The Shudder Lingers Read online

  He replied, “There was nothing in any affidavit that described foreign visitors. Do you have proof that they had entered the country?”

  Stacey sensed that he was again trying to discredit her, but replied, “No I don’t have proof that they entered the country, I was merely invited along. I did not know exactly who they were, the only thing I was told was that they were from Australia.”

  With that, Jonas smiled, “That seems a bit suspicious.”

  Stacey felt an element of panic rise, before replying, “Well, I have text messages to prove it.”

  This appeared to take the wind out of his sails, and he replied, “Well, why would Wang kill Wilson, as they were supposedly business partners?”

  Stacey replied, “As you saw on the video, it was because of his love for Daniella. I suppose in hindsight it is the perfect love triangle between Daniella, Wilson and Wang. Wang also indicated that he wanted a larger share of the business.”

  The inspector sat back and smiled sarcastically, “Well, to me it sounds all too convenient.”

  She paused, recalling how friendly he had been to Daniella at the supposed questioning, and decided to ruffle his feathers. She leaned forward, “Perhaps you should be looking a little closer at Daniella. She seems to be central to both of the deceased.”

  Inspector Jonas was immediately incensed, “How dare you make such an accusation?” Tempted as she was to chirp back, she opted to remain silent. When the inspector saw he couldn’t get any more out of her, he got up and, without another word, left the building. Stacey got up, still staring after him, when she felt the presence of someone behind her. It was her boss, arms folded and a huge frown on his face. Stacey squirmed, and without saying a word, retreated to her desk. She closed her eyes in a silent prayer, because after the previous day, it was evident that she needed a lot more strength and wisdom.

  When she opened her eyes, her boss was again standing in front of her. He said, “I think we should have that performance discussion now. Please join me in my office.”

  Stacey heard an anger in his tone, and reluctantly followed him. She tried to be accepting of whatever came next. What will be, will be. I will survive this.

  Closing the office door in a rather deliberate movement, Stacey’s boss walked across to his desk and stared intently at her, “So Stacey, please give me one good reason why I should not fire you?”

  She was blown away by the stark reality of his question and stared back, speechless. While her body and eyes were frozen into position, her insides felt like they were being spun on a rapid cycle in a tumble dryer. She reached out and steadied herself on the desk, and asked “What do you mean fire me?” She watched as he simply folded his arms, staring at her. She despised his narcissistic tendencies and made a mental note never to be like that. She dug deep and pulled on her now steadily growing source of self-belief and positive energy, “I have been through hell over the last few months, none of it through personal choice. I feel that this is just another test. I guess you must do what you must do. I know that despite my distractions, I have never failed on a client assignment. Fire me, but rest assured, I will fight you in court.” With that she stood up, gave him a dirty look and stormed out of his office.

  She went to her desk, packed up and stormed out of the offices. As she got outside, her fragile confidence suddenly deserted her as she started shaking and burst into tears. She left the office and headed to Signal Hill just outside the city. She parked her car and went and sat in a secluded spot. She remained there just staring out over the blue ocean wondering why everything was happening to her in this way lately. Despite all her self-confidence, right now she felt like a train wreck.

  After several hours she opened her mobile phone which had been on silent, and saw a flurry of missed calls, many from Slade. He answered immediately when she dialled him, “Where are you Stacey? I have tried calling for hours. Kate called me to say you had a run in with your boss. Are you OK?”

  She smiled to herself, feeling gratitude that he cared so much, and replied, “Yes, I’m OK. I just needed some time to take in fresh air and think. I’ll meet you at the apartment shortly.”

  With a clear sigh of relief, he replied, “Perfect.”

  Slade was waiting for her with a bunch of red roses, and grinned broadly as she approached, “I thought you could do with these today.”

  She replied, “Yes I can, and thank you so much, but more importantly, I could do with more of you.” He hugged her tightly. “I was thinking, Slade, I would like you to move in with me. With all the complex and taxing events of late, I need you close by. I need to feel protected. What do you think?”

  He held her tightly and whispered in her ear, “I’ll always be here for you.”

  Chapter Eight

  Stacey’s mobile phone was ringing as she got out of the shower. It was Gerald, “Morning,” she said.

  There was a tingle of excitement in his voice as he replied, “Apologies for waking you so early on a weekend, but I was hoping we could meet at my offices. I have some interesting information off Wang’s phone.”

  Without hesitation, she answered, “Sounds interesting, we will be there at ten.”

  “Perfect.”

  Slade had walked in with coffee and rusks and saw the excitement on her face, “What’s up?”

  She replied, “We are off to see Gerald about some information he found on Wang’s phone.”

  After a light breakfast they headed off to his offices. Since they had last been there, it appeared as if the area had deteriorated somewhat, and the streets were filled with some fairly unsavoury-looking characters. Her attention was drawn to a man who had tattoos on his neck, and dark menacing eyes, while another stood with a baseball bat slung over his shoulder and a large knife strapped to his leg. She made sure to avoid any eye contact.

  They rang the bell and were met by Gerald at the top of the stairs, “Welcome. Follow me.” They sat down in a small meeting room which had piles of papers on the table as well as a large desktop monitor linked to a laptop. He punched in a password and then opened several files. With a beaming smile, he pointed at the screen, “Look at this! Conclusive evidence linking our friend Larney to Wang and their perlemoen smuggling. These emails contain enough information to link us to everything we need to crush the local smuggling syndicate, including the shipping companies, local agents, Larney and the details of the areas where the perlemoen was being harvested.”

  Slade let out a soft whistle, “Wow, this was quite an elaborate syndicate. What more do you need to stop them in their tracks and break it up completely?”

  Gerald sat back and stared at the ceiling, and then leant forward, “A few things. Firstly, to arrest Larney and his sidekicks, which is being arranged as we speak. Simon is on his trail and through an address from the phone, we will have them all arrested within the next few hours. Secondly, it would appear from the information that there is still one more insider within WKJD that is working with them. We need to figure out who that is. Thirdly, we need to reverse the changes to the application code. Stacey, I believe you are best placed to achieve that, given that you wrote the original programme.”

  Stacey, who had been quiet throughout the information sharing and had been intently following Gerald’s revelations, replied thoughtfully, “I guess the code part should be achievable, but I would need unfettered access, which may be difficult. I am more concerned about the insider you refer to within WKJD. Who is this person and what risks do we face in trying to change the application code?”

  Gerald replied, “My guess is that once we have Larney out of the way, and you change the code, the spy will come out and will have to play his hand at some point.”

  She looked at him curiously. “What makes you sure it is a he?”

  Slightly taken aback by the question, he replied, “I don’t know, just a hunch.”

  Stacey pondered over the information for a bit and then started to get up to leave. Gerald waved her back to her seat, a
nd with a mischievous wink said, “Wait, there is more.” Next he pulled up the picture of Wang and the young boy that Stacey had previously seen on the mobile phone, and then a more recent photo of the same young Chinese guy.

  Stacey jumped up in excitement, “This is the same guy that I have seen several times, and more recently in the courtroom. Is this Cheung Lee, Wang’s son?”

  Gerald nodded, “Indeed it is. What’s more, is that he has been in South Africa for the last ten months.”

  She clapped her hands together triumphantly “I knew it!”

  Slade jumped in, “Gerald, what is the relevance of this Cheung character? Besides being Wang’s son, where does he fit in?”

  “I don’t know. He has obviously been rather elusive while he has been here, which leads me to believe that he is somehow involved in Wang’s shady dealings. Given time we will find out,” Gerald said thoughtfully.

  “So, what’s our game plan?” Stacey chimed in.

  Gerald considered her question for a moment. “Let’s get Larney first, then change the code. Hopefully this will flush out the insider and I will get someone to start tagging Cheung.”

  She nodded, “Makes sense. I will figure out how to get to the code in the meantime.”

  As they were leaving, Stacey turned to Gerald and asked, “Tell me something. You have been hugely committed to initially solving the Kirsten mystery, supporting me and now trying to resolve this case. I am not aware of you being paid for this. Why do you do it?”

  Gerald tensed up somewhat, and with an emotional tinge to his response, he answered, “When I was in my early twenties, both my brothers were killed by drug gangs. I made it my life’s mission to fight crime. But don’t worry, I have enough backers who pay the wages.”

  Appreciating his deep commitment, she instinctively went across and gave him a huge hug, “Thank you. You definitely are making a difference.”

  He smiled, but it was a strained smile. “Thank you.”

  They drove off in silence for a while, until Slade said, “Well that was really interesting. I am curious as to who the insider is in WKJD. It bugs me that someone I work with is a spy for a smuggling syndicate. It is not obvious to me.”

  Stacey replied, “It would be good to know. Let’s think about how we can plant some spyware on the system.”

  Slade laughed, “There goes Miss Sherlock Holmes again.” They both laughed out loud. It felt refreshing.

  “Where are we headed?” she asked as they drove towards the beachfront. Licking his lips, he replied, “I felt like an ice-cream and a walk on the beach. It has been a few weeks since I have felt the soft sand under my toes.”

  “Great idea” she replied. They found a street vendor and bought two large soft serve ice-creams with a chocolate flake down the middle. Hand in hand they happily walked across the beach, the fresh breeze whispering soothing sounds to them.

  Chapter Nine

  Arriving back at work after a relaxing weekend, Stacey felt energised, and ready to tackle her client projects and make up for some of the supposed poor performance her boss had accused her of. By mid-morning she felt as if she was fully back into the groove and delivering to her full potential. She jumped slightly when she looked up from her screen and realised that her boss had again materialised in front of her. “Stacey, do you mind joining me in my office for a chat?” She felt heavy hearted following her previous aggressive approach with him and followed timidly.

  He waved her to a chair and sat down behind his desk. In a much softer tone than he’d used the prior week, he said, “Stacey, you may be aware of this, but our two key clients have scaled back on their commitments to us, leaving us with a significant revenue gap. I was hoping that it would turn, but it does not look like it. I have little choice, but to let a few staff go. Given your poor performance and erratic work attendance of late, I feel that you are one of those that I need to let go.” Despite her threat previously to take him to court, she felt the blood drain from her face, as she realised the inevitable outcome. He continued, “I really feel for you given what I have seen in the newspapers. I am offering you what I think is a reasonable settlement offer.” With this he handed her a signed letter three pages long. “Please think about the offer and let me know tomorrow.”

  Stacey sat in silence and quietly read the letter. Much to the surprise of her boss, she numbly reached for a pen lying on his desk and signed the letter and the second copy. She slowly folded the second copy and left his office. Her head was spinning as she returned the laptop to the IT department. The human resources manager walked past, and said, “I have just heard what happened. I will miss you. Please complete all this paperwork and you can drop it off some time.” Stacey merely nodded. She saw Kate walk in, and felt the emotion rise, as she realised that she would no longer be working with her friend.

  Kate gave her a hug, and said, “I just heard, it sounds grossly unfair.”

  She just lifted her shoulders and raised an eyebrow, “Don’t worry Kate, I will be fine, it was probably time to move on anyway. You keep the flag flying high.”

  “I will,” she replied in a barely audible whisper.

  Stacey walked slowly out of the offices, her legs weighed down by imaginary lead boots, but somehow her spirits felt light as a feather, a strange paradox between the physical and the mind. Bright sunlight struck her as she walked out onto the street. She pinched her eyes against the glare and felt somewhat light headed, saying aloud, “What have I done? Was I irrational in signing the document so quickly?” She stared down at the folded copy in her hand. She found a park bench and sat down, unfolding the letter and reading it slowly again. It was a surprisingly favourable settlement, but it certainly meant that she needed to find another job soon.

  She fumbled in her handbag and pulled out her mobile phone. Instinctively she dialled her father. Their relationship had been strained since the death of her mother many years ago and they seldom spoke. She was surprised that now in her time of trial that she felt the need to speak to him.

  He answered instantly, with a soft compassionate tone, “Morning my girl, how are you doing? I have seen all the press reports and Uncle William has kept me informed. Is everything all right?”

  With that Stacey burst into tears, “Hi Dad, I… I guess not, my life has been in turmoil and today I lost my job.”

  Her father responded, “I am so sorry to hear that. If it is any consolation, I want to apologise for not always being there for you after your mother died. I never really got over losing her, and I allowed my grief to come between us. Please accept my apology. I don’t want to lose you too.”

  Stacey sensed a huge load tumbling off her shoulders. She felt very moved. “Thanks Dad, please accept my apology too.”

  He replied, “You have always been a fighter, a touch irrational from time to time, but a real fighter. I know you will come out of this stronger.”

  She whispered, “Thank you. I promise to come visit soon.”

  After a few quiet minutes, her thoughts suddenly went to Lizzie Spectre. She had been so absorbed that she had not given Lizzie much thought since her own ordeal in the Karoo. It was time to pay her a visit.

  She found Lizzie walking in the gardens of the small clinic, so much better than the last time Stacey saw her in hospital. Lizzie waved and walked over quickly. They embraced for several seconds, before she said, “So good to see you Stacey.”

  She smiled, “Incredibly good to see you Lizzie. The last time I saw you, you looked gaunt and out of shape. It would appear as if you have made a miraculous recovery.” As if seeing Lizzie for the first time, Stacey observed her anew. Lizzie was naturally attractive, measured five foot ten, had brunette hair, a light Mediterranean skin and blue eyes.

  “Flattery will get you everywhere” she replied, “I still struggle with the pain, and the scars on my face are a haunting reminder of the accident, but at least I am strong inside, ready to take on the world again.” They both embraced again and smiled at each other.


  Lizzie said, “Gavin has told me everything, and I also saw the video. I am still angry at Wang for what he did to my dad, and all of us. I have forgiven him, but I will never forget.”

  Stacey grimaced, “I’m so sorry that you ended up in the car crash that was targeted for me. I just feel so terrible about it all”

  Lizzie looked away, and said softly, “That’s history. I have chosen to live each day from now to its fullest.” She turned to face Stacey again. “Gavin told me about the upcoming shareholders’ meeting on Saturday. I want to be there.” She watched Stacey’s reaction, which she expected, and continued, “I have an idea.” Lizzie winced at some internal pain, and then sat down on a bench. After a silent minute she outlined her thoughts for the meeting.

  Stacey smiled at her, “Sounds like a great idea. Let’s go and kick some butt.” After that, they sat side by side idly chatting for another half hour.

  Stacey arrived home early evening and opened the apartment door. She was welcomed by the smell of a home-cooked meal. Slade was in the kitchen, whistling a tune, albeit rather badly, while he was putting the finishing touches to dinner. He looked up and said, “I heard about today. Hopefully my food will at least make up for some of your loss.”

  She smiled at him, gratefully and lovingly, “I’m certain it will.”

  Chapter Ten

  Stacey woke early on Saturday and went through to find Slade sitting on the balcony, a cup of steaming coffee in hand. He looked up and smiled, “Good morning. I have been thinking.”

  She raised her eyebrow, “It is rather early, so this should be interesting.”

  He laughed and patted the chair next to him, “With Wilson dead, WKJD is somewhat leaderless, and I think you could be a great boss. Perhaps today at the shareholders’ meeting you should put your name in the hat to be made managing director. As an existing shareholder you already know the business, so becoming the boss seems an obvious next step.”