“Advising you.”
“In my own best interests?”
“Yes.”
“In fact,” Hutchins said, “we think it would be a good thing if you were to leave the island. Go back home to England.”
Fletcher stared at him. “You must be joking.”
“No; far from it. In fact we’d be prepared to pay all your expenses and something on top to compensate for any inconvenience. What do you say to that?”
“I say you must be very keen to get rid of me.”
“Well, let’s put it this way — we think that for the moment at least your presence here could prove something of an embarrassment.”
“Because I might talk about what I found?”
“That — and other considerations — yes.”
“What other considerations?”
“I don’t think we need go into details.”
“So you don’t trust me not to talk?”
Hutchins gave a faint smile. “Trust is a commodity we don’t much deal in. It’s not — if you’ll pardon the word — to be trusted.”
“And why should anything I might say — besides those other considerations — cause any embarrassment? Embarrassment for whom, for Pete’s sake?”
“As I said before, I don’t think we need go into that. The question is, are you prepared to accept our offer?”
“How much is the something on top?” Fletcher asked.
Hutchins glanced at Brogan, then said: “What would you say to a thousand dollars?”
“I’d say it’s not enough to compensate for the inconvenience.”
Hutchins frowned slightly. “How much would be enough?”
“I don’t quite know. Suppose you make another offer.”
“Two thousand dollars, then.”
“That’s better, but it’s still not enough.”
“We’re not going any higher than that,” Brogan said, and he looked annoyed.
“Please yourselves,” Fletcher said. “It probably wouldn’t make any difference if you did. I like it here; I’m very comfortable. You’d need to go way above the kind of price you’ve been offering, and even then I might not take it.”
“So you’re set on staying?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a decision you could live to regret.”
“I could live to regret any decision. That’s the way life is.”
They didn’t like it; he could see that. They had probably expected to persuade him without much trouble, but he was damned if he was going to shift just to please them. And why were they so keen on having him say nothing about the boat and the dead men anyway? What was it to them?
“You’re stubborn,” Brogan said. “You surely are one stubborn son-of-a-gun.”
Fletcher grinned. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t make it a bitch. Gun sounds much better — in that context.”
Brogan did not return the grin. “It’s no joke, you know. We’re not playing games.”
“I didn’t think you were. Something maybe, but not games.”
“I don’t think you quite realise, John,” Hutchins said, “exactly what it is you’ve gotten yourself into.” He was adopting the reasonable, friendly tone of an older, more experienced man; a veteran talking to a rookie. “This could be dangerous.”
“Are you telling me I could end up at the bottom of the sea with a hole in the head?”
“Anyone could end up that way. You’d be safer in England.”
“So it’s just my personal safety you’re thinking about? That’s why you want me to go?”
“You know damn well it isn’t just that.” Hutchins had abandoned the fatherly stance and his voice had hardened. “You’re not that much of a fool.”
“Well, thanks for the compliment.”
“And it’s because you’re not such a fool that you should be able to see where your only interest lies. It’s yourself you should be thinking about. And if you really think about yourself you’ll get out, pronto.”
He sat back and took a long drink of his Caribbean Special. He had had his say and was waiting for results. He set the glass down empty.
“Well?”
“Well what?” Fletcher asked.
“Are you going?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You sure are a stubborn son-of-a-bitch,” Brogan said.
He finished his drink and they both got up and walked out. Fletcher watched their departure with some misgiving. Perhaps he was being a fool; perhaps he should have taken the money and cleared out. Certainly he was happy where he was, but it was not the only place in the world, not the only place where he could settle down and write that book — if he ever did write it. So why had he not pocketed an easy two thousand dollars and packed his bags? Well, maybe because he disliked being pushed around, being told what was best for his health and what he ought to do about it. So he would stay put; he would stay right where he was and please himself.
He drank the Caribbean Special that Hutchins had paid for and felt a touch of smug self-satisfaction at having made his own decision, at having had the strength of character to order his own affairs and never mind what other people might advise him to do. But the satisfaction failed to last long, because it occurred to him that there was not much advantage in making your own decisions if they turned out to be the wrong ones; and not much joy in ordering your own affairs, either, if the only result was to bring a load of trouble tumbling about your ears.
He ordered another drink to see what that would do for him, and it did very little. He came to the conclusion that the Caribbean Special was after all an over-rated form of refreshment and decided to go back to Port Morgan.
FIVE:
POLICE
Joby arrived home earlier than expected. The Americans had soon tired of Mariana Bay and had decided to return to Jamestown. Joby had decanted them on to the pier and had taken his pay and come home.
Fletcher told him about the two men who had introduced themselves to him and made him an offer. Joby listened with a slightly worried expression on his face.
“An’ you don’ know who they were?” he said when Fletcher had finished. “I mean apart from the names.”
“I’ve a good idea,” Fletcher said.
“So how ’bout tellin’ me?”
“Well, who else would they be but C.I.A. men? Who else would be interested enough to make an offer like that?”
“Why would the C.I.A. be that keen to get you out of the island?”
“I don’t know.”
“You reckon this here’s a political thing?”
“It certainly begins to have that kind of look. Doesn’t it seem that way to you?”
“Mebbe so,” Joby said. “An’ you refused the money?”
“Yes.”
“Why, man, why?”
“Perhaps because I happen to like being here.”
“Mebbe you shoulda taken it all the same.”
“Do you mean you want to get rid of me? Is that what you’re saying?”
Joby made a motion of the shoulders. “Look, you know it ain’t that we don’ like havin’ you here. We like it fine. All the same, mebbe it’d have bin wiser to take the cash an’ beat it. Seems like somethin’ could be buildin’ up. Like a hurricane mebbe. Best to run for shelter when there’s a hurricane comin’.”
Fletcher could see how uneasy Joby was, and he wondered whether it would be quite fair to him — and to Paulina and the children — if he were to stay on. If he brought trouble on himself he might bring trouble on them also. But what trouble could he bring on himself or them? It was all nonsense; no trouble was coming to him or them. Still, if Joby wanted him out of the way he would go.
“Are you asking me to leave?” he said. “Are you telling me you’d rather I wasn’t here?”
Joby seemed to be avoiding his eyes, as though embarrassed by the question.“I’m leavin’ it to you.”
“Well,” Fletcher said, “I’ll think about it, if that’s the way you feel. Maybe I’ll go; yes, maybe I will. We’ll see.”