Things That Go Bump in The Night

Fifteen minutes later we were seated at a desk at the police station pouring through computer records. "What are you looking for?" Bruce asked.

"What I think we have is a serial FIFO fixer."

"To quote a certain red haired politician, please explain."

"He is a man who is hired, by less than savoury businesses, to come in and solve problems that might impinge on the profitability of said business. In my case I was getting very close to having enough evidence of fraud to got to trial. To attack me directly would not have solved the problem so an indirect approach was used. Kate was enticed, because of my PTSD, to leave me, further affecting my mental health. I lost the plot and was taken from the case and replaced by someone more amenable to coercion."

"In my case," Marcia said, "I had identified and income stream that the company didn't want to become public knowledge."

"It must have been substantial to warrant the actions used."

"It was so simple, they were blackmailing the catholic church. They had started small, focusing on individual parish priests, eventually they would have worked their way to the diocese level where the big money is."

"But these practises have already been exposed, haven't they?"

"Yes they have, but have they stopped. The church will go to greater lengths to prevent even a hint that these practises are still happening."

"So, what are we going to do?" Bruce asked.

"He will already know from the insurance claim refusal that, what was known as the Windrush, is now the Far Canal and is owned by one Robert Brinkworth who, just happens to go fishing to the outer reef on a regular basis. This will be the perfect opportunity for him tie off at least loose ends in one go."

"You're not going there alone." Marcia said.

"I'm not taking you."

"If you go, I go, if you die, I die. If you don't go I'll still be in danger and I know you well enough to know that you have a plan in mind."

"It would seem that I will be wasting my time trying to keep secrets from you. I'm not happy taking you with me, but I see your point." Her kiss was a toe curling effort that left me breathless.

Marcia and I went back to the shop via the back door. Ten minutes after we began serving in the shop he left. If he was to ask around he would find out that, in a couple of weeks, we would be heading out to the reef again. This would be the perfect time for him to get to us.

The day before our next trip his brother arrived from an outback station, where he had been working as a chopper pilot mustering cattle. He brought his chopper with him. I hoped that, not knowing where we heading, he would wait until the next morning before heading out to find us. He would have to take a general heading to the outer reef before patrolling for our precise location. Time enough to make the necessary arrangements.

"What I hope he does is to make a low pass over us to confirm that it is us then, he will turn around and make his final pass. I assume that he will have a semi-automatic rifle and shoot the crap out of us, sinking the boat. The problem with that is that we will be anchored in shallow water and any wreckage will have obvious damaged caused by the rifle. He will probably have a boat on its way to drag the boat to the drop off."

"What do you want me to do?" Marcia asked.

"When he makes his first run you will be on deck with me. As soon as he has passed us, I want you to go below and lie beside the freezer, any bullets coming in will be absorbed by the freezer. I hope to inflict some damage on him."

"What with?"

"I haven't worked that out yet. I will come up with something."

We left early on our scheduled day, and were well out of sight through the inner reef by dawn. I opened her up instead of having her on cruise mode, reaching the outer reef before dark,

"I have a feeling that tomorrow will see an end to our problems, one way or another."

"I have to agree with you," I said. "I hope that I've done enough stirring to make him angry enough to make a mistake."

"What sort to mistake?"

"I don't know, any kind will be a start."

We settled down for our evening meal, not of fish, just some cold meats and salad brought from home.

"If this ends tomorrow and we are still alive, do you know what I'm going to do?"

"No, what?"

"I'm working on the assumption that, if we are still alive, we will both have found the closure that we desperately need, so, wait for it, I am going to make love to you."

"If, as you say, we are still alive, it will mean that we have closure, and I might just let you make love to me."

It came from the North. The outer reef was closer to shore the further North you went, so they must have headed due East and turned South until the sighted us. We heard them before we actually saw them, they were flying low.

It was a bare bones chopper, the cockpit was nothing more that a screen over the two occupants. There were no doors on either side to restrict vision, important for muster choppers. We were moored facing East and home, our stern no more than ten metres from the drop off zone.

His first pass crossed us amidship and, as soon as he had passed, Marcia dropped down and scurried below. As the chopper began to turn for its next pass, I grabbed the flare gun from the shelf under the gauges. Benson was not holding the expected semi-automatic rifle, instead he held a grenade. I fired a smoke flare in their general direction, aiming it high to gain distance. As he pulled the pin from the grenade, the flare burst into the cockpit, filling it with smoke, restricting visibility.

The pilot was momentarily disoriented and his main rotor dug into the water, spinning the chopper out of control. In an instant it disappeared in a plume of spray, and about five seconds later there was a huge explosion. By the time the plume of water abated, the chopper had disappeared from sight beneath the waves.

"It's safe to come up now." I said to Marcia.

She needed no invitation, emerging onto the deck. She paused for a second or so to ensure that it was all, over before launching herself at me, her arms around my neck, her legs around my body and her lips hard against mine. I grabbed her arse cheeks and held her to me. "No knickers I see."

"Get you shorts off, now."

"Yes boss." I held her to me with one hand while I dragged my shorts over my hips and stepped out of them.

"No jocks I see."

"They would have only got in the way." I said. As soon as she launched herself at me, my cock headed north and, by the time I'd lost my shorts and begun to lower her onto him, she had her hand between us, guiding him into her eager body.

I pushed her against the wall of the cabin and held him, as far as I could get him, into her beautiful body. "Please, fill me." I was happy to oblige.

I don't know how long we stayed locked in that position but I eventually lowered her to the deck. "I don't know how much longer I could have held out. I have wanted to do this ever since I found you, not all that far from here."

"From what has just happened, I assume that you have also found closure."

"I haven't told you this but your Benson is the same bloke that took to Kate with the cane cutters' knife. Yes, I have found closure."

"I need to show you something." She was excited. "While I was down below, I had my phone propped against the window, I filmed the whole episode. What was that he had in his hand?"

"A grenade, he was going to blow us up."

"Hey, look at all the fish." The surface of the water was covered with fish.

"Percussion fishing."

"What does that mean?"

"The shock wave from the grenade explosion has stunned the fish. If we're quick enough we can use the landing net to scoop up pretty much our entire quota before the sharks move in for the feast."

Within ninety minutes our freezer was full and we were totally knackered and just about ready to go home. We jumped into the water to wash off the blood and guts from cleaning the fish as well as the product of our lovemaking. First thing I needed to do was to contact Bruce and let him know what had happened and suggest that the police should investigate the companies that were being investigated in my fraud enquiry and also the one that Marcia was working for.

I contacted Brian and he was waiting with the refrigerated van when we docked. Bruce arrived as we began to unload. "Don't just stand there, give us a hand, the sooner we've go this lot into the freezers at the shop the sooner we can have a chat over a cleansing ale or several." He didn't need me to ask again.

"So, what happened. I saw the chopper heading out at first light, I assume that he found you."

"Yeah he found us. His first pass just about hit my radio mast, he was that low. When he turned for the second and final pass, he was a little too close to the water. His rotor dug in and the centrifugal force spun him into the water. He sank almost immediately and seconds after he sank from sight there was an explosion. I knew it wasn't the engine going up. Marcia was below between the freezer and slurry tank, but she had her mobile phone on video mode. We have a video of his demise and, if you look closely you can see him holding something that look suspiciously like a grenade. This would explain the explosion and the subsequent freezer full of stunned fish. I have a lot to thank him for. Marcia and I have just found closure to our problems."

"We will have to investigate, which means you will have to reveal your fishing secret."

"I don't think that there is much point in investigating, after all the chopper, or what's left of it, is under a couple of hundred metres of water and, by the time you get down there, the sharks will have feasted on the human remains."

"I will still have to report where it is."

"There's a marker buoy in the shallow water and I'll give you the GPS co-ordinates on the condition that you don't reveal it to anyone."

Marcia came out of the shop where she had been talking to Chris. She kissed me in a decidedly non-platonic way. "Chris told me to tell you that she's happy for us."

"Does this mean...?"

"Yes it does." Marcia said, 'My wonderful man and I have consummated our relationship in the best possible way."

"Congratulations you two, I'm pleased for you." He left after telling us that he wanted us at the station tomorrow to make a statement.

We went into the shop. "What are you doing here?"

"We've come to lend a hand."

"I don't need you right now, go upstairs, you have two hours to amuse yourselves before the evening rush."

"Did you put her up to this?" I asked Marcia.

"I might have hinted that we have some catching up to do now that we both no longer have any impediment to us getting it together."

"I hope that they don't look too closely at the video." I said to Marcia as we descended from the highs of conjugal bliss.

"What might they see?"

"A second or two before the chopper cartwheels into the drink, you can see orange smoke in the cockpit. I fired a signal flare at the to distract them. It worked, but the police could say that I caused the crash."

"I hope not. If they do and you end up in gaol, I promise to visit you every day."

Bruce met us at the counter at the police station. "Before we go in I need to ask you a question. Did you happen to fire a signal flare at the chopper?"

"Yes I did. I had no expectations of it getting anywhere near the chopper, I don't know if it did or not, I was concentrating on the grenade he held in his hand. I had the boat in gear and was ready to slide along the anchor rope to get away from it. I didn't need to."

"What ever made you think that this Benson guy could be involved in more than one incident?" Inspector Forrest asked. He had joined Bruce in questioning us.

"When Marcia pointed him out to me while he was standing opposite the fish & chip shop and I recognised him as Kate's alleged boyfriend who I thought responsible for her death. I figured that he had been hired to take care of problems that less than scrupulous companies were experiencing. If it went pear-shaped then they had deniability. He appears on the surface to be a normal nice guy when, in fact he is anything but. I have to admit he was very creative in his method of fixing problems. He probably used a different method each time so that there was no repetition that can link them together."

"Do you have your phone with you?" Forrest asked Marcia.

"Yes." She took it from her purse and handed it over.

The Inspector pushed a button and when a constable came in passed it over.

"There's a video on this that shows a helicopter crashing, can you copy that onto a computer and bring it back?"

"Certainly Sir." She left.

"We'll follow up on your suggestion about him being a gun for hire and get back to you. The next and most important question; when are you coming back to work?"

"If I have my way, never. I'm happy with my life as it is now, and see no reason to change."

"Next question is for Marcia. I understand from Sergeant Jennings that you are a Forensic Auditor. What exactly does that involve?"

"I examine company accounts to isolate problems as well as setting up accounts in such a way as to prevent problems."

"Good. My question is; how would you like to work for the police Fraud Squad?"

"I would not, like Rob, I am quite happy with my life as it is now."

"It was worth a try. Thank you for your assistance." He got up and left.

"You're sure about your decision then?" Bruce asked.

"Yes." Marcia and I said in unison.

Marcia fitted into our operation like she was born to it. She was bright and friendly to the customers to the point that women would get their husbands to wait in the car while they picked up their order. That made a change from husbands not being happy about the flirtations between me and their wives. All of that changed on our third trip to the reef. On the way back the sea was a bit choppy, no more than what we had experienced previously, but Marcia was complaining about feeling off colour.

It wasn't any better when we reached dry land. She mentioned it to Chris who went out the back and returned with a small package that she tossed to Marcia. "Here, piss on that and tell me what colour it changes to."

Marcia came back some minutes later holding up the test stick, it was blue.

I was out the back cutting chips when Chris came in. "Congratulate me big brother, I'm going to be an aunt!"

I sometimes believe that people can ask the most stupid questions. Marcia came through the door. "I'm sorry, I wanted to break the news myself, but Chris beat me to it. Are you happy, really happy?"

I couldn't think of any words that would adequately reflect my feelings, so I kissed her, passionately, very passionately.