“Look, I don’t want any trouble and I am not going to be a part of some kidnapping,” the speedboat captain said, holding the VHF radio in his hand.
Juan turned the gun and shot him in the head.
Nadia screamed as the man slumped over the steering wheel.
Berto climbed onto the speedboat and helped Juan toss the captain’s limp body into the water. “We’ll be in touch,” he said as he turned the key.
Juan untied the lines and they sped off.
Reid barely made out the words Bath Toy scrolled across the stern in red. “Fuck!” she shouted.
*
Reid walked into the wheelhouse, sighing as she began cleaning up the mess the men had made. Her charts and notes were thrown all over with various items on top of them. “Son of a bitch,” she growled, slamming her hand against the bench seat. Her first instinct had been to get word to Guillermo, but she knew that would only put her in hotter water with him.
“What are we going to do? We have to get her back.” Louie said, working on rearranging the mess in the cabin.
“We will,” Reid replied, reorganizing her chaotic workspace. She grabbed the satellite phone, checking to make sure the battery had a charge and was receiving a good signal. Then, she dialed a number from memory.
“Tomas, are you there?” Reid said, hearing a male voice on the line.
“Yeah. Who is this?”
“Reid.”
“Reid? Where the hell are you?” he asked, sounding surprised.
“Long story. Hey, I need a huge favor. What do you know about a guy called The Dom?”
Tomas thought for a second. He’d worked for the Bahamian Port Authority until a back injury caused him to retire early. “He’s a dangerous drug kingpin and he doesn’t play around. How in the hell did you get mixed up with him? I thought you were in deep enough with Guillermo.”
“Don’t worry about it. Do you know where he is?”
“No. He lives in Cuba, but he travels all over the Caribbean and South Florida.”
“Thanks.”
“Where are you?”
“Acklins Island,” she said as she hung up. “Fuck!” she yelled.
Louie popped his head out of the cabin.
“The Dom is a Cuban drug lord.”
Louie nodded, not exactly surprised since the men were looking for drugs.
“I have nothing to bargain with against his goons.”
“We have to find that ship,” Louie said.
Reid had the same feeling. If they found the treasure, they’d have the upper hand. Although, the thugs could kill Nadia anyway. “We don’t have much time,” she mumbled, spreading the chart against the sidewall of the wheelhouse. “We need to move.”
“What about the plane pieces bellow us?” Louie asked.
“I’ll mark the spot so we can come back another time. Right now, we have to find the Duchess. If we don’t, we’ll never see Nadia again.” She sat down at the helm and started the engine. “Pull the anchor,” she said.
*
The boat had plenty of fuel, so there was no need to take it all the way into the marina on the other side of the island. Reid dropped anchor in the harbor and headed in with the dinghy to get more food supplies and drinking water. She’d left Louie behind in case the thugs returned.
As soon as she was finished gathering the supplies, Reid hurried back down the dock and hopped into the dinghy. Reaching for the bag of groceries and two gallons of water, she noticed a shiny pair of alligator-skin loafers. Feeling her throat tighten, her eyes trailed up the light colored chinos to the baby blue, button down shirt.
“Where is my daughter?” Guillermo growled through gritted teeth.
“She’s out on the boat,” Reid said, wondering how he appeared in Acklins Island so quickly. Damn you, Tomas!
“Why do I not believe you?” He shook his head. “What the hell are you doing getting involved with The Dom?”
“He took something and I’m trying to get it back,” she replied, trying to grab her supplies.
“Don’t you lie to me. Where is Nadia?” he yelled.
“The Dom took her and he wants the treasure,” she sighed.
“How the fuck did this happen?” Guillermo was visibly shaken as he pulled a pistol from his pocket, waving it at her like a mad man. “You’d better find my little girl and that god damn treasure or I’ll kill you myself!” he screamed, accidentally pulling the trigger.
The gun went off, shooting a hole through the middle of Reid’s inflatable boat, less than two feet away from where she was standing inside of it. Reid quickly pulled herself up onto the dock as the boat began to sink.
“Are you kidding me!” she yelled. “That was a really stupid fucking move!” She was so mad she wanted to deck him as the raft became completely submerged. “Stop threatening me or you can go find her and the ship your damn self!” She grabbed her supplies and stormed off down the dock towards another dinghy tied up twenty feet away.
Reid quickly tossed her supplies inside and untied it before pulling the cord to start the engine. This little boat was slightly larger and much newer than the one she’d had, so it started on the first try. She gave Guillermo the middle finger as she twisted the throttle and sped off in the stolen boat.
*
Louie heard the noise of the dinghy and stepped over to the stern rail. The boat racing towards him didn’t look familiar and his first thought was the thugs were coming back. There were no weapons on the boat, but he remembered seeing a spear gun when he was storing their gear in San Salvador. He quickly checked the stern deck compartments and pulled the weapon out just as the inflatable boat butted up against the Lady Pearl. Louie spun around, aiming directly at the raft.
“It’s me!” Reid yelled. “Don’t shoot!”
Louie set the spear gun down and rushed to help her tie up the raft and get the supplies. “What happened to our dinghy?” he asked.
“I ran into Guillermo on the dock. He knows what’s going on.” She shook her head. “The bastard shot a hole through our inflatable, nearly hitting me. I had to hijack this one to get back out here and away from his crazy ass,” she said, stepping aboard the boat. “More importantly, where did you find this?” She bent down, picking up the spear gun.
“In the portside compartment,” he answered carrying the supplies to the cabin.
“Come on, we need to get this dinghy loaded so we can get the hell out of here before the owner comes looking for his raft.”
*
“I know this is a gamble, but we have no other choice,” Reid murmured, studying the chart in front of her as Louie manned the helm. They were motoring at full speed away from Acklins Island. “I’ve been over these notes a thousand times. If I were Von Smit, I think I would’ve avoided the heavily traveled pirate areas at all costs, especially knowing I was riding low in the water and would be an easy target. My goal would’ve been to make port as quickly as possible.” She circled one area with a pencil and entered the coordinates into the GPS.
“Where are we headed?” Louie asked.
“West Caicos Island, or Inagua Reef to be exact. I think perhaps he stayed in the deeper water, skirting the outer edge of the Bahamas, all the way to Mayaguana.” She traced the path on the chart with her finger. “He had to have gone through the Caicos Passage. From there, he would’ve had a straight shot to Tortuga if he cut between Inagua Island and West Caicos Island. The only problem is, if he’d never traversed that route, particularly at night, which is when he would’ve done the majority of his sailing to keep moving as fast as possible, he may not have been aware of Inagua Reef, which sits almost in the middle of that cut.”
“You think that’s where the ship is?” Louie questioned.
“I’ve always thought that was the best route. It’s the one I would’ve taken. However, it was also one of the most treacherous, mainly because storm season was well underway. The Atlantic was the last place you’d want to be during that time. I didn’t w
ant to hit this spot first, since there were other, more obvious routes,” she said, taking the helm. “We have about a four hour ride, so if you want to take a nap, it’s fine.”
“No. I’m good. I don’t think I will sleep until we get Nadia back,” he mumbled, looking out the window at the vast, blue ocean surrounding them.
“You really like her, don’t you?” Reid smiled.
“She’s innocent in all of this. I think her father needs to be smacked around a little bit. How did you get tangled up with him in the first place?”
“He’s always been a cocky son of a bitch, but he’s harmless. He can’t even handle a gun correctly. I’m damn lucky he didn’t shoot me instead of the raft. He tries to act all big and bad, but it’s a façade. I knew that from the beginning when I first met him. He talked a lot of crap back then,” she laughed. “He wanted to find gold treasure and I was a treasure hunter. It worked out great. At least until he learned the ugly reality of treasure hunting and lost a bunch of money. He blamed me for the loss, so I packed my bags and left him with his empty threats.”
Louie nodded. “What about Nadia? I saw the way she looked at you. You care for her too.”
Reid bit her lower lip. She knew her feelings had gone a lot further than caring. She was wrecked. No woman had ever done that to her. Seeing Nadia get taken away by the two men and having no way to stop it, definitely put things into perspective. She had two options: break down and cry, thinking of all the harm they could do to her, or do everything she could to get her back. She’d chosen to throw all of her strength and emotion into the latter.
“Have you ever been in love, Louie?”
“Yes. Once, a long time ago. Her name was Abeje and she was my wife.”
“You’ve never told me about her,” Reid murmured, looking over at him.
“Abeje was my world. She was from a very poor, outer village and ventured three days into town to shop at the market with her sisters. They barely had any money to buy the food they’d come for. I fell in love the minute we met. I couldn’t give them any fish because it would never last the long hike back, so I traded my fish for rice and beans, and gave it all to them. Abeje returned two months later alone and I made her my wife.” He cleared his throat as he continued. “We were going to have our first child early the next year. Abeje traveled back to her village to see her family one last time and got malaria during the trip. She made it back to me and didn’t start getting sick for a few weeks. By then, it was too late. She was in respiratory distress with a very high fever. She and the baby died before she could give birth.”
“Oh, my God. Louie, I’m so sorry,” Reid said, grabbing his hand.
“It’s okay. It was a lifetime ago.” He smiled, looking back at her. “You are different, my friend. I see it in your eyes. Nadia is your Abeje,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Never let her go.”
TWENTY
“My dad is rich. Just let me call him. He’ll give you the money you’re looking for,” Nadia pleaded.
Juan laughed. “Aw, poor little daddy’s girl. We don’t want his fucking money.”
“We want the gold treasure!” Berto exclaimed. “We’re going to be rich.”
“What about your boss?” Nadia scoffed. “Weren’t the missing drugs his?”
“Shut up before I send you to him. He’d rip a little thing like you in two,” Berto growled.
“Reid will find me,” she spat.
“She better be looking for my gold or she’ll find you alright…in pieces,” he sneered. “Take that bitch upstairs and lock the door.”
“Wait! Don’t lock me in there again! Please!” Nadia begged and pleaded.
“If you make a scene, I’ll blow your fucking head off. Now, shut your mouth and walk nicely,” Juan said, taking her up to the musty, roach infested motel room.
*
The sound of the padlock on the outside of the door echoed in the tiny, quiet room. By the putrid smell, Nadia was sure someone had died in there. She refused to go anywhere near the double bed that was pushed up against the opposite wall. Instead, she sat on the ripped leather chair that she’d been occupying since their arrival to the motel. The men had let her out long enough to feed her, then shoved her back into the room they used as a holding cell. At least the small space had a bathroom, even if it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in two years.
Nadia pulled her knees to her chest, placing her feet on the edge of the chair. She thought about home, wondering what her mother was doing at that very same moment. She wished she’d told her the truth, the reason why she was going to see her father. She hated what that money had done to him. It had changed him so much so, that she didn’t know who he was anymore. Nadia couldn’t bear telling her mother what he’d turned into. If she got out of this mess, she wondered if she’d ever even tell her about this trip at all. That brought her mind back to getting out. She knew better than to try and escape. The two goons holding her hostage were as dumb as a day was long, but she’d already seen them shoot and kill one person. She didn’t want to see how good their aim was when she was on the receiving end.
She thought about her father. Had Reid gotten word to him? At this point, it didn’t matter. The men had their sights set on the treasure, the same treasure her father was after. She hoped Reid found it, not only because she wanted to get the hell out of there, but because Reid deserved it. She barely knew the spontaneous adventurer, however her passion for treasure hunting was undeniable. That was one of the things that had attracted Nadia to her in the first place. Reid was so different from anyone she’d ever known. She might fly by the seat of her pants and live like an island bum, but Reid was intelligent. Nadia had noticed her shrewdness almost immediately.
Thinking about Reid made Nadia’s mind drift back to their night on the beach. Her heart ached with the possibility she may never get another moment that feels like time is standing still. Everything she knew about life, everything she believed in and was taught by her family, was shattered, opening her eyes and her heart to so much more. Now, it hung in the balance, in the hands of two trigger-happy, greedy thugs. She closed her eyes, wiping away a tear as it ran down her cheek.
Surely if you can find centuries old shipwrecks on the ocean floor, you can find me in this ratty old motel room. “Please find me, Reid,” she whispered as another tear fell.
*
“She’s right. What are we going to do when The Dom finds out?” Juan asked, returning to their table at the bar down below.
“I don’t plan on saying anything to him. My phone gets poor reception on this island, so I haven’t heard from him. Have you?”
Juan shook his head.
“Exactly. We’ll be so rich, that fat bastard will never find us. Hell, he doesn’t even know where we are. I’m sick of being his bitch. This is our ticket out,” Berto replied.
“What about the treasure hunters and the girl?”
“We’ll kill them all and sink the boat. Piece of cake.” He shrugged, holding up his hand for the bartender to pour them another round.
TWENTY-ONE
Little Inagua Island was a small, uninhabited island with a large, protective reef extending out well over a mile, all the way around it. West Caicos Island was another small island a little over twenty miles to the east. The Lady Pearl motored along a grid a couple of miles off Little Inagua Reef, dragging the tow-fish and side scanner through an area that sat almost directly between the two islands.
“What’s the depth here?” Louie asked, yelling through the open door of the wheelhouse. He was eating a can of sardines and watching the towables skim the bottom as they slowly moved through the water.
“Thirty-five feet,” Reid answered. “It goes down to about two-fifty right outside of this area, then drops to well over two-thousand. If she hit that reef like I think she did, the Duchess could be anywhere in the area. I’m hoping the ship was already riding so low that it sank before it could get very far.”
Louie ate the last sardi
ne and tossed the juice overboard. He turned to go throw the can in the trash and nearly fell over as the boat came to a sudden stop.
“Drop the anchor!” Reid yelled as she put the boat in reverse to hold them over the spot they were on.
Louie quickly dropped the can and ran up alongside the wheelhouse, pushing the button on the windlass. The anchor barely made a splash as it entered the water and descended to the bottom. The water was clear all the way down to the white sand. When he saw the sand rise from the anchor hitting the bottom, he turned it off and set the chock on the chain to hold it in place.
“The tow-fish picked up something and is still going off,” Reid said as she started reeling it in.
Louie stepped up next to her and began pulling the side scanner up. “Do you think we found it?”
“I have no idea, but we’re about to go down there and find out!” she said with excitement as she put the tow-fish back in its case.
*
The white, sandy bottom showed no signs of the anomaly as Louie and Reid swam over an imaginary gridline pattern, scanning their handheld metal detectors back and forth. A few schools of fish swam by above them and a large stingray passed along the sand nearby.
Reid checked the time on her dive watch. They’d been down for nearly two hours with no signs of what had sent the tow-fish monitor into a frenzy. She got Louie’s attention and pointed to the surface.
“I’m confused,” she said, spitting her regulator out and taking a breath of salty air. “I know we’re right over the spot.” She shook her head and swam towards the boat. “Anyway, we need to change our tanks.”
Louie looked up at the sky. They only had about an hour worth of daylight left. “Are we going back down?” he asked, climbing up the ladder on the swim platform.
“We have to. I know the first rule of thumb is never dive at night, but if we’re going to get Nadia back, we have to have leverage. If I don’t find this ship, we have nothing.”
Wrecked Page 9