Bluewater Enigma

by Charles Dougherty

  "Got it. Like you said, piece of cake."

  "Good. After the job's done, you three return the go-fast boat to our pal in St. Vincent. I'll send the Lear back for you boys; it can pick you up in St. Vincent, no sweat."

  "Cool, Mike. Like you said, a nice evening's work."

  "Okay, Billy. Let's make it happen. I gotta line up the planes. You handle the speedboat and the arrangements for the authorities in Mustique to look the other way. See you and the boys at Opa Locka in an hour."

  "I feel sorry for her, Liz." Dani dropped the folding anchor over the side of the dinghy. She and Liz had let the RIB drift a hundred meters or so downwind from Vengeance after their guests had retired to their cabin. "I didn't like overhearing them. I can't help thinking about her having to put up with that slimeball — "

  "Stop it. She doesn't need your pity. Think about something else."

  "Like what?"

  "Tell me what Luke said when you called him about Berto a little while ago."

  "He'd checked on the phone number she gave us for Berto. It's a prepaid cellphone. He managed to get warrants for phone records for Berto and Manny LaRosa on the strength of what she told us about Berto's connection to the blackmail."

  "That was fast," Liz said.

  "He said it helped that the victim was a congressman. But anyway, the only calls on Berto's number were to and from Beverly. Texts, too. The dates of the texts match the dates she's been aboard. That's it."

  "What about LaRosa?"

  "No calls to or from LaRosa on Berto's number. Luke's got some people working through the call records from LaRosa's phone for the period when he set her up with Berto. He said they're looking for calls to numbers that match up with the location of Berto's prepaid phone. All Berto's calls to and from Beverly were from the same location."

  "Where is it?" Liz asked.

  "It's a cluster of high rise office and condo buildings on the waterway in Miami. Luke says unless they can get some kind of cross reference with LaRosa's calls into the same geography, it's not of much use. There are too many cellphones in that small area, otherwise. If they match up LaRosa's calls, they'll be able to get a list of phone numbers in those buildings. That's only landlines, but it would narrow their search for Berto."

  "Did he have any more to say about LaRosa?" Liz asked.

  "Yes, but he doesn't know what it means. In the last few months, LaRosa's started hanging out at a club in South Beach. It's called the Pink Pussycat."

  "Yuck," Liz said. "That name evokes a certain image, doesn't it?"

  "Yes. From what Luke said, the club was home to a couple of suspected drug dealers in the recent past. Pinky Schultz was one, and the next one was Dick Kilgore," Dani said. "The names mean nothing to me, but Luke said Schultz had run the place for as long as anybody could remember, until several months ago. He disappeared, and Kilgore took it over for a few months. Now he's vanished, and LaRosa's there."

  "What did he think of Beverly's comments about Berto being 'the boss?'"

  "He didn't say much about it," Dani said. "Damn!"

  "What?" Liz asked.

  "It just hit me. I knew we were missing something about Berto."

  "What about him?"

  "She said he was handsome," Dani said, "'really handsome, and has elegant manners,' she said."

  "Yes," Liz said, "I remember her saying that."

  "She's met him, Liz!" Dani said. "She knows what he looks like."

  "Damn! You're right," Liz said. "How did we miss that?"

  "We didn't miss it. It just took a while for it to register, mixed in with everything else. Wonder where she met him?"

  "Do you think she might know where he lives?" Liz said.

  "Not much chance of that," Dani said, "not if he didn't give her his last name and only communicates with her using a burner cellphone. Besides, she would have told us that, don't you think?"

  "Probably so," Liz said.

  "But it's still something," Dani said. "If she met with him somewhere, maybe somebody else saw them together, or saw him arrive, or something. It's more than we had."

  "We need to ask her about it and call Luke," Liz said. "But I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow."

  "Yes," Dani said. "Speaking of tomorrow, did she say anything about plans for going somewhere?"

  "No, but their time's running out."

  "Oh, you're right. I'm not used to one-week charters. What do they have? A couple of days?"

  "Yes," Liz said. "We should be dropping them in Rodney Bay the day after tomorrow. It may be time to head back."

  "I wonder about the recordings," Dani said.

  "What about them?" Liz asked.

  "Somebody will be wanting to retrieve them," Dani said. "That's something else we should ask her about. We need a diversion for Harry tomorrow. Do you have another string bikini?"

  "Watch it, lady. You want to swim back to Rodney Bay?"

  "No ma'am. Just teasing you," Dani said, grinning. "Can I borrow it?"

  "It?"

  "That string bikini," Dani said.

  "Now I know you're teasing," Liz said. "Let's go back to Vengeance."

  20

  "That's them," Mike said, leaning over and cupping his hand around Billy's ear. "Vengeance. It's like daytime with this moon. Cut off our running lights and ease on in there, dead slow. Kill the extra engines. When we get close enough, shut everything down and we'll coast alongside them."

  "Okay," Billy said. "Got it. I'll stop a little upwind and we can drift back."

  "Good," Mike said. He turned to the other men, his right index finger across his lips. When they nodded, he pointed at Vengeance and gave a thumbs-up.

  Billy worked his way to a position about 50 meters off Vengeance's starboard bow and killed the one engine that was still running. Mike stationed Seamus and Joey along the port side of the go-fast boat, whispering instructions to them to fend off Vengeance. He didn't want to announce their arrival by bumping the yacht.

  Mike didn't expect much trouble from the three women and Velasquez, but he wanted the element of surprise on his side. It took them 30 seconds to drift back alongside Vengeance. All four men were holding the speedboat in place, leaving an arms' length gap between the two boats.

  At Mike's gesture, Seamus and Joey crept over the yacht's gunwale, slithering under the lower lifelines.

  They moved forward, out of the way, and Mike came aboard. Billy handed Mike the bow line from the speedboat and hoisted himself aboard, twisting as he rose so that he ended up sitting on Vengeance's toe rail, his feet holding the speedboat away from Vengeance. He looked over his shoulder, caught Mike's eye, and raised his eyebrows.

  Mike nodded, and Billy shoved the speedboat away with his legs as Mike payed out extra line. The wind caught the speedboat and it began drifting aft, several feet off Vengeance's starboard side. Mike walked along, the line in his hand, watching to make sure the boat didn't drift back in and bump Vengeance. Fifteen seconds later, it was trailing behind Vengeance. Mike squatted and tied the bow line to a cleat on Vengeance's aft quarter.

  Rising from his crouch, he made eye contact with each of the three men before he moved to the companionway. He lifted the soft nylon mesh bug screen, moving it aside and peering below for a few seconds. Staying low to avoid silhouetting himself in the moonlight, he crept down the ladder, facing forward.

  He had studied the yacht's web page this afternoon, so he knew that the guest accommodations were in the forward cabin. He felt his way toward the bow, careful to make no sound. He sensed Billy following close behind him. They had agreed earlier that the two of them would get in position to subdue Velasquez, leaving Joey and Seamus in the aft part of the living quarters to deal with the two women if they came out of their aft cabin.

  Mike stopped at the door to the forward stateroom and looked back at the companionway. His vision had adjusted to the dimly lit space well enough so that he could see the two men come down the ladder and disappear into the shadows of the galley
area. He caught Billy's eye. Billy nodded, and Mike turned and put his hand on the knob of the paneled teak door that closed off the forward stateroom. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and pushed against the door.

  It didn't swing freely. The wood was swollen from the damp evening air. He applied more pressure, and the door gave way with a soft creaking sound. He stepped into the forward stateroom and turned on the penlight that he held, shielding it with his other hand to avoid giving himself away. He crept through the short corridor between the head and the dressing area until he could see Velasquez and the woman, sprawled naked on a queen-sized berth in the silver moonlight that filtered through the overhead hatch.

  He turned off the penlight and slipped it in his pocket, taking a moment to admire the woman. Velasquez might be a shithead, but he had good taste. The boys were going to have fun making her talk. Mike grinned and reached to put a hand on Velasquez's shoulder, pausing when he heard a muttered curse from the back of the boat, followed by the thud of a body striking some of the wooden cabinetry.

  Dani was on her feet before she was wide awake. She put a hand on Liz's shoulder and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Did you hear that?"

  Liz nodded and rolled to a sitting position on the edge of her berth. Cupping a hand around Dani's ear, she whispered, "Door to the forward stateroom. It sticks, remember."

  Dani turned and opened their door, stepping out into the small area between the galley and the chart table. Liz saw a blur of motion on Dani's left side and watched as Dani flew across the open space to crash into the shelves above the chart table. She registered that Dani collapsed on the seat at the chart table, dazed.

  Liz grabbed the big three-cell flashlight from its bracket by the door, grasping it in both hands like a baseball bat. She put her left foot on the threshold and drove forward off her right leg, pivoting to the left and bringing the heavy flashlight around in a horizontal arc at head height. She heard a satisfying crunch and felt the jolt in her wrists from a solid contact. She saw the blood-covered face of the man called Joey as she cocked her arms for another blow.

  Before she swung, Seamus landed a blow on the base of Liz's neck with his weight behind it, and she went down. Shoving her aside, he stepped forward to help Joey. Before he got to his friend, Dani drove the folded knuckles of her right hand into Seamus's right kidney. He gasped for air, paralyzed for a second.

  She didn't waste her opportunity, making a claw of her left hand as she snaked it over his shoulder. She hooked her middle finger into the inner corner of his left eye socket, planted her right palm on the back of his head, and scooped his eye out.

  She dropped her left hand to cup his chin, getting ready to break his neck. She'd begun to twist his head when the overhead lights in the main cabin came on and a pistol with a suppressor barked from up near the forward stateroom. Maintaining the pressure on his neck, she looked over her right shoulder to see Billy grinning at her as he pointed a Glock 19 at her face.

  "Let him go, ya wild bitch," he said, with a chuckle. "Drag yer girlfriend back in yer cabin. Come out before I tell ya to and I'll kneecap ya both. Move!"

  Dani released her grip on Seamus and stepped back as he slid to the cabin sole, moaning. She reached down and helped Liz to her feet, supporting her as they followed Billy's instructions.

  "Everything under control back there?" Mike asked, from the forward cabin.

  "Yeah," Billy said. "They're a couple a fuckin' wildcats. Joey knocked one of 'em on her ass, then the other one brained him with one of them big flashlights. Seamus put her down and the first one woke up and jumped him. Put his fuckin' eye out; was tryin' to break his worthless neck. That's why I popped a cap."

  "You shoot her?" Mike asked.

  "Hell no, Mike. Shot out the back door. I ain't about to waste her. Gal like that, we gonna have us some serious fun with her before this is over. Where's Velasquez?"

  "Getting dressed and gathering up his shit," Mike said.

  "How about his girlfriend?"

  "I slapped the shit out of her and shoved her in the head. Tied the door shut and told her if she made a sound I'd let you skin her alive. See if you can wake up one of these losers. You need to run me and Velasquez back to the plane and get this boat out of here before daylight. We don't need witnesses seeing you leave here towing the speedboat."

  "Okay," Billy said. "Lemme secure the women." He stepped around Seamus, who was beginning to breathe more evenly between his moans. Leading with his pistol, Billy reached for the door to the aft stateroom and pulled it closed.

  "Can you grab a piece of rope from upstairs and tie that shut for me while I play nursemaid?" he asked.

  "Yeah, sure," Mike said, scrambling up the companionway ladder.

  By the time Mike got back, Billy had thrown several glasses of water in Joey's face. Joey was spluttering and wiping away the blood from the wound over his left ear. Mike tied the door shut while Billy turned his attention to Seamus.

  "You awake, Joey?" Mike asked.

  "Yeah." He shook his head. "Man, she nailed my ass. I'm gonna make — "

  "You'll get your chance to get even later. Right now, get this fucking boat moving," Mike said. "Just pull the anchor up and drive straight west, once you get out of these reefs. Billy will be back with you in a few minutes. Don't mess with the women until he gets back. You gotta find out who they're working for, remember?"

  "Sure Mike," Joey said. "That's cool." He got to his feet, leaning against the bulkhead for a second.

  "You okay?" Billy asked.

  "Yeah, man. Fine as frog hair. What happened to Seamus? That his damn eyeball?"

  "Yeah," Billy said, wrapping a makeshift bandage diagonally over Seamus's head, loosely holding the eyeball over its socket. "That first one you cold-cocked woke up and tore into him. She was about to break his damn neck. Knew what she was doin', too. Watch her ass, you hear me?"

  "Yeah, man. I got it."

  "Don't get any ideas about the women until I get back. You ready, Mike?"

  "Yeah. Pull the boat in while I get Velasquez."

  Montalba had slept poorly last night; he was frustrated by SpecCorp's ineptitude. He had hoped to use them for his future surveillance needs, but they had failed him twice now. He should know later today whether Delaney's attempt to salvage their plan to ruin Velasquez would be successful, but that still left his wish to spy on Berger and Chirac unfulfilled.

  SpecCorp's use of military misfits was proving to be a liability when it came to dealing with Montalba's competitors in the drug trade. Delaney and his people consistently underestimated "civilians." They used the term in a disparaging way; they weren't accustomed to contending with people who were as skilled, tough, and well-equipped as they were.

  Montalba had reviewed the instructions Delaney sent him for the retrieval of the recordings from Vengeance. He was impressed with the level of detail; there were even photographs of the installation, showing the disk drive and the plug-in connectors. Beverly Lennox should have no trouble collecting the fruits of her labor.

  The notes described the technique for bypassing the proximity key to make the system record continuously. Montalba had sent the entire package to Beverly in a series of text messages a few minutes ago, including his order to set the system for continuous recording before she left the yacht in Rodney Bay. When he didn't get a delivery notification back after a few minutes, he began to wonder whether her phone was turned off, or if they were out of cellphone range.

  He remembered the GPS tracking link that Delaney had sent him. Opening Delaney's email, he copied the link and pasted it into the web browser on his computer. He logged in with the user name and password Delaney had provided and watched as a map filled the screen. After a few seconds, the map updated with hourly position plots for Vengeance. The plots were marked with time and date and were connected in chronological order by a blue line.

  He traced the yacht's route from Bequia to the Tobago Cays and discovered that if he hovered the cursor
over a plot point, a text box would open with the latitude and longitude coordinates and the vessel's course and speed.

  Montalba spent a couple of minutes studying the information. He frowned when he realized that the boat's most recent position was about thirty miles due west of the spot in the Tobago Cays where they had spent the last couple of days.

  He scribbled notes on a yellow legal pad as he digested what the tracker was telling him. They had left the Tobago Cays a few minutes after four this morning. He glanced at the clock on his desk. It was eight a.m. in Miami; that would be nine a.m. Atlantic Standard time. They had left the Tobago Cays roughly five hours ago. He considered that the plots were only updated hourly, so his calculation wasn't precise.

  There were two plot points between the Tobago Cays and their current position. Both of those points showed a course of 270 degrees magnetic, and a speed of eight knots. The point for their current, or most recent, position showed them moving to the west, still at eight knots. This made no sense to Montalba, given how far offshore they were.

  They were out of sight of land, and there was no landfall on their course for hundreds of miles. He looked at the world map on the wall behind his credenza. Nicaragua was roughly 1,300 miles to their west. They wouldn't be going to Nicaragua, would they? He tried to imagine what they were doing out there and shook his head. Then he remembered that Berger had worked in Central America years ago, fighting in some kind of drug wars.

  Reaching for the SpecCorp phone, he called Delaney.

  21

  Dani sighed with relief when Liz blinked. She stared at Dani for a second, frowned, and shook her head. Raising a hand to her mouth, she turned her face to the side and retched. She recovered without throwing up and looked back up at Dani.