"I was surprised at how long you were gone; there aren't that many places to go."
"We hit every single one. At least every one that sells clothing or knick-knacks, not to mention the grocery store and the pharmacy."
"I thought all she wanted was sunscreen," Paul said.
"She looked at everything. The woman in the little art gallery brought out all the stuff she had in the back room, even, and Marcia oohed and aahed over each piece."
"Did she buy anything?"
"Sunscreen. But she left them all with the impression that she'd be back at the end of her charter."
"Think she will?" Paul asked.
Connie shrugged. "I can't even guess. She was making notes on her phone. We had to stop after each shop so she could describe what they had."
"She's going to write about shopping her way through paradise, maybe?" Paul asked, with a grin.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Connie said. "Her obsession with the shops and their merchandise seems to me to be at odds with her goal of writing about the non-touristy parts of the Caribbean."
"We may never get her out of English Harbour," Paul said.
"That crossed my mind. I'm shopped out; she'll have to do English Harbour on her own."
"Think she'll be okay with that?"
"Probably. I think I slowed her down. If she keeps this up, I'm going to take her to Ste. Anne and match her up with Sandrine. They can compete for the shopping endurance gold medal."
"You serious?" Paul asked.
"About going to Ste. Anne?"
"Yes."
"Maybe. We'll see how things go for the next few days. Why?"
"Just curious. It would be interesting to hear Phillip's views on this Vengeance mess. And Beverly Lennox is there. We could talk to her about Berto and LaRosa."
Connie looked over at him, studying his face for a moment. "You talked to Luke while we were gone?"
"I did, yes."
"How did that go?"
"Okay. He's testing Contreras a little to see how he behaves."
"Testing him how?"
"Remember Dani told us the Montalba woman was engaged to some senator?"
"Yes. Why?"
"It probably didn't mean much to Dani, but the senator is William O'Toole. Heard of him?"
"Vaguely. He's really rich, right?"
"And really powerful. He's laying the groundwork to run for president."
Connie was frowning. "Do you suppose he knows about the brother?"
"If he does, he'd be the only one besides Graciella."
"What's Luke's test? Something to do with O'Toole?"
"Yes. He told Contreras that voiceprints prove that Berto is Guillermo Montalba, and that he's Graciella's brother."
"How's that a test?"
"It'll take Contreras about a nanosecond to figure O'Toole is either a crook or a dupe of the Montalbas. If he spills that to the feds, Luke won't trust him with anything else. He thinks that would have to be a tempting piece of information for Contreras."
"Why would Luke not go public with that himself?"
"Oh, he will, but he wants to see what other fish he can entice into his net first."
"Then Luke's view is that he's taking some risk giving Leon that information," Connie said.
"Some risk, yes. Compared to determining how solid Contreras is, it's not a huge risk. It's going to get out anyway, at some point."
"Here comes Marcia," Connie said, as their guest gathered up her towel and sunscreen.
"I can really feel the rays," Marcia said. "The sun's intense."
"We're in the tropics," Connie said. "You're smart to limit your exposure. The UV component is higher down here, because the sun's almost directly overhead. The sunlight travels a shorter distance through the atmosphere here than it does up north."
Marcia smiled. "I've read all that before, but that's not the same as watching my skin turn pink before my eyes."
"Right," Paul said. "Once we round that point up ahead, the sun will be behind us and the cockpit will be in the shade of this awning." He pointed at the bimini.
"Have a seat back here with us," Connie said. "Maybe Paul will bring us something cold and refreshing to drink."
Paul stood and moved to the companionway. "Fruit punch, coming up."
"She never lets up with the questions, does she?" Paul asked. Diamantista II was tied stern-to along the sea wall at Nelson's Dockyard. He and Connie were relaxing in the shade of their big awning, which covered most of the boat's length. Their guest was ashore, exploring Nelson's Dockyard National Park.
"No," Connie said. "It's exhausting. At least you had a break from her this morning while she and I were shopping."
"Reminds me of the tales my friends with kids used to tell about their three-year-olds," Paul said. "Maybe that all-encompassing curiosity is part of what it takes to make a living as a freelance magazine writer."
"Maybe so," Connie said, "but let's not spend our down-time talking about her. That's almost as trying as answering her questions."
Paul chuckled. "Let's boot up the laptop and see what's going on with Luke and Contreras. That ought to take your mind off Marcia."
"Sure," Connie said. "I'll get us online if you'll bring us some cold juice."
"Deal," Paul said. He went down the companionway ladder and opened the drawer under the chart table, taking out their laptop. He passed it through the companionway to Connie and stepped into the galley.
By the time Paul set two frosted glasses of passion fruit juice on the cockpit table, Connie was looking at Leon Contreras's latest post. Paul sat beside her and started reading.
Once Paul finished, he laughed.
Connie asked, "What's funny?"
"Contreras. He saw through Luke's ploy."
"That's what I thought. But what about his references to O'Toole, and his question to you about Luke?"
"I'm seeing almost a mirror image of Luke's worries. I think Contreras has something on O'Toole, but he's nervous about sharing it with Luke because he doesn't want Luke to bust O'Toole yet."
"Well, okay," Connie said. "I see that's consistent with his message, but how did you pull that out of what he wrote?"
"He and Luke and I all crawled out of the same swamp. Contreras thinks like a cop."
"What could he have on O'Toole?"
"I don't know. I think it's time to talk to Luke. If he's comfortable committing to holding off on making a run at O'Toole, maybe Contreras will open up a little more."
Paul took his phone out of his pocket and called Luke, setting the phone on the cockpit table.
"Hey, Paul. What's up?"
"Connie's here with me. You got a couple of minutes? I've heard back from my source."
"Yeah, sure. Hi, Connie. You keeping Russo in line?"
"I'm trying, Luke, but he's a handful."
"Tell me about it," Luke said. "Whaddaya got, Paul?"
"I'm interpolating here, so I may not have the details quite right, okay?" Paul asked.
"Okay," Luke said. "What did he say?"
"He's hinting that he's got some damning info on O'Toole, but he's worried about sharing it with you."
Luke's laugh pealed from the phone's tiny speaker. "That's ironic. I think I like this guy. What do you think he has?"
"I can't even guess," Paul said. "The price to find out is a commitment from you that you aren't going to bust O'Toole prematurely."
"Well, since I was worried that's what he was going to do, I think I can live with that. What does he mean by prematurely, though?"
"He wants to see who O'Toole's connection for the drug business is," Paul said.
"He what? He thinks O'Toole's in the drug business?"
"That's what he says."
"Damn," Luke said. "That's wild. I definitely want to hear what he's got."
"So you don't think O'Toole's running drugs," Paul said. "What do you have on him?"
"Besides this Montalba connection?"
"Right," Paul ask
ed. "Anything else?"
"He had a tie of some kind to a guy named Art Jansen. Ever hear of him?"
"No," Paul said.
"Wheeler-dealer," Luke said. "Rumored to be laundering drug money, somehow. Before we could figure out what he was up to, he disappeared."
"You think O'Toole was involved?"
"I don't know. But I don't want to spook him before we get to the bottom of the Montalba business. O'Toole either knew about the brother and he's hiding it, or he didn't know and his fiancée's playing him for a fool. Neither's good, but one has more serious implications, at least to me."
"That's where Connie and I came out, too," Paul said. "Okay. We'll let you go for now and see what we can get from our source on O'Toole and drugs."
"Stay in touch," Luke said.
"Will do. Take care," Paul said, and disconnected.
"Let's see if we can draw Leon out a little bit," he said. "You have any thoughts?"
Connie shook her head. "No. This looks like your kind of thing. I'll read over your shoulder while you write."
7
Montalba's ruined face creased into what might have been a smile as he read the first report on the surveillance of Diamantista II. His agent was in place and things were running smoothly. Barrera and her husband had no idea they were under his scrutiny.
They had a new guest aboard, and they were in Antigua. There was no indication yet as to their plans, but that was all right. Antigua was a financial center; they might well be laundering money through one of the banks there.
His agent had developed background information on how Barrera and Russo had met, as well as Russo's connection to the Berger family. Montalba made a note to learn more about Danielle Berger's godfather. The place to start was Miami; Russo had spent his career with the Miami Police Department. It was likely that Miami was where Berger's godfather lived.
There was a reference to Martinique, as well. Barrera and Russo met while she was there with Danielle Berger on Vengeance. She was supposed to have been learning to sail, but Montalba thought that could be a cover story. Russo had been there visiting a mutual friend. Montalba made another note. He would find out who the friend was.
It was difficult to get information about people in Martinique compared to the other islands. There was the language problem, but there was also the relative efficiency of French law enforcement. Though the French might seem laid back, they were far better organized than their small, independent neighbors.
And then there was the French underworld. The Unione Corse ran organized crime in the French islands, and they did not welcome foreign interlopers. Martinique and Guadeloupe had their own drug networks with strong connections to the European markets.
Montalba saw that as a long-term opportunity, but first he had to deal with Barrera. He considered that she might be sourcing drugs from outside the Caribbean and Latin American countries; he had not thought of that before.
That would be consistent with the Berger connection. He had little information on J.-P. Berger so far. Berger had come from Martinique, though he lived in Paris these days.
Martinique had long been known as a prime place to find mercenaries. Montalba had learned that much from his recent dealings with SpecCorp, a major black-ops contractor working with a number of governments. Berger was in the business of providing both manpower and materiel to anyone with the funds to pay. He must still have strong connections to Martinique, given his prominence in the arms trade.
Thinking of manpower reminded Montalba that he was constrained at the moment. The agent who had provided the report he was reading was a solo operator, focused on Barrera and the Berger connection. The two-person team that he used for eliminating competitors was engaged at the moment, and they were too specialized to be of general use. He needed people to follow up on the leads that the agent was turning up. He also had an opening for a manager in South Florida since the demise of Manny LaRosa.
Though Montalba retained his majority ownership in SpecCorp, he wouldn't use them. He had already discovered that their strengths in military special operations didn't serve them well in dealing with the cartels. Their main value to him now was that they provided solid insight into what William O'Toole was doing.
O'Toole knew SpecCorp from his oversight role as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He used his leverage from the committee to force SpecCorp's involvement in his illegal undertakings. SpecCorp, in the interest of maintaining their favored position as a government contractor, was happy to accommodate O'Toole's private requests.
Montalba thought his best option would be Reuben Griffin, the man in St. Lucia who had worked with Pinkie Schultz and later with Dick Kilgore. Montalba's sister, Graciella, had picked Kilgore's brain before he was killed, documenting his and Schultz's connections, including Griffin.
Montalba was not sure whether to trust Griffin. Perhaps he would give him LaRosa's old job, running South Florida. He'd be where Montalba could keep an eye on him, then, and it wouldn't take long to discover whether he could do the job.
Montalba decided to have a cup of espresso while he considered that move. He'd need to meet the man before he decided, and then there was the question of who would take Griffin's place in St. Lucia.
Rising from his chair, Montalba walked to the espresso machine in the corner of the lounge area that he was using for an office. He loaded the machine and drew himself a steaming cup of espresso. For a dead man, he was living well.
Contreras studied the message from Paul and Connie, smiling at Luke's concern about Contreras prematurely exposing Senator O'Toole. By now, he was sure that Paul was writing the messages, and he could tell that he would get along well with Paul and Luke Pantene. They thought like he did.
Contreras sensed that Luke was already suspicious of O'Toole. While the police weren't certain that O'Toole knew about Graciella Montalba's brother, they must suspect he did. The senator was many things, but not a fool.
Contreras wasn't surprised to see that Luke knew O'Toole had a relationship of some kind with Art Jansen. The police couldn't prove that O'Toole knew about Jansen's criminal activity, but O'Toole's tie to the Montalbas was a second element of coincidence that Luke had to find suspicious.
According to Paul, Luke wanted to give O'Toole plenty of rope with which to hang himself. Contreras laughed out loud at that. He made a decision. He would share the information about O'Toole killing Art Jansen. He would hold back the fact of Gator Jaw Ryan's participation until he saw Luke's reaction. If Luke Pantene handled the information with restraint, Contreras would tell him about Kilgore's death as well as Ryan's part in both murders.
As he began typing, Contreras thought about what he should ask in return. He had nothing on the man with the scarred face, except his one meeting with O'Toole. That had occurred in a limousine outside O'Toole's office. The man had been waiting when O'Toole returned from the Everglades after he and Ryan had killed Jansen.
Contreras's team reasoned that there must be a connection between Jansen's death and the scar-faced man's approach to O'Toole, but they weren't sure what it was. They had seen the scar-faced man only that one time. Miguel had eavesdropped on O'Toole's meeting with the man but had been unable to record it, so they could not identify him from voiceprints.
They had recorded later telephone conversations in which they suspected O'Toole was talking to the scar-faced man, but they were guessing it was him from Miguel's memory of his voice. When Miguel later heard the phone conversation setting up Kilgore's first meeting with the man in the limo, he thought the caller sounded like the scar-faced man. He did manage to record that call.
Later, they had recorded the meetings between Kilgore and Berto in the limo. Berto's voiceprints had matched the ones that Miguel had been thinking were the scar-faced man's. Berto, however, had a smooth, handsome face. Now they knew that Berto was Guillermo Montalba, but who was the man with the hideously scarred face, and where did he fit in?
It would be difficult for so
meone like that to avoid notice. Indeed, there were rumors in the drug world of a ruthless operator with a scarred face, but he was a creature of the shadows. No one knew who he was or what he did. There was speculation that he had disfigured himself to avoid being identified, but nobody knew why. His identity was a mystery.
Contreras paused, thinking. The corpse in the condo with Manny LaRosa had no face. Could someone have obliterated the features to hide the scars? If so, what was the motivation to hide them?
Or could someone have done that to make it appear that the corpse might be the scar-faced man's? Contreras shook his head. He decided to stick to facts in his message to Paul and Luke.
He wrote that O'Toole had killed Jansen, disposing of his body in the Everglades. Later the same night, O'Toole had returned to his office. He met with a scar-faced man in a limo in the parking lot outside. Contreras would see what Luke made of that. Maybe the police had some information on the man with the scarred face.
Even if Luke Pantene wanted to, he wouldn't be able to prove that O'Toole killed Jansen without testimony from Miguel or Jorge. Contreras wanted to see how Luke reacted before giving him more details that might let him go after O'Toole before the time was right.
"Is this Reuben Griffin?" Montalba asked, when his call was answered.
"Who are you?" the man on the call asked. "Where did you get this number?"
"You've never met me," Montalba said, "but I know all about you. I got your number from Dick Kilgore."
"Bullshit," the man said. "Kilgore's dead."
"Yes," Montalba said. "And I know who killed him."
"So? Why do you think I care? Call the cops. Who the hell are you?"
"You don't know me, but Kilgore asked you to do a favor a few months ago. You lost a couple of men." Several seconds of silence followed Montalba's statement.
"I do favors for a lot of people. What was that one about? Give me some details, and maybe I'll remember."
"Kilgore was asking the favor for a friend of his, a man named Bert Holsclaw," Montalba said.
"What was the favor?"
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 5