Last Out From Roaring Water Bay (53 page)

Dead people don’t feel pain and I was in agony, now crumpled to the floor clutching my left shoulder. I’d never been shot before. The feeling was weird, a sort of burning sensation where the bullet had entered, as if some sadistic torturer had shoved a red-hot poker into my flesh for fun. I grimaced, my teeth clenched with both pain and anger. Hamer was standing behind Shayna with his arm wrapped around her throat. She looked groggy and she was bleeding heavily from a cut just above her left eye. I guessed Hamer had smashed the butt of his gun into her face to subdue her.

His gun hand was angled down at me. He said conceitedly, “As I predicted, Speed; professionalism outsmarts the amateur. But before I finally kill you I would like to thank you from the bottom of a sceptic tank for finding our golden future. I’m glad I didn’t kill you when I’d the chance in London. Without you I’d probably never have found the gold. Alas, Speed, death comes to you at a price and fortunately I’m to become a rich man and you’ll be dead. Doesn’t life stink?”

“You’ll never get away with it!” I spat what seemed idle threats.

“But I am getting away with it, Speed.” Hamer said with confidence. “And while I’m soaking up all that nice sunshine at some paradise location without an extradition treaty, you’ll be getting lowered, along with Miss Loser here, in that pauper’s grave we always promised.”

“Don’t count on it Hamer! I’ll haunt you from wherever I am, you murdering bastard!”

Hamer smirked, his finger curling tighter around the trigger ready to shoot. I tried to be brave and keep my eyes focused on him to show my defiance in the face of death. I tensed though, my body rigid in readiness to take the bullet that was about to explode from its chamber and into my head. It was natural for me to twist my head slightly away from the oncoming death threat. When I did, in the corner of my eye, I saw my guardian angel.

Hamer was so full of himself that he hadn’t seen or heard the large black shadow sweeping over him. When he did, he was far too late to react and avoid the huge fist that smashed into the side of his face. I’d heard the smack of knucklebone hitting jawbone and its effect was to send Hamer plummeting sideways as he lost his grip on Shayna. He staggered and then dropped to the ground, knocked out, blood trickling from the side of his mouth and running down his distorted chin and in between the pebbles where his battered face lay.

I was ecstatic. Ignoring the pain I was in, my eyes flicked to the owner of the huge fist. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Shamus standing there in a boxer’s stance ready to throw the next punch. Satisfied he’d done his job, Shamus reached down and took the gun from Hamer’s hand, but he hadn’t quite finished with him.

Shamus leaned over Hamer, and said, “That yer obnoxious granite of English shit, is for blowing up me boat!”

Shamus looked at me and winked. He said, “Hullo there, Shacks sir. I didn’t want to miss all the fun yer’re were all having.”

He hadn’t finished there either as he promptly spat into Hamer’s hair, (which I thought must be some sort of Irish custom) and he followed that with a kick to Hamer’s midriff. “And that, you English bastard, is for giving me friends a rough and unpleasant time.” He looked at Shayna with an apologetic expression. “Excuse me dreadful behaviour, Lass. It’s very rare for Shamus O’Malley to conduct himself in such a disorderly manner, but I felt I’d earned the privilege.”

Shayna threw herself into the Irishman and hugged him. He was slightly embarrassed by the emotional ordeal. She said, “You were magnificent, Shamus.”

I could only marvel at Shamus’s brilliant timing, as he had undoubtedly saved my life. He helped me to my feet, took my weight, allowed Shayna to loop her arm through his, and we trooped wearily back to the quayside and hopefully straight into the pub.

All of a sudden the place was swarming with heavily armed Garda. I heard a troop helicopter fly overhead heading in the direction of the
Flying Fish
. Motor launches skimmed across the water. Uniformed men, armed to the teeth, ran past me to drag Hamer to his feet and place him under arrest.

In a panic I stopped and said to Shamus, “Where’s Morgan?”

Shamus looked puzzled. “Morgan? If he was still inside the church then he’s trapped with no escape, Shacks sir. I was too busy running after Hamer to notice anything else.”

“Frigging hell, Shamus, what if you hadn’t made it on time or he’d seen you before you reached him?”

“O I wouldn’t have worried over that, Shacks, Sir. There was a sharpshooter on standby ready to take the bastard down if necessary.”

When we reached the quay the pub was still shut. Its closure disappointed me. It was the only hospital treatment I needed at that moment. I sat down on a wall because I suddenly felt dizzy. A senior Garda officer angled across to us. The officer gave a polite salute and said, “Chief Inspector, Micky O’Connor. I presume I’m addressing, Mister Shackleton Speed and Miss Shayna Magginty?”

Shayna nodded. I couldn’t be arsed answering and grunted instead. I was in far too much pain.

The Garda officer went on. “You both have a lot of explaining to do when you’ve rested. O and there’s also some representatives from the Japanese Consulate flying in insisting they speak with you, Mister Speed. I’ve no idea why but the Japanese have clearance to do so.” He checked his wristwatch. “In approximately twenty minutes they’ll be here, so I would appreciate your-” He stopped suddenly when he noticed my blood soaked jacket sleeve. “Good grief man you’re injured.” He raised his hand in the air to attract the attention of a group of medical staff arriving on the scene and called across to them. “Medic! This man here requires urgent attention. He’s bleeding all over the place.”

My mind was suddenly elsewhere. Alarmed, I said to O’Connor, “Did you apprehend someone called Morgan?”

“The big English man with red hair, you mean? We have him in custody, sir. He’s not stopped ranting on about how he tracked you down, Mister Speed. That you’re a thieving and murdering misfit and it should be you we put in handcuffs and not him.”

I panicked. “You didn’t believe him?”

“Not one mouthful, sir. He tried to shoot one of my men before we arrested him.”

The Bell 222 helicopter hovered before landing on the grassy knoll farther up the hill. I watched the two Orientals emerge from the passenger compartment. I recognized Tanamoto instantly. He looked pleased so he probably wasn’t aware of Deveron’s death. I considered it wouldn’t be my place to tell him. Chief Inspector Micky O’Conner met them from the craft. They talked for five minutes. I assumed O’Connor was explaining the present situation to them.

In the meantime the medic finished off patching my wound and put my arm into a sling. He told me that I’d been tremendously lucky and the bullet had gone straight through my flesh with minimum damage, other than to perhaps have chipped my shoulder bone on the way out. It would hurt for a while but I should recover satisfactorily. It could have been worse.

Tanamoto and his companion hurried down the hill towards us, all teeth with huge smiles, with the Garda officer dragging in their wake. The two Orientals bowed when they reached us.

Tanamoto greeted me openly. “Ah, Mister Speed!” His smile dropped to a look of concern. “You’ve been hurt?”

“It’s only a flesh wound. I’ll live,” I assured him.

“I wish you a fast recovery.” And then he gestured to his companion. “Let me introduce to you, Haisi Yoshimoto, military attaché at the Japanese consulate in London.”

Yoshimoto bowed. “It is a great honour to meet you, Mister Speed. The entire people of Japan will be greatly indebted to the man who found ‘Momi 2’.”

“News travels fast but I’m glad to be of service.”

Again their heads bowed and Yoshimoto said, “It is a service that will be truly honoured, Mister Speed.”

I said to O’Connor, flicking my head sideways. “There’s a cavern you might want to visit below Dun an Oir on Clear Island. Inside the cavern is where you’ll find the submarine and the remains of the submariners. There are two entrances and both have a degree of difficulty for entry: one by sea but you’ll require diving gear: the other by the fort itself only you will require excavation equipment to remove tons of rocks. Under those rocks in the tunnel are the bodies of seven Irishmen. They were the people responsible for the hijacking of the I-52 in 1944, and for the murder of the Japanese crew.”

With a well rehearsed suspicious tone, O’Conner said, “How may I ask did you discover all this?”

“It was by sheer luck and guess work.”

O’Conner smiled briefly. “There’s plenty of that in Ireland.”

O’Conner excused himself and shot off when he was called by one of his men.

Yoshimoto then reached inside his coat pocket. He produced a white envelope and bowed while he handed it to me. “Please accept the humble thanks of the Japanese nation, Mister Shackleton Speed.”

I thanked Yoshimoto and tucked the offering into my side pocket without checking the contents. I should have checked the contents but I had my reasons.

Tanamoto said, “We shall detain you no longer and leave you to continue your medical treatment, Mister Speed. We shall meet later, when you have made a full recovery. We have a lot to discuss and arrange.”

I nodded and smiled approvingly.

They moved away in deep discussion, returning to where O’Connor was issuing orders. They spent a few minutes talking and then I noticed Tanamoto shudder violently. I gathered O’Conner had just informed him of Deveron’s death.

Shayna leaned over and said quietly. “They seemed happy with the return of their submarine and the gold too no doubt. I wonder if they’ll want the opium too. Come to think of it, what happened to the opium if it wasn’t aboard the submarine or at the church?”

“I haven’t a clue! I’ve a funny feeling McCracken knew nothing of the existence of the opium. He was only interested in the gold. But I know a tramp called Willie. He knows where it is, because I suspect while the rest of them had nothing to do for ten hours, they all went searching the submarine for whatever gains they could pilfer and almost certainly stumbled across the medical supplies. Probably had knowledge of its importance and decided to stash the stuff away to be collected later without McCracken knowing. But circumstances changed Willie’s way of thinking. With the others dead, he was too frightened to return to the Island to collect the stash.”

“So it’s still there on Clear Island?”

“I guess so.”

“Shouldn’t we be informing the authorities of its existence?”

“What the hell for, Shayna?”

“It’s our duty.”

“It’s best left hidden. If that much opium was to inadvertently hit the street, I hate to think of the serious consequences and a probable increase of drug abuse.”

She thought it through. “You’re probable right.”

“I’m seriously right,” I said.

She gave me one of her curious looks that I’d grown accustomed to. “I’ve been wondering.”

“Wondering about what?”

“The envelope you slipped discreetly into your pocket.”

“What about it?”

“I noticed you never bothered to check what was inside the envelope.”

“I already knew the contents. Besides, the Japanese find it discourteous if a person checks the contents in front of the giver; it’s a sign of mistrust by the receiver.”

“So what’s in the envelope?”

I tapped my chest. “This envelope in here, you mean?”

“Will you stop messing me about.”

“It’s a formal invite to ex gratis, naturally.”

“And what’s that in layman terms?”

“It’s a letter of authority from the Japanese Govern ment approving my rights to a percentage of the salvaged gold.”

Shayna frowned. “Salvage rights? Is that a legal transaction between a Country and a Commoner from another?”

“You’re frigging right it is, and I expect to receive every damn penny, Shayna. I’ll receive a whopping two percent of all recovered gold to be exact and kindly agreed by the Japanese government in respect of my honourable disclosure of their property.”

“It’s as simple as that?”

“Life can be grand sometimes, Shayna?”

“They could have disagreed and refused to pay out.”

“They could have quite easily done that and then I would have pointed out a minor problem they would have experienced by refusing me my share. I would have had to apply, ‘finder’s keepers-losers weepers-giving back is stealing-and frigging lucky if they ever get it back-policy’, if you can understand all that gibberish. But you have to respect the Japanese for their upholding of promises. I knew they’d agree. I’m happy with the arrangement and they’ll be happy in Japan to have solved the mystery of the missing I-52.”

“When did you arrange all this ex-gratis-thank you very much deal?”

“It came to me during one of my many sleepless nights.”

Her face lit up. “How much is this two percent expected to bring?”

“I’d say roughly…two and half million.”

“Is that Yen?”

“English Pounds Stirling, of course. I wouldn’t have any other currency.”

“You lucky Limey sod!”

“No, I’m a rich lucky Limey sod.”

“Bragging rights too!”

“Not all for me. I did promise Shamus a new boat.”

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Shackleton; you’ve proven to be one hell of a guy.”

“And one that deserves a long rest to recover. Care to join me?”

“You have somewhere in mind?”

“Somewhere faraway and quiet where nobody knows who I am. I was thinking maybe a quiet island somewhere in the Caribbean.”

“It sounds inviting.”

“Then you’re not too busy in the near future?”

“I might take you up on that offer.”

She didn’t sound convincing. I sensed something there was else was on her mind. “What’s bothering you, Shayna?”

“Well, considering your reputation I’m surprised you were willing to reveal where the gold was hidden. You could have kept it for yourself; walked away and said nothing.”

“The thought did occur to me, Shayna. Admittedly I was tempted. Now this is going to sound daft to you. I’d no interest in the gold whatsoever. I was angry, that’s why I went after the damned stuff. Two good people died unnecessarily because of it. Finding it first gave me the impetus to expose the true villains; to dangle the golden booty in front of their murderous eyes. It worked in my favour. I’m now content. Yes I’ve lost two good friends, but I’m content.”