There was silence at the other end. ‘That explains a lot. It means big money and that would explain the new partner. Call you back when we pick up the kid, I’ll let you know where you can pick him up from and take him back to the safe house. God, we’re going to end up with a full house.’Michael walked up to him and grabbed him by the arm. ‘Wouldn’t it be faster if I went? It’s not that far from here?’Franklin shook his head. ‘Michael , just leave it to the blue shirts.’But Michael wasn’t a ‘leave it to anyone’ kind of guy. He walked back into the lounge, checked on Danny, walked back into one of the front bedrooms, twitched the curtain back to check the street and walked back into the kitchen.‘Michael , you’re getting on my nerves. Make yourself a coffee. Play a game on your phone, do something. Just stop pacing.’ Franklin was standing with the back door open, leaning on the doorjamb. To a casual observer, he looked relaxed but he had a bad feeling about this. He wouldn’t allo

It was too early for tourists and, while the tantalising smell of bread and donuts drifted from the bakery, all the cafes, bookshops and shops peddling Paua shell earrings and ashtrays were closed. Kiwi’s laughed at the gullible tourists paying good money for Paua shell, when you could pick up the mother of pearl shells off the beach chucked carelessly onto the black sand after being barbequed on the beach. Damn sight cheaper than what the shops charged for it.They ran in silence past wooden, two-story houses overlooking the harbour. What used to be considered plain old houses, were now seen as prime real estate with harbour views and they were renovated to the hilt. Some looked okay, but to Franklin , some were overdone. And you didn’t see any Maoris around this suburb, except for the local pub where they regularly clashed with the local islanders. Didn’t matter whether they were Cook Islanders or Samoan, they were all anathema to the Maoris. Didn’t make sense to outsiders as the th

‘You want to learn to fix bikes?’‘Yea.’‘I’ve got a friend who’s got a bike shop. Want to go see him and ask?’‘Seriously?’ Jacko looked scared.Johnnie shrugged. ‘I can get you in the door, introduce you and then it’s up to you. You’d have to convince the guy you’d be worth hiring. And then you’d have to show up every day and on time.’‘I could do that! Are you for real?’‘Let’s go talk to the man and see what happens.’ Johnnie pulled out his phone and made the call. Minutes later, they had an appointment and thirty minutes later found them entering the bike shop. Johnnie’s mate had taken redundancy and used his money to buy the business which sold new and used bikes, accessories and did repairs as well. The two of them casually strolled up the aisle through the rows of bikes, both in their own way, trying to hide their apprehension.A middle-aged man walked down to meet them, wiping his hands on his black ACDC t-shirt and black jeans. His weather-beaten face broke into a grin as he

‘That you, Uncle Tommie?’‘No, not this time. What’s the deal you’re offering?’They had him! Their hot suspect was on the other end of the phone. Franklin breathed out to discover he had been holding his breath.‘I have a shipment you should be very interested in. We’ve got a bigger network than anyone else you’re doing business with at the moment. We can supply because we’re global. If you’re not interested, we were going to give the New Zealand franchise to the Aussie team anyway cos your market is so small. So, you either come with us or you compete with someone who will sell better products.’‘I’m willing to look at what you’ve got to offer. And I’d like to know more about the business.’ There was no accent, the voice was as kiwi as they come, and they had no idea who they were talking to.‘Depends how much funding you’ve got.’‘Keep talking.’‘Well, we can sell to you as an end user, or you can buy a franchise. I probably don’t need to tell you that the money isn’t made doing b

As the path curved back to the beach, Sam came back into sight again and he could see she had a rock in her right hand, which she was periodically striking on the rock beside her. She noticed him when he jumped down onto the rock shelf she was sitting on. She looked away back out to sea. He saw her face was wet and her eyes swollen from crying and his heart twisted in his chest. His instinct was to scoop her up and hold her until the pain faded, but he had to find out what she wanted, not do what he felt he needed to do.He sat on the rock beside her. ‘Who was it?’She looked at him, a crooked, wobbly smile on her face. ‘Rhonda. She was just starting to talk to me.’ Her voice wavered and he slid closer and put his arm around her. She turned into him and cried against his chest. Franklin held her, stroking her hair, soothing her with meaningless reassurances. But nothing could make any sense of such a senseless act.Slowly, she quietened and pulled back away from him. He slid her hair