Wilbur Smith's Smashing Thrillers (59 page)

‘
And precisely what is
it you are accusing me of?
’
And she told him, reeling off swiftly the
lists of guarantees made by the Trust, the transfer of shares and the
issues of new shares and guarantees within the Christy Marine group of
subsidiaries, she listed the known layering of underwriting cover on
Golden Dawn that Nicholas had unearthed.

‘
When my auditors have finished, Duncan darling, not only will the
courts return control of Christy Marine to me, but they will probably
sentence you to five years at hard labour. They take this sort of thing
rather seriously, you know.
’

He smiled. He actually smiled! She felt
her fury seething to the surface and the set of her eyes altered, colour
tinted the smooth pale olive of her cheeks.

‘
You dare to grin at me
,’
she hissed.
‘
I will break you for that.
’

‘
No
,’
he shook his head.
‘
No, you won't.
’

‘
Are you denying
–‘
she snapped,
but he cut her off with a raised hand, and a shake of that handsome
arrogant head.

‘
I am denying nothing, my love. On the contrary, I am going to admit it
- and more, much more.
’
He flicked the cigarette away, and it hissed
sharply in the lapping blue wavelets of the yacht basin. While she
stared at him, struck speechless, he let the silence play out like a
skilled actor as he selected and lit another cigarette from the gold
case.

‘
For some weeks now I have been fully aware that somebody was prying very
deeply into my affairs and those of the company.
’
He blew a long blue
feather of cigarette smoke, and cocked one eyebrow at her, a cynical
mocking gesture which increased her fury, but left her feeling suddenly
afraid and uncertain.
‘
It didn't take long to establish that the trace
was coming from a little man in Monte Carlo who makes a living at
financial and industrial espionage.
Lazarus is good, excellent, the very best. I have used him myself, in
fact it was I who introduced him to Nicholas Berg.
‘
He chuckled then,
shaking his head indulgently.
’T
he silly things we do sometimes. The connection was immediate.
Berg and Lazarus. I have run my own check on that even what they have
come up with and estimate Lazarus could not have uncovered more than
twenty-five percent of the answers. He leaned forward and suddenly his
voice snapped with a new authority. You see, Chantelle dear, I am
probably one of the best in the world myself.
They could never have traced it all.
’

‘
You are not denying then
–‘
She
heard the faltering tone in her own voice, and hated herself for it. He
brushed her aside contemptuously.

‘
Be quiet, you silly little woman, and listen to me. I am going to tell
you just how deeply you are in - I am going to explain to you, in terms
that even you can understand, why you will not send in your auditors,
why you will not fire me, and why you will do exactly what I tell you to
do.
’

He paused and stared into her eyes, a direct trial of strength
which she could not meet. She was confused and uncertain, for once not
in control of her own destiny. She dropped her eyes, and he nodded with
satisfaction.

‘
Very well. Now listen. I have put it all - everything that is Christy
Marine - it is all riding on Golden Dawn.
’

Chantelle felt the earth turn
giddily under her feet and the sudden roaring rush of blood in her ears.
She stepped back and the stone parapet caught the back of her knees.
She sat down heavily.

‘
What are you talking about?
’
she whispered. And he told her, in
substantial detail, from the beginning, how it had worked out. From the
laying of Golden Dawn's keel in the times of vast tanker tonnage demand.
‘
My calculations were based on demand for tanker space two years ago, and
on construction costs of that time.

The energy crisis and collapse in
demand for tankers had come with the vicious rise in inflation, bloating
the costs of construction of Golden Dawn by more than double.
Duncan had countered by altering the design of the gigantic tanker. He
had reduced the four propulsion units to one, he had cut down the steel
structuring of the hull reinforcement by twenty percent, he had done
away with elaborate safety functions and fail-safe systems designed by
Nicholas Berg, and he had cut it too fine. He had forfeited the Al
Lloyd's rating, the mark of approval from the inspectors of that
venerable body; without the insurance backing of that huge underwriting
market, he had been forced to look elsewhere to find the cover to
satisfy his financiers. The premiums had been crippling. He had to
pledge Christy Marine stock, the Trust stock.
Then the spiralling cost of production had overtaken him again and he
needed money and more money, He had taken it where he could find it, at
rates of interest that were demanded, and used more Christy stock as
collateral.

Then the insurance cover had been insufficient to cover the huge
increase in the cost of the ultra-tanker's hull.

‘
When luck runs out
–‘
Duncan shrugged eloquently, and went on,
‘
I had to
pledge more Christy stock, all of it.
It's all at risk, Chantelle, every single piece of paper, even the
shares we retrieved from your Nicholas - and even that wasn't enough.
I have had to write cover through front companies, cover that is
worthless.
’
Then, Duncan smiled again, relaxed and unruffled, almost as
though he was enjoying himself,
‘
then, there was that awful fiasco when
Golden Adventurer went up on the ice, and I had to find six million
dollars to pay the salvage award. That was the last of it, I went out
for everything then, all of it. The Trust, the whole of Christy Marine.
’

‘
I'll break you
,’
she whispered.
‘
I'll smash you. I swear before God
–‘

‘
You don't understand, do you?
’
He shook his head sorrowfully, as though
at an obtuse child.
‘
You cannot break me, without breaking Christy
Marine and yourself. You are in it, Chantelle, much much deeper than I
am. You have everything every penny, this house, that emerald on your
finger, the future of your brat - all of it is riding on Golden Dawn
’

‘
No.
’
She closed her eyes very tightly, and there was no colour in her
cheeks now.

‘
Yes. I'm afraid it's yes
,’
he contradicted.
‘
I didn't plan it that way.
I saw a profit of 200 millions in it, but we have been caught up in
circumstances, I'm afraid.
’

They were both silent, and Chantelle swayed
slightly as the full enormity of it overwhelmed her.

‘
If you whistle up your hounds now, if you call in your axe
-
men, there
will be plenty for them to work on
,’
he laughed again,
‘
buckets of dung
for us all to wallow in.
And my backers will line up to cancel out, Golden Dawn will never run
down her ways - she is not fully covered, as I explained to you.
It all hangs on a single thread, Chantelle. If the launching of Golden
Dawn is delayed now, delayed by a month - no, by a week even, it will
all come tumbling down.
’

‘
I'm going to be sick
,’
she whispered thickly.

‘
No, you are not.
’
He stood up and crossed quickly to her. Coldly he
slapped her face, two hard open-handed back and forth blows, that
snapped her head from side to side, leaving the livid marks of his
fingers on her pale cheeks. it was the first time ever that a man had
struck her, but she could not find the indignation to protest. She
merely stared at him.

‘
Pull yourself together
,’
he snarled at her, and gripped her shoulders
fiercely, shaking her as he went on.
‘
Listen to me. I have told you the
worst that can happen
.
Now, I will tell you the best. If we stand
together now, if you obey me implicitly, without question, I will pull
off one of the greatest financial coups of the century for you. All it
needs is one successful voyage by Golden Dawn and we are home free - a
single voyage, a few short weeks, and I will have doubled your fortune.
’
She was staring at him, sickened and shaken to the core of her
existence.
‘
I have signed an agreement of charter with Orient Amex, that
will pull us out from under
with
a single voyage, and the day Golden Dawn
anchors in Galveston roads and sends in her tank pods to discharge, I
will have a dozen buyers for her.
’
He stepped back, and straightened the
lapels of his jacket.
‘
They are going to remember my name. In future
when they talk of tankers, they are going to talk of Duncan Alexander.
’

‘
I
hate you
,’
she said softly.
‘
I truly hate you.
’

"That is not important.
’
He waved it away.
‘
When it is over, I can
afford to walk away - and you can afford to let me go. But not a moment
before.
’

‘
How much will you make from this, if it succeeds?
’
she asked,
and she was recovering, her voice firmer.

‘
A great deal. A very great deal of money - but my real reward will be
in reputation and achievement. After this, I will be a man who can
write his own ticket.
’

‘
For once, you will be able to stand comparison
with Nicholas Berg. Is that it?
’
She saw she had scored immediately,
and she pressed harder, trying to wound and destroy.
‘
But you and I both know it is not true. Golden Dawn was Nicholas
’
inspiration and he would not have had to descend to the cheat and sham
-‘

‘
My dear Chantelle -
,’

‘
You will never be, could never be the man Nicholas
is.
’

‘
Damn you.
’
Suddenly he was shaking with anger, and she was
screaming at him.

‘
You're a cheat and a liar. For all your airs, you're still a cheap
little barrow-boy at heart. You're small and shoddy
-‘

‘
I've beaten
Nicholas Berg every time I've met him.
’

‘
No, you haven't, Duncan, It was
I who beat him for you!
’

‘
I took you
-‘

‘
For a while,
’
she sneered.
‘
Just for a short fling, Duncan
dear. But when he wanted me he took me right back again.
’