Chapter 9

Wolvenkopft Manor, Constantia.

As predicted, the Southeaster started to blow at around eleven o’clock with just a slight breeze at first. But as the clouds started to accumulate at the back of Muizenberg Mountain and blew over the top to disappear halfway down the slopes, the Southeaster blew harder, threatening a gale to come. Yet, on this moment it was still clear on the slopes of Constantia Mountain.

Slightly to the south-west, right on the crest of Constantia Mountain, the old FM and TV transmission tower stood unswerving in the wind. Sixteen anchor cables the thickness of a man’s forearm held the three-hundred-foot steel tower secure. It was built fifteen years before I was born, and the red and white painted tower has withstood all kinds of foul weather since then.

Towards mid-afternoon, the dead seemed to awaken slowly. First was Ash to emerge, followed by Roxy. Andrea was a little later in reviving. All three were dead hungry and attacked the lunch that was set aside for them as if they never had food before.

I read the news article in the newspaper with little bit of a chuckle. “Prominent Cape Town Advocate perishes in gas blast,” was blazed across the front page, and a very old photo of myself was printed underneath. The article itself just gave a little run-down of the event without going into much detail.

“ ... Funeral arrangements will be communicated later...” Ash said, as he dropped into a chair across from me on the patio.

“Yeah, and can I attend?” I chuckled.

“You can watch from a distance ... We’ll stream it on Zoom for you.”

“Did you sleep well, Ash?”

“Sort of. I still feel a little groggy.”

“Just get some wind. The Southeaster will do you good.”

“Are you okay now?”

“Yeah, just a little stiff, but the headache is gone. The cut is still a little tender, but there seems to be no infection or anything biological taking up residence there.”

“Good. You feel like discussing the next steps?”

“Yes, we better get our act together. We are behind schedule...” I replied and dropped the newspaper onto the coffee table.

“There’s a new development. Angie has a bee in her bonnet about some minerals on Morningside, and if she is correct, your little girlfriend will be a rich girl.”

“Angie told me. So, what is your take on it?”

“First things first, Dusty. I’m assigning the Angels and some of the TC Rangers to take Andrea to Fishhoek. She will attend a board meeting and lay out the terms and conditions of the new management.”

“Okay ... but what about Angie’s visit to the farm?”

“That can wait a day or two ... No rush ... What do you know of mineral rights?”

“You’ve been reading my mail ... All mineral rights in the country, by default, belong to the State. So, if Andrea’s father did not purchase the mineral rights, and there’s nothing described in a clause on the deed, then no-one - owner or sub-contractor - may prospect for any substance on the land, or under it.”

“And furthermore, they need a prospector’s licence first, before any shovel hits the soil...”

“Exactly!”

“So, Andrea goes in with the backup of the Angels and fires the old board.”

“Ash, you think she can do it?”

“Yes! You’ve not seen her clawing at me to get to you. I did not even have time to tell her you were, shall we say, dead.”

“Lucky I missed it...” Chuckle.

“Not funny! If I did not read her correctly, I would have thought she’d be a spoiled little rich bitch, a few spankings short of good manners!”

“Really! Wish I was a fly on the wall...”

“I saw the same fire and determination in her as in Angie. One redhead and one blond, but both little chilli-pepper-pips!”

“Are you going to brief her?”

“Not alone; both of us will do that. You have all the corporate knowledge to give her specific pointers.”

“When?”

“As soon as possible.”

“And when is my resurrection due? I’m getting bored here out in the cold.”

Chuckle. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“Are Roxy and Bushy going to join the troop too?”

“Yes. Roxy is still assigned as Miss Louw’s personal assistant.”

“She looks so sweet and innocent...”

“Still waters, deep ground, and underneath the devil dances around and around.”

“You would not say...”

“Roxy knows the sharp end from the blunt end of a firearm. She once took out a Cape Flats gang leader, and in Somalia, she took out a rough ex Mossad operative. Don’t ever underestimate her.”

“I say no more ... See no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.”

“One can see that you are a lawyer,” Ash replied and got up. “Come! Let’s go for a walk. I want to go show you what I hide in that funny shed over on the other side of the pool.”

“It’s a secret; with a concrete slab in front of it with a painted yellow circle, and a big letter H in the middle? It looks suspiciously like a helipad to me...”

“No, no secret. But the noise taking off and landing establishes my credentials with the neighbours, and conflict sometimes!” he laughed.

“Oh brother...” I sighed, got up and followed Ash.

“The one I am good with, the other was part of the inventory Angie and I inherited from Grumpy, and I’m not type rated to fly it.”

“Well, we can see to that little detail. What is it?”

“A Eurocopter EC-135...”

“You are kidding me!”

Ash looked at me with a smirk on his face: “I’m not kidding you, and I also had some info from a small little birdie that you, my legal eagle friend, are type rated on it...”

“You know too much about me...” I said under my breath.

“Yeah, but it is my job to know who and what I’m dealing with.”

“Don’t get any ideas! I have not flown one of those eggbeaters in the last six months.”

“Well, we can see to THAT little detail...” he chuckled and repeated my words to him from a moment ago. By this time, we had arrived at the shed that looked more like a huge steel constructed hangar than a garden shed.

He unlocked a little hatch on the side and pressed a green button. Some electric motor noise resulted in both hanger doors sliding open. He stepped inside and flicked on some light switches and blinding overhead floodlights lit up the interior of the structure.

Standing side by side, facing outwards were two helicopters. One an EC-135 and the other a bright Arctic white and day-glow red AS332J Super Puma. I stood frozen to the spot. Gathering dust here in the “garden shed,” stood over two to three hundred million Rand’s worth of flying machines.

“Damn!” I exclaimed.

Ash laughed.”Leah, Olivia, Lorie and I fly the big bird. Nobody flies the EC, although Ronny is drooling to get his hand on it.”

“Who’s Ronny?”

“Darya’s boyfriend. You’ll meet them all.”

“How current is the EC?”

“Two thousand hours since new. Last time she flew was about six months ago. But she’s in tip-top shape.”

“I’ll have to have her checked out...”

“National Airways Corporation has a maintenance team at Cape Town International. I’ll call them...”, and he grinned and looked sideways at me.

“Yeah! Okay! I’m sold. I’ll fly her for you...”

“Another mission accomplished...” Ash said. “Let’s go find something cold for the throat. Only Coke for you!”

“I don’t take Metronidazole. I’m good with a shot of whisky!”

“Metronidazole? Oh, yeah, the stuff they give to alcoholics to dry them out.” Chuckle.

“Yeah, it’s the active ingredient in some antibiotics like Flagyl. If the doc prescribes Flagyl to you, stay off the alcohol, or you’ll be so sick you’ll be afraid that you’ll never die...”

Well, okay then. Grumpy left a stash of Glenlivet fifteen-year-old. We better finish it before we get to the good stuff. Anyway, we’re alone around here. The girls have taken Andrea shopping for an outfit for tomorrow when she hits the boardroom.”

“Oh brother! We don’t need to put emphasis on her beauty. AND, be nice! I happen to like Glenlivet Whisky...”

“You’re entitled to your taste in poison ... Anyway, I think Andrea’s outfit will be something very ‘corporate,’ as I have come to know Angie.”

“You ever hear from Charley?”

“Sometimes, if he remembers to keep his sat phone on. Last time, about two months ago he was in Panama City on his way to Honolulu and then on to Nha Trang in Vietnam. I think his sweetie is a bit homesick, and he’ll take her there for a visit.”

“They say sailing is fun, but I think when I retire, I’ll just pull a John Travolta on myself and get me a nice jet, like a seven forty-seven and convert it to a BBJ. Travel the world, you know?” I sighed and Ash just looked sideways at me.

“No farming?”

“Oh, that too ... Raise some sheep ... cattle ... chickens ... One never knows ... I’ll just see where the wind blows me...”

“And the little blond, what about her?”

“We’ll see where it goes. I’m not banking on anything. Tomorrow she’ll find someone her own age, and I’ll be just a memory, a summer fling...” I sighed.

“Don’t be so sure. I see the writing on the wall for you.”

“You think?”

“Angie is never wrong ... She took Psychology as a filler subject. She’s quite good at it too.”

“I thought she’s a geologist?”

“Double major, Geology and Archaeology. PhDs in both, thanks to Charley’s funding, but she took Psychology to fill out her curriculum during her undergrad course in Archaeology.”

“Damn! And she wants to marry you? I think she missed a lecture or two during her Psychology classes! Something about; ‘recognising old men with intentions towards tender young maidens’.”

“If I did not know you so well, I could have taken that in a wrong way. Besides, what are your intentions towards a certain blond young maiden?”

“Honourable and true; not taking advantage of her.”

“Oh, and I took advantage of Angie? I think not, mate. I think we both, you and me, have fallen into a neatly spun web by crafty and resourceful lovely women...”

“You make it sound like they are spiders.”

“Nah, I just love Angie ... Love her to bits...”

The afternoon became windy, and misty clouds cascaded over the mountain range to the south, and along the back of Wolvenkopft Manor. South of the radio tower on Constantia Mountain and just under the crest was Elephant’s Eye, a hollow cave in the side of the mountain.

The name of the cave came as no surprise when you look at Constantia Mountain from the valley beneath. The mountain looks like a side view of an elephant, with the rounded back of the animal, and just in front of the ears on the down slope where you expect the animal’s eye to be is the cave entrance. Oh, the wonders of nature, but right now, it was covered in foggy misty clouds.

“We better get going to Newlands. The girls will go directly there after their shopping spree,” Ash remarked, and we both got up from our patio chairs and went off to the garage at the back of the manor house.

“It is the best if Andrea gets her brief there, when all the Angels and TC’s squad are around,” Ash continued. “We’ll use blue bird...”

“Blue bird?” I queried.

“You’ll see...” Ash chuckled, and he opened the garage. Stunned I stood with open mouth staring into the brightly lit garage. Facing me, with its sleek wedged shape front end in a dark metallic blue, a Lamborghini Countach LP500 turbo S stood dazzling in the bright light. Ash chuckled.

“Four-point eight litre V-12 rear-mid mounted engine, rear-wheel-drive. Zero to one hundred in four point five seconds. Top speed three hundred and thirty kilometres an hour or two hundred and eight miles an hour.” Ash enlightened me as he opened the scissor type doors, folding them upwards along the body of the car. “Not the fastest car around, but I love the design. It looks mean!”

“It must have set you back a few bucks?” I commented, thinking of my yellow canary that’s still with the service guys for its two-thousand-kilometre maintenance.

“Nah, I did what TC did. I bought it second hand.”

“TC’s got one too!”

“Nope, he’s got a Corvette, and tried to challenge me in a race with the Puma.”

“He’s not got a snowball’s hope in hell!” I said as we got into the car.

“Between you and me...” Ash said sotto voice, “on the straight and level, he’ll outrun the Puma, but on a winding climbing coastal road ... Not a chance, but don’t tell him!”

I chuckled.

“Now, fix your seatbelt, else this baby won’t start. She’s finicky, like a woman!”

“If I give you a letter of consent, will you organise for someone to go fetch my yellow canary at the service dealer? It had to go for an oil change and filters...”

“No problem, Dusty. Seeing you are without transport and dead ... let me see what I can do.”

“Ah gee, thanks. I appreciate it.”

“Just give me the details, and I’ll send Bushy, Ronny or Boomer to go fetch it. By the way what is your yellow canary?”

“A McLaren 720S...”

“What! Damn man! I’ll go fetch it myself!”

“Watch the four-litre twin-turbo, inter-cooled DOHC 32-valve V-8. Seven hundred and ten horsepower at 7500 rpm. With a zero to 100 km/h in two point three seconds and a top of 341 kilometres an hour, she might be a tad faster than this bluebird of yours.” I chuckled.

“You want a race?” Ash smirked.

“Nah, been there, done it, got the t-shirt and watched the movie ... There’s a few Lambo badges painted on her driver side door ... those that died in her wake!”

“Swell-head!” Ash shot at me.

“Well, you did not ask what’s my go-to-work car...” I chuckled. “Besides, I thought you knew everything about me...”

The Newlands house was a hive of activity. It was also the first time I’ve seen all the Angels together. I knew about them but had never met them. There was sultry black-haired Mai-Loan, the evenly dark-haired Darya, and the two blonds, Leah and Olivia. But I was not prepared for the little red head, Nadia. She could have been Angie’s twin sister. The resemblance was striking.

“Howdy, mister Dee Langh ... So good to meet ye, finally.” Olivia greeted in her unmistakable southern drawl, typical of the southern USA states.

But I was bowled over by: “Es ist eine Freude, Sie kennenzulernen, Herr De Lange...” from Leah as she took my hand in a firm handshake and giggled. “I must establish my German heritage, seeing our languages are so close.” She added in English.

“Then I’ll abstain from using my Polish. Please to meet you ... uh ... Dusty,” Nadia said.

And so it went on. Darya tried her best in broken Afrikaans, and I felt really welcome. Roxy kissed me on the cheek and just giggled.

Andrea observed this interaction with a slight smile, then came over to me and hugged me, kissed me on the lips and snaked her arm around my waist, establishing her claim. Cat calls ensued, and I got the impression that the Angels were a close-knit sisterhood.

To the side of the room, I glimpsed a stocky guy with a haircut that screamed; “Marine.” Close to him was a standard brown hair, brown eyed girl about my age. They were introduced as TC and Lorie. Later I learned that Lorie was Ash’s sister.

Looks can be deceiving, and it seems like the Angels’ uniform for the evening was hot pants and tank tops, hair loose over the shoulders and either flip-flops or sandals on their dainty feet. Who would ever think that these beauties were deadly soldiers, each with a deadly skill in her own right.

“TC, how’s the festivities coming along?” Ash asked.

“Bushy and Boomer have a forest fire going, and I think around about the second glass of drinks, the beef will hit the grill,” TC responded.

“Good, that will give us time to sort out Miss Louw. Girls, Dusty, TC, please join me in the private lounge,” Ash invited and took the lead out towards a room next to where we were.

The “private lounge” turned out to be a conference room of some sorts, with a huge table that could accommodate at least twenty-five or thirty bodies in high-backed leather chairs. Ash took up the spot at the head of the table, and the rest of us took up seating along the table sides.

“Right, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s get this briefing over. Miss Louw, tomorrow at 14:00 there will be a board meeting of the Quad Five directors. The major shareholder, Ludwig Alderman will also attend this meeting. He was discharged from hospital as he did not suffer a heart attack, but only a minor heart cramp. Whatever that is.”

“Some or other life-threatening thing...” Olivia remarked.

Ash continued; “At precisely 14:10, your personal assistant, Roxy, will go into the boardroom and announce your participation. You will then enter the boardroom together with the five Angels. Are you with me so far?”

“Y ... Yes, I am...” Andrea stammered.

“Tomorrow you will be the Andrea Louw of last night! The one that nearly murdered me to get to Dusty. Comprende?”

“Ye ... Yes.” Andrea said and cleared her throat and stiffened her back. “Yes, I will!”