Page 51 of Hook, Line and Single

‘I think we can solve this for you,’ he says before picking up his own phone, dialling a number, and barking a stream of Spanish into it.

‘You know who has it?’ I ask incredulously when he disconnects the call.

‘I’m pretty certain, yes,’ he replies. ‘That address is where Jose lives. He is not a bad boy, but he is also not clever. He hangs around with a nasty crowd and tries to impress them with stupid things like this. I’ve told him many times, “Jose, this is not the direction you want to go in your life,” but he doesn’t listen. At the moment, he is too young for prison, but if he doesn’t change soon, that is where he will go. His poor mother is, what is the English phrase?’

‘At her wits’ end?’ I offer.

He smiles. ‘Yes. She is a good woman, a devout Catholic who goes to mass every Sunday to pray for Jose. Sadly, I do not think God is listening to her.’

We’re interrupted by Alejandro’s phone ringing. ‘Sí,’ he barks into the handset, and I can hear a babble of Spanish from the other end.

‘Your phone, it is white, with a pink rubber case?’ he asks me after a few moments.

‘That’s right.’

‘My officers have it. They will be here in around forty minutes. Can I get you something while you wait? Coffee?’

‘No, I’m fine, thank you. I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.’

Alejandro laughs. ‘It is nothing. If I come to your country and suffer misfortune, maybe you will extend the same courtesy, hmm?’

* * *

While we wait for the officers to return with my phone, Cameron and Alejandro have been swapping stories and are getting on so well I’m starting to wonder if they’re going to become lifelong friends. I’m not able to track the passage of time as there isn’t a clock in here, so I’m hoping that Cameron is keeping an eye; much as I want my phone back, I don’t want to miss the boat.

Eventually, Alejandro’s phone rings again and, after a brief conversation, he ducks out and returns holding my phone, handing it to me as if it’s some kind of trophy.

‘I am sorry about your bag,’ he tells me. ‘My officers asked, but Jose dumped it as soon as he realised there was nothing of value inside.’

‘You’ve already done more than we could have asked for,’ Cameron assures him. ‘Thank you so much. If I could just ask one more favour, which is a taxi to take us back to our ship?’

‘Your ship,’ Alejandro repeats, staring at his watch in horror. ‘Joder, I completely forgot. Give me the name, maybe I can get the port authorities to delay departure for long enough so you can get there.’

‘It’s theSpirit of Malmö,’ Cameron tells him as he grabs his phone once more and starts barking Spanish into it. However, the expression on his face tells me everything I need to know before he speaks.

‘I am so sorry,’ he tells us. ‘Your ship has already departed.’

18

For a moment, time seems to stand still as Cameron and I digest Alejandro’s bombshell. The ship has gone; we’re stranded in Barcelona. Alejandro is still rattling away in Spanish to the person on the other end of the phone, but all I can do is stare at Cameron in horror.

‘Sorry about that,’ Alejandro says as he disconnects his call. ‘I was trying to find out if the pilot was still aboard, because sometimes we can get passengers out to the ship on the boat that collects the pilot, but my colleague at the harbour tells me that it’s already left as well.’

‘What do we do?’ I ask Cameron.

‘We’ll have to find our own way to the next port and meet the ship there,’ he tells me. ‘Have you got your passport?’

I fish it out of my bum bag and show it to him.

‘Great. Now all we need to do is work out how to get to Cannes before the ship does.’

‘The fastest way is to fly,’ Alejandro tells us. ‘There are regular flights to Nice from Barcelona. You’re welcome to use my computer to book them.’

Twenty minutes later, we’ve established that the first flight we can get onto is at half past two the next afternoon but, as Alejandro stated, it’s still a lot quicker than trying to get there by train; we checked just to be sure and found it would take over eight hours.

‘It’s a bit tighter than I’d want it to be,’ Cameron observes as he books us in. ‘But it does give us two hours to get to the ship once we land. Let’s hope there aren’t any delays. Right, let’s have a look at hotels for tonight.’

‘Hotels?’ Alejandro sounds almost offended. ‘You won’t need a hotel. You will be staying with me and my family. It’s the least we can do.’

---