The Shudder Lingers Read online

  Saturday saw everyone sleep in, catching up on lost rest. It took a while before everyone was rustled up and had breakfast. They all headed for a walk on one of the numerous mountain trails that surround the town. Stacey took delight in teaching the group about the local bird life, with everyone agreeing that the Cape Sugarbird was a favourite. The walk was followed with them heading to the beach to soak up some sun and stick a toe into the cold water. The welcome sight of a beach vendor selling soft-serve ice cream, gave brief relief from the glaring sun.

  Slade and his friends had made plans for a late afternoon beach braai. The meal included fresh fish from a local fisherman and a vast amount of prawns. While the guys prepared the fire, Stacey, Lizzie and Kate set up their deckchairs to overlook the sea. The spectacular view and pastel colours from the fast-approaching sunset ensured that they were captivated by the beauty of the ocean and the view, restricting conversation to idle chatter. Kate started taking photos again, including multiple selfies of the three of them with the mountains as backdrop or as silhouettes against the orange ball of fire heading for the edge of the horizon.

  Lizzie said, “I think your quote is appropriate here Stacey. Live life passionately.” Impulsively they all toasted from the glasses of Sauvignon Blanc that they had been sipping.

  Kate said, “As long as I live, I will always remember this sunset with you two special friends.” Stacey thought she felt a brief shudder at Kate’s words, but ascribed it to the slight chill in the air as the last of the sun finally escaped over the horizon. Kate and Lizzie were toasting again, encouraging her to do the same.

  Slade brought them out of their enchanted oblivion, when he called them, “Dinner is served ladies.” Everyone was famished, given all the activity of the day and the fresh sea air. One of the guys had set out a few fold up tables, and everyone sat down in anticipation of the meal. The scrumptious seafood was complemented by several tasty salads, and of course some more chilled white wine. The ample spread was soon devoured; not a morsel remained. The pastel sunset had given away to a sprinkling of stars, as they soaked up the evening and the friendship. The sound of the waves grew louder as the other noises died down. Reluctantly, everyone pulled themselves up when it had become too dark to see anything. It had been a perfect day.

  Stacey felt as if she had just fallen asleep when someone was shaking her shoulder. Kate whispered, “Let’s go for an early walk along the clifftops. It is a gorgeous morning. Stacey moaned and tried to pull the sheet back over her head. Kate continued, “You can sleep when you’re dead. Let’s go.”

  Everyone else was still asleep as the two of them headed out of the house. First light had broken, and everything was tinged in a soft gentle light. They opted to jog down to the clifftops. Stacey felt uneasy being out so early as they were two young women on their own, but soon she was enjoying the run and the fresh sea air. They reached the clifftops and stopped to catch their breaths. They wound their way through the thick vegetation flanking the footpath alongside Marine Drive. The early sunlight added a glisten and rich texture to the water’s surface.

  Birds were singing, announcing the start of a glorious day. Suddenly the birdsong was shattered by the sound of a gunshot and the dull thud of a bullet ripping into human flesh. Stacey instinctively knew that the shot was aimed at them and immediately dropped to the ground, seeking the protection of the high vegetation alongside the footpath. As she grappled with how to respond she saw a drop of blood fall right before her on the concrete, and then she felt the dead weight of Kate falling on top of her. She rolled away and looked at Kate, whose face was ashen with fright, blood pouring out of her arm. Gratefully, she knew that had the shot been centimetres to the left, then Kate could have taken a critical chest shot. Stacey ripped off her light sweater and tied it above the wound to stem the loss of blood. Knowing that Kate would be all right, her mind raced to consider the options for their safety. She whispered to Kate, “I know you are in pain, but you must keep quiet, in case the shooter is close by.” Kate was biting her lips and nodded with a pained expression on her face.

  Stacey was still contemplating her options when she heard the sound of someone running towards them on the footpath. She urged Kate to get up so that they could hide in the thick bushes. Kate grimaced as Stacey pulled her up, half-dragging her into the thick bushes. Whoever was running towards them started shouting, “Stop!” This seemed to spur them both to move even quicker, fear gripping them and temporarily halting their ability to think clearly. Again, the voice shouted, “Stop!” seemingly right behind them. Stacey felt a firm hand on her shoulder and spun to look at the stranger. He held both hands up, and said gently, “I am here to help. I was out on my deck, enjoying an early morning coffee, when I heard the gunshot and saw your friend get hit.”

  Stacey clung to Kate and looked at the man, who was in his pyjamas and slippers, realising that he was not the shooter. She looked around again and said, “We need to get her to a hospital.” The stranger easily lifted Kate and headed back down the path, with Stacey following closely, her eyes searching for any possible sign of the shooter. They were met a hundred paces down the path by the stranger’s wife, who was carrying the car keys and pointed them to a SUV parked close by. The man carefully put Kate into the back seat. They all jumped in and his wife raced them to the nearby hospital.

  By this time, Kate was looking desperately weak and was moaning in pain. The casualty staff assisted her onto a bed and immediately rushed her into a ward. Stacey was left attending to the admin at the front desk. The couple who had brought them in sat silently waiting in reception, feeling somewhat embarrassed by their attire. It was not long before the doctor came though and announced, “Your friend will be just fine. She lost some blood, and fortunately the bullet did no serious damage. We will need to keep her here for a few hours. She will need some rest, but she will be absolutely fine.”

  Stacey breathed a sigh of relief, “Can I see her?”

  The doctor replied, “I have sedated her, so she will be asleep for a few hours. I suggest you come back this afternoon.” Stacey nodded and turned to the strangers.

  The man said, “I guess we should give you a lift home.” She accepted the offer and they headed back to the car.

  They dropped her off outside of the house where she was staying, and she walked slowly up the driveway. Lizzie saw her from a window, and she came charging out of the door, “Are you OK? Where is Kate?” before giving her a big hug.

  Stacey felt overwhelmed, and managed to utter a garbled few words, “Someone shot at us. Kate is in hospital, but she will be fine.”

  Lizzie held her tightly in support, and with one hand dialled Slade, “Stacey is back, you guys can stop searching.”

  Slade rushed in a few minutes later and hugged her. She recounted the events of the shooting and the hospital. She sensed that Slade was deeply troubled and paused her story, “What’s wrong Slade?”

  He pulled out his mobile phone and showed her a text message, which read, “That was just a warning. Stop interfering with our business.” Stacey felt a shudder running down her back. She reached for her mobile phone and found the same message on her phone. She tried to shut out the message, pretending that it was just an illusion. A great weekend had soured dramatically.

  They collected Kate on their way home. She was shaken, but smiled, even asking for someone to take photos with the hospital as back drop.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Despite the shooting incident and the text message warning, Stacey seemed to grow in resilience, more determined than ever to fight and beat the evil forces that seemed to be so pervasive around her. Driving to work, she felt a growing sense of responsibility to stop the smuggling and protect the jobs of the many innocent staff at WKJD. She looked in the rear view mirror and was somewhat surprised by the steely look in her eyes.

  She unlocked her office, and subconsciously glanced around, looking for cameras or any signs that someone had been in her office over the weekend
. She opened her laptop and logged in to the secondary server, to continue her search. Although the information was limited, it showed the apparent connections to the perlemoen smuggling through all the shipping invoices, but no names were apparent. She trawled further through the secondary server, finding very little that would indicate any smuggling. One folder in a foreign language drew her attention, but she could not open it. She used Google to interpret it, and it simply stated, ‘personal’.

  Her attention was then drawn to another folder, which included map images with certain areas circled in red. Odd, she thought to herself, but as she was looking for anything related to perlemoen, and the coastline, she paid no attention to the maps. She went back to the folder containing the invoices. It showed that the frequency of shipping invoices was constant and had been ongoing for at least three years. She cast her mind back to her early days at the Spectre home, where she had questioned the lavish lifestyle of Wilson in particular, and more recently that of Daniella. It all seemed to make sense, now that she understood where the extra funds were coming from.

  Engrossed in her thoughts on the smuggling, and with the knowledge that it was ongoing, she contemplated how she could launch a sting operation that would expose those who remained in the syndicate. She found herself staring out to the distant view of the ocean, as if seeking stimulation for ideas from the vast blue expanse. Grappling with possibilities, an idea slowly started emerging around the idea of creating a false invoice for the next shipment. Satisfied that the seeds of a sting had been planted, she returned her attention to her work.

  The silence was broken with Daniella walking in, “What will it take for you to realise that I am serious?” Stacey’s mind was racing, trying to understand if the threat related to the removal of the cameras or the shooting incident from the weekend. She silently stared without offering any response, trying in vain to read the woman’s mind. She thought she noticed Daniella’s eyes searching for the hidden cameras. She thought to herself, is she aware that they are removed or is she trying to bluff me? Daniella raised her voice, “Don’t just sit there; answer the question!”

  She felt anger rising, and snapped, “What are you talking about this time?”

  Daniella replied, “When are you making the official appointment for Cheung?”

  She replied, “As discussed before, when we have the next directors’ meeting we can raise it as an agenda item.”

  Emily had appeared in the doorway, and was waved over by Daniella, “Please call for an urgent board meeting, the sooner the better.” She seemed flustered by the instruction and turned to Stacey for confirmation. She received a reluctant nod.

  “I’ll get onto it right away.”

  This seemed to satisfy Daniella, and she headed for the door, “I will be in my office, keeping a watchful eye on my business.”

  The buzz of her ringtone distracted Stacey. “Hi Kate. How are you feeling after the shooting?”

  She replied, “I’m doing OK physically, well at least the painkillers are helping. However, I am scared, why did someone shoot at us? Are you in trouble Stacey?”

  Slowly she mustered up the courage to answer, “No, I’m not in trouble. I think it was just a random shooting incident. You shouldn’t concern yourself with it.”

  Kate said reluctantly, “OK, but I’m not convinced. I think you are in real danger, from whoever those thugs are.”

  The warning certainly resonated. She tried to sound reassuring. “We’ll all be fine. I’ll come and visit during the week. Take care until then.”

  She had agreed to meet Lizzie for lunch and opted for a brisk walk to the street café a few blocks away. Lizzie was sitting in a back corner with sunglasses covering her face, still wanting to be less visible in public, which they had all agreed was a safe option for the time being. She was looking as beautiful as ever, and somehow the faint scar down her cheek added to her appeal, rather than detracted from it. She opened her arms wide and they hugged each other intently, almost like long-lost sisters. “Afternoon. How are you? How is Kate doing?”

  Stacey sat down, “I’m doing great, thank you. I spoke to Kate a short while ago. She’ll be fine, but she remains a bit shaken after the incident.” They ordered drinks and chattered away until their food arrived.

  In between mouthfuls, Lizzie asked, “Now that I have recovered and am back at work, I feel that I should be supporting or somehow helping you. After all, I know how you supported and prayed for me after the accident. Is there anything I can do?”

  Stacey pondered over the question, as she took another bite of her chicken wrap. “Thanks, I appreciate the offer, but I certainly don’t want you drawn into anything more; you’ve been through a lot. Having said that, I will let you know if anything comes to mind.” Lizzie’s offer sparked a further idea for her sting operation. However, she decided to keep the tone light and they spent the next hour sharing stories from their junior school days, bringing laughter and smiles. It was a much needed interlude for them both.

  Stacey used the walk back to the office to call Gerald and discuss her idea for the sting operation. He agreed to mull it over and to meet in a few days. By the time she got back to the office, she felt very positive about pulling it off.

  She had agreed to join one of the project teams and happily embedded herself into the project challenge, relishing the opportunity to once again be solving client problems. Initially the team appeared apprehensive about her presence, but within minutes, everyone was fully engaged.

  It was late afternoon when Slade dropped by, “Are you all joining us for drinks on the deck?” Without a moment’s hesitation, everyone wrapped up and headed for drinks. It was a long-standing tradition at WKJD, that either on winning or completing a major project, they’d meet for a celebratory drink. One of the project teams had just received a signed contract for a data analytics project. Slade had been the project leader on the proposal and did the formal toast.

  Stacey was absorbed in talking to some of the successful team members, when she became aware of Cheung staring intently at her. She did her best to avoid eye contact, but when she looked at him, his eyes seemed to indicate that she should look behind her. She turned, trying to seek what it was. Jackie was standing next to Slade, one hand on his arm, and she reached up kissing him fully on the lips. He was caught by surprise, and tried to pull away, but Jackie seemed intent on kissing him again. Stacey felt the anger swirling through her, and was tempted to storm over. Realising that it would draw attention, she tried to look away, but all she got was Cheung, a wry smile all over his face, obviously enjoying the moment. Slade approached her, but she was as cold as ice, and headed back to her office. He followed shortly after, and was met with a fuming look, “What was that all about?”

  He raised both hands in submission, “I have no idea. She just came onto me and kissed me. I most certainly did not invite it.” Stacey glared at him, clearly upset.

  As they drove home in silence, she recalled the look from Cheung, and the seemingly timed kiss, asking herself a silent question, Was it a set up? Is this an elaborate plan to get between me and Slade? She looked at him, knowing his intentions were true, however a small niggle of doubt remained, or perhaps it was just a tinge of jealousy. As they approached home, she consoled herself in the fact that she did not have a shudder when it all happened.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Stacey felt excitement pumping through her body as she got off the phone with Gerald. Their elaborate analysis of all the information and records had led them to figure out the patterns related to the perlemoen smuggling. The number of containers had decreased, likely due to the arrest of Larney and some of his crew, but the patterns had remained consistent. It was time to put the sting operation into motion. Her mind went back to the first attempt many months ago, where they were outsmarted by the smugglers. In conjunction with Gerald, she had given it much thought. Combining his instincts on criminals and her computer skills, they hoped that this time they would be more succe
ssful.

  Gerald and his colleague Simon had been staking out the harbour and were on hand to see the arrival of the ship being used in the smuggling. They also knew from their analysis that the ship’s hands would only load the perlemoen containers just before they set sail.

  Stacey had also been studying the flow of emails that would lead the shipping company to request the shipping invoices from the secondary servers at WKJD. It all seemed innocent enough when she first scrutinised the invoices, until she figured out that the values were understated, meaning that not only did the shipping documentation cover up the perlemoen but also that the values were undercutting customs duties. Gerald’s investigations had also identified the crooked customs official.

  Lizzie had been set up to access the servers from Stacey’s apartment and intervene once the request came and the invoice was being prepared. Stacey had blocked time in her diary to work on a project, which had allowed her free time for her next move. She had deliberately set up her laptop in an office that was visible to everyone, so that it appeared as if she was working on the project. Her mobile indicated a message from Lizzie on the WhatsApp group they had created, and simply read, “Request has been made.” She felt the excitement as she whispered to herself, “Time to take them all down.”