CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

 

Monday morning arrived and Vickram was waiting in the front lobby when the black sedan pulled up in front of the building. He let the two men into his office himself as he’d told Gertrude not to come to work until an hour later than her usual start time. He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk and waited until the Irish men were seated before sinking into his own chair.

“Well, Ramotar, have you thought more about our offer?” O’Leary asked as soon as he’d settled his wide girth on the padded chair.

Vickram leaned forward, his elbows resting on the center of his desk. “I’ve given it a lot of thought O’Leary,” he replied slowly. “And while your offer was more than generous, I’m afraid that I will have to decline.”

“You what?” The Irishman shot to his feet. “Are you loopers?” He stared at Vickram for a full minute, his ruddy complexion becoming redder with each passing second. “That crap piece of land is not worth half of what we’re offering and yet you’re turning us down?”

“I am,” Vickram replied coolly. “That crap piece of land, as you call it, has been in my family for generations and I have no desire to sell it to you or to anyone else for that matter.”

“What if we double the price?”

“My answer would still be the same.”

The glare that O’Leary leveled in the other man’s direction was full of venom. “You’re an eejit Ramotar,” he snarled. “And you’re making a huge mistake.”

“That remains to be seen, O’Leary.” Vickram stood up and gathered up the sheaf of papers on his desk. He thrust them at the Irishman. “Here’s your proposal back. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my work.”

Patrick stood up and there was a hard glint in his eyes when he looked at Vickram, but his tone was polite when he extended a hand to the older man. “Well, Ramotar,” he said. “I’m sorry that we weren’t able to negotiate a deal with you today, but I thank you for taking the time to meet with us.” He looked down at O’Leary and said, “Come on, boss. Let’s go. It’s pretty clear that we’re wasting our time here.”

“You’ll regret this, Ramotar,” O’Leary said darkly as he pointed his cane at Vickram. “The next time we may not be so nice.”

“There will be no next time,” Vickram replied. “I’m not going to change my mind.” He strode over to the door and flung it open. “Good day, gentlemen.”

O’Leary muttered an obscenity under his breath as he brushed past the other man, almost knocking Vickram sideways as he stopped in the open doorway. “Consider yourself warned, Ramotar,” he flung over his shoulder as he stomped down the porch stairs. “This is not over by a long shot.”

As soon as the black sedan sped off, Vickram returned to his office and sat back down behind his desk. He wiped the sheen of sweat that had settled on his upper lip. He hated confrontations of any kind and he’d already had two unpleasant meetings with the Irishman and his cohorts. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number.

“Theo? It’s Vickram,” he said into the receiver. “They just left. We have to talk. I’ll be right over.”

Constable Theodore Miller was barking orders into the phone when Vickram walked into his office in the local police station a few minutes later. He stood up and flashed a gleaming white smile as he motioned for the other man to sit down. His bulky form almost filled the tiny office, but he moved like a panther, quietly and gracefully when he came around the side of the desk to shake his friend’s hand.

“So, tell me, what made you change your mind, Vick? Why do you think that those men are after our birds?” he asked.

“Well, I wasn’t sure at first. I was willing to believe the nonsense that O’Leary was spouting about wanting to build a resort and a theme park. I was ready to accept that he was nothing more than another greedy investor, but there’s just something a little off about the man … he was a little too eager to get his hands on my property. Can you believe he offered me five million dollars for my land, Theo?” Vickram watched the other man’s dark eyes widen and his jaw drop open at the mention of the large sum. “I had to ask myself … now why would anyone want to pay that much for such a seemingly worthless piece of land? It’s not like there’s gold, silver or even bauxite on it … and then I remembered that report you told me about earlier this year.”

“You mean the one about the ring of thieves who’ve been raiding forests and oceans here in the Caribbean, poaching our birds, our fish and our animals, and selling them for a hefty price on the black market?”

“Yes, that’s the one,” Vickram nodded vigorously. “I spent all weekend trying to deduce why those men would want that particular plot of land and then it hit me … it’s all about the location!”

Constable Miller raised an eyebrow in question. “Location?”

“Yes, don’t you see? My land sits just a short mile from the rainforest and part of it extends down to the beach off of Marble Rock,” he paused to see if Theo was following him. The other man snapped his fingers as understanding dawned on his face and Vickram continued, “It would be the perfect spot for them to conduct their operations. They would be able to smuggle goods on and off the island quite easily from there and no one would be the wiser.”

“Hmmm.” Theodore leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful look on his face. “I have to admit that it does make sense,” he said. “I mean, we’ve known for some time now that the poachers were making their rounds of the islands and that it would only be a matter of time before Macaw Island became a target.”

“Exactly! You said yourself that tapirs, jaguars and chinchillas have been disappearing from the neighboring islands at an alarming rate and who’s to say that our macaws aren’t next.” Vickram was on his feet, his arms waving dramatically as he talked. “O’Leary and his men seem like just the shady sort to be involved in this kind of a racket.”

“But we have no evidence,” the other man pointed out. “We can’t order them off the island based on suspicions.”

“I know, but you can keep an eye on them, can’t you? Have your men tail them around town and see if they make any trips to the rainforest.”

“I will Vick, you can count on it. If what you suspect is true, then we will need to make sure that the rainforest is kept guarded around the clock. We’ll add an extra pair of guards to patrol the area.”

“Thanks, Theo,” Vickram beamed. “I hope I’m wrong about these men, but my gut tells me that there’s something more than a little crooked about those Irish chaps.”