Shark Eater

by K D McNiven

Her head swirled. Haiti? She could not remember anything after the man in her home put the horrible-smelling rag over her face. Next thing she knew, there were two men holding her and another one calling her brother Dax.

  After that, they bound and gagged her, placed a black bag over her head and brought her to this warehouse. But Haiti?

  “We got to go, lady.” Cato pulled on her blouse.

  Lara saw the same fear in his eyes that she was feeling. She had no phone, no ID, and nowhere to go. All she knew is that she had better run far, and as fast as she could.

  Cato grabbed her hand and nearly dragged her to where the boards were split. He easily squeezed through the opening, but Lara was finding it difficult. She used her shoulder and thrust it as hard as she could until the board flipped out at the bottom and she was able to push her way through.

  She could hear voices. Panic welled up in her. Cato began running wildly across a grassy field, and Lara followed closely at his heels. He leapt onto an old tree that had broken down the wire fencing. Adrenaline giving her strength and determination, she followed him. It would not be long before they realized she was gone. She knew, without doubt, they would soon be after her.

  They ran for nearly a mile before Cato turned into a small driveway. It was a run-down shack situated in a circle of mahogany trees. He pulled her inside. The room was dark and scarcely had any furniture. There was a wash sink, a small cooking stove, and one cupboard that looked mostly barren of food.

  “You can hide in my room,” Cato told her, taking her hand and leading her into a tiny five by eight-foot space with a dirty mattress tossed on the floor. To the rear of the room was a small nook with a sheet hung over it, evidently a closet.

  “Do you have a phone?” Lara asked him.

  He shook his black mop of hair. “No.”

  “That’s all right.” She smiled wanly. “But I need a phone to call for help.”

  “In town.”

  Lara knew going to town would be risky. She figured they would already be looking for her. However, she could not hide here for long.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Cato.”

  “What a nice name, Cato. Thank you for helping me. I’m afraid you’ll be in trouble when your parents come home.”

  “That okay. Papa will…understand.” He struggled to find the correct word.

  Lara was not sure what to do. She felt almost as trapped now as she did in the warehouse. If she left the safety of this home, they would probably find her within hours and take her back to the warehouse. Who knew what they would do to Cato and his family if they happened to discover her at their home.

  “Does your dad have a phone, Cato?”

  “No,” he said. “We wait for him. He knows what to do.

  There was little else Lara could do but wait. Hopefully, Cato’s dad did have access to a phone, and she could make a call to Dax to let him know where she was hiding.

  It was late afternoon when Samuel entered the front door and caught sight of Lara right away. He looked at her and then to his son, Cato, confusion welling in his dark eyes. He could not imagine why there would be a white woman in their home, or why his son would allow her entry when she was a stranger.

  “Papa,” Cato said and rushed to him.

  “What is going on, Cato?”

  His eyes widened. His father had told him repeatedly not to go to Chronis Industries property. He was not sure how his father would take the news. “This is Lara.”

  Samuel leveled his gaze on her as he stretched out his hand. The woman before him was disheveled, her clothes torn, her face smudged with dirt, and her eyes were filled with fear.

  “You must explain what is going on?”

  Cato swallowed the lump in his throat. “I sorry, Papa. I went to old warehouse today.”

  “Lito Chronis’s warehouse?”

  He bobbed his head and could see the anger on his father’s face. “I chasing lizards,” he explained. “A tree fell…on fence in back…I wanted to look inside old building. There were loose boards side of building…” He stammered, trying to explain. “I go inside. There were many fun looking things to climb on,” he chattered in broken English, trying to explain why he had been disobedient.

  His father’s lips were pursed. He appeared to be controlling his anger for the sake of their visitor. “I’ve told you over and over, Cato, to stay away from there!”

  “I know. I sorry Papa,” he cried. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”

  “Too late now,” Samuel sighed. “Now, tell me how you found Lara?”

  “I hear noise coming from wooden box inside…I scared and almost run away. I say something and the sound was much louder. I thought someone inside and wanted out.”

  Samuel’s eyes widened, and his attention snapped to Lara. It was clear he was putting the pieces together, and the conclusion he came to was shocking. “They put you in a box?”

  Eyes filled with tears, Lara replied weakly, “Yes. I don’t know why. I was at my home in Miami, Florida. I work for one of the airlines, and I’d just made it back. I was unaware that someone was hiding in my house, and he caught me off-guard, knocked me out with chloroform and then brought me here. One of the men called my brother, Dax, so I think this has something to do with him. But I don’t know what or why they want me. Maybe they plan to use me to get to my brother.

  Samuel knew this was the work of Lito Chronis because he’d seen his brutality over the years. This was the kind of thing he would do, and it was why Samuel continually warned Cato to stay away from the facility. Sheltering this girl would bring trouble to his family if Lito found out. Samuel’s mind whirled, wondering what he should do. Many of the police were bought and paid for by Lito. If Samuel was to go to the police and he told the wrong officer, they would be at his door within minutes and his family most likely would disappear.

  “I don’t want to cause you trouble,” Lara told him. “I’ll find somewhere else to hide so your family isn’t involved.” She started for the door.

  “Wait,” Samuel stopped her. “If you go out now, they’ll find you quickly. You must wait for dark. I have a fishing boat with a tarp down by the docks. I will take you there tonight. If you give me your brother’s phone number, I will try and contact him.”

  “Thank you so much,” she said.

  “Cato, serve your friend some beans and rice and water, I’m sure she is very hungry.”

  Lara blinked back tears. Her hunger had momentarily been forgotten in her anxiety over her situation, but she had not eaten in two days, nor had water. She felt gratitude swelling in her. If it hadn’t been for Cato, she might even have died in the crate.

  “My wife, Elena, is at work,” Samuel told her as she stuffed food into her mouth. “I’ll find you something of hers to wear. We need to change your appearance, so no one identifies you on our way to the docks.”

  After she had eaten, Samuel told her to rest. He pulled an old blanket over the door in Cato’s room so she could have privacy. For the first time, Samuel found himself thankful his son had disobeyed him. Had Cato not found Lara in this heat, she probably would not have survived. A moment’s pride mushroomed in him, and he tousled his son’s hair and smiled.

  Weakness, coupled with the severity of her situation, overcame Lara. Slowly, she slid down the wall and curled into a ball on Cato’s mattress. There, she wept.

  CHAPTER 33

  Cap-Haitien, Haiti

  Dax and Decker made their way to the shore using their DPV units to propel them. Once they merged with land, they found a secluded place to store the units and peel off their wetsuits. They hurried, stowing their gear beneath a small dock, then they headed up the beach to meet with Dean McDermott.

  A few customers loitered in the cantina with their beverages. To the rear, off to the right corner where the lighting was dim, sat a hulk of a man. He glanced up, and when he spied Decker and Dax, he gave a slight nod.

  The two of them shuffled to the back of the room
, seated themselves at a rough wooden table across from Dean, and ordered a round of Bohemia Especial beers.

  “Good to see you, Decker, been much too long.” Dean grinned. Dean was short of six-foot-eight inches tall, with broad shoulders. He had a square jaw, buzz cut and his face was creased with deep lines revealing he spent a good portion of his life outdoors. He didn’t look like someone you’d want to tangle with.

  “You, too Dean,” Decker said. “This is Dax Drake, owner of the Shark Eater.”

  “Dax,” he greeted.

  Dax reached out to shake his hand. “Good to meet you, Dean.”

  “What’s all the suspense?”

  “I am working alongside Dax’s crew,” Decker said and quickly told him the details of what had brought them to this point. Including the information about the Gabriel becoming the Rosy Anne and the pollutants, as well as who they suspected of dumping the chemicals.

  Dean nodded. “I know about Chronis.”

  “Glad to hear that,” Decker said a bit surprised.

  “We were given reports that there may be some drug dealing going on. He’s been under surveillance.”

  “Well, we hit the tip of the iceberg, so to speak,” Decker said. “We decided to board the Rosy Anne to see what cargo it was carrying. At the time, we guessed they were hauling old containers of toxic waste from Chronis’s warehouse. What we found once we boarded, was cocaine.” Decker showed Dean a photo of the drugs in the sugar bags.

  “And they are on to you, right?”

  “They nabbed my sister,” Dax told him, anger twisting his face.

  “What?”

  “She lives in Miami,” Dax said. “Chronis must have done some investigating and found out the best way to take me out of the picture was through my sister.”

  “There’s more,” Decker added, pain rippling through him. “They blew up my boat and killed my first mate and my father’s new bride, Holly.”

  Dean’s face went slack as if he could not believe what he was hearing. “You are both in over your heads.”

  “Tell me about it,” Decker replied. “Chronis told Dax if we went to the authorities, he would kill Dax’s sister.”

  “And he will,” Dean agreed. “He’s no better than a mercenary. He’s a Greek tycoon, who brought his vile dealings to Haiti.”

  “We don’t have the manpower to deal with this anymore, Dean,” Decker admitted. “Can you take it from here?”

  Dax had been left in the dark as to who Dean was. But, Dean was impressive, and Dax wondered what he could bring to the table.

  Decker had come to know Dean when he was serving in the army. In fact, Dean had been his sergeant when he was going through training. When Dean had served his time, he decided to join the Navy and become a SEAL. Now he was in charge of a special forces unit.

  With the added evidence provided by Dax and Decker, the time had come to act. Dean looked intently at both of them. “We will have to move quickly. If Chronis catches wind of this, he’ll have every loose end tied, and we cannot afford for him to skip out on us. I want him as much as you both do.”

  “I can’t thank you enough, Dean,” Decker told him. “Chronis is not one to make a threat and then not follow through on it. We have to find Dax’s sister, but we have no idea at the moment where they’re holding her.”

  Dean took a large swallow of beer. “I need to go fill in the team and prepare them. When we are ready to deploy, I will give you a call, and we’ll pick you up by chopper. I assume you both want to go along?”

  “You bet we do, mate,” Dax said.

  He had the means and authority to go after Chronis. It was a matter of timing. But he would have to have clearance for the civilians. With Dax’s sister in the equation and with Decker’s background, Dean was confident there wouldn’t be an issue.

  Decker and Dax made their way back to where the equipment was stored, suited up and headed back toward the Shark Eater. At least they had a sliver of hope with Dean going after Chronis. Whatever it took they’d bring Lara safely back, and then Decker would be free to go back to Malibu to be with his father.

  Everyone on board was on edge when they climbed onto the diving platform. They gathered around waiting to hear if the meeting had resulted in a solution to the dangerous situation they had got themselves into.

  “A special op’s friend of Decker’s is going to help us out,” Dax told them as he stripped off the upper half of his wetsuit and sat down on the bench to remove his fins. “Apparently, they’ve been watching Chronis for some time but didn’t have enough on him to stick. With what we’ve learned, along with whatever surveillance they’ve done, it seems to be enough that Dean is willing to execute a surprise attack on Lito Chronis.”

  “What a relief.” Captain Manny said what they were all feeling. The entire crew knew they were potentially in a lot of danger. They didn’t have the armory to fend off the drug lords and unsavory characters that Chronis surrounded himself with. Chronis had shown his strength, and he was a force to be reckoned with. And the Shark Eater crew didn’t have the manpower to take him on by themselves.

  “He’ll give us a call when he’s ready,” Dax continued. “Decker and I are going to go with them.”

  “I want to go with you guys,” India said, stepping forward with a serious expression.

  “Better if it was the two of us,” Dax told her. “Look, I don’t want to be worrying about you or anyone else for that matter. I want my sister back.”

  “Come on, Dax. You know I won’t hold you back. I can shoot as well as anyone else. And I can fight hand-to-hand combat better than most of the crew. You can use me!” She insisted.

  Dax sighed. The last thing he wanted right now was to argue with India, but she was right. He had no doubt that she could outshoot any of them, and her martial arts were more than a little impressive. He shrugged with resignation. “Fine. I’m not going to spend the night sparring with you, India. But I’ll have to clear it through McDermott.”

  She grinned. “You won’t regret it.”

  “I already do.” He passed her a side-glance, and they both laughed.

  That evening before bed, Decker took out his cell phone and called Callie. “Good to hear your voice,” he told her, wishing she was beside him and he could reach over and pull her into his arms.

  “You too. Miss you, Decker,” she said. “How’s it going?”

  “Dean’s going to go in after Chronis,” he said. “Me, Dax and India will go with him. He should be calling in a couple of days and, with any luck, we’ll have Dax’s sister back safely, and Chronis will be locked up for the rest of his miserable life.”

  “I’m glad Dean’s agreed to help, I was pretty worried about you guys going it alone, especially when I knew drugs were involved.”

  Decker was quiet for a time. “Dad? How’s he holding up?”

  “Best he can,” she told him. “The authorities confirmed today that Holly and Shane were killed by the blast. He needed that confirmation so he can move past this tragedy. Garrett has stayed mostly to himself today and isn’t eating either. I suppose that’s to be expected.”

  “I’ll take the first plane back soon as this is over.”

  “Good night, Decker” she whispered.

  “Good night, Callie.”

  CHAPTER 34

  Chronis Manufacturing

  Lito was livid. The fact Lara had somehow managed to escape from the warehouse and slip past the guards was incomprehensible. Knowing first hand that the wooden crate had been nailed down and that she’d been bound, it was clear someone helped her to escape.

  “I want you to knock on doors.” Lito seethed, his eyes shooting fiery darts of anger at his partner Bart Carrigan. “She has the power to bring the police down on me, along with her brother. She must be found.”

  “I’ll do what I can Lito,” Bart told him. “We’ve been looking everywhere for her. I can’t imagine she’s very far. My guess is that someone on the island is hiding her.”

&nbs
p; “If someone is, and we find them, they must be dealt with,” Lito growled. “Do I make myself clear?”

  “Absolutely. We’ll find her,” Bart insisted. “We found a break in the fence at the back of the warehouse. Someone could have gotten in there. Also, I found this…” He slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew a plastic soldier. “Perhaps it was a child who was curious. The break was small in the fence, and the toy was laying on top of the crate.”

  “Then go to all the locals who have children,” Lito said. “My patience is running thin right now. If it wasn’t for the men on Shark Eater who think they need to be vigilantes, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Now that we are, we’ll have to take them out. All of them!”

  “On it, and I’ll send a couple of the men to the docks as well.”

  Bart hurried out and gathered a few men. They fanned out, each of them assigned to a specific area of the village. Cap-Haitien was not so large that Lara could hide out for too long. Someone would see her and say something. No matter what it took, they would find her.

  Bart and another man headed for the docks. Instinct drove them there. The others began a long search along the beach. There were a number of small boats moored on the wharf. Bart and the men began asking questions and determined to search each of them.

  ***

  Lara had hidden under a heavy canvas tarp. It was small quarters, but at least she didn’t feel like she was in a coffin like she’d felt when she was at the warehouse. The gentle rocking of the boat helped to calm her. Samuel had packed a small bag with fresh rolls, some fruit, and water. He assured her he’d come back in the morning and make a phone call to her brother so he could come pick her up. She could scarcely wait.

  After everything she had gone through so far, all she wanted was to see Dax. She couldn’t help but wondered what trouble he was in. He was her only living relative, and it had been a long while since they’d had a chance to sit down and catch up on things. It was the only thing that seemed important right now.

  She peeked out of the covering. There was a small cantina a distance from where she was. She could hear the music swirling through the cool night air. Off to her right, she spotted two men scrambling up the beach. As she focused on them, she could swear one of them was Dax. The height, the build, the jet-black hair—could it be?