The Turquoise Shroud: A Seth Halliday Novel

by Bobby Underwood

  And somewhere out in the Keys would sit the twisted Vargases of the world, arranging for more drugs to find their way to the streets and into the clubs while he destroyed a marvelous girl whose only crime had been her innocence. I wanted out of Miami, which had reached its dirty fingers as far as Cozumel and brought forth death.

  I thought about Caroline, and wondered where she'd want to go when this was all over. Harry would go where we went, that was no worry. I thought about Jeanette and my promise, and suddenly knew I'd never keep it. I think she knew I couldn't keep it. I wasn't the only one wistful about the Florida of old, or the country of old. I wanted to sail the seven seas with Caroline, have adventures that didn't involve corrupt cops and twisted drug-dealer fathers, damaged families and death. I wanted Caroline, dammit! But first I had to find Nancy's killer. I had one more stop to make before Dinner Key.

  At the back of my mind something important was darting around too quickly and erratically to corral. Something I'd heard or seen that meant something. I'd had the pingpong ball bouncing around before and knew if I waited long enough, it would slow down and I'd catch it. It was still out of reach as I pulled the Plymouth into Sonny's slot. The sky was soft purple now, and on the periphery where it disappeared into the sea a dusky orange as the sun began to stir.

  I caught sight of Caroline standing on the pier next to Candida. She'd been watching for me and when she saw the 'Cuda she began to run, slowly at first and then all-out. I jogged toward her and about a third of the way to Sonny's slip she was in my arms, off her feet, like in those famous black and white train station photos taken after the War as soldiers returned to their sweethearts. I felt something wet against my cheek and realized Caroline was crying.

  "Hey, now! It's okay. I just had to see someone and didn't want to wake you."

  "I know. I'm so silly. Sonny told me thirty minutes ago when I woke up. But he told me how long you'd been gone. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you, Seth."

  I felt in my pocket. Sal hadn't been any too happy when I'd banged on his door at such an early hour, but he'd been plenty happy to take my money forty minutes later. I pulled out the small square box covered in purple velvet and Caroline became very still. I opened it and said, "When this is all over, I want us to go away together, Caroline. Wherever you want. Maybe those places you were going to go before. You can still see them. Maybe even get in on a dig or something while Harry and I kick around on the boat. I don't care, as long as you're happy, and as long as you're by my side. How would feel about getting married in Cozumel once this is all over?" It probably wasn't much of a proposal as proposals go. I hadn't rehearsed it.

  Caroline slid the ring from its slot and placed it on her finger. The stone was sapphire, a beautiful blue. The ring size had been a guess but I'd gotten lucky. Caroline hadn't looked at me yet. When she did, I couldn't read her eyes and for a second I wondered if it was all too much, too soon.

  "Seth, I…you don't have to take me to digs. That was my old life, before what happened. I thought I'd…I was afraid I'd live out my days with momma. She can't even see how happy I am. You're my life now, Seth. Let's just get married and go wherever the winds blow us, together. There's a big world out there and I'd like to see it all with the greatest guy in the world. If you and Harry are kicking around the boat then that's where I want to be, too."

  "I stopped listening after 'Let's just get married'," I said gently, finally able to smile.

  "No you didn't."

  "Maybe you're right."

  "The wife is always right, or so I hear, anyway."

  "Oh sure, that you can remember."

  And we stood there on the long pier in each other's arms, laughing. But I hadn't forgotten that someone wanted her dead.

  Eighteen

  Sonny drove and I slept all the way out to the Glades. We needed Sonny's airboat to navigate through the grassy swamps and reach his plane. Sonny had offered to stay aboard Stella with Harry and guard Caroline while I went after Vargas and his daughter, one of whom had killed her and was now after Caroline. My money was on Sheila, but it didn't mean daddy wasn't cleaning up her mess if she had him that wrapped around her finger. With Nancy out of the picture, Sheila was the only daughter he had left to destroy.

  The only way to reach the Flying J and the hanger next to it, which is completely hidden from ariel view by mangroves, is through the Glades. The Flying J, which is essentially a corrugated tin hanger wide enough for three small seaplanes and a greasy-spoon restaurant of sorts next door, had affectionately been named, the Neutral Zone. But that hadn't always been the case.

  The place had been raided and torn down by the cops more than once, but it always sprang right back up. Getting out there was a pain for law enforcement to begin with, so after about the fourth time it reappeared in the Glades, a truce was bartered. If a cop was out in the Glades near the Flying J and needed a meal, or fuel, he was welcome, and he didn't have to watch his back. In turn, anything a cop came across while he was being fed, was out of bounds. He couldn't act on it. As long as everyone kept to their end of the bargain, everyone was happy.

  There is really no way to sleep on a fanboat because it's all open. The wind is in your face, the noise from the massive fan propeller behind you is awful, and if you've got any sense you stay alert for the creepy crawly things. Outsiders to Florida don't realize that whales have been known to go astray and get trapped in the Glades. Yes, whales, those big fish that eat entire schools of other fish. And while the first thing that pops into the mind of most people when the Everglades of Florida are mentioned are the gators, what you really have to watch out for are the Burmese Pythons which have gotten a stranglehold on the Glades. They'll grow to 16 or 17 feet long and are big enough to swallow an adult deer, or, you know, an adult.

  Caroline was excited as we took off across the grassy water, but as Sonny began talking about the Glades I felt her scoot closer to me. She wasn't taking notes on what Sonny was saying, either. The first gator she saw slip out of the grass and into the water she was practically in my lap. I kept the Bren Ten handy just in case. Saving the half of the Glades that remained after agriculture and urban developers had destroyed the other half and wanting to visit it all the time were two different things entirely.

  Two other fanboats were sitting on the grass in front of the Flying J when we arrived. One of them sported a Florida law enforcement emblem. Sonny went inside to let Del Rio -- the guy who had been in charge out here for as long as anyone could remember -- know he was taking his plane from the hanger for a run.

  Del Rio was an ex-rum-runner from Georgia. He is in his early fifties, a big barrel of a man. He had married a sexy little Asian girl he'd brought over -- according to Sonny, legally -- from one of those countries where you could easily, for the right amount of cash, arrange such things. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen but I'd always found Asians difficult to gauge in the age department, so she might have been all of 16.

  Tracking the flow of contraband when I was on the force had taken me out there to the Flying J a few times. Each time I'd seen Del Rio's plaything she was wearing one of those short plaid schoolgirl skirts, sometimes blue, sometimes red, long dark socks and a white blouse with a tie. All she needed was a Hello Kitty lunch pail and she'd be all set for class. I wasn't certain whether she actually liked the outfits or whether Del Rio liked her to wear them but she was an underage little eyeful, and appeared to be happy all the time.

  I'd spoken to her a couple of times but could never seem to recall her name. It was one of those hyphenated Asian names. Whenever I tried remembering it all that came to mind was Austin Powers meeting Fook Mi and Fook Yu and I'd bust out in laughter that was difficult to explain to anyone around me. Especially Del Rio. Caroline and I waited outside the hanger while Sonny went in and got the hanger key. It was for the best.

  Two other planes sat inside next to Sonny's. Sonny's little seaplane looked like a toy by comparison, but it could hold four people, or on
e person and the equivalent weight of three additional passengers, which it hadn't for a very long time. And she was fast. The plane's exterior was predominantly white, with yellow striping and a yellow tail. He'd left her covered up so she wasn't dusty once he'd unveiled her.

  "Wow, she's so cute," commented Caroline.

  "She's a sweet ride, just as smooth with three or four passengers as with one." He smiled at Caroline. "You'll be only the second girl who's ever been in her."

  "Candida?" Caroline made the hula girl motion again.

  "Naw. I took Maria up in her once. We flew out to the Keys for a picnic and then cruised over Miami and Miami Beach. It's prettier from the air. We flew over the Glades here, too. It was a real blast."

  Caroline obviously hadn't forgotten who Maria was, or what I'd told her, because she didn't check her notes. "I'm sure it was a wonderful memory you gave her."

  Sonny nodded. "I hope so."

  I let Caroline fly shotgun, next to Sonny. A few minutes later we were on the water, moving slowly through a long tunnel of mangroves barely wide enough for the plane's wingspan. About 2/3 of the way through we picked up speed and just as we emerged into the open the plane lifted and we ascended. It was a not unimpressive piece of aerial derring-do, but after all, it's how Sonny had once made his living. Fly the unfriendly skies with SIC, Sonny's Illegal Contraband, no baggage ever lost or misplaced.

  I don't mind the big planes, but the little ones worry me, so I closed my eyes and slept out of self-preservation as well as weariness. It was restless sleep, small air pockets jostling the plane once in a while. I dreamt I was standing on the beach, watching as a faceless man and a girl who looked a lot like Sheila dug a deep hole in the wet sand. For some reason I couldn't move. Next to the hole they were digging lay Nancy, looking around dreamily, her drugged eyes unable to focus clearly. Then they lifted her body and the faceless man held her upright in the hole while Sheila filled in the empty gaps around Nancy. Finished, they walked down the beach, holding hands. Nancy faced the sea and then her head did a 180 so that her frightened and desperate eyes focused on me. She opened her mouth and pleaded, "Seth, help me."

  "Seth! Seth!"

  I awoke with a start. Caroline had turned around in her seat and she was shaking me. Her expression was one of deep concern. "Are you okay? You were trying to holler something in your sleep."

  I remembered. I was hollering to Nancy, "I'll get them, honey. I'll bury them, too."

  "I'm all right. How much longer?" I was bathed in sweat.

  Sonny said, without turning to look at me, "We're here, man. I can see your boat. Let's set her down."

  Delana was sitting on deck with her perfect legs stretched out, her feet propped up on the spare anchor. She was wearing that emerald green bikini and reading a book. She shaded her eyes with one hand as Sonny came in low and touched down on the water. As he maneuvered the plane closer to Stella a dusky blonde in her late twenties wearing black cut-offs so short that a lot of cheek was showing emerged from the cabin. Her pointed jugs were bouncing around beneath a thin white tank-top. She said something to Delana before turning back toward the cabin and giving a little wave, presumably to Harry.

  Delana waved to her with the hand not shading her eyes after setting the book in her lap. The girl hopped off the boat and headed up toward the road where a little compact car was parked along the shoulder. Evidently she had been Harry's surprise. I watched her delicious hips sway from side to side as she headed up the hill. I surmised Harry had been treated to a wonderful night. Since it wasn't the type of favor a woman could ask of a friend, I concluded satisfying gentleman of any age was the woman's chosen vocation. Despite the country-girl outfit she had an expensive look about her, even from a distance. Those hips and legs were world-class. I wondered how much she had cost Delana. It was a sweet gesture, and made me like her even more.

  Sonny got close enough to what remained of the wooden pier that I was able to jump onto it. I opened Caroline's door and grabbed her waist, lifting her in my arms and setting her down beside me. It took a few minutes for Sonny to get some distance and swing the plane around so that his door was next to the pier and he could exit. Delana had walked down to meet us and Harry had emerged from the cabin looking like he'd had more fun than an old drunk his age was supposed to have, and was paying a high price for it. I introduced Sonny to Delana.

  "Hi, Sonny. I'm Delana. Seth is very gallantly letting me use his boat as a hotel while I sort some things out."

  Sonny was trying not to look everywhere but her face as she talked. There was a lot of her to look at in the bikini, all of it fresh and lovely.

  "Caroline told me on the flight over," he said. "If you have some thinking to do, there's no better place than on a boat. It sort of puts the world in perspective."

  She looked at him and though she was smiling, something in her eyes reminded me of regret. It only lasted for a second and then it was gone. She said to me, "Maybe I should stay at a real hotel in San Miguel, Seth."

  "Don't worry about it. Sonny and I will be sleeping on deck, so there's plenty of room."

  She asked the question with her expression.

  "Whoever murdered Nancy may come after Caroline, so if you want to stay in town for that reason, it might in fact be a good idea."

  She looked from me to Caroline to Sonny and back again. I was giving her an out. If she felt uncomfortable because of Caroline, or more to the point, if our almost-but-never-quite-romance interrupted by my feelings for Caroline left her uncomfortable, she could use the possible danger as a reason to remove herself. She didn't.

  "I'll stick around then, if it's okay with you?" She wasn't speaking to me. She was asking for Caroline's permission, deferring to her. She had noticed the ring. It was a classy thing to do. Caroline said, "Sure, the more the merrier. It's a little scary knowing someone's out to get you."

  "Why are they out to get her, Seth?"

  "Let's get on the boat and I'll explain while we have lunch. I need to check some things out first, though."

  While Caroline and Delana made sandwiches, Harry sat grinning at Sonny. Sonny couldn't rib him about the hooker like he was dying to because the girls were there. I walked around with a little device I wasn't supposed to own looking for bugs. I began in the big shower then moving to the bedrooms, working my way out to the main area. Stella was big, and it took a while. I was pretty good at it and knew where to look because I'd bugged a few places myself. I came up empty. It left me uncertain how someone had known Caroline and I had gone to Miami. It was a simple matter to check outgoing flights, however, and there was only one airport. Someone in Vargas's position would know of my association with Sonny, so once I was headed for Miami, it was only a mental hop-skip-and-a-jump to Dinner Key. Vargas was a creep, but that didn't make him stupid. The ball was still bouncing around too quickly to catch it, but I hadn't forgotten about it.

  While we ate, I laid it all out, from Vargas and the daughter he'd warped to the money and Marquez. It was a sad and twisted tale with some pieces missing, the pieces which had somehow led to Nancy's death. But any way I looked at it, Vargas and his lover/daughter were at the dirty bottom of it, and I needed to smoke them out. But I needed rest, too. Those naps in the 'Cuda and on the plane had only left me more weary for sleep. It isn't like in books where the detective gets conked on the head, wakes up and keeps going another 48 hours straight. Exhaustion dulls the senses, impairs the brain and slows down the reflexes. Reaction time in business like this can be the difference between living and dying. Or worse, I thought, the difference between Caroline living or dying.

  "I'm going to sack out in my room for a while." I turned to Caroline. "That's where you'll sleep tonight while Sonny and I take guard duty."

  "Okay."

  "Harry, you can sleep right there in case someone gets past us," I said, to give him value. It was unlikely anyone would get past Sonny and me, and if they did, even more unlikely Harry could stop them.

  "They'l
l get a belly full of lead if they come down those steps," he said. "But wouldn't we be safer out at sea, Seth?"

  Harry always felt safer at sea, but he had a point. I'd considered it earlier, then dismissed it. We could see anyone approaching from the road or sea from where we sat. Out on the water we could be rammed, divers with tanks could swim out and plant charges. And eventually we'd have to return anyway, leaving this spot vulnerable to being booby-trapped, which would be the smartest way to get us. I kicked it around for a while with everyone -- though it was mostly Sonny's opinion that mattered -- and when Sonny agreed with me that it was no safer at sea than staying put, it sealed the decision.

  I kissed Caroline, wiped mayonnaise from the corner of her mouth, and whispered in her ear, "I love you." It made her eyes very bright.

  I went in search of sleep that was void of dead girls buried in the sand who I couldn't save.

  Nineteen

  When I awoke it was dark. A voice next to me whispered, "Hey sleepyhead." It was Caroline. We were lying on top of the covers, both fully dressed, except for shoes. "When did you come in here?" I asked.

  "Hours ago. Sonny's up on deck with Harry and Delana, having a beer." She laughed. "Several, I think. I came down here to be with my…what are you? I know I wrote it down somewhere." She reached into her pocket and I grabbed her and pulled her into my arms, our laughter filling the room. "I'm the guy who loves you, and don't ever forget that." I kissed her, long and sweet and with meaning.

  Before we could go any further a knock interrupted us. We untangled and I hollered for them to come in. It was Sonny.

  "Hey, man, sorry to ruin the party, but didn't you say those two lesbian chicks were aboard a cruise ship?"

  "Yeah, one is a crew member. Why?"

  "'Cause we're listening to a little transistor out there and two chicks aboard her got off at Playa del Carmen and never got back on. They went looking for them, 'cause one of them was part of the crew. Found them both dead on the beach. Been dead a while."