Dinner was another five-star delight but there was no invite for after-dinner drinks and Carlton, whom they had all been informed was their brusque butler, stated that they should return to their villas.

"We're quite safe at our place," Jessica informed them on the walk back. "I'll tell you all about it there."

"I think we have some promising news as well," Gordon added.

"This should be a most successful meeting then."

"I should have been on your team, we got drenched." Miller said.

Parker laughed and gave him a playful punch on the arm. "I managed a cognac while we were prowling around the house."

"Bugger."

With everyone settled comfortably and drinks from the room bar, Jessica explained about the visit to the resort house. They found the room with the monitors, picked the lock and shut off the feed to this villa. The record pad they found showed that nothing had been written since Malcolm left, which meant nobody else watched.

"We saw where he noted that the cameras were covered in our room and Gretta's. We also saw the activity in that other house."

"How much time did you guys have, and won't he know you were in there?"

"The whole foray took less than ten minutes. If he checks the feed activity when he gets back here he will. But for now, I don't imagine that's a risk."

"So we can all speak freely." Deborah said.

"Yes and I am eager to hear what we all learned." Jessica glanced at Gretta and nodded.

"Well aside from stopping every few feet to wring out poor Miller, we discovered there is a jeep at the airport, along with the limo, and the driver stays there with the two-man maintenance crew and the tower operator.

"There has to be a radio in there," Arny added, "if we ever get a chance to use it."

Verna raised her hand and drew smiles from around the group. "We didn't see any sign of automatic weapons like those other men Gretta mentioned."

"She's right. Hand guns probably but not always on them."

Gordon spoke for their group, telling about the encounter with the man at the house and the subsequent discovery of the two cars and an outboard motor.

"That would mean here's a boat somewhere." Jeff sat up, eager for more.

"Correct. And we found it at a dock on the beach down behind that other house. There was a small cruiser with twin outboards and an old rowboat with a motor mount." Hart added.

"Sam Spade, here also noted that the man we spoke to was carrying."

Deborah lifted her glass to Gordon, drawing comments and chuckles from the rest.

"Okay," Gretta sat forward. "We now know how many are on the grounds. We know they are armed and with what. We know where there are means of transportation both on the island and by boat, and we know that Malcolm trusts nobody."

"I don't see how that last bit helps." Parker said.

"It could be leverage with his staff. Never pass up opportunities to gain information."

****

Malcolm's plane touched down just after midnight and a quick drive to the resort house had him immediately checking his video room. The only change he noticed was the audio from Jessica Stroud's villa was off, and that could only be done from his control room. He ran checks on all the cameras and found nothing else had changed; they were all recording normally.

"So how did you get in here Miss Stroud, and what were you saying you didn't want anyone to hear?" he asked the empty room. He switched audio back on, listened to silence for a moment or two, and left the room, locking it again behind him.

Malcolm stayed up the rest of the night reading Carlton's messages and observations, then he placed a call to the guest house.

"Paulson, what exactly did our guests say at the house yesterday?"

"Said they were exploring. That Carlton told them to fill in their time looking around the property. They came up to the house to get out of that rain we had, and I told them to explore somewhere else."

"How many were there and who?"

"Two couples. The ones with the hotel and the PI and his broad."

"Where did they go when they left?"

"Just walked down the road and around the property I guess. Never saw them again."

Malcolm drew heavy underlines beneath the names and chewed on his lip. "Get the men ready. We are going to move faster than originally planned. At the first opportunity you see that woman that's with the hotelier, Deborah West, alone, grab her and take her to the servant's quarters. When you have her let me know and I'll tell you what to do next."

"Let's just see how clever you all are when one of your own goes missing." Malcolm said, stabbing the pencil point into the names on the pad.

****

"How come we're back here? I thought you turned off the recording to your villa." Hart sounded put out.

"Gretta told me Forrester flew back in last night late and you can bet the first thing he did was check his recordings. He'll have seen the audio was turned off and most likely turned it back on. Our problem now is what will he do about it?"

"Well don't know about the rest of you, but we got our breakfast cart again so that hasn't changed."

"We all did," Jeff said, "I doubt he'll do anything abrupt. This has been planned and I'm sure he thought of the possibilities of potential snafus."

"Yeah, well in my experience, for every action there's a corresponding over-reaction." Parker grumbled. "I think we should think about snatching that boat or even the plane now that it's back."

"It actually may come to that if Malcolm decides we are becoming nuisances."

"He already has, that's why we're here." Jeff said.

"I mean since we got here. He has to know about the mic and the guy Hart bopped and now the break-in to his control room."

Gordon whispered a hasty shush indicating company as Carlton trudged across the lawn to the poolside.

"I see you have established your conferencing area as a regular habit." The voice was tinged with a sneering quality, and he took his time to look at everyone. "Dinner will be at six o'clock this evening. Please try to arrive together."

They silently watched him depart, each with their own opinions of his terse comment.

****

"I think we were busted." Billy said.

"Yes, it won't be long before this spot is compromised . . . or Malcolm ups his game, whatever it is."

"That's why I think we need to do something now." Parker spoke up again.

"I don't think we should start a war with them; we aren't even armed." Deborah directed her comment straight at Parker. "It isn't right."

"War doesn't determine who is right – only who is left."

"Why don't you dazzle them into submission with your routine then, Parker." Gordon gave Des's back a supportive pat.

"Okay, calm down everyone. No fighting among ourselves. All opinions are welcome, it's very important to see how we all feel." Gretta tapped the table with her finger. "When the time comes for action we all have to be in agreement."

"Don't you mean, if?" Verna looked around.

"Honestly, Verna, no. I think this is one big cat-and-mouse game with the idea that in the end, the mice get eaten."

****

"C'mon, Gordon, the others are all on the way."

"I got a knot in my shoelace. You go on with them, I'll catch up in a minute."

"Don't be long," Deb called, "remember what Carlton said."

"Yeah, yeah," Gordon muttered as he picked at the stubborn knot.

Deb shook her head and hurried after the others. Rounding a thick clump of bougainvillea, she stopped short as the man stepped in front of her.

"Wha--?"

A hand slipped over her mouth from behind and she was dragged backwards, the man in front pointing a gun straight at her face.