Jac stood up high on his knees and peeked over the berm to where the man had pulled the Zodiac. The man was still sitting, staring into the jungle and puffing on his cigar. Jac turned over on his back and drew in several more calming breaths. He felt his heart rate decrease as his breathing normalized. Adrenaline surged through his body. He crawled from the water on his stomach and rolled over into a small cavity that, at high tide, allowed seawater to form a pool. He was closer to his prey. He studied the distance to the edge of the berm and estimated the distance to cover from there.
The man is big, over six feet tall and muscular. I will not fail. Failure isn’t in my vocabulary. My friends are at risk. And I have the advantage of invisibility. Jac slipped in behind a mound of sand about twenty feet from the Zodiac to wait for the explosion.
The man stood up and started to move his body to a musical beat he heard in his head. Then he started to sing a Bob Marley reggae song with a calypso beat that matched the rhythm of his dance.
Jac looked at his watch. Another few seconds and it should be fifteen minutes from the time he lit the fuse. He was ready to spring forward. Nothing. Another minute passed. Damn! The fuse must have blown out. He watched as the man stopped singing, stretched and plopped down in the same spot he’d occupied before. With only a knife to equalize the man’s automatic weapon, Jac decided his only chance was a head-on attack. Where’s the boom? Dammit, I need the boom!
Feeling his heart rate surge, Jac pulled his survival knife from the scabbard and slowly eased over the mound. And, like a runner in the starting blocks getting ready for a big race, he sucked in a deep breath and planted his feet firmly in the sand. Three, two, one! Jac heard the imaginary starter gun sound in his mind and sprang forward.
Motion was slowed as seconds seemed to split in half. Jac was in the zone. He heard only the thump of his heart as he focused on his prey.
Jac saw that the man was turning to the sound of the crunch and squeak of Jac’s feet on the dry sand. He raised his Uzi to face the intruder. Jac saw the fear in the man’s eyes as the cigar dropped from his mouth. It’s now or never. Jac leaped over the Zodiac and was airborne like an attacking leopard. Jac’s right arm was outstretched, his hand rigid as he aimed the knife at the man’s throat. The man was almost facing him with his Uzi.
“Ahhh!” the man screamed.
Penetration. Jac’s knife lodged deep into the man’s throat.
The two bodies slammed together and hit the ground. Jac was on top.
Bullets flew wildly into the sky.
The man gurgled. His eyes were frozen, lifeless, into a deathly stare.
Blood seeped from the wound forming rivulets that ran into small pools in the white sand.
Jac pushed himself off the body. As he stood up and reached down to remove his knife—kaboooooom! The ground rumbled and shook. The concussion and deafening sound hit Jac as a plume of water and splintered boat debris shot skyward. A tsunami-like wave rose and moved fast toward the beach.
The force of the water knocked Jac over and carried him, the dead man, and the Zodiac surfing into the foliage. The Zodiac caught on a sand embankment and flipped up in the air and over, landing on top of Jac and the dead man.
They heard the sound of gunfire, and then an explosion shook the ground. “What the hell was that?” Mulee yelled.
“Mulee! Send two men to the beach,” James ordered. “We can catch these guys ourselves.” This should give Remy the opportunity to show his hand and join Kincaid in hell! he thought to himself.
Mulee yelled orders into his radio to the three men who were climbing with Remy several yards ahead. “Get back to the beach and find out what the hell is going on. Tell Remy to wait for us.”
“But, mon, we can hear them in front of us. We almost have them.” The voice crackled from the speaker.
“We’ll get them. They’re not armed. Get back down to the beach and find out what caused the gunfire and explosion. Do it now!”
CHAPTER 44
Auntie Mick ran to the front room and picked up her shrilly ringing cell phone. She hated it. Her deceased husband had won it in a raffle, and she couldn’t bear to get rid of it even though it sounded to her like a hyena in heat.
“Hello, may I speak to Jac Kidd. It’s urgent!”
“Who is this?”
“I am Rupert Townsend, chief inspector of police in Montego Bay. I’ve been trying to contact Mr. Kidd on an urgent matter.”
“Yes, I know. This is Chauncey Rutherford’s aunt. And I’m afraid you missed them. They left the island. I hope they’re all right. I too haven’t been able to reach them.”
“I’m about to land at the Tortola airport in twenty minutes. Did Jac tell you why I am here?”
“Yes. You were trying to get warrants for the arrests of my nephew and his cohort, Mulee.”
“Well, yes, I did finally secure them,” Townsend muttered. “Your nephew is James?”
“Yes. But be assured I want him stopped. I don’t want him dead, but he must pay for his crimes.”
“Do you know where they’ve gone?”
“Yes, I do. I will come to the airport, and after I see your identification, I’ll show you a copy of a map that was left with me.”
“Thank you. I’m in uniform and have four other officers with me. Your local constable will be meeting me at the airport. We’ll need a fast boat.”
“I have connections on Tortola. I’ll help you get what you need. I have good friends who own a transport helicopter. I’ll see what I can do. But I’m going with you,” Auntie Mick said before she hung up. She didn’t want to hear his response. She was determined to help Chauncey. And try to stop her nephew from making the biggest mistake of his life.
Jac heard the rustling of the branches and at least two voices coming from higher up on the hill. He slipped into the cover of the foliage and crouched behind a mass of green growth. He could see the path. The sounds of plants and branches bending and breaking told him the men were close. He clicked off the safety on the automatic weapon he had taken from the dead man on the beach and waited.
“Ossie!” one of the men called out. “Ossie! Hey, mon, where are you?”
The men stopped to listen for an answer. Birds scattering and the wind whooshing through the bushes were the only sounds. The weather was changing. A storm was brewing. It was getting dark.
The men called out again and waited for a response.
“Ossie isn’t answering, mon. We can see the lagoon. Someone must have blow up the boat and kill him.”
Jac heard a crackle and a voice say, “Get back up here. We almost have the two on the path.”
“Yeah, mon, we are on our way.” The man clicked off and said to his cohort, “I told you this was a waste of time, mon. I hope we make our move soon.”
“As soon as little big man give us sign, mon, we take over.”
What was that all about? Jac thought. Sounds like a double cross. Jac moved from his cover and climbed. He stayed behind the men at a safe distance. He felt certain James would capture Michael and Peri very soon. Dad … where are you, Dad?
Jac felt a sudden chill.
Gray clouds blotted out the sun as thunder echoed in the distance. Large raindrops pelted down on plant leaves of assorted sizes producing a cacophony of sounds.
Remy looked up the hill and fired a shot over the heads of Peri and Michael. “Give up or the next shots will be at your head.”
Peri put up his hands and stood up. His large frame shielded Michael who ducked on the downside of the mountain. He turned his head toward Michael. “Go!”
Michael crouched low. He was out of view of the approaching men. He didn’t want to leave, but he knew his best chance of saving his uncle was to find Mandrago. He bolted down the side of the mountain and was swallowed up in the greenery.
Rain was falling hard as Remy st
ood over Peri and hit him hard on the side of his head with the butt of his weapon.
Mulee and James arrived. “Leave him. We may need him to help us find the treasure.”
“I’ll get the other one,” Mulee said. He started down the hill and yelled out. “You won’t get far! Give up and you won’t be hurt.”
A few minutes later James’s two men arrived and were standing over Peri’s lifeless body.
“Is he dead?”
“No, he’s alive. Mauricio, you stay with the prisoner. Give him some water and don’t hurt him.” James then turned toward Remy and the other men. “Mulee’s going to need our help. My mother and her friends are coming up this side. We need to take them alive.”
James noticed Remy give Mauricio a nod. That was unusual. I have to be careful. Remy may have bought off the men, James thought.
Remy led the way.
CHAPTER 45
The power of the rainfall and the wind was growing. Below, at the far edge of the white sandy beach, palm trees swayed and green jungle plants shook from the force wielded by an angry Mother Nature.
Michael ran blindly through the thick growth overhanging the path. The torrential rain had turned the ground into a muddy stream. Suddenly his legs went out from under him and he hit the ground moving downhill with increasing speed. He reached out, ripping plants from their roots trying to stop his momentum, but he soon found himself airborne several feet off the ground. He landed with a splash on his backside in a huge mud puddle and slid several feet farther before coming to a stop. He was covered in crimson-colored muck. He was in a small clearing on flat ground surrounded by towering palm trees and overgrown shrubs. He knew he was close to a beach when he heard the sound of crashing waves. When he stood up, the hard rain acted like a shower and cleansed a great deal of the muck from his clothes.
Michael turned and looked back to the mountain behind him. He knew whoever was following him would have a difficult time catching up. He prayed Mandrago was close by.
Jac looked out from behind a large bough of an overgrown plant. James, Remy, and one of the men were about to leave and head down the other side of the hill. James pointed down at Peri on the ground and said to the other man, “Make sure that no harm comes to the prisoner. When he’s awake, get him up and call Mulee before you bring him down to us.” The noise from the hard rain made it difficult for Jac to hear, but he was sure that he heard James’s orders correctly. Jac breathed a sigh of relief knowing Peri wasn’t in any immediate danger.
Peri was lying on his side facing him. His chest is heaving … breathing. Thank God, he’s alive!
Peri groaned. The rain was reviving him. Jac knew it was time to move and take advantage of the opportunity. The noise from the hard rain hitting plant fronds covered the sound of Jac rustling through the growth to get in a better position to attack the guard.
The rainwater had formed a channel flowing down the pathway to the far side of the island. The guard was looking down the path. When he heard a loud groan, he walked back and bent down over Peri. The guard’s back was now exposed to Jac, still in his hiding place. Jac slipped out from the cover of the foliage and hit the guard on the back of the head with the butt of his weapon. The guard slumped to the ground.
“Come on big guy, wake up,” Jac said.
Peri’s eyes fluttered. He grunted and pushed himself over on his back. He tried to sit up, but fell back down. He raised his right hand over his eyes to avoid the rain. He reached out to Jac with his left hand and spread his fingers to look up at Jac. “You certainly took your time getting here!”
“I decided to take a long swim.” Now, Jac thought, it will be two against five. The odds are getting better.
“Oh, shit!” said Peri. “I have a lump on my head. Give me a hand.”
Jac pulled Peri up into a sitting position. “Take your time.” Then he picked up the automatic weapon lying next to the unconscious guard and handed it to Peri.
“Can you stand up?”
“Yeah, I think so. Give me another minute to clear my head,” Peri muttered. “What are we going to do with this guy?”
“Watch.” Jac pulled off the man’s shirt, pants, and shoes. He then tied the man’s hands behind his back with his shirt. When the man groaned, Jac hit the man hard on the head again. “He won’t be waking up for a while.” Then Jac took hold of the man’s legs and dragged him over to a palm tree. He wedged the man’s shoes onto his hands and used the pants legs to bind him to the tree.”
“That was fun to watch! Okay, Jac, help me up. Let’s go and get those bastards.”
CHAPTER 46
The rain had stopped. Sunlight was breaking through holes in the clouds, the rays looking like searchlight beams moving across the water.
Hidden deep in the foliage where the path met a white sand beach, James looked toward Kidd’s boat where it was anchored off shore. The man Mulee had been chasing was standing knee deep in water at the shore waving at a Zodiac boat speeding toward him. James spotted his mother, Mandrago Kidd, and the two women who had been on the patio of the hotel the day he was shot. They were all armed. Capturing them will be dangerous unless I find a way to surprise them, James thought.
James watched Mandrago jump from the Zodiac into the shallow water before it ran up on the beach. The man James had been watching on the beach sloshed his way to Mandrago and threw his arms around him. Then the man stepped back, turned, and pointed toward the path where James and his men had hid. James heard the man yell, “We have to rescue my uncle!”
One of the women James had spoken to and bought a drink for at the hotel jumped from the boat and threw her arms around the man. With everyone now on the beach, Mandrago reached into the Zodiac and grabbed two additional automatic weapons. He handed one to the man and slung the other over his shoulder. Then he called out for everyone to gather around him.
James listened as Mandrago spoke. “Peri is being held prisoner, and from what Michael says, there are three other men besides James, Mulee, and Remy. That’s six.” Mandrago paused to look up toward the pathway. “They are armed. I am going to go ahead and check things out. You all stay here until I come back.”
James rubbed the scar on his face. He felt a tingling sensation and sharp pain as if several needles were being inserted at the same time. It happened every time he looked out into the ocean. He tried not to remember the incident with the sharks and his father’s death. But it seemed his body had a memory of its own. He blamed his mother for his father’s death even though he knew she had done the right thing by divorcing him. He hated her, and he loved her.
James looked up at the sky wondering if his life would have been any different if he hadn’t chosen to go into the theft business with Mulee. He wished things hadn’t become so complicated. He wanted to make amends with his mother. What a paradox, he thought. He loved his mother, but on the other hand something in him wanted her to suffer. Yet, he couldn’t remember for what. Maybe once all this is over, he thought, I’ll be able to resolve this hate/love contradiction and find peace. Right now he knew he had to focus on the present. There would be time for remorse and forgiveness later. Remy was waiting for the perfect opportunity to move against him. James reckoned Remy would lie back and not make a move until he secured the information he needed from Abigail Chance to find the treasure. But James feared that, if Abigail refused to cooperate and give Remy the information, he would kill one of them to make a point of his intentions. James knew that, if he had any chance of making things right with his mother, he needed to make sure that wouldn’t happen. And he knew the only answer: he had to kill Remy.
James looked across the path and waved at Mulee to get his attention. When he saw Mulee wave back, James used hand signals to tell Mulee, Remy, and Robert, the man with them, to hide in the thick foliage. After being boarded several times in Cuban waters, he and Mulee had become extremely proficient using hand signals
to communicate.
James turned to the man with him. “Samuel, I want you to move up the path about ten yards and stay hidden. There you will be able to cut off any one trying to escape. And be careful. We still have to contend with the phantom who blew up Mulee’s boat.”
“Okay, boss.”
When James saw the meeting on the beach break up, he signaled Mulee that Mandrago was on his way toward the path.
CHAPTER 47
Mandrago and the women had come ashore in a light rain under a dark-gray sky. Now the clouds had scattered, and the sun’s rays were breaking through. A strong offshore wind was blowing, and the temperature was rising.
Mandrago was apprehensive when he took the lead toward the pathway that Michael told him led up the mountain. He wanted to rescue Peri and find Jac. But he knew James and his men would be waiting for them somewhere along the way.
“Mandrago, wait. Stop!” Michael yelled.
“Why, Mike?”
“I don’t feel good about this. I told you one of their men followed me. I have a bad feeling that he’s waiting nearby.”
Abigail, Roni, and Chauncey came up and joined them. “What do you propose we do? Wait here?” Abigail asked.
“I know we have to get to Peri and find Jac,” Michael said, “but I think we should all wait a bit and come up with a better plan than walking into a trap.”
“I think Mike is right,” Abigail said. “Remy wants me. He wants the map, so let him come to us.”
“Okay. Here’s the plan,” said Mandrago. “You all wait. Stay here. I’ll go in and flush them out.” He turned and walked toward the path.
“He’s stubborn just like Jac,” Michael said.
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