"Well, we think of serial killers as a problem more confined to the States, and maybe parts of Europe," Bill interrupted. "I'd think a serial killer on a small island like this would get caught pretty quickly."
"What if he wasn't a local?" Jane said. "Suppose he was someone who could move from island to island without attracting too much attention?"
Liz cleared her throat audibly and looked at Dani. Dani nodded and started to speak. "There was a guy like that, an American, who was cruising the islands on his sailboat a few years ago. Nobody knows for sure, but there was some evidence that he might have killed a number of women. Most of the time, he didn't leave bodies behind, and the victims weren't the kind of women who were really missed, unfortunately. The cops never even realized what was happening."
"How do you even know about this, then?" Bill's forehead was creased with deep wrinkles as he waited for an answer.
"Liz and I knew him," Dani said. "It was before we had Vengeance; in fact, it was before we met each other. I had been crew on a good-sized private British yacht, and I got fed up and quit. I was looking for a ride north from the Grenadines, and ended up crewing for the guy. He was single-handing a beautiful old wooden yawl. He tried to kill me; knocked me out, tossed me overboard a few miles off St. Vincent, and left me for dead."
"Wow! What a story," Jane said. "You're lucky to be alive. How did you survive? You swam ashore, or what?"
"Well, no. That's a long story, and not really on the topic, but I don't mind telling you about it another time. Liz had her own encounter with him, not too long after that."
Bill and Jane shifted in their chairs to better see Liz as she began to tell her part of the story.
"I was on a sabbatical from my job in Brussels with the European Commission. I'd been idling around in the islands for a few weeks, and I was in Marie Galante — one of the islands that make up the French département of Guadeloupe. I spotted this gorgeous boat at anchor in the harbor there and noticed there was a cute guy living on her, alone. I was lonely, and I love to sail. I really wanted to put that old Concordia yawl through her paces, so I kind of picked him up on the beach. He was looking for crew and companionship, and we got on pretty well at first. He was headed north, and I wanted to visit a friend from university in Antigua, so we took off one day. The better I got to know him, the stranger his behavior seemed. He had these blackouts sometimes. He wouldn't lose consciousness, but he didn't know I was there, and he'd talk to people who weren't really there. Sometimes after one of his spells, he'd call me by the wrong name. He also became very possessive of me, but had no interest in me sexually. He wanted me to commit to sail around the world with him. Before we resolved that, he ran the boat onto a reef on the coast of Antigua in the middle of the night while I was asleep. I woke up in the wreckage and managed to get ashore, but there was no sign of him."
Dani caught Liz's eye and pursed her lips. Liz nodded, and Dani picked up the story.
"My family had some people looking for me, meanwhile. They had learned that I had been on this guy's boat, and they discovered he had been involved in the disappearances of several women, in the islands and elsewhere. Once they found me, they had enough to get a warrant for his arrest from the U.S. and I was along for the ride while they were chasing him. We got to Antigua the morning after the wreck and he was nowhere to be found. We knew Liz had been aboard his boat, but we thought she died in the wreck, too, or that he had dumped her at sea. Then I bumped into her in an art gallery a few days later. She was painting a picture of his boat, and I recognized it and started chatting with her. Not long after, we decided to buy Vengeance together and do this."
"That's some adventure tale," Bill said. "You could write a book."
"Actually, a friend of ours did. It's called Bluewater Killer. There's a copy on the bookshelf in your stateroom, if you're interested," Dani said.
"Definitely. I've got it first, Bill," Jane said. "So this guy, what was his name, anyway?"
"Mike Reilly," Liz said.
"So did Mike Reilly ever show up?"
Liz looked at Dani, who shook her head slightly.
"We're not sure; he may have survived the wreck, but if he did, he's almost certainly dead now. That's another long story."
Bill and Jane both nodded. "Fair enough," Bill said.
"On a completely different subject," Liz said, "I've booked you with Dennis Caravan Tours for tomorrow. Barry Dennis will pick you up here at the marina at 8:30 tomorrow morning."
"Hey, that's great," Jane said.
Chapter 4
Dani and Liz were taking advantage of the Fitzgerald's absence to catch up on boat maintenance. Barry Dennis had picked their guests up at 8:30 sharp, his habitual punctuality unremarkable to the guests, but atypical of islanders nonetheless. Bill and Jane had passed a quiet evening aboard last night, retiring to their cabin to read after making quick work of the seared tuna steaks Liz had served. They had slept late, still recovering from the jet lag resulting from their trip from the States two days before, and breakfast had been a hurried affair. Bill commented that he had been scanning the cruising guide to the Windward Islands, considering where they might like to spend their time over the next few days. Before either Liz or Dani could respond, Jane had remarked that she was enjoying Bluewater Killer and wondered how much liberty the author had taken with Dani's experience.
"That's hard to know," Dani had replied. "I was comatose for most of it, and sort of punchy for the rest. You'd have to ask Phillip or Sharktooth to get a straight answer."
"They're real people, then?"
"As real as we are."
"I guess I can see Phillip — Davis — was that his name?"
Dani nodded.
"He seems real enough, but Sharktooth …"
Dani and Liz both chuckled at Jane's pause.
"He's real, all right, and just like the book says. Just wait. He'll be the one to show you around Dominica when we get there," Liz said.
Their conversation had been interrupted by Barry Dennis hailing them as he walked down the dock. In spite of his assurance that there was no rush, both the Fitzgeralds had wolfed down their breakfasts, eager to get a look at the Isle of Spice.
Dani was just putting away her varnishing supplies, having touched up a few worn spots around the cockpit when Liz came up from the galley with two steaming mugs of freshly brewed coffee on a tray with some cookies.
"Take a break, Skipper?"
"Sure. Your timing's great." Dani reached for a cookie as she savored the aroma of the coffee, which was still too hot to drink. "When do you think Barry will bring them back?"
"Mid-afternoon's my guess, but it will depend on how much they dally along the way. He was planning to stop for lunch at that plantation his friends run, so it'll be at least two o'clock, even if that's their last stop. Why?"
"Just curious. I want to try to get an idea of when they want to leave. There's not much wind for the next few days, so if they wanted to poke around in the southern Grenadines that would work. How's your provisioning?"
"We're fine. I'll just keep topping up what we use while there's a grocery store across the street, but we're good for a couple of weeks with what's fresh and frozen. I just called Charlie Campbell to see about fresh fish for dinner. He's trolling out off Gouyave right now, and he just put a 10-pound mahi-mahi on ice. He'll bring it by early this afternoon. That's dinner for tonight, plus some for the freezer."
"Yum. I'm thinking we should kind of talk them into a day in the Tobago Cays. Maybe stop in Union Island first and clear into St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Then up to Bequia. We could detour by Baliceaux if Bill wants to see where the Brits slaughtered the Caribs."
"I haven't been there."
"There isn't much to see ashore, but it's a decent anchorage, and some nice reefs. We could stop for lunch and let them snorkel a bit on the way to Bequia. Or we could go to the old whaling station right there south of Bequia and do the same thing. It's maybe more interesting ashor
e because of the try-works."
"You think they're interested in whaling? Where'd you get that?"
"Nowhere. Just trying to keep them occupied for a few days down south until the wind picks up enough for a good sail to Dominica."
"Okay. I'll work on that, but I think Baliceaux and the whaling station might be a little boring. Just leave it to me."
Dani nodded and sipped her coffee, pausing for a moment. "You think it was a good idea to get them into Bluewater Killer?"
"Sure. Why?"
"Guess I just feel a little exposed."
"Well, me too, but the book's out there. At least this way, we have some feedback on how people react to what happened to us, and we get a chance to talk about it with them. They don't strike me as judgmental, anyhow."
Dani munched on a cookie and frowned. "You're right. Jane seems to be enjoying it, anyway. I was hoping when Bud wrote it that it would be like advertising for the charter business."
"It is, Dani. You know that kind of thing's long term. What's eating at you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're really preoccupied. Borrowing all kinds of trouble. Talk to me."
"Well, you know I mentioned hearing Bill transcribe that interview?"
"Yes. What about it?"
"It was just spooky-sounding. It creeped me out, I guess. Bill seemed completely comfortable with this scumbag talking about how he got off just on the idea of having the power of life or death — the look in the victim's eyes …"
"You're not squeamish. What is it you're not telling me?"
End of the excerpt from Bluewater Stalker. To read more about the next novel in the series visit my website.
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A Note to the Reader
Thank you for reading Bluewater Betrayal, the fifth book in the Bluewater Thriller series. I hope that you enjoyed it. If so, please leave a brief review on Amazon. Reviews are of great benefit to independent authors like me; they help me more than you can imagine. They are a primary means to help new readers find my work. A few sentences can help others find the pleasure that I hope you found in this book, as well as keeping my spirits up as I work on the next one. If you would like to be notified by email when I release a new book or have a sale or giveaway, please click here to subscribe to my email list. I promise not to use the list for anything else; I dislike spam as much as you do.
If you haven't read the other Bluewater Thrillers, please take a look at them. If you enjoyed this book, you'll enjoy them as well. I write another series of sailing thrillers: The Connie Barrera Thrillers. Connie had a key role in Deception in Savannah, my first book. I enjoyed writing about her so much that I wrote her into the Bluewater Thrillers. She plays prominent parts in both Bluewater Ice and Bluewater Betrayal. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are a spin-off from the Bluewater Thrillers, and feature some of the same characters. Dani and Liz taught Connie to sail, and they introduced her to Paul Russo, her first mate and soon-to-be husband.
In September of 2016, I released Sails Job – a Connie Barrera Thriller, the sixth in the series. Now I've turned my attention back to Dani and Liz for the twelfth Bluewater Thrillers adventure. You'll find progress reports and more information on my web page at www.clrdougherty.com. Be sure to click on the link to my blog posts; it's in the column on the right side of the web page. Dani has begun to blog about what's on her mind, and Liz and Connie are demanding equal time, so you can see what they're up to while I'm writing.
A list of my other books is on the last page; just click on a title or go to my website for more information. If you'd like to know when my next book is released, visit my author's page on Amazon and click the "Stay Up to Date" link near the upper left-hand corner. I welcome email correspondence about books, boats and sailing. My address is [email protected]. If you'd like personal updates, drop me a line at that address and let me know. Thanks again for your support.
About C.L.R. Dougherty
Charles Dougherty wrote quite a bit of fiction before publishing Deception in Savannah, his first novel. Most of his earlier fiction works took the form of business plans, written to secure funding for projects and startup ventures during his corporate and consulting work, but he put all that behind him when he wrote Deception in Savannah, a tongue-in-cheek crime novel.
Since Deception in Savannah was published, he has written a number of other books. The Bluewater Thrillers are set in the yachting world of the Caribbean and chronicle the adventures of two young women running a luxury charter yacht in a rough-and-tumble environment. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are also set in the Caribbean and feature some of the same characters from a slightly more romantic perspective. Besides the Bluewater Thrillers and the Connie Barrera Thrillers, he wrote The Redemption of Becky Jones, a psycho-thriller, and The Lost Tourist Franchise, a short story about one of the characters from Deception in Savannah.
He has also written two non-fiction books. Life's a Ditch is the story of how he and his wife moved aboard their sailboat, Play Actor, and their adventures along the east coast of the U.S. Dungda de Islan' relates their experiences while cruising the Caribbean.
He resides with his wife aboard Play Actor, sailing wherever their fancy and the trade winds take them.
Other Books by C.L.R. Dougherty
Fiction:
Bluewater Killer
Bluewater Vengeance
Bluewater Voodoo
Bluewater Ice
Bluewater Betrayal
Bluewater Stalker
Bluewater Bullion
Bluewater Rendezvous
Bluewater Ganja
Bluewater Jailbird
Bluewater Drone
Bluewater Thrillers Boxed Set; Books 1-3
Love for Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller
Sailor's Delight – a Connie Barrera Thriller
A Blast to Sail – a Connie Barrera Thriller
Storm Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller
Running Under Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller
Sails Job - a Connie Barrera Thriller
From Deception to Betrayal - an Introduction to Connie Barrera: a boxed set
Deception in Savannah
The Redemption of Becky Jones
Short Story:
The Lost Tourist Franchise
Non-fiction:
Dungda de Islan'
Life’s a Ditch
For more information, please visit:
http://www.clrdougherty.com/
or
http://amazon.com/author/clrdougherty
Table of Contents
Bluewater Betrayal
The Windward and Leeward Islands
The Virgin Islands
South End of Martinique / Virgin Gorda
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Read an excerpt from Bluewater Stalker, the next book in the Bluewater Thriller series:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
A Note t
o the Reader
About C.L.R. Dougherty
Other Books by C.L.R. Dougherty
Table of Contents
Title Page
The Windward and Leeward Islands
The Virgin Islands
South End of Martinique / Virgin Gorda
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Read an excerpt from Bluewater Stalker, the next book in the Bluewater Thriller series:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
A Note to the Reader
About C.L.R. Dougherty
Other Books by C.L.R. Dougherty
Bluewater Betrayal: The Fifth Novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Bluewater Thrillers Book 5) Page 22