The Beat of Safiri Bay (12 page)

“Really? Thank you so much Lane, it will mean the world to my mom.” I know it will and that is why my dad will help for sure. Bessie is the nicest person I know and my dad will help her and David with anything.

Emma leaves in a much better state than we she arrived. I have to get ready for lunch and I can’t wait to get there so I can discuss the problem with dad. I drive my quad bike to the club and park it next to dad’s Jeep. The club looks more like a ranch than a golf club. There are little deer walking the grounds, zebra and giraffe. The warthogs dig up the field so the manager is thinking of moving them into a camp. The club house is a beautiful rustic building with wood finishing. I am greeted warmly on my arrival by Susan, the manager’s wife and I stand and chat with her for a minute. I can see my dad from where we are standing and there is someone with him. The man looks up then and I recognise his big bald face. He gets up and disappears out the door leading to the pool. I wrap up the conversation with Susan as quickly as I can and walk over to my dad. I want to know who this man is and why is he now talking to my father. My dad gets up and pulls out a chair for me. He looks a bit pre-occupied and I know it must be because of that man. “Who was that you were talking to?” I ask as casually as I can.

“I am not sure, I didn’t get his name,” dad says and looks over his shoulder to see if the man is still in the building. Great, I still don’t have any details on him. “Would you like to order now?” dad asks and I can see that he is trying to distract me from the nameless weird guy. We place our orders and I remember about the situation with Sarah. “Dad, I am very worried about Bessie,” immediately my dad seems alert. “Why Rosie what happened?” Where do I start?

“Well it’s just Sarah ran away from the house during the night and Bessie is very worried about her.” I am not sure whether I should go into detail about what happened on the beach and I decide to only give my dad a brief idea of what is going on. “I think she had a fight with David because he doesn’t approve of her boyfriend so she took her stuff and this morning she was gone. I was wondering whether you could use some of your contacts to try and track her.” My dad nods and gets out his phone. “I will need the boy’s name and any other information they have of him or anything she said that might give a clue to where she might have gone.” I am sure she is with that guy I saw last night but I cannot say for sure.

Dad makes a call to David and my phone receives a message. I check it quick while dad is still on the phone, its Alex and my heart gives a little bounce.

Alex: Are you busy?

Me: Lunch with dad, why?

Alex: I would like to see you sometime today if you want.

Me: sure, when and where?

Alex: Matt’s at five?

Me: I’ll be there :)

Dad is writing down something on a paper he had in his pocket. Looks like a name and surname. I really hope he finds them. What Bessie will do once she knows where her daughter is, is not hard to guess. I put away my phone and ask dad if I could use the Jeep tonight. “Where are you going?” he asks which he never does. I do not have many places that I like to go and he doesn’t ever worry about me or at least it doesn’t look that way. “I am going to Matt’s” I say but I don’t say who I will be going for. “Off course you may,” he says just as he always does when I ask if I could use his Silver Jeep Grand Cherokee. “Lane, this Alex guy, what do you know about him?” I am a bit surprised by this question and I am not sure whether sharing the little information I have on him is a good idea. “Not much,” seems like the safest answer.

“I just want you to be careful around him. Don’t meet with him alone. Can you do that please?” This is a very sticky situation for me and I am not sure how I should answer this. I have never really gone out to meet him alone accept for that one time. I always just seem to bump into him and most of the time we just end up alone. I know my dad’s concern is because of what the fat man told him, I wish I knew what it was because he is really starting to piss me off. If someone has to be warned against anyone it should be against him. He is just scary and I get goose-bumps when I think of him. “Sure dad,” I don’t know what the problem is with Alex but whatever it is I will find out, I have to. Our food arrives and we stop talking and enjoy the curried prawn dish with wild rice. It is delicious like all dishes they serve here.

After lunch I try to bring up the subject of that man again but dad won’t have anything of it. I leave him then to wrap up his game and hurry home to talk to Emma. I park next to David’s car in his work van’s spot and make my way to the door. Emma opens this time and I walk with her to the kitchen. Bessie is sitting with a mug of coffee in front of her. David is not at home and it doesn’t seem as if he has shared the news of my dad’s help yet. Emma and I sit down around the table and Bessie greets me with a sad little voice. I wish I could take away her worries about that stubborn girl but all I can do at the moment is to give her a little bit of hope. “Bessie, my dad has contacted some of his people and they are busy right now trying to track down where Sarah is. They are very good at what they do and I am sure they will find her soon.” Bessie starts to cry and mumbles something through her tears. It sounds like “thank you dear girl” but I am not sure. She seems to relax a bit then and drinks the coffee in front of her. Emma puts the kettle on then and make us both some tea. I drink mine out of the strange cup rather uncomfortably.

David arrives about half an hour later and Bessie is looking a bit more relaxed but is now staring at the phone hoping for a bit of news. David hasn’t heard anything yet but he is very positive that my dad’s people will find something out before the end of the day. I keep my fingers crossed. The clock on Bessie’s microwave shows that it is already past four o’clock. I have to leave them now and ask them to call or message me as soon as they found anything. Dad is not yet home and I wonder what he is still doing out. Golf days never last much past lunch time. I quickly freshen up and unwillingly take dad’s van but I am so excited to see Alex again that I will take my bicycle if I have to. It is not even a ten minute drive. All of them are standing outside when I arrive. Matt’s car is being loaded with luggage and I wonder what is going on. “You come to get your stuff?”

“Um, yes,” Off course my crate and guitar is still with him.

“You are just in time to say goodbye,” Matt says.

“Who’s leaving?” I am a bit confused.

“Karin is flying back tonight so I will drop her off in town and come back tomorrow.” I silently hope he will not go see his ex. That will be disastrous. “Oh Lane, it was so good meeting you. You take good care of the boys yes?” She gives me a quick hug and then she hugs Alex. “Don’t worry Al, I will keep you posted.”

“Thank you, please travel safely and let me know when you arrive.”

They get in the car then and Matt winks at me. “Bye Lany,” I wave after them. Alex and I are left in the driveway and I am relieved that Matt is not here. Now I will get to spend some time with Alex. My dad will flip but again I didn’t plan on us being left alone. “You wanted to see me?” I ask innocently.

“I ordered us some pizza,”

“Sounds good, what’s the occasion?” I ask jokingly.

“I’m hungry,” and we both laugh like silly school kids. “Let’s go eat.” I follow him into Matt’s open plan house. It smells of coffee and lemon oil. My guitar and crate is neatly stacked by the door. I take a seat at the counter in the kitchen and he gets out two plates and puts on the kettle for tea. “I actually just wanted to spend some more time with you,” he says and opens the pizza box. I take a piece and put it on my plate, “and me with you,” I smile at him. We eat our pizza and chat about the upcoming cricket game. Alex is a big fan of the Proteas, I don’t really care for ball games but I follow it for the sake of having something to talk about with my dad. I take this time to tell him about Sarah and although he is disgusted with her action he is not surprised. “It is girls like her that make these reckless abortion clinics rich.” I just hope she doesn’t do something stupid while she is away from home. She should be back at school Sunday afternoon but I doubt whether Bessie will let her go back there and take the chance of her running away again. His blue eyes look straight through me and my heart does a double beat. Oh boy, if he looks at me like that I forget about all about the problems in my head. “What is bothering you Lane?” um, how can I put this mildly, you. “I am not bothered; I am just a little tired. I think all the events of the past day are catching up on me.”

“Let’s get you a bit more comfortable then,” and he moves to sit on a couch. I head for the single seater, always a safe choice. “Come sit with me, please,” I have to make a change I remind myself and go to sit next to him. He puts his tea on the small table next to the couch and turns to face me. My breathing is a bit faster but I hope he doesn’t notice. Geez, he is a doctor, of course he will notice. I sip my tea so I can distract myself from his gaze on me. “Turn around,” he says softly. “Excuse me?” What is his plan?

“Lane you need to relax, I would like to massage your shoulders.”

I give a horrified look and he smiles at me. “Alex I am not sure whether you have forgotten everything I have told you but I don’t think a massage will help me relax.”

“Trust me,” he whispers and I place my cup on the table. He gets up and switches on the CD player. Celtic music fills the room and he turns it down so it’s just in the background. He comes to sit next to me again and puts his hands on my shoulders. He turns me to the side and I put my one knee and leg on the couch mimicking him. I am not very comfortable and my back is as straight as an arrow. I must try, I keep on telling myself but it is easier said than done. “Lane I will not hurt you, try to relax okay.” I breathe in and out and close my eyes. He starts to slowly rub my shoulders. My shirt has sleeves that go down to my elbows so I know he won’t be touching my skin. I want to get to a place where I will be comfortable when he does touch my skin. “Alex, I am going to need a lot of help with this,”

“I know Lay, I will help you,” he breathes into my neck and a delicious shiver runs down my spine. His fingers make circles on my shoulder blades and then he rubs down the sides of my spine. I try to let go completely but it is not so easy. I concentrate on the music then and his strong hands continue to circle and rub my back and shoulders. It definitely helps focusing on the music. I relax more and let my head hang forward as his touch and the music melts together in my mind. My entire body is under his spell and I lean back into his touch. He doesn’t stop but his touch becomes gentler, the song comes to an end and I open my eyes. He stops then and I turn back into my seat and look at him. He has a smile on his face and his eyes are ice on fire. “How do you feel?” he asks softly and I smile back at him. “Fantastic,” my skins is crawling with heat and I actually like the idea that he did that. “We will get there Lane, if you want to.”

“I do,” I say honestly and I know that the barrier is coming down slowly but surely. My determination to be comfortable with him and his bold act of tonight has definitely peeled off the first layer. He sits back and I move closer. Our arms touch and I do not feel the usual uncomfortable stiffening of my back but what I do feel is something that is very new to me like a tingling of my skin and with that the butterflies have all woken up in my stomach. “Thank you,” I say to him with a smile on my face. “You are very welcome,” he says and places a quick kiss on my hair.

“Can you cook?” I want to know curious whether take away pizza is the extent of his catering capabilities. “Are you still hungry?” he asks and I laugh as I shake my head, “no, it’s just I wondered if pizza is as good as it gets,” his turn to laugh.

“My dad did all the cooking when I grew up. It was always just the two of us and I guess some of it rubbed off. I won’t be cooking anyone a gourmet dinner anytime soon but I can put together something healthy.” Oh, okay, healthy sounds good.

“Didn’t your father ever get remarried?”

“He never divorced my mom, they just split up. He said that the women in his books were more than what he could handle.” I laugh at him. I wonder suddenly whether I have read any of his dad’s work. Dover.... hmm, Oh my gosh. Ian Dover? No ways, I am speechless, “Your dad,” I begin uncertainly, “His first name is not perhaps Ian?”

“The one and only,” and he smiles down at me.

“Are you telling me that I am in the lounge with Ian Dover’s only son?” He laughs much louder this time and is obviously enjoying this. Ian Dover is the bestselling author of so many books. His thrillers have kept my dad up till late many nights. I have only read the less gruesome books which my dad would pass down to me if he thought that I would be able to handle them. This guy is a legend and filthy rich because of his disturbing imagination. I am star struck. He switches on the TV so we can watch the night game. I enjoy the touch of his arm against mine when he moves and the way his hip brushes mine when he talks. The butterflies in my stomach seem more active than ever and I enjoy every minute. My phone rings and I answer quickly. “Lane speaking,”

“Lane its Emma. Your dad’s people found a lead on Sarah’s whereabouts. They think she might be in Mantleburg. They will let us know as soon as they have more.”

“That’s great news Emma. Please keep me posted.”

“I will.” I put my phone back into my bag and Alex looks at me curiously. “Emma says that they might have a lead on Sarah’s whereabouts, she’ll let us know when they have more information.”