Previously: Mercenary Leon fails on a mission because of David, better known as the Prince of Wales. Socialite Wallis Spencer is also a spy. MI6 makes them a team. David becomes king. David abdicates and they marry. Leon dies. His son Sidney mourns his death but must defend himself against assassins.
Aline awoke early the next morning, anticipating a report from the three dock workers whom she had hired to kill Sidney Johnson in his Eleuthera home last night. All of them were dumb as rocks, but how could they have a problem killing one sixteen-year-old boy who was probably in his bedroom crying himself to sleep because both of his parents were dead? She walked down to the dock, but they were not there. A police motor boat approached the pier. Every stevedore crowded around. Aline listened in on the whispers. Rumors started before day break that three bodies had been found on Eleuthera.
Screams drew Aline closer to the government vessel. Officers lifted three body bags onto the pier and unzipped each one. Several men looked and then ran to the edge of the pier to vomit. When Aline stepped close to see, she muttered obscenities under her breath. Two of them had been beheaded. The one left with a head Aline recognized as the smartest of the group. His eyes stared into the sky, his tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth and his belly was a mush of blood and ripped intestines. She identified the other two headless corpses by their body type. The short, broad-shouldered boy was the least maimed. Just his head was gone. The rest of him looked just fine, except for all the blood that had flowed from the severed neck onto the torso. The third body belonged to the dumbest one. He was overweight and his six-foot frame was clumsy. Not only was his head missing, his midsection was almost dissected by sharp punctures.
This boy must be the devil incarnate.
Family members soon pushed their way through the crowd. A short woman threw herself on top of the beheaded young man. Another woman holding a baby leaned over to touch her child’s face to the bloated lips of the tall man. A third woman scrutinized the bloodied belly of the third victim and shook her head.
“This cannot be my husband. This corpse was a man of violence. My husband was a strict follower of Obeah and never would have participated in any activity that would end in such devastation.” She looked around. “Where is the high priestess Pooka? She will know. She will know.”
No she won’t.
Aline tried not to smile as she turned to walk to the Rialto. She was having lunch with her father Harry Oakes, and she needed a good reason to explain why Leon Johnson’s son was still alive. She heard the church bells toll twelve. She had to hurry.
Think fast. Even Harry won’t fall for just any story.
When she arrived at the Rialto terrace restaurant, Harry already was there, gulping a beer and wiping the sweat from his greasy brow. He turned his head and saw Aline walking towards him. Jumping up, he ran toward her, placing his big hammy palms on her shoulders. She knocked them off.
“The kid, is he dead? Did your guys do the job?”
Aline walked past him and sat at the table. “It’s not my fault. They told me they were the three best goons on the dock.”
“So they didn’t kill him?” Harry came up and leaned in to whisper.
“I just saw the bodies.”
“The bodies? Whose bodies? Not the boy, right?”
“The goons’ bodies. Two of them were beheaded and the other disemboweled.”
“So the kid is okay?” Harry almost missed the chair as he sat.
“He’s not okay.” She took out a cigarette to light it. “The little monster killed all three of them.”
“Oh, thank God.”
“Harry, you’ve got to lay off the booze. You’re not making any sense.”
The waitress came up and took their orders. Harry asked for another beer while Aline wanted a fruit salad and red wine. Harry watched the waitress walk out of earshot.
“I screwed up big time.” His voice was shaking. “I misunderstood the orders. The commander told the next in charge who called me. It was a bad connection.”
“Cut the crap, Harry. The less I know about the big shots the better. Remember, that was one of the first things you told me.”
“I thought they said to kill all the Johnsons.” His eyes were wide in fear. “You weren’t in Lisbon to kill Leon but to make sure nobody would kill him. See, the Nazis wanted to kidnap the duke and duchess but they knew as long as Leon was around they didn’t have a chance. And to keep Leon happy, his family had to be safe.”
“So how the hell did you screw that around to kill all of them?” Aline’s low opinion of Harry was sinking fast.
“Like I said, it was a bad connection. I had too much to drink. My wife was on my ass about something.”
“Have you always been this stupid?”
The waitress appeared with Harry’s beer and Aline’s wine and salad.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat, sir?” the waitress asked.
“Naw. My stomach is already tied up in knots.”
After she left, Aline pushed a pineapple chunk into her cheek. “They don’t blame me for this foul-up, do they? I was just following orders.”
“They know.” Harry slammed back his beer. “It’s my ass on the line. You’ve got to recruit the son immediately. If he’s as tough as you say, we’ll be okay. Oh, and make up a really good lie about who killed his father. Tell him it was the Commies, the Nazis, the British, hell, tell him it was the Windsors’ idea. And for God’s sake don’t even let him think it might have been us.”
“Of course not. I’m not ready to die yet.”
By late afternoon Aline arrived on Eleuthera and walked down the sandy road to Sidney’s house. She pulled her hair back and tied a scarf around her head. She wore a ragged blouse, dirty skirt and sandals. She didn’t want to be noticed. She tugged on the handle to the gate and found it unlocked.
Looking down she saw the dead plant in the pot. She was the one who sent messages for Leon through Pooka who put them in the pot. She’d have to find someone new, someone less nosey.
Aline slipped in and walked to the front door. She was surprised to find it unlocked. Stepping inside she called out hello, but no one answered. First she saw a trail of smeared blood leading away from a darkened pool on the living room tiled floor. A kerosene lamp lay shattered next to an overturned end table. Looking to her right, she saw another smeared path beginning at the kitchen door where there was second pool of blood. On the kitchen wall was a blotch of blood, probably where one of the heads hit.
She walked to the bottom of the stairs. Her eyebrows went up when she saw no blood. She had counted three bodies on the pier that morning. How did the boy get his third victim out of the house? Going upstairs she looked down the hall to see the third pool of blood. Aline went to the room and found a path of red leading to a window. She looked out of it and saw three trenches in the sand leading to different areas on the beach.
One thing the boy needed to learn was how to cover his tracks. Other than that, bravo.
She turned to go back down the stairs. Aline alit from the bottom step when she looked in the door to see a short, slight Bahamian boy wearing soiled clothes covered with fish guts. He carried a bag of the catch of the day. She noticed the tight, hard ball of muscle in his bicep.
“What are you doing in my house?”
“You sound like a girl.”
“You sound like a bitch. What are you doing in my house?”
“You should learn to lock all the doors when you leave, even if you are upset and tired.”
“You need to mind your own business.”
“I knew your father.”
“Are you with this organization he told me about?”
“Yes.”
“Go to hell.”
“I have money for you.”
“I don’t care.”
“The organization knows the Nazis had your father killed. We were too late to save him. We heard about your mother. Very sad. We learned late last night the Nazis hired three Bahamian thugs to kill you. Again we were too late to defend you, but you seemed to have handled the situation yourself quite well.”
“You always seem to be late.”
“I’m on time today. I can have men out to this house tonight and clean it up, paint it and no one will know what happened.”
“Are they going to wipe me out too?” Sidney’s high voice went down an octave with cynicism.
“My dear, you must realize you’re on our side.”
He walked to the kitchen with his bag of fish. “I’m not your ‘dear’.”
“The organization wants to be your ‘dear’.” Aline followed him.
“I’m not interested.” He dumped the fish in the sink, took out a knife and started cutting their heads off with resounding thuds.
“We think your father trained you well.”
“My father did only what every father should do. Teach his son how to survive in this world.” He kept his back to Aline, who could not help but notice his shoulders were broad and thick.
“We pay well. You can wear white linen suits, like your father. You will see the world, eventually.”
“I‘m not interested.” He started slitting the fish open and gutting them.
“You will have just one job at first—protecting the Duke and Duchess of Windsor while he’s the governor of the Bahamas.”
Sidney stopped in mid-slice when she mentioned those names. His memory was blurry on this point but he was sure his father told him once the Windsors were like their family, and he had to make sure their bellies were filled. He considered his decision a long moment then slit open another fish.
“Very well. I accept. Give me the money you owe me. And tell those men to arrive soon. I don’t want to lose any sleep listening to them stumble around the house. I have to go fishing tomorrow.” He turned to point his knife at her. “And tell them I don’t want any paint on the furniture.”