The Island of Dragons (Rockpools Book 4), Gregg Dunnett [books to improve english .txt] 📗

again. He raises his hand and acts like he’s trying to work this all out. “So your friend Amber is dating a guy who faked his own death ripping off South American drugs smugglers?”

“Erm. Yeah.”

“OK, carry on.”

“Well, there’s not much more to say. Somehow the smugglers found out Carlos wasn’t dead – that’s the Italian guy. And they found him, and they sent some guys to kill him and get the drugs back.”

I take another sip of my drink.

“Carlos is the guy who stole the drugs?” This time it’s James who asks.

“Yeah.”

“So what happened?”

I think back, remembering how I took my kayak out, and saw Amber and Carlos having sex on the floor of his boat. I won’t tell them that part.

“Well, they found Carlos and tortured him, but for some reason he told them I knew where the drugs were hidden.”

“And did you?” Jennifer asks. Her eyes are really sparkling now. I glance from her to Lily, and then back again. They’re both really beautiful, but actually there’s no doubt which of them is more beautiful. It’s Lily. There’s something about her that just takes my breath away.

“Billy?”

“Huh?”

“Did you know?”

“Oh. No. Well not at first, but then I worked it out, because I actually saw Carlos when he was hiding the drugs. In a sea cave.” I turn to Lily. “You know those caves down the west side of Lornea Island, in the marine reserve? I thought it was odd he was spear fishing there.”

Lily’s sets her face into a frown. “OK.”

Eric sits back suddenly and his head gives a kind of shiver, like he can’t keep up any more, but I press on. I’m almost there now.

“So I worked out where the cocaine is. But then the gangsters – I suppose that’s what they are – they kidnapped Amber’s sister, and told us they’d kill her if we didn’t get their drugs back, it was worth millions, apparently.”

James scratches his chin. “Then what?”

“Well then me and Steve went out to dive and get the drugs, and we managed to shoot the gangsters. Then we crashed my boat into their boat, and then the police turned up.”

I sit back and wait.

“I told you he was funny,” Lily says, and she looks at me, delight lighting up her beautiful face.

Chapter Eleven

“Wow.” Eric says a few moments later. “Just wow Billy.” He reaches up and clicks his fingers, then when the lady behind the counter looks over, he orders me another banana daquiri, even though I haven’t finished the first one yet. And then they all start asking me questions, clarifying exactly what happened. I have to admit, it’s fun to talk about now, even though at the time it wasn’t fun to actually do. It’s odd too, since I kind of expected that I’d have to explain all of this to the people in my house – after being on TV and everything – but none of them ever asked.

And the café where we’re sitting has a real comfy feel, which I hadn’t realized I’d missed, but now I think I have. My apartment (I still don’t think of it as home) was sparse and bare when I moved in, and now it’s filled with trash – I mean literally filled with trash, we’ve all got into a bit of a standoff over who should take it out, and as a result no one will. The trash can itself, a small plastic container which was in a corner by the microwave, filled up weeks ago and has been overtopped, like a river in flood. It’s now buried beneath empty pizza boxes, beer cans and wine bottles in what Guy and Jimbo call the Trash Corner. They claim it’s an improvement, since you can simply toss trash in the general direction and be sure to hit. And there’s no need to take it outside. Obviously their thinking is flawed here. My room is reasonably tidy, but it’s very small, and there’s only one chair, by the desk, so you can’t really relax there. But this place – I look around – the sofas are all different, and all well used, but not in a worn-out way, more like they’ve taken years to bed-in, and now they’re just right. I’m surprised, and a bit disappointed when James suddenly pulls out his cell phone, checks it, and announces it’s time to go. I think at first he means just him, but all the rest of them start getting up to leave as well.

“Where are you going?” I ask, which is a bit forward of me, but just goes to show how relaxed I feel now, and how much I was enjoying myself.

“We have work to do Billy.” James smiles at me, and it occurs to me it’s the first time he actually smiled at me the whole time I was here. It’s not the nicest smile either, he looks a bit sarcastic. The others get up, and they start leaving, and I panic for a moment that I’m going to be left with the check. I don’t mind paying for what I drank, but ten Banana Daquiris must be expensive. But then I see Eric going to the bar. I expect him to pull out his wallet, or something, but instead he embraces the lady behind the desk, and kisses her on both cheeks. She does the same to him, like this is normal behavior. Then I guess he catches me looking, because he comes over to me and whispers in my ear.

“Don’t worry dear boy, it’s all on the slate.” Then he touches my shoulder, gives me a look and says out loud. “I trust we’ll see you again soon, Billy?” and then he looks at Lily, who looks at James, who says nothing, but turns and walks away and out of the café. The others follow him, except Lily, so that now it’s just the two of us. She doesn’t say anything, like she’s considering what to do next.

“Why don’t