13:30 HOURS
Travis Marlon could barely make out the ship’s heliport in the fading light of the overcast sky. As far as he could see, the clouds of Hurricane Hannah dominated Galveston Bay. The winds hadn’t yet picked up beyond a freshening breeze, the pending arrival of the hurricane still hours away. Travis presumed Hannah was the reason Alastair Holloway was so insistent that they immediately depart; he wanted no time wasted sailing his $100-million yacht out of Hannah’s destructive path.
Travis was thankful that his only responsibility on this flight was to deliver Holloway to the ship. Following this unexpected assignment, he would disembark and rejoin Kilmer’s team as they prepared for the Livermore mission. Travis enjoyed piloting the expensive aircraft Holloway kept at his disposal, but like everyone else, he had a strong aversion to the man. Holloway was not a man difficult to dislike; not only was he one of the world’s wealthiest people, he was also insufferable and cruel. He ground up staff like ice in a blender. Only those that could tolerate his caustic and obdurate behavior remained in his service. Most newcomers didn’t last even a month, and it was not uncommon to see them completely flustered following their first encounter with the quick-tempered egomaniac.
Holloway’s imperious style was even worse for business competitors who dared to challenge his authority. He was never content with merely beating an opponent; rather, it became his single-minded purpose to systematically destroy him. If by some chance a rival did prevail, Holloway would stop at nothing until they were financially ruined. Never was there a more vengeful person, even if it meant sending a “business associate” to arrange for their permanent disappearance.
Alastair Holloway was one of the most ruthless individuals Marlon had ever encountered, which was a startling sentiment on its own, having been a longtime associate of Richard Kilmer. He disliked being around the man any longer than necessary. The sooner I secure Holloway and depart, the safer I’ll feel.
Marlon flew toward the stately white yacht in the fading daylight. The magnificent ship was well lit and reflected a mirror image off the dead-calm water of the bay. The yellow thirty-eight-foot circular heliport was clearly identified as he approached the ship from the starboard side. The blaze-orange wind sock hung limp near the ship’s stern.
“Mr. Holloway, we’ll be landing in three minutes,” Marlon shouted over his shoulder, disturbing Holloway’s slumber as he was napping in the back of the spacious executive helicopter. “The bay’s calm…should be a smooth landing.”
“I know that, Travis,” Alastair Holloway replied. He didn’t open his eyes, but stirred uncomfortably from the interruption. “If I wanted an update, I’d ask,” he sneered, his biting response typical of what Marlon was used to.
“Yes, sir…sorry, sir,” Travis replied, realizing that apologizing was only inviting a tirade. He decided to circumvent his indiscretion by contacting the ship.
“ Jurassic…Dragonfly is on approach from your starboard at four knots. Do you have a visual?”
“Affirmative, Dragonfly, we have you on radar,” replied the ship’s first officer from the bridge of the yacht. Every crewmember understood that when Holloway arrived, it was analogous to sounding a battle station’s alarm. Captain Suarez assumed command on the bridge and everyone reported to duty, regardless of who was scheduled to work.
“We’re at anchor and the wind is light. Welcome aboard,” the first officer said in a convivial tone, masking the visceral contempt he had for the ship’s tempestuous owner.
“Thank you, Jurassic. Touching down in just a moment,” Marlon responded.
The Jurassic was a 100-foot Royal Denship luxury yacht that contained six full decks below the bridge. The ship could comfortably accommodate twenty passengers along with a crew of twenty-six. Holloway had completely retrofitted the ship in 2006, primarily to add a Jacuzzi for Angelina, and to install a state-of-the-art stabilizer to reduce motion sickness, which constantly plagued him.
Jurassic was capable of cruising at sixteen knots with a range of 7,000 nautical miles, and flew under the flag of the Cayman Islands. She was by far the most luxurious ship Captain Suarez had ever sailed. There were four staterooms among the several smaller bedrooms to accommodate guests, an incredibly opulent dining area, a dance floor, movie studio, exercise room, and several full bars conveniently located throughout the ship. Holloway’s stateroom was the largest and most lavish of any stateroom the captain had ever seen. It afforded an unobstructed view of the bow, second only to that which the officers enjoyed from the bridge.
Holloway’s routine never varied from the moment he landed. The ship steward delivered his luggage to the private stateroom that was only used by Angelina and himself. Following a few moments to freshen up, the captain would visit the stateroom to discuss the departure schedule and other pertinent information. Then the crew could relax as Holloway usually hunkered down in his stateroom. But given today’s early afternoon arrival, the chef had prepared an early dinner, which would be served as soon as Holloway was settled. This meant the galley staff would also be working later than usual, alert for any demands that might strike his fancy.
The Jurassic ’s chef had a galley ready to comfortably serve up to twenty guests in the yacht’s opulent dining room. A wine cellar offered vintages that would make the most discriminating connoisseur envious. Most of the galley staff, however, held a low opinion of the ship’s owner, believing it disgraceful that their talents were not better utilized. But Holloway considered entertaining a waste of money. He had no desire to indulge people he knew didn’t approve of how he had acquired his wealth.
Holloway had no family, other than his only daughter, Monica, whom he had purposely estranged years earlier. He believed Monica was just like her mother: a greedy, money-grubbing whore. He was still humiliated by his gullibility, believing his ex-wife’s hollow promise to love him apart from his considerable wealth. In the end it was clear she had seduced him with her physical charms, saddled him with an alimony payment, and given him a gluttonous, vacuous daughter to remind him of his stupidity. Following this experience, he pledged to never again trust a woman. As for Monica, his only connection to her was providing for her personal well-being in the form of monthly checks that supported an indulgent lifestyle. Otherwise, his only daughter was just a terrible disappointment in his shallow, self-absorbed existence.
Alastair Holloway was an overweight man of sixty-five. He was a squat, corpulent, balding man who was always in a bad mood. Bushy eyebrows overhung dark, beady eyes and a bulbous nose, giving him the appearance of Scrooge. He was slightly hunched, as if weighted by a heavy load, and had the temperament of a badger. He had amassed incredible wealth through a mixture of skill and foresight, but never could he draw enjoyment from anything, except making more money. He seemed incapable of relaxing, driven by an inexplicable force that never relented. He had no trusted friends, and apart from his mistress, Angelina, there was no one in his life. It was hard to imagine a more miserable and lonely existence.
Holloway was an industrial capitalist, cast from the same mold as many of the true pioneers of American industry. Capitalism was his passion and it consumed his every waking moment. His father, Aldus Holloway, was a farmer who cultivated corn and wheat on 2,000 acres of rich bottom-land near Tulsa, Oklahoma. On the farm, Alastair learned young in life the value of hard, backbreaking work, long hours that typically went from dawn to dusk, and the risk mentality that was the hallmark of farmers. Watching his family struggle to overcome droughts, declining commodity prices, bank foreclosures, and a myriad of other seemingly endless setbacks taught him the valuable lesson of personal responsibility. He also learned to be cautious of any livelihood dependent on weather.