Chapter 19

The helicopter settled on the apron at Jamaica's Kingston airport and Gavin, Rose and Donald were quickly escorted to a small Cessna that already had its props running.

Gavin suspected that all of the arrangements to pick them up from the yacht and now fly them from Jamaica to Baton Rouge had been made by Henderson, Henry Sinclair's resourceful butler.

His phone conversation with Sinclair had left Gavin with a sense that he couldn't fully trust the older man and he was looking forward to meeting Henry again to ask the questions that he now had in his head. Some of Henry's comments had indicated that he knew Osvaldo and Macheda were dead before Gavin told him and Gavin couldn't work out how that could be.

No one asked any questions at the airport and once again there was no record of Gavin, and now Rose and Donald too, ever having been on the island. Clearly the Order had quite a bit of influence in Jamaica. The flight to Baton Rouge was uneventful and quiet, as neither Gavin nor Rose wanted to talk with the pilot able to listen in.

Henderson picked them up at the airport himself and whisked them off to Henry Sinclair's plantation house. The cumulative effects of the past few days were starting to catch up with Gavin — the stress, the marathon swim and the lack of sleep, all combined to leave him exhausted, but he refused to rest until after he had had the chance to speak to Sinclair.

"Mr MacSween, your daughter-in-law and your grandson," Henderson announced, as he showed them into a lavishly furnished family room.

Gavin noticed that Henry's eyes went first of all to his grandson and a look that might have been relief flitted across his features. He guessed that was only natural, as the boy was now Henry's heir and perhaps his last remaining link to his dead son, Johnny.

In contrast, Gavin saw that Lord Richard Malmesbury was openly studying him, a little smile playing on his lips and a look of expectation in his eyes.

"What's that all about I wonder?" Gavin thought to himself.

Both of the older men had got to their feet when Gavin, Rose and Donald had been shown into the room and Henry now seemed to remember his manners.

"It's so good to have you all back safe and sound. I suppose we have you to thank for that Mr MacSween," said Henry as he crossed the room and slapped Gavin several times on the back. "Very impressive if I may say so, very impressive indeed."

"Rose. It's a pleasure to have you here. I really am pleased that you are unhurt and that you have been re-united with your son after all this time. Our families haven't always seen eye to eye in the past, but I hope you can put that behind you — for Johnny's sake if nothing else?"

Rose simply nodded, perhaps not trusting herself to find the right words to respond without causing offence.

"And this must be my grandson. How are you, Donald Henry Sinclair?" asked Henry, stooping to put his arm around the boy's shoulder.

Donald looked to his mother, as if for guidance on how he should respond to this old man. Rose smiled encouragingly and that seemed to reassure the boy.

"I'm fine, sir. Did you just say that you're my grandpa?"

"I'm one of your Grandpas, my boy, you even share my name. You actually have two Grandpas, although your Grandpa Frank has not been keeping very well lately," Henry replied.

"Congratulations, old boy," said Lord Malmesbury now, crossing the room to shake Gavin's hand. "A splendid effort. Even with all that we know about your past, I still had my doubts that you would be able to pull this off. I could see that you were confident, cocky was the word I thought actually, but it would appear that your confidence wasn't misplaced."

"Thanks you, sir. Most of the credit has to go to Rose and young Donald though. He was the hero of the hour. If it hadn't been for him, I would probably be dead now," Gavin responded to Richard.

"Oh? And what did my grandson do to save your life?" Henry asked Gavin.

It was the young boy himself who answered.

"I shot the bad men. I shot the man who ordered Papa Graham and Mama Brenda to be killed. Mama told me he was also the one who ordered Papa Johnny's murder."

"You shot Osvaldo and Macheda?" Henry exclaimed in disbelief.

Donald remained calm and unruffled by the older man's reaction.

"He hurt Mama and I knew he was going to do something much worse if he got the chance. If you ask me, he had it coming," said Donald.

Henry and Richard both shook their heads, struggling to take in what they were hearing.

"Perhaps you had better tell us the entire story, Gavin?" Henry suggested.

Each of them found a seat — Donald now moving to remain close by his mother — and Gavin recounted what had happened since he had flown out of Baton Rouge for Jamaica. He spotted the fact that Henry nodded when he reached the part about killing the sentry on the wall and his suspicions that Sinclair knew more than he was letting on were confirmed.

"After that, Rose here saved the day by acting skipper of the yacht. She was very brave to have put the drugs in the coffee and if it wasn't for her, we'd probably still be stranded on Isla Santa," Gavin finished telling his tale.

"Quite remarkable," said Malmesbury, a look of open admiration for the beautiful Rose on his face.

"Mr Sinclair, I get the impression that something else has been going on that you haven't told us yet," Gavin said now, tackling his suspicions head-on.

Henry seemed surprised by the challenge in Gavin's tone, but he saw no reason to keep the story about the FAT team to himself — indeed, there was every reason to bring it out into the open now if they were all going to work with him on the cover story.

"Very perceptive of you, Gavin. Yes, there has been something else going on and both you and Rose need to hear it."

Henry explained that he had organised a rescue using US Special Forces as a back-up in case Gavin wasn't successful.

"By the time they arrived of course, you had already rescued Rose and Donald and you had all sailed away."

"I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that I rescued them both," Gavin replied. "Rose and Donald did most of the hard work. She drugged five of them and Donald shot two. All I did was kill one pretty useless guard."

"But you did rescue us!" Rose interjected vehemently. "If it hadn't been for you, we'd never have got away. Well, maybe the special forces team would have rescued us, but that would have involved a shoot-out and anything could have happened then."

The look she gave Gavin was one that he recognised. Sometimes Fiona and Lizzie looked at him just like that.

"Does she like me in 'that way'?" he asked himself, surprised by Rose's reaction.

"Well said, Rose," Henry clearly agreed with her. "Now, we have to move quickly if we're to finally get out of this mess."

Henry went on to explain the cover story he had worked out. Rose and Donald would return to the Latour house with him and the FBI would be called. General wilder had already travelled to Baton Rouge and he would confirm that the FAT team had been called in. Any questions the FBI had would have to be directed at him rather than the assault team.

"I've spoken to Clark Wainright, an Assistant Director at the FBI and he's agreed to say that the request for the FAT team came from him after I approached him," Henry explained. "Wainright is part of the Order, so that bit was easy enough.

"So are we clear? Gavin, you'll need to stay out of this altogether, we don't want your name coming up as the FBI are already looking closely at you in connection with Johnny's death.

"Rose — you're going to have to convince the FBI that you were held captive in the house by Osvaldo and Macheda."

"That won't be difficult, as it's true. I've been held there for the best part of ten years," Rose responded.

"Yes, quite," said Henry. "My part will be to explain how I managed to get Donald away from Osvaldo and place him with the Davidsons for his own safety. Donald — you have to tell the story of what happened to Brenda and Graham. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Grandpa," Donald replied.

"You also have to tell them that you were taken to your Mama. Don't say anything about the yacht okay?"

Donald nodded to show he understood.

"That's the story then. I protected my grandson from Osvaldo. Rose finally cracked and told Osvaldo that she and Johnny were married. Osvaldo reacted badly to finding that out and therefore that Donald was legitimate. He saw his chance of marrying Rose to inherit everything disappearing and he decided to use the boy. His men kidnapped Donald and killed all of those at the Davidsons. Hopefully some of their weapons will match those used in the murders.

"I contacted Wainright with the information that Osvaldo and Macheda were holed up at the Latour house with their men and he called in the FAT team. The FAT boys mounted their raid and Osvaldo and Macheda are killed as they free Rose and Donald. I think it all hangs together and should keep any mention of the Order out of the entire story," Henry finished.

Gavin thought there were still quite a few holes in the story, but he assumed that Henry's influence through the Knights Templar would ensure everything would be accepted without too many difficult questions.

"You seem to have it all worked out and you don't need me anymore," he said.

"No, Gavin!" cried Rose. "I want you here with me until it's all over."

"You and I also have some unfinished business," Henry added, fixing Gavin with a meaningful look.

"And you also need me to help you get the FBI off of your back," Rose added.

"How are you going to manage that?" Gavin asked.

"I've been thinking," she replied, "isn't it possible that Henry could have been talent spotting and recruited a bright young Scottish business student for his corporation? Isn't it possible that he introduced me to you and by sheer chance you told me that you were going on vacation to Palm Springs?"