Chapter 15

Bruce Goddard was very impressed with the British police. They’d flown him in from Gran Canaria and put him up in the Savoy Hotel, all so that he could make a statement about the rescue of Will Wainwright. He’d been to London before but never stayed anywhere as luxurious as this. It was an experience he was determined to savour. When the barman offered to put the price of his beer on his room bill, he thought that maybe that was taking the piss. However, once he was told the price, his reluctance disappeared. He was just enjoying his beer when much to his surprise, he was paged.

‘Your dinner guest has arrived sir.’

‘Nah you’ve got wrong man mate. I was just gonna go out for a curry and a few beers.’

‘No mistake sir. You are Mr Bruce Goddard from room 235?’

‘Well yeah but... ‘

‘Well sir, your guest is waiting for you in the restaurant.’

Bruce thanked the lad and made his way to the restaurant. The Maitre D’ was very polite and made no mention of his jeans, though it was obvious that everyone else was dressed for dinner. He summoned a waiter, who showed Bruce to his table. There was a man already sitting at the table and as Bruce arrived, he stood up.

‘I’m sorry mate.,’ said Bruce. ‘There seems to have been some mistake. I didn’t invite anyone to dinner and I certainly can’t afford to eat here.’

The man offered his hand. ‘Good evening Mr Goddard. I’m Will Wainwright, and I hope you’ll forgive me but I invited myself.’

Bruce stepped back a little and looked at the man before taking the offered hand and shaking it.

‘I’ve gotta say, mate, you’re looking a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you.--But look we can’t eat here it’ll cost a bomb and I’m not really dressed for it.’

‘I can wait while you get changed if you like, but I assure you no one here is going to worry about the way you are dressed. As for the bill, we’ll charge that to your room.’

Bruce smiled ‘Ah I’ve got you now. This was all you wasn’t it. Flying me in here, putting me up in this place. It was nothing to do with the cops, you set it up.’

‘Guilty as charged, Mr Goddard.’

‘Bruce! Just call me Bruce.’

‘Okay, Bruce, and you must call me Will now shall we sit down and eat, or do you want to go somewhere else?’

The two men sat down. Through the course of their meal, Will delved into Bruce’s past. By the time they’d got to their brandies, he knew he would make the offer.

‘Bruce I owe you a debt that I could never repay. Now tell me are you just a motor jockey or can you sail?’

‘Are you kidding me? I’m a Kiwi, of course, I can bloody sail.’

Will reached into his inside pocket and pulled out an envelope.

‘Now just a minute. I don’t want your bloody money. I did what I did because it was the right thing to do, and because that girl of yours gave me no choice.’ He smiled as he remembered the bikini-clad Stephanie urging him to go faster.

Will reached into the envelope pulled out a ticket and passed it across the table.

‘That is a business class ticket to cape town. My ketch Bee Jay II is out there. I’d like you to check her out and bring her home.’

Will placed two other items in front of Bruce an envelope and a card.

‘In the envelope, you will find one thousand pounds. I’d like you to find another three men to crew for you Bee Jay is capable of being sailed single-handed but until I get all the systems checked out, I’d feel happier if you had a full crew. You will probably need to pay off their debts before you can sail. They’ll be paid in full when they arrive in Ramsgate as will you.’

Bruce smiled, this man obviously knew sailors.

‘The card is a prepaid card with enough money on it to pay for provisions fuel and a little extra for emergencies.’

Finally, Will passed a single piece of paper across with a figure written on it.

‘And that is what I’m prepared to pay you to do the job.’

Bruce looked at the number on the paper and whistled. He looked across the table at Will.

‘You make it bloody hard for a bloke to say no.’

‘Then don’t.’ Will pulled another paper from the envelope. ‘This is a job description and salary details for a Job I will offer to you on your return. In short, it amounts to looking after Bee Jay, making sure she’s ready to sail when needed, hiring a crew and sailing her to wherever she’s needed. Effectively when I’m not on board, you will be her skipper. Think about it and give me your decision when you get back. Now, do we have a deal?’

‘I guess so yeah, I dunno I’m still reeling from the shock.’

‘Good, your plane leaves in a week. Make the most of what the hotel has to offer. Anything you want, charge it to the room. If you want to see a show or something, talk to the concierge and he’ll make the bookings.’

Will got up to leave and offered his hand. ‘I hope this is the start of a long and fruitful relationship.’ He said.

He took hold of his walking stick and started to walk away then turned back to Bruce.

‘I don’t know what happened between you and Stephanie, and I don’t want to know, but let’s be clear on one thing, from here on she is off limits okay?’

‘Yeah, No worries. I kinda got the idea that she’s a one man woman, you know?’

Will smiled and nodded. Bruce knew what was in that smile.

‘Say, have you two got something going? Well good on you. She’s a great girl.’

‘I know.’ Said Will. ‘It may have taken me a long time to realise it, but I do know.’

With that, the two men parted.

In the week following Amin’s call, Somalia was rarely out of the news. Both the tanker and the container ship were lost, and there had been a number of attacks along the coast and most of the boats used by the pirates had been destroyed. Just what Will’s involvement was, I wasn’t really sure, but he seemed quite satisfied with the way things were going. It was on the eighth day that he got the call that relieved all the tension. It came from Karl Hatcher and lasted less than a minute.

When he hung up the phone, Will smiled at me.

‘I think it’s almost over. Two maybe three days.’

‘Can I know about it now?’

‘I think you already do. You know what Hatcher deals in.’

‘You always said he deals in death.’

‘Well yes, he’s an arms dealer, but yes he’s been involved in trying to overthrow governments. He has used mercenaries to destabilise countries so that he can sell arms to both sides. For the last three weeks, his men have been destabilising the pirate gangs, setting them against each other. Now they all think that they need better armaments, radar equipment and training in their use. So far, the Kalashnikov and the rocket-propelled grenade have been sufficient, but now they think they need more. Guess who is going to supply them.’

‘Where do you fit in?’

‘I helped finance the mercenaries, on the condition that part of the price for the weapons, would be Samantha’s release. In the end, he will not make a lot of money out of it, but he’ll get a lot of kudos out of getting Sam released.’

‘But he’s not the type to worry about kudos.’

‘He is when he’s hankering after a knighthood. He can’t wait to be Sir Karl Hatcher and if he secures Sam’s release the press will love him and his knighthood will be in the bag.’

‘So how much has it cost you?’

‘About a million maybe less.’

I walked over plonked myself down in his lap and kissed him.

‘How would you like to take me home early?’

‘You know we can’t do that. We’ve got people to see this afternoon.’

I got up off his lap ran my hand over his cheek and chin before kissing him again.

That night in bed, as we lay together, I ran my fingers through his chest hair. I kissed his cheek then rested my head on his chest.

‘You took a big risk to get Sam back. If any of what you did gets out, you could go to prison.’

‘That’s why I used Hatcher. Despicable as he is, he has friends in high places. Nothing ever sticks to him. I know something about what he’s done but proving it is something else.’

I started to run my fingers down his side. I could feel the sheets starting to rise.

‘You still feel something for Sam don’t you?’

‘Of course, I do. I feel a bit responsible for her. If I’m honest, I married her because of what it did for my image. That’s not the right reason to get married. As you reminded me, I’ve been acting like a single man. I don’t think for a minute that she knew what Ryan had planned.’

I moved my hand lower so that my fingers caressed his erect penis.

‘Would you have done the same thing for me, If I was taken, hostage?’

‘For you, my love I’d have had a battalion of tanks rolling over that country, with me in the lead vehicle. I’d be one of the death or glory boys.’

I giggled and squeezed his cock. I started to move my head down to his waist. He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back up, and kissed me. First on the lips, then down my neck, working his way down to my breast. I pushed my head back and offered my breasts up to him as I began to tingle. He kissed and sucked on my nipples as I held on to his head as I felt his hand between my legs. I felt his fingers enter me and my back arched momentarily but as I relaxed back down he removed his fingers bring them up my slit pushing the lips wide. He started to kiss his way down to my waist, then his fingers found my little clitty and I felt my whole body shudder.

The tingling was gone, now it was a deep throbbing I wanted to tell him. Tell him that I needed him to fuck me, but I could feel his hot breath on my pussy as his fingers moved away from my clit. His head moved further down and I felt his tongue on my special little button as once more his fingers entered me. My hips thrusting up at him as he took my sensitive clit between his lips and started to suck as his fingers plunged in and out of me. He sucked harder and probed my button with his tongue. I pushed his head down.

‘Don’t stop! Don’t Stop! Don’t you ever stop.’ I cried out

He didn’t stop he was relentless I lost all control of my body. My insides were melting and I felt the most intense pleasure. I don’t know when I turned but I found myself with my legs wrapped around his head and I was looking straight at his hard dripping cock. I reached out, put my hand on his bum and pulled us closer together. I licked the dripping fluid from the tip and it jerked in reaction. I used my lips to push back his soft silky foreskin. Then he was in my mouth and I was sucking milking his prick. I felt his hand on my back. There was a warm feeling in my chest as he pulled me closer. I was returning the pleasure he had given me and it felt heavenly. He was still working on my clit and I felt myself starting again and I pushed my head further on to his manhood.

I pulled back off him gasping for air before the second orgasm hit me. He pulled me closer still as my whole body shuddered. I held him tight and licked his cock.

‘I really love you. I want to feel you inside me, make love to me Will please make love to me. ‘

He pulled his head from between my legs and moved back up the bed, He kissed me and pulled me over on top of him. As I guided him into me, I was in absolute heaven. He stroked and scratched my back before pushing a finger into my bum, driving me completely over the top. He started Thrusting up into me and I knew he was close. I felt everything get wetter and more slippery just before I came again. I lay on his chest and looked at his face.

‘Wow! What brought that on?’

He grinned at me.

‘Good then was it? You’re not tempted to go elsewhere in a hurry?’

‘I’m not going elsewhere, ever, I think Sam was mad.’

‘But you still think I should get her back?’

‘Yes I do and so do you. No one deserves what she is going through.’

‘Don’t worry, I have confidence in Hatcher. I can’t stand the man and I don’t trust him but I am confident in his ability to get what he wants.’

‘So it’s just a matter of time then?’

‘Probably a couple of days.’

He was right, two days later it was all over the news media. Karl Hatcher’s face was on the morning television as we were told the news.

‘There were surprise developments in the Samantha James kidnap case. Miss James, an actor, and married to millionaire businessman, Will Wainwright, turned up here at the British High Commission in Nairobi. Miss James arrived in the company of another businessman Karl Hatcher, who is understood to have negotiated her release.’

They then flashed to an impromptu press conference on the steps of the high commission.

‘How did you get involved?’

‘My good friend Mr Wainwright knew I had contacts in Somalia and asked if I would negotiate on his behalf, something I was more than happy to do.’

‘How much was the ransom, Mr Hatcher.’

‘I can categorically state that no ransom was paid. Mr Wainwright and I were in complete agreement that should be the case. Miss James was released as a gesture of goodwill.’

‘Do you know Miss James captors sir.’

‘Not personally no but I do have contacts in Somalia and thankfully I was able to bring pressure to bear. I think that’s all gentlemen. It’s been a hard day and I need to relax. Thank you for your attention.’

Will had a big smile on his face as he watched.

‘He knows how to work a crowd doesn’t he.’ He said

I had to agree with him. For a man who deals in death, Karl Hatcher came across as an upstanding concerned individual.

Shortly after the news bulletin ended, We got a call from inspector Davies. He told us that Sam would be staying at the high commission for a few days to get her in a better condition before they send her home.

‘We’ll meet her on the tarmac and take her into custody,’ he said. ‘I’ll keep you posted.’

When we left for work we had to run the gauntlet of reporters, ourselves. They stood outside Will’s apartment block yelling similar questions to the ones others had asked Hatcher. I was worried when one asked his question.

‘Mr Wainwright, did you want your wife back? Wouldn’t you be better off if they’d kept her?’

Will walked gradually over to the reporter.

‘Did you have to be taught to ask questions like that? Or were you just born stupid.’

Several of the reporters tittered but the reporter came back with.