Remember Remember (42 page)

“Excuse me,” he shouted to gain her attention, which had the correct effect, “I am so sorry, I forgot to tip you,” he smiled as he peeled off four €5 notes, which he offered to the girl. She took the notes without hesitation and smiled back at him. He looked up and down the corridor, checked they were alone and again smiled back.

“May I ask you a few questions?”

She looked at him with a surprised expression and replied, “How can I help?”

“A friend of mine wants to get a job on a ship but she’s worried there’s no community spirit and people just drift from ship to ship,” he paused and looked at her then asked, “I wondered if you could tell me about this ship and the staff on it.”

“Well, I’ve been on this ship for two years and many of the catering staff have been here too. I’ve also become friends with quite a lot of staff, so I think your friend will be OK. I think the majority of us stay on the same ship if we can because we get to know how everything works on that ship.”

He stroked his head and commented, “So, the majority of staff on board have been with this ship for a couple of years?”

“Yes.”

“Which jobs seem to have the highest turnover of staff then if it’s not catering?”

“It’s definitely security.”

“Not cabin stewards?”

“Oh no, they stay on as long as we do.”

“So you wouldn’t recommend her to join security?”

“No, they don’t seem to have a social life with the other staff and they don’t blend in.”

“So, how many security staff have changed on this ship?”

She shook her head and replied, “I don’t know how many but I know there are new faces,” she smiled and turned saying, “I must go now my supervisor will be asking where I am.”

He pulled out a €50, gave it to her and asked if she might be able to find out the new additions to security. She took the money and agreed to the trade, oblivious it seemed to the totally different request and how she might get the details to him.

They parted and he walked to the central stairs and descended to Deck 5, the Samsara deck. He entered reception and was greeted with soft music, light perfume, very deep carpets and beautiful women dressed in white. He was quickly greeted after which he asked about his girlfriend and how long she may be before surfacing from the spa. He also asked about the availability and costs of a beautician and booked Jacky an appointment for the next day as a surprise gift. As he left and walked down the corridor he passed by two security officers who nodded, smiled and entered the spa. He instinctively turned, followed them and held his body close to the open reception entrance. Two minutes later he sprinted down the corridor and out of sight.

He sat in the Sportsman’s bar, ordered a Budweiser and assessed his findings. At least two security officers, one male, one female were very interested in what Alan Johnson was doing in the Spa. But, how had they known where he was, he had been silent in the cabin and only spoken to the waitress in the corridor. Therefore they either had visual contact of the cabin or they had picked up the lack of movement and breathing in the cabin and set about searching for him. Either way there had to be more than two on the surveillance team.

He downed his beer and checked the people around him. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He walked back to his cabin, closed and locked the door then opened his wardrobe to reveal the cabin safe. He swiped his credit card across the slide and after a few seconds the bolts disengaged allowing him entry into the safe. He checked the contents which were passports, cash, a cheque book, a wallet, a purse and some jewellery. He rearranged the items placing the passports on top of his cash and cheque book and sandwiched one hair between the two passports. He then slowly closed the safe and swiped his credit card to engage the bolts.

He then answered a knock at the door to find Jacky looking radiant and very relaxed. He closed the door behind her and took her hand as she walked towards the bed.

“You look as though you thoroughly enjoyed the experience, love.”

She lay on the bed and opened her dressing gown revealing matching light pink satin bra and pants.

“Wow love,” he sighed, as his left hand began to stroke her thigh, “you look as if you might need some more gentle massage.”

She took his hand and placed it back on the bed then turned and whispered to him, “No thanks love, not just now, what I want to do now is just sleep for a couple of hours.”

With this she pulled her dressing gown tightly across her body, looked again at his face and said, “I’d like to sleep in peace if that’s OK darling.”

He grunted, sat up and swung his feet off the bed, “I get the message; see you in a couple of hours. I’ll be in the casino at seven, if you’re not there by seven thirty I’ll come back here.”

“Thanks Love,” she responded sleepily, “see you then.”

He closed the door and decided to walk the whole ship to see if he was being shadowed.

At six fifty he entered the casino, walked to the cashier and exchanged €200 for chips. He often played poker and occasionally blackjack, but on this occasion he sat alone at the slots and played Deuces wild poker on a machine. He dropped in a €10 chip, selected the one euro game and hit the play button. The wheels spun a losing game and he continued to slowly lose his money as he thought about his tour of the ship. He had walked every accessible area from deck ten down to deck three and had purposefully walked along the cabin deck corridors because they were hundreds of feet in length. The only people he had observed more than twice on his tour had been security staff and cabin stewards, all of whom seemed to be going about their business. He hit the play button and looked quickly sideways to the cashiers desk, then just as quickly returned his gaze to the machine. He smiled outwardly at the reels which had spun four kings, paying €20 and inwardly at his observation of the same male security officer he had seen, on two previous occasions on his tour. He hit the cash button on the machine, picked out his euros, walked to the cashier’s desk and turned to the security officer saying, “Excuse me, what is the lowest bet you can place on a Blackjack table?” Alan observed him closely as he asked the question, but saw little anxiety in the man.

“I’m sorry sir, I don’t actually work in the casino, I was just passing through, but I will ask for you.”

He didn’t need to ask, as the cashier called out that the minimum bet on Blackjack was €5 on table three.

He thanked her, smiled at the security officer and asked, “You’re from England aren’t you?”

He nodded his head and replied, “Yes sir, Leeds.”

“Wow, a Yorkshireman on a Costa cruise, good for you,” Alan smiled and turned to walk away.

“Thank you sir, good evening,” came the response.

He returned to his machine and inserted another €10 chip. He spun the wheels and reflected on his conversation, “If that isn’t military then I’m not ex-military. So he may be shadowing me, but a lot of ex-military join security companies when they leave service so it may just be a coincidence. However, an English serviceman on an Italian ship,” he pursed his lips thinking, “this could be mere coincidence or a potential problem.”

By August the 9
th
he had discovered a further two listening devices in Jacky’s possessions and now knew that anything he did with her would be monitored.

August 10
th
, Malta.

Alan rose early, donned his dressing gown and walked onto the balcony. His watch read 07.30 and he waited for the tap on the cabin door which came minutes later to bring fresh orange juice, tea and coffee for two. He poured himself a cup of tea, picked up his binoculars and sat on the balcony surveying the ship’s entry into the port of Valletta. To him this was one of the most spectacular ports in the world, the strait into the port being flanked by immense cliffs rising hundreds of feet sheer from the sea. He smiled as the Atlantica nosed into the harbour because Malta held a special place in his memories.

He was so engrossed in the docking of the one hundred and five thousand tonne ship that he did not hear Jacky wake, then shower and dress and was surprised by her as she squeezed her body close to his back.

She slid her hands under and around the front of his dressing gown and gently squeezed his penis, “So, watching the captain dock his ship is more important than you docking with me is it?”

He groaned, smiled and squeezed his knees together, “No darling, it’s not, it’s just that Malta’s special and the entry into Valletta is something I didn’t want to miss.”

She continued to caress his now erect penis, “Who’s this Valletta and where’s her entry?”

“You’re a dirty sod sometimes love,” he chuckled.

“Then why aren’t you interested in Jacky’s entry?”

“I am love,” he said as he turned and kissed her full on the lips, pushing his tongue deep into her mouth. He stopped kissing her, bent down, scooped her up and carried her to the bed.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he moaned as he stripped off her shorts and thong. He entered her quickly, standing on the cabin floor at the edge of the bed, with her legs high against his chest and gasped, “God Jacky, I love you, I love fucking you.”

The Lido deck was always busy at this time of day with over a thousand people queuing and selecting food then searching for tables to eat their breakfast. Alan and Jacky climbed the arching staircase to the balcony above the Lido deck. It was always relatively quieter here and they selected a table for two on the harbour side of the boat where they could watch the comings and goings of the myriad trucks and vans whose job it was to replenish the ships stocks throughout the day.

Jacky ate a very good diet conscious breakfast of mixed fruits and black coffee, he loved the thinly cut bacon and freshly made cheese omelette and although sometimes he had to queue for the omelette the wait was always worthwhile. They spoke little over breakfast, happy to be in each other’s company without the need for small talk.

She, having finished her fruit and coffee, stroked his arm smiled and said, “I think I’ll go back to the cabin love and spruce myself up for the Maltese.” She looked into his eyes, smiling coyly at him and whispered, “Alan,” the word came out slowly as she continued to stroke his arm, “you said you loved me back in the cabin.”

He smiled back, took hold of her hand and whispered, “I said I loved fucking you.”

“Not quite,” she whispered in response, “because before you got down to the f-ing bit you actually said you loved me and I wondered if you meant it darling,” again the words came out slowly as she squeezed his hand.

“Of course I do, you should know by now.” he hissed and looked around to make sure they were not overheard, “God knows we’ve been going out together long enough so I probably do love you.”

“Probably, probably,” she barked, digging her nails into his hand.

“Ow,” he winced, but smiled at her, “I’ve got to keep you on your toes my darling, we don’t want you getting complacent now do we? I still need to see you in stockings and suspenders my love.”

“Well, tonight you’ll probably see me in my winceyette pyjamas with my hair in curlers,” she threatened. She rose to her feet, turned to him, winked, leaned towards his ear and whispered, “See you soon my love.”

“See you soon love,” he replied and began again to attack his fast cooling crispy bacon and omelette. He finished his breakfast, placed his knife and fork across his plate and looked up to observe the same young lady he had spoken to in the corridor approaching him. She smiled and bent to collect his plate.

“Have you finished sir?”

“Yes thanks, have you anything else to tell me?”

She bent close to him and whispered, “When the ship left Savona there were quite a few new staff; but one thing seemed a little strange because eight English people joined the security team, who were all interviewed by the captain himself.”

“Eight men you say.”

“No, there were five men and three women, all English.”

He slipped his hand into his pocket, pulled out a wad of notes, peeled off a €50 note and passed it to her. She took it and speedily secreted it beneath her uniform.

“Thank you sir, is there anything else I can do for you?”

“I think so,” he nodded, “are you on breakfast tomorrow?”

“Yes I am.”

“Then please make sure we have a couple of moments together tomorrow.”

“Yes sir,” she smiled, collected the plates and began to wipe the surface of the table.

Mrs Sarah Jones had listened to Alan and Jacky throughout the morning in their cabin and at breakfast; but was aware that Jacky had parted company with Alan because she had now lost communication with him. She reported this and the over-breakfast discussions between Johnson and Jacky to Major Rock who radioed for support to gain visual contact with Johnson. Visual contact with Alan was made just as the waitress finished cleaning the breakfast dishes and wiped the table. However, no record of their conversation was made.

By 10.30 Alan Johnson and Jacky were taxiing towards Mosta, followed at a discreet distance by three of Major rock’s group. They had audio contact with the couple and knew they had asked the taxi driver to take them to the Mosta dome.

He had been impressed the first time he had entered the Dome some years ago and once again was not disappointed. He took Jacky to view the German bomb which had penetrated the roof of the church during World War Two but fallen to the floor without exploding. This of course was seen as an Act of God by the faithful, but whatever the reason it meant that the third largest domed church in the world remained one of the most beautiful monuments to God.