knew where to find him
now.
She hauled
herself back onto the dock and sat down to think while water pooled
around her on the sun-baked timber. Her heated pursuit of Colwyn
Symons was turning out to be a lot harder on her than it was on
him, and that wasn’t part of the plan. Her goal was to make his
life miserable, not hers.
As she
squelched back to her shabby hotel, she began to see that perhaps
she could take a different line of attack. A subtle and devious
approach might have more long-term impact than an outright
fight.
Once in dry
clothes, she pulled pen and paper towards her and began to plot her
campaign, but after a few minutes she realised she needed someone
to bounce ideas off. She picked up the phone and dialled the
international code for New Zealand, the area code for the South
Island, and the number at the farm. Pete would have a few
suggestions, she was sure.
He answered
after some time, sounding very sleepy.
‘Yeah? Pete
here.’
‘Whoops, sorry
Pete, did I wake you up? What time is it over there?’
‘Robyn? Is
everything all right? Where are you?’
‘In Toronto.
Yes, everything’s fine. How are you?’
‘Bloody tired!
It’s two o’clock in the bloody morning here, girl!’
‘Is it? Hell,
sorry bro - do you want me to hang up so you can go back to
sleep?’
‘Nah, you’ve
woken me up now, and it’s really good to hear from you. Tell me
what’s been going on - have you tracked the bastard down?’
‘Yeah, sort of.
I’ve found where he keeps his boat, and I’ve seen him in the
distance. He got away on me today though and I couldn’t get my
hands on him.’
‘So you haven’t
talked to him yet?’
‘No, but I’m
working on some new ideas. See what you think. I reckon I can
really get to him if I’m a bit clever about it. I’ll have to meet
him at the marina, because that’s the only place I can find him. I
was thinking I could volunteer to be cabin boy on his boat so that
I can get close to him, then I can…’ She stopped as Pete snorted
with derision.
‘Robyn! Think
about it - it’s not a square-rigged pirate ship, it’s a modern
launch! He doesn’t need a cabin boy, even if you could maintain the
deception for more than two minutes! No, you’ll have to do better
than that, sis.’
‘Damn! I could
see it so clearly! I’d get my hair cut like a boy, and wear baggy
white shorts to look the part - it would be so cool!’
‘What about
your, er…’
‘Tits? Oh come
on, Pete, my boobs aren’t that big. With a flat sports bra and a
big T-shirt you’d never notice them.’
‘No, I meant
what about your voice. He’d spot you as a Kiwi and a female as soon
as you opened your mouth.’
‘OK, I see what
you mean. Not a great idea then. What else? Got any
suggestions?’
‘You could sink
his boat. Swim up to it under cover when nobody’s watching.’
‘Ooh, I like
that. Drill a couple of holes below the waterline and let her fill
up, and dive, dive, dive!’
‘Of course, it
probably wouldn’t bother him all that much, he’d just get the
insurance to sort it out.’
‘Aw Pete,
you’re taking all the fun out of this!’
‘Sorry, Rob,
just trying to help.’
‘What if I pose
as a rich investor? He’d have to wine me and dine me and be really
nice and then I’d kick him hard in the balls and tell him what a
prick he is.’
‘That’s got
possibilities. Yeah, I can see you doing that. How are you going to
look rich, though. You didn’t pack your mink coat or diamond
earrings, did you?’ He chuckled, knowing the flashest thing in his
sister’s wardrobe was a brand new bush shirt.
‘Damn, I knew
I’d need them if I didn’t bring them! No, you’re right again,
smartarse. Well I guess I’ll just follow him at a distance and
harass him for now - I’ve got plenty of ideas for that. Some really
good ones, too!’
‘Just don’t do
anything you could be arrested for, will you. I told you, it’s too
far to come to bail you out. And don’t do
now.
She hauled
herself back onto the dock and sat down to think while water pooled
around her on the sun-baked timber. Her heated pursuit of Colwyn
Symons was turning out to be a lot harder on her than it was on
him, and that wasn’t part of the plan. Her goal was to make his
life miserable, not hers.
As she
squelched back to her shabby hotel, she began to see that perhaps
she could take a different line of attack. A subtle and devious
approach might have more long-term impact than an outright
fight.
Once in dry
clothes, she pulled pen and paper towards her and began to plot her
campaign, but after a few minutes she realised she needed someone
to bounce ideas off. She picked up the phone and dialled the
international code for New Zealand, the area code for the South
Island, and the number at the farm. Pete would have a few
suggestions, she was sure.
He answered
after some time, sounding very sleepy.
‘Yeah? Pete
here.’
‘Whoops, sorry
Pete, did I wake you up? What time is it over there?’
‘Robyn? Is
everything all right? Where are you?’
‘In Toronto.
Yes, everything’s fine. How are you?’
‘Bloody tired!
It’s two o’clock in the bloody morning here, girl!’
‘Is it? Hell,
sorry bro - do you want me to hang up so you can go back to
sleep?’
‘Nah, you’ve
woken me up now, and it’s really good to hear from you. Tell me
what’s been going on - have you tracked the bastard down?’
‘Yeah, sort of.
I’ve found where he keeps his boat, and I’ve seen him in the
distance. He got away on me today though and I couldn’t get my
hands on him.’
‘So you haven’t
talked to him yet?’
‘No, but I’m
working on some new ideas. See what you think. I reckon I can
really get to him if I’m a bit clever about it. I’ll have to meet
him at the marina, because that’s the only place I can find him. I
was thinking I could volunteer to be cabin boy on his boat so that
I can get close to him, then I can…’ She stopped as Pete snorted
with derision.
‘Robyn! Think
about it - it’s not a square-rigged pirate ship, it’s a modern
launch! He doesn’t need a cabin boy, even if you could maintain the
deception for more than two minutes! No, you’ll have to do better
than that, sis.’
‘Damn! I could
see it so clearly! I’d get my hair cut like a boy, and wear baggy
white shorts to look the part - it would be so cool!’
‘What about
your, er…’
‘Tits? Oh come
on, Pete, my boobs aren’t that big. With a flat sports bra and a
big T-shirt you’d never notice them.’
‘No, I meant
what about your voice. He’d spot you as a Kiwi and a female as soon
as you opened your mouth.’
‘OK, I see what
you mean. Not a great idea then. What else? Got any
suggestions?’
‘You could sink
his boat. Swim up to it under cover when nobody’s watching.’
‘Ooh, I like
that. Drill a couple of holes below the waterline and let her fill
up, and dive, dive, dive!’
‘Of course, it
probably wouldn’t bother him all that much, he’d just get the
insurance to sort it out.’
‘Aw Pete,
you’re taking all the fun out of this!’
‘Sorry, Rob,
just trying to help.’
‘What if I pose
as a rich investor? He’d have to wine me and dine me and be really
nice and then I’d kick him hard in the balls and tell him what a
prick he is.’
‘That’s got
possibilities. Yeah, I can see you doing that. How are you going to
look rich, though. You didn’t pack your mink coat or diamond
earrings, did you?’ He chuckled, knowing the flashest thing in his
sister’s wardrobe was a brand new bush shirt.
‘Damn, I knew
I’d need them if I didn’t bring them! No, you’re right again,
smartarse. Well I guess I’ll just follow him at a distance and
harass him for now - I’ve got plenty of ideas for that. Some really
good ones, too!’
‘Just don’t do
anything you could be arrested for, will you. I told you, it’s too
far to come to bail you out. And don’t do
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