door of the aircraft after the police had exited, and four of them carried it to the water’s edge beside the lifeboat.
Toby quickly briefed Kellerman, in command of the police raiding party, on what had happened. The Staff Sergeant asked Allison if she would phone the Transport Canada office in Yarmouth and ask them to send their helicopter with a doctor and a policeman to take the five men still on the ground back to Yarmouth. She hurried off to the house. Brock replaced the ropes with handcuffs and asked Toby where they could be locked up until the second helicopter arrived. Toby suggested the storage room in the lighthouse, since he had to go there and turn off the light. He volunteered to stand guard.
“Great.” Brock ordered the Filipinos to carry the wounded Mate to the lighthouse, and removed their cuffs while they carried out the operation. When they were safely handcuffed again and locked up, Toby stood guard outside the room while the RCMP went about their business.
“The sub has left to pick up the fishing boats.” Kellerman explained the messages Allison had heard and passed on. “So we’ll be doing the boarding. Can we borrow your Zodiac because ours won’t hold everybody?”
“Be my guest,” replied Toby. “It’s government property. The tide is in and you ought not to have any trouble getting right up to the ship.”
The police were on the water in fifteen minutes, heading back around the island toward the Helen of Troy , Kellerman in charge of the lead boat, Brock in charge of the second.
CHAPTER NINE
In his New York office, Nicolai Antonelli was angrily talking on the telephone to Manfred Koch. “Where the Hell is that damned vessel?”
“I don’t know, Nicolai. In Canadian waters somewhere, due to be at the rendezvous point today or tomorrow as far as I know. Why? Hasn’t he been reporting in?”
“We haven’t heard from him for three days or more. No word. Nothing. What’s the matter with that German you hired for Captain? Is he competent?”
“Very competent. Something must have happened to his radio system.”
“As long as nothing happened to the boat. He’s got a two hundred and fifty million worth of cargo on there. Georgio lost two hundred and fifty million on the last trip. How much can I afford to lose? And there’s another thing.”
“What’s that?”
“How come you didn’t know that Georgio was ripping us off by selling one container on each trip to some creep named Gonzalez operating out of New Brunswick with fake fishing boats from Nova Scotia? How come you didn’t know that? Do I have to find out everything for you? That’s your job. Or are you working with Gonzalez too and getting paid from both of us?”
Antonelli was very angry and without yelling, his tone of voice made his mood very clear to Manfred.
“Gonzalez? Never heard of him. He must be a small time player.”
“A third of fifty million is more than sixteen million, and that isn’t what I would call small time. How come you didn’t realize the full cargo wasn’t getting to Newfoundland? Good thing I have accountants working for me who can keep track of things.”
“Nobody at the Newfoundland end told me they were getting short changed. They probably thought that what they got was all that was available.”
“Well I want to know who this Gonzalez is and I want him taken out of the picture. Understand?”
“You want me to do it.”
“Whaddya think I’m talking about it? That kind of job is what I pay you to do and I’m not satisfied with the return on my money. Now get busy. Keep me informed about what’s going on.”
Antonelli slammed down the phone and continued to sit and fume. For his part, Manfred Koch poured himself a stiff drink from the bottle in his desk at the warehouse office of NA T ransport and began to make some plans for travel.
*
Captain Braun had heard the shotgun blast but not the screaming of his First Mate. He mistook the gunshot for that of the rifle
Toby quickly briefed Kellerman, in command of the police raiding party, on what had happened. The Staff Sergeant asked Allison if she would phone the Transport Canada office in Yarmouth and ask them to send their helicopter with a doctor and a policeman to take the five men still on the ground back to Yarmouth. She hurried off to the house. Brock replaced the ropes with handcuffs and asked Toby where they could be locked up until the second helicopter arrived. Toby suggested the storage room in the lighthouse, since he had to go there and turn off the light. He volunteered to stand guard.
“Great.” Brock ordered the Filipinos to carry the wounded Mate to the lighthouse, and removed their cuffs while they carried out the operation. When they were safely handcuffed again and locked up, Toby stood guard outside the room while the RCMP went about their business.
“The sub has left to pick up the fishing boats.” Kellerman explained the messages Allison had heard and passed on. “So we’ll be doing the boarding. Can we borrow your Zodiac because ours won’t hold everybody?”
“Be my guest,” replied Toby. “It’s government property. The tide is in and you ought not to have any trouble getting right up to the ship.”
The police were on the water in fifteen minutes, heading back around the island toward the Helen of Troy , Kellerman in charge of the lead boat, Brock in charge of the second.
CHAPTER NINE
In his New York office, Nicolai Antonelli was angrily talking on the telephone to Manfred Koch. “Where the Hell is that damned vessel?”
“I don’t know, Nicolai. In Canadian waters somewhere, due to be at the rendezvous point today or tomorrow as far as I know. Why? Hasn’t he been reporting in?”
“We haven’t heard from him for three days or more. No word. Nothing. What’s the matter with that German you hired for Captain? Is he competent?”
“Very competent. Something must have happened to his radio system.”
“As long as nothing happened to the boat. He’s got a two hundred and fifty million worth of cargo on there. Georgio lost two hundred and fifty million on the last trip. How much can I afford to lose? And there’s another thing.”
“What’s that?”
“How come you didn’t know that Georgio was ripping us off by selling one container on each trip to some creep named Gonzalez operating out of New Brunswick with fake fishing boats from Nova Scotia? How come you didn’t know that? Do I have to find out everything for you? That’s your job. Or are you working with Gonzalez too and getting paid from both of us?”
Antonelli was very angry and without yelling, his tone of voice made his mood very clear to Manfred.
“Gonzalez? Never heard of him. He must be a small time player.”
“A third of fifty million is more than sixteen million, and that isn’t what I would call small time. How come you didn’t realize the full cargo wasn’t getting to Newfoundland? Good thing I have accountants working for me who can keep track of things.”
“Nobody at the Newfoundland end told me they were getting short changed. They probably thought that what they got was all that was available.”
“Well I want to know who this Gonzalez is and I want him taken out of the picture. Understand?”
“You want me to do it.”
“Whaddya think I’m talking about it? That kind of job is what I pay you to do and I’m not satisfied with the return on my money. Now get busy. Keep me informed about what’s going on.”
Antonelli slammed down the phone and continued to sit and fume. For his part, Manfred Koch poured himself a stiff drink from the bottle in his desk at the warehouse office of NA T ransport and began to make some plans for travel.
*
Captain Braun had heard the shotgun blast but not the screaming of his First Mate. He mistook the gunshot for that of the rifle
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