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SNOWING IN BALI

but his home phone rang. He looked at it, debating, then snatched it up. 'Hello.'

It was the mother of a horse who'd been busted weeks earlier. 'Hey, you need to send money to my son, he needs your help.' Andre's pulse was racing. This was not a conversation for a landline.

'Sorry, you have the wrong number. I don't know you. I don't know what you're talking about,' he replied.

She hit back. 'I know who you are, Andre.' He hung up. It was a trap: she'd used his name to link him in. The cops were closing in and he had to get out fast. Within moments he vanished. After telling Gisele to go to her mum's house, he grabbed his bag, switched on the lights as a decoy, then raced out through the garden, and across 3 kilometres of mountain and jungle to a friend's house. His friend drove him to the airport and he flew straight back to Hawaii.

For 25 days he stayed in a friend's luxury ocean-front condominium set on a golf course. But even such a glamorous abode lost its lustre when he wasn't there by choice. The high season was kicking off in South Brazil and his restaurants would be buzzing. Gisele kept calling asking him to return for Christmas.

He acquiesced. The cops didn't have anything on him; he was a reputable businessman. He flew into São Paulo, where his bags were delayed. When they turned up, the zips had moved. Unpacking at home, he saw his neatly folded clothes were disarrayed. It was indisputable – he was in their sights. He had to be supremely careful.

That night he slept in his beach house, waking early for a sunrise surf. It was a stunning spring morning as he stood in his driveway, putting his kiteboard in the back of his car.

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