Chapter 9 The tour

Cairns, Saturday morning

Kate went with Stephanie to the boat to prepare for their trip. The little girl was excited about everything, which was normal for a kid of that age. Kate took her cell phone and wrote a text to Rebecca.

Sailing today to Woody Island with Stephanie and Max on the Southern Cross. Will be back in the late afternoon.

Somewhat, later Maxine arrived as well. It was Stephanie who saw her first. "Mummy, Maxine is here !"

"Hi Max, come on board," Kate said with a smile.

"Morning to you both, I brought the cake," she said climbing aboard the boat.

"Maxine, I'll show you around," the girl said while taking Maxine's hand and pulling her inside.

"I'm curious my dear," she said and she turned her head to Kate and winked, her smile saying 'Like I've never seen a boat before.'

They pushed off and set course to Woody Island.

"Where are we going?" Maxine asked.

"Woody Island. I know there's a nice waterfall and a wonderful pool. She will like it."

"Yeah, I know . It's a lovely place. I've been there once with Stuart and Ryan… in another life."

Kate threw her a glance, silently insisting that she didn't have to say anything, she understood completely.

"Stephanie," she said. "I want you to stay inside and you keep away from the edge. Ok?"

"Yes, mummy."

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on her," Maxine replied.

"Becca and I are very familiar with Woody Island. We come here at least once a week," Kate tells while standing at the helm.

"Tourist tours?"

"No, a supply delivery like beverages, food and other stuff. There's a medical research labon the island, and each time we bring boxes with samples back for research," Kate said happily.

"Oh, I didn't know there was a lab out here," Maxine said a bit surprised. "Are there many boxes? Big ones? Small ones?"

"What's many? Two or three boxes per tirp, depending if we've already been there in the week. And the size? Pfft, like big carton boxes, blue hard plastic with clamps."

"Hmm, they must work hard to produce so many samples."

Kate shrugged. "I don't know. No idea how that works."

Maxine wandered from Kate to Stephanie and back again. Sometime later, Maxine started a new topic of conversation."Did you ever toy with the idea of signing up to the Navy again?"

Kate shrugged. "Yes and no. Sometimes it gnaws at me. When I see photos or a patrol boat, then I want to be back on the bridge. But on the other hand, I'm happy with what I've achieved already. My own company with two boats and I can sail again and I have a beautiful daughter and a couple of good friends, you, Helen, Becca. But… I want to move on… but not alone. I thought it could have been with Mike, but it turned out differently," she shrugged again.

"Have you been out on a date with anyone?"Maxine asked.

"Not really. There were some who showed an interest in me, but I didn't like them. What had happened between Mike and I was still too fresh in my mind. Although…" Kate got a slight smile on her face that didn't escape Maxine.

"What? Although, what?" Maxine poked Kate gently.

"Well, Dutchy, our buffer, we were friends and he kept emailing me from time to time. But recently we met each other face to face and I got the feeling he wanted to take things further."

"And what about you? Do you want that too?" Maxine asked looking at her.

"Yeah! I want to. He's even interested in meeting Stephanie," she said enthusiast.

"Sounds good, I hope it works out for you."

"And what about you? Any new relationships?" Kate asked.

"Pfft, we'll see. No rush."

Meanwhile they arrived near Woody Island.

"Mummy, look there, a boat." Stephanie was pointing to a small rusty cargo vessel at the jetty.

Kate took the binoculars and looked to it. "That's the Coral Sea, honey,"she said. "We see that boat here often when on our delivery trips."

"What?" Maxine said astonished and she grabbed the binoculars from Kate's hands, who looked a bit surprised by Maxine's somewhat overreaction. When Maxine was looking she said softly to herself, "what is Mike doing here?"

"What? Max, what did you say?" Kate looked at Maxine suspiciously.

Maxine looked back surprised. "Uh, nothing."

Damn, Max, you stupid idiot. You should have stayed quiet. I know Kate, now she will keep on asking until you tell her everything. And for God's sake, I don't even know how she will react.

"Max, don't tell me stories!" she said firmly. She used her XO intonation again. "You said 'what is Mike doing there'. What do you know about Mike? And how do you know he's on board that craft?"

"To start with, you'd better take the other, smaller jetty on the other side of the island. That's an even shorter walk to the waterfall."

"Uh? Ok."

"Secondly. The Hammersley found out he's the master of that vessel during a boarding."

"A boarding? On an Australian vessel? That's not allowed. What's going on with? Come on Max, normally we tell each other everything."

Damn, she can see through everything. You cannot hide anything from her.

She sighed. "Ok, you win. The Feds gave us an order to inspect that vessel. They suspected it was a drugs runner, but they couldn't find anything. Mike was the captain of it and they told me he wasn't the same anymore."

Now she looked at Kate carefully to see how she was going to react. Maxine ended up confused because Kate didn't react as expected. She was not sad, not angry, she just frowned and stared at the Coral Sea at the jetty. "You idiot, what have you got yourself involved in?"

Maxine looked from Kate to the Coral Sea again, but stared at it blankly.

There's something very dodgy going on. I don't know what, but I just have a feeling. Mike, a drug runner? And often seen at the jetty here? This island? It has a medical research lab, but I've never heard anything about it before. They are researching cures for diseases, that would be great publicity, but they haven't announced it to the media, why?

A medical lab. Or just a lab? Drugs are created in labs. Yes.

Labs can produce a steady stream of products and we are on a near-by island. For sure, these are for the Australian market, not for overseas. But how would you get them to the mainland? By boat, of course! The Coral Sea. Yes, but there were no announcements from the authorities that it had been spotted in this area. Hmm, then there must be another smaller boats, on a regular basis?

Shit! The blue boxes with clamps! It's Kate! 'We come here at least once a week,' she said. Oh my God. She pretends to have a fight with Mike and now it seems they are working together in the same drugs ring?

How did she come into enough money to buy these boats? Nah! That can't be true. That's wrong of me. The money was from the sale of her father's land. She showed me the official documentation of the notary. I remember that. It was winter in Europe and she came back here from London with a huge cold. She couldn't even see through her puffy eyes.

Moreover, she was telling the truth about how they transport these boxes. If she's really involved she would have kept her mouth shut. And I know Kate through and through. She's a woman with principles and she sticks to them.I would stake my own life on it

On the other hand, these boxes are big and firmly locked. So? Damn, I know! They are using her to transport the drugs. An innocent company that make tours between the islands. Oh, the bastards! If I tell her, she'll explode. I need to be 100% sure about this. From the moment we are on land I will observe, see if I can see some signs of extra monitoring.

"Hey, Max, you seem to be millions of miles away. You ok?" Kate asked.

"Uh, yes, sorry, got side tracked."

"Where were you with your thoughts?"

"Uh, I was back here with Stuart and Ryan," she lied.

"Come on, it will come good. Tomorrow, or the day after, you'll find a nice guy." Kate comforted Maxine with a big hug around her shoulder.

I'll smile and will look a bit sad, but will say nothing. That would be best for this moment to make it realistic.

Maxine smiled, and pretended to wipe a tear from her eye.