This is episode twenty-six in the sixth novel of The Trace Troy Adventure Series. It is titled The Double-Cross in Paradise. Here are the links to The Double-Cross In Paradise: paperback, Kindle.
A Phone Call With Kelsey
The next day, Cooper purchased supplies and stocked The Tinytanic. Trace stayed out of sight. He was certain Kelsey would know that he had been given the slip.
Mid-afternoon, Trace called the front desk of the hotel.
“Suva Regency, Maxwell speaking. How may I help you?”
“There’s a man in a blue sedan parked a few spaces from the front of your hotel. He’s a police officer. Send a bellhop for him. I have an important message.”
“We normally don’t do that sort of thing.”
“Maxwell, you don’t normally do it, but you will do it. This is urgent.”
“I’ll put you on hold and send someone right away.”
Trace waited.
Kelsey got the phone from the front desk clerk.
“Hello,” Kelsey said.
“Kelsey, this is Troy. Got to some place private.”
“Hold on,” Kelsey said. He spotted a chair in the middle of the hotel lobby and dragged the phone and cord to it. He sat down. “Where the hell are you?”
“I can’t tell you. But I want to keep you in the loop as much as I can. It’s not that I can’t trust you, but I’m being followed by people other than you. I can’t have them knowing what’s going on.”
“If you got something up your sleeve, I’d sure like to know what it is.”
“How much freedom do you have?” Trace asked.
“What do you mean?”
“How often do you report to your superiors?”
“Only, when I have to. I’ve gone almost a month.”
“Look, Kelsey, I want you to get a big fat pat on the back with an attaboy to go along with it. But I need your confidence and trust.”
“Like you trusted me?” Kelsey said sarcastically.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t take chances,” Trace said.
“Okay,” Kelsey conceded. “This stays between me and you.”
Trace relaxed and said, “I need you to make like there’s somebody following you. In fact, you may be being followed. You’re too busy following me to notice it. Anyway, in two days, be at Naisoso Island. It’s an island just a couple of hundred feet from Nida; no more than a channel separates the islands. Don’t be dressed like a cop. You have to cross a bridge to get to the island. Immediately after crossing the bridge, there is a green. Wait there. Have your suitcase, but when you're there, hide it somewhere so you don’t look conspicuous.”
“What then?” Kelsey asked.
“I get you and we sail to Port Vila.”
“Sail!” Kelsey exclaimed.
“Have you ever sailed?”
“I’ve been on a ferry.”
“It’s pretty much the same thing,” Trace assured with not a lot of confidence.
“You mean we’re taking something like a ferry?”
“Well,” Trace said, “it floats just like a ferry does.”
“How big is it?”
'Twenty-five feet,” Trace feigned confidence.
“That’s not big,” Kelsey said.
“It’s how we get to the island without being recognized.”
“Couldn’t we charter a plane?”
“And do what, parachute in?” Trace said.
“That, I can do,” Kelsey said.
“I need you to look like you’ve been at sea, not like you’ve been sipping rum and Coke in the shade. Four days at sea ought to add some color to your cheeks.”
“Why do I need to look like I’ve been at sea?”
“You probably know all there is to know about drug trafficking in the South Seas, but you don’t look the part. You may need to look the part if we are going to get close to the guys you want to shut down.”
“How do you propose getting close to those guys?” Kelsey asked.
“Leave that to me,” Trace said. “Does anyone in the South Seas know you by sight or name?”
“I don’t think so, but one can never be quite sure.”
“Look,” Trace said, “you’re going to be a drug trafficker from the other side of Australia. Can you play a convincing role?”
“I’ve done it before,” Kelsey said. “And I’d still like to know what you have in mind.”
“I can’t tell you any more than I have already,” Trace said. “I have to get things in motion first. If I tell you now, I will always worry that I told you too much. I trust you, but you do have loyalties that extend far beyond me. You have people whom you have trusted with your life. You hardly know me. And for that fact, I hardly know you.”
“Fair enough,” Kelsey breathed deep. “I’ve seen a dossier on you. You know how to organize an operation. You’re a good planner.”
“Are you familiar with American football?” Trace asked.
“Yes.”
“Anybody can draw up a play,” Trace said. “It’s all in the execution. I can’t get overconfident.”
“See you in a couple of days, mate.”
Trace hung up the phone.
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