Killers and Keepers

by Charles Dougherty

  Mary and I were finishing dinner in the cockpit when the satellite phone rang. She answered it.

  "Hi, Aaron."

  "Yeah. Hi. Is Finn with you?"

  "Yes. I'm here. The speaker's on. What's new?" I asked.

  "That burner phone you gave those girls is still in Les Saintes."

  "Huh," Mary said. "They must have tossed it."

  "Maybe, but I tried calling it and it went to voicemail. The recording said, 'Hello, this is Lucinda. Margie and I can't take your call right now. Leave us a message and we'll call you back.'"

  "That's strange," I said. "You told me you heard Margie call her father to come pick them up."

  "I did. That was right before I left them at that beach bar. I went straight from there to meet you."

  "Besides, I thought you said Lucinda didn't speak English. Did she have an accent, Aaron?"

  "Not a noticeable one. Could Margie have faked the call to her father?" Aaron asked.

  "I guess so, but when she called, I thought they were still coming out from under the drug. They were at that stage where they thought they were lucid, but they were still loopy — you know what I mean?"

  "Yeah," Aaron said. "But are you sure they weren't faking that? What did you give them?"

  "Ecstasy."

  "How much?"

  "I mixed two doses into four scrambled eggs, but I don't know how strong it was to start with. I got it from a street dealer in St. Thomas in case we wanted to use it to interrogate those guys who were trying to capture Finn."

  "Uh-huh," Aaron said. "Were the girls experienced drug users?"

  "Margie probably was. It's hard to know about Lucinda."

  "Have you learned anything more about Margie?" I asked.

  "Kent does have a daughter named Margaret. She goes to a boarding school in England, but we haven't been able to find out if she's there now. She's 16 years old, blond, and attractive in a plain way. That's from the one picture we found."

  "Sounds like it could be the same girl," Mary said. "Can you send us the picture?"

  "Yeah. Hang on a second."

  The satellite phone pinged, and a headshot of a young girl appeared on the screen. Mary and I studied it for a few seconds.

  "It could be her," I said.

  "Could be," Mary said, "but it's tough to say for sure. She was battered and bruised, and that's not a great picture. Passport shot or something?"

  "Yeah," Aaron said. "You would think a girl that age would pop up on the social media sites, but not her. Guess her old man's browbeat her over privacy, or something. I would, in his shoes."

  "Anything else from Bob?" I asked.

  "No. That was odd, the way he called in right after I talked to you two. He didn't volunteer any information about what he and Mike were doing, but he wanted a quick update on everything here. I filled him in, and then he asked me to add you on."

  "Have you run across any clues as to what he and Mike have been up to?" Mary asked.

  "No. I don't know any more than what he told us on the phone a little while ago. He said it would all come clear soon, and that we should just carry on for now. On a different subject, I sent you the message from the hacker a little while ago. There's nothing urgent about it, until we hear back from Bob, but you should look at it."

  "We will. Sounds like Bob wants us to check out Kent before we respond to the hacker," Mary said.

  "Yeah. I've focused everybody on digging into Kent and Travis. If Bob wants to hold off on the hacker until you meet with Kent, I'll have to send a response. Not sure what to tell him. If I were in the hacker's shoes, I'd be worried about letting this drag on, given how much he's told us."

  "Any more on where he is? The hacker?" Mary asked.

  "No. We've got all kinds of conflicting data. He knows what he's doing when it comes to covering his tracks online."

  "Mary and I have been kicking a few ideas around about who that could be."

  "The hacker, you mean?"

  "Yes." We told Aaron about our discussion.

  "Yeah, that all makes sense."

  "It must have come from the broker, or maybe O'Hanlon," Mary said. "Could be that he told somebody about hiring me. Or it's from somebody else who worked with the broker and made a guess that O'Hanlon booked me through her. Bob and Mike went through her for the first couple of jobs I did for Phorcys. How did they find out about her?"

  "I don't know, but I'll ask Bob. That's a worthwhile avenue to pursue."

  "While you're asking, find out how they ensured that the broker would hook them up with Mary," I said. "Now that I think about it, they wouldn't have left that to chance, given Bob's relationship to her."

  "No, you're right. I'll ask."

  "Weren't you involved in that?" Mary asked.

  "Not that early. By the time I joined Phorcys, you'd already done several jobs for us. I helped get the broker to agree to your coming to work for us directly. I negotiated the transition deal, where we paid her for lost commissions for a while."

  "Do you know her well enough to ask her some questions?" I asked.

  "No. Not a bad idea, but it's not workable. Sorry."

  "Okay. Just thought I'd ask."

  "You've got me thinking, though," Aaron said. "I can't go directly to the broker with that question, but I might pick up something by sniffing around the edge of her dealings. Give me a little time to ponder that."

  "Sure," I said. "You got anything else for now?"

  "No, but I'll call if anything surfaces before Bob gets back to us."

  "Good enough," I said, disconnecting the call.

  "You cooked dinner; I'll clean the galley," Mary said, gathering our dishes. She paused on the companionway ladder. "You okay to take the first watch this evening?"

  "Yes, unless you'd rather do it."

  "A hot shower and a nap are calling."

  "Go for it, then. I'll wake you up if Bob and Aaron call."

  18

  It was a clear night, and there was no traffic along our southerly course. Ten miles west of the island chain, I was alone with my thoughts when Mary poked her head up through the companionway.

  "You doing okay?"

  "Yes." I yawned and stretched. "How did you sleep?"

  "Great. Can you hang on long enough for me to make a thermos of coffee for my watch?"

  "I'm punchy. Why don't you come on up and take the helm? I'll make your coffee."

  "Sure." Mary climbed into the cockpit and slipped behind the helm, nudging me aside.

  I went below and put a pot of coffee on to perk while I got ready to go to sleep. Just as I poured the coffee into the thermos, the satellite phone rang. Reaching through the companionway, I set the thermos and a mug of coffee on the bridge deck. I grabbed the phone as I mounted the companionway ladder.

  "Aaron?" I climbed out into the cockpit and handed Mary the mug of coffee.

  "Yeah. Bob's with me. You on the speaker?"

  "Hi," Mary said. "We're both here."

  "Good evening," Bob said. "I talked things over with Mike. He sends his best."

  "What's the verdict?" Mary asked. "Are we going to see Kent?"

  "Yes, but Aaron has a few things to share with you before we get into that. Aaron?"

  "Yeah. First, about Kent's daughter. We got into the school's records. She does go by Margie. The school's on a semester break right now, so she might be down in the islands. We tried tracking her through the immigration databases, but so far, no luck. We'll keep after it, and I'll call you ASAP if we get anything."

  "Okay," I said. "Anything further on that burner phone Mary gave her?"

  "Yeah. It's being used actively in Grand Bourg, in Les Saintes. Several calls have been made and received since we spoke last — all of them to and from U.S. and European cellphone numbers."

  "That's interesting," Mary said. "No local calls?"

  "Sorry I didn't make it clear. All the calls were local; the U.S. and European phones were roaming in Les Saintes."

  "So, wh
oever's got the phone is talking to tourists," I said.

  "That's what it looks like. We're trying to figure out how to tap the burner so we can listen in, but it's tricky. To me, this phone business is a red flag. If Kent sent somebody to pick up the girls, why would they even set up the voicemail on the phone, if they were gonna leave it in the Saintes? I could see them doing it if one of them kept the phone, say Lucinda, maybe. Gotta figure a rich kid like Margie would have her own smartphone. She'd hardly use a burner. But then they used both names on the voicemail. See what I mean?"

  "Yes," I said. "It makes me wonder if the blonde was lying about being Margie Kent."

  "But why would she have done that?" Mary asked. "And why did Lucinda pretend not to speak English? None of this makes sense."

  "That's because we're missing context," Aaron said. "It made sense to the girls, and maybe to somebody else. It just doesn't make sense to us, based on our reference points. That's why I said it's a red flag."

  "How do you think we should play this with Kent, then," Mary asked.

  "I don't know. Just be aware that the girl may not be his daughter."

  "Maybe we're over-thinking this," Mary said.

  "Can you expand on that?" Bob asked.

  "Well, what if we just keep things simple? We go to Kent's lawyer and tell him we rescued Kent's daughter from traffickers, and now we need Kent's help. The story we'll tell sticks to facts we have from first-hand knowledge."

  "Tell me the story," Bob said.

  "Okay. A boat named Seaduction dragged its anchor in a thunderstorm in Deshaies and hit our boat. We found two girls on Seaduction, bound and showing signs of severe abuse. From there, we'll stick to the story the girls told us."

  "Pretend I'm Kent," Bob said. "Give it to me the way you would to him."

  "Right. The guys who kidnapped them were ashore eating dinner. We took the girls aboard our boat and set Seaduction adrift. We hurried out of Deshaies before the two guys came back from dinner. The girls said the kidnappers were taking them to Antigua to sell them to white slavers. One girl was your daughter, Margie. She was sure you had people out looking for her. We didn't have cellphone service offshore, so we couldn't call you. I fed the girls, and they went to sleep. While they were asleep, the two guys caught up with us. Still following me?"

  "Yes. Go ahead."

  "We killed them and sunk the boat. Then we — "

  "Wait a second. You killed them? Just like that? What about the police?"

  "We've had run-ins with police in several places. We look after ourselves and try to avoid cops. That's why we're kicking around the islands, trying to scratch out a living and keep a low profile. Margie said you would understand, that… and, well… She didn't think you would hold that against us, anyway."

  "What else did she tell you about me?" Bob asked, continuing to play the role of Kent.

  "Nothing really about you, but she thought you knew people who had the same kind of problems we do."

  "I see. So then what happened?"

  "We took the girls to the Saintes and gave them a little money. I helped Margie get a cheap phone. I stayed with them until she called you, and then she told me everything was under control, so I left them on their own."

  "Hmm. Anything else, after you dropped Margie and the other girl off?"

  "When we left Pointe-à-Pitre the next morning, we were followed by three men in a speedboat. They attacked us and we killed them, but first we questioned them. They told us they were working for a man in St. Lucia named Randall Travis. He sent them to get the girls back and find out what we did with Seaduction. We can't keep running from Travis; we're going to kill him and get this over with. The problem is we're short of cash, and we need weapons. Margie told us you were a powerful man, and that you would be willing to help us if we ever needed it."

  "Okay," Bob said. "That hangs together, but you may need to polish it up a little. You and Finn have time to rehearse it, get the kinks out. What if Kent turns you down, though? Let's say he pretends to be horrified by what you've told him. Maybe he even threatens to turn you in to the police."

  "He's not going to do that. He's a drug lord," Mary said.

  "He could have the local police on his payroll."

  "Then we tell him we're sorry for the misunderstanding and leave."

  "He may not let you leave."

  "He can't stop us," Mary said. "He might not survive our departure, but that's up to him."

  Bob chuckled. "I'm just playing devil's advocate. Don't get tense."

  "Who's tense?" Mary said.

  "What if he gives you money and weapons?"

  "Then we go to St. Lucia and kill Travis. That's after we ask him a few questions, of course."

  "Suppose Aaron's rumor of a rift between Travis and Kent is wrong?"

  "We'll deal with the consequences, Bob. Do you want us to infiltrate Kent's operation, or not?"

  "Take it easy, Mary. I'm just thinking out loud. Bear with me, okay?"

  "Okay. Sorry if I'm on edge."

  "It's understandable. You need to be on edge, given what you're plotting. Now, let's say you interrogate and kill Travis. What's your next step?"

  "We go back to Kent. Tell him Travis told us Kent was in a bind, that the people who had been moving his product into the U.S. were out of business. We offer to help, now that we've established our credentials with him."

  "What do you think, Aaron?"

  "It might work. Worst case would be they have to kill Kent straightaway. That's no great loss, except we might miss out on whatever we can learn from him about who's trying to re-establish O'Hanlon's distribution network."

  "Uh-huh. Finn, what about you? Comments?"

  "I agree with Aaron and Mary. I say we go for it."

  "Do it," Bob said. "What do you need from us?"

  "Details on the lawyer and how to get in touch with him," Mary said.

  "And satellite images of Kent's plantation," I said. "A photo of Kent. Plus, whatever you can find out about Travis and his nightclub in Castries. Building plans, if possible, but anything you find might be useful."

  "Okay. Aaron will get that stuff to you. How long before you call the lawyer?"

  "Tomorrow, sometime," I said. "We'll have cell service while we're sailing along the west coast of St. Vincent. We should get to Bequia late tomorrow afternoon. We'll anchor there and take the ferry to Kingstown. I'm assuming that's where the lawyer's office will be."

  "All right. Give us a call once the meeting's set up."

  "Yes, sir," I said, disconnecting the call.

  "You okay with all that?" Mary asked. "I didn't mean to cut you out of the planning or push you into anything."

  "I'm fine. It's a good outline; we can make it work if we get past the lawyer."

  "That's the part that worries me most. What if we can't get past him?"

  "We'll skip the lawyer and just drop in on Kent," I said.

  "But he'll have good security."

  "Sure. But since when has good security stopped us? Besides, an approach like that would be more in character, given the role you cast us in."

  "I see what you mean," Mary said. "But can we afford to wipe out his security? That might bring down serious heat from the local cops, don't you think?"

  "Yes, it would. We don't have to kill them, though. We'll take them down and immobilize them. Drugs would be good, or we can just knock them out and bind and gag them. I think that would make a much stronger impression on Kent than killing them, anyway."

  "I see what you mean. He'd be spooked by that; it's not the way drug dealers work. It's more like medieval assassins. But I've never done that sort of thing. I'm just a straight-out killer, but you know that."

  "Stick with me; I'll make a real assassin out of you yet, Ms. Straight-Out Killer."

  "All right. I'm in. What do I have to do?"

  "Sail the boat. I need to get some sleep. See you in four hours."

  After sailing through the night and most of the day, we ar
rived in Bequia in time to clear in with customs before the office closed. Back aboard the boat, we were finishing an early dinner of fresh-caught tuna steaks while we enjoyed a spectacular tropical sunset.

  "I'm still surprised the lawyer was so receptive," Mary said. "I expected that he'd want to check with Kent and call you back. Do you think he was expecting us to call?"

  I shrugged. "Could be, I guess, if Margie told Kent about us. Or maybe he's just used to being called by people who want to see Kent. We're not through the screen yet. He could meet with us and then stall while he checks with Kent. Or he could have checked with him today, already."

  "I wondered about that. How should we react if he sandbags us?"

  "We can decide once we meet with him. If he wants time to call Kent before he sets us up with him, we can roll with that. If we sense that he's trying to block us from seeing Kent, we can blow by him."

  "Blow by him? How?"

  "We'll drop in on Kent unannounced. We've got the satellite photos of his place. From the layout, it wouldn't be too hard to infiltrate. There's a lot of shoreline bordering his property that's overgrown with mangroves. We could land there and temporarily neutralize his security. Then we'd catch him unaware."

  Aaron discovered that the DEA ordered satellite surveillance of Kent's plantation several times. The photographs showed the plantation in great detail. It was on the western shore of St. Vincent, between the Wallilabou River and the Cumberland River.

  "Are you thinking we'd take the boat up there? There's an anchorage at Wallilabou Bay, right?"

  "There is, but we'd be better off leaving the boat in Bequia. There's a little hotel on Wallilabou Bay. We'll get a room there if we decide to do it that way. We'll pretend to be tourists. We can swim from the beach there and pick a spot in the mangroves to go ashore."

  "How far?"

  "About a half a mile to swim, and another half-mile hike from the mangroves up to the house."

  "I like this idea, Finn. Maybe we should skip meeting the lawyer."

  "We'll be better off working through the lawyer at this point."