He looked at the boat and then to the guy on his right.
“This the right boat?”
The guy leaned down and looked at the side of the boat. “Tiger Lily,” he said. “It’s the right boat.”
“Hate to disappoint, but she’s not for sale,” I said, wishing I’d snagged the Ruger on my way out.
“We come for the girl,” the big guy said.
I stood looking at him, and it pissed him off.
He pulled the jacket to the side to show me the shoulder rig and the automatic in it. “Don’t fuck with me, boy. Get the girl and we’ll be on our way.”
“Where’s Lindy?”
“She sent us to get the girl.”
“I’ll give the girl to Lindy,” I said.
“You’ll give her to me,” he said. “Get the girl.”
“What are you? A fucking parrot? Get the girl, awwk, get the girl.”
His florid face turned redder and he reached for me. He was probably used to just grabbing a guy and beating him to death with his big meaty fists. As his hand came to grab me, I turned it aside. This turned his shoulder slightly and I gave him a little shove. He took a step to steady himself. The damn fool forgot he was on a dock. His foot went out over empty space. While he thrashed, struggling for balance, I shoved him again. Just a little shove. He went over the side and made a spectacular splash.
I heard a high laugh and I turned to see Ashley on the bow. She had a big grin. The guy was thrashing in the water, trying to grab the dock, but the struts were coated with years of algae. Slick as snot. I wondered if he could swim.
Both of the other two began digging in their jackets for their pistols.
A big voice of command said, “Hold it!”
Ten paces down the dock, Eddie stood. He had a double-barreled shotgun leveled at the men. They froze. I discreetly stepped out of the line of fire.
I waved at Ashley, “Go back inside, honey.” She just looked at me. “Go now!” I said harshly. She turned and went back inside.
The men stood, not moving, eyes on Eddie. The big guy was still thrashing in the water. Eddie looked at me. “Now what?” he said.
I looked at the two. “Turn and face the end of the dock,” I said. They reluctantly complied. When they were turned, I said, “Take the guns out and lay them on the dock.”
They did. They didn’t want to, but they did. “Get the fuck off my dock,” I said. “I give the girl to her mother. No one else, now go!”
They turned and hustled by Eddie. He had stepped on the bow of Thirteen Episodes to let them by. I kicked their guns into the water. I stepped aboard and reached down to open a locker. I pulled a life jacket out, stepped back onto the dock and walked over to the edge. I looked down. The big guy was struggling to hold on to one of the struts. He had his gun in his hand. He looked up at me, but he didn’t point the pistol. I showed him the life jacket.
“Trade you the gun for the life jacket,” I said. He looked at me like he didn’t understand. “Throw the gun away and I give you the life jacket.”
He looked at me for a long time, then finally tossed his gun. It landed with a plop. I dropped the life jacket down onto him.
“Now, get the fuck out of my lake,” I said.
28
When Blackhawk showed up, he had Elena and Indigo with him. They each carried an overnight bag. As they stepped into the salon Blackhawk said, “We thought we’d take a boat ride.”
I was looking at him. I had called and told him I could use a hand, and now the whole gang was here.
Ashley was lying on the couch reading. She slid her legs to the floor and stood up as they entered.
“Ashley, these are my very good friends, Blackhawk, Elena and Indigo,” I said.
“Hi, Ashley,” Blackhawk said. Elena gave her a bright smile. Indigo was watching me.
“Is that your real name?” Ashley said, looking at Blackhawk.
“Of course it is,” Elena said. “My mamma named me Elena when I was first born. She named me after my great auntie.”
Ashley got it. She grinned. “No, not you, him.”
“His real name is Freddie Foobledorf,” I said. Ashley looked at me, then frowned.
“You’re making that up,” she said.
“Everyone calls me Blackhawk, and I would be pleased if you would call me Blackhawk,” Blackhawk said. He put out his hand. “How do you do.”
Ashley grinned at him and took his hand. She hadn’t been taught to shake hands, so she wasn’t sure what to do. Blackhawk shook her hand.
Indigo was watching me, and when I looked at her, she discreetly tilted her head to the stern. I looked back at Blackhawk. He was looking at me and nodded, as if in agreement.
He turned to Elena. “Can you show Ashley your new smart phone? Jackson, Indigo and I need to talk.”
Elena looked at him for a moment, then put on a bright smile. She sat on the couch and Ashley sat next to her. “I have a new phone and you can watch movies and TV shows and all kinds of stuff. What’s your favorite show?”
“I like the Barbie show, but Mom doesn’t let me watch it. She says the girls are all mean to each other.”
“Your mom’s probably right,” Elena said. “Here, let’s see what we can find.” She started fiddling with the device. I took that as our cue. Blackhawk and Indigo followed me to the stern. I quietly shut the sliding door behind me.
Indigo was looking around. “This is a piss poor place to defend,” she said.
“I know,” I said.
“Tell us about the girl,” Blackhawk said. So I did.
“So the father sent his goons and one of them accidently fell in the lake?” Indigo grinned.
“Accidently,” I said.
“What about Child Protective Services?” Blackhawk said.
“I like this girl,” I said. “And the mother left her with me.”
“So we stash her, and go find the mother,” Indigo said.
“Easier to let the father find us, then we ask him where the mother is.”
“Because he knows.”
“Because he knows.”
“Bad place to defend,” Indigo said again. “Trapped here at the end of the dock.”
Blackhawk was thinking, so I leaned against the rail and let him. Indigo was watching something out on the lake. I turned to look, and it was Eddie, way across by the dam, fishing in one of his favorite spots.
“You remember that cove where we spent a week, way down at the other end, by the river mouth. You and Boyce and Elena and me?”
I nodded.
“Who’s Boyce?” Indigo said.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Yeah, up close to the eagle preserve.”
“That cove had only one way in, and the surrounding desert was too rugged and steep to traverse.”
“If they find the boat gone, they’ll know we’re on the lake,” Indigo said.
“That’s true,” I said. “But so what? They’ll come for the girl. They think I’m some nitwit that got lucky bracing their muscle. And when they come, how are they going to come?”
Indigo smiled. Blackhawk was nodding, “In a boat,” he said. “A tiny little boat, with them all bunched together. Out in the open.”
“They could just wait us out,” Indigo said.
“Too many places for us to go ashore. They don’t have enough men to watch every ramp and every beach night and day. No, they’ll come looking.”
“We go now?” Indigo said.
“We need provisions. Probably for a week. I don’t think they’ll wait that long. You can bet the guy that went into the water wants his revenge.”
Blackhawk said, “Okay, you and I go. Indigo stays with the girls.” He looked at me. “I think we probably ought to stop at your storage unit.”
29
It took over three hours before Blackhawk and I were back on the boat. I had picked where I lived because it was somewhat isolated and away from the city. Today was one of those rare days when I wished thing
s were just a little closer.
The whole time we were gone, I was worried Newman and his boys might show up to take the girl. Blackhawk assured me that Indigo could handle them. And she could. I still worried. I was surprised I had taken such a proprietary attitude to this little girl. I wished her mother would show up.
We had gone back to Walmart and had stocked up with canned goods and beverages. Some adult. I bought stuff I thought a seven-year-old might like. I might had gone overboard. Blackhawk was much more practical. We also had stopped at my storage unit and filled the trunk with ammunition for all the pistols we carried, including rounds for Indigo’s Berretta. I snagged the AR-15 with ammo, and two Mossberg 590 pump shotguns with four boxes of shells. At the last minute I grabbed a flare gun with a half dozen loads. We loaded all the weapons in an oversized blue canvas duffel. It was heavy as hell.
When we carried all the stuff on board, Indigo was up top with binoculars, and the girls were on the couch watching Elena’s phone. Elena extracted herself to help us put stuff away, but Ashley was too engrossed to even look up.
“What’s she watching?” I said softly.
“I gave up,” Elena said. “The mean girls.”
Once everything was on board, I gave Blackhawk one of the Mossbergs and a box of shells. He had two clips for his Sig Sauer in his pocket. He took the keys to Swoop and went to get her. Swoop is my twenty-foot Grumman sport deck. It has an eight-foot beam and can do an easy forty miles per hour unless the wind and the waves are up. I keep it wet docked on the outside dock.
It took me an hour to swing the Tiger Lily to the dump station and empty the honey pot. Then back around to the gas dock to top off. Indigo sat in a chaise lounge with the binoculars on her lap. Maureen came out to gas me up.
I stood beside her as she handled the pump. She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. “Heard some fella had a little accident down by your boat. Seems he fell into the water.”
“Accidents happen,” I said. She didn’t look at me, but I could see she was chuckling.
“I’ll be gone a few days,” I said. “I don’t want anyone to know where I am, but if Eddie needs to find me, I’ll be up in Humbug Bay, by the eagle preserve.”
“That’s off limits,” she said.
“That’s the point,” I said.
“Lake patrol will find you. You’ll get a ticket.”
“I won’t go too far,” I said. “Just this side of the line.”
“Your funeral,” she said, pulling the gas nozzle out and replacing it on the pump. “Want this on your tab?”
I nodded. “Appreciate it.”’
“Be safe,” she said.
Blackhawk was sitting out on the water, bobbing and waiting. I went up top. Using the cockpit controls, I brought Tiger Lily away from the gas dock and out onto the main lake. The wind had come up and there were white-caps across the water. It was slow going. The Lily was a stately, wide old dame waddling slowly across the water, like the heavy old woman she was. Slow and steady, lifting her skirts to avoid the puddles.
I had lied to Maureen. We went into Humbug Bay and went past the posted signs until I found the cove we had remembered. As we entered, it opened up enough that I could back and fill until we were pointed back the way we came. It went far enough back from the main lake that anyone following us in would be in our sights long before they reached us. It was a crooked cove, so we couldn’t be seen from the main lake. I had Indigo drop the stern anchor and I gently pulled up against it until we had used much of the thick anchor line attached to it. Then I had her drop the bow anchor and pulled back from it for about twenty feet. Then I reeled in the stern line until we were tight against both anchors. She wouldn’t swing, even in the wind. If we had visitors I wanted her solid.
Blackhawk brought Swoop up behind us and putting the bumpers down, we fastened it snug to Tiger Lily. He climbed aboard. Ashley was still on the couch with the phone. Kids. A beautiful day out and she’s watching something on a device. I shook my head. Somewhere along the line I had started thinking like a father.
Indigo came out of the head wearing a bikini. She lathered herself with sun lotion, grabbed the binoculars, a beer, and climbed the aft stairs. We were all going to take turns on look out. She was first.
I moved Ashley and Elena’s phone out on the bow. At least she would get some sun. I pulled three bottles of beer and popped them, handing one each to Elena and Blackhawk.
Elena was watching me. “Blackhawk says you always know what you’re doing,” she said, taking a drink.
I sat at the counter. “Unless I’m on the dance floor.”
She grinned, “Yeah, I saw that. That was pathetic.”
“I only have one foot,” I said.
“You have no rhythm,” she said. “What I’m wondering is why you brought us here? To this place. Seems like we’re trapped in here. Only one way in, and one way out. Don’t seem smart. Those guys will find us eventually.”
“Exactly,” Blackhawk said.
“Exactly?”
“We’re not hiding,” I said. “If we were hiding we’d take Ashley out into the city. And, if they did find us there, we wouldn’t know which way they would come at us.”
“And here you know.”
“Exactly. We want them to come to us. Remember, they think we are just civilians. Nobody to worry about. They don’t know who Blackhawk is. They don’t know who Indigo is or what she’s capable of. They think the hardest part will be finding us. And they know we are on the lake. It’s only a matter of time.”
Elena looked at Blackhawk, shaking her head. “It almost ain’t fair.”
“Good,” I said.
By the time it was late in the afternoon, we were all hot and stir crazy, so we went diapering. No, I’m not making this up. Experienced boaters know all about it. You take your life jacket and turn it upside down and step your feet through the arm holes. Now you have it on like a diaper. This allows you to bob around in the water, sitting comfortably holding your beverage, without the jacket riding up around your ears. Ashley loved it.
Blackhawk was up top, and Indigo joined us in the water. Just like it happens sometimes, seven-year-old emotions are hard to keep in check. One moment of playing and laughing, and then the next Ashley began to cry. Indigo and Elena immediately went to her. I was a little farther away, but I could hear the tone of their voices trying to soothe the girl. I was gratified that there was no edge between the women. That is not always the way.
Watching Ashley’s sad face, I began to reevaluate my game plan. Maybe staying out here for so long wasn’t a great idea. Maybe if they don’t make a play, like tomorrow, we’ll stash the girl and go find her mother.
30
Aware of the fragile nature of Ashley’s emotions, everyone adopted just a little more of a jovial tone. As the sun disappeared behind the purple western mountains, and with the water becoming quiet and dark now, I laid out the silver space blanket on the bow. It protected the deck from the sparks of the small Smokey Joe charcoal grill. I fired the briquets up and set the draft for a nice hot set. Elena had Ashley helping her in the galley. They were prepping the vegetables we planned on sautéing.
Blackhawk was up top with a tall scotch and soda, and Indigo had some bouncy Michael Bublé’ coming out of the Bose speakers. Her eyes were closed as she swayed rhythmically, occasionally taking a bite out of the margarita she had fixed for herself. She said no one else could make them as good as she could. She liked just the right amount of tequila and mix. Not too sweet. And she liked the good stuff. Elena, the tequila expert, asked Indigo to make one for her. Indigo fixed it and served it with a flair. Elena took a sip and nodded appreciatively. They both laughed.
I fixed a Plymouth on rocks with a small splash of bitters. It kept me company as I placed the small filets on the grill. I was met with a satisfying sizzle. I hovered. Good grilled meat requires hovering. Finally, all was ready. Elena had wrapped Ashley with a blue checkered apron I had. It was so large
and Ashley so small she had to double wrap it. She made a thing out of calling Ashley her sous chef, and let her arrange the platters of food on the counter.
I took a plate of food up to Blackhawk. I offered to relieve him, but he waved me off. I think he was enjoying his peace and quiet.
“We may have to take it to them,” he said.
“I’ve been thinking that,” I said.
“We’ll see tomorrow,” he said.
“We’ll see tomorrow,” I repeated.
I went down, and they were waiting impatiently for me. Elena said her mama had taught her it was rude to start a meal before everyone was at the table.
Ashley’s appetite impressed us. She ate like a wolf. Finally finished, we cleared the dishes. I washed and Indigo dried. She offered to do it all, but despite my rule of the cook doesn’t clean, I made an exception.
When we finished, Elena gathered us on the floor of the lounge, surrounding the coffee table. We were going to play a card game that she and her cousins used to play. While Ashley was in her stateroom putting on a nightshirt, Elena explained that the name of the game was shithead. But, she said, in deference to small ears, we would call it poopy head.
Ashley thought this was hilarious. It was a simple game with all the cards dealt out. The action is to discard. With the left of the dealer starting, and going clockwise, you discard a card higher in value than the last one discarded. If you don’t have a higher card, you have to pick up all the discards. The object is to discard all of your cards, with the last one left being the poopy head. I was the first poopy head, and Ashley was gleefully delighted in singing along with the others, Poopy head, poopy head, Jackson is a poopy head!
Ashley thought it was the best game ever. We finally had to calls it quits after three long games. Ashley could have gone on all night. We put her to bed in the stateroom. The plan was that Indigo would sleep with her, Blackhawk and Elena would be in the master, and I would sleep up top on a chaise.
All the adults ended up with fresh drinks, sitting on top. The moon was up, and the stars were brilliant. The land mass surrounding us was a black wall. We talked softly for over an hour, then the girls decided to call it a night. They went down. Blackhawk and I sat silently together for another half hour, then he went down.
They Called Her Indigo Page 11