Bluewater Drone: The Eleventh Novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Bluewater Thrillers Book 11)

by Charles Dougherty

  "None. Strong saw her in a bar, hit on her, pissed her off, and she left before he could apologize."

  "That doesn't sound promising."

  "No, but he's fallen for her; that's obvious. And he's got it in his mind that she'd be perfect for the role of Cassie."

  "What do you plan to do about this?"

  "We'll work out a way for him to get in touch with her and see if he can recruit her. He already tracked down her charter broker and tried to book the yacht, but they have a charter under way, so I think we'll have to engineer what appears to be a chance encounter. I'll try to find a way to make him look good to her — make him a hero somehow. I'll figure it out."

  "I know you will," Danilov said. "But the clock is running. We need to either get her on the team or find a way to get him to move on and find another Cassie. Maybe Angelika will distract him enough so that he forgets Berger."

  "Maybe," Greg said, "but I think Berger's a challenge to him. He's the kind of guy who's never had a woman say no to him, you know?"

  "Well, keep it moving, Greg. Make her say yes or find him someone better."

  ****

  "Kev Strong, huh?" Mindy said, taking a sip of wine. They were having lunch in Vengeance's cockpit. "I haven't heard anything about him in a long time. So he's going to make a movie in Antigua?"

  "Who knows?" Blaine shrugged. "It's only a rumor, so far."

  As Liz topped off their wine glasses, she studied Dani's reaction. She was puzzled that Dani didn't say anything at the mention of Strong, but she caught her friend's subtle shake of her head. Dani didn't want to talk about it.

  "Where there's smoke, and so forth," Mindy said. "Wonder who he found to back him?"

  "I can't imagine," Blaine said. "Everybody in the business has him tagged as a loser. That's for sure."

  "Too bad you missed him," Mindy said.

  Liz saw Dani's eyebrows rise at that comment.

  "He's old news," Blaine said.

  "Not if he's found someone to back him for a movie," Mindy said. "That's news. The waitress couldn't say what megayacht the dinghy belonged to?"

  Blaine shook his head. "Maybe she'll find someone who knows."

  Mindy turned to Dani and Liz. "Where do megayachts stay around here?"

  "Here in English Harbour, or in Falmouth Harbour," Liz said. "The really big ones favor Falmouth; it's not as crowded."

  "I'd vote for Falmouth," Dani added. "If the yacht were here, they would have been at the quay, and they probably wouldn't have bothered with the dinghy. It would have been a short walk, and someone with a hand truck could have fetched his luggage."

  "Is Falmouth Harbor far from here?" Blaine asked.

  "No. It's a few minutes walking — less than a mile," Dani said. "Or we could take the dinghy around, but it might be a sloppy ride."

  "How about Vengeance?" Blaine asked.

  "You want to move around there?" Liz asked. "It's no problem."

  "We need some video of English Harbour," Mindy said. "Besides, we don't even know what boat we're looking for."

  "Yeah, okay," Blaine said. "Maybe I'll hear from that waitress. Are there other places they could be?"

  "A lot," Liz said. "Since you don't know the name of the yacht, you'd just be taking a chance on spotting Strong. With all the tourists, that's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

  "You said he left yesterday afternoon," Dani said.

  Blaine nodded.

  "They could be anywhere," Dani said.

  "Yeah," Blaine said. "Maybe I'll check back with the waitress after Mindy and I get some video of English Harbour."

  Chapter 7

  "Where did you drop them?" Liz asked.

  "At the dinghy dock at the resort. He wanted to see if that waitress was still working," Dani said.

  "It seems odd that Blaine's pursuing Strong if he doesn't think he can sell photographs of him," Liz said.

  "Doesn't it? I got a strange feeling about Blaine right after I picked him up before lunch. He betrayed that same inconsistency then. I quizzed him on it and he got evasive. His body language screamed, 'Lie!'"

  "Why would he lie about something like that?" Liz asked.

  "Good question. The more I'm around those two, the more I suspect they're up to something they haven't told us about."

  "Speaking of deception, why didn't you tell them you met Kev Strong?"

  Dani shrugged. "Instinct, I guess. I was already uncomfortable about the encounter with Strong. Add to that my sense that Blaine and Mindy aren't to be trusted, and I decided it would be smart to keep my mouth shut and listen."

  "Never a bad idea," Liz said. "How are you feeling about Kev now that you know he's somebody?"

  "Somebody? He's a has-been, a failure. You expect me to be impressed?"

  "Of course not. I know you better than that. But think about it."

  "About what?"

  "A guy who's used to having his pick of women takes one look at you and decides that you're the one he wants. Doesn't that do something for your confidence? He's accustomed to having beautiful women falling all over him, but he chose you."

  "How do you get that, Liz? He hit on me in a bar. Big deal."

  "It is a big deal. You weren't watching him while he checked out every woman in the place. He kept looking back at you. He was comparison shopping."

  "Thanks. I feel like a piece of meat."

  "That's exactly what you were in that situation — a piece of meat. Don't get huffy about it. You put yourself on display; the plan was for you to pick up a guy. That was the whole point of the exercise, for you to learn to play the game."

  "But that makes it sound so ... so ... "

  "Contrived?" Liz offered.

  "I was thinking cheap, but yes. Contrived is a good word."

  "Of course it was contrived, Dani. That's what flirting is like."

  "Whatever happened to the old-fashioned idea of just meeting a guy and letting nature take its course?"

  "I guess that happens, but that's not what we're up to here. You wanted to have some men in your life — just to hang out with, go to dinner. At least, that's what I thought you wanted. I can help with that, but finding a soulmate for you is beyond me."

  "You're right. I don't know what's gotten into me."

  "Have you got the urge to marry and settle down?"

  Dani laughed. "Not me! Why?"

  "You asked me about Cedric the other day, and whether you should be looking for another partner. I just wondered whether I was the one who should be looking for another partner."

  "No way! Sailing is my life, sailing Vengeance. I was just feeling like I needed a diversion."

  "Was? Does that mean you've changed your mind?"

  "I don't think so, but we've got a charter to deal with. I don't feel inclined to chase men right now."

  "Fair enough," Liz said, "but you should still think about calling Kev Strong."

  "Why would I do that? I'm not interested in him. What would I even say to him?"

  "There are a couple of reasons you should do it. It would be good practice; we talked about that. And it would be polite for you to thank him for the flowers. Besides, you could find out where he is. Mindy and Blaine would like that. It would be okay for you to tell him that you weren't interested in seeing him. Think of it as a learning experience."

  "Okay."

  "I'm going below to clean up the galley. Should I pass you the phone?"

  "Not yet. I need to think about this."

  ****

  Kev Strong was sitting on the edge of the rumpled bed in his stateroom on Platinum Odyssey, recuperating from an extended encounter with Angelika. The woman was insatiable, possibly carnivorous, he thought. The things a man had to do to make a living, he mused, as he rummaged through his suitcase looking for the encrypted satellite phone that he'd tucked away. It was time for him to check in with his other investor.

  He powered the phone on and held it close to the plate glass window, hoping to find a satellite si
gnal. He didn't want to risk making the call while he was on deck.

  As the display changed, he entered the unlock code and dialed a number from memory, listening to the call setup tones. There was a single ring tone and then a gruff, "Yeah?"

  "Johnny?" Strong asked.

  "Who's this?"

  "Kev."

  "Yeah, okay. What's up?"

  "I'm aboard his yacht, somewhere west of Antigua."

  "Good. You meet him yet?"

  "Yeah. I had dinner with him last night. The man's an animal."

  "You makin' any progress?"

  "Some. He's given me the go ahead. Set me up with his CFO and a guy who's his fixer."

  "Greg Baklanov," the man on the phone said. "Baklanov's a smooth talkin' asshole, but he's tough. Don't let your guard down with him. Who's the CFO? What's he like?"

  "She," Strong said. "Her name's Angelika Ivanova. She's as big an animal as Danilov."

  "Whaddaya mean?"

  "No limits; she's in heat all the time."

  The man laughed, an unpleasant barking sound. "You fuckin' deserve that. She workin' you over?"

  "Some," Strong said.

  "Keep her happy, asshole, but remember, we want in her purse, not just her pants."

  "Yeah," Strong said, mindful that his cabin might be bugged. He didn't want to say anything for which he couldn't offer an innocent explanation.

  "When you gonna be able to turn on the spigot? The vig's pilin' up on what you owe us. You better get busy and put some people on the payroll, big bucks people. He gonna second-guess your hiring?"

  "No. He's leaving that up to me."

  "Dumb fucker," the man on the phone said. "But lucky for you. Hurry up and get some names. Let Joey know so we can make it look legit. We'll fax you the contracts for them on agency letterhead, and you can get Miss Hot Pants — what's her name, again?"

  "Angelika Ivanova."

  "Get her to pay their signing bonuses up front. We'll bill monthly for the contracts. I wanna see who this Angelika broad is, check out her background."

  "Yeah, okay. Give me a little time on the contracts. I've got my eye on a gal that can play Cassie; I plan to have her aboard the boat, so it makes the payroll look a little more legit, like we talked about."

  "Sure, I'll bet. That Angelika babe gonna share you with her?" The man laughed again, the barking sound raising goosebumps on Strong's arms. It wasn't the same laugh he'd heard when he was blindfolded and duct-taped to the chair in the warehouse in Vegas a few weeks ago, but it reminded him. The man who had laughed at him then had been running a straight razor lightly around Strong's ear, cackling when Strong had panicked and wet his pants.

  "That's my problem," Strong said.

  "Fuckin'-a right it's your problem. This whole mess is your problem. Fifty million plus 25% a week. You make this work, or we'll skin you in little pieces, slow enough so it'll grow back in time for us to do it again without killin' you. You get the money flowin', and keep it comin', or you start screamin', asshole."

  Strong heard the click of the call being disconnected. He put the phone away and swallowed hard, wiping the perspiration from his forehead with a pillow case that smelled of Angelika.

  ****

  The rapping on his stateroom door startled Strong. He'd been lost in his worries about how to play Danilov; the mob let him live, but only so that they could use him to help rip off the Russian. So far, they'd sold Danilov the studio, and from what Greg said, they were about to unload the theater chains.

  Unfortunately for Strong, those sales did nothing to reduce his personal debt to the syndicate that had backed his last two films. The rapping at the door was repeated. Strong opened the door to find a worried-looking Greg Baklanov in the corridor.

  "Sorry to intrude, Kev, but did you just make a call on a satellite phone?"

  "Uh, yeah. Why?"

  "You set off our cybersecurity alarms. I'll need to confiscate the phone, please. We'll put it in a Faraday cage. Don't worry. All our personal sat phones and GPS gizmos are in there. You'll get it back when you leave the ship."

  "But I need the phone to call the people I'm trying to hire," Strong said, his pulse racing.

  "You have a Smartphone of some kind, don't you?"

  "Yeah, but we're outside any cellular service areas, right?"

  "Normal cell service, yes. But we have our own cellular system with satellite trunking, like a cruise ship. Your phone will work just fine."

  "But, uh ... callbacks ... I left that number ... "

  "No problem. Let's just forward the sat phone number to your cellphone. Go ahead. I'll wait."

  Strong picked up the sat phone and set up call forwarding. He powered it off and handed it to Greg.

  "Thanks, Kev. Sorry for the aggravation, but Andrei is a fanatic about his privacy, and these things — well, they can be compromised. Not that you would do anything, but someone else could, without your knowing, see."

  Strong nodded. "But I thought sat phones were more secure than cellphones."

  "In general, yes, they are. But our private cell site is hardened; it's got all the latest security features. It's kind of like a firewall, so even if somebody's compromised your cellphone, the system will block anything but basic two-way voice calls."

  "What about for email and Internet service?"

  "There's high speed wireless all over the ship. No password needed. Make yourself at home. Let me know if you have any trouble getting online."

  "Okay," Strong said. "Thanks. Sorry if I raised alarms. I just didn't know about the cellular system. Sat phones are a pain in the ass, anyway."

  "No problem," Greg said, slipping the phone into his pocket. "You getting on all right with Angelika?" He grinned and winked.

  Strong rolled his eyes.

  Greg laughed. "You don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. She'll still pay the bills."

  "Yeah, well, I figured it was best to keep the lady happy. You know, work closely with her. But ... "

  "What, Kev?"

  "I'm a little worried about how she'll take it when we get, well ... whoever's going to play Cassie aboard. You know, my character and Cassie are pretty hot for one another in the script, and with method acting ... "

  Greg laughed. "Don't worry about it. Angelika's like one of the boys. She'll roll with it. Trust me. Just have fun with her for now; cement your working relationship, so to speak."

  "If you say so, Greg."

  "Yeah. It'll be okay. Gotta run. I'm still working on finding out more about Dani Berger. I'll fill you in over dinner, okay?"

  "Just the two of us for dinner?" Strong asked.

  "Unless you want me to invite Angelika." Greg grinned as Strong shook his head vigorously.

  Chapter 8

  "Who'd he call on the sat phone," Danilov asked.

  "Can't tell," Greg said. "The damn thing's encrypted."

  Danilov frowned. "That seems strange. Why the hell would he be using an encrypted sat phone?"

  "I don't really want to ask him," Greg said. "Not yet, anyway. That would tip our hand. As far as he knows, I'm just locking up the phone. If I start asking questions about it, he'll suspect I snooped. No point in spooking him."

  "Yeah, okay. Anything on the audio pickup from his stateroom?"

  "One side of a conversation. It sounded pretty mundane. He told whoever it was that he was 'aboard his yacht, somewhere west of Antigua,' and that he'd 'had dinner with him last night.' So whoever it was must have known Strong was meeting you. He told them he'd met me and Angelika. That's about it."

  "No names except yours and hers?"

  "No ... wait! He said, 'Johnny?' when the other party answered."

  "Hmm. Not much there. Wonder who he was talking to?"

  "Could have been anybody, I guess. His lawyer, maybe. Who else would have known about you?"

  "I don't know. He didn't mention my name?"

  "No. Only mine and Angelika's."

  "I don't like it. We gotta keep a
close watch on him. I don't trust him. You sure he didn't say anything else?"

  "Only that he might have found somebody to play Cassie."

  "Hmm. So whoever it was knew about his plan to meet me, and about the script. Who the hell could that be?"

  "Maybe the writer? Do we know who that is?"

  "No. Somebody he hired. Strong owns the copyright. But it would be reasonable to ask who he hired, and whether the writer's been paid, right?"

  "Yes, I think that wouldn't seem odd to him. We could even suggest that he might want to keep the writer on some kind of retainer, in case the script needs more work. Want me to suggest that to him? I'll tell him it was your idea."

  "Yeah, do that. Tell him to call the writer and get it set up. Once we have a number for the writer, we can get phone records and see if he got a call from the sat phone. Hey! We can't crack the sat phone itself, but maybe you can get somebody to hack into the service provider's billing system. Then we'd have the number he called."

  "Good idea, Andrei. I have someone who can handle that."

  "Do it. How are you coming on Berger?"

  Greg shrugged. "We got a little more background, but nothing useful. She's got some money of her own — not notably wealthy, but comfortable. She inherited it from her grandmother."

  "How about getting her hooked up with Strong?"

  "I've got the beginnings of a plan. I have someone keeping an eye on her. I'm working on a way to engineer what will look like a chance encounter between her and Strong. We're still working on the particulars, but we'll set it up for Strong to bail her out of a sticky situation. We just need to get her in the right spot. It may take a couple of days. You want details?"

  "No. Just make it happen."

  "I will. I need to wrap up a couple of things before I meet him for dinner, okay?"

  "Yeah. It'll be interesting to see who he calls on his cell phone. You got that all set up to record his calls?"

  "Sure. You want the details, or just a summary?"

  "Details, at first. Maybe I'll see a connection based on the background work I did on the studio deal. One more thing ... "

  "What's that?"

  "Angelika — she have anything to say about him?"