Free Ivory by Tony Park Page A

alone being so flippant. While the thought of him – his body, and even his words – could provoke a physical reaction in her at sea half a world away, she also had regular attacks of guilt over her new-found role as the other woman. She’d been close to calling the whole thing off on several occasions, but every time she thought of picking up a phone or willed herself to go to his office, shelost her nerve. Right or wrong, he filled a need in her that was real, however much she might fight it or hate it. From what he’d said about his deteriorating relationship with Elizabeth, Jane supposed there was the possibility that he might leave his wife for her and legitimise what they had together. Before she’d left he’d said he wanted to talk about their future when he got to South Africa. She hadn’t pushed him for anything more, as they’d lain together in bed in the flat and listened to rain drumming on the window. Jane had always assumed she would get married some day, but she had been George’s lover for less than a month and, as much as he fulfilled her, she was far from certain she was ready for marriage right now.
    â€˜I thought they would,’ George said. ‘It’s the whole political situation with the Yanks at the Horn of Africa. The South Africans are riding high in the short term with increased exports up and down the coast of Africa, but it’s a blip. I’m happy to stall them for a while. Jane, can you think of anything that might string out the negotiations?’
    She leaned back in her chair. She liked working for George not just because of their physical relationship, but also for the challenges he threw at her. It kept her on her toes. ‘I must admit I hadn’t thought too much about things that might slow us down. Let me check out South Africa’s BEE laws. We can ask for a full list of staff in every position – onshore and at sea – and tell them we want to assure ourselves the company’s kosher when it comes to staffing.’
    â€˜BEE?’ Robert asked.
    â€˜Black economic empowerment,’ Jane said.
    â€˜Good thinking,’ George butted in. ‘We’ll hit them with it on the first day.’
    â€˜Also,’ Jane said, ‘Iain showed me the weekly piracy update. We can tell the South Africans we’re waiting on estimates of revised insurance premiums from our brokers based on the recent upsurge in criminal activity off the coast of south-east Africa.’
    â€˜Excellent. Although I’m less impressed with you being on first-name terms with that dour old Scottish captain, Iain MacGregor. He gave me hell as a young officer.’
    Jane laughed. ‘He’s got some very interesting stories about you that I’m sure Robert would like to hear, George.’
    â€˜All well and good,’ Bench said, ‘but I’ve got another conference call with my South African counterpart in ten minutes that I need to prepare for. If you’ve nothing else for me, George?’
    â€˜No, that’s fine, Robert. I’m happy Jane will put the brakes on things once we get to Cape Town. We’ll make the locals sweat for a while. They’ll not get a better offer from anyone other than us, but just because we’re big doesn’t mean we’ll pay anything.’
    Robert signed off from the conversation, but George’s tone remained businesslike, somewhat to Jane’s surprise. ‘You’ll have some company tonight. Five other passengers are boarding when you get into Mombasa.’
    â€˜Really?’ Initially she’d enjoyed being the only passenger on board, but in the last few days she’d begun wishing there was someone else on board other than non-English-speaking stewards and seamen in greasy overalls. ‘Paying passengers?’
    â€˜I’m paying them. They’re a specialist security team. I’ve hired them to conduct an assessment of the crime