Last Train to Retreat (31 page)

Magnus said incredulously, ‘Are you saying you’re prepared to give up your job? Am I hearing right, Zane?’

Calling him Magnus and then telling him to stick his new account
and
questioning the ethics of the campaign had clearly shocked Magnus and Appleby. Zane could see Appleby desperately wanting him to save himself but Zane looked Magnus in the eye and said, ‘Yes.’

Magnus got up, ‘Well, if that’s all, Zane …’ Magnus was trying to make small of something that he knew was much bigger than he was.

Later Appleby came to Zane, ‘Magnus has calmed down, it seems you’re staying and you no longer have to work on GHD. I’m gobsmacked, old chap, didn’t think
anyone
could do that with Magnus.’

•

The full story about the killings in Lavender Hill broke that afternoon. Investigators had discovered a link between it and the shooting at Plattekloof a few weeks earlier, when a notorious high-flier, his dogs, a Chinese triad, and others were massacred. Bullets found at both places had been fired from the same gun – the gun with which gang leader, Hannibal Fortuin, had committed suicide. Following a search of Mr Fortuin’s home and questioning of members of the Evangelicals gang, two detectives from the Lavender Hill police station were arrested on charges of corruption. Police were also investigating possible links to the murder of Detective Warrant Officer Quentin Philander, and the reasons why the hijacking and murder of his wife, Bettie, remained unsolved. Police also raided a massage parlour in the city where evidence of not only drug trafficking but trading in humans was found. Police said a major crime network with Far East connections had been smashed.

Appleby dumped the afternoon newspaper on Zane’s desk. ‘Check this, Zane, you’re a bloody hero! Awesome, man, the way you stared down the killer to save your sister.’ He looked up, ‘Jesus, it says you got shot! I thought you walked funny this morning. You’re okay, I hope?’

‘I’ll be just fine. The stitches come out in a week.’

Appleby’s finger continued down the report. ‘Pity the girl died,’ he said. ‘I mean, what could she really do? Did you know her well?’

‘It’s a long story, Appleby … yes, I knew her, and you’re right, there wasn’t much she could do. But she
had
to be there … just as I had to.’ There was too much to explain, he thought, like why Hannibal’s bridge that said L-O-V-E for the world to see didn’t stop him from killing. And what did it matter that everyone still remembered the Zane Hendricks of a few weeks ago? What mattered was what had happened
inside
him.

‘Apparently the girl got up and ran between you and the gunman. What a thing!’ Appleby was awed. It was as if he knew he could never find the courage to do what she had done.

Zane looked away, not saying anything. How could he tell Appleby about his last moments with Lena, his ears still ringing from the gunshot? Her eyes the softest he’d ever seen them, a dark molten brown with no bitterness in them at all, as though she’d found something precious at last that she wanted to share with him. He would never really know. It had embraced him like a deep, velvety pool just as he got to her. But it was the closest thing to love from Lena he had ever felt.

Afbiene – no money, broke

Alles kak – it’s all nonsense

Arag – horrible

Aweh, hoesit? – how are you?

Befok/meth befok – crazed/crystal meth crazed

Blerrie – bloody (expletive)

Boetie – brother, buddy

Bot – bored

Bra – close friend/acquaintance

Braai – barbeque

Bredie – traditional Cape dish

Bruin ogies – brown eyes

Chom – pal, buddy

Dagga – marijuana

Dikbek – morose

Dinges – ‘thingy’

Doek – headscarf

Dominee – preacher

Doos – stupid person

Dwang – trouble

Ek sê – I say

Gamat – Cape Coloured

Gatsby – Cape Town delicacy

Gattas – police

Geitjie – malicious person

Gemors – mess

Giemba – glutton

Groot skrik – big fright

Jissis – euphemism for Jesus

Jits – cool, nice

Kak jags – very horny

Kêrels - cops

Kind – young woman/chick

Klap – smack

Klonkie chicky – Coloured girl

Klop mal – great sound (music)

Koeksister – plaited doughnut

Kots – to vomit

Kring – circle

Kryp in jou moer – piss off

Kwaai hoender – awesome chicken

Laaitie – youngster

Langaanie - no way!

Larney – smart, upscale

Lekka – nice (from ‘lekker’)

Liefie – darling

Lolly – glass pipe (for smoking crystal meth)

Mamparra – stupid person

Mang – prison

Manne – guys

Meisie – girl

Minute! – hold it/hang on!

Moegoe – tired

Mompies – deranged

Mooi loop – take care

Mooi lyfie – nice figure

Muggie – gnat (lightweight person)

Naai – to copulate

Niks – nothing

Nobba – regardless, irrespective

Nooitie – not on your life

Nuh? – checking if someone’s listening

Nwata – nonsense

Ouens van die toun – men from the Flats

Oujongnooi – spinster

Paaping – running scared

Papsak – foil bag (wine)

Pasela – gratis

Poes – vagina

Pompding – pump thing (sex object)

Shebeen – unlicensed township bar

Sies! – yuck!

Skurf – rough

Slap chips – soggy chips/fries

Slapgat – lazy person

Smaak – to like

Snoek – a popular Cape fish

Sommer – just

Sop bompies – frozen soup

Sout – watch out!

Soutie – Englishman

Spookasem – candy floss

Stirvy – stuck-up (person)

Stoep – verandah

Tiet – tit

Tik – crystal meth

Toppie – father/elderly male

Troopie – soldier

Uitgesort – resolved

Vedala – old

Versin – crazy, insane

Vienna – smoked processed sausage

Vreet – to eat greedily

Vrot – very drunk

Woelag – cool, nice

Yster – great, awesome

ISBN 9781843865070 (published 2009 by Pegasus UK, also on Kindle)

About the novel

Rorke Summers, a young South African, hangs up his surfboard to take a job as a trader in an investment bank in Hong Kong. But like the mythical Icarus, he flies too high. High bonuses, high stakes, high living – in Hong Kong and Macau he is seduced by them all. Caught up in triangles of passion, betrayal, and death, he becomes a target of the Chinese triads and has to go on the run. Will he find the middle way or will he meet the fate of Icarus?

Icarus over Hong Kong
moves at a cracking pace between the trading floor, the casinos of Macau, the golden beaches of Durban, and the teeming streets of Hong Kong, revealing the money-driven world of investment banking as well as the dark world that exists beneath Hong Kong’s glittering veneer.

Press reviews

“A remarkable story of greed, lust, power, and failure in the world of high-stakes trading, casinos, and the Triads … Preller has written a superb suspense thriller, brilliantly weaving together the strands of a story that will keep you enthralled to the energetic and powerful end.”

Pretoria News

“The protagonist’s decline from a sexually dynamic corporate hero to desperate gambler, drug abuser and target of the Triads is a modern morality tale as well as a white-knuckle flight towards oblivion. Do not expect to put it down before you’ve devoured the last page.”

The Mercury

“Preller has produced a satisfying tale threaded with suspense, passion, and danger. Crack the cover only when you have time to devour it in large chunks – you will want to!”

Fairlady Magazine

“An absorbing read, well paced, thought out and believable. Preller obviously has a knack for the genre.’

‘The novel propels the reader from Hong Kong back to Durban with such force that you hardly have time to catch your breath.”

The Sunday Tribune

“We reluctantly recognise that the dive of the previously high-flying Rorke is reaching terminal velocity. But we hope against hope that he will climb up again. There are many equally vividly drawn characters in the novel. Quinn, Rorke’s one-eyed, quietly furious boss, is brilliantly portrayed, and Preller, in masterly fashion, keeps for this character one of the most moving one-liners in the whole book. Such characterisation and reader empathy is like gold for a novelist.”

“The purpose of a novel is to entertain. Not to educate. But readers of Gustav Preller’s book will feel that they have had the best of
both
worlds – they have armchair-travelled to a vibrant city in the East which everybody should visit before they die, and they have been taken on a seriously up and down rollercoaster ride of adventure which doesn’t let up from start to finish.”

Patrick Coyne, Author and Member of the South African Writers’ Circle

ISBN 9781903490501 (published 2011 by Pegasus UK, also on Kindle)

About the novel

In seconds a brutal carjacking shatters the life of top Johannesburg banker, Pierre Joubert. Disillusioned, he vows to leave South Africa. He decides on Provence, home of his French Huguenot ancestors and epitome of civilised society – a utopia far from his crime-ridden country. But two chance encounters in the village of Lacombe lead to unintended and terrifying consequences.

He first encounters Dr Uli Maier, humanist and free thinker intent on protecting Europe’s secular values against an encroaching Islam, and then Shada, a Muslim girl from an Algerian immigrant family. Daunting cultural differences cannot stop the dangerous attraction Pierre and Shada feel for each other. Casting his long, dark shadow over them all is Hassan, trapped in a Paris slum, his hatred of France matched only by his self-loathing.

Four people, three missions, one deadly appointment with fate.

Rich in irony,
The Twelfth Delegate
is a contemporary novel set in Johannesburg, Paris, Zürich, Provence, Algiers, and the Cape winelands.

Press reviews

“Gustav Preller’s first novel, Icarus over Hong Kong, placed him among South Africa’s top crime writers. His second novel has placed this South African author more firmly among the world’s best crime writers.”

The Star

“Crime fiction with a twist and a heart … Preller has masterly woven a story of hatred, deceit, love, discovery, sadness, and elation, moving across two continents and three countries. He has exceeded all expectations with his second delivery,
The Twelfth Delegate
.”

Pretoria News

“
The Twelfth Delegate
is a thinking person’s thriller, with a cleverly constructed plot drawing in many serious issues concerning man and his co-existence in the modern world.”

The Mercury

“One of the marks of a great fiction writer is that his heroes are human beings, with the foibles and failings that readers can recognise as their own … Pierre’s quest for justice and safety for the woman he loves and for his own self-fulfilment is masterly and convincing.”

“Non-stop action, a flying carpet ride from Johannesburg to Namibia, Paris, Provence, Hamburg, and Algiers, and, in addition, a profound look at a worldwide problem of today – that of the radical, extreme man’s ‘inhumanity to man’ … a thrilling yet thought-provoking journey.”

“An author capable of literary gems such as ‘The apartment was in a sixteenth century building in a quiet street so narrow that cars had to be parked with side mirrors flattened like the ears of frightened dogs’.”

Patrick Coyne, Author and Member of the South African Writers’ Circle

“This is a novel sincerely recommended to readers of crime fiction that we are able to identify with.”

Independent Online

Gustav Preller started writing in his retirement after 36 years with multinational corporations in Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Zürich, Hamburg, Cape Town, and Manchester, his diverse career taking him from Unilever management trainee to heading up FMCG companies, advertising agencies, the UK subsidiary of a global sports goods company, and, finally, a bank.

When he’s not writing he surfs longboards, rides his mountain bike, fishes, and plays chess. He also studied karate for 16 years, attaining his 3
^rd
dan
black belt in JKA Shotokan and running his own dojo.

He’s married and lives in South Africa on Kwazulu-Natal’s north coast. He has two sons, one in Hong Kong and the other in the USA.

His debut novel,
Icarus over Hong Kong
, was published in 2009 by Pegasus UK.
The Twelfth Delegate
followed in 2011.
Last Train to Retreat
is his third novel.

© Copyright 2012 Gustav Preller

All rights reserved

No reproduction, copy, or transmission of this work may be made without written permission from the author. No paragraph of this novel may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with the written permission from the author (
[email protected]
)

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this work may be liable to civil prosecution and civil claims for damage.

Published September 2012

Cover Design by Pamela Preller, London