Ch 2. Two men and a missing woman
A shiver ran down his spine.
No, it ain't possible!
"Uh? Nothing special", Dylan replied.
Is this a dream or just an incredible coincidence?
"Sir, just a little question, is your daughter's name Katherine?", he asked the man.
Dylan saw the man turn abrubtly his head in his direction. He has turned pale.
Right in the target! It is unbelievable. Cheap movies come up with such stories, but I never thought it could be real!
"How, … how… do you… know that?", he stammered.
"I was her friend and colleague and I know how she came here", Dylan replied.
Arthur McGregor slowly shook his head, realising what he had just heard and stared at the ground.
Then he looked back at Dylan. "How is she? How does she look like? Is she married? Kids? What kind of job is she doing?", Arthur asked all of a sudden.
"Wow, that's a lot of questions, I think we need another beer, because I also would like to know something. A beer?", he asked the old man.
"Yes please."
Dylan limped along the bar and came back a moment later with two glasses of beer. He put them down on Arthur's table and retrieved his cane from the other table.
"Cheers mate", he said.
"An accident?", Arthur asked after he has taken a gulp.
"Nope, the Taliban tried to blow up my team and they partially succeeded. Three of us died and the others were badly wounded. I can consider myself happy to always have my leg. They made it hold with a platinum plate. So, I've a little more value now", Dylan said with a grin.
He frowned and Dylan got a second shock.
Kate frowns exactly in the same way as he does. Amazing they were made in the same mold, the eyes, the nose, the facial expressions. He was probably also blond, now he's silver grey.
"Taliban you said, your team. You're in the police or the army, but you said that Katherine was a colleague of yours?", Arthur questioned.
"I was in the Navy and Kate too."
"Kate? Hmm, that's what her name is now. In the Navy, she?", he asked surprised.
"Yeah, she was a lieutenant and the executive officer of a patrol boat. I was the bosun or buffer", Dylan said sipping from his beer.
"My goodness, my daughter an officer in the Australian Navy! I never thought that", he said surprised.
"Hmm, is it that bad?"
"No, not at all. It's quite an achievement for that little toddler with her teddy bear under her arm."
Dylan grinned. "Teddy bear", he repeated.
I can see it in front of me, a little Kate with a teddy bear.
"She forgot it when they left. How does she look like now?", he asked.
Dylan turned his head towards the show-card and said "Well, look at Lisa and you'll know. She could be her twin sister."
Arthur looked again at the picture and nodded. "Is she married?", he asked still looking at the photo.
"When I saw her the last time, she wasn't."
"Boyfriend?"
"Well, she had one, or I should rather say she tried to keep it working", he said with a grimace.
"What do you mean?"
"She was in love with our commanding officer, but you may not have a relation while serving on the same vessel. So, they waited until he got a shore posting, but it never happened, as long as I was still there. I assume they dated behind closed doors", he said.
"And now?" Arthur asked.
"Now? I don't know. Because of the economy policy of our bloody government they all got fired with the exception of a few of them. Kate was among the fired people. I stayed employed. They needed someone who was foolish enough to risk his life once more in Afghanistan with the result that I became a crippled war hero. Since she left Hammersley, that was our patrol boat, I have neither seen nor heard her", he said embittered with a shrug.
"Hmm, you still feel for her, isn't it?", McGregor said.
"Uh?"
"Come on, I can just feel it."
Dylan shrugged. "Maybe."
McGregor grinned, "You don't have to teach old dogs new tricks old chap. Just admit it. Nothing wrong with that".
Dylan grimaced, "Well then, yes. To be honest, I still feel for her, but back then the situation was awkward. She was an officer and I a NCO, moreover we served on the same ship and to make it worse she tried to have a relation with the CO and there was a SAS captain who was also keen on her. Should I draw a picture?"
He nodded slowly, "yes, I understand and I'm convinced that you would have been a good match for her. You sound like a man from one piece."
"Anyhow, she disappeared", he said coldly.
"Keep in mind that the world is small, otherwise we would never have met . Another one?", Arthur said pointing to the empty glasses.
"Yep", Dylan said while he made a movement to stand up but Arthur has put his hand on his arm.
"I'll go. Your leg is stuffed up, mine are old, but still ok", he said and walked inside.
A bit later he was back with two more glasses of beer.
"Cheers!", Dylan said raising his glass.
"Cheers. Do you have her coordinates?", he asked Dylan before taking a sip.
"Nope, nothing anymore. I forgot to ask her personal email address and the email address of the Navy doesn't exist anymore. To make it worse, her mobile number isn't the same anymore and she probably moved because she doesn't live anymore at her known address", he said making a face.
"And you? What are you doing here? I understood from Kate that she's angry at you because you've never made an attempt to find her back."
"Is it? Hmm, I do believe that. That bitch ex-wife disappeared with my daughter when I was away for my job, you know. I haven't had the time to say goodbye. Two years later I've got a letter from her and she told me that she wasn't happy at all in England. I wrote back and three weeks later I've got my letter back with an undeliverable note. I've also done some research for that address, but in vain. Not a single Katherine McGregor", he replied sadly.
"And now you're here to look for her?", Dylan said.
"I'm on the run in fact. That bitch ex-wife found a trick to get me some money . All of a sudden I stood in front of a bailiff and her lawyer. She claimed alimony for 28 years. Of course I didn't want to pay that. That's a fortune, you know. She found a couple of vicious tricks in the law to accuse me from violence. Can you imagine? I never laid a finger on her. I consulted a lawyer too, but that was in vain. She pressed the case and they wanted to arrest me, but I could escape. I guess that my land has been confiscated by now and also a part of my savings. I secured my company and everything I could and I left for Australia because that would be the last place where she would look for me is in her back garden."
"What a bitch!", Dylan grumbled.
"Exactly and what are you doing actually?", Arthur asked.
Dylan straightened his back, "I've been discharged for medical reasons, unfit for military duties. A golden handshake, a medal and bye-bye. Now I'm driving around to visit our country and to look out for a job that likes me. Worse-case scenario I can always go back to parents' farm."
"I see. First of all you've been risking your neck for them and when it has turned out badly, then they doesn't need you anymore", Arthur replied.
"Hmm, yeah sort of", Dylan mumbled.
He took a sip.
"Your parents' farm, is it a big one?", Arthur asked.
"Nah, less than average, but if you should compare it with the UK, then you would say huge. It's run by my father and my sister, Charlotte."
"I see. You see them often?"
"Nope, once or twice a year? Due to the distance and the periods at sea or on mission, but don't get me wrong, the relation is ok. Phone calls, emails, you see?"
"Indeed. What did you do on board?"
"Gosh! I was the link between the officers and the crew. Knowing that we were a very small team, I had the occasion to take over the command for a few times. That's the advantage on little ships. You can sometimes execute officer's functions, something which is impossible on frigates."
"Uh-hu."
"A minute ago you said you had land and a company, no? ", Dylan asked.
"Exactly. Why?"
"Kate sometimes told that you were a landowner, but she didn't say you had a company as well. Which one?", asked Dylan.
"Transportation. If you want to make part of the economy chain of a country then you can't keep on busy with land and cattle. You've to do something else and I chose for transport, expedition to be precise, organizing you know. I've had some trucks as well".
Dylan nodded and took a sip.
"Uh-hu. You said you had?"
"Indeed, I sold everything. When you own a company you can be traced. Now I've disappeared."
"What are you doing now?",
"Pfft, I'm a steward on one of the big farms in the neighbourhood. It's a matter of keeping a low profile, if you know what I mean."
"And you intend to do this all the time? From what I hear from you, you're too ambitious to be a steward."
"Exactly! As I said, keeping low profile and meanwhile I can look around, learn from this country and find the profitable niche market that will fit for me! That's what I'm doing right now, old chap. Talking with you. I just learned that you've been in the Navy, you're currently unemployed and that you don't fear much. And, to finish it off, that you've had an eye on my daughter", he added with a grin.
Dylan raised his eyebrows and took a swig from his beer.
Hmm, at that level father and daughter are the same, quick-witted!
"You're a good observer", he admitted.
"You've nothing more from Kate then?", Dylan continued.
He smiled sadly, "The teddy bear and a photo of her with it. For one reason or another she left her teddy bear. Barely believable because she carried it everywhere with her."
Dylan nodded.
Kate with a teddy bear! So contradictory with the character she had let appear during the years I knew her, but behind the big wall, I noticed a little girl that longed for a home.
Both men sipped from their beer and were busy to process the information they got."
"May I ask you something?", Arthur asked all of a sudden.
"Yeah, sure."
"I'll give you my email address. If you meet her again, would you let me know?"
"Yeah, why not."
Arthur grabbed a beer mat and wrote his name and email address at the back side before shoving it into Dylan's hands.
"Just keep it for you, low profile, remember", he said raising his eyebrows.
"You can trust me", Dylan said as he put it in his shirt pocket and he wrote his mobile number on another beer mat and shoved it to Arthur "Here's mine; you never know or in case you would find her first, huh."
They got up, said goodbye and left in opposite directions.
Dylan walked back to his hotel. Through the window of his hotel room he was watching the sea in the distance.
Strange encounter, just like in a movie. But there you expect that kind of things.
He took his wallet and pulled out a small photo. He smiled while looking at the picture of a smiling Kate in a red dress.
Where's the time? This was during one of the best parties. Everyone was all dressed up to the nines, even 2Dads had found somewhere a decent outfit. Jessica had taken some pictures and I got this one from her.
Where on earth are you Kate? I'm thinking of you more than I thought.
Your father is right. I feel for you.
Hmm, I hope I can dream of you tonight instead of those awful nightmares about Taliban.