Chapter 6

November 10, 20:50 SAST, Cape Town, Suburb of Newlands.

The four Pirelli high performance tires bit into the tar, and the Audi shot off backwards, catching the dude standing in the passenger door by surprise. The door hit him in the back and dragged him a few meters before his body flew off to the left, spinning around and dropping on his face, hitting the road surface hard.

The car’s nose turned to the right and caught the remaining three thugs, scattering them through the air and then dropping them to the ground. It happened so fast that not one of them could get a shot off or react by jumping aside.

The Audi’s capability of accelerating from zero to one hundred kilometres per hour in 5.7 seconds was evident even in the backward rush. I hit the brakes and dropped the gear lever back to drive, accelerating just as forcefully forward. The passenger door slammed shut, Mai-Loan, still sitting safely in the passenger seat, buckled up.

I turned the steering wheel back to straighten the car and drove past the unoccupied BMW standing across two lanes of the highway. It will be a while before the Beamer would move again.

Not more than twenty seconds elapsed since we stopped with the Beamer squarely across our front, and now sitting broadside to us. Had the Audi hit the Beamer, the impact would have been on Mai-Loan’s side of the car.

With a slight shake of the back end, the Audi straightened, and I drove around the Beamer. Now clearly blocked off towards the turn-off, I drove on, straight ahead. I had a plan to get rid of tail number two. I just hoped and prayed that the tail would fall for the ruse.

“Good call! Nice driving,” Mai-Loan said, and seemed not to be shaken by the incident. “Now to get rid of the slow coach behind us.”

“Let’s go fishing.”

“Fishing, my ass, get us out of here! I don’t want to use this forty-five again and regret the outcome!”

“I’ll play him like a fish, sit back and watch!” I chuckled. Mai-Loan smirked.

“How are you doing to do that?”

“I said: Sit back and watch. We have more horses here than he has, but I am going to lull him into thinking he is gaining.”

“Okay...” Mai-Loan said, not sounding convinced. I drove around the left bend in the road in front of us and followed the road up the rise towards Wynberg. I knew what was coming and hoped that the bozos behind me had no idea of the lay of the land, or were so engrossed in trying to catch us that they didn’t keep their eyes on the road.

Going up the hill, I saw the traffic lights at the top change from red to green. Whoa boy, here goes nothing. Slowly I increased the distance between us and the tail.

We rounded the right-hand curve at the top of the hill, and I accelerated along the straight. I knew that at the bottom of the hill next to Wynberg Park, the road turned sharply 90 degrees to cross a bridge; the start of the two lane M3 highway towards Steenberg and Muizenberg.

As we came to about eighty meters from the turn, I slowed the car, and the tail came up next to us on the right-hand side. I hit the brakes hard. Doofus and his buddies looked back at us and thus did not see either the turn or the bridge. Their car careered on. Too late they saw the bridge, and the 90-degree turn. They were too fast. Brake-lights came on, but it was too late.

The sound of smashing glass and bending, buckling and crumpling steel was overwhelming as the car hit the crash barrier. Its momentum carried it up and over the crash barrier, flipping it 180 degrees in the air to smash back end first into the high ground on the other side of the crash barrier. Then it continued summersaulting end over end down the incline of the hill, shedding pieces of metal and glass as it went.

I slowed to a crawl and drove past the crash site, avoiding the glass, metal debris and oil smear on the road surface. Mai-Loan took out her cell phone.

“Whatever are you doing?” I asked.

“Calling in the accident,” She nonchalantly said smiling, as she text-messaged a number. “Grumpy can do the honours. Let’s go home.”

“You got it girl! I’ve had enough excitement for one night!”

“Me too. I need Don now, to sooth my nerves, you know,” she sighed, and looked out the side window, holding her head with her right hand. There it is again. Don being her lover without Don’s wife caring about it. Living with Mai-Loan and their other partner. Don, his wife and two girlfriends.

I saw in the rear-view mirror the lights of a car coming around the corner at the top of the hill. That would be the Beamer, but by that time I was around the 90-degree turn over the bridge and on my way down the two lane M3.

I pushed the accelerator to the floorboards, and the Audi responded, lifting its nose and speeding up. The digital readout on the speedometer wound upwards to a hundred and ninety kilometres an hour. At the bottom of the hill, and going into the slight left-hand curve, we were doing two hundred, the lights of the Beamer only a dull glow behind us and disappearing fast as we rounded the curve.

“You can replace the forty-five in the console,” I said softly as we came towards the Kendal Road turn-off towards the suburb of Meadowridge.

“You’re turning off the highway?” Mai-Loan asked.

“Yip! Going back to the N2 by skipping through the suburbs here and joining the M5 highway.”

“You know this city?”

“Grew up here, in the southern suburbs. A long time ago...”

“Not longing to come back to the sea and the sun?”

“I have my place in Southbroom. Sea, sun, and unspoiled beach. It’s like they say in the song: Southbroom’s fine, sunshine most of the time. Palm trees grow, and the hangar rents are low. And the feeling is lay-back. Southbroom’s fine, but it ain’t home. Cape Town’s home, but it ain’t mine, no more...”

Giggle. “You changed the words. Making it your own and not Neil’s, Mai-Loan laughed, then continued after a short pause, “What happened, Ash?”

“Nothing much. She decided that her old school flame was a better choice, and now both are pushing up daisies in the Plumstead Garden of Remembrance ... We’ll be passing it as we turn into the final suburban road before the M5 highway.”

“You?” Mai-Loan asked with trepidation, her eyes wide, shining bright in the glow of the dashboard lights.

“No. Fast life. Drugs and alcohol. One night they missed that turn we took just now on the M3. Went straight into the support pillar of the bridge. Pieces of them, and the car, were scattered for sixty meters along the highway.”

“A burn the bitch story?”

“Nah, I don’t hold grudges. She was still alive when I got to the scene. Her last words to me were: ‘Sorry.’ And then she went. Right there on the tar of the M3 between the debris of the car. Minus her left arm and right leg...” I remembered, and after a pause, shook my head to clear the memory.

“There’s someone for everyone, and my love now is Angie. In her arms I don’t need to prove that I’m a man. It took a while, but I found my Angie...”

“And it’s taken you five years, and you have not proposed yet. Are you scared, Ash?”

“Sometimes...”

“Why? Are you afraid something might ... happen?”

“No, Angie won’t leave me, just that ... she is a lot younger than me. I might deprive her of her youth.”

“She’s twenty-five, Ash, and she’s living her life. She’s considered to be an adult, making her own decisions. Besides, she’s a PhD in Archaeology, flies seven aircraft types, of which one is a second-generation jet fighter. She chose you five years ago, you Doofus. She loves you, and you love her. How much young life does she need? I say propose to her, marry her, and live the good life together. You’re both short for nothing in life. Stop this dangerous detective spy shit. Stop it while you can and go and be good to Angie.”

“Yeah...”

“Ashwin Windsor! You’re what, forty-five? Angie is twenty-five, both your biological clocks are ticking. Get out of this current life, go marry Angie, and raise another pilot, or two, or three...”

After that speech, Mai-Loan slumped into her seat. Why she doesn’t follow her own advice, or was she referring to herself? Get Don to give her a baby? Who knows? Life can be such a mystery.

Grumpy Charley was not impressed by our run-in with the street gang; that much was clear when I got the call. Mai-Loan sat silently, listening to Grumpy and me on the car’s Bluetooth connection.

“So, you let Mai-Loan light up their asses?”

“What else could I do, I was driving and Mai-Loan’s a big girl; she can do whatever she likes. Besides, there were mitigating circumstances. Someone in the back of the Beamer tried to light up our asses.”

“But now the opportunity to get close to Williams and his cronies is up in smoke!”

“Up in smoke is the right term. One of his cars is totalled, and he needs to replace the back window on his Beamer. That will keep him busy and out of mischief for a while.”

“Well, we then just have to go to plan ‘B.’”

“You had a plan ‘A?’”

“I always have a plan ‘A,’” Grumpy said, as always keeping his voice level.

“So, what is plan ‘B’?”

“Wait on his next move. But with the ‘Rising Sun’ clown in the picture, we have double trouble. Nakamura now knows that Mai-Loan is in Cape Town, and Williams is still searching for Angie.”

“It was YOUR idea to take Mai along to the nightclub.”

“I know! Maybe you should have taken Leah or Olivia, or maybe Darya.”

“Not Nadia?” Chuckle.

“NO! She’s a redhead too, and looks like Angie’s twin sister. It would have complicated things.”

“And this doesn’t complicate things?”

“Yeah.”

“Charley ... you just gave me an idea.”

“What idea? What are you planning now?”

“Go visit Williams’ establishment with both Angie and Nadia in tow.”

“You’re crazy!” Grumpy Charley exclaimed, but Mai-Loan perked up in the passenger seat, smiling.

“It will confuse the chocolate brownie completely.” Chuckle.

“No! I forbid it.”

Mai-Loan spoke up, “Why not? Give me ten reasons. The first nine don’t count,”

I smirked. At least Mai is on my side.

“You think it’s a good idea, Mai-Loan?” Grumpy Charley asked.

“It is a great idea, and we could speed up the solution. Draw Williams out in the open for a free-for-all, and terminate the asshole.”

“Spoken like a true strategist!” I interjected.

“You are both certifiable. Loony. Crazy. Beyond any help medicine could supply,” Grumpy sighed. “Let me go consult with a 21-year-old and get back to you. But do nothing until I contact you.”

“You’re going to consult a Glenlivet?”

“It makes me relax, while I sit in my recliner and ponder the issue at hand.”

“Oh brother,” I sighed.

“What? Don’t YOU do it?”

“Yes, but Glenfiddich is much wiser,” I needled back.

“Loony, Crazy, I need to euthanize you. Put you out of your misery...”

“Darya loves me.”

“But there’s still Nadia...”

“Go, get your bottled advice. I’m tired and need a shower.”

“Take good care of my girls...” Grumpy had the last word and disconnected. I had a distinct feeling that Charley will go along with my plan, but it still needs refining.

“You really are going to do it?” Mai-Loan asked.

I looked across the cabin at her. “Why not? I’ll have Leah, Olivia, Darya, Nadia and YOU as backup!”

“The Angels working together as a team. That will be fun.” Mai-Loan chortled. “I better get my nine-millimetre serviced...”

Mai-Loan thought the confrontation was going to be fun, and I was thinking that maybe I blabbed my mouth before I thought the thing through. Still, let’s see where it goes. “You can always borrow that 1911 in the console, seeing you are so proficient with it,” I laughed.

At that point we were turning off the M5 onto the N2, and Overberg base. I set the auto-cruise at 127 kilometres an hour. On this car, 127 km/h is spot on to the speed limit of 120 km/h on the GPS. (75 mph) Car speedometers are always a little optimistic because so many drivers are ‘lead footed’. Except the Ford F250 that lags a bit and had me red-faced looking at a traffic official with a smile on his face, pen poised over a citation.

Athlone, Cape Town International airport, and Somerset West slipped into our wake, and I glanced over to a silent Mai-Loan in the passenger seat. The Dark Angel is human after all, for she kicked off her shoes, placed her tiny feet up on the dashboard, and leaned back against the headrest with her eyes closed, dozing. Her head tilted to the right, her hands folded in her lap, and her long black hair half obscured her face. Her long skirt had ridden up above her knees. Nice shapely legs, at least the part I saw.

It was after 21:00 and Sir Lowery’s Pass, rising to 1485 feet above sea level was still ahead, about halfway to Bredasdorp and home base. Still, the GPS displayed another two hours and one hundred and sixty kilometres to go, as the Strand slipped to the back into our wake. The turn-off to Hermanus was about three kilometres ahead, but we won’t be taking the scenic route. No, we’ll stay on the N2, a much faster and shorter way. I settled in for a quiet ride, wondering if sweet Angie was still awake.

The vision of her in her “invisible nighttime attire” painted a vivid picture in my mind, making me hunger to disconnect the cruise control and just press the accelerator to the floorboards. The Audi purred on, the sound of the tires on the road making me drowsy. Time for some music.

I pushed a button on the steering wheel and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture poured out the six speakers. Yeah! This will keep me awake, especially the digitized cannon fire at time mark 12 minutes. This piece of music evokes all the emotions in me, from happiness to sadness, from love to hate, and at the end, surprise, admiration and a serene quiet feeling of; “I am ... I said ... I am.”

November 10, 23:40 SAST, Overberg ex-military base.

Opening the garage door with the remote control, I turned into the driveway and stopped. Mai-Loan, now half awake, mumbled a thanks and a good night, got out, and made for her house. It was 23:40, and way past her normal bedtime.

I garaged the car, closed the door again, and went through the side door that opened into the kitchen. Three coffee mugs were on the kitchen island top, and coffee was brewing in the peculator. No sign of any life form. Oh, well, let me go see if I can find them.

Angie closed her book she was reading as I stumbled into the lounge area. Surprise! Darya, not Nadia, was dozing on the couch, but stirred as I came in. She stretched herself, arms above her head, yawned, and curled her toes.

“Hi you sleepy heads. You should not have waited up for me.”

“Oh, I just know you would want coffee to revive yourself,” Angie replied and got up. Okay, she was in her pyjamas: a short pants and T-shirt set, showing off those slender legs. She still retained that tomboyish look of so many years ago. Oh, how I miss those ‘Hello Kitty’ pyjamas she used to wear in Namibia. It made her look even younger than her then twenty years of life on this planet.

“Hello, Ash, Darya greeted, I’ll go pour us some coffee.” She got up from the couch and went out to the kitchen. She too was barefoot and in her pyjamas: some long T-shirt thing that reached to her knees with “Go ahead, make my night!”, printed in glitter over her chest. Her toenails were painted pink. Wow, like Mai-Loan, Darya was human after all. I suppose all the angels were human at heart and just normal everyday girls. I wonder if that applies to Leah and Olivia. Nadia showed her girly side long ago, teaming up with Dave, Lucy and Lisa.

“Have things changed while I was gone? Where’s Nadia?” I asked.

“Kiss me first, and then I will explain.” Right, a paint-peeling kiss followed and “Hmm” escaped out of Angie’s lips as we came up for air, a minute or so later.

“Now that is what I call a kiss, Mister ‘Running-the-streets-at-night’,”

“Yip, I missed you too. So, what’s happening here?”

“I swapped Nadia for Darya. It was a mutual consensus. Two redheads in one household are a recipe for disaster,” Angie said, still holding on tight to me with her arms around my waist and her head on my chest. I was pondering the “household” part of her statement.

“Oh boy! And you think with Darya here it will be any better?”

“Of course, it will! We are the best of buddies.”

“How the best of buddies?”

“We get along well and share some of the same interests...”, looking up at me with eyelashes fluttering, and a devious smile on her lips.

“I’m too tired to get you to explain that. Now let’s get something to wake me up. I had a stressful evening.”

“I’ll make it better ... later,” Angie hinted. Her head tilted to the side as she pouted her lips and fluttered her eyelashes.

I was melting.

“I thought you said you will be waiting in bed in your invisible nighttime attire?”

Giggle. “It’s more fun if you unwrap me. Getting me out of that G-suit was so much fun. I thought of putting it on again, just so you could take it off!”

“Yeah, it was many laughs and giggles,” I said, kissing her special place in the nape of her neck.

She squealed. “Stop it! You’re making me ticklish.”

And I kissed her on the other side of her neck. And another squeal escaped her lips.

“Ashwin Andrew Windsor! Don’t let me do something you will be regretting. I know your tickle spot.”

“Oh, please do it...” I said.

“Then let’s get Darya to bed first,” she said, and then blushed. “Oh, that did not come out right, did it?” Giggle.

“No, it did not, but I will rephrase it for you. Let’s go put the KID to bed.”

“Kid, my ass! I’ll go willingly and leave you two to get on with your oochie-oochie,” Darya interjected from the door. “Here’s your coffee. I don’t want any now, else I’ll get up too much in the night.”

We just looked at Darya’s smirking face, as she placed the two mugs on the coffee table.

“Night Mummy,” she murmured, and kissed Angie on the cheek. “Night Daddy.” And I got a peck on the cheek as well. Perplexed, I stood watching as Darya fluttered out of the lounge to her room. Angie giggled.

“Drink your coffee,” Angie said handing me a mug. “THEN we can go oochie-oochie.” Giggle.

November 11, 08:40 SAST, Overberg ex-military base.

There was an air of disbelief in the kitchen. Angie and Nadia sat next to one another on stools at the breakfast nook. I asked them both to dress in the same outfits. The result was two girls in Angie’s everyday knocking-about-togs: blue denim jeans, T-shirt and athletic running shoes. I also had them comb and brush their hair in the same style. Two pairs of emerald-green eyes looked at me with a shine of amusement reflecting out of them.

I sat opposite them, with Lorie and the rest of the Angels gathered at my back.

“I feel like a bug under a microscope,” Angie protested after a while, fidgeting with her hands.

“You said it, sister. What is this all about, Ash?” Nadia shot off.

“You two have a double date with Ash,” Mai-Loan smirked. “Jeez, Ash, I never doubted you for a minute, but now that I see it before my own eyes, these two could be real twins.”

“They do look like identical twins. Rare, but true,” I said.

“Okay! Spill it. What is this double date thing about?” Nadia asked, still a little edgy about the situation.