining the sunken wreck and they've found some interesting
facts."}

_{While the four were
discussing their naval adventure, the tourist coach with its full load of
travelers and the coach hostess, Susie, operating the microphone, wound its way
along the tree lined streets of Hunters Hill.}

_{The passengers
constantly demanded that the coach stop, while they rushed out to take photos
of the various mansions.}

_{The guards at one set
of gates were unwilling to pose and rudely ordered the tourists away but then
had to open the gate to allow a big black Mercedes to leave.}

_{The tourists swarmed
through the open gates taking photographs of the guards, the guardhouse and the
electronic surveillance gear.}

_{Six Chinese and a
handful of Tamils crowded around the guards so closely that the guards felt
uncomfortable. These tourists kept the guards occupied while the Gurkha
sergeant and two of his specialists slipped into the guardhouse where they
quickly made the surveillance equipment inoperable in such a way that it seemed
to be working but was seeing nothing.}

_{Quickly, the
gatehouse guards tired of the tourists and their endless polite questions in
English so heavily accented as to be almost unintelligible. While calling for
reinforcements, the guards tried ushering the unwelcome tourists back to their
coach.}

_{Confusion reigned,
especially as the savage guard dogs were disinterested in helping round up the
tourists but instead hid behind their handlers.}

_{Given a signal by the
sergeant, Andrew gave a single toot on the air horn. The tourists obediently
clambered back into the bus with much laughter and backslapping as they
compared their pictures.}

_{The last tourist
aboard couldn't help teasing the guard. "See ya cobber,” were his words as
he swung aboard.}

_{As the bus drove off
the guard, puzzled, watch it disappear around the corner.}

_{The other guards were
thankful that they were able to get rid of the inquisitive, non-English
speaking busybodies so quickly. They hadn't noticed anything missing, nor had
they noticed that the gates wouldn't close correctly.}

_{That evening the
coach parked at Darling Harbor and the tourists caught the monorail to
Chinatown.}

_{The Tamils took
Andrew and went off searching Chinatown for a suitable Indian Restaurant. They
didn't attempt to give Andrew their names and made certain that other than an
occasional heavily accented comment to him they rowdily conversed in Tamil.}

_{Andrew noticed they
cut quite a swathe though the evening crowd of Chinese who didn't seem anxious
to tangle with his Tamil escort.}

_{The Chinese platoon,
as the RSM called that group of tourists, escorted Susie to the Red Jade where
she was kept dancing with various members of the group while they waited for
their meal. The patrons were amused that the Chinese group seemed to be vying
with each other for her company, as not once did she manage to complete a dance
with a single partner.}

_{Three tall Chinese,
who suddenly appeared in his kitchen, startled the chef. They ignored his
English and he shook when they used guttural Cantonese to bark orders for a
meal.}

_{The chef knew - he
didn't need them to inform him - he was in the hands of a Tong, although where
they came from, he had no idea.}

_{With such pleasant
smiles that he could ill ignore, they insisted the chef show them the toilets,
the rear entrance to the lane behind the building, the scullery, the electronic
surveillance and the pantry as though they were about to make a take-over bid.}

_{The strangers
demanded to see the bookings for each night and were surprised that the
management was closing the venue the next night.}

_{When questioned, the
chef reluctantly admitted it was a private party for Dingo, some of his women
and two Arabs. Trembling violently, the chef needed no warning about the crass
stupidity of repeating anything said or the extreme personal danger of even
mentioning the visit by these strangers.}

_{It was no surprise to
the group that the discourse at each table was recorded using a microphone
hidden in the red dragon that formed the center piece of every table but one -
the Boss's special, a permanently reserved table at the back of the dining room
where it overlooked everything.}

_{The meal arrived and
Susie sat at the head of the table. The red dragon centerpiece had numerous
bottles of Tiger Beer emptied over it for luck. The bath of beer resulted in a
strange hissing and crackling noise.}

_{"Don't alter a
thing, not a single thing” was the direct caution by the person who seemed the
leader of the group as they left.}

_{The staff had every reason
to look most worried.}

_{At the motel,
eventually growing hungry, Peter, Joe, the RSM and the Commander made their way
to the dining room. The place seemed strangely empty as the four of them sat.}

_{Suddenly the RSM
sprang to his feet and dashed off. Moments later, he returned with his two
daughters one of whom was carrying James.}

_{Bill held out his
arms and then tried to eat his meal one handed as he gave his son more
attention than the food.}

_{The RSM could only
laugh. "Bill I had to fight my daughters to bring the young one down from
his room. I believe he will be spoilt."}

_{The room was no
longer empty and quiet as James tried to join the chatter.}

_{White with anxiety,
Peter was silent and withdrawn as he thought of the family he and Jennifer had
aimed to have.}

_{The phone rang and
Bill left to answer the call. He returned to inform them that the TV news at
midnight would be interesting and an unabridged, uncensored version of their
naval adventure was on its way.}

_{At 11.45, they heard
the rumble of the bus and waited for the tourists to arrive.}

_{First into the room
was Susie who immediately flared into anger because her baby was still out of
bed although he was soundly asleep in his father's arms. The two babysitters
instantly fled with James while Peter got beer and wine ready for everyone.}

_{The RSM would not
allow anyone to talk as the midnight news came on with a pre-view showing 'The
Pony Stable' slowly sinking. The newsroom had savagely edited the report that
aimed to make viewers tune in the following day to watch the outcome.}

_{Bill put the cd from
the news crew in the player and everyone watched the complete photographic
record of the event. When he saw the girls on the wharf at Balmain the RSM
shouted, "Stop!  Go back a little I want to see those girls again. Okay...
pause!"}

_{Peter wept openly and
Susie, although in a severe state of shock herself, just held his hands while
repeatedly whispering. "She's alive, she's alive."}

_{Jennifer was
difficult to recognize with her hair cut short and a peculiar collar around her
neck. Gone was the smartly dressed young lawyer. Instead, she looked like a
highly priced whore.}

_{The RSM moved closer
to the screen to scrutinize the collar worn by each of the girls. Finally, he
made the observation, "Those collars are electronic controls. If the girl
says or does anything wrong, someone with the master control presses a switch
and the girl is choked. It may only be for a significant instant but it can
cause death.}

_{"I suggest we
don't try to rescue Jennifer or, indeed, any of the girls until we discover
who's holding the master control."}

_{His advice was enough
to stop the viewing and Andrew, visibly upset, stumbled through his report on
the bus trip.}

_{Seeing his distress
the Gurkha sergeant holding three pieces of electronic gear aloft assisted him.
The sergeant carefully explained how his men had immobilized the security. He
guaranteed they could get through the security gate.}

_{Loud teeth-sucking
noises showed the disapproval of the Chinese for what they had seen. The Tamils
were cracking their knuckles and the Gurkhas had their hands on their Kukris.}

_{Susie, Joe and Bill
knew that their guests wouldn't rest until they eliminated Dingo and his men
and Jennifer was free but at the same time Peter's mental state worried them.}

_{Staring at the screen
with tears pouring from his eyes Peter sat motionless and oblivious of the
comments around him. Slumped in his chair, unblinking, he gazed at the screen,
the torture of his concern for Jennifer's well being freezing his mind.}

_{The leader of the
Chinese then stood - Susie never learnt his name. On the whiteboard, he drew a
plan of the nightclub and explained in minute detail not only the layout but
also the security system.}