‘William!’ he shouted.

‘Cedric?’ William couldn’t believe it. ‘Mzi?’

‘Catch this rope, brother, and pull up alongside,’ shouted Mzi as he threw a rope to William.

Aboard Cedric’s boat, with his father’s boat in tow, William finally found the words.

‘What the hell are you guys doing here?’

‘That’s not a nice way to say thanks,’ said Mzi, smiling broadly.

‘No seriously, Mzi. I just can’t believe you’re here. When did your dad tell you?’

‘Yesterday. I flew to Jozi last night, hopped on a plane and then this boat and the rest is history,’ said Mzi.

‘After Dad explained what you had been up to for the past year, while I was thinking you were the worst person I had ever met in my life, I had to come and see if I could help get you out of here!’

‘Seeing as you just quadrupled my money, William,’ said Cedric coming into the cabin, ‘I thought it would be OK to splash out a little and organise a few flights and boat trips for Mzi and myself.’

‘But how did you know I was going to get on the boat?’ asked William.

‘A hunch, really. It’s the only option unless you wanted to navigate the jungles of Madagascar. So, once the rebellion broke out, we decided to hedge our bets and try the bay.’

‘But did you even have a plan?’ asked William, wondering what would have happened if Cedric and Mzi had arrived at the jetty

in their fancy boat with their new deck shoes to the sight of Damon, Charles and the Malagasy militia.

‘Well, of course. But we got lucky, hey. So, what does it matter? We are here, you are safe, we are good!’

‘Edward’s dead,’ the words tumbled out of William’s mouth. They fell like stones onto the boat floor.

Cedric and Mzi didn’t have words of consolation or sorrow for William. Cedric sniffed,

‘At least it wasn’t me who did it!’

A pinging noise came from somewhere in the cabin — the watch. William looked at it. Edward’s phone was calling. He looked at Cedric, who nodded. William tapped the watch to answer.

‘Yes?’ he asked.

‘William, this is Damon. As you may have realised, I’m more than an accountant. I’m CIA. You need to come in for questioning.’

‘You’re not serious?’ said William before he could answer properly.

‘I most certainly am. We have Charles in custody. He will be taken back to America to be tried. We could strike a bargain with you, provided you afford us the information we need.’

William blinked at his watch.

‘Did you check the cryptocurrency market?’ asked William.

He could hear Damon swear, ‘Listen, kid, I’ve had my hands full here. Your scheme and the latest coin value weren’t high on my priority list, compared to staying alive!’ came Damon’s annoyed voice

‘You should take a look. I’m on your side, Damon, or whatever your name is. We tanked the coin this morning. Father’s money is gone.’

‘I’ll kill him, I knew he was trying to screw us, I swear I’ll kill him with my own hands!’ Charles’s voice raged in the distance, across the phone.

‘Hold him!’ shouted Damon. William could hear the sound of a keyboard being used.

Damon swore again. ‘So that was the plan. Nice one kiddo. Nice one. You made some other bastard a freaking fortune though. Hope he’s a better person than this bunch. In any case, we need to chat. I’ll be in touch. Hang onto the watch,’ said Damon before the phone clicked and beeped.

William looked up at Cedric and Mzi. ‘CIA, fancy,’ said Mzi and whistled.

‘I knew there was something funny about him. Too buff to be a geeky accountant,’ said William.

‘If you could keep my name out of this, my dear man?’ asked Cedric.

William smiled. ‘Sure. Now can we go back to South Africa? I’m over the humidity of this island and desperate for biltong.’