Kiss On The Bridge (18 page)

Anneli started to fidget. She wanted to say
her answer before he could recite the question.

The sun and the back drop behind Wade looked
so romantic Anneli felt sure nobody could describe the perfect
scene. The sky looked to be a picture of beauty. If God exists he’d
have to be the master artist. His work looked perfect, his timing
exact.

Wade pulled a small dull red felt covered box
out of his pocket before downing his left knee. He looked up into
Anneli’s gleaming eyes. After a short pause, he asked his question.
“Anneli, please consider marrying me.”

Anneli’s smile grew wide.

Wade viewed the signal as a possible yes. He
stood before her an excited man.

Anneli nodded, answering in a positive
excited voice. “Yes, a thousand times yes. I will marry you. Wade,
I want to spend the rest of my life by your side.”

Wade pulled the ring from the box, pushing it
gently onto Anneli’s finger. Using a new found passion, the couple
kissed. Their loving embrace looked strong, tender.

Anneli broke the hold first. She stepped
back, looking into Wade’s blue eyes. “You have to do something for
me.”

“Sure,” he replied.

“I need you to walk to the front of
Charlotte. I need you to watch the mountains. Whatever you do you
can’t look back to see where I am.”

“I’ll agree to your strange request,”
complained Wade.

“You have to promise me.”

“I won’t break my word. I’ll do what you’ve
asked.”

Walking towards the stairs Anneli looked over
her shoulder. “I will only be a minute.”

Wade watched her disappear down the stairs,
concern wrinkling his brow. He faced the mountains. The sun quickly
cleared the ocean. The golden edged clouds were breaking up,
replaced by a light blue sky. Wade couldn’t comprehend the
magnificence of ‘Morning Glory.’ His heart pounded inside his
chest. He’d searched for the young woman from the moment he lost
sight of her on the bridge. Now he not only found her, she agreed
to his marriage proposal. His gamble paid high dividends. His nest
egg contained plenty of cash and businesses so he never again
needed to step foot into the courtroom.

Wade stood so absorbed in his thoughts over
what their future might hold together, he failed to hear the soft
footsteps approaching from behind him. He barely felt the tender
brown arms moving across his chest. The gleam from the large
diamond and sapphire studded engagement ring glistened in the
morning sunlight as Anneli slipped her naked body around his torso
and stopped in front of him.

“I want to reaffirm my answer to the question
you asked before.” Her soft sweet voice wafted up to the man
standing proudly before her. “I want to be your wife forever
more.”

Wade’s smile said it all.

Anneli led Wade back into the depths of the
yacht. She’d turned the bed down. Two long glasses were full of
Champagne. In one smooth movement Wade’s shirt floated to the
floor. His broad shoulders, deep chest and tight abs dominated
Anneli’s stare. Wade swept the young woman into his arms. Before
carrying her to the bed he gave her a long passionate kiss.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

DARRYL STEPPED onto the bridge, glaring at
the Captain. “Why haven’t we caught the yacht?”

“She’s more slippery than a sea serpent.”

“I don’t want to hear stupid excuses. I want
results. The dawn is breaking. I wanted to be boarding her by now.
What’s the hold up?” The tone in his voice sounded worse than a
thunderstorm.

“There’s a slight delay due to one of the
fuel tanks has a small amount of sea water in it. After you ordered
the engine to be started last night the engine has been misfiring
for the past hour. I ordered the mechanic to put it back to
idle.”

“We have slipped too far back. My daughter
and the monster are alone. I want the engine back at full revs. If
you won’t see to it, I’ll replace you.”

The Captain stood military style in front of
Darryl. “The problem has been corrected. We are now gaining.”

“Good. How far away is the yacht?”

The Captain swiveled an ocean map around,
placing it under his nose. “We’re one-hundred nautical miles
behind. Our instruments are showing we are gaining fast. We will
have her soon.”

“What time?”

“Provided there are no more hiccups and the
yacht we are chasing stays at her constant slow speed, I estimate
about three or four hours.”

“Which is it, three or four?”

The Captain shrugged a shoulder.

Darryl glared at the man, snorted before
marching off the bridge.

The Captain shook his head, watching the man
disappear down the ladder. He stepped over to the duty officer. “Is
the engine giving us some grief again?”

“None I’m aware of.”

“Are you sure?” questioned the Captain.

The duty officer fell silent, listening to
the reverberating noise of the engine. “I can’t hear anything
amiss, Sir,” he reported.

“You should have your ears checked.”

“Yes Sir. Your statement is duly noted. The
moment we dock in Melbourne I’ll make an appointment to see the
doctor.”

“Good. I distinctly heard the revs faulter on
number two engine.” The Captain leaned over the controls of both
engines. He touched the idle button. The revs dropped.

“I heard the noise this time, Sir,” reported
the duty officer. “What do you recommend we do?”

“Cut the engine. Go check out the fuel. I’m
sure Darryl won’t want to be stuck out here one hundred nautical
miles from Melbourne. I’ll break the news to him. I’ll say due to
unforeseen circumstances we are running slightly behind in our
scheduled rendezvous. Whoever his daughter has teamed up with I’m
sure they don’t want a surprise too early in the morning.”

The duty officer nodded. He reached out,
pushing the off button which cut the fuel to the number two engine.
“I’ll go check out the problem.”

“Thank you.”

The man looked the Captain in the eyes. “Sir,
off the record, doesn’t Wade Mackenzie own the yacht we are
chasing.”

“Correct.”

“Isn’t he your cousin?”

“Your information is incorrect. He’s my
brother.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

AT A third past 8:00 in the morning Anneli
and Wade stepped out onto the deck, pulling the large blanket
tighter around them. The breeze felt cool. The tips of Anneli’s
long hair were moving in front of her face. Charlotte stayed on the
prescribed course at a constant speed of seventeen knots.

“It’s a beautiful morning,” declared Wade,
wrapping the blanket tighter.

“Magnificent,” replied Anneli. She craned her
neck so she could kiss her fiancé. “I love you.”

Wade cradled Anneli tighter in his arms. “I
love you too.”

“Don’t we have work to do?”

“Yes we do. I didn’t want to interrupt the
tail end of a beautiful moment.” Wade glanced out over the sea
towards the ship still shadowing them. “Strange how they haven’t
made any headway. The gap between us looks the same as last
night.”

“Good,” snarled Anneli.

Wade led his fiancé back down below decks.
They dressed, ate a light breakfast before making their way to the
bridge.

The sea remained calm. The trees growing up
the side of the mountains quickly came into focus. The colours in
the rock of the cliff face could be easily seen through the naked
eye. Charlotte slipped past a fishing charter. The twelve men
waved. One proud fisherman lifted the large snapper he caught to
show off what the two man crew of the yacht missed out on.

Anneli waved back, wearing a widening grin.
She hoped the man realized what he actually missed out on by being
on the ocean instead of home enjoying his wife’s company.

Wade and Anneli quickly set to work. They
took turns at watching the surrounds and making the coffees. Wade
constantly changed the direction of the sail, even rigging a
smaller one at the front in an attempt to gain more speed.

“Twenty knots,” called Anneli.

“Excellent,” said Wade stepping next to
her.

Finally the heads at Port Phillip Bay were a
stone’s throw away directly in front. Wade steered Charlotte ninety
degrees to port. The yacht rounded the point, entering the entrance
to Western Port Bay. Again Wade changed course to line up the cliff
face.

“My house is up there on the plateau,”
advised Wade pointing. “I don’t have neighbours so there’s no
obstruction to the magnificent scenery. Two hundred and seventy
degrees makes for the perfect ocean view.”

Anneli’s gaze travelled from the ocean to the
top of the cliff. Her jaw dropped open. “Your house is a mansion,”
she whispered. “The white house looks absolutely gorgeous. There’s
only one minor flaw I can see in the design.”

Wade pouted.

“I can’t see any steps leading from the
water’s edge to the top of the vertical cliff.”

“Trust me; we’ll take the easy way.”

Anneli peeled her gaze off the cliff face to
look sideways at the man. “Your statement sounds easier to believe
than to do.”

Wade chuckled. He clipped the wheel using his
short rope so the vessel wouldn’t stray from the prescribed course
then sprinted to the mast.

Wearing a bewildered expression, Anneli
volleyed her gaze between the cliff face and Wade.

In seconds he’d lowered the mainsail. The
small sail at the front of the yacht struggled to keep Charlotte
moving in the dying breeze.

“We’re travelling at five knots,” reported
Anneli. “Do you want to steer away from the cliff face?” she added
nervously.

“No,” Wade whispered.

Anneli didn’t know what to make of the whole
scene. One minute she thought Wade might be crazy, the next, she
didn’t know what to think.

“Trust me,” said Wade, confidently.

The tone in his voice broke through Anneli’s
puzzled thoughts.

One hundred feet from the cliff face the
thimble sized swells fizzled out making the sea glass flat. Wade
lifted a small black round object from a draw under the chart
table. He pressed the button and unclipped the steering wheel.
Charlotte’s speed dropped to a third of a knot. The small sail
looked barely moving in the almost non existent breeze.

Wade pointed to a narrow stretch of sand not
much larger than a small house off to their right. Anneli spied a
long flight of stairs to the top moments before Wade directed her
to focus on the rock wall not more than fifty feet directly in
front of the yacht. The glint in her eyes couldn’t mask Anneli’s
excitement. The cliff face started to move up.

“It’s a massive swinging garage door covered
in fake rock!” she shrieked.

Wade saw Anneli’s jaw drop as they passed
under the large door. Puffing out his chest, he couldn’t care less
over Anneli’s stepfather’s threat to rub her out of his will. In
fact he welcomed it.

Moving her gaze from the opening, Anneli
faced Wade.

“On a scale of ten what do you think?”

“So far this place is the crown jewels of
Melbourne.” Anneli placed her finger in the slight dimple in her
cheek. She paused, trying to contemplate a number. “I’d have to say
eleven out of ten.”

Wade sidestepped to place his arm over her
shoulder. He bent his head to kiss her earlobe.

The sea water lazily licked Charlotte’s
fiberglass hull. Moving lazily along the dark tunnel Charlotte made
no noise. Wade walked to the side, leaned forward, grasping hold of
a nylon rope wrapped around a large metal hook. He swiped two
gloves from a second hook. After slipping on the gloves Wade
started pulling Charlotte towards the other end of the tunnel.

Behind them the massive door began to
close.

The air in the tunnel smelt of stagnant
salt.

In the fading light Anneli got busy studying
the roof of the tunnel, amazed at what appeared to be a natural
structure. In what little light remained she focused on what might
be ahead. Surely by now they were directly under the white
mansion.

Charlotte moved along the tunnel at a snail’s
pace. A long thin board covered in rubber was bolted to the rock
tunnel wall to protect the yacht from the occasional scrape.

The tunnel seemed endless. No sooner did the
thought enter Anneli’s mind, Wade stopped pulling on the rope. He
stepped onto a narrow wooden platform and walked over to the wall.
He reached out, brushing a switch. Overhead florescent lights
flickered to life. The area seemed to be the size of a standard
small car. A series of pulleys bolted into the wall helped Wade
pull Charlotte effortlessly from the outside to where he tied her
up.

Anneli studied the area. Wade grinned at her
astounded look.

“Not many people have seen what you’re
looking at,” he stated. “In fact, you’re the first. It’s not a
secret. I believe what’s down here is our private business.”

Anneli looked sideways at Wade. “What do you
mean?”

“We’re engaged now. What I have is
yours.”

A warm loving feeling swept through Anneli at
hearing the news Wade wanted to share everything. Through sparkling
eyes her gaze moved from Wade, to the cave ceiling, to what had
been tied up.

“I see you have a collection of toys; three
Jet Ski’s and two small yachts. Adding to the list there’s
Charlotte, three motor boats, three kayaks, not to forget to
mention the three five metre fishing boats.”

Wade wore a proud new father’s
expression.

Anneli felt positive if he didn’t show her
the cave he could have easily kept the secret from her. She’d never
want to marry a man who acted exactly the same way as Meredith’s
husband. He kept too many secrets from her. She even showed
Meredith photos of at least three women he loved to prove to her of
his unfaithfulness. Meredith waved her hand in the air, dismissing
the fact. She married for money believing it made the world go
around. Anneli shuddered at the thought.