New Frontier - 18. NF Chap 18

“Both he and our mother were killed, we later discovered by a drug cartel, and unwittingly we had taken the evidence of the drug smuggling with us, when I took over custody of my brothers, after their parents were killed. By the time that I realised that something was going on that looked very suspicious, they were starting to chase after me and my brothers, but thankfully we had this yacht to help us get away from them.

Eventually we made it back to mainland Australia, and went to the Australian Federal Police, and there was a big raid and bust up of the cartel. This was also around the time that my so called father had found me again, and sent his mates to try and kill me, as I had given evidence against him for the domestic assault of both my mother and me over a long period of time.

Thanks to our grandfather, who is no longer with us, plus my good friend Simon and his grandfather, I was able to escape from the clutches of my father, and start a new life of freedom. Now the drug cartel, that has links to the biking gang that my father is associated with, have a bounty out for the destruction of my two sailing yachts, and for my death,” I informed the crew.

“Wow; no wonder you hit the floor hard with that news,” Neale commented, “Yea, and my backside is not very happy at the moment. Anita called me to warn me, when the WA Police Gang Squad got a tipoff about the bounty, and an alert was sent out to all WA police stations,” I replied.

“So what happens now boss” Nathan asked me, “Well I had the crew on the island pack everything up and takeoff on both the Duchess and the Frontier, that is going to be about two hours to do that, and once they have left they are going to come up the east coast of Tasmania, and Simon will let me know when they reach a certain place not far to the south of Georges Bay, St Helens, which will take about twelve hours.

Once they have arrived at that point, we will motor down and meet the Frontier at the slipways at St Helens, where the masts will be brought down, and both yachts will be brought onshore, and will be transport to a location for safe storage. In the mean time, the Duchess will be keeping out of sight, and we will meet up with her once the two sailing yachts are secured away,” I informed my crew.

“Will we have to go overseas again?” Jedd asked me, “That is a good possibility, but firstly we need to get Jake here his passport, which means we need to get to a post office,” I replied. “Wow; I’m going overseas,” Jakes said in surprise, and I chucked, while the others smiled.

I looked at my watch, and saw that it had just past 8 am, which means that Simon would be contacting me at approximately 10 pm tonight. I picked up my mobile and doing a search I selected the required number and pressed call. “Hello Anton, this is a pleasant surprise, how may I help you?” the voice said when answering the call.

“Hello Miriam, I have a favour to ask, are you still located on that property just out of St Helens” I asked, “Yes I am, and what is this favour?” came the response. “I need to put my two sailing yachts in long term storage, out of sight from prying eyes,” I asked.

“Sure, that is not a problem, I can do that for you, and I even have a truck and trailer to transport both yachts, one at a time, when can I expect them at the slipway?” Miriam asked, “Somewhere around 2200 hours tonight and we will need transport for four crew members,” I replied. “Very good, I will see you then, bye,” Miriam said.

“Right, now that is sorted, we will be leaving here at 8 pm tonight, and we will be going directly to St Helens, so pack up everything that you want to go with you, as we wont be onboard this yacht for quite a long time,” I announced to my brothers and crew.

Picking up my mobile once more, I dialled Anita’s number. After a ten minute call, we ended our conversation, and I smiled glad that Anita was happy to assist with getting an express passport for Jake, and I next dialled Simon’s number.

“Hi Si, how is the packing and cleaning going?” I asked. “Almost completed, just doing a final inspection which is including discreet video recording,” Simon replied. “Great, send me the video clips via email, and when you get to that assigned location give me a call.

I want the majority of the crew and their belongings transferred to the Duchess, and I want you on the Duchess to hang back while the two yachts head into Georges Bay, with a skeleton crew,” I instructed. “Understood boss, where am I supposed to go with the Duchess” Simon replied. “I will send an email with the coordinates,” I said before ending the call.

Just after 8 pm that evening, on a slow speed, we followed the navigation tracking back the way we came, with no running lights on, so as to not attract any attention from anyone in the region. Once back at sea, we headed south, with a bit over an hour of travelling to go before we met up with the Duchess, about 8 nautical miles north east of the mouth of Georges Bay.

There all of our luggage and belongings were quickly transferred to the Duchess, and with just Nathan and I remaining onboard the catamaran Front N Back. “All ok so far Si?” I asked my best friend, “Yes mate, just like clockwork, there is just Kirk and Leon on the Frontier. What happens now?” Simon replied.

“Now you and your rather full yacht will set off northwards, well off the coast, so away from prying eyes, and once you pass by Cape Barren Island turn south west, and head for the Dover River, where we will meet up with you once you have caught up with some sleep,” I replied.

“Understood boss, keeping low profile for the whole trip, stay safe boss, and see you in a day or two,” Simon said to me, and I gave my brothers a hug, and told them to be good and do as Simon tells them, before they boarded the Duchess, and they headed north, while Nathan and I headed south west for Georges Bay.

When we arrived at the slipway, Miriam was there waiting for me and she had a very worried look on her face. “Hi, you don’t look to happy to see me,” I said to here, as I stepped off the yacht. “No dear, it is wonderful to see you again after such a long time. It is what is on tonight’s news that is a worry, I have it on my I-Pad to show you,” Miriam replied, before she handed over the I-Pad, before she gave her grandson – Nathan a warm hug.

“Hiya Gran, it is good to see you again” he said in a smothered voice, “Hello Grandson, my how fast you have grown since I last seen you,” Miriam replied. When I saw the news video footage, that Miriam had saved me to view, I was in total shock. Going to the ABC Tasmania News page, it was the leading story.

“Private Nature Retreat goes up in flames early this evening, with the previous tenants blamed for setting it alight, after being evicted from the island,” was the headlines. “Miriam, no way was this us, we had left the island this morning, and we have video footage proving that we left the island at about 10 am, and all was in order when we left.

Simon my best friend and your cousin sent me footage of the huts and cottages in clean and perfect order, and after passing by the bottom western side of the island, there is time dated footage of the island, fifteen minutes after leaving the jetty, that shows that there was nothing bad happening on the island.

Simon also took photos as they passed Cape Bruny Lighthouse, Tasman Island, Maria Island and Schouten Island, all before the fire started,” I said to Miriam. “I believe you, we just have to pass on the evidence to the police,” Miriam said to me.

“I guess the only way to do that is to appear at the nearest police station at 8 am tomorrow, but I want the rest of the crew gone and well away before then,” I responded. By 2 am, we had both yachts masts down and both of them transported to a large shed, in the industrial area of St Helens, and Miriam had allowed Nathan to borrow her spare Ute, to take him, Kirk and Leon well away from St Helens before day break.

I spent a few hours catching up on some sleep at Miriam’s home in St Helens before having some breakfast, and walking down to the nearby police station, where I nervously entered with my laptop in hand. “How can I help you sir?” the police officer at the desk asked me.

“Good morning, I have some video footage, that proves that Hamilton Charters, the tenants of Partridge Island were not responsible for the burning of the island,” I announced, “Who are you please sir?” the officer asked, “I am the owner and skipper of Hamilton Charters, Anton Hamilton is my name,” I replied.

Once I was escorted to a meeting room, I opened up and started my laptop, and brought up the email from Simon, that showed a twenty minute long walk around the whole place, at 9.48 am, and it included footage of Simon and crew walking down to the jetty, boarding the trimaran, and casting off.

“As you can see from the time index, it was still early morning when my crew left the island, and we have more footage and photos of locations that the two yachts sailed past including Maria Island, well before the time that the fire began,” I stated. “Where were you at this time?” the officer asked me.

“Sir I was on my catamaran located near Anson’s Bay in far north east Tasmania, with a cracked mast, so there was no chance of me getting down that far, and I have a crew of four who were with me,” I replied. “Well, this information is sufficient to put your team out of the area at the time of the fire. But what about you Mr Hamilton, do you have any proof that you say where you were?” the officer asked me.

“My crew are enough, but due to an ongoing police investigation, and the risk of danger to my crew they are currently in hiding, with only me knowing their location. If you would like to know more contact Senior Sergeant Anita Adamson, or Sergeant Jasper Adamson, at Jurien Bay Police in Western Australia, they can confirm that there is a hit contract out on me and my yachts, oh and the AFP are also in the loop on this matter,” I said.

“Well, you are in a bit of strife if this is all true, but until I can confirm all this I have to ask you to stay here until it can all be confirmed,” the officer said to me with a big of a smirk. “How long will that take?” I asked, “As long as it takes me, that is all you need to know,” the officer replied, and a few minutes later I found myself detained in a police cell at the back of the police station, which I was not expecting.

Without my I-Pad, mobile or shoes, I was in a 5 by 3 metre cell, with just a thin mattress, a scratchy blanket and a toilet and sink in the corner. After nearly four hours of being locked up, I was let out of the cells, with the officer grumbling that I have friends in high places who have demanded my release without charges.

“Thankyou for your hospitality officer,” I said with a bit of annoyance, as I put my shoes back on and picked up my phone and I-Pad off the counter and signed for them, before walking out, where I found Miriam there waiting for me with a concerned look on her face.

“Hi, I’m ok, but I am not very impressed with the service of the Police Force here,” I said to Miriam, who chuckled at my remark, “Yeah he can be a grumpy old bastard some times,” Miriam replied as she drove me back to her place. “Any more news on what happened at Partridge Island?” I asked.

“Yes the owners of the island were badly bashed by a group of men, but both are in an out of consciousness in hospital at the moment, from being bashed and also they received minor burns, when they tried to put the fire out. Overhead chopper footage showed the island partially burnt on the south end and west side, but all the buildings appeared to be still standing,” Miram replied.

“That is good to know that they are still alive, I will send them a get well card, when I get a chance,” I said. “Let me do that on your behalf, so they don’t track you down,” Miriam suggested and I accepted her offer to do that. After eating lunch, I turned on my mobile to find a few missed calls and messages, some from Lord Edwin, and once from Anita and another from Simon.

I called Simon first, to let him know that I had spent four hours in a police cell for safety and I am now at Miriam’s having lunch, and that I would be on my way to his location later today. I called Anita next to give her the same information and to get an update on the threat on my life.

Anita informed me that she had been in contact with Police Headquarters in Hobart, and they agree with her that it may be the threat on my life that has caused the injuries to Vic and Rita and the fire on the island. I informed her that both sailing yachts are now in hidden storage, and that the crew are well away from Tasmania, and will remain in hiding until it is clear to resume business.

After speaking to Anita, I decided to bite the bullet and call Edwin, to see what he wanted. “Hello, are you ok Anton, why is all this violence happening, and how are all of your crew?” Edwin said as soon as he answered the call in a concerned tone.

“Everyone is ok, and all of the crew are now out of Tasmania and safe at last report, last night. I am still in Tasmania, as I had to present evidence to the nearest Police Station, to prove that my crew and I were not responsible for that fire on the island. I cannot tell you any more, just in case someone is listening into this call, and I do not want you to say anything to anyone about anything that you know about my company, as there is a bounty on my head and on my two yachts, and thanks to your interference, they worked out where we were based.

Please just stay out of my life until things cool down a while, my crew and I are safe at the moment that is all you need to know. Please pass on my best wishes to Vic and Rita on a speedy recovery from their injuries, and I may talk to you in the near future. Bye for now,” I said before ending the call.

I sighed and just closed my eyes for a few moments, until I head Miriam clear her throat. “What do you want to do now dear?” Miriam asked me, “Well, I need to find out if Nathan and the two lads got out of Tasmania unharmed, then you and I need to fly to Launceston, so you can retrieve your vehicle, and I can fly out of Tasmania,” I replied.

Half and hour later, after two phone calls, I learnt that Nathan and crew had flown out of Launceston this morning to Cape Barren Island, and after a half hour walk from the airport to the small township on the Island, they managed to convince a local to give them a lift to the set coordinates that Simon had sent them.