The Fool Ch. 05

"Let's just get through this afternoon and dinner tonight first and discuss it later," he said in a low soft voice seeing his parents re-enter the great room. "Thank you," he kissed her softly. "Thank you for finally talking to me about what was going on with you."

*****

Sinclair had hovered close to Carrie throughout the remainder of the afternoon and simple dinner Georgia had prepared. Anytime his mother brought up his sister's impending visit he had changed the subject, easily deflecting her attempts to push her agenda for the coming weekend. Much to his mother's frustration.

Carrie found that she enjoyed Frazer's company, despite herself. He seemed attuned to his sons needs and assisted in curtailing his wife's obvious attempts to change Carrie's mind about leaving the following day. He told her of his memories of Edith and Robyn when he was a boy. She found it hard to reconcile her memory of her mother with the free-spirited Robyn that Frazer described.

"It must be strange for you to think of your mother as a young woman," Frazer chuckled, seeing her expression of disbelief.

"Robyn always seemed serious and driven to me. I think it was the free-spirited part of your recollections that threw me," she laughed lightly. "I think we might be talking about two different people."

"The family took old man Bonnet's death hard, but he'd lived a very long life, not many can claim that sort of longevity. He outlived all of his children, I believe," he said thoughtfully. "We didn't see Edith or Robyn much after that. Robyn and I were still pretty young when they immigrated to Australia. I was sorry to hear about her passing."

"Thank you," Carrie said quietly. "I miss her a lot, and it would just be too hard to be here with your family this weekend. I'm sorry," she turned to look at Georgia, grasping at the life preserver Frazer had given her to forestall any more attempts to get her to stay.

"Well, dinner's over. Why don't you open your gift now, Dad? Mum's made you wait long enough," Sinclair intervened before his mother could say anything in response.

"Finally!" Frazer exclaimed, as if he had been tortured by its presence in the room.

"Okay, but you can only open a quarter of it," Georgia said, making them all look at her as Frazer hefted the large box to the table, pushing the debris of their dessert further up the table and toppling the centre piece, much to Georgia's dismay.

Ripping the paper off the box and opening it, Frazer discovered there were four slim long gifts within it. Each held one of his children's names. He pulled out the one with Sinclair's name and rested it onto the box.

"A quarter," he said, understanding his wife's words. He tore the paper off the gift and found a long thin frame showing photos of his son as he had grown to manhood. In each one of them, Sinclair was dressed in a tuxedo. It showed a range of fashion trends for men over the first two decades of his life.

"I remember this day," Frazer chuckled. "He put on his first tuxedo at the age of five, looked in the mirror and turned to me and said, 'Damn, I look good!' and wanted to wear one all the time after that."

"You can't deny I still look better than you in a tux," Sinclair smirked at his father.

"I think you should probably be thanking Frazer for passing on the good genetics that make you look good in a tux," Carrie chided him, not quite believing he would say that to his father. She would never have been so disrespectful to Robyn.

"Thank you, Carrie," Frazer grinned. "It's good to see him with a woman who can poke holes in his ego from time to time."

"I'm taking that as a compliment, you don't look too bad for an old man," Sinclair chuckled, but turned his head as he felt Carrie stiffen.

"You weren't always so cute," Frazer stabbed at a photo of an adolescent Sinclair. "The nineties were not kind to you, my son."

"That was a Hugo Boss suit!" Sinclair said defensively, making his father laugh all the more. "The hair I'll take the blame for," he joined in the laughter. Carrie smiled and gave a small fake laugh, and Sinclair could tell something was wrong. "Are you uncomfortable?" he asked. "She had a fall when we were rock climbing a few days ago," he explained to his parents while giving her the opportunity to escape the after-dinner drinks and conversation.

"A little," she admitted, though it was more just being with his parents than any pain or fatigue she felt. "I hate to be rude, but if you would excuse me I think I should call it a night?" she asked politely.

"We were up at the Whangie," Sinclair explained further, knowing both his parents would understand what a fall from the rock would mean to an inexperienced climber.

"Of course, Carrie. We'll talk more in the morning," Georgia said. "In fact, I think I will say goodnight as well and let the boys have some bonding time."

"I'll just make sure Carrie's all right; meet you out on the deck?" Sinclair asked his father who nodded, looking concerned.

*****

"Look, she could be the Fool, but I can't find any proof. On top of that, she would have had to be fifteen when Teach's Cutlass was stolen, and I'm not sure even I was good enough to pull that off at fifteen," Sinclair said running his hands through his hair.

"No one suspected that anyone would be stupid enough to start stealing from us, so those early ones wouldn't have been so hard," Frazer considered what his son was saying.

"You're sure that Rackham blames you now and has gone vigilante?" Frazer summarised what Sinclair had told him.

"Honestly, I don't know. Anyone who could have taken that shot and put the bullet at Carrie's feet could have shot either of us," Sinclair lifted his head to look at his father. "I just need six months, either she is the Fool, in which case I'll give her the heart just to know why she did it and how or she's not, in which case I doubt we can stop the Fool. What I need is Rackham to back off and stop trying to force my or her hand."

"We could use the code and censure him. It would mean calling a gathering. Can't you talk to your work friends and have him picked up. He's got friends in high places, but there are some things that even those men will baulk at helping him with if the right amount of pressure is exerted," Frazer considered their options.

"He'd know it was me, and it would go against the code," Sinclair shook his head. "What I need is something that will lure him out of London for a while and make him focus in another direction."

"That I can do, but you will owe me," he seemed to be considering the notion as he spoke. "We may even be able to kill a few birds with one well-aimed stone, but you will have to do something for me," he said seriously.

"I don't want a security team," Sinclair sighed, knowing what his father was about to ask.

"It's not for you; it's for her benefit. She's already injured, next time Rackham, or whoever it is, might kill her to get to you," Frazer said pointedly. "Are you willing to risk her life as well as your own?"

"She hardly a fragile little flower, Dad. She wouldn't want it any more than I do," he grumbled, but his concern for her evident.

"Alright, a compromise then," Frazer offered. "If she insists on leaving tomorrow, go to Panama for a week or two. Show her the cave, that should keep her busy, because she'll have to catalogue it all herself. I'll start seeing what I can put in place and let you know the plan as it progresses."

"Panama's a good idea, but don't you think you should tell me what you have in mind first?" Sinclair asked, raising an eyebrow. His father was the best of the best before Sinclair took his place in the association. He had lost none of his edge in retirement, and Sinclair knew that the wheels of his mind were spinning to see all the angles before he decided on one of a multitude of scenario's going through his mind.

"You might want to give me until the morning, because you mightn't like the plan I have right now," Frazer chuckled. He was pretty sure his son had very real feelings for the girl, but he wasn't sure just how deep those feelings ran.

"Early morning jog around the island?" Sinclair asked with a smile.

"I'll see you on the beach," Frazer chuckled.