Page 59 of One Summer in Monte Carlo
‘Anyway, as I told you before, the police urged me to confide in no one,’ Mathieu said. ‘It was easier that way.’
‘Does Takyanov still think you’re a fellow criminal?’ Jean-Claude asked. ‘Even though you haven’t been arrested this time?’
‘Oui. Zac, too, trusts me – both as his friend and as a fellow conspirator. When he returns from the French Grand Prix, I have a feeling he intends to invite me to become more involved in his money-laundering sideline.’ Mathieu bit his lip. ‘The police have suspected a link between him and Takyanov for a long time, but now we have the proof he’s involved in the diamond smuggling too. Surrendering my friend to the police is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done.’
‘Incidentally, what happened to the shampoo last night?’ Jean-Claude asked, looking around as if he expected to see it still on the table.
‘I meant to take it and keep it hidden until we decided what to do, but unfortunately your appearance drove it completely out of my mind.’
‘I packed it up again,’ Nanette answered quietly. ‘It’s in my room.’
‘I think it’s too dangerous for you to keep it here,’ Jean-Claude said. ‘The implications of you being found with it in your possession don’t bear thinking about. Perhaps the time has come to hand it over to the authorities?’ he continued.
Mathieu shook his head. ‘I’d rather not just yet. With Zac in France for the Grand Prix rather than here in the Principality, it would only serve to complicate things. Best to keep it hidden until Zac returns and we can confront him with it. If you want me to look after it, I will,’ he offered.
There was a short silence as Nanette looked from Jean-Claude to Mathieu.
‘Personally, I think the best place for it is on boardPole Position. I really don’t know what made me remove it,’ she said quietly, shaking her head. ‘At least if it’s in the safe when Zac gets back, he doesn’t need to know that I didn’t do as he asked.’ She took a deep breath and cut short both Jean-Claude and Mathieu’s protestations. ‘As I’m the one who took it and the only one who knows where the safe is, as well as the combination to open it, the responsibility to return it is mine.’
38
The city of Manaus was a huge shock to Vanessa. Ralph had told her it was one of the most isolated metropolitan areas in the world, but she was ill prepared for its vastness and the noise it generated.
As their boat drew alongside the floating dock, she stood up and looked around. Eleven hours ago, the boat had been moored in a quiet tributary with jungle animal sounds providing the background noise and happy, smiling natives helping them load the boat for the journey upriver.
Here, moored on the banks of the Amazon River itself, it was the raucous sounds of a modern industrial jungle that surrounded them as they stepped off the boat. It was hard to believe that this busy inland port was in the heart of the rainforest.
Vanessa gazed, fascinated, at the double-decked ferries and houseboats that were everywhere, crammed along the shoreline in front of ramshackle buildings on the water’s edge. Dozens of large cargo ships were tied up unloading goods, others were taking sacks of coffee beans, rubber, and nuts on board; all, it seemed to Vanessa, in vast quantities. She glanced at Ralph.
‘Do you think anyone is going to be interested in shipping the small quantities of produce Fruits of the Forest is going to have in the beginning?’
‘Of course,’ Ralph said confidently. ‘We’ll look for a small commercial shipper who is keen to expand and grow with the cooperative. No point in even approaching the big international boys in the beginning. We’ll ask around tomorrow. Right now, let’s get to the hotel.’
The hotel, a tall modern building ten minutes from the city centre, was blessedly cool after the humidity outside. Once they were registered, Ralph asked the receptionist to book a phone call to Monaco for them, and they went straight to their room.
When the phone on the bedside table rang, Vanessa snatched it up, only to be told the number wasn’t answering and the receptionist would try again later.
‘Perhaps by then we’ll have a definite UK arrival date,’ Ralph said, trying to ease her disappointment. ‘Nick and Harry are going out to the airport later to try to book flights. Do you feel up to doing some exploring?’ Ralph continued. ‘Might as well see the sights.’
‘Can we leave the touristy bit until tomorrow? What I really want to do is have a shower, something to eat and go to bed. I’m exhausted,’ Vanessa said, trying to push her illogical worry about not being to get through to Mathieu and the twins away.
‘Sure. In that case I’ll go out to the airport with the boys. Do you want me to order you something from room service, or will you go down to the dining room?’
‘A sandwich from room service would be fine.’
After her shower, Vanessa curled up on the double bed to eat her supper, revelling in the air-conditioned coolness of the room. She’d forgotten during the last few months in the jungle what it was like to be comfortable and not continually damp with perspiration. While Ralph was out organising a flight, she’d use the time to write down the details of their return journey through the jungle in the diary, ready for the twins to read.
Ralph returned with frustrating news. ‘I’m sorry, Vanessa, I know you’re desperate to get home to the twins, but there are no direct flights available. We’ve got to go via the States. Even then we can’t fly for seventy-two hours.’
Vanessa hid her disappointment. ‘Can’t be helped. Hopefully I’ll get to speak to them tomorrow.’ She glanced at Ralph, hot and sticky from his foray to the airport. ‘Why don’t you have a shower and then come to bed? It’s far more comfy than the hammocks we’ve been using recently. We can actually have a proper cuddle.’ Vanessa looked at Ralph, a half-smile on her lips.
‘Now why didn’t I think of that,’ Ralph said, undoing his shirt and moving towards the shower. ‘Give me five minutes and I’ll take you up on that offer.’
* * *
The next morning, they were up early, intent on getting down to the docks to look for a shipping exporter willing to discuss handling the Fruits of the Forest produce. Vanessa also wanted to explore the Mercado Adolpho Lisboa, the city’s oldest marketplace.
Their search around the docks for a shipping company proved fruitless. Nobody even had the time to speak to them, let alone discuss exporting Fruits of the Forest produce.
