An Easy Sail_A Connie Barrera Thriller_The 8th Novel in the Series_Mystery and Adventure in Florida and the Caribbean

by Charles Dougherty

  "I'm exercising my right to remain silent," Montalba said, twisting his head to look at her.

  "I'm going to ask one more time. Answer me, or I'll step on your ruined shoulder. Where is she?"

  "I'm exercising my — " he screamed as she planted her foot on his shoulder and put her weight on it.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw a teak panel on the aft bulkhead of the wheelhouse slide to the side, and Graciella entered, a semiautomatic pistol in her hand.

  "Back off, bitch. Paul, put your gun down, or I'll kneecap her, so help me."

  "You're the boss," Paul said, bending to lay his M4 on the deck.

  "Now you," Graciella said, motioning for Connie to put down her weapon.

  Connie bent and put her rifle down near Guillermo. She reached over and grabbed a fistful of his hair, twisting his head around to expose the good side of his face. "You're twins, aren't you? What happened to his face? You didn't like it because he was prettier than you? That it, Marcia?"

  "Get your fucking hands off him! I'll make your fucking face look worse than his, you bitch!" Graciella lunged toward Connie, swinging her pistol at Connie's cheek.

  Connie ducked the blow and came up from her crouch, ramming her head into the other woman's midsection and driving her back against the bulkhead as she gripped the wrist of the hand holding the pistol. Graciella, pinned against the bulkhead, grabbed Connie's hair with her free hand.

  Connie shifted her right hand to grasp the pistol, twisting it. It fired once, the round splintering the woodwork overhead. Connie's grip on the pistol's slide caused the partially ejected shell to jam the action. She tore the pistol from Graciella's hand, breaking the other woman's right index finger in the process. Graciella screamed and released her grip on Connie's hair.

  Connie hooked her left hand behind Graciella's knee and stood up, throwing Graciella to the deck. She gripped the pistol in her right hand and worked the slide with her left, clearing the jam. "Don't even think about moving," she said, backing away as she leveled the pistol at Graciella. "Paul, can you cuff her?"

  "I'm fresh out of handcuffs," Paul said. "Sharktooth? Phillip?"

  "No problem, mon," Sharktooth said, stepping around Connie as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

  "When did you two get here?" Connie asked, frowning.

  "About the time you head-butted her. Nice work," Phillip said. "You okay?"

  "I'll live. What's next?"

  "Marie and Sandrine are calling the cavalry, now that we've secured the vessel. There's a French Customs cutter on the way. ETA's about 10 minutes. They'll clean up after us and hold the prisoners until Luke gets the paperwork through and arranges transportation to Miami. The customs people are going to confiscate the yacht, for now."

  "I had to shoot this one," Connie said, nudging Guillermo with his foot.

  "They'll take care of him," Phillip said. "There's a medic on board the cutter."

  "How about the guys who went after Tiberius and Lucilius?"

  "Who?" Sharktooth said. "Nobody 'round here like that. You mean the boys in that speedboat? The ones that killed the three pirates that attacked them while they fishin'?"

  "I guess," Connie said, shaking her head.

  "They lef'. Said they be in touch. Had to pick up some friends they lef' at Isla de Aves."

  "My boss just called," Phillip said. "Time for us to go."

  "What?" Connie asked. "Who?"

  "Sandrine," Paul said. "You lost your earpiece in the scuffle."

  "Oh. What about Sandrine?"

  "She and Marie will wait for the cutter. We've got just about enough time to get aboard Midnight Thunder and get out of here before it arrives."

  Connie frowned. "But — "

  "She said it would be simpler for her to handle this if we weren't standing around in the way. It would invite too many questions," Phillip said.

  "Let's go, skipper," Paul said, putting an arm around Connie's shoulders and walking her toward the ladder to the main deck. "I don't want to get Phillip in trouble with his boss. I know what that's like."

  Epilogue

  A few days later, on Phillip's veranda ...

  "When did you get here?" Connie asked, as Dani Berger and Liz Chirac came from inside the house.

  "Late last night," Dani said. "We were hoping to catch up with you and Paul."

  "But we thought you had a charter for another week or so. Weren't you taking them to Antigua?" Connie asked.

  "That was the plan," Liz said, "but they bailed out on us the day before yesterday."

  "Where were you?" Connie asked. "What happened?"

  "We were in the Saintes," Dani said. "We'd been hanging out, poking around all the islands on the south end of Guadeloupe. They got a phone call; there was some emergency stateside. They caught a ferry to the big island. Said they'd charter a plane."

  "You said they were boring," Paul said. "I'm surprised boring people would charter a plane."

  "Oh, you know Dani," Liz said. "They were a nice young couple. Jill and Derek Johnson. I hope whatever it was that interrupted their holiday wasn't too serious."

  Paul's cellphone rang. Glancing at the display, he touched the screen and said, "Hello, Luke. What's new?"

  "It never ends, Paul. We were about to arrest Reuben Griffin last night. The team had just gotten into position when a couple went into the club and blew him away."

  "A couple?" Paul asked.

  "Yeah. We got them, needless to say. We'd just gone in the door when they came downstairs from Griffin's office. They were outgunned, but they opted for a shootout. Neither one made it. They had passports in the names Jillian and Derek Johnson. Fake, it turned out, but good fakes, with chips and all."

  "Wait," Dani said. "Are you sure?"

  "Is that Dani?" Luke asked.

  "Yes. Sorry," Paul said. "She and Liz joined us just as you called."

  "No problem. And yes, Dani. I'm sure. I was there when it happened. Why?"

  "They were on Vengeance. Our guests. They just left the day before yesterday — some emergency call on their cellphone."

  "That may be useful. We've got the phone; maybe we can match that call up and figure out who sent them after Griffin. Where were you when the call came in?"

  "Les Saintes, Guadeloupe."

  "You said the passports were fake," Paul said. "Who were they?"

  "We don't know. Their prints are in the system from several crime scenes — murders — but with no identity."

  "Where were the murders?" Paul asked.

  "Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte. That's just so far. They're still working the NCIS database. Looks like this is what they did for a living, Jillian and Derek."

  "So one of the Montalbas must have called them," Connie said.

  "Montalba! What does he have to do with this?" Dani said, jumping out of her chair, her face flushed. "That son of a bitch. I'm going to skin that sorry — "

  Liz stood and put a hand on Dani's shoulder, interrupting her. "Get a grip, Dani. Let Luke finish his story."

  Dani knocked Liz's hand away, glaring at her. She nodded, but her jaws were clenched. She sat down, her arms folded across her chest, a scowl on her face.

  "It would make sense that one of them made the call, Connie, but we may have a tough time proving it," Luke said.

  "What do you suppose they were doing on Vengeance?" Liz asked. "Dani thought they were boring."

  "It's a safe bet they were keeping an eye on you for Guillermo Montalba," Paul said.

  "No doubt," Luke said. "Be glad they were boring, Dani."

  "I'd like a few minutes alone with Guillermo Montalba," Dani said, the muscles in her jaw twitching.

  "Sorry, but that's not going to happen," Luke said.

  "Long as we're all here, Luke, why don't you tell us what's happening," Paul said. "We'll fill Dani and Liz in later. They haven't heard about Graciella chartering Diamantista II."

  "What?!" Dani said, on her feet again.

  "Later, Dani," Phillip sai
d. "Let Luke finish, please."

  Dani dropped back in her chair, slouching, arms crossed again.

  "Sure," Luke said. "Both the Montalbas are lawyered up; they're not saying anything. We were letting Griffin run for a little bit while we kept a close watch on him, hoping he'd give something away, but no such luck."

  "What about O'Toole and his pal Gator Jaw?" Paul asked.

  "They've been indicted for the murders of Dick Kilgore and Art Jansen."

  "How?" Paul asked. "You turn up some evidence that connected them?"

  "No. I told you about the State's Attorney, right?"

  "You thought she had something going with the DEA," Connie said.

  "Yeah. The indictments are sealed. There was eyewitness testimony to both killings, from undercover DEA agents, apparently."

  "But won't they have to testify in court?" Paul asked.

  "If it gets to court. You wouldn't believe all the wheeling and dealing that's going on. It's looking like O'Toole and Gator Jaw Ryan are probably going to testify against the Montalbas in exchange for being allowed to plead on the murder charges."

  "You mean they're going to walk?" Connie asked.

  "Hardly. They'll plead guilty in exchange for life sentences with no parole. That's better than the death penalty."

  "And the Montalbas? What's going to happen to them?" Mary Ellen asked.

  "Hi, Mary Ellen. Who else is there?" Luke asked.

  "Phillip and Sandrine. Everybody else has spoken," Paul said.

  "Okay. We've got a pretty good case against Guillermo for killing LaRosa and the other guy, who turned out to be a male prostitute. There's video that will put Guillermo in that condo with the victims at the time of the killings. And the State's Attorney says if push comes to shove, the undercover agents can tie him up in several different ways. They're in a position for one or two of them to break cover, if necessary. They got the people they were after. So Montalba's not going anywhere. O'Toole and Ryan have already folded; they're just quibbling about the details."

  "And Graciella?" Sandrine asked.

  "With the recording from Tiberius and Lucilius, she's going down as an accessory to the murders of LaRosa and the other guy. Plus, I thought your colleagues were going to extradite her to stand trial for killing that fisherman, Sandrine."

  "Probably so. They have her fingerprints on the bloody camera."

  "But no body, correct?" Luke asked.

  "The body surfaced after some days. The gases from decomposition made it buoyant enough to float, even with the anchor she tied to his leg. Some of his friends found him. There is a skull fracture that matches the camera, too. So, probably after she serves her time in the U.S., she can come to Martinique again."

  "Too bad Sharktooth's not there," Luke said. "I wanted to ask about the three crewmen that Tiberius and Lucilius left on that island."

  "They went back for them," Phillip said. "Seems they only had one bottle of water among them. They fought over it and one of them killed the other two, but he was in a bad way, himself — some serious stab wounds. The brothers took him to Dominica, but he died in surgery at the hospital there."

  "Okay, then. That's about all I have, folks," Luke said. "Stay well, everybody. I gotta run."

  "We'll be in touch," Paul said, disconnecting the call.

  "We've got a few days before our next charter, and it's close by; the pickup's in Rodney Bay," Liz said, ignoring the scowl on Dani's face. "We thought you might like to go sailing for a few days, Mary Ellen, if you can get the time off. Your charter with us was cut short last time."

  Mary Ellen looked at Sandrine, raising her eyebrows.

  "Is no problem. Go, enjoy."

  "Thanks, everybody," Mary Ellen said. "I'd better get back to work; there are a few things I need to wrap up before I can leave for a few days."

  "And I will come with you," Sandrine said.

  "And what are you and Paul going to do?" Liz asked, not giving Dani a chance to speak. "You have a week or so of Graciella's charter left before you pick up more guests, right?"

  "We need to get back to the boat and finish packing up Graciella's stuff to ship to Luke, then we're out of here for a while," Paul said. "Let's plan on meeting up here after your trip with Mary Ellen. Sounds like we're on the same pickup schedule for our next charters. Say we spend the weekend here together before we pick them up in Rodney Bay?"

  "Okay, good," Liz said. "We'll count on that. Are you two going somewhere special?"

  "We're going for a nice, relaxing sail," Connie said. "An easy sail, just the two of us."

  The End

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  A NOTE TO THE READER

  Thank you for reading An Easy Sail, the eighth book in the Connie Barrera Thrillers series. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please leave a brief review on Amazon. Reviews are of great benefit to independent authors like me; they help me more than you can imagine. They are a primary means to help new readers find my work. A few words from you can help others find the pleasure that I hope you found in this book, as well as keeping my spirits up as I work on the next one. If you would like to be notified by email when I release a new book or have a sale or giveaway, please visit http://eepurl.com/bKujyv to subscribe to my email list. I promise not to use the list for anything else; I dislike spam as much as you do.

  If you haven't read the other Connie Barrera Thrillers, please take a look at them. If you enjoyed this book, you'll enjoy them as well. I also write another series of sailing thrillers set in the Caribbean. The Bluewater Thrillers feature two young women, Dani Berger and Liz Chirac. They sail a luxury charter yacht of their own. They are friends of Connie’s; they met her when she chartered with them in Bluewater Ice.

  Connie had a key role in Deception in Savannah, my first book. I enjoyed writing about her so much that I wrote her into the Bluewater Thrillers. She plays prominent parts in both Bluewater Ice and Bluewater Betrayal. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are a spin-off from the Bluewater Thrillers, and feature some of the same characters. Dani and Liz taught Connie to sail, and they introduced her to Paul Russo, her first mate and husband.

  An Easy Sail was published in September 2017, and I've now turned my attention back to Dani and Liz for their fourteenth Bluewater Thrillers adventure. You'll find progress reports and more information on my web page at www.clrdougherty.com. Be sure to click on the link to my blog posts; it's in the column on the right side of the web page. Dani Berger has begun to blog about what's on her mind, and Liz and Connie are demanding equal time, so you can see what they're up to while I'm writing.

  A list of my other books is on the last page; just click on a title or go to my website for more information. If you’d like to know when my next book is released, visit my Amazon Author's Page at www.amazon.com/author/clrdougherty and click the "Follow" link near the upper left-hand corner, or sign up for my email list at the link in the opening paragraph above.

  I welcome email correspondence about books, boats and sailing. My address is clrd@clrdougherty.com. If you'd like personal updates, drop me a line at that address and let me know. Thanks again for your support.

  About the Author

  Welcome aboard!

  Charles Dougherty is a lifelong sailor; he's lived what he writes. He and his wife have spent over 30 years sailing together. For 15 years, they lived aboard their boat full-time, cruising the East Coast and the islands. They spent most of that time exploring the Eastern Caribbean. Dougherty is well acquainted with the islands and their people. The characters and locations in his novels reflect his experience.

  A storyteller before all else, Dougherty lets his character
s speak for themselves. Pick up one of his thrillers and listen to the sound of adventure as you smell the salt air. Enjoy the views of distant horizons and meet some people you won't forget.

  Dougherty has written over 25 books. His Bluewater Thrillers are set in the yachting world of the Caribbean and chronicle the adventures of two young women running a luxury charter yacht in a rough-and-tumble environment. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are also set in the Caribbean and feature some of the same characters from a slightly more romantic perspective. Besides the Bluewater Thrillers and the Connie Barrera Thrillers, he wrote The Redemption of Becky Jones, a psycho-thriller, and The Lost Tourist Franchise, a short story about one of the characters from Deception in Savannah.

  He has also written two non-fiction books. Life's a Ditch is the story of how he and his wife moved aboard their sailboat, Play Actor, and their adventures along the east coast of the U.S. Dungda de Islan' relates their experiences while cruising the Caribbean.

  www.clrdougherty.com

  clrd@clrdougherty.com

  Also by C.L.R. Dougherty

  Bluewater Thrillers

  Bluewater Killer

  Bluewater Vengeance

  Bluewater Voodoo

  Bluewater Ice

  Bluewater Betrayal

  Bluewater Stalker

  Bluewater Bullion

  Bluewater Rendezvous

  Bluewater Ganja

  Bluewater Jailbird

  Bluewater Drone

  Bluewater Revolution

  Bluewater Enigma

  Bluewater Thrillers Boxed Set: Books 1-3

  Connie Barrera Thrillers

  From Deception to Betrayal - An Introduction to Connie Barrera

  Love for Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  Sailor's Delight - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  A Blast to Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  Storm Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller