by Mac Fortner
Stacy did as Buck asked. She shrugged at me.
“Hello, Cam. Can you hear me?”
I said nothing.
“Very well,” he continued, “I thought you might want to know that I have Jenny with me. Why would that concern you, you might ask? Well, I just found out that Jenny is with the FBI. Imagine my surprise. By the way, did you see the explosive news today?”
I motioned for Stacy to turn on the TV. The screen lit up with major chaos. Ambulances and police cars were everywhere, and the remains of cars and a helicopter were in one side of a split screen.
“What the hell did you do?” I yelled.
“Cam, I guess you just walked in. If you want to see Jenny alive again, I need for you to meet me. I want to make sure the two of you aren’t going to turn me over to the police before I can get out of the country. You’ll be free to go once I’m gone.”
“How do I know Jenny is with the FBI?”
“First of all, her name isn’t Jenny. It’s Robin Anderson. Sweet girl. It would be a shame.”
I thought about all the times when I’d doubted Jenny or Robin. It made sense she was with the FBI. That would explain a lot.
“Don’t hurt her. Where do you want to meet?”
“First of all, no cops. If I see one just driving by, I’ll kill her.”
“Don’t worry,” I said.
“Next, bring Stacy with you.”
“No.”
“Yes!” he demanded.
“No. I’ll make sure she doesn’t talk, but you’re not going to get her.”
There was a pause on the other end of the phone. I could tell he didn’t like to lose, but he was running out of time.
“We’ll bring Jenny’s boat to your dock in one hour.”
“I’ll be here.”
The line was disconnected.
“Okay, Stacy, it’s time for you to get out of here. When is Barbie supposed to get back?”
“Not for a few days yet.”
“Pack a bag quickly. Go to Marathon and stay with Barbie. I’ll call you when it’s safe for you to return.”
Stacy didn’t argue. She had her bag packed in five minutes and was ready to go.
“Be careful, Cam. Are you sure there isn’t something I can do to help?”
“No. I’m good,” I said.
Stacy put her arms around me and kissed me softly on the lips.
“Please be here when I get back,” she said, looking into my eyes.
“I plan to be,” I choked out.
Stacy smiled, “You’re so cute.”
Chapter 81
I had an hour to kill. That was exactly what I’d wanted to do—kill. I used the time to walk around my boat. It was still a wreck. Nothing had been done to it in the last few days. I stepped on board and poked around in the rubbish for some kind of a weapon. All I found was a big piece of angle iron but had no idea where it might have come from.
I stepped back out and was greeted by Billie Daryl. He was pointing a gun at me and didn’t look too happy.
“I shu jus shoo ya,” he said.
“What?”
“I shu jus shoo ya.”
I looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Shu ya,” he said. “I shu shoo ya.”
I knew what he’d said the first time but couldn’t help myself.
“Oh, I get it,” I said. “Hey, I’m sorry for hitting you, but you scared me. It was just a reflex.”
“Fa ya,” he said.
“Why are you here?”
“Th wah ya.”
“To watch me?”
“Yah.”
“Would you like a drink?”
He looked at me, and I could tell he was thinking about it.
“Wild Turkey,” I said.
“O hay,”
I took that for an okay.
“Follow me.”
We walked back down to Stacy’s boat and retrieved the bottle and a couple of glasses from the table.
“I really felt bad about hitting you,” I said as I poured his drink.
I poured one for myself too. I turned and handed him his and then held mine up for a toast.
“Forgive me?”
He clinked glasses with me and took a drink. That was when I hit him again. He went down even harder this time. He would really be mad, but it would be a week or so now before he could even think about coming after me.
I retrieved his gun and stuck it in the back of my pants. At least I was armed now.
I checked his pockets and found a cell phone. I dialed Diane’s number. Still no answer. I was really starting to worry about her.
I heard a boat coming. I wrestled Billie Daryl inside Stacy’s boat and closed the door. I went back to my own and waited.
Jenny’s forty-two-foot Baha came into sight. Buck was driving, and Jenny was lying on the seat. I let the boat bump the dock and then grabbed the line and tied it off.
“Where’s Billie Daryl?” Buck said.
“Haven’t seen him.”
“That damn idiot.”
“What’s wrong with Jenny?” I asked.
“She’s okay. I was just about to wake her.”
Buck opened a plastic bottle of water and poured it on Jenny’s head.
She moved a little and then opened her eyes. She put her hand on her chin.
“You bastard,” she said. “You murderer.”
“Okay, we’ve already been over all that. Now I just want to put that behind us and be friends,” Buck said.
Jenny, or Robin I guess, gave Buck the finger.
He turned to me. “Women, can’t live with them…”
‘What’s your plan?” I asked.
“Go get Billie Daryl,” Buck said.
“He’s not here.”
“Yes, he is. I told him to be here, so he’s here. If you don’t get him now, I’ll put a bullet in your girlfriend’s leg. Then we can both watch her bleed out.”
I walked back to Stacy’s boat, dragged Billie Daryl out from under the table and threw him over my shoulder. I walked back to Jenny’s boat, stepped up to the platform and dropped him on the floor.
“Idiot,” Buck said.
“He’s going to be mad, isn’t he?” I said.
“No, we’re going to go drop him off where we dropped the others,” Buck said.
“The others?”
“Let’s go, Jenny. You’re driving.”
“No way,” Jenny said.
“Okay,” Buck said, “here’s how this is going to work. If Jenny doesn’t do what I say, I’ll shoot Cam. If Cam doesn’t do what I say, I’ll shoot Jenny. And really, I want to shoot somebody.”
Jenny got behind the wheel, and I untied the lines. She backed us out and turned toward the open water.
“Where to?” she said.
“You know the spot. Go to where you dropped off Jack and Ronnie,” Buck said and laughed.
Jenny turned on the GPS and guided the boat north along the coast and then steered north-east.
Another boat shadowed them from a mile back. It was just dark enough now that if the boat ran without lights, it would not be seen.
Jenny slowed the boat and said, “We’re here. Are you planning to kill us now?”
“My plan is to drop Billie Daryl off,” he said. “Cam, you haven’t got to do this yet. Tie that block to Billie’s ankle.”
I hesitated, and he turned the gun toward Jenny.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
Jenny stopped the boat and flipped some switches. The boat made a low humming noise.
“What’s that?” Buck asked.
“Pumps,” Jenny said. “I have to pump it every time I stop.”
“Have you got that block on yet?” Buck asked me.
“Yes, but why don’t you just let him go? He can’t turn you in.”
“Sit him up on the edge of the boat,” he said.
I did. I felt very bad but knew if I didn’t do it, he would shoot Jenny, and then make me do it
anyway.
While I was lifting him to the rail, I took the opportunity to slip my gun from the back of my pants.
Buck grabbed my wrist and slapped on a handcuff. He then slapped the other cuff to Billie Daryl’s wrist.
He forced the gun from my hand and threw it over the side of the boat.
“If you find that gun down there, you can use it to kill yourself,” he said and laughed wildly.
I knew this was probably my last few seconds on earth. I turned to Jenny and said, “I love you.”
“I love you too, Cam,” she said.
“Oh, you guys are choking me up,” Buck said. “Just think, Cam, you’re only twenty feet from Malinda, and all you can say is that you love another woman.”
“You bastard, you did kill her.”
“I didn’t want too, but I had no choice. Tell her I’m sorry,”
He stepped toward me to push me over. Just then, Billie Daryl jumped. A big hole opened up in his head.
Just as we realized he had been shot, another shot hit the boat. Buck ducked down, and Jenny ran toward me. I thought she was going to pull me to safety, but instead, she pushed Billie Daryl and me over the side of the boat.
Buck ran toward the cabin. He didn’t make it. A bullet caught him in the neck, and he went down.
Jenny dove over the other side of the boat swam around to the back and looked to see where the shots might have come from. The darkness was doing a fine job of protecting the shooter. She waited until she heard a boat start in the distance and the sound of the motor moving farther away.
Ted Trueblood had done his job. He hoped he had not hit the girl. Commander Bosse would be happy to know that their secret would now be safe.
Jenny swam around to the other side of the boat where she had pushed Cam. “CAM, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” she yelled.
I was lying in a net with Billie Daryl on top of me. I pushed him off and stuck my head back up to take a much-needed breath.
“CAM,” Jenny yelled again.
“JENNY,” I yelled back.
“STAND UP,” she said.
I did and put my hand on the side of the boat for balance. I couldn’t believe it, a net with a metal frame had slid out from the hull. That was what the sound had been when she’d stopped.
Jenny swam to the net and climbed in. She put her arms around me and kissed me. “Did you say you loved me?”
“That was before you pushed me into the ocean with a concrete block and a dead guy.”
“It was only Knee Deep,” she said and kissed me again.
Epilogue
We radioed in our position to the Miami FBI office. They sent a helicopter to pick up Robin, Buck, Billie Daryl and myself. They dropped off an agent who would take the boat back to the docks for us.
It was a short flight and car ride to the FBI offices. Robin held my hand the whole way.
As we entered the building, Diane ran to me and threw her arms around me. I hugged her equally as hard. I had been afraid I would never see her again and couldn’t stand the thought.
Robin hugged Diane and excused herself. “I’ll see you inside in a few minutes,” she said.
“Cam, are you okay?” Diane asked, looking me over for any wounds I might have gotten.
“Couldn’t be better,” I said. “How about you?”
“Why would you care?”
“Because I’ve discovered that if there is one person in my life I can’t live without, it’s you.”
Diane kissed me on the cheek. “I feel the same way,” she said.
“I’m so relieved to see you’re alright,” I said. “We had better get inside.”
Diane kissed me again, took my hand and walked through the doors with me.
Jenny or that is Robin, was waiting for us in a debriefing room. I walked in and saw that the room was filled with at least seven other agents. There were TV screens on the wall, and they were all showing different scenes of the bombing.
“That was awful,” I said.
“It could have been worse,” a voice from behind me said.
I turned to see Jack standing there.
“Jack,” I said excitedly, “I thought you were dead.”
“No, are you kidding? That net caught me just when I thought I was a goner. Robin wouldn’t let anything happen to us.”
No, I guess she wouldn’t, even if I did cuss her and give her the finger. She was our protector.
“What about Ronnie Pierce?” I asked.
“She arrested him for attempted murder as soon as he pushed me over the side. Then he spilled his guts, which helped them get closer to Buck.”
I couldn’t believe it. It had been a hell of a ride. Two hours ago, I thought I had lost everything and was going to die myself, but now I have it all.
Robin joined the three of us. “We need to go over a few details and then you guys are free to go. We can get the rest tomorrow.”
Half an hour later, we were finished for the night.
“See you tomorrow around eleven. Okay?” Robin said.
“Sounds good,” I said.
“Cam, I don’t know what your intentions are,” Jack said, “but if you’re not going to ask Robin out, I would like to invite her to dinner tomorrow.”
Diane took Jack’s hand. “Come on, big boy, you’re out of your league this time. That one is taken.”
Jack feigned disappointment. “I knew I should have moved faster.”
“Robin, can you take Cam to your place tonight? I think I’ll drop this one off and go home for a good night’s rest,” Diane said.
“I think I could find a spot on the couch for him,” she said.
Diane kissed me again, this time on the lips. She turned to Jack still holding his hand. “You know I’m not doing anything tomorrow for dinner,” she said to him.
Jack looked at me. I said, “Don’t even think about it.”
“You don’t trust me with your daughter?” he said.
“No.”
“Sorry, Diane,” he said.
“You can’t watch me forever you know,” she said, smiling an extra sexy smile at me.
Jack looked at me again.
“No,” I repeated.
~*~
Robin took me to her house. We opened a bottle of wine and sat on the back patio.
“What are we going to do now?” I asked.
“I’ve got a good idea,” she said, taking my hand.
“I mean after that. What about us. What’s our next step?”
“Well, I think your next step is to go back to New York and finish your internship with Chad. I worked hard to get that set up with the Bar Examiner.”
“You did that?”
“I needed to get you out of the way, but you just wouldn’t stay gone.”
“I’ll be in New York, and you’ll be in Miami,” I said, “that’s not going to work.”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? There is an opening in the New York FBI office. I got it, and a promotion. They thought I handled this case so well they agreed to anything I wanted.”
“In that case,” I said, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet, “I have a case that needs some handling.”
The End
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Mac Fortner
Other Books By Mac Fortner
Rum City
Bar
Book one in the Sunny Ray series.
Battle For Rumora
Book two in the Sunny Ray series
Bloodshot
Book Two in the Cam Derringer series
Key West: Two Birds One Stone
Book Three in the Cam Derringer series
MURDER FEST KEY WEST
Book Four in the Cam Derringer series
These books can be found Here
About Mac Fortner
Mac grew up in Evansville, Indiana where he attended high school and college. He lived in The Philippine Islands and Viet Nam for two and a half years while serving his country as a helicopter crew chief.
He has written many songs over the years. All his songs are short stories, so he decided to convert them to novels, adding suspense and humor to the plots.
He has two books in his – Sunny Ray – series, and 4 Books in the - Cam Derringer – series.
These books can be found at www.macofortner.com
Please leave a review at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00STSZ2D0
I hope you enjoy the Cam Derringer Series. If you would like a FREE prequel book to the series, just click HERE and let me know where to send it.
Bloodshot
Book 2 in:
THE CAM DERRINGER SERIES
BLOODSHOT
By
Mac Fortner
BLOODSHOT: Copyright 2017 by Mac Fortner
Cover Design by Mac Fortner
Website: www.macofortner.com
Song lyrics were written and copyright belonging to Mac Fortner