"He was a long-time bad guy in Miami. We never managed to pin anything on him. Everybody was scared to testify against him."
"Why would he take over the club and then kill himself?" Connie asked.
"Good question. Luke's asking the same thing."
"You mean he thinks somebody faked the suicide, then?"
"He's considering that," Paul said, "but the condo where the bodies were found was locked from the inside."
"That's a puzzle, then, isn't it?"
"Yes," Paul said.
"Who was the other victim?"
"They aren't sure. Whoever killed him obliterated his face, and his prints aren't in the system. He had a fake driver's license in the name William M. Roberts, and that's also the name of the person who was renting the condo. The condo was owned by LaRosa, by the way."
"Somebody didn't want him identified?" Connie asked.
"That's Luke's guess. Or somebody who's still alive wanted to be dead as far as the police are concerned."
Connie frowned. "But who?"
"I'm speculating, now," Paul said. "Luke told me the picture on the fake license looked a lot like a police sketch of the lead suspect in the theft of Vengeance. The only name they have for the suspect is Berto. Could be that guy wanted his trail to end at the condo."
"Berto," Connie said. "Roberts. That fits."
"Yes," Paul said. "It's almost too convenient. Murder-suicide in a condo sealed off from the inside, and the murder victim is a guy the police are looking for."
"But who is he, then?" Connie asked. "The guy with no face."
"If Luke suspects, he's keeping it to himself for the moment. He says the case could turn out to be political."
"Because of the congressman?"
"No. He's already toast, in Luke's words. He didn't want to say yet. He wants to see where the Leon Contreras thing goes."
"Anything else?"
"No, that's about it. What do you think?"
"We should call Dani and Liz, but it's a little late," Connie said.
"We can call them in the morning before Marcia Levine shows up. Her flight gets in mid-afternoon."
"Is there any way we can get out of the middle of this, Paul?"
"I'm not sure there is. Luke would be okay with that, but I doubt that Leon Contreras would be. We're his buffer."
"Oh, well," Connie said, with a long sigh. "At least we're just passing information back and forth."
4
"Why didn't Luke tell you about that whole Montalba thing?" Connie asked.
Paul shrugged as he took a sip of coffee. They had just moved Diamantista II into a slip in the marina in preparation for their guest's arrival later in the day. "Based on what we got from Dani and Liz, I suspect he wasn't comfortable with some of that. He can't use most of it in court, you know."
"Because of the way Sharktooth's cousins got the information from Graciella Montalba, you mean?"
"Yes," Paul said. "They broke into her condo and trashed it, from what Dani said. That's a crime in itself. Forget about getting anything they discovered admitted into a trial."
"But Dani said they told Luke in advance, and he even had his people stake out the condo building. That's how they saw this Berto character go into the unit where they found the bodies. Interesting that the murder-suicide happened in the building where Graciella Montalba lives."
"Yes, and on the same night. Dani's telling Luke in advance about Sharktooth's cousins so he could stake it out is one thing. He had a number of reasons to watch that building based on his warrants for telephone surveillance. And he had a warrant to arrest 'Berto.' Or at least the guy in the sketch. That would have been a clean bust."
"But what about the Montalba woman's phone call to her brother, Guillermo? Dani said nobody even knew she had a brother."
"That's where it goes off the rails, as far as Luke's concerned. Sharktooth's cousin terrorized her to spook her into calling her brother and then made an illegal recording of the call. None of that's of any use in building a criminal case. A good defense attorney would use that to argue that almost everything the police have on the Montalbas is inadmissible in court."
"Then why did Luke let her do that? I don't understand, Paul."
"Let her?" Paul asked, chuckling. "This is Dani we're talking about, remember?"
"Yes, but still," Connie said, smiling.
"Well, there were several things going on, I think. One was that Montalba's people were threatening Dani and Liz. Can you see Luke convincing those two not to defend themselves?"
Connie laughed. "Okay. What else?"
"The Montalba woman is well respected and is about to marry one of the most powerful senators in the U.S. She would have been practically untouchable for Luke, unless she got caught red-handed doing something illegal. And then there's Dani and Sharktooth. Can you picture them obeying Luke if he told them not to do something that made perfect sense to them?"
"It's because of Dani and Sharktooth that Luke got the voiceprints that proved Berto was Guillermo Montalba."
"But the way that they got the recording of Guillermo's voice is why Luke's hands are tied. Don't you see?"
"Yes. I get all that. Dani broke the rules, but that doesn't mean the Montalbas aren't criminals. This is wrong, damn it, Paul."
"Luke's problem isn't about right or wrong. It's about whether there's untainted evidence that will support a conviction. And while it looks like the Montalba brother committed some crimes, it's not clear that Graciella did. Maybe Guillermo's the black sheep and that's why she doesn't acknowledge him. There's not really any proof that she was involved."
"Then why did she call him?" Connie asked.
"She was terrified?" Paul said. "Any port in a storm?"
"Why didn't she call the police?"
"Ah," Paul said. "Now, that's a good question."
"And here's another one," Connie said. "Dani's question — If Guillermo was behind the blackmail attempt, why did he steal Vengeance and wire her for the recordings? Any boat would have done."
"That's an enigma, all right. Everybody agrees on that," Paul said.
"Luke also didn't tell us that the murder victim wasn't Berto," Connie said. "Or I guess I should call him Guillermo. Why not tell us?"
"Probably because he knew Dani had a better handle on that. She was working directly with Sharktooth's cousins, and it was her charter guest who told them Guillermo's hand was scarred. The guest's recollection of having met Berto, as she knew him, is the reason they're sure the body's somebody else. The point is, Guillermo's still out there, somewhere."
"And Leon Contreras thinks he's after us," Connie said. "But why?"
"I think you nailed that earlier. He thinks you're a bigshot in some mysterious cartel. You played that role too well."
"I'm getting tired of this; I feel like Dani. Let's just kill the SOB and be done with it. What are we going to do, Paul?"
"We've got a charter starting this afternoon. That'll keep us busy. And we need to see what your Cousin Leon wants to trade with Luke. But I think you should let me take you up to the Italian place and buy you lunch and a bottle of wine. It's our last meal without company for a while. And cheer up; we're going to get through this mess."
"We always do, don't we?" Connie gave him a wry smile "We might as well go to lunch. We can't kill Guillermo until we at least figure out where he is."
"Hi! I'm Marcia Levine," the deeply tanned blonde with buzz-cut hair said, approaching Connie in the greeting area outside customs at Antigua's V.C. Bird International Airport.
"I'm Connie Barrera. Welcome to Antigua," Connie said, smiling. She put the placard with Levine's name on it in her shoulder bag and extended her hand.
"Wow! I didn't expect you to personally meet my flight," the woman said, giving Connie's hand a firm shake. "Talk about service!"
"Paul and I both greet our guests whenever we can. Sorry he's not here; he's tied up with something back on the boat."
"Ready, ladies?" the soft-spoken, middl
e-aged taxi driver asked, reaching for Marcia's bags.
"I think so, William," Connie said, raising her eyebrows and looking at Marcia.
"Sure," Marcia said. "Let's go."
William put the bags in the back of the minivan that sat idling at the curb and turned to help the two women into the center door.
"Ms. Levine," Connie said, "this is our friend, William Issacs. He's the best tour guide on the island."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am. Welcome to Antigua."
"Thanks," Marcia said. "I might want to take one of your tours while I'm here. I'm a travel writer."
"Yes, ma'am. So Connie told me. I'd be pleased to show you around. Just let Connie know when; she knows how to get in touch with me."
"I'll do that, then. I'd like to get settled and recover from my flight. I'm in no hurry to leave Antigua, Connie, if that's all right."
"Of course it's all right. Diamantista II is yours for the next three weeks. Paul and I are at your disposal."
"The air-conditioning feels good," Marcia said, settling back into the van's seat. "The humidity was stifling when I stepped out of the airport. Is this typical weather?"
"Yes and no," Connie said. "The comfort level varies quite a bit from place to place on the island. I think you'll find it nice enough when we get to Diamantista II."
"Always better on the water," William said. "Probably ten degrees hotter at the airport. Maybe all the pavement. I don't know."
"I take it you want to spend some time here before we head for the other islands," Connie said.
"Yes, I think so. I've read a lot about Antigua. It sounds like it's worth a few days; there's a lot to see here."
"Will you be writing about your experience?" Connie asked.
"I surely will; it's how I pay for all of this." Marcia smiled.
"Have you thought about where else you'd like to go?" Connie asked.
"I had in mind avoiding the 'normal' tourist spots, I guess. I'd like to go where you and your husband would go if you were taking it easy and didn't have guests. I want to capture the feel of the Caribbean off the beaten path and get to know the regular, everyday people. Is that realistic?"
"Sure," Connie said. "We can do that. It sounds like fun. I was telling Paul the other day, I'm in the mood for a nice, easy sail, for a change."
"For a change?" Marcia asked. "You don't usually have easy trips?"
"Oh, I didn't express myself well," Connie said. "It's just that so many of our clients are trying to cover as much territory as possible in a short time. Your choice of a three-week charter puts you in a different league to start with. We can cover a lot of territory without feeling rushed."
"Great," Marcia said. "I'll leave myself in your hands, then. You and Paul show me how you'd live if I weren't along. That's the kind of thing I like to write about."
"Speaking of your writing," Connie said, "I did a quick internet search for your name. I wanted to get a sense of your work. I was trying to figure out what you'd like or dislike."
"And what did you discover?" Marcia asked, smiling.
"I didn't find anything," Connie said.
Marcia laughed. "That's a relief, actually. I'm a ghostwriter for a number of travel magazines. I have a blog, too. But none of it's under my name. I have this thing about privacy. If you're a household name, people think they have a right to intrude into your personal life. Besides, I get a better feel for how businesses treat their ordinary customers if they don't know I'm going to write about them."
"That would explain why I didn't find you, then," Connie said. "I've never spent time with a journalist before."
"Well, now you're going to," Marcia said. "In the flesh."
"Are you on an assignment, now?" Connie asked. "For some particular magazine, I mean?"
"No, I'm doing this on spec, hoping I can sell the pieces I write. If not, I'll put them on the blog. The trip's a tax write-off, either way."
"I thought maybe you were working on contract for some magazine I might have read," Connie said.
"Contract assignments don't happen very often for me. I don't know about other people, but I've had better luck writing my stories first and then selling them."
"I see," Connie said. "Well, we'll do our best to find you some good material."
"I'm sure you will," Marcia said, smiling. "How much farther to the boat?"
"We're almost there," William said.
"I need to pick up a few things," Marcia said. "Sunscreen and such. Should we stop somewhere?"
"We keep a lot of things like that aboard. If we don't have what you like, there's good shopping right in the marina complex."
"Great," Marcia said. "This is going to be fun; I can tell already."
"Good," Connie said. "We're here to make sure it is, so just let us know what you want."
"What do you think of her?" Connie asked. She and Paul were strolling hand-in-hand past the villas that lined the waterfront in Jolly Harbour. They were enjoying the novelty of an after-dinner walk while Diamantista II was still in one of the marina's transient slips. Since they spent most of their time at anchor, it was a treat to be able to step ashore on a whim. Their guest had retired after cocktails and dinner, saying that she was exhausted from her flight.
"She's pleasant enough," Paul said. "You've had more time to get to know her, though. What's your take?"
"She's nice, but not very forthcoming."
"Not forthcoming? Why do you say that?"
"She kept up a stream of chatter most of the time we were in the taxi, but she didn't tell me much. I tried to draw her out about her writing, but she was almost evasive, now that I think about it."
"Maybe she's just shy," Paul said. "What magazine is she working for?"
"She's not working for a magazine. She's doing all this on spec, as she put it, hoping she'll be able to sell some articles when she's done. She said that's the way she normally works."
"Hmm," Paul said. "She's pretty confident, I guess. Sinking $45,000 into a three-week charter in hopes of selling some articles about it seems risky to me."
"I didn't think of that," Connie said, "but you're right. That seems like a long shot, doesn't it?"
"It does to me," Paul said. "I can't imagine travel magazines pay that kind of money to freelance writers."
"She said she has a blog, too," Connie said. "She could post the articles there, maybe. I've heard people make money from blogs."
Paul shrugged. "I don't know. That still sounds like a big gamble to me. Not our problem, though."
"No. She also said it was a tax write-off, either way."
"She must have a healthy income if she can use that much as a tax write-off. Oh, well. Like I said, she's pleasant company so far. She sounded vague about her plans when I asked where she wanted to go," Paul said.
"We talked about that in the taxi. She plans to write about the Eastern Caribbean 'off the beaten path.' She wants to go to places that you and I would go if we were on our own — not the must-see tourist spots."
"Where do you think we should take her, then?" Paul asked.
"We've got a little time to work that out. She wants to see Antigua first."
"Did you fix her up with William?"
"Not yet. She wants to take a day to chill out. We'll talk with her in the morning. Maybe sail around to English Harbour, or St. John, and let her get a look at the island from the water. I figured I'd book her with William for the next day and go from there."
"Well, it sounds like you got your wish, anyway."
"You mean an easy sail?"
"Yes. This sounds pretty laid back to me," Paul said, squeezing her hand.
"I'm not complaining," she said, returning his squeeze. "Shall we stop in the dock bar for a nightcap?"
"You bet," Paul said. "Ready to head back?"
"Yes. I could use an early night. You can tell me how you came out with Luke and Leon Contreras while we have our drink."
They ordered rum punch at the bar and settled into a
dark corner.
"What's new with Luke and Leon?" Connie asked. "Anything exciting?"
"Not yet. They're kind of jockeying for position."
"I guessed that's how it would be," she said. "Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to curb my curiosity so long."
Paul smiled. "Good guess."
"Are they going to be able to work together?"
"Oh, I think so. There's just one problem. Leon wants to keep us in the middle. I can tell Luke's a little put off by that."
"But why?" Connie asked.
"Why does Leon want us in the middle? Or why does that bother Luke?"
"Both. But it was Luke's reaction I was asking about."
"I talked it over with him on the phone while you were picking up Marcia. He's just worried that it'll make things cumbersome and add delay."
"Well, I can see that," Connie said, "but we need to be in the loop, if we're Guillermo Montalba's targets."
"You changed your mind about that," Paul said.
"Yes. After I thought about it, I realized that we need to know what's happening."
"That's part of Contreras's reasoning for wanting to work through us," Paul said. "That, and turf issues."
"Turf issues? I would have expected Luke to be the one worried about turf issues."
"Oh, he was. But Contreras put that to rest early on. Leon wants no credit, no press, no mention of his existence, even. He'll feed what he knows to Luke through us and leave it to Luke to act on it."
"Then I don't understand Leon's worries about turf," Connie said.
"I had an exchange with him about that. He wants the freedom to operate as he sees fit; he may need to share some of his information with other people besides Luke."
"Uh-oh. Luke won't like that will he?"
"Not if he knew, he wouldn't."
"You're comfortable keeping that from him?"
"Under the circumstances, yes. Contreras assured me he won't embarrass Luke."
"Who's he going to share with?" Connie asked.
"He can't tell us. He says most likely, nobody. He committed that it wouldn't be anybody that would cause a problem for Luke. There's only one person he trusts in the federal government, and that's his boss. There's a possibility that he or his boss will need to brief somebody at some point."
An Easy Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller: The 8th Novel in the Series - Mystery and Adventure in Florida and the Caribbean (Connie Barrera Thrillers) Page 3