“Good afternoon, this is Jack Jago. I’ve been given this number to arrange a meeting with Mr Greenslade.”
A man with a strong American accent answered, “Hello, Jack, this is Henry Greenslade. When can you come over? I’m free for the rest of the day and can be at your disposal.”
“Oh, I thought that I’d be speaking with one of your assistants?”
“Hell no, I gave him the day off. We’re quite informal around here.”
“I see. That’s good because I’m outside your hotel now.”
“What you waiting for? Come on in.”
“I’ll be with you in a couple of minutes.”
“See you then.”
Jago dismounted his motorcycle, secured his helmet and walked into the lavish lobby area of the hotel. A tall, grey-haired man in a pinstripe suit walked up to him with a hand extended ready to shake. The stretched-out arm bore the hallmarks of wealth as the Rolex sat snuggly on his wrist.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jack. I’m Henry.”
“Good to meet you, Henry. You can call me Jago, just Jago.”
“Very well, Jago. Shall we go somewhere a little more private?” said Henry Greenslade as he led Jago towards a lift.
“Yes, that would be good. I take it that you undertake frequent countermeasure sweeps?”
“Every day, at least once. You have to these days. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, I completely agree.”
They entered the lift and, as the doors closed, Henry asked, “Is she safe?”
Jago looked him in the eye. “Yes, she’s safe.”
Henry nodded in appreciation and fell silent until the eleventh floor was announced.
“Here we are, I’ll get Maria to fix us some drinks. What would you like? Bourbon, Cognac?”
“Have you any red wine?”
“But of course, we’re in a hotel you know. What sort would you prefer?”
“A nice Rioja would go down well, if that’s alright?”
“Sure, no problem.” He called Maria who dutifully arrived within seconds. “Maria, please order a bottle of the finest Rioja that we have.”
Jago interrupted, “Honestly, just one glass will do nicely. I’m still working.”
“Very well, order a large glass of the best Rioja, and I’ll have a glass of my usual.”
Henry led Jago to a small glass-walled room with a view over to the airport.
“We can talk in here. How can I help you, Jago?”
Jago explained about the plastic waste, Ian’s death and Kim’s involvement. He waited for a response from Henry.
Initially, Henry absorbed the information. Jago felt that the information wasn't news to him, merely confirmation of what he already knew.
Then Henry spoke. “It’s unfortunate that some have lost their lives in this mess. From a selfish point of view, I’m glad that it wasn’t Kim, although I know that she must be suffering having lost two friends. I will help in any way that I can. It’s time that all of this comes to an end.”
“I’ll cut to the chase. What do you know about the activities of ships in the fleet of these companies? Ria Corps Inc. and Pine Line Shipping Inc.”
“Why, I think that they’re in my portfolio of companies, under my holding company you understand. What about them?”
“Do you know their operations?”
“To be honest, not really. I own them, but others manage them for me. I only listen to the finance these days. Why, is there a problem with them?”
“It seems that they’re about to be named in a report stating that they’re dumping plastic waste and toxins into the oceans. There may be some union issues relating to cargo.”
“I see. Well, I can make some enquiries.”
“You mean to tell me that you don’t know what your companies are being used for and why? How will your investors take the news when it goes public?”
“Does it have to go public?”
“Of course it does. People have given and risked their lives for this exposure, your daughter included, albeit unwittingly.”
“But—”
“There are no buts in this game, Henry, just facts and plenty of evidence to substantiate the claims.”
“I see. If you know all of this, what do you want from me?”
“Let’s suppose that I had the name of the people controlling the unions that in turn control your shipping operations, you know, those that you were bullied by, forced to comply with. That cooperation might make certain names leave the list.”
“You think that this could happen?”
“I’m confident that it would go a long way in building bridges along with some other form of generous offer of aid. And I’m sure that Kim would appreciate the gesture to an organisation that she fully supports.”
“Kim supports it?”
“And here’s me thinking that you would have kept up to date as to her activities from afar.”
“I have intermittently, at least that’s what I thought I was paying for. I expect you think me such a fool?”
“I’m not here to judge anyone. My sole aim is to keep people, and the marine life in our oceans, alive. I want results.”
“I’m just going to make a secure call.” Jago stood as if to leave the room.
“No, stay where you are. I have nothing to hide.”
The video monitor came alive.
Henry spoke. “Robert, how are you doing? I’m at two in the afternoon here in London. What time do you have in Houston?”
“Good morning, Henry, we’re at nine in the morning here. What can I do for you today?”
“Robert, I need to know about the activities of two of my companies, Ria Corps Inc. and Pine Line Shipping Inc. And I want to know everything — operations in the last twelve months, persons in charge, union issues, cargos, the whole monty.”
“Okay, Henry, I can do that. When do you want it?”
“I need that information by the end of your office hours today.”
“Today?”
“Yes, you heard me, today. And I don’t want any excuses. I’ll speak to you later.”
And with that, Henry cut the line. At that moment, Maria appeared with the drinks, and they toasted to each other’s health.
Turning to Jago, Henry said, “That’ll set the cat among the pigeons, I’m sure. In the interim, one name I can give you regarding union control and wrongdoings is someone you may or may not yet know. It’s a guy by the name of Van Dooren, Luis Van Dooren. He’s a real piece of work with his private army. He’s extremely bad news.”
“How do I find him?”
“I’m not sure. He tends to stay in the background and let his minions do his dirty work. I’m sure that if you rattle enough shipping containers they’ll come out to play.”
“That’s fine with me.”
“I’m sure that it is. What about Kim? May I see her? Do you think that she’s ready to see me?”
“I’ll be honest with you, she didn’t want to contact you directly, but she was okay with me contacting you. I believe that now would be a good time for you to get together. She is in need of support from different quarters. Would you visit by yourself or with a driver?”
“Does it make a difference?”
“It does if you want you and your driver to stay alive.”
“In that case, I’ll be using a driver, and I can get the vehicle details to you.”
“Good, I’ll call my man who is with them and give them an ETA.”
“ETA?”
“Estimated time of arrival.”
“Oh, yes of course. Thank you, Jago. I do appreciate your time. If there’s anything that I can do for you, just let me know?”
“I might take you up on that. I have two motorcycles that I want to import from the US. Can I get my colleague Abi to call your office?”
“Yes, by all means. Get her to ask for Michael.”
***
“Abi, I’m heading for the port with an ETA of sixty minutes. I’ll park the bike at RV 3, go in on foot and by sea. I’ll use Hatch 4 to enter the harbour apartment and I need a few minutes to get tooled up. I’m going after Van Dooren.”
“Isn’t that just the coincidence of the year so far?”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning Van Dooren and his cronies were spotted by our eye in the sky approximately an hour ago. They’re in the compound within the port. And there is quite a lot of boat activity, not ship — I repeat, not ship.”
“What type of boats?”
“To me, a boat is a boat, although they do look as if they can go fast.”
“In light of that sparkling piece of intel, I’ll also prep the Seabreacher. Can you ensure that the tracking is up and running?”
“I can do that. Do you need Dom or someone else to assist?”
“Not at the moment. You could put Fi on standby in the vicinity. She’s available, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she’s finished her last assignment. I’ll call her up.”
“Okay, I’m setting my personal tracker now. Have you got a signal?”
“Yes, but if I have it, it’s possible that others do too. You know that?”
“That’s the idea.”
“Okay, you’re the boss. Take care.”