Against the Tide (37 page)

My body convulsed with shock. I rationalised that it was a delay from the shooting but I couldn't control it. A small wavelet, teased by an eddy of wind, broke over my face and I panicked. I swallowed desperately, helpless in the grip of a blind terror. I could only escape by sprinting but my body was frozen. The current pushed me westwards. I was going to drown.

36

‘Jack! Get your feet up. Lie on your back.' I could hear Rachel but I couldn't obey.

Fred grabbed my chin from behind and tried to pull it into his shoulder. Panicked by his grip, I fought free. All my training was boiling away in my fevered brain.

I felt a whipping sting across my left cheek. Startled, I turned towards the pain.

Rachel's face was close to mine. She slapped me again. ‘Stop it. Calm down.' As her arm swung round to deliver another blow, I ducked. I could tread water. I was back in control.

Her eyes pierced mine. ‘Jack Renouf, if you only knew how much I've wanted to do that.'

I glared back at her. She'd certainly woken me and, despite the slap, I wanted to hug her.

Fred had other ideas. ‘Come on, you two. We're drifting. Let's pull the sack together.'

What had Miko said?
If you think, you sink
. I had misapplied his advice. It was right for a race, when I over-think everything. But this wasn't a race. It was because I had tried to avoid thinking about my fear that I'd panicked. Rachel's slap had kick-started my rational brain, made me face the reality. The depth of water was immaterial. I might be skinny but I could float, hold my breath, swim underwater and sprint faster than anyone else I knew apart from that bastard Kohler. I was certainly far stronger than Uncle Fred and Rachel so I grabbed the sack and used my power to drag them along. For once, it felt good to be swimming against the tide.

Soon we reached the main outcrop and scrambled ashore. We dried ourselves, slipped on our sandals and clambered up the steep rock face of Marmotier before heading towards the houses.

The lagoon held two sailing yachts and two motorboats captive. The yachts were flying the Red Ensign, the two boats, the Tricolour. All of them must have been there for some hours as the entrance was only passable for a couple of hours either side of high tide.

There were two families camped out on the white sand enjoying a picnic. We could hear the screech of young children from further away. I was comfortable enough in my wet costume and the other two seemed content to stay in theirs so I led the way and pointed to my cousin's cottage.

Fred stopped me as we neared the first family. ‘Don't get into a conversation. Just smile and wave.'

‘Is Hélène here?' I asked.

He looked around. ‘We're an hour late but I expect she'll have moored in the channel anyway. Wouldn't want to risk getting trapped in the lagoon. There's probably a tender tied up somewhere. She won't know which house.' He pointed up the pathway. ‘You two go up. I'll look for her.'

At last, I was going to be alone with Rachel. Her shoulder touched mine. There was so much I wanted to say to her. I reached for her hand but as we rounded the bend we almost bumped into an elegant woman wearing a yellow frock.

She smiled. ‘
Bonjour
.'

I smiled back. No conversation, Fred had said. We passed her, aware that she probably thought us very rude.

I heard Fred's voice and looked back. The woman was grinning in quiet amusement at us as Fred strode up the path.

‘Hélène –
ça vas
?'

I gulped. She certainly didn't fit my preconception of a Communist agent. I looked more closely. She was blonde, green-eyed, slender and beautiful in the way only Frenchwomen could manage. She got up and kissed Fred on both cheeks then looked curiously at us.

‘This is my nephew, Jack Renouf.'

I offered my hand. ‘
Je suis heureux de vous rencontrer
.'

She shook it firmly then looked me up and down carefully. ‘Very polite. Your uncle has told me much about you. And who is this pretty girl?'

‘My name is Rachel Vibert. Fortunately, I am not related to either of these two but I do love your dress, it's beautifully fitted.'

Hélène laughed. ‘Of course, Malita has spoken about you. She seems to think you are very sensible. Your arrival with these two might seem to suggest otherwise.' She took her hands and kissed both cheeks. ‘Now, perhaps it is time to talk.'

I led us on to the house and retrieved the key from its hiding place. It was cool inside. There was a propane stove and cylinders outside but we had no time for food.

Hélène scrutinised the photographs in silence and compared them to some she extracted from her bag. I wondered if she had a gun in there as well.

She only had a slight accent when she spoke English. ‘This tall one is Doctor Ferdinand Kempler, chief counsellor to Emil Puhl, Director of the Reichsbank. The other, sickly-looking one is Hans Schmitz.' She read a note on the back her photograph. ‘He is one of Hitler's circle, won the Iron Cross in the trenches, collected some shrapnel and now has a pronounced limp. He is a director of I.G.Farben, the Nazi's largest manufacturing firm. I have no idea why these two might be in Jersey. Perhaps they are –'

Fred interrupted. ‘When we last met, I told you about the two men who were observing my house.'

‘Yes, I thought they might be from the British security service.'

‘Well they attacked Jack two days ago but ran off when a member of the public appeared. They mentioned something about Lawrence.'

She shrugged. ‘I told you they hadn't given up.'

‘There's more. Another two men with foreign accents assaulted Jack yesterday and really tried to frighten him. They warned him to keep his nose out of other people's business. They also mentioned Lawrence. He has the marks of the attack if you wish to look.'

‘There is no need. I have already seen the bruise. I thought that he might have a violent girlfriend.' She gave Rachel a half-smile.

Rachel blushed but said nothing.

I also felt my cheeks warm up with the realisation that my uncle had told her about my relationship with Caroline. I wondered what else he might have revealed about me and my family.

‘Fred, do you have any explanation for these two?' Hélène's query was brusque.

‘Not really but Jack has an idea. Go on, share it.'

Even though she was a Communist agent and probably a lot more dangerous than she looked, there was something comforting about her presence. I felt she was a person of action rather than words, that she might actually do something, so I decided to tell her everything.

‘I believe that these Germans, Kempler and Schmitz, have conspired with Hayden-Brown to defeat the embargo on industrial diamonds and supply Germany's needs for the immediate future.'

She stared at me. ‘That sounds rather dramatic, and a trifle over-rehearsed if I may say. I have heard about your acting skills but –'

‘Let him finish, Hélène. Best to hear the whole story. He might even provide some details.'

They both sounded so patronising that I stormed on. ‘If it's details you want, the SS
Espírito Livre
left the Belgian Congo about two weeks ago, loaded with about a ton of industrial diamonds from the Forminiére mines and steamed 5,500 miles. She met Hayden-Brown's cruiser,
Lorelei
, unloaded four crates, each weighing over sixty pounds. These were taken to Les Routeurs, his house in Jersey.'

I picked up the photograph showing the group. ‘This is Georges Sleeman, a Belgian diamond merchant, and this is Sir Edward Fairfield, a well-known English fascist. Both of these were verified by your comrade Eric.'

She shot my uncle a pained look.

‘The other one is Rudi Kohler, Kempler's nephew, who is apparently a student and assisting because he has no choice.' I snorted at Caroline's flimsy excuse. ‘During a dinner meeting on Sunday evening, Sleeman succeeded in persuading Kempler, Schmitz and Fairfield that these diamonds were of the quality needed. The Germans are paying thirty-seven point five Reichsmarks per carat which works out at 112 million for the shipment. In sterling, that's nine million pounds or nearly two billion francs.'

She looked stunned. My uncle whistled and Rachel continued to look puzzled.

Saul and I had discussed the notes I'd made from Hayden-Brown's study and agreed the figures with me. If there were twenty-two crates then we estimated at least three million carats or twelve million mixed diamonds, all suitable for cutting machine tools. So, it was with more than
acting
confidence that I continued. ‘This money is to be transferred from the Reichsbank to Rothschild's in Jersey then to Hayden-Brown's holding company, Mermaid Trading, in Ireland. Doubtless he will already have agreed a means of sharing this with his associates. We believe that he only paid £450,000 to the mines. Take away his shipment and other costs and he and his little gang are going to make a profit of over eight million. And the Nazis are going to get the diamonds they need for their factories to feed their war machine. Is that enough detail?'

‘That's conjecture, not detail, young man.' Hélène echoed Eric's words. Maybe all these Communists were the same.

‘Well
conjecture
or not, the
Espírito Livre
is riding at anchor six miles off the coast of Jersey, roughly halfway to Granville. She's been there for several days. The four crates of industrials, which I've seen and my friend Saul, who is an expert, has verified, are at this moment in the cabin of
Lorelei
in the Old Harbour in St Helier, guarded by two men.'

She opened her mouth to speak but I charged on.

‘Now you can dismiss this as theatrical invention, or you can investigate for yourself. I'm sure you Communists have as much interest in stopping Hitler getting his hands on these diamonds as we misguided believers in democracy.'

She clapped her hands. ‘Bravo. He's definitely got some of your blood in him, Fred. Have no fear, we will check. Some of our comrades are customs officers. They will board this vessel, if it is still there.'

‘Oh, it will be for a while longer yet.'

‘How can you be so sure?'

‘Simple. Saul and I sabotaged
Lorelei
last night. We dumped a gallon of golden syrup and a gallon of bleach into her diesel tank. She will never reach the
Espírito Livre
and I doubt it will leave without those sample diamonds.'

‘You did what?' Fred sounded angry.

‘Sabotaged, we hope. We would have made sure but there was a guard on board.'

‘Why the bloody hell didn't you ask me first?'

‘Because you would have tried to stop me. You're so tied up in procedures and reports that by the time you'd made a decision, the bloody diamonds would be long gone!'

I thought he was going to strike me but instead he launched a stream of Spanish at Hélène.

She turned to me. ‘Your uncle is one of the bravest men I have ever met. He does not deserve your scorn.'

Rachel broke the silence. ‘He loves you, Jack, more than you can understand. But then you are not very good at understanding love.'

All three stared at me.

My pulse was hammering and my face was burning with embarrassment.

‘I'm sorry, Uncle. I didn't mean to insult you. Perhaps I don't understand love, but I know what I feel for you.' My tongue was so thick I could hardly speak but I had to blurt it out. ‘You're much more of a father to me than that man who married your sister and hates me for being his son.'

Fred, the self-confessed man emptied of emotion, reached out and hugged me.

‘Mind my kidney, Uncle. That hurts.'

He laughed and the others joined in.

‘No more than you deserve, Jack,' Rachel said, but softened her words with a smile.

Hélène packed all the photographs into her bag then extracted a chart. ‘Well, it would seem young Jack has given us something to deal with. We will investigate this ship if you will be kind enough to point to it on this map.'

Fred picked a spot midway between Gorey and Granville and she marked it with a slim pen, which she then used to make a note of the ship's name and that of Hayden-Brown's cruiser. She made a few more notes while we watched.

‘I think I have enough
solid
information now.' She looked at her watch then touched my uncle's arm. ‘I will contact you as soon as I have anything to report. Usual time and place.'

‘But what will you do if you find the diamonds?' We all looked surprised at Rachel's question.

Hélène glanced at Fred, who nodded. ‘As far as we are aware, it is only the Nazis who need these diamonds. We will put them beyond their reach.'

‘How?' Rachel persisted.

‘There are many secret places but don't worry about this –'

Rachel reached for her arm. ‘Promise me you won't let the Germans get them.'

‘We'll do our best but we do not make empty promises. Now, you must excuse me.'

She moved to Fred and embraced him then they exchanged several sentences in Spanish. She hugged Rachel and patted her back. She smiled then wrapped me in her arms and planted two soft kisses on my cheeks.

I was sure I enjoyed it more than Rachel even though her perfume overpowered my salt-encrusted nose. Clear orange overlaying something more oriental. I guessed it was Vol du Nuit, which, according to Caroline, was favoured by Marlene Deitrich. It suited Hélène perfectly.

As she pulled away, she gave me a secret smile. ‘Be sure to give my regards to Doctor Pavas.'

‘How do you know Miko?'

She ignored my question but spoke to Fred. ‘Please remind him that our offer still stands.'

As she left the house, Rachel hurried after her. They spoke for a couple of minutes. Before Hélène moved on, they kissed cheeks again. As she rounded the bend, two burly men stepped out alongside her. She hugged them both and waved to us before disappearing towards the lagoon.