Drunk on a Boat

by Zane Mitchell

  42

  Seated in Francesca’s SUV in Mack’s driveway, I stared at Francesca expectantly as she hung up her phone. “Well? What’d they say?” I was hoping that one of her brothers had seen a yacht called the Better Late Than Never riding around the island and they’d be able to point us to it.

  “Solo said he’d do some digging. He knows a lot of people with boats. If it’s out there, he’ll find it.”

  “But he hadn’t heard of it?” I felt my body crumple back against the seat with disappointment.

  “No, according to his records, that yacht’s never been in his marina. But there are a lot of other marinas on the island, and he knows all of those people. He’s going to put out some calls. Don’t worry, Danny, he’ll find it.”

  “But what if they don’t find it fast enough?” I was beginning to feel like we were never going to catch a break. “What if they kill Al and Pam?”

  “We can’t think about that now. We just have to focus on finding the yacht. It’s out there somewhere.”

  “So what do we do in the meantime?”

  Francesca backed out of the Mack’s driveway and headed back up the peninsula towards the main part of the island. “I don’t know, I—”

  My phone rang, making my adrenaline surge. I pulled it out of my pocket and stared down at it. “It’s them.”

  “Answer it, answer it. Set something up. Let’s get it going.”

  I nodded and took a deep, calming breath before answering it. “Drunk here.”

  “Did you find the little gift I left for you this morning?” asked Dexter’s annoyingly evil voice.

  “I did, and I wanna speak to Al and Pam!”

  “Oh, you think you’re in a place to make demands now?” He chuckled. “Daniel, what are you thinking? I hold all the cards now. I have who you’re really concerned about now.”

  “Are they alive?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know,” said Dexter. “But you know what? There’s only one way to find out. You need to bring me the rest of that money.”

  I glanced over at Francesca.

  She nodded encouragingly.

  “Fine. Where do you want to meet?”

  “Meet? Oh, no. Meeting time is long gone. You’ll drop off the money. After I’ve had a chance to inspect it and prove that it’s all accounted for, then I might consider returning any spare parts I might have laying around to you.”

  My anger, which had been set to a low boil, flared. “Spare parts? You motherfuck—”

  “Tsk tsk tsk. You better watch your language, Daniel. You wouldn’t want to blow your last chance, would you?”

  “Listen, there’s no way I’m giving you the rest of the seven million dollars without even knowing if Pam or Al are still alive. If I’m only going to get back a bag of body parts, what’s the point?”

  “It’s just a chance you’re going to have to take.”

  I gritted my teeth. If he’d killed Al, I was going to find him and make him pay. “And exactly how in the hell am I supposed to trust you after what you did to Al?”

  “You should have thought about that before double-crossing me, Daniel!” he hollered. He took a deep breath and seemed to be trying to calm himself. “If you’d done as you were told, none of this would be happening right now.”

  “But you double-crossed me too!” I argued. “That wasn’t Pam in the boat, that was Mack.”

  “I was going to drop Pam off when it was all said and done and I was sure you’d given me the money, but now…”

  “Now what? Is Pam alive? Is Al alive?”

  “Harbor Street Park in one hour. Be there.”

  The phone went dead.

  I looked over at Francesca. “Harbor Street Park in one hour. Go!”

  * * *

  Mack’s aunt and uncle’s villa was only fifteen minutes from the Seacoast Majestic, so we made a quick pit stop back there to get the money from where I’d hidden it.

  “It’s around here somewhere,” I promised Francesca as we wandered the jungle behind my cottage, carrying a pair of his-and-hers shovels.

  “I can’t believe you buried it. Who buries seven million dollars, Danny? Someone could’ve found it!”

  “Seriously? We can’t even find it, and I’m the one that buried it! No one else even knew it was out here. This place doesn’t exactly get a lot of traffic, you know.”

  She sighed and kept her eyes glued to the ground, looking for a mound of recently upended sand and dirt. “You said it’s under a big tree, right?”

  “Yeah. A big palm tree. There was this lizard there.” I poked my shovel into the ground as I continued walking again.

  Francesca stopped walking and stared back at me. “Danny! You can’t be serious. The lizard was your landmark?”

  I straightened and held my arms out wide. “You shoulda seen the size of the thing! I’ve never seen a lizard so big.”

  “But, Danny, lizards move. Why would you pick a lizard as a landmark?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Gut instinct?”

  “And who hides seven million dollars in the ground and doesn’t draw a map? Even pirates know to draw maps when they bury their treasure.”

  I grinned at her. “Are you comparing me to a pirate?”

  “Aye, Captain!” she said with a laugh.

  “Oh my God,” I groaned, palming my forehead. “No worries, lassie. I know exactly whar I hid me gold.”

  “Then get to finding it, Captain Drunk, because we’re running out of time.” She looked at her watch. “We’ve only got thirty minutes left to get to the Harbor Street Park.”

  I sighed and looked out across the jungle. I was sure I’d counted twenty paces from my bedroom window to the tree and then twenty paces to the right. I must have swerved somewhere along the way. It had been dark when I’d buried it, after all.

  I backed up and recounted my paces from the tree at more of an angle this time. When I did, I landed next to another tree where an enormous lizard stood, seemingly asleep. Next to him was a pile of fallen palm fronds. I cracked myself over the head with the butt of my hand. “Oh!” I called out to Francesca across the jungle. “I forgot! I covered up the dirt with palm fronds. I found it!”

  She jogged over to me and came to a screeching halt when she saw the lizard. “Oh, wow. That is a big lizard. I can’t believe he’s still here.”

  “I told ya,” I said as I used my shovel to move all the debris off the mound. “I had a gut feeling that this was the place to put the money.” I began to work at unburying the treasure.

  She tipped her head sideways. “This lizard doesn’t look so good.”

  I stopped shoveling for a moment to look at the lizard. “Mmm. Pretty sure that’s how lizards look.”

  “Maybe he’s dead?”

  I started shoveling again. “You’re asking the wrong guy. I have absolutely zero skills in lizard care.”

  Francesca squatted down and poked a finger into the lizard’s side. His whole body tipped over stiffly. “Yeah. He’s dead.”

  An exposed handle in the sand made me smile. “Found it.”

  “You didn’t bury it very deep.”

  “It was dark when I buried it, and I was in a hurry.” I grabbed hold of the handle and gave a tug. Sand fell away as I slung it over my shoulder. “Okay. We got the money. Let’s go.”

  She looked up at me sharply. “But what about the lizard?”

  “What about him?”

  “He’s dead!”

  I stared at her like a cow stares at a new gate. “And?”

  “Danny! We can’t just leave him out here.”

  I furrowed my brows. “Of course we can. He was dead before we got here and he’ll be dead for years to come.”

  “But he deserves a proper burial. Look at him! He’s gotta be at least twenty years old! Something that’s been around that long deserves to be properly honored.”

  “Are you kidding me right now, Frankie? We gotta be at the Harbor Street Park in less than thirty min
utes and you wanna give this lizard, whom we’ve never met before, a proper burial?”

  She tipped her head sideways and gave me one of those pleading looks that women do so well. “Please, Danny?”

  I was pretty sure no man on earth could resist that look. My shoulders slumped forward. “Okay, how about this? When all of this is over and we’re not trying to save Al and Pam’s life, I’ll come back here with you and we’ll give the lizard a proper burial. Deal?”

  She looked down at him and sighed. Then she stood up and dusted off her knees. “Deal.”

  43

  The Harbor Street Park was located in the busy downtown area just across the street from Paradise Elementary School. A fountain sat in the center of the park with six cobblestone sidewalks radiating out from it like rays from the sun. The wedges of grass between the sidewalks housed palm trees, park benches, and picnic tables, and on one end of the park was a swath of children’s playground equipment.

  Chickens pecked at the ground, roaming the area freely, and a few dog walkers were out, enjoying the morning sun. Around the park, several vagrants claimed benches as their own. Some fed the chickens, others napped. A food truck was parked along the curb. Captain Vinnie’s Surf & Turf was painted in scrawling reds, yellows, and blues along the side. The scent of fried fish overpowered the scent of the yellow-and-white frangipanis skirting the park’s northern perimeter.

  I wandered the sidewalks, the duffle bag of real money now hanging heavily from my shoulder. It was much heavier than the fake bag of money I’d given to ponytail man. At this point in the game, I was fully prepared to do whatever it would take to get Al and Pam back, and that meant finally turning over the money. I gave a skittish glance across the park at the parking lot across the street, where Francesca was seated inside her vehicle. Even though I had pulled my eyes away, I could still feel hers following me as I paced the sidewalks, waiting for the call.

  I glanced down at my watch. “Any minute,” I whispered under my breath. My stomach was a mess, and my heart beat wildly in my chest. All I could think about was how to get Al back. What would my options be?

  The phone finally rang. I sent a furtive glance around the park before answering it, my eyes finally rested on the food truck across the street.

  “Drunk here.”

  “Daniel. Good of you to come.”

  “I wanna speak to Al.”

  “Al’s unavailable at the moment.”

  I took four long strides towards the parking lot. “Then I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to play this game with you. I need to know he’s alright first.” I kept walking.

  Dexter was silent for a few beats. When my feet finally hit the outer sidewalk surrounding the park, he sighed. “You are such a pain in my ass, Daniel!”

  “It’s what I do best,” I promised. “Put Al on, or I leave right now and you never see your money.”

  “Al’s not feeling so well right now,” said Dexter. “But here, I’ll let you talk to someone else.”

  There was some background static and the next thing I knew, Pam was on the phone. “Danny? Is that you?”

  My heart soared. Pam was still alive! “Pam? You’re okay?”

  “No, I’m freaking out, Danny! They said this is your last chance to give them the money. If they don’t get it, they’re killing me. They have a friend of yours. Al?”

  My knees buckled. I had to fall to a park bench nearby. “Oh my God. Is Al alright? Have you seen him?”

  “They cut his finger off, Danny!” she sobbed. “There was so much blood!”

  “But is he okay now? Is he alive?”

  Pam’s voice was shaky. “Y-yeah, he’s still alive. He’s right here with me. He’s knocked out. T-they gave him something.”

  “I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get the two of you back, Pam.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear, Daniel.”

  “Let them go!” I hollered. My raised voice garnering a look from a nearby homeless man.

  “In time, Daniel. In time. First things first. Turn around.”

  I stood up and turned around. My heart throbbed against the inside of my chest.

  “Follow the sidewalk to the other side of the park. I want you to keep walking until you get to the Harbor Street Pier. Understand?”

  “I’m not familiar with this area. How far is it?”

  “It’s only about a five-minute walk,” he said. “When you get there, I’ll call you.”

  The line went dead.

  Fuck.

  The adrenaline in my veins raced wildly out of control as my anger seethed in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to lay a fist into Dexter’s face so badly that my hand ached.

  I threw as casual of a glance as I could muster over my shoulder towards Francesca. She was still seated in her car. My hands shook as I looked down at my phone and turned on the eavesdropping app once again, then slid my phone into the front pocket of my shirt.

  “I’m headed to the Harbor Street Pier. He said it’s only about a five-minute walk,” I said aloud as if I were talking to myself.

  I took off towards the pier.

  My long legs made the walk take less than three minutes. There was a parking lot that faced the water with a dock for putting in small fishing boats. I stood at the end of the pier and looked around. There were a handful of vehicles in the parking lot. Each had an attached empty boat trailer. The water looked calm, but there wasn’t a single boat in sight.

  My phone rang again.

  “Yeah?”

  “Finally, you’re following directions.”

  My eyes scanned the area as I turned in circles. Wherever he was watching me from, I couldn’t see.

  “What now?”

  “In a hurry?” Dexter chuckled.

  “I want Pam and Al back. Al’s missing a finger. He needs to be taken to a hospital.”

  “Mmm,” purred Dexter. “Alright. Do you see that brick building to your right?”

  I glanced in the direction Dexter was talking about. “The bathroom?”

  “Yes. Leave the money under the sink in the men’s room. Then head back to the Harbor Street Park. I’ll call you with further directions.”

  The phone went dead again.

  I crumpled. I hated the idea of leaving seven million dollars in a stall in a park men’s room. But I felt like I had no other choice. I followed his directions and opened the door. “Hello?” my voice echoed off the walls.

  There was no answer.

  I put the money under the dingy porcelain sink’s corroded plumbing and then sprinted out of there and towards the park. “I’m headed back to the Harbor Street Park, Frankie. He’s going to give me directions to get Pam and Al when I get there. Be ready to pick me up.”

  My legs carried me as fast as they could back to the park. When I got there, I almost couldn’t breathe I was so winded. Doubled over, I sucked in air while waiting for my phone to ring. Finally, it rang. “Okay. I’m going to need some time to go through the money to make sure you haven’t fucked with it again. You have exactly thirty minutes from now to get to the courtesy phone in the lobby of the Seacoast Majestic. I will call you there with the exact whereabouts of your friends.”

  When the phone went dead, I raced towards the parking lot across the street. I could see Francesca behind the wheel. I waved at her wildly.

  She pulled the car into the street and I jumped inside, barely having time to slam my door before she took off again.

  “We have thirty minutes to get to the courtesy phone in the Seacoast Majestic lobby. He’s going to give us the location of Pam and Al from there. Let’s go!”

  44

  While working the front counter, Mariposa and Alicia didn’t even pretend to try and hide the fact that they had their eyes glued to Francesca and me as we leaned against the wall, flanking either side of the courtesy phone in the lobby. It was funny; I’d worked for the Seacoast Majestic for almost two full months and this was the first time I’d even realized there was a phone in
the lobby. And now here I was, waiting for one of the most important phone calls of my life in front of it.

  I glanced down at my watch. “He should’ve called by now.” We’d already been standing there for twenty minutes, but it had been a full fifty minutes since I’d last spoken to Dexter and he’d only given us thirty minutes to get there. It wasn’t like him to be this late with a phone call. My stomach twisted nervously.

  Francesca rolled from her shoulder to her back against the wall. “He said he was checking the money out first. Maybe it’s just taking longer than he thought.”

  “Like it really takes that long to flip through some stacks of bills?” I shook my head. I took a couple steps forward, rolled my head around on my neck, bent at the waist and bounced slightly, touching my toes. I wanted to make the gnawing in the pit of my stomach go away. “No. Something’s not right. I can feel it in my gut.”

  “That’s just nerves,” she said. “I feel it too.”

  “It’s not nerves. He should’ve called by now. I think he’s double-crossing me again.” Adrenaline pulsed through my veins. I wanted to come unglued on Dexter. I wanted to put my fist into his face so badly that I could almost feel the bristle of his beard against my knuckles. “Can you call Solo and see if he’s heard anything about the yacht? They have the money now. We can’t let them get out of local waters.”

  I didn’t have to ask her twice. Francesca pulled her phone from the back pocket of her shorts and dialed. “Hey, Solo, it’s me. I’m just checking to see if you’ve heard anything about that yacht?” She spent the next thirty seconds uh-huhing, ohhing, and okaying him.

  When she finally hung up I stared at her. “Well?”

  “He said he was just about to call me. The yacht’s been spotted. You were right. They’re headed out to sea.”

  “Oh my God,” I breathed, my head rolling back on my shoulders. “This is really, really bad. What if they’re taking Al and Pam with them? That is, if they aren’t already dead. What are we gonna do?”

  “Solo’s got us covered. He’s already spoken to Miguel and the rest of the guys. They’re bringing the boat back in. He said they’ll have it fueled up and ready to go by the time we get there.”