Bluewater Target: The 15th Novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Bluewater Thrillers)

by Charles Dougherty

  "The DEA has been keeping tabs on him recently; he's come to their attention as a result of an internal investigation. They think someone's leaking information to him.

  "Leon's not sure why SpecCorp would be asking about Lucas, though. But since it's the same people that were asking about us, he thought it was worth mentioning."

  Marie said, "This is interesting. This man, Lucas, was in Northern Virginia yesterday, visiting the target. That would explain why SpecCorp people are checking on him."

  "So you already know about him?" Paul asked.

  "No more than that, plus what you just now told us," Marie said. "But it is no surprise that SpecCorp is checking on him, yes?"

  "I guess not," Paul said. "You must have the target under surveillance, then."

  "Yes," Marie said. "For a couple of days, now. We wanted to evaluate his security at the estate. You may wish to tell your cousin about the visit from Lucas to SpecCorp, yes?"

  "Yes, we will," Connie said.

  "Tell him that it does not appear that this Lucas is well known to the target." Marie went on to describe the reception Lucas received.

  "Interesting," Paul said. "So Lucas wasn't very welcome. Or do they treat all visitors that way?"

  "He is the only visitor my people have observed," Marie said. "So I cannot answer this question yet. Their security is tight, though. We know this already."

  "Stands to reason that a guy like your target would have good security," Paul said. "After all, he's kind of in that business."

  "Yes," Dani said. "Phillip told us it would probably be easier to infiltrate the White House grounds."

  "You must be planning to catch him elsewhere, then," Paul said.

  "We have been thinking of ways to lure him out into the open, yes," Marie said. "Dani has suggested that we might use your method to draw him out, Connie."

  "My method? What's that?"

  "We'd pretend to be part of a cartel with lots of dirty cash to launder," Dani said. "Any suggestions?"

  "Don't do it. It's too dangerous," Connie said.

  "That's the last thing I would expect to hear from you. How many times have you done that very thing?" Dani asked.

  "Too many. And I never did it on purpose."

  "That's not how we remember it," Liz said. "It looked deliberate to me, at least."

  "Well, it was deliberate, all right," Connie said. "But that doesn't mean it was my idea. It has to be carefully thought out, or you'll just get yourself killed. Life's cheap in those circles."

  "Why do you say you never did this on purpose, Connie?" Marie asked.

  "Because I didn't set myself up as part of a cartel. My adversaries came into those situations having already made that assessment. I just played along and elaborated on their misunderstandings a little. Otherwise, I'm not sure how you would establish your credibility."

  "Yes. I see this problem exactly, with Dani's plan. How do we make the target believe we are in the drug trade, I want to know. If we can do this, then maybe the plan can work. Otherwise, no. He will be too suspicious."

  "That's right, Marie. I never had to convince a mark that I was running a cartel. That all began with that scumbag Sam Alfano. He's the one who started all those rumors about me. After that, I couldn't shake it, so I made the best of it. Ask Dani or Liz to tell you about him; they know that story."

  "Yes. They have already told me. This Alfano, he served to vouch for you, then, yes?"

  "In effect, yes."

  "And the others. They learned about you from him?"

  "Yes. Once a mark picks up something like that independently, it's easy enough to keep the con game going. It's much more difficult if you have to establish credibility by yourself."

  "You have some experience with this, I think," Marie said. "Maybe before the cartel business, you have done some of these con games?"

  "I did some things in my past that I shouldn't have, I guess. When you're desperate, you learn to manipulate people. I try to avoid that, now, but these jerks won't let go."

  "I understand. I don't ask you to do these things," Marie said. "But perhaps you may think of some way we could make the target believe Dani's plan."

  "I'll think about it; I might be able to come up with something. And as far as my participating, I'm already mixed up in this situation. So if it makes sense for me to play a role, I'm all right with that. I want these bastards finished — all of them. I'm tired of them dragging me into their schemes. The sooner you finish this, the happier I'll be."

  "Thanks, Connie," Dani said. "Liz and I were thinking about using Jeffrey Crosley."

  "You mean by giving him a little seed money to play with?" Connie asked.

  "Yes," Dani said.

  "That's always amusing to watch," Connie said.

  "Is he the guy in the Bahamas?" Paul asked. "The one you used when those people tried to frame me for bribery with Internal Affairs?"

  "That's the one."

  "I didn't realize you knew him, Dani," Paul said. "I thought you said your lawyer sent you to him, Connie."

  "He did. Turns out Dani knew about him before that."

  "Oh," Paul said. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be — "

  "It's okay, Paul," Dani said. "I ran across him in my investment banking days. He does some legitimate stuff, too. That's how he got so good at the under-the-radar work."

  "I won't ask," Paul said.

  "Thanks. Anyway, that's the idea we're playing with," Dani said. "But the money part's easy. The tough part will be making Delaney believe he can trust us, and then figuring out how to get him out of his fortress so Marie can do her thing."

  "Okay," Connie said. "Let us go mull this over. Maybe my cousin Leon will have an idea on establishing your credentials."

  "Wait," Marie said. "Please be careful what you tell him about our mission."

  "Don't worry," Connie said. "He won't ask. We'd better go get some dinner before our guests come back. We'll be in touch."

  "When does your charter end?" Liz asked.

  "They're leaving us in the morning. Then we'll be able to talk more freely. I'll give you a call when we're clear of them."

  "Thanks for calling," Liz said.

  "Goodnight," Paul and Connie said, in chorus, and they disconnected the call.

  "Speaking of dinner," Liz said, standing and moving to the companionway, "I should get the galley squared away."

  "I'll help," Marie said.

  12

  "How's this gonna work, Larry?"

  "This lawyer — Kilpatrick's his name — is pretending to represent O'Toole. He's supposedly appealing the conviction for one of the killings. Don't ask me the particulars; I don't have a clue. The main thing is he gets reasonable access to O'Toole, and privacy to talk with him."

  "O'Toole's really filing an appeal?" Delaney asked.

  "I don't know, Clayton. Maybe he is, or maybe it's just a pretext for this lawyer to visit. It doesn't matter for what we want, does it?"

  "I guess not. Can he take a phone in, so I can talk with O'Toole?"

  "No. No phones, no electronics. They make the lawyer walk through a scanner. He can't take much of anything in or out. Documents only, and they're subject to review going in and out. He can't leave anything behind with O'Toole."

  "Shit. So it's like being back in third grade passing whispers around the room."

  "Yeah, only it takes longer. He's going in tomorrow for his first visit. He suggested this one ought to be just to set things up with O'Toole, see how he reacts."

  "Can't he take a letter in for me? Disguised as a legal document?"

  "He can, but he recommended against it. He and O'Toole don't know one another, except for what O'Toole's regular lawyer has told the two of them when they set this up."

  "Why does that matter?"

  "He's done this sort of thing a lot, Clayton. He wants to look O'Toole in the eye, see what he's dealing with before he tells O'Toole you sent him. He doesn't want to expose you right away."

  "Expose m
e? He's looking out for O'Toole, not me, right?"

  "That's the way it's meant to look to O'Toole. Kilpatrick knows who's paying him. He's our boy, not O'Toole's."

  "Does O'Toole know that?"

  "The lawyer's not gonna tell him, Clayton. He says O'Toole's a known scumbag from way back; he's not willing to trust O'Toole with anything that he could use against you or SpecCorp."

  "That sounds like a bunch of shit, Larry. If he'd screw O'Toole, why wouldn't he screw us?"

  "I asked him that same question. His answer rings true, for me anyway."

  "Well, tell me, damn it."

  "He says aside from O'Toole's track record, he's seen a lot of stand-up guys in O'Toole's situation turn on their friends. Being in prison does that. Kilpatrick says even if you trusted O'Toole with your life before, you'd be a fool to do that now. He says being in the clink does that to people. You and O'Toole may have been tight, but now he's in prison and you're not."

  "At some point, though, he's gotta trust O'Toole with something, or we aren't going to get anywhere with this, Larry."

  "Yeah, he said that, too. He's stayed outta trouble because he's good at reading people in O'Toole's situation. He told me you'd react this way. He said to remind you that if O'Toole screws you, he'll screw Kilpatrick as well.

  "O'Toole's goose is already cooked," Thompson said. "The lawyer's interests are far more closely aligned with yours and SpecCorp's than they are with O'Toole's."

  "Okay," Delaney said. "We don't have much choice, do we?"

  "No," Larry Thompson said. "The lawyer's holding all the cards on this one."

  "So, no message to O'Toole on the first visit, then," Delaney said. "When will he go back in?"

  "He says he'll give it a day, maybe two, depending on how O'Toole comes across. On the first visit, he'll ask O'Toole if there's anybody outside he trusts to work with him. He's figuring that'll be you, but he says you never know what a guy like O'Toole will come up with."

  "How much does this guy know, Larry? The lawyer?"

  "Just the basics — O'Toole was doing you some favors, classic mutual back-scratching."

  "Does he know what we're looking for out of this?"

  "Some of it. He knows we're looking for somebody to replace Montalba as a partner in some of our dealings. He obviously knows about O'Toole and Montalba. And that O'Toole was about to marry Montalba's sister. That's about it."

  "You didn't tell him about our cash crunch?"

  "No way, Clayton. I didn't want the son of a bitch worrying about how we were gonna pay him. I did tell him about the visit from Walter Lucas, and what Lucas said about O'Toole's wanting you to know about the contract on your life."

  "Okay, then. I guess we'll see what he comes back with after he sees O'Toole."

  "Yeah. There's one other thing you should know about him — a good thing."

  "I need good news, Larry."

  "He knows Walter Lucas. Says they kinda run in the same circles."

  "And?" Delaney asked, his interest piqued.

  "He confirms our intel on Lucas. Lucas does have leverage with somebody in the DEA."

  "Did you tell him we'd heard Lucas made it sound like he'd talked with O'Toole?"

  "No. I asked him to find out if Lucas had any access to O'Toole, or any kind of connection to somebody who had access."

  "Good. It'll be interesting to see what he comes back with on that. I'm still thinking we may want to interrogate Lucas."

  "Your call, boss. But I think we should hold off a little while, see what the new guy gets from O'Toole on Lucas. He may want to talk to Lucas himself. Save us the trouble and give us a little cover in the bargain."

  "Yeah, that makes sense. I got something else that's nagging at me."

  "What's that, Clayton?"

  "If Lucas got his info on the hit from O'Toole, how the hell did O'Toole hear about it?"

  "Good question, but I don't think we should ask about that just yet. Let's see what he comes back with from the first meeting."

  "I agree. I just wanted to get you thinking about that."

  "It's on my list, Clayton. Based on what we've got so far, I'm pretty sure Lucas didn't get that from O'Toole. That begs the question of where the hell he did get it."

  "You still got people watching him?"

  "Yep, but we're not getting much out of it."

  "How about bugging his office and tapping his phones?" Delaney asked.

  "I was thinking the same thing, but the team that's on him doesn't have the skills. Want to kick the surveillance on him up a notch?"

  "Yeah. Do it."

  "Yes, sir. No problem. I'll get right on it."

  "Good. Thanks Larry. I'll talk with you tomorrow." Delaney hung up the phone.

  He looked at the clock on his desk and saw that it was after nine p.m. He stood and put his hands on his hips, turning from side to side to stretch the muscles in his lower back.

  After a moment, Delaney sighed and shook out his arms. He went to the wet bar and poured himself two fingers of single malt. Sitting down on the couch, he began to process the information from Larry Thompson.

  "Thanks, Liz," Dani said, reaching for the mug that Liz offered her.

  "You're welcome. I was making coffee for myself; the water was hot, and I thought you could use some tea. There's more coffee if you'd prefer it."

  "No, the tea's just right. I'm tired; it's midnight. I'll hit the sack in a few minutes, until it's time for me to relieve Marie at dawn. I was looking forward to your coming on watch. I've been thinking about this whole deal I got us into." Dani shifted her position to the port side of the cockpit, giving Liz room to slide in behind the helm.

  "It's not all your doing; I opted in, too. But what about it?" Liz asked.

  "It's way more complicated than I thought."

  "You mean the logistics of it?"

  Dani nodded and took a sip of her tea. "I expected a variation on combat, I guess. You know, simple and straightforward. You get an order to take out an enemy, and you just saddle up and go after them. Stalk them, get them in your sights, and pull the trigger."

  "That's not a bad description of what Marie's doing, is it?"

  "Maybe not, but it misses a lot of the nuance."

  "Can you be a little more specific?" Liz asked.

  "Well, for one thing, Delaney's security. I'm not surprised, but I hadn't factored in anything like that. If his compound were in a jungle in Central America, we'd just go in with guns blazing and take out anybody in our way."

  "The jungles of Northern Virginia call for more finesse, don't they?"

  "They do. So we have to lure him out of his fortress. The money seemed like a sure-fire way to do that, until Marie raised her questions."

  "But money as the bait is still viable, Dani. It was a good idea. He's desperate for cash. It'll work."

  "Yeah, but I didn't think about the other, the why would he trust J.-P. part. That bothers me; I feel like I screwed up for missing that. It's obvious, once you look at the details."

  "Wait, Dani. You may be on to something."

  "What? I don't — "

  "The reasons why he wouldn't believe J.-P. would do something like this. They're all related to J.-P. — his reputation, the fact that he's already got everything that Delaney could offer him. Those are specific to J.-P."

  "Sure, I see that, Liz. What's your point? You've lost me."

  "How did we decide to use J.-P., anyway?" Liz asked.

  "Um, let's see," Dani said, wrinkling her brow. "Let me think for a second." She took a sip of tea and stared up at the stars scattered across the sky. "It was obvious, Liz. Like Venus on the horizon after sunset."

  "Now you've lost me. What do you mean?"

  "The whole scenario we were considering. Marie said Montalba and Delaney decided that J.-P. had to be behind Connie and that cartel business. We just picked up on it. The nearest bright, shiny object."

  "Earth to Dani." Liz waved her hand in front of Dani's eyes. "Come in, Dan
i. What are you talking about?"

  "It's our own fault. We fell into it. There's no reason it should be J.-P. He'd never get into a deal like this, anyway."

  "That's the whole point, Dani. But I still don't know where you're going with this."

  "We don't need J.-P. as a front. We've got everything we need. It was something Connie said, about the marks deceiving themselves. It finally sunk in. When we were working out our scheme, we were trying to feed Delaney too much information. We were telling too much of the story. We need to focus on his hot buttons and let him fill in the blanks. Then he'll believe it, because we're showing him enough pieces to let him figure things out for himself."

  "Tell me about his hot buttons, Dani."

  "The immediate one is the money. The other one is somebody to replace Montalba for the longer term. He's looking for another drug lord."

  "Okay. I get the money part. But what about the 'replace Montalba' part?"

  "If I'm a big-time drug lord," Dani said, "I'm not going to call Delaney up and say 'I'm a big-time drug lord and I want to launder money through your business.' I'm going to be subtle."

  Liz giggled.

  "Why are you laughing?" Dani snapped.

  "The notion of your being subtle. Nothing to do with your idea; it makes sense. Go on; tell me how you think we'd make this happen, without using J.-P.'s name."

  "I was thinking about that satellite phone Marie took from Montalba. Picture Delaney getting a call on that phone. I think his first question will be, 'Who the hell are you?' because he knows Montalba's dead, yet someone knows how to work all the security codes on that phone. Marie said Delaney gave it to Montalba, so he'll know all about that stuff, right?"

  "That makes sense," Liz said. "How do we answer him, then?"

  "I was thinking we'd be better off to laugh at him. Then say something like, 'You don't need to know who I am, just yet. All you need to know is that I'm taking Montalba's place. You understand, Mr. Delaney?'"

  "I like it so far. Then what?"

  "Delaney will probably try to act like a tough guy. But we'll blow right by that, and say, 'Check your bank account, Mr. Delaney. Then call me back.'"