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wanda1969Title: "Jack's Angels IV: The Case of The Missing Heiress" Chapters 5 & 6
Author: wanda1969
Rating: PG- I don't think there's anything dodgy in here
Spoilers: Can’t think of any??
Summary: Torchwood characters shoehorned into a rather unexciting Charlie's Angels adventure! No Charlie's Angels characters in this though!
A/N: This story is slightly gwen-bashing. Not upsettingly so, I wouldn’t think....
For the very few people who wanted another sequel, here goes.
Chapters 5 & 6- in which the team draw closer to their quarry, and Gwen becomes a wee bit delusional...
Obviously, I have only borrowed these characters from the BBC.
And for anyone who is interested in the other parts, here is the Story and Chapter List: http://wanda1969.livejournal.com/3560.html
Chapter 5
After even a few days in Cuba, Panama City was a culture shock, all modernity and skyscrapers. The team had booked into a typically ‘modern’ hotel in the centre of the city. It was ultimately anonymous; it could have been in any major city in the world, all glass and steel, and Ianto couldn’t wait to leave the city. It was, no doubt, an interesting capital, if there’d been time to explore, but after the time warp that was Cuba, it all seemed just a bit too much.
Luckily it was only for one night; Jack was checking some details with a Mr Martín De Souza, a man with a well respected Investigations Agency which regularly worked with the Panamanian High Court, and who had been recommended by trusted contacts back in
Jack had insisted the team settle into the hotel, whilst he visited the offices of ‘De Souza Inc’ alone. It was seven o’clock at night when the team finally met up together in Jack’s suite, and he was ready to tell them the information he’d been given at Mr De Souza’s office.
“It’d been my original plan for us all to set out and travel to different destinations around the country. But I’ve managed to get the help of an investigator over here. He’s put his entire resources on this for the last couple of days. And he’s come up with some information that’s changed our plans quite a bit. Apparently, Jake hired a boat and for the last month he’s been sailing around the Las Perlas Archipelago near Las Palmas. And it’s also pretty damned close to Colombia...”
“So...?” questioned Gwen
Johnson chose to ignore Gwen who quite obviously had no idea about the issues involved with
“It’s a possibility...after all, Urquhart has a history of failed, and increasingly risky, ventures. Just look at his creditors in the
“We could be looking at anything at all, then...couldn’t we?”
“Yep, Toshiko. And that’s why we’re all heading to Isla Del Rey, an island just south of Las Palmas tomorrow. Ianto’s arranged everything, and we’ll be meeting up with one of De Souza’s freelance investigators. So I suggest we all get dinner, a couple of drinks and then get some rest.”
***
There hadn’t seemed much point in keeping up the pretence that they were strangers with Urquhart being sighted well away from
“Just go and get some sleep, Tosh. I reckon it’s going to get busy in the next few days.”
She laughed quietly. “Just an hour, Jack, and then, believe me, I’m going to be out like a light!”
“OK, OK. See you tomorrow,” he said as she rose from her seat and then walked over to the poll table and bade ‘Goodnight’ to Ianto and Andy.
Gwen spotted her chance and moved a seat closer to Jack. He looked over towards the pool table, and noticed with a considerable amount of disappointment that it looked as if the pair had started a new game; it seemed he was going to have to chat with Gwen for the foreseeable future.
After about twenty minutes of a conversation that Jack wasn’t sure he would be able to recall, even if you paid him, and a lot of ‘mm yeah’s from him, he was suddenly jogged out of his trance as Mrs Williams spoke yet again.
“You know, since Andy started there’s three guys now and three women- we’d be a lot less noticeable if we travelled as couples. You don’t just have to pretend you’re travelling around with your ‘PA’. I think we could make a good team... ” She leant closer to Jack and continued. “In fact, we’d work well together. Make a great couple. Heck, we’d just make a great couple, anyway, Jack.”
He was speechless for a moment, before he decided to dissemble as much as he could. “Perhaps it’s best not to mix business with pleasure, Gwen,” he smiled.
Unfortunately this wasn’t seen by Gwen as a stop to the conversation.
“I think we could make it work. I think we could manage to behave professionally when we had to...” She leant in even further, as she opened her eyes wide, staring into Jack’s, whilst she smiled widely.
There was nothing for it; Jack tried to be as blunt as possible. “Think of Rhys. You’re married now.”
“Rhys is a few thousand miles away...he wouldn’t have to know.”
“Gwen, I’ve been seeing someone...this isn’t a good idea.”
“She doesn’t need to know. No one else needs to know.”
“You’re married- that’s something I’d never interfere with. And I’ve made commitments that I’m not about to break. I think you need to get some rest, get some sleep. I know I need some.”
He got to his feet and lightly placed his hand on her shoulder. “Goodnight. Get some sleep; you’re missing Rhys.”
Jack turned and walked over to Ianto and Andy, and said his goodnights as he made his way to the lift.
***
It was about forty minutes later when Ianto returned to the suite, to find Jack sitting up in bed, reading the hotel’s imported copy of ‘The Times’.
“Hi there,” he smiled as he leant against the bedroom doorframe. “You OK there? You left quickly.”
“C’m over here.” Jack put down the paper and held his hand out to the young man, who walked over and took it as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
“I think we need to make this official...at least tell the team”
Ianto raised his eyebrows as Jack squeezed his hand.
“I’m not sure I can take much more of Gwen...she made another pass at me while you were playing pool. I asked her about Rhys but all she said was that he would never need to know. I even told her I was seeing someone. She just said that ‘she’ wouldn’t need to know either!”
“So, I’m a ‘she’ now?” Ianto tensed briefly before he laughed resignedly. “Looks like you were right; there’s no real reason for us to keep this secret, I guess. And anyway, if it stops that bloody woman from trying to get you into bed, it’s got to be a plan. I suppose I just didn’t want to have the rest of them thinking I was just sleeping with the boss.”
“I think we’ve gone far beyond ‘just sleeping with the boss’, Ianto. It’s been four years!” he said. “I think that I’m at the stage where I wouldn’t change anything that’s happened...I wouldn’t change anything for the world.”
Ianto’s spare hand reached forward placing it at the back of Jack’s neck pausing ever so briefly before he pulled his face towards him, and then he closed the distance between them to kiss Jack.
***
Chapter 6
Arriving at the small airstrip on Isla del Rey, the team took two taxis to their hotel in San Miguel. San Miguel was the largest port on the island (which wasn’t saying much) and also home to Mr De Souza’s contact, an Eduardo Ramirez, a small town private detective who operated on the island and throughout the archipelago, sometimes supplementing the business’ finances with arranging travel, boat hire and accommodation for visitors to the island. It was he that had reported a sighting of Jake Urquhart and Caroline within the last few days. As soon as their bags were in the room, Jack set out to meet the detective, Ianto in tow.
Mr Ramirez’s office was in a small row of old houses and shops somewhere between the town square and the docks. The pair entered the agency’s offices, slightly shabby but with a clean and almost efficient air, and as Ianto watched Jack walk over to an unmanned counter and ring the bell on top for attention, he could imagine himself as a character in ‘The Maltese Falcon’; in fact, he wouldn’t have been in the least bit surprised to see Humphrey Bogart, wearing a trilby, enter the room through the door behind the counter which seemed to lead to the back office. Instead, about thirty seconds later, the door opened to reveal Eduardo Ramirez who, unlike Bogart, was dressed in dark, crumpled linen trousers, his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbows. No tie, Ianto noted. No trilby either; Eduardo’s hair was dark, of mid length and dishevelled- he carried off the look in a way that only someone with a Latin name like Eduardo Ramirez could. Ianto inwardly cursed the fact that he was in light cotton jeans and a T-shirt emblazoned “The Kaiser Chiefs”. This ‘casual dressing’ thing was all very well, but there always seemed to be an occasion where he wished that he’d been dressed in his favourite pinstriped three-piece suit.
“Jack Harkness,” Jack said as he stepped towards the gap in the counter top holding out his hand. “And this is my associate, Mr Ianto Jones.”
“Eduardo Ramirez,” he replied, now shaking Ianto’s hand before looking over to Jack. “I’ve been expecting you Mr Harkness...would you like to come into my office?”
***
Seated in two chairs opposite the detective, Jack and Ianto listened as Ramirez spoke.
“I suspected as soon as I spoke to Martin. And then he e-mailed the picture. Well...I knew. Jake and Caroline, they have been sailing around the islands for some time now. They chartered a boat here, Myfanwy IV...”
The two visitors both laughed, as the detective looked between them, baffled at their reaction.
Jack put an end to his confusion. “It’s nothing Mr Ramirez. It’s just that we’ve travelled all the way from Wales, just to find that there’s a Myfanwy- it’s a Welsh name. A very Welsh name! And you did a pretty good job of pronouncing it. I was expecting something like Panama Star...”
“Ah...” he continued, seeming to understand. “Anyway, they drop into San Miguel when they are needing supplies.” Ramirez’s accent was unmistakeably Panamanian, but his command of English showed an educated background.
“And they’re still here?”
“Oh yes, Mr Harkness, I have seen them many times in the harbour and have even spoken to them, in the harbour bar. Mr Urquhart,” here Ramirez DID struggle with the pronunciation, “apparently is waiting for some money to come. In about two months. He’d had too many drinks, I think- he said that the money he could make would finance him for life.”
Two months, Jack thought, that would coincide with the 25th birthday of Alistair Lethbridge Stewart’s missing granddaughter, and also when she came into her inheritance. “So, how about Caroline? How did she seem to you? What did she say?”
“Much of the time, she was not out with him. And when she was, she seemed pretty out of it...stoned.”
Jack was silent for what seemed like minutes, but was probably only a few seconds. He finally let out a slow breath. “Mr Ramirez, I’ve got a proposition for you. What are you doing at the moment...work-wise I mean? Because I think we need your local knowledge, add to that, you’ve already spoken to Urquhart. And I’m willing to pay 150 US dollars a day. And I can assure you, I’m a great boss to work for!” By now he was grinning in his most charming manner at the Panamanian detective.
“I...I have nothing that cannot wait...depending how long you think this case may take?”
“With your help, Eduardo- you don’t mind if I call you Eduardo?- I think we can crack this sooner rather than later. Most definitely before this so-called money comes to finance whatever deal he’s got going on.”
***
The next day they all met Ramirez down at the dockside. He had assured them that the elusive couple would need supplies and were due in San Miguel sometime quite soon but Jack had been insistent that the team hired a yacht– it would make them look less conspicuous as outsiders in the islands. So, here they were at 10am, speaking to the owner of ‘Lily Christine III’, the powerboat that Ianto and Ramirez had arranged to charter. It had also been decided that the detective would join them; Jack was no stranger to sailing, but Eduardo was an expert. Living around the archipelago most of his life he had grown up with the sea.
Once on board, the accommodation was a little claustrophobic, but it wasn’t as if the team was closely observed while on board the boat, so between themselves they shared out the four cabins so that the male team members were occupying two cabins, with Andy paired with Eduardo, and the three women occupied the other two. Somewhere in the discussion, Johnson and Toshiko had quietly elected to share a cabin so neither of them would have to share with Gwen, with Tosh encouraging the ex-WPC to take the double cabin.
***
After they had settled into their cabins, the team met up on deck- typically Gwen hadn’t arrived by the time that Jack looked at his watch and finally addressed their temporary team member.
“Well, I think we can start now- we can always fill Gwen in later. Right! We’ve got this yacht and I think it would be a good idea if we started to have a look at some of the nearby islands. I know you said that Urquhart and Caroline should be due for getting more supplies, but what say we head out have a look at some of the closer islands? Who knows? We might get lucky and catch up with them before they have to come back here. Did they say where they were heading out to last time they were in San Miguel, Eduardo?”
***
Half an hour later ‘Lily Christine III’ had left the harbour at San Miguel and was heading out towards Isla Contadora and its surrounding islands. Most of the smaller islands were uninhabited and were known for their empty, white beaches, and the island group had been where Jake had told Ramirez that he wanted to spend some time ‘chilling out’, before he had to get back to business.
By the time Gwen came on deck ready to catch some sun in a bikini top and some shorts, Isla del Rey was only just visible in the distance, and the team were lounging on deck, the stereo quietly playing in the background. The team, that is, apart from Jack; he was on the bridge with Eduardo, grinning like a child with a new toy. Gwen made herself comfortable on one of the loungers and opened up her copy of the latest Phillipa Gregory novel. A short while later the peace was shattered by Jack shouting.
“Ianto! I think it’s time you put some coffee on. And could you bring up a couple of cups for Eduardo and me, please?” Jack pleaded, before turning and grinning at Mr Ramirez. “You are gonna love Ianto’s coffee- it’s to die for!”
“OK, OK, Jack!” Ianto shouted back as he headed off to the galley.
“And bring one up here for yourself- you’ve just gotta have a look at some of the kit up here.”
Ten minutes later he emerged with 3 cups of coffee and headed up to the bridge as he addressed the team, “Help yourselves- there’s a pot of coffee on if you want some.”
Gwen glanced over at the bridge; this Ramirez had almost stereotypical Latin good looks. Dark, tanned and, as far as she could tell, even though he was wearing a pair of lightweight jeans and a T-shirt, it looked like he had a reasonably good physique, too. ‘Perhaps this trip’s looking up,’ she thought, before turning her gaze to Jack, and thinking of their conversation in the bar last night. She studied him as he drank his coffee and laughed with the other two men, before looking over at her three colleagues.
“Guys?”
She saw Andy and Johnson lifted their eyes away from their books, to look over at her.
“Has Jack ever mentioned to you that he’s seeing anyone?” Tosh now joined her colleagues as she tore her eyes away from her laptop.
“No, why?” she said looking surprised.
“Just something he said last night when we were talking in the bar. Sounded serious.”
Andy spoke. “Never said anything to me, mind you, I’m the new boy ‘round here. But I only see him at work and on our ‘pub nights’. Or on the lads’ nights out, and he’s never mentioned anything then...”
“No, he’s never said anything to me either,” Tosh and Johnson said almost simultaneously.
“Right, right. Well, you know, perhaps it isn’t that serious?”
“Don’t know. If I get an invitation to the wedding, I’ll tell you, OK?” Johnson said laughing and turning back to her book, but bored of the conversation.
“Yeah...” As her colleagues went back to “relaxing” she drifted into thought. No-one else knew anything about Jack’s relationship; perhaps it wasn’t as serious as he’d made out- after all, in the last few months since she’d re-joined the Angels, she’d seen he was very reserved when it came to talking about anything other than their work, even though he could be flirty and charming.
Perhaps, as she’d seen since she’d returned to Torchwood, Jack was a very private person when it came to talking about his personal life, and just a little bit old fashioned. Or, just perhaps...it was strange that Jack had only mentioned his ‘girlfriend’ after they’d talked about Rhys. Jack had always, even more so recently, encouraged her to hold onto her normal life. Sometimes he could be so gentlemanly, so fatherly- Jack was looking after her, trying to make sure that he didn’t destroy her home life, however much it was obvious that he was just holding himself back from her... Her eyelids were now heavy and she floated off into a light and happy snooze.
***
It was midday when they approached Contadora and its rocky natural harbour. he yacht moored, and Eduardo immediately hopped onto the quay. He wandered through the boxes of shipments and people milling about until he spotted the harbour master, and rushed to hug him heartily.
He eventually returned to the boat about an hour later, and went straight to Jack. “Jack! They are here, the other side of the island, I have spoken with my cousin. They are moored at an island only about half a mile offshore.”
“Guess it’s time to head out again then. I don’t feel like we’ve stopped moving for a couple of days.”
***
Their arrival and departure from Contadora’s small port took about two hours, all in all. ‘Lily Christine III’ rounded the northern tip of the island an hour later, and after another hour, they were approaching Isla Saboga. It was still light (another couple of hours later and the light would have already started to fade) and they manoeuvred up to one of the small wooden jetties and moored the boat. Ramirez had been on his mobile ‘phone as soon as they started to approach the island, and again jumped ashore, even before the boat had stopped its slow halt against the jetty. Another half hour and he’d returned to Jack.
“I have been speaking with my uncle- they are only a mile or two down the coast. Thirty minutes away...we set out now and we’ll be there before dark.”
“Is everybody on these islands one of your relatives, Eduardo?”
“Not everyone, Jack. Just most of them! The Ramirezes have been in Panama since the Conquistadores.”
“Aah. Anyway, there’s a chance of us getting there before dark, then?”
“If we set off now, yes. Tortugas Bay does not have any harbour master, it’s just four or five houses. We will moor up in the bay.”
And so, again, for the third (and hopefully final) time in the day ‘Lily Christine III’ set sail.
***
As they rounded a headland, they found themselves in Tortugas Bay. The light was fading fast and the sea was starting to glimmer with reds and pale golds as the sun started to drop towards the horizon. In the half light, Jack and Eduardo could just make out about half a dozen fishing boats, closer to the shore and, behind them, two larger, powered boats.
Mr Ramirez had made sure that ‘Lily Christine’ was stocked with essentials before they’d left San Miguel, and, surprisingly, he’d even proved himself to be a proficient cook, rustling up local fish fried in spices, herbs and lime and a side dish (which he’d proudly proclaimed to be ‘arroz con guandu y coco’, a traditional Panamanian dish of rice, beans and coconut) and some Sobrerana beers.
There wasn’t much to do in the bay after dinner, and the constant to-ing and fro-ing of the last few days was starting to take its toll on the Torchwood team, so a few more beers later they’d all drifted off to bed for an early night.
***
Before breakfast (but not until Ianto had put on a large pot of the local coffee) Jack, Ianto and Ramirez stood on deck.
Eduardo took the pair of binoculars he’d been looking through away from his eyes, and looked back at the boats at the other end of the bay. “That’s them. That’s ‘Myfanwy IV’. That’s Jake’s boat.”
***
To Be Continued...
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Date: 2009-11-02 05:19 pm (UTC)So, yes, there will be more...MMmm...How WILL Gwen find out? I'm in two minds myself...
Cheers!