Valentine's Dinner?

30. Top of Table

The queue in the Cape Town arrivals hall was short, allowing Valerie, Lorne and Chloe to move quickly through Immigration and Customs. Once cleared, Lorne guided the women out into the central concourse and then down through the subway to the hire cars area. "I thought a self-drive would be the safest."

"And the most predictable." Valerie squeezed his hand and glanced across at Chloe holding his other one. "I love the feeling of family."

"Wonderful, isn't it?" Lorne paused for a while, nodding. "Strange, all three of us have grown up with single parents. You, your whole life, me from the age of eight, and Chloe until now. It's time to play serious catch-up."

Oh, God! "You've done it again."

"Yeah, felt it myself this time." He squeezed her hand. "I like it."

The keys were ready at the Hertz express pick-up booth, and within three minutes, Lorne drove the Audi through the exit gate and headed toward Koeberg Road. "I had planned to head directly up Table Mountain and propose. Now, there's no rush."

Chloe giggled from the back seat. "Did I spoil your plan, Daddy?"

"Not spoil, Sweetheart. Just caused me to change it a bit." He pointed out through the windscreen. "Not a cloud in the sky. Let's go up and wander the trails. See if we can spot a dassie."

"What's a dussy, Daddy?" Chloe giggled. "That sounds funny."

"It's spelt like dassie. It's the local name for the rock hyrax, a critter that looks somewhat like a short-eared rabbit."

A tour bus had just disgorged its load when Lorne parked in the lot at the cableway station, and he pointed to the lengthening queue. "We'll likely have to wait a car."

"How long is that?"

"Only five or six minutes. Loading and unloading is about a minute, and the trip is four and a bit." He shrugged. "At least that's what my research found. I've never taken the lift; Chianti and I always use the trails."

Valerie squeezed his hand. "Do you miss her?"

"Haven't had the time to. You and Chloe fill me to overflowing."

"Oh, God! You've done it again."

"Sorry, I'll try to stop."

"Don't you dare. I just need to become accustomed to it."

As they joined the queue for the lift, Valerie pointed to the other line. "Don't we need to purchase tickets first?"

"I did that online." He patted his breast pocket. "Have them here."

"You did a lot of planning for this, didn't you?"

"Helped me pass the time until I saw you again."

She hummed a sigh. "You keep doing that."

"Okay, I will." He chuckled and wrapped her in a hug.

They moved forward as the car loaded, then stopped when it had filled. Chloe tugged on Lorne's hand to pull his eyes away from Valerie's. "That's a lot of people. How many fit in?"

"The website shows sixty-five."

"Looks crowded. Be a great place for pocket boosters to work."

"They'd have to be proficient. Thirty-three pounds each for the ride; a hundred pounds or more for the team."

"The team?" Chloe tilted her head, a puzzled expression on her face.

"They usually work in teams of three or four. One to distract, one to shield, one to boost, and one to carry the goods away. Sometimes the distraction and the shield are the same person."

"You know a lot about this stuff, don't you, Daddy?"

"Ever since I had my wallet stolen by gipsies in Rome. I quickly learned how to spot them, and I've been refining it ever since."

They were quiet until the line began moving, and as they shuffled into the car, Lorne spoke in a low voice. "We'll stay in the centre, away from the windows. I see two well-oiled teams working this car, hitting the tour bus set."

Valerie nodded. "Yeah, they'd be prime targets."

"The crowding at the windows makes them easy pickings."

"Oh, God! I just saw a wallet and a phone go." Valerie pressed herself into him as she whispered. "Can't do anything, can we?"

"It would make us a target — a revenge mugging by associates."

"Yeah. Definitely don't want that."

"I've shot some video of them in action. Still shooting. I'll forward it to the police. There's a new wifi lounge at the top."

"Video?"

"In the frames of my sunglasses. A new venture I'm funding."

"Good one. I won't disturb you, then."

When they reached the top, Lorne kept Valerie and Chloe in place in the centre of the car as the other passengers jostled to disembark. When the doorway was clear, he led them off and through the upper station toward the exit, a good distance behind the milling throng. "There goes another wallet."

"And a phone over there." Valerie shook her head. "So easy to see by simply following unusual movement."

"From a distance, yes. But up close, there is little if any chance. That's their game." Lorne pointed to the Wifi Lounge sign. "I'll send this now. If the police are efficient, they might be able to nab them while they still have the loot."

Lorne led them inside to a table by the windows, and once seated, he pulled out his phone. "The file is already in here, Bluetoothed automatically. I'll crop it to the revealing sections."

Valerie took out her iPhone and switched it on. "I should check my emails while you do." Security may have found Lorne's address. After her phone cycled on and was connected to the wifi, she scrolled through the short list of new emails, then released a held breath. Good, none from Security.

Chloe had watched her mother's facial expression change. "You look pleased, Mummy."

"Yeah. No news is good news." Valerie went back to the top of the list and slowly scrolled down to the one she had seen from ChrisPR and opened it.

          Hi, Val:

          From our website Contact Us page:

          That's my body attached to Ms Redburn's head.
          The fucking bastard raped me after that shoot.
          Drugged me like she said.
          How can I get in contact with her?

          What should we do?

          Chris

Valerie stared at the message for a long while, slowly bobbing her head as she thought. Yeah, there must have been others. Much easier if they're already naked. She continued thinking of how to respond. Wonder how...

Lorne's voice interrupted. "You seem to be in a trance. Is all well?"

She looked up from the phone's screen. "Yeah." She pursed her lips and nodded. "Yeah. Looks like another link to Broughton."