It was over in seconds. Jones lay on the floor and Duggan stood over him with the gun. “Now you’ll give me the locations,” he threatened.
“I need more convincing,” Jones replied with gritted teeth.
***
Jones was now tied to a straight-back chair. Duggan was inspecting the blade of the very sharp knife in his hand. He wanted Jones to be afraid. All he got was a sneer.
“You know, we were taught to use this knife to inflict incredible pain. Are you ready, Jones?”
“Stop,” Jones pleaded. “I’ll talk.” It was a ruse, but Duggan didn’t know it.
“That’s better,” Duggan said. “So, where is the list of the locations of the banks? Don’t try to trick me again. You’ve had your one chance.”
“Untie me first,” Jones demanded.
Duggan moved forward and used the knife to slice a piece of the old man’s ear off. He howled in pain. “There are many parts of you that I can remove without killing you. Would you like me to further demonstrate?”
“Look in the top drawer of the hutch over there. It has the key to my safe deposit box. You need me to go there with you. If you kill me, you get nothing,” Jones growled.
“That’s better,” Duggan replied. He strolled over to the hutch and noticed that Jones was cringing as he pulled open the drawer. He saw the key and grabbed it. His mind had just registered that there was a live stun grenade in the drawer when it went off. It was his fourth surprise of the night.
When he finally regained consciousness, his eyes burned and he could not open them. He bled from both ears and could not hear anything. He had numerous cuts, with rock salt enhancing the pain, and now he had a dislocated shoulder and a huge bump on his head from the impact of the grenade. He was in sorry shape, but the key was still in his hand.
He forced one eye open and struggled to his feet. Everything was a blur as tears flooded his eye socket. He staggered into the kitchen, found the sink, and applied cold water to his ravaged eyes. He could only use his left arm; the right hung limply at his side. Eventually, he could see and decided that he could stand the pain in his eyes. The first thing he did was check on Hal Jones. He snuck a peek into the living room and saw Jones lying facedown on the floor. He was pretty sure Jones was dead, but his whole body hurt so badly that he could think of nothing but to get away from the house and get medical attention. He groped his way out the broken door and into the night.
Chapter Seventy-Seven
Dinner on the ship was fine. Colt did feel a little underdressed in his open shirt and trousers, but no one looked at him. Loni was the center of attention. The captain even came over and bought a drink for the table while lightly touching her back. Then came the maitre d’, the captain of the waiters, and even a chef, all checking to see if she was satisfied with the service and food. Colt couldn’t tell if they were all checking out a hot chick, or just being nice. He got his answer when the waiter mentioned that he had seen Loni on the top deck that afternoon.
Finally, the meal ended and they walked back to the room, hand in hand.
“You shower first,” she said. “It will take me a little while to get ready.” The implication in her voice was clear. Colt showered, shaved, and returned in a towel in seven minutes flat.
“I sleep in the nude,” he informed her.
“Yes, I know,” she replied. “I bought a little negligee. Should I wear it?” She laughed. Her laugh told Colt that he had to see her in it.
“Only if you model it for me,” he replied.
“Oh, I will,” she promised, and closed the bathroom door.
Colt was very excited. This was like seeing his team in the Super Bowl, winning the lottery, and buying a new car, all at once. No, he thought, this was better. He actually loved her and that made him content. The last few days with her had made him feel like he was twenty years old again. His dormant sexual drive was replaced by a yearning that was beyond a physical need. He wanted to show her how much he cared for her. His mind was filled with images of lustful things. His body had a life of its own.
Something made him think of Wolf.
“Wolf, can you rest your eyes now?” Banyon pleaded.
“Something has happened,” Wolf replied.
“Can’t you see that I am focused on something else now?”
“Nothing can be done until tomorrow, anyway,” the ghost relented. “But talk to me in the morning.”
“Sure thing,” Banyon happily responded.
Loni had been in the bathroom for over twenty minutes. Colt grew more excited by the minute. He was considering marching into the bathroom and taking her right there. Finally, she said, “Here I come,” and flung the door open.
Colt had turned off the lights in the cabin in preparation for bed. A yellow shaft now spotlighted the middle of the cabin, and Loni walked into it. The negligee was sheer. He could see her silhouette and the complete outline of her body. The material drifted like smoke around her. She had nothing on underneath. She took his breath away.
“Well, say something.”
“Forget the modeling. Just come to bed right now,” he said out of need.
“Oh, I love when you take charge,” she cooed. She raced over to the bed and threw back the covers.
“You seem happy to see me,” she noted with a huge smile on her face. “On your back, please,” she requested. She then slipped into the bed and rested her head on his shoulder, just as she had done earlier in the day. Her hand rested on his chest. Colt was in bliss—until he realized she was sound asleep on his shoulder.
Chapter Seventy-Eight
A noise awakened Colt. Someone was knocking on the cabin door. He opened his eyes and tried to gather himself. Loni was half on top of him; she’d hardly moved all night. The knocking continued.
“Just a minute,” he called.
It took him a minute to disengage himself from the sleeping beauty. He climbed over her small body, careful not to put his weight on her, and rolled out of bed. He looked for his swim trunks and headed for the door.
The frustration of last night bit him like a bulldog before he finished pulling up his trunks. He knew she was very tired; he was, too. But some things were a priority. She had seemed fine up until she put her head on his shoulder. Then, she was dead to the world. He had waited quietly for several minutes and then removed her hand. He resolved to be more patient with her until he explained what he expected from her. Titillation without satisfaction made Colt an unhappy camper. His mood was decidedly dark.
“Who is it?” he growled.
“Why, it’s Sofia Kerns,” a voice replied.
He opened the door to find Sofia dressed in a bright pink workout suit that complemented her tall, thin body. The glow of sweat covered her face. Her hair was in a ponytail. For an eighty-year-old woman, she looked great.
“Oh,” she said. “I was expecting to talk to Loni. Is she around, dear?”
“Loni is still asleep,” he replied in an unpleasant tone. “What can I do for you, Sofia?”
“I was up on the deck getting some exercise and remembered something which might be important. I wanted to tell you and Loni about it. Did you have a nice evening?”
“Dinner was fine,” he replied with a look as hard as a rock.
“Who is it?” Loni suddenly appeared at his elbow. She was still half-asleep and failed to realize that her covering was a sheer negligee.
“Wow,” Sofia exclaimed. “If I was twenty years younger, I would jump on you, too.”
A look of terror registered on Loni’s face, followed by attempts to cover up with her hands and forced Colt to step in front of Loni. She fled to the bathroom. Sofia could see the look of annoyance that was plastered on Colt’s face.
“When you are ready, why don’t you come to my cabin for breakfast?” she offered. “We can talk about what I remembered then.” She could tell that something wasn’t right with them and wondered if the tips that she had given Loni were too professional.
&n
bsp; “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” he responded.
“Take your time,” she said.
“Fifteen minutes,” he repeated loud enough for Loni to hear. Then he stepped back and slammed the door.
Loni quickly came out of the bathroom. She was completely nude now. She ran to the bed, leaped onto the sheets, and spread her legs. “Come on Colt, let’s get this over with. I can’t stand it anymore. I want you to be happy.”
“I’m not a robot,” he said sarcastically. “I’ll take eight minutes to get ready. That will give you seven minutes in the bathroom after I’m done. If you are not ready, I’ll go without you.”
He grabbed some clothes and slammed the bathroom door, just as she started to cry.
As he showered, he wondered if he had been too hard on her. It wasn’t her fault that she was exhausted. Sure, he was frustrated. But what was new about that? This was all new ground for both of them. He didn’t want her to think their relationship was dependent on her sexual ability. They were way past that. After all, they had become reliant on each other and that bond was more important than sex. Most of the time, anyway.
“Loni,” he yelled. “Why don’t you come and shower with me? It will save time, you know.”
“I’m glad that you are so practical,” she said as the shower curtain opened and she entered.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
They walked arm in arm to Sofia’s suite. The shower had taken longer than the allotted seven minutes, but was worth it. They didn’t have real sex in the shower, but did a lot of exploring. Neither wanted their first union to be high-schoolish. Colt told her he would never complain about not having sex again. She told him that she would. She then giggled.
“Honestly, Colton, if we don’t have sex today, I’m going to explode.” He realized she called him Colton whenever she wanted to make a point.
“I’m overbooked,” he replied. “I’ll see if I can fit you in.”
“Don’t you have that backwards?” she flirted. “That’s my line.”
Sofia answered on the first knock. She scanned both of them for an indication of their moods. She was relieved to see smiles on their faces. She then admonished them for being late.
“We got lost,” Colt told her.
“Well, come on in, then. We have things to talk about. I had breakfast delivered.” Sofia ushered them over to a table heaped with food. Plates of fruit, pastries, and Eggs Benedict were arranged at each place setting. Ceramic pots contained coffee and tea.
“Just a little something I whipped up,” she quipped. She was clearly trying to please them.
They chatted like old friends throughout breakfast. Sofia asked how they had met and listened attentively to every detail. Loni did most of the talking and Colt was amused by her point of view. She went on about how she had tried to get him to notice her, but he was too busy with manly things. She talked about her jealously, particularly of the Patel sisters, her feeling of inadequacy, and her ability to make boneheaded mistakes around him, like she had this morning when Sofia was at the door. Colt was very gracious and said Loni was more than he could ever expect in a woman. Both Sofia and Loni sighed after that statement. After an hour of chitchat, Colt decided to ask a question.
“Sofia, you said that you remembered something which might be important. What did you remember?”
“Actually, it was two things, and I know that at least one is important.”
“We are all ears,” Loni said, amazing Banyon by producing the tape recorder again.
“Which do you want first?” she inquired.
“You pick,” Colt quickly replied. He was aware Sofia had a tendency to be long-winded in her stories, but there was only one other thing he wanted to accomplish that day.
“Do you remember me mentioning that Constable Cho gave me a good-bye present?” she asked.
“Yes, of course,” Colt replied, even though he didn’t.
Sofia got up and went to a cabinet. She soon returned with a brightly colored box. She opened the box, took out a thin book, and set it on the table. “This is the present.”
“What is it?” Colt asked.
“It was meant to be a diary. The pages are blank. Cho gave it to me so that I could fill it with my thoughts and send it back to him. He put his address on the inside. See?” She opened the book and showed them the address in Chinese on the inside cover.
“That seems a bid arrogant of him, doesn’t it?” Loni asked.
“Well, you have met him, haven’t you? Anyway, when he gave me the book he also told me that a German man had come looking for Eva about six months after she died.”
“That would be George Gerut,” Colt interrupted.
“That’s right. George asked about me, but Constable Cho knew some of our history with the Gerut family, and didn’t give him any information. Actually, he didn’t know where I was at the time, but pretended that he could get a message to me.”
“Did George leave a message for you?” Colt asked.
“Of course, silly. That is why I am telling you this. Constable Cho even wrote it down. It was an address in America. He put it in this book to keep for me.”
“An address in America?” Colt was suddenly alert.
Sofia turned the page in the blank book and a message written in Chinese appeared. Loni read it and translated.
Dearest Sofia,
I am deeply saddened by Eva’s death. I know that you must be very worried about your future. If this message reaches you, please go to the address in this message. Bring the book and I will take care of you—forever.
With deepest sympathy,
George
“Cho didn’t give me the message until I was getting on the ship for America. I guess he was afraid for me or something,” Sofia commented.
“Colt, you will never guess in what city the address is located,” Loni said.
“It’s Jacksonville, Florida,” he stated.
“How could you possibly know?” Loni was stunned.
“Because that is where Hal Jones lives.”
“So you were right about him. He’s a spy,” Loni said.
“He also holds the key to the locations of the bank accounts. He wasn’t a bystander at the FBI sting; he was the actual buyer. The lawyer works for him, and is a white supremacist. It all fits.”
“We have the account codes. Maybe we should go visit Mr. Jones.,” Loni began to bounce with excitement.
“Or maybe we should tell the FBI and let them handle it,” Colt said. “Remember, someone broke into our computers. If they made a copy of my hard drive, they also have the codes.”
“At least we can find out if it’s Jones before we send in the FBI,” Loni reasoned. “If it’s Jones, he will be long gone. Then we can call in the FBI.”
“Makes sense to me,” Colt said. He started to get up to leave. Loni was already half way to the door.
“I’ll go change our airline tickets and—”
That was as far as she got before Sofia interrupted. “Don’t you want to hear my other news?” Sofia pleaded.
Loni and Colt immediate turned around, returned to their seats like schoolchildren, and sat passively.
“Yes, we sure do,” Colt smiled. He was itching to take off and make plans, but Sofia had been nice to him, so he sat.
“I remembered the name that the Japanese commandant called the plant,” she proudly announced.
“What is it?” Loni asked.
They both leaned forward and hung on her every word.
“I was thinking hard about it last night, but could not remember. But this morning as I was exercising up on the top deck, I saw a little boy.” Both Loni and Colt leaned back in preparation for an extended version of the story.
“He was making an awful racket blowing in to some small instrument. I think that it is called a ‘kazoo’. Then it hit me.”
“What hit you?” Colt asked.
“The name hit me. The name the commandant used was kudzu.” Sofia sat
back with a satisfied look, her arms crossed and her head high.
Loni had a perplexed look on her face and Colt shook his head. “Are you sure that the name was kudzu?” Colt asked.
“Positive,” Sofia said.
“Sofia, kudzu is plant that grows wild all over the American Southeast. It does grow very fast, but it is considered a nuisance plant. Are you sure that kudzu is the plant that you remember?”
“I worked with it for several years. I know kudzu was what they called it.” She had turned stubborn now.
“Well, there is one way to find out,” Loni said. “Let me at a computer.”
“You go and prove me correct, my dear. But how will you do that?” Sofia asked.
“I don’t know yet. Colt, meet me in the cybercafé in an hour,” she said as she raced for the door.
Chapter Eighty
Colt and Sofia sat at the table for a few minutes. Then she suggested they walk out to the balcony. She lit a cigarette as soon as she crossed the threshold. Colt joined her.
“Are you upset with me because I showed Loni some professional sex tricks?” Sofia asked.
Colt was stunned. “What? You taught what?”
“Don’t be shocked, we all need a little extra something once in a while. I was just trying to help.”
“Well she didn’t use any on me last night,” he stated.
“Pity,” Sofia replied.
“And no, I’m not upset with you. We have been having this problem in getting on the same timetable, if you know what I mean.”
Sofia now switched subjects. “So, how long have you heard voices?”
“What do you mean?” Colt replied, alarm creeping into his voice.
“I’ve heard them since my sister died back in 1942. They come and they go. Sometimes they are rhymes and sometimes they are warnings. It’s as if someone has been watching over me all these years. You don’t think that I was able to survive in that hell-hole of China during the war without some help, do you?”
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