I could see her clenching her jaws. She looked like Hook when she did that. Puddles of tears appeared in her pale green eyes.
“What’s your real agenda, Jaxbee? You have to have a greater motive than just doing a good job. What do you get out of this?” I asked.
“Now that we have Hook’s treasure, I can tell you. But this is only for you. Not Doctor Roger or Kit. Promise.”
Another promise. I nodded.
“I’m going to return the treasure. To help right Hook’s wrong. It’s not much compared to what he stole, but it’s something.”
The missing answers to the puzzle began slipping into place. I felt them arrive before she said the words. Why would a megalomaniac, fodder for the paparazzi, trust his secret world to a twenty-two year old girl? Jaxbee was responsible for the heartbeat of Hook’s odyssey.
“Hook is my father,” she said.
I wanted to hear more but she was silent. She scrunched up her little nose and her lower lip quivered.
Time to prod her. “Tell me. Please.”
“He’s a piece of shit not entitled to the life he’s lived. There’s no way I can return everything he’s stolen. But I can take this last bit of treasure, the things that mean the most to him, I can return them all to their owners.”
I leaned my butt against the dashboard and studied her face. I could see touches of Hook in her features. “He knows you’re his daughter?”
“Of course. That’s why he trusts me.”
“What about your mother?”
“She died of a broken heart five years ago.”
The Mermaid was holding steady. “Please share the rest of your story.”
She shrugged. For the first time I noticed little stress lines around her eyes. “My mother was a young lawyer just out of Harvard. She worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
“That’s how they met?” I asked.
She nodded. “Hook pillow-talked her. She educated him about securities laws. He was a quick study. Here take the wheel.”
I grabbed it with both hands. “Did your mom divorce Hook?”
“They were never married. It broke her spirit to see the monster she had created. She raised me on her own. I got to see him once in awhile.”
“Wow… that pulls.” I fought with the ship’s wheel.
“Just watch the water and anticipate the currents, they’re marked on the chart. The wind is coming from the northwest. That’s not good. We may have to wait this out.”
I was more interested in her family. “You were telling me about your mother.”
“She was the smartest lady you could ever meet. I guess she was so over-worked she couldn’t see past his bullshit. He made her laugh. Mom fell in love with him.”
Tears pooled and ran down her cheeks.
“She thought he was the brightest man. A superstar with his custom-made clothes and monogrammed shirts. He was a con, and he used her to learn his way around the financial world.”
I gave her a quick one-armed hug as I held onto the wheel.
“My promise to my mom was to make restitution as best I could. She said to stay out of it, but I couldn’t. If a small part of what Hook… my father… stole can be returned, I’ll know my mom is smiling down on me.”
“So you’ve come this far just to give back a part of the fortune?”
“Naïve, right?” She took over the helm. “I trusted Henry. He promised to help me get the Mermaid to the Port in Savannah. He told me he made arrangements with the FBI to meet us. All I had to do was make sure the van got onto the Mermaid.”
“And the van wasn’t where Hook said it would be.”
“Henry was dead and the van was in hillbilly country. Then the Mermaid’s crew got themselves thrown in jail.”
“Now I get it.” I hugged her again.
“I’ve lost my chance to do this one thing for my mother.” I watched a tear creep down her cheek. She licked it off her lip.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Annie of the rapture stumbled onto the bridge. She was naked as a tuna fresh from the sea. Her legs were moving to music only she could hear. She was one fugly lady. Granddaddy Earl was so close behind her they looked like conjoined twins. “Annie’s in the rapture. Something big is coming.”
Sister Mary was two steps behind them packing her .22.
“Whatever happened to tweedy old-folks?” I said.
Jaxbee laughed.
“There’s an albatross on the yardarm!” Annie screamed.
Pop! “Got it!” said Mary as she lowered her rifle.
“No, no…” Annie moaned. “An albatross is a good omen. It carries the soul of a dead sailor and protects us. What did you do?”
Crack! The shot had severed the end of the fake mast. It fell bringing down chunks of decorative planks with it. The yardarm, though made of light wood, was heavy enough to knock Jaxbee to the deck, delivering a hard blow to her head. She was barely breathing.
My mind locked for a second. Then my CPR training kicked in. I bent down and started mouth to mouth and chest compressions on her. With each push I regretted beating up on her in the goat yard. “Don’t die. Don’t die.”
It seemed like a lifetime before she came around. Her eyes were like cartoon orbs with an x in each one.
I grabbed a pillow and put it under her head.
Annie and Earl were dancing joyously as the albatross dropped a huge yellowish glob on Mary and flew off. “It’s alive!” they shouted.
“Go below. Now,” I told them. The lunatics boogied off.
“Jaxbee, can you hear me?”
She blinked her eyes once and dropped into unconsciousness.
I stood up and looked at the control panel. My brain went into freeze mode. The knobs and gadgets weren’t labeled. The ship rocked to the right causing Jaxbee’s body to roll. I caught her just as Roger arrived on the bridge.
“Where have you been?” I snapped.
“Is she bleeding?” He knelt down next to her and put his ear to her chest. Then opening her eyelids he pronounced her stunned. “Let’s get her warm. She’s in mild shock.”
Joseph and Chick appeared on deck.
“Carry her down below, carefully. Mary can stay with her.”
“I’ll take care of her,” Chick said.
I looked at Mr. Naval Experience. “Chick, I need you up here. I don’t know anything about boats.”
He looked like a lower primate as he faced off with me. “My Navy time was spent in the galley. I can whip up some dinner if there’s any food on board. That’s my contribution to this here adventure. Boats? Forget it.”
I wanted to choke him. All of sudden I was in charge of an ancient ship of fools and a van full of treasure. “Roger?”
Roger shrugged. “You’re the one who’s been taking the lessons from Jaxbee. I know nothing about boats. I’m needed down below to watch Hook. You can do it.”
“Speaking of him, where is he? Does he know she’s hurt?”
“He’s inside the van. I’ll tell him. Gotta get back to my surveillance.”
Joseph and Chick carried Jaxbee down the slippery steps. Roger followed with his arms extended to protect her from slipping over the side.
I took a deep breath and looked at the charts pinned to the control console.
Jaxbee had set the Mermaid on course to meet with the Predator. We were expected. She noted the time on the corner of the chart. The gauges seemed to match the coordinates on the chart. We weren’t far away.
What if I don’t see the yacht with the cloaking device in place? I might crash right into it.
The boat heaved to the left. I fought to stay on my feet. The wind was grabbing the giant sails. The sound of a helicopter closing in sent my mind racing. If it was a Black Hawk they might shoot first like Jaxbee said, and then…
“Drop your sails!” a voice called from a loud speaker. It repeated the message. I ran out on the deck. It was the Coast Guard.
Jumping up and down, I wave
d what I thought was the international signal for a lady in distress. One of the guys saluted and they buzzed off.
“Thanks for nothing guys.”
The wind was coming up fast. I had to drop those silly sails; they were causing the boat to founder. It felt as if it would tip over.
I ran below deck to the temporary sick bay, a canopied bed covered in red velvet with gold tassels. Jaxbee lay with her head on four pillows. A black velvet blanket covered her tiny body. She was out cold. I had to wake her.
Mary grabbed my hand as I shook her patient. “I have to ask her something important.” I pinched Jaxbee’s cheeks and slapped her face until she came around.
“How do we pull down the fake sails?”
She focused on me. “The winch toggle,” she whispered and then passed out.
“Right. The winch toggle. Got it.”
I raced back up the steep ladder to the bridge. “The winch toggle. Which one is the winch toggle?”
The toggle switches flipped up and down. If I threw the wrong switch in the wrong direction what would happen? I saw the headlines – Miami Real Estate Broker Lost at Sea. If I were putting in toggles, I’d put the winch toggle right… here.
I gave the switch a push in the down direction. For an instant it sounded as if the roof were coming off, and then slowly the sails settled to the deck. The boat stopped keeling over and we were lulled to a halt.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Two minutes later, we were moving again. The tractor beam! It was pulling the Mermaid to the Predator. I crossed my fingers and made a wish that nothing came between us and the mother ship. I stood at the wheel peering into the darkness.
I guess I made my wish a few minutes too late. A yacht half the size of Hook’s slid into view. Its white nose trimmed in red and gold, the smaller vessel was set to intersect with the Mermaid trapped in the Predator’s tractor beam. I scrambled to find a horn to honk or a whistle to blow. Nothing. The other ship motored toward us as if expecting us to yield the right of way. It couldn’t know that somewhere ahead of us an invisible monster yacht was sucking us into its path.
Where were the brakes? Grabbing the wheel, I braced my feet and looked over my shoulder to gauge where I might be plunged into the ocean. I imagined quartermaster Dale at the helm of the Predator enjoying my moment of terror. Hook’s treasure was on the ship with us; the logical part of my mind told me Dale wouldn’t let us get rammed and risk losing the van of antiquities. Because he was a slimy little kiss-ass, I decided we were safe. I glanced at Hook who appeared at the railing with this UpUGo obscenely extended under his jogging pants. His face was blank. If he wasn’t concerned, I’d take my cue from him.
Mary stood at my side blinking against the salt spray, her white hair in a perfect knot at the back of her head. Her clothes spotless and tidy.
“Why aren’t you with Jaxbee?” I asked.
She shook her head. “The girl’s taken a turn for the worse. Dr. Jolley is with her.”
The rest of the Georgia clan, Joseph, Chick, Granddaddy Earl, and Annie gathered around me like Weebles.
The smaller yacht drew closer blowing its horn three times.
Despite my resolve to remain calm like Hook, I panicked. “Grab the animals!” I yelled. “We’re about to be broadsided.”
“What animals?”
“The dog and the pig!” I screamed. “Milton and Stillpork.”
“They’re in the honeymoon suite. Can’t be disturbed,” Mary said.
I was surrounded by lunatics.
“That boat is coming directly at us!” Chick said. “Do something evasive.”
I looked at his dull blue eyes and shook my head. “Thanks for the advice.”
The vessel chugged on. Aiming for a direct hit to our left side. The old Mermaid would become toothpicks upon impact.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I closed my eyes. When I opened them the Mermaid was still. “We’ve stopped moving!”
“How’d you do that?” Joseph asked me.
Hook was grinning like an ape. The old pirate must have had Dale shut off the tractor beam at the very last minute.
The small yacht went motoring by close enough for me to read the name on her stern. Black Beard.
In the next instant we were being pulled again and coming out of the mist about thirty yards away, like a nightmare, was a massive white wall of steel – the hull of the Predator, with its cloaking shield down. Fearsome, but it was safety for us. We stopped our glide ten feet from the yacht.
Just as I was beginning to relax, our cargo bay opened with a horrid sounding crunch. The deck flexed beneath my feet. A monstrous mechanical arm wielding a huge metal claw swung from the Predator over the Mermaid and reached into her exposed belly. It plucked the van as if it were a toy and moved it slowly up from the cargo hold, just short of level with the Mermaid’s deck.
I turned at the sound of voices. Joseph flew at his brother waving his fist in the air. “You own that there floating continent?” He pointed to the Predator. “What have you been up to? Nobody makes that much money, legally.” He shoved his younger brother.
Mary stepped next to Joseph and pointed her finger at Hook. “You’ve always been a disgrace to the family.”
“You’re not coming back are you?” Joseph said. “You never planned on buying back that land, did you?”
“You should know that Cherokee will never sell his land, no matter what I offer.” Hook backhanded Joseph into Mary and Chick. “If I ever sell any of my treasure, I’ll be sure and send you some money. You can try to buy it back.”
“You ain’t taking this treasure!” Joseph yelled. He ran and leaped into the open hatch throwing himself on roof of the van that was about a foot below the deck. He landed with a thud and the snap of a broken bone.
Hook waved at the Predator and made a cutting motion running his hand across his throat.
The crane stopped with a lurch.
“Joseph! Are you alright?” Mary screamed.
I raced to the edge of the opening and pulled her back. Joseph was splayed face down on top of the van, one leg twisted in an unnatural position. As Mary started to weep, Joseph waved a hand a couple of inches.
“Don’t move, Joseph. You might slide off,” Granddaddy Earl yelled.
“Help us!” I screamed at Hook.
He buried his face in his hands and slowly shook. He banged his head on the railing, and turned to our group with a why-me-lord expression. “You have two minutes to get that old fart off my treasure.”
I shot him my most questioning look. Was Mr. UpUGo trying to be funny?
The van was centered in the opening about eight feet from any of the sides. I looked around for something we could use to get him, then said, “Grab the best piece of the broken wood you can find.”
Mary, Annie, Chick, and Granddaddy Earl swung into action like a geriatric softball team. They ran to the shattered mast and broken boards and bickered over which was best – the longest, the thickest, the prettiest, or the one that had the scrape that looked like Elvis.
Before I started hyperventilating, I screamed, “I need it today, folks.”
They snatched up a splintery piece with Annie saying, “I’m glad we picked the one that looked like Elvis,” as she tried to take off her clothes with her free hand.
I called to Joseph. “Lie still. We’re making a bridge; then I’m coming to get you.”
“Chick, Granddaddy Earl, hold this end. Mary and I will turn it out over the opening.”
Mary nodded as we picked up our end and started to swing it around toward Joseph.
“I want to help!” Naked Annie grabbed the wood bumping it just enough to clobber Joseph. He slipped. I held my breath. He didn’t fall.
I prepared to slither across on my stomach. What was I thinking, crossing this chasm on a rotten scrap of wood? I stared at the giant claw suspending the van three stories above the floor of the cargo hold. I didn’t look down.
“Find some ro
pe! Fast!” I yelled.
A few feet of thick rope dropped into my hand. I looped it around my waist and gave the other end to Chick and Granddaddy Earl. I dropped to my stomach and inched out onto the makeshift bridge that did look a bit like Elvis’ face. It took two caterpillar-like, knee-to-head scrunches to put me on the van roof next to Joseph. Only then did I dare look down into the darkened cargo hold. Shit, big mistake. I took a deep breath and focused on what I had to do next.
“Joseph, I’m going to tie a rope around you. I’ll try not to hurt you.”
His voice was weak. “Wendy, this ain’t a woman’s job.”
“Maybe not, but you’re stuck with me.” I squiggled one end under his stomach and pulled on the other side. Before he could moan, I had him tied securely.
“I’m going to spin you so you’re headed in the right direction. You inch across the wood like a worm.” He groaned as I moved him into position.
“Woman… this ain’t no bridge. It’s a piece of soggy cardboard. I ain’t moving.”
“It’ll hold you. You’re harnessed with rope.”
“Who’s got the other end?”
“Chick and Granddaddy Earl,” I said with as much confidence as I could muster.
“Mary…”
“She’s with them.”
“Swap out Chick for Mary…” he said. “She’s stronger.”
I signaled Team Joseph and called his instructions. Mary stood with Granddaddy Earl holding the rope as I eased Joseph onto the rotted board. The wood creaked and Joseph appeared to follow the noise. As he turned his head he lost his grip, his arms flailing. He slipped and almost fell. His recovery would have made a terrific audition for Cirque de Soleil. Having regained his balance, he inch-wormed his way across and into his wife’s waiting arms.
It was my turn. I looked up at the moonlight reflecting off the giant claw, and fresh off Joseph’s almost tumble into the hold, I indulged myself in a mild case of the shakes.
Chapter Forty
Hook leaned against the rail smiling at my predicament. “Hey! Jerk!” I yelled. “How about lowering this contraption? Slowly.”
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