Chapter 12

The expression on Angie’s face was one of disbelief. She looked at me with her mouth half-open.

“The coordinates? How?”

“Close that safe and bring the letter. Let’s go and see if my gut feeling is correct,” I said. Angie closed the safe and locked it. She spun the combination dial a few times then got off the bed. I replaced the painting over the wall safe. Angie took the envelope and replaced the journal copy into it. Clutching the envelope and the little velvet box, we both went out to the study, Angie leading the way.

In the study, Angie opened a desk drawer and took out a calculator. I took it from her and sat down at the desk with Angie hovering over my shoulder.

“January 1922. If the year and month were the same ... Hmm.”

“What?”

“Take my cell phone. There’s a map app on it. Open it,” I said.

“Okay,” Angie said and with trembling hands took my cell phone, looked at the icons, and opened the mapping app.

“Right, the root of all evil ... square root of 666 ... it’s 25.8069. Now your grandfather’s year is 1922 and the month is January. So let’s try 221,” I said. Angie did not say a word, but I could see in her eyes that she was nervous.

“The square root of 221 is, 14.8660. YES! Latitude and longitude. South -25.8069, East 14.8660, let’s type it into the search function on the map.”

Angie typed the reference into the search function and then pressed the search icon. The map zoomed in, stabilized, and placed a marker at the intersection of the coordinates.

“It’s on the Skeleton Coast! Four hundred and twenty-two metres or so offshore!” she exclaimed, “In what looks like 30 feet of water. That’s only eight kilometres from the wreck of the Otavi in Spencer Bay!”

“That desert sand encroaching on the sea, thing? Well, in seventy years it brought the sub closer to the beach, or the beach closer to the sub ... whatever,” I said.

“This is huge, Ash!”

“Yes, Angie. This is huge, but don’t get too excited. The sub, although offshore, could be covered with tonnes of sea sand. Stuff that needs to be removed with the use of something like a dredging ship.”

“So, what do we do?”

“Have breakfast. I want a nice coffee and two pancakes with a breakfast filling.”

“Typical male. Think of your tummy all the time!” Angie said. “I mean what do we do about the sub?”

“We’ll think it over and run the idea by an old friend of mine. He’s an expert in marine salvage.”

“And Mom and Dad. We know where they are ... Let’s go get them!”

“Slowly there, pumpkin. There are thugs guarding them. We need some help in that regard. People with big guns and the know-how to get them out safe.”

“I haven’t seen them in three years! They may be injured and in pain. I’m worried about them.”

“I know little one. But let’s not rush things. I think we should get them first before we go for the sub, but let’s do it with a thought-out plan. We need to first see how many thugs there are around. How they are armed, and some other details.”

“You know best...” Angie sighed. “But, how?”

“Leave the ‘how’ and the ‘when’ to me. I think I have a plan there too.”

“You’re not just a pilot, Ash?”

“No, Angie. I’m just a guy that knows how to do things.”

“And I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. But you need to refine things. Having experience and not making mistakes that could be fatal. I’ve been there, done it, got the scars to prove it...”

“Ash...”

“Yes, Angie?”

“No ... No ... Never mind...” she said, looking away. Something on her shoe was taking her attention. I think I know what she wanted to say, but let’s just leave it there for a moment.

“Let’s go get breakfast and get out of here. It’s safer to be on the move and not stay in one place too long,” I said.

Angie looked up. “Okay ... Let’s go.”

Angie directed me to a little café in Sam Nujoma Avenue. The little café, painted in happy light brown, orange and off-white and with the name prominently displayed, was a cozy place with real wood furniture.

On a wooden board were the business hours: “We open when we get here. We close when we leave.” Okay, this sounds like a “me place”. The staff were all dressed in happy orange-coloured shirts and black aprons, blue denims, and as on the outside, the interior was painted yellow and desert brown. Warm colours, radiating the “happy and welcome” feeling.

We were soon seated and served, and a giggling Angie ordered sweet pancakes and coffee for her. I went with the “Village Breakfast.” Change of plan, but the smell radiating from the kitchen had me hooked.

Halfway through our meal, my cell phone chimed an incoming message. Okay, this could be important. It was.

“Suggest you have the girl at the Swakop airport at 10:00. You, yourself, be prepared to board an aircraft bound for Windhoek.”

Okay. I wondered what “Charley” had in mind. With him anything is possible. I have long ago learned to be ready at a moment’s notice while on an assignment for him.

“Angie, you got everything you need?” I asked.

“Yes. Why?”

“Because the two of us are going somewhere. Where, I don’t know yet, but we are going somewhere.”

“That sounds mysterious. Are you abducting me?”

“I don’t know. We’ll find out at 10:00 at the airport.”

“Will we be flying?”

“Sounds like it.”

“Ash, are you a private investigator, a private eye?”

“Sometimes I am, sometimes not.”

“And now?”

“Shall we say I am doing a ‘friend’ a favour?”

“And who is that friend?”

“You.”

“Don’t play games with me, Ashwin Windsor, if that is your real name! Tell me who and what you are!” Angie said, and I could see the fire in her eyes. No time to play games.

“My name is Ashwin Andrew Windsor. I am not related to the Queen of England, and I sometimes, when I feel like it, do private investigations for concerned parties. Now I am contracted to salvage and recover a certain aircraft out of the desert and find the owners of said aircraft. That is my primary mission,” I said and sighed.

Angie looked at me with a blank expression on her face. “So someone paid you to get the DC-3 out of the desert and find my parents. Why did you not tell me that the first time we met?”

“Angie, I am deep undercover. I did not know you and I could not compromise my mission.

“Am I your mission too?”

“What do you mean by, ‘my mission too’?”

“Were you paid to befriend me?”

“No, It just happened,” I sighed.

“Good answer! Now, the truth: What is your other mission? You said to get the DC-3 out and find my parents, were your primary mission. What is your secondary mission?”

“To find out how the conflict diamonds from Angola and The Democratic Republic of the Congo end up in one Roland Rothman’s consignments, sold to the diamond traders in Windhoek,” I said and finished my coffee. Angie was silent, just staring down into her empty coffee mug.

“Sorry Angie,” I said.

“When were you planning on telling me?”

“I came close to telling you a few times.”

“But you held off. If Max was successful in kidnapping me, I could have spilled the beans. Am I correct?”

“Maybe. But Max will not kidnap you while I’m around.”

“It may still happen.”

“No, now that they’ve got the diamonds, they don’t need you or the DC-3,” I said, trying to soothe her. I knew she was still in danger of being abducted. The location of the Sub U-398 and the conflict diamonds were two different things.

“It can. To force my parents to tell them the location of the sub, they still need me.”

“That’s why I think this friend of mine wants us to take a ride in an aircraft. Go away where Max and his cronies can’t touch you. Especially now that you know the location of the sub too. I think now that my friend knows where your parents are, he is planning something.”

“Such as?”

“Getting them safely out.”

“Can he do that?”

“He has the means and the resources. He can do it.”

“And we just go and hide, until...”

“Until we know your parents are safe.”

“And then? What does Ashwin Windsor plan on doing with Angie? Just leave her in the desert...?”

“No. If Angie is of the same mind, Ashwin will catch a falling star and put her in his pocket...”

“Save her for a rainy day?”

“No, treasure her and cuddle her...”

“Thanks, Ashwin Andrew Windsor, not related to the Queen. Maybe that falling star would want to be kept in a pocket, treasured, and cuddled. One never knows ... what else could be in that star’s pocket of dreams...”

“Angie, now is not the right time. Let’s discuss this some other time.”

“Yes. Some other time. Don’t wait too long though. If Desert Roses don’t get the occasional rain, they wither and die...” Green eyes turning deep emerald green and soft, melting me.

We paid our breakfast bill. Okay, of course I paid for Angie’s breakfast as well. We left for Angie’s house. It was a risk to go back to the house, but we did not plan on going anywhere else than back to the guest house. There were a few things she needed to get. I noticed she had the gold and ruby ear-studs in her ears, also the locket on its gold chain around her neck. As we drove towards her house, Angie was fingering the locket, looking out the window lost in thought.

The final run-through at Angie’s house produced a suitcase full of clothes and things a girl needs. One never knows.

“Is there a ball gown in here?” I asked as I wrestled the suitcase into the rental car’s little boot.

“Could be.” Giggle.

“Damn, this thing is heavy.”

“Well, get used to it. Girls are high maintenance.” Giggle.

“Yeah, Miss High Maintenance, get in. We have an appointment to keep and if we fly, hope that they don’t throw half your unmentionables out due to weight restriction.”

“They wouldn’t dare! They save on weight with me!”

“Oops. Don’t go there. A girl’s weight is top secret, and one can get shot for mentioning it.”

“Well, I don’t mind, I weigh forty kilograms!”

“Eighty-eight pounds. Lightweight. Okay, you win. Airlines think all adult female passengers weigh 146 pounds. So you can argue that they save fifty-eight pounds with you. More than enough to account for your baggage.”

Giggle.

Don’t giggle. It’s serious. A glitch in the booking software of an airline once caused all females registered as “Miss” to be regarded as children. Therefore, when the plane took off it weighed one tonne more than what the pilot thought. It nearly crashed and caused some red faces somewhere. So seriously, don’t fool around with weight when an aircraft is concerned,” I told her, and she just looked at me with a grin on her face.

“All the females on the plane weighed one ton! Seems like there were only females on that plane, but if that glitch is still around, I’ll have no weight problem!”

“Oh, brother! Let’s go.”

“Heigh-ho, Silver!” Angie exclaimed. She seems to change moods quickly. I like the mood she’s in now.

On the drive to the airport, we went by the guest house to book out and pay the bill. Another bag for Angie needed to go on the back seat of the rental car. These Japanese sub-compacts are just an excuse not to walk, nothing else.

Back in the car and off we went to the Swakop airport. While I was parking, I saw a Cessna 210 Centurion II parked on the apron. Overall white with sky blue trimmings, the registration, ZS-JDG, in white on the back fuselage. I smiled. It looks like the cavalry has arrived. Let’s see what “Charley,” had planned. It was just before 10:00 when we entered the airport terminal building.

Walking into the building, I saw the familiar face of one Laurin Singer, a tall, dark-headed woman of thirty. No one knows her real age, but I do. She looked to be in her late twenties, and she had the most beautiful amber eyes. One myth about people with amber eyes are that they possess supernatural powers. Nope. Not true. Another myth is that amber eyed people make the best lovers. I would not know, although Lorie does kiss good. How would I know? Well, wait for it.

Dressed in a khaki-coloured shirt and multi-pocketed cargo shorts, with brown leather boots and aviator sunglasses, one would not mistake her for being from anywhere else than Africa. Her skin was tanned light brown, suggesting that she spends many hours outdoors. Her shoulder-length dark brown hair was tied back with a yellow scarf.

“At Last! I was getting dried biltong out here. Hi, I’m Lorie.” She said and stuck her hand out to Angie while looking at me. “Is this my new friend for a while, Ash?”

“Angelique Rothman. Call me Angie,” Angie said and returned the greeting. “And why a friend for a while?”

“Oh, darling we are going for a holiday,” Lorie said, and then softer to Angie, “Somewhere north where the baddies won’t find you that easy. Right, Ash? I smiled. I was happy that Grumpy old Charley chose Lorie to guard Angie. One could not ask for a better person for this mission.

“Good to see you too, Lorie. It’s been a while, and yes, I’ve got no clue about your destination, but please see to it that our girl is safe and out of danger,” I said, giving Angie’s shoulder a little squeeze.

Angie looked up at me and smiled. Lorie picked up on it. She was always the observant one on the team.

“I’ll take good care of her Ash.” And she turned to Angie. “Angie, I take it you know how to handle a firearm. Our friend-in-high-places told me that you can.”

“Yes,” I answered Lorie, “She can and will, but she needs some backup and that’s you. So I take it I’m not going along on your holiday?”

“Nope, just us girls. Our mutual friend has other plans for you, mister big boy pilot.”

“And here I thought I would be lazing around a pool with two beautiful girls.”

“Hey! Watch it. I’m not going anywhere on holiday with you!” Lorie said and winked at Angie.

Angie giggled.

“So, how will I get to know his plans?”

“Walk over to the departures desk and get your ticket in your name to Windhoek. Just go to Windhoek and all will become clear,” Lorie said.

“Okay. Then it’s goodbye for now,” I said.

“Ash?” Angie said and grabbed my arm. “When...”

“Oh, don’t fret Angie. You’ll see Ash sooner than you could say, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”

“Huh?” Angie managed to say.

“Ja, maybe a day or two at the most, and he’ll come to get you,” Lorie said.

“I think the two of you will get along just fine,” I laughed. “She said: ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,’ that means you are above beauty, delicate to atone, and educatable. Go Google it.” I said to Angie.

“Whatever, Is there ever a word like that?” Angie said, looking a little bewildered.

“Ask Mary Poppins. It’s to describe something you can’t describe,” I said.

“Like saying something when you say nothing at all?” Angie said.

“Maybe, but I stand by my translation of the word: extraordinarily good; wonderful,” I said.

“Shall I leave you two to say goodbye then? I’ll go check the aircraft,” Lorie laughed “Ash, bring her and her stuff out to the Cessna when you two are done,” Lorie walked away, smirking and waving over her shoulder. She’s a good judge of people. Has she noticed some chemistry between Angie and me?

“What was THAT?” Angie asked.

“That was Lorie. You’ll come to love her,” I said.

“Old flame?”

“Nope. That one is way too wild for me,” I said.

“And I? Am I not a wild one too?”

“Remember Lorie said; ‘educatable.’ So, that means, you’re trainable.”

“Beast!” Angie exclaimed and whacked me on my arm.

“Ow!”

Giggle.

“Okay, Let’s get you going,” I said, rubbing my arm.

“What now? Am I to go with that one and leave you here?”

“Angie, I need to know you are safe. Go with Lorie, she’ll be your bodyguard. She’s good and well-trained. Just do everything she tells you, and you will be fine.”

“If you say so...” Angie sighed.

“Angie, it is the best. I know you are going to be fine and safe.”

“And you? What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Where are we going, do you know?”

“No. They did not say.”

“Who’s they?”

“Friends.”

“You know I trust you, Ash.”

“And I don’t want to lose you. So go with Lorie, and I’ll come to get you in a day or two.”

“Ash...”

“Angie, you better go now. I don’t know where you are going but go there and wait. This thing will be over soon. Then we take it from there.”

“I’m going to miss you...”

“Yes Angie, I’ll miss you too. For more than a week now, we’ve been practically together all the time.”

“Promise me, you’ll come to get me...”

“I will. Just let me find out what Grumpy wants me to do. I hope it’s not going to take too long. Then I’ll come to get you, wherever that may be.”

“Take me to the plane...”

“Let’s go. I hate a long goodbye.”

Giggle.

And this time as we walked out on the apron towards the Cessna, Angie had her hand hooked inside my arm. I carried her suitcase and other loose things. Lorie saw us coming from where she sat straddled over the Cessna’s engine cowling, cleaning the windshield. She looked up, smiled, and winked at me.