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CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

another boat to a famous surf spot, Scar Reef, on the island of Sumbawa. Roni didn't go, but knew their plan – somewhat undoing their strategy. There they spent more time surfing, drinking and using cocaine. They also both chose a whore from a local brothel to take back to their bungalows and use for a few days.

Marco kept up on news of the police hunt in regular calls from Carlino. Despite his bravado and swagger, he was feeling insanely paranoid. No amount of cockiness or blow could immunise him from the bone-chilling reality that hundreds of armed military and intelligence police were hunting him down like a dog. He hadn't slept for days.

But far from trying to be invisible by blending in with the tourists, gregarious Marco soon had the locals waving and singing out 'Hola John, como estas, comrade,' whenever he walked past in his big Mexican hat. After eight days the surf went flat and Marco decided it was as good a time as any for Samuel to take a boat back to Bali to get supplies. He also felt it was time to split up for a while, given that in his professional book there were dozens of photos of the two of them together in Bali and Peru.

A day after Samuel had left, Carlino phoned with a red alert – 'Get off the island now. Police are in a boat and on their way.' Marco hung up, then moved quickly, paying a local kid to take him to the marina on his motorbike. He escaped again; he was blessed, charmed, invincible, and was soon sitting pretty in a small motorboat, drinking cold beers in the hot sun, shaded by his Mexican hat, while a toothless old man steered him towards Moyo Island, on Carlino's advice.

Hours later, as the sun started to set, there was no sign of the island. The old man seemed to be going around in circles.

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