Touching the Sun: A Harry Beck Thriller (The Bahamas Series Book 1)

by Len Maynard

  ‘You made your bed when you threw in your lot with Reynolds. Don’t expect me to have any sympathy for you.’

  Something flickered in Jim’s eyes. ‘You sanctimonious bastard,’ he said venomously. ‘I knew you’d never understand. Throw me the keys to your boat.’

  I took them from my pocket and tossed them across to him. If there was ever a moment when we could have taken him it was then. But he was fast…too fast. He released Katy for a millisecond, caught the keys, and then his arm was around her throat again, and they were through the door and onto the deck.

  The pilot of the police launch had come out his wheelhouse and was reaching for his gun. ‘Stop right there!’ Jim shouted at him. ‘One more move and I blow her head off.’

  Katy was whimpering now, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘Harry, please.’

  I couldn’t move…I could see the panic in Henderson’s eyes. Rational thought was a thing of the past. He was nothing more now than a cornered animal, and that animal would do anything to protect itself.

  ‘Stay calm,’ I said. ‘And do exactly as he says.’

  Several of Max’s crew had noticed the commotion and were gathering at the rail of the upper deck.

  ‘And you can tell them not to do anything as well,’ Jim called. ‘I will kill her if I have to.’

  ‘Yes, Jim. We believe you. No one’s going to do anything.’

  He reached the rail of The Minotaur. I wondered briefly if there was any way I could take him as he transferred to the Princess, but he’d worked it out. He took his arm from Katy’s throat and planted his hand in her hair, grabbing it so tightly her face screwed up in pain. He forced her to climb onto The Minotaur’s rail, and then climbed up next to her.

  ‘Jump!’ he said to her.

  Katy hesitated.

  ‘I said jump, you bitch!’

  78

  He leapt into space still holding tightly to Katy’s hair. She had no option but to follow. They disappeared from sight. I ran to the rail, but he was already on his feet and grabbing Katy again. He looked up at me and fired the automatic. I ducked back as the bullet zinged off the rail. When I looked over again he’d dragged her up the steps to the flight deck and was starting the engine. He pushed Katy down onto the floor but kept the automatic pointed at her head as he spun the wheel and started to move away from The Minotaur. But Jim was no sailor, and he’d forgotten about the ropes tethering the two craft together.

  The Princess lurched as the ropes strained. For a moment he looked bemused, wondering why his getaway was being compromised, and then he saw the ropes.

  ‘Untie me, Harry. Now!’

  I hesitated, and Jim shot Katy in the arm. She looked down at the wound, gave a small groan, and fainted.

  ‘The next one goes through her head. Now untie me.’

  ‘Do it,’ Max urged. ‘Do it quickly. He’ll kill her.’

  I tried but the Princess had pulled too far away, stretching the ropes to their limits and making the knots impossible to unravel. ‘Give me a knife. Somebody give me a knife!’

  A knife was placed in my hand, and I sawed first through one rope and then the other. Once he was free, Henderson gunned the engines. The propellers spun, found their grip, and the Princess took off, out into open sea.

  I looked around to see Max climbing into the seat behind the wheel of The Minotaur. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ I said.

  ‘Following him. We can’t let him get away. He has Katy, for Christ’s sake.’

  I pulled him out of the seat. ‘How many times have you piloted this boat, Max? Once? Twice?’

  He shook his head. ‘Never.’

  ‘Then let me.’ I took the seat and started the engine. ‘Somebody weigh the anchor!’ I shouted.

  A few moments later someone shouted back, ‘Clear!’

  I pushed the throttle forward, and we were riding Jim’s wake. The Princess was a powerful boat and Jim had put a few hundred yards between us. The Minotaur was built for luxury and endurance, but not for speed, and even with the engines flat out there was no way we were ever going to catch them. But Jim didn’t know that. He wasn’t pushing the Princess to anywhere near her limit, and he was panicking.

  He looked back at us, aimed the gun at Katy again, and screamed at us. ‘Stop following me! I’ll kill her! I swear!’

  Then his head exploded, and he fell forward over the wheel of the Princess.

  It took me a moment to realize what had just happened, but then I looked back along the deck and saw Max, skeet gun still tucked solidly into his shoulder, both barrels smoking.

  ‘Right, Harry,’ he said calmly. ‘Let’s go and get my daughter.’

  79

  Six months later.

  Stevie took an age to answer the door. I checked my watch. It was after ten, and she was usually an early riser. When she finally pulled it open I walked past her into the apartment. She had pulled on a thin cotton robe but had forgotten to tie it, and her makeup had streaked, giving her panda eyes. I could see straight through to her bedroom. The covers on the bed were messed up, but still covering a figure lying there, and I could just make out a tangle of chestnut brown hair spread over the pillow.

  ‘I see you’re still banging the tourists,’ I said with a smile.

  She yawned and glared at me at the same time, and then reached past me to close the door. The figure on the bed stirred and rolled over. ‘Not so much of the tourist, Beck,’ Billie said.

  ‘Does the Bureau give its agents the time off to indulge in such debauchery?’

  She yawned sleepily and raised her middle finger before flopping back onto the pillow and closing her eyes.

  Stevie padded out to the kitchen and switched on the coffee maker. ‘What do you want, Harry?’ Stevie said, running her fingers through her tousled crop. ‘Shouldn’t you be at the casino or something? You’re certainly dressed for it.’ She looked me up and down. ‘You in Armani. I never thought I’d see the day.’

  ‘We all have our crosses to bear, Stevie. This is mine,’ I said.

  ‘Only you would describe a five-thousand dollar suit as a cross to bear.’

  I heard the shower start, and then Billie’s voice floated out from the en suite singing a Fleetwood Mac song.

  ‘Jesus!’ Stevie said as she poured coffee into a mug. ‘Why is everyone so…so awake this morning?’ She picked up the mug and padded back to the couch, sitting down and curling her legs underneath her. ‘So, what have I done to deserve the pleasure of your company at this godforsaken hour?’

  ‘It’s ten twenty. Hardly the middle of the night.’

  She groaned. ‘Is that all it is? We were still clubbing at five. Billie only hit Freeport last night. We’re trying to make up for lost time. The FBI works her so hard, poor lamb.’

  Poor lamb was not an epithet I would use to describe Billie-Jean Martinez.

  The singing stopped and the shower was switched off. Moments later Billie opened the door of the bedroom and walked into the lounge wrapped only in a towel, her hair dripping and her bare feet leaving a damp trail across the wooden floor. ‘Thought I could smell coffee,’ she said.

  Stevie waved her hand airily in the direction of the coffee maker. ‘Help yourself, hun. You too, Harry, if you want one. Why aren’t you at the casino?’

  ‘I had a chat with Max,’ I said. ‘I told him that my initial thoughts about running a casino had been right. I’m a fish out of water there, Stevie. A square peg in a round hole.’

  ‘A cliché in an otherwise perfect paragraph,’ Billie said with a smile. She curled up on the couch next to Stevie and threaded her arm through hers, their hands locking, fingers intertwined. ‘You don’t mind me joining you?’ she said.

  ‘Not at all. How’s the case going?’

  ‘Just tying up a few loose ends. Jack would be proud of me. You’ve probably read most of it in the press.’

  ‘A lot of famous people totally discredited; a number of politicians, both here and in the US, falling o
n their swords; a political scandal in the UK that’s rocked the stability of the British Government; and a lot of arrests and court cases. An awful lot. Yes, I’ve read some of it.’

  ‘You see,’ she said. ‘You made good on your promise. You brought down the cartel.’

  I shook my head. ‘I played a part. A small part.’

  ‘Harry, give yourself some credit,’ Stevie said. ‘You, more than anyone else, lost an awful lot bringing these sick bastards to justice. Friends, family…The Lady.’

  I winced slightly. I didn’t need reminding.

  Stevie picked up on it immediately. She was always good at reading me. ‘Anyway, let’s change the subject. What did Max say?’

  ‘He agreed with me. He said he’s never seen me as miserable as I’ve been over the past few months. He thinks I need to get out of the gambling business.’

  ‘So will you?’

  ‘I already have. I’m just going in this morning to clear my desk. Hence the suit.’

  ‘What will you do now?’ Billie said.

  ‘That’s what I came here to talk to Stevie about.’

  ‘Shoot,’ Stevie said.

  ‘How do you fancy resurrecting the old firm?’

  ‘Beck Charters?’

  ‘I can’t think of any other old firm I’ve been involved in.’

  She took a swig of coffee. ‘Not one of your best ideas, Harry.’ She saw my face drop. ‘No, no, don’t get me wrong. I’d come back and work for you in a heartbeat. They were great times, probably the happiest times of my life…at least until I met Billie. But I would draw your attention to the major flaw in your plan. You haven’t got a boat.’

  ‘Big flaw,’ Billie said, nodding her head sagely.

  I smiled. ‘Well, you see, you’re both wrong.’

  Stevie’s expression changed to one of intense curiosity. ‘Come then,’ she said. ‘Explain how we’re wrong.’

  ‘Remember when you called me from the hospital in Nassau and told me that Alan had called his lawyers in? I thought at the time he was preparing his defense. But I was wrong. Alan knew he was going to die, and he was just setting things straight.’ I took a breath. ‘In those last few hours of his life he changed his will to benefit his remaining next of kin. His fortune has been divided between my father and me. And,’ I said, reaching into my pocket and producing a set of keys. ‘He left me his boat.’

  Stevie’s eyes widened in shock. ‘You’re kidding me.’

  ‘I’m not. He actually told me in those last few minutes I spent with him before he died. I thought he was rambling when he said look after Sally and Anna, but what he actually said was, ‘Look after Sallyanna.’ Sallyanna, the name of his boat.’

  ‘Looks like you’re back in business, babes,’ Billie said, squeezing Stevie’s hand.

  Tears sprung to Stevie’s eyes. She got up from the couch and came over to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. ‘I love you, Harry Beck,’ she said, kissed my cheek, and then whispered, ‘Beck and Bailey Charters. How does that sound?’

  I laughed and pushed her away. ‘You’re a rogue, Stevie Bailey,’ I said. ‘But yes, I like the sound of it.’

  They walked me to the door. ‘When do we start?’ Stevie said.

  ‘Tomorrow morning. Nine sharp at the harbor. The Sallyanna was badly shot up. She needs some work.’

  ‘And I’ll bet the engines need an overhaul.’

  ‘Reckon they will.’

  ‘And what does the Lady of Pain think of the new career?’ Stevie said, looking beyond me to Katy, who was sitting in her Porsche waiting patiently for me.

  ‘The Lady of Pain doesn’t exist anymore…in any way, shape, or form.’

  I looked across at Katy. She turned in her seat, smiling and waving at the girls.

  Stevie waved back and grinned. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t suppose she does.’