by Mac Fortner
My mind was reeling. I did want us to give it a try, but I still wasn’t sure about her. This would, however, give me a chance to find out one way or the other.
“Sure,” I heard myself say hesitantly.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I said more assuredly.
“Great. Where are you? I’ll come and get you, and we’ll go have brunch somewhere.”
“Why don’t I just meet you at the Harpoon Café in twenty minutes?”
“Alright. I’ll see you then.”
“Goodbye,” I said, but she had already hung up.
Chapter 68
The Harpoon Café was only a block away. I paid my tab and carefully stepped out of my hiding place and onto the sidewalk.
Looking both ways, like a good scout, I crossed the street and made my way down the block. I knew I would be like a needle in a haystack for the FBI to find. I felt reasonably safe for now.
I called Diane to tell her about the latest development. Her cell phone rang six times and then went to voice mail. I hung up. That was unusual for her. She knew I was going to call her.
The Harpoon Café was in the next block. I slowed my steps and slid inside a doorway. I thought it was best not to enter until Jenny did. I had a good view of the front door from here but was hidden from view to anyone entering the café.
Fifteen minutes went by when a black SUV stopped three doors down from the café, and two suited men got out.
They crossed the street to the café and entered. A minute later, they came back out and looked up and down the street. I slid back in the doorway further.
They were most definitely the FBI. How did they find me so fast?
I then remembered how they had tapped my phone in New York. I took my phone from my pocket and dropped it in a trashcan next to the door. I could always get a burn phone.
~*~
Jenny sat in her car and watched the FBI enter the café and return. Cam wasn’t with them. She surveyed the street. It was busy with tourists, but she saw him standing in a doorway a block away.
~*~
I left the safety of the doorway and hurriedly walked back in the direction I had come from.
I had gone a block when a horn honked, and I saw Jenny waving at me.
“Hey, Cam, hop in,” she said.
I did.
“I saw you walking so I thought I’d pick you up.”
“Thanks,” I said, and kissed her on the cheek.
“Why were you walking away from the restaurant? Did you change your mind?”
“No, of course not. I forgot my cell phone and was going to run back down to the bar to get it.”
“The bar? So early?” she teased.
She stopped in front of it, and I went in supposedly to retrieve my cell phone. I stood inside a moment, watching her through the window.
I returned to her car and told her my phone was gone.
“Well that sucks,” she said.
“Yeah. You can’t leave anything lying around these days.”
“Do you still feel like breakfast?”
“Sure, I’m hungry. What about you?”
“Fine by me. How about my house? I have bacon and eggs in the fridge.”
“Let’s go,” I said, welcoming normalcy back into my life for a few minutes.
Chapter 69
I watched Jenny working in the kitchen. She looked lovely in the way she orchestrated the simple task of preparing breakfast. I was now officially hooked on her. She turned and smiled at me.
“What are you looking at?” she said.
That instantly reminded me of Diane. I needed to try to get in touch with her again.
I smiled but didn’t say anything. She turned back to her cooking.
“May I borrow your phone,” I asked. “I need to call Diane.”
“Sure,” she said, retrieving her phone from her purse.
“Thank you. I’ll only be a minute.”
I walked to the back porch and dialed Diane’s number. Still no answer after four rings. I then heard an incoming call and automatically looked at the caller ID. W. Buck was printed across the screen.
What was that about, I wondered? I ignored the call and let the phone ring for Diane four more times. Still no answer.
I returned to the kitchen and laid the phone down on the table.
“Any luck?” Jenny asked.
“No, she still doesn’t answer, but you missed a call while I was trying,” I said. “Sorry I don’t know who it was,” I lied.
She picked up her phone and checked her missed calls.
“My partner in Michigan,” she said. “They’re not too crazy about the fact I didn’t show up for the meeting.”
“I hope you’re not going to have trouble because you stayed here with me. You know you can go back for a week and then we can pick up where we left off.”
“I just don’t want to leave you.”
“It’s only a week.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
She placed the bacon and eggs on a plate and set it on the table.
“Pour yourself some juice, and I’ll return this call real quick. I’ll be right back,” and she walked to the back porch.
I busied myself eating breakfast and wondering what her business with Sheriff Buck could be. Whatever it was, she didn’t want me to know.
If Buck was following up on my hunch, I don’t think he would just call her, and why was his name entered in her phone book?
“You must have been hungry,” she said from behind me as she came back in the kitchen.
I looked down at my plate. It was empty. I hadn’t even noticed I’d finished.
‘I’m sorry. I should have waited for you. I didn’t even know I was eating.”
She laughed, “That’s okay. Would you like some more?”
“No thanks. I think I had better get going. I need to find Diane.”
“Oh, don’t go yet,” she said.
“I really need to,” I said, getting up.
She put her arms around me and gave me a long, sensual kiss on the lips.
“Are you sure you need to go,” she said in a sultry voice.
I thought about it for a moment and then pulled her arms away. “Yes, I’m afraid I have to, but please remember where we left off for when I return.”
“I will,” she said. “Do you want a ride?”
“No, I think I’ll walk back to her house and get my car.”
“Okay, be careful,” she said in what sounded like a worried voice.
~*~
I’d walked out the front door and down the street a block and a half when Sheriff Buck pulled up beside me in his car.
I waved, and he motioned for me to get in. I didn’t have much choice so opened the door and took a seat next to the large man.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Cam, I’m sorry, but I have a warrant for your arrest.”
“On what charges?”
“It seems the insurance investigators think you blew up your boat to collect the insurance. That means Tom Burnikel’s death was murder, even if you didn’t know he was there.”
“That’s crazy. I didn’t blow up my own boat.”
“Maybe not, but right now you have to come with me.”
I was in shock. How could this happen?
“Do I need to cuff you, or will you come peacefully?”
“I’ll go with you. I’ll be out in a few hours,” I said, already planning my defense.
“I’m not going to take you to the jailhouse. I’m taking you to my own house. I don’t want to ruin your reputation until we’re sure. I owe you that much. We’ve been friends for a long time.”
That really seemed strange to me. How was he going to explain to the court that he’d executed the warrant?
We pulled into his garage, and the door closed behind us.
“Let’s go,” he said, getting out.
I followed him into the house. Jenny was sitting
on the sofa.
Chapter 70
Lieutenant Utley had his binoculars trained on the fifty-two-foot, Tiger.
“It’s been sitting there for a full day now,” Utley said to agent McComas of the FBI, “and we haven’t seen any sign of life.”
“They’re still there. They’re just laying low until the time comes. Let me see your binoculars,” he said, pulling them from Utley’s grasp.
McComas put the binoculars to his eyes and watched the Tiger.
“They’re probably below deck watching…Oh!” he yelled. “It just blew up.”
A second later, they heard the explosion and shortly after felt the concussion.
“What the hell,” Utley said. “Give me those binoculars.”
McComas handed them back without taking his eyes off the boat, now a ball of fire.
“Shit,” Utley said.
He turned to the first mate, “Get that anchor up and tell Hollencamp to head for the boat.”
He then grabbed his mic and announced, “Man fire stations. Be ready to pump jets.”
“Not much need for that, Lieutenant,” McComas said. “The boat is gone.”
Utley turned back to look. He held his binoculars an inch below his eyes and peered over the top at the spot where the fifty-two-foot Tiger had been. It was gone, only a small flame coming from what was left of it.
Utley picked up his cell phone and called Sanchez.
~*~
“What do you mean gone?” Sanchez asked excitedly.
“It blew up and sank. We’re on the way, but I don’t think we’re going to find anyone,” Utley said, waiting for the yelling to begin.
“You didn’t see any other boats approach it did you?”
“Not a thing. We’ve been watching it constantly.”
“Shit. If they got off, we don’t have any idea where they are.”
“We’re approaching now. I’ll call you back,” Utley said and hung up.
~*~
Six hours earlier:
Amar stepped onto the first rung of the ladder leading to the wooden dock. He climbed up and turned so Kasim could hand him a bag. Amar laid it on the dock and helped Kasim up the ladder.
Together, they removed their wetsuits and tanks. They tied them together and dropped them into a weighted bag that had been waiting for them on the dock. Kasim dropped the bag into the water and watched it sink.
Picking up their bag, Kasim held it open for Amar.
He reached in and removed their wallets and a hard case containing seven hundred thousand dollars.
“Let’s go,” Amar said.
The white van was waiting for them right where they were told it would be. Amar checked the wheel well and found the keys.
“It’s a beautiful night,” Amar said, looking up to the heavens.
Chapter 71
Sanchez called agent Wootton into his office. If they were going to have any chance of stopping the bombing now, they had to find Amar.
Sanchez filled Wootton in on what had happened.
“I want you to go to the dock area closest to where the boat blew up and see if you can turn up any surveillance cameras,” Sanchez said. “Check all the businesses in the area. If they got off the boat, it was between ten o’clock last night and eleven today.”
“Alright, I’ll put some men on it. Do we have any idea what area the bomb might be in?”
“No, I’m waiting for agent Anderson to check in. We might know something by this evening. Meantime, I’m going down to the dock area myself. I’ll check all penetration points and see if I can find a clue as to where they might have come ashore.”
“Have you warned Quantico yet?” Wootton asked.
“No. I didn’t want to cause an alert, but I think I might have to now.”
“Contact Commander Bosse. He’s a straight shooter and is in command of the base. I think we should also contact Ted Trueblood. He knows Buck as well as anyone. He might be able to give us a little insight.”
~*~
Sanchez called Quantico and asked for Commander Bosse.
“Yes,” Bosse said in a gruff voice.
“Commander, this is Special Agent in Charge Carlos Sanchez, of the FBI.”
“What can I do for you, Mister Sanchez?”
“Do you remember William Buck?”
There was a pause on Bosse’s end.
“Why do you want to know?” Bosse eventually said.
“I have reason to believe that he and Amar Mustafa are planning to blow you and Trueblood and the rest of the base to smithereens.”
“You have my full attention. I know him.”
“We were following Amar but lost him. He is somewhere in Miami. We think he is there to purchase a bomb big enough for the job.”
“He’s purchasing a bomb, and you lost him,” Bosse said sharply.
“He’s good, but that’s beside the point. The point is, we need to protect your base.”
“He’s not going to get on this base. We have top-notch security,” Bosse said.
“Did you or did you not send William Buck an invitation to a squadron reunion?”
“Well, yeah. We sent one to everybody from our platoon.”
“There you go. Buck doesn’t have to sneak onto the base. He was invited.”
“What makes you think they want to blow up the base?”
“They’ve been planning an attack for eight years. They were planning it while they were in Iraq.”
“Why didn’t you stop them earlier?”
“We didn’t know what the target was until last week. They probably didn’t even know what they were going to hit until recently.
“Why are they getting the bomb all the way down in Miami if they are planning to use it here? Couldn’t they get one closer to Quantico?”
“We’ve been asking ourselves that very same question. All I can tell you is our information comes from a member of their group,” Sanchez said.
“Can you count on that info?”
“No, not entirely, but that’s all we have.”
“What if they are planning to blow something up between Miami and Quantico and they just want you to think it’s here?”
“That’s a possibility, but we can’t protect the whole east coast.”
“Does it concern you at all that the President and his family are arriving at Miami Beach in two days’ time for vacation, and that the president himself will be playing golf at the Miami Beach Golf Club?”
“We’ve got it covered.”
“And the presidential Yacht?”
“Safe also,” Sanchez said.
“You know he would be a more likely target than us.”
“Of course we know that. We have very tight security appointed for him.”
“Tight enough for a very large bomb?” Bosse asked.
Chapter 72
“Hello Jenny,” I said. “Imagine seeing you here.”
“It’s not what you think, Cam.”
“I saw your caller ID earlier. I know Buck called you and you called him back. Why did you turn me in? I would have come in on my own accord if I had known there was a warrant for my arrest.”
“There is no warrant for you, Cam,” Buck said.
“Then why am I here?”
“You’ve gotten too close to the truth. It was only a matter of time before you would have been telling the FBI that Jenny was involved in the boat jacking.”
“Then it’s true. You are involved in it,” I said to Jenny.
“You could say that,” she said.
“And all of this between us, what was that all about? Just wanting to keep an eye on me?”
“It started that way, but I really do have feelings for you now.”
“Screw you,” I said to her, pointing my middle finger to the sky for emphasis.
I could see a tear forming in her eye. She looked away and dabbed at it with a tissue.
“What did you do with Jack?” I demanded.
Buck said, “T
hat was most unfortunate. Jack had some key evidence against us that he wasn’t willing to share.”
“And you,” I said, pointing to Buck, “You were in this from the beginning, along with Bill and Susan Crane.”
“Now you know. I knew you’d figure it out eventually. That’s why I had to bring you here,” Buck said.
“So now you’re going to kill me to keep me quiet.”
“No, that’s not the plan. We’re just going to keep you here for a couple of days and then you will be free to go.”
“You can’t do that, and I know it.”
“Yes, we can,” Jenny said. “I’ll be long gone, and Juba will be…”
“That’s right, Cam, I’ll be dead. I’ll be known as a suicide bomber.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was too much to take in. Jenny was in a plot to blow up…what? And Buck was going to kill himself to do it.
“What are you going to blow up?” I asked but wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“Quantico,” Jenny said.
Buck laughed. “All those miserable Marines who thought they had the right to kill my Farrah and then laugh about it. Amar, Farah’s father, is going to help me. He is getting the bomb as we speak.”
“You’re not going to get away with this, Willie, or Juba or whatever name you want to be called. I’ll make sure the world knows how you killed all those innocent people just to get their boats. They won’t immortalize you. You’ll go down as a terrorist.”
“Yes, that is what I am,” Buck said.
Then a terrible thought hit me, “What did you do with Diane?”
“We don’t have her,” Buck said. “I would never harm her.”
~*~
Diane sat in the FBI office in Miami. She didn’t know why she was here, but she knew Cam was in some danger.
Sanchez entered the room. “Hello, Diane, I’m Agent Sanchez.”
“Why am I here and where is Cam?”