Authors: Christopher Sherlock
Suddenly he wished he hadn’t come. He would have preferred to remember the old Penelope. She was even more attractive now, but she was hard - as hard as fame and fortune could make her.
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She’s an American, a journalist. A very strong independent woman like yourself.’
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Spare me the compliments. Is she attractive?’
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Yes, she is attractive.’
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The bitch, I hate her.’
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Come off it Penelope, do you know how many women must hate you? You can have any man you want.’
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The only men I want I can’t have. Everything else I get. Fate has been cruel to me, Rayne.’
He could hardly believe what he was hearing. Her bitterness was bizarre.
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Don’t look so astonished, Rayne. You’re one of the few men I can be honest with. You come to me like a thief, so you might as well steal my secrets. By the way, where is my so-called bodyguard?’
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Hanging upside down from the stair-rail.’
Penelope ran out of the room to see for herself. She came back laughing and called the manager to have the man cut free.
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His face has gone purple!’ she said, pouring herself another Scotch. ‘I don’t know how you did it!’
It was her third drink since he’d arrived. Rayne wondered if alcoholism had been one of the other perks of her success.
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Don’t look at me like that, I can drink Scotch just like my
father. There’s far worse than this to get addicted to in Hollywood.’
She looked him up and down, then smiled mischievously. ‘If you walk round Johannesburg dressed as you are, people will think you’re an out-of-work game ranger.’ She smiled at him. ‘But I know better. Oh yes, don’t look so surprised. I’ve followed your career quite closely. Actually, I always thought you’d go into politics in support of the black people, not devote yourself to shooting them down.’
The anger flared through Rayne like a sudden whirlwind. He picked her up by her wrists and held her close to his face. ‘You bitch!’
Suddenly he was kissing her uncontrollably and her arms were round his back. She aroused the same responses in him as she always had; and the passion was still strong in her too. When he pushed her gently away, she started to cry and sat down on the couch next to him.
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What’s wrong with me, Rayne, why don’t you want me?’
He could feel how vulnerable to her charms he still was, and he got up from the couch and walked to the balcony. He looked down at the people far below. It wasn’t worth it. If he betrayed Sam, he would lose her. He heard Penelope’s voice behind him, echoing his thoughts. ‘You want to keep her, don’t you? Well, that’s your decision. You can stay my friend at least.’
He turned back to face her, more in control of himself now. She sat on the couch, looking at him, her legs drawn up close to her body, her arms hugging her knees.
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Why did you come here, Rayne?’
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I had to see you. I’ve found out about a few things that happened to us long ago. You remember the air crash?’
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I still have nightmares about it.’
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Well, it was no accident, it was organised - killing you was to be a way of destroying your father. The man behind it went to great lengths to cover the whole thing up, but now the secret’s out and I mean to get him. And I think you might be able to help me.’
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Who was it?’
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A man by the name of Bernard Aschaar, acting head of the Goldcorp Group.’
Penelope looked aghast. She turned to the window. ‘It can’t be! I had dinner with him the other evening. He’s such a pleasant, worldly man.’
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Yes, very worldly. You should have asked him what he was up to last week.’
She sat down on the couch and looked up at him. ‘I did. He said he was up in Kenya, looking over some mines.’
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He was in Mozambique, in conference with a Russian general. I saw him with my own eyes.’
He saw the disquiet grow on Penelope’s face. She leaned forward anxiously.
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He’s just about to sign a major deal with my father. Daddy has been against selling his mines for years, but this time the offer was too good to refuse.’
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All Aschaar wants is power. And he’ll do anything to get it. He’s a madman. Whatever deal your father does with him, I can assure you there’ll be problems.’
Penelope finished her whisky and stood up. ‘You must speak to my father, Rayne. You must tell him what you’ve told me.’
Rayne stared into her eyes. He had to be sure that she would not run to Aschaar.
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All this must remain between us, Penelope. I have a score to settle with Bernard Aschaar. If he has any idea of who I am or that I’m still alive, I’ll be in great danger. No one knows that I’m back here except for you, and I want it to stay that way.’
She tossed her head back, her eyes flashing. ‘Don’t you think you can trust me, Captain Gallagher?’
Yes, he could trust her. There was a core of true steel inside Penelope, always had been. ‘I trust you,’ he said.
She smiled. ‘I think it’s a good idea to talk to my father. He’s one of the most powerful men in the mining business. He sits on the CMC, you know, and he’s in contact with Aschaar on an almost daily basis. If you’re looking for revenge, I’m sure my father can tell you the best way to get to him.’
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All right. Can you reach him tonight?
Penelope got up. ‘I’ll phone him now.’
While she was telephoning from the next room, Rayne walked over to the balcony and gazed down at the people arriving at the hotel for dinner, ready for an enjoyable Friday evening. What the hell am I doing? he asked himself. I should have taken the first plane out of the country with Samantha and forgotten the whole business.
But then he thought of the men who were lying dead on an old landing strip in Beira. His face hardened and he turned away.
Penelope came back into the room. ‘He’ll be here soon.’ She pulled her silk gown tight around her waist and grinned mischievously. ‘While we’re waiting for him, you and I can have a nice chat about old times!’
Rayne was surprised at how old Sir George looked, but his presence, his air of authority, were the same as ever.
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God, Rayne, I hardly recognised you. I believe, from the little
I’ve heard, you’ve seen quite a bit of action in the last few years? Now, what’s this you want to talk to me about?’
Rayne told him the whole story about Aschaar and the plane. Sir George’s face grew longer and longer as he listened, and when Rayne moved on to the subject of Mozambique, he asked Penelope for a second whisky. Clearly, he could hardly believe what he was hearing. After Rayne had finished, he was silent for some time.
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It all makes sense,’ he said at last. ‘I can see now that the bastard’s been trying to put the screws on me for years - and I’ve never realised it! Obviously he’s decided to start buying me out. That Mozambique business is a real eye-opener. He should be put away for life! He’s nothing less than a cold-blooded murderer. My mining company, together with those other mines he already owns in Rhodesia - that will give him enormous power. But what can anyone do to stop him?
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Sonja Seyton-Waugh’s been taking on the Goldcorp Group recently, but it’s a tough battle, I can tell you. I don’t know how you could catch a man like Aschaar out. He’s too wily to find himself in a court of law.’
He took out one of his cards and handed it to Rayne.
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That’s my private number. I’ll give you any support you need. If you’re in trouble, just call me. Needless to say, my own deal with Aschaar will be off. From what you’ve told me, I’ve escaped very lightly.’
Rayne weighed his next words very carefully.
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Sir George. I have a proposition for you. You tell Aschaar that the deal is still on, but that you’ve brought in an expert to structure your side of the deal. You raise the purchase price of your mining utilities to an exorbitant amount, and you tell Aschaar that your new expert advised you to do this, and say that if he wants to negotiate he must deal directly with him.’
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And you will be that expert?’
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Precisely.’
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You’ll be playing with fire, Rayne.’
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There’s no other way I can get into Aschaar’s headquarters without raising his suspicions. I know the risks, Sir George. Once I’m in there, I can put my own plans into action. You ring him tomorrow and tell him about the new deal.’
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All right, you’re on. I’ll set the ball rolling with a call to Aschaar in the morning.’
When Sir George had gone, Rayne took Penelope’s hand and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Thanks, Penelope. Thank you for everything.’
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Business is over, so it’s back to the little woman?’
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Maybe if you met her, you’d hate her less.’
She looked at him tauntingly. It took all the strength he could muster to give her one more chaste kiss upon the lips, and then walk slowly away.
Sam was lying on the bed when he got back, face-down and fully clothed. As he approached her, she turned over and stared up at him, and he could see at once that she must have been crying for a long time.
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So did you enjoy yourself, Rayne? It must have felt good after all these years. You bastard.’
He bent over the bed and tried to pull her towards him - and she rained blows at his face. One struck him so hard that his nose started to bleed. ‘Take your hands off me!’ she cried.
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Sam, nothing happened between Penelope and me. Perhaps something would have happened if I didn’t have you - but I do have you, and it didn’t.’
Sam looked up at him and started crying again. This time he held her very close to him, and gradually he felt her begin to relax. After a little while she went to get a towel, and even managed to smile as she gently cleaned his bloody nose. When she had finished, she lay down next to him on the bed.
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I’m sorry, Rayne. I couldn’t stop you from going. I knew I mustn’t do that, but I couldn’t stop myself from worrying either. She’s very, very beautiful. Most men would commit murder just to spend an evening out with her.’
Rayne looked up at the cheaply painted ceiling and thought how lonely Penelope was, despite her fame and her looks. ‘Sam, you must learn to trust me,’ he said. ‘If you can’t do that, then we’re never going to make it together.’
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It sounds so easy.’ She sighed. ‘But emotions aren’t things that just go on and off at the click of a switch. All I can do is try.’ ‘That’s fine, that’s all that really matters.’
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So what happened?’
He told her briefly.
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Good,’ she said, when he had finished. ‘But now listen, because I’ve got some interesting information as well. You know you spoke of needing someone to help you get Aschaar, and that it would have to be someone you could trust?’
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Sir George fits the bill all right.’
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I think there’s someone even better.’
She handed Rayne some magazine clippings, all showing the same tall, beautiful woman. Rayne looked at Sam, intrigued.