“In the past, I have had dealings with people with whom I was concerned that shared information might be … lost, or misplaced. I must ask your forgiveness, but I didn’t know you or the situation here at all. I couldn’t risk the possibility that such an unfortunate accident might happen today. So, I asked my friend to upload the video to my private storage on the internet so there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings.”
The constable looked like he was about to get pissed off, but then he shook himself visibly.
“Knowing that you were in a strange and unknown environment, I can well understand your desire to be prudent. As I have said, you have helped us considerably, and I believe you have made our small country safer by your actions.”
I sat back abruptly, relieved. I definitely liked this guy much better than the Los Angeles Police Department.
Constable Vincent looked at me intently before continuing.
“I believe strongly that neither you nor we would really want or need to have this unfortunate incident become a matter for the TV, radio, or newspapers. Would you agree with that?”
“We agree that this could have a negative impact on both your country and my client,” Ms. Dixon said.
I nodded my head, still looking at him. I agreed completely.
“You have our word that none of us desire that either, and we’ll not release or mention anything to the media. That is unless we are compelled to respond to questions they may be asked based upon information they get from other sources,” Ms. Dixon continued.
The constable leaned forward a bit.
“I don’t think they will get that information from any other source, do you?” he asked.
I smiled at him.
“No, I don’t believe so either,” I said.
“Are we done? Do you need anything else from us?” Dad asked.
I breathed an inward sigh of relief as we stood and shook hands. The constable ushered us out, all smiles now, and even arranged for a cab to pick us up and take us back to the boat.
◊◊◊
Surprisingly, it was just after lunchtime when we got out. It felt to me like we’d been in there all day, and it should be midnight now.
We made our way back to the boat. There, my mom, dad, Cassidy, and I got on the phone for yet another conference call to Ms. Dixon, Frank, and Fritz. Ms. Dixon chewed me up one side and down the other for taking matters into my own hands. But in the end, even she commended me on turning a potentially difficult to disastrous situation into something that hopefully would continue to be a nonevent.
I hugged an exhausted Cassidy, and an equally exhausted Brook, and shooed them on to their cabin to take a nap. All I really wanted was to crash until at least the end of next week.
I did give my mom and my dad big hugs, shook Ian’s hand, and gave Ava a hug before stumbling off to bed for my own power nap. Ian, in particular, gave me a look I wasn’t sure how to interpret.
The gentle rocking of the boat and my bladder finally forced me out of bed. I came up to the deck to find everyone else having a late afternoon snack that seemed to consist solely of fruit and cocktails.
When Mom finished her snack, she walked up to Cassidy and put her in a bear hug.
“Thank you for protecting my son. I was so worried about you,” she said.
“What about me?” I asked.
“I knew you were fine,” Mom said and then checked Cassidy over. “You’re okay, right?”
Cassidy had a big smile.
“Yes, I’m fine. I wasn’t worried with David at my side.”
“I wanted to kick some ass too,” Brook complained.
“Cassidy did hog the action,” I teased.
Cassidy gave me a look.
“Whoa, you’ve met your quota of hurting boys for this vacation,” I said, which made her laugh.
I had to explain the joke to Ian and Ava. They’d had no clue what a little ninja Cassidy was. She was happy I hadn’t held back.
Our vacation would be over soon, and we weren’t about to let a little thing like an armed robbery keep us from our appointed partying! We decided to go out for dinner, and then we’d go to one of the island’s touted nightclubs for some dancing.
It was amusing to see a police car parked at the entrance to the marina, with the second constable smiling at us as he leaned against the fender, arms folded. He motioned me over, and Dad came with me.
“I have been assigned to ensure the rest of your stay is trouble free and to protect the innocent citizens from you and your friend,” he said with a grin. “Oh, and the remaining two hoodlums have been detained and will be questioned … probably sometime on Monday. We don’t expect you will have any more problems on our fair island, but we want to be sure.”
I laughed and thanked him and suddenly had a thought.
“Wait here, please.”
I dashed back to the boat and grabbed two pictures of me as Stryker and a Sharpie and hustled them back to the marina entrance.
“What is Constable Vincent’s daughter’s name, and is there anyone special you would like to give this second one to?” I asked.
That grin just would not go away.
“His daughter is named Mariella, and if you would sign the other one to Corella, I would be most happy,” he said.
