Kat squeezed my leg.
“I think I’ve imposed on y’all enough. You’re already taking me snorkeling tomorrow,” Alex said.
“We’d love to have you,” Kat added. “The more the merrier.”
“We can all go in the rental car. I was hoping to get an early start. My friend said it gets pretty crowded later in the day.”
Kat was looking at her food with a big smile on her face. I knew that look. It had nothing to do with her food.
I whispered, “Okay, you win. Mike is totally going for Alex.”
“Don’t jinx it,” Kat whispered back. She turned to Mike. “Didn’t you say you’d made plans to meet Jack for lunch that day too?”
“Yes, he has a meeting there. He suggested we eat at a little place called La Buena Vida. Jack says the view is great and the food is even better.”
“Well then, I’m in,” Alex said. “I can’t pass up great food or a great view. But I’m going to have to invite y’all over to my place once we get back home. I owe you a few meals.”
Mike didn’t answer right away. I jumped in to change the topic.
“So how do you and Jack know each other again?” I asked Mike.
“We took a course together a few years ago. Jack is in law enforcement here,” Mike said. “They sent him to Virginia for leadership training. We had a lot of laughs. Managed to get in some great golf too. His real name is Joaquin. He grew up in Cancun. Now he’s in charge of their biggest cases.” Mike took a sip of his mojito. “It’ll be great to see him again.”
After dinner we all headed to the resort’s theater to catch the comedy show. It wasn’t Broadway. But it was okay.
“How about a drink at the beach bar?” Alex asked. “You can’t turn me down two nights in a row.”
“Sure. What about you kids?” Mike asked.
Kat gave my leg another squeeze. “I think I’m too tired,” she said. “All that bike riding in the sun. And we were up early.”
I chimed in, “Yeah, I’m ready for bed. You two go ahead.”
Mike gave Kat a look and then turned to Alex. “I guess it’s just the two of us.” He didn’t look like he minded.
They walked off, and Kat and I headed back to our suite. I was already remembering the night before. Balcony. Moon. And this time no Mike in the room next door.
“I need to give you your birthday present,” Kat said. My mind was still on the previous night. I was almost sad when I saw a box in her hand.
“Oh! Right!” I fumbled for words. “I mean, thanks. You didn’t have to. It’s enough of a present that I’m here with you.”
We sat on the couch, and I unwrapped the box. Inside was a high-tech watch. A real beauty I could never have afforded myself.
“It’s a Pyle Sports Snorkeling Master. For diving and snorkeling,” Kat said excitedly. “It can tell you everything. Water temperature. Depth. And it’s totally waterproof.”
“I love it.”
“I figured with the marina, you needed a really good waterproof watch. And this way you can always remember our trip.”
“It’s amazing,” I said. She helped me put it on. I closed the distance between us. “And so are you.”
I started showing her just how amazing I thought she was.
Boom, boom, boom!
We both jumped at the sound of the pounding on the suite door. It took me a moment to breathe again.
I got up. As I grabbed the knob, it turned in my hand.
“Hi, kids!” Mike said with a big grin on his face. He walked into the room. “Did you like my knock? I had my key. But I didn’t want to scare you by just walking in.”
Yeah. Like that knock wasn’t scary at all.
“Daddd-ddy!” Kat made the word last. “You scared us half to death!”
Mike’s grin got even wider. “Well, now that I’m here, you don’t need to be scared. And that’s good. Because I remember how tired you both are. So tired you couldn’t join Alex and me.”
There was no way he’d missed what Kat was up to earlier.
“And since we’re all so tired, I guess we should all get to bed right now.” He opened his bedroom door. “Let’s go, my girl. Good night, Tom.”
Kat followed her dad into the room. She blew me a kiss behind his back.
“Goodnight,” I said.
Paradise was great. But it was also very frustrating.
Chapter Eight
“My friends, we are going to see the big fish today!” Crispy Bacon’s gold teeth sparkled in the morning sun. “You have the best guide—my son Juan. And, of course, you have the best captain. Crispy Bacon!” He smacked his chest and laughed.
The boat was heading straight to the reef. I looked back to see the pier shrinking behind us. The boat smelled like home. Gas and oil, with a tang of fish.
“This is going to be amazing!” Kat said. It was just the four of us. The water was a little rough, but Crispy said we’d be okay.
The area was spotted with buoys and boats. Crispy anchored us at a red buoy. “We must use the buoys to protect the reef. Do not touch the coral with your fins. And stay with your guide.” He went through more safety rules. Then he brought out our gear.
“Daddy has his own special mask. He bought it just for this trip,” Kat told Alex and me.
Mike pulled it out of his snorkel bag. “It’s supposed to be top of the line.” He was excited. “Mask and snorkel in one. Covers my whole face.” He put it on. “How do I look?”
We all tried not to laugh.
“It’s great, Daddy. Especially with your big bald head. Now get over here and let me get some sunscreen on you.” Kat slathered him up.
The rest of us grabbed gear from Crispy. His son showed us the right way to “fall” off a snorkeling boat into the water. Then we were off.
I’d snorkeled lots of times at home, mostly to look for stuff people had dropped from their boats accidentally, or to fix things. Snorkeling on a tropical reef was nothing like that. For one thing, the water was bright and sparkling, not dark and gloomy like the water in the Detroit River. And everywhere I looked, something was moving. Schools of little fish in every color. Big silver fish as wide as me. Purple coral waving back and forth like fans. I wished Dad was with me. He’d loved this.
Kat spotted a big stingray at the same time as our guide pointed it out. It was huge. We knew enough to keep our distance. Watching it swim was incredible. Then our guide made a hand sign. Time to head back to the boat.
When we were all on board, Crispy moved us to a second spot on the reef. “Let’s see if we can find you some turtles,” he said.
“Hey, how did your watch work?” Kat asked.
“Great. Apparently, the water was seventy-nine degrees!” I grinned.
We didn’t see any turtles at the second spot, but we did see a massive barracuda. Its teeth were scary.
The water was getting rougher, and it was hard to swim. We were all ready for shore when our guide took us back to the boat.
Mike looked a little green. “It’s because you are such a big man, Señor,” Crispy said. “You have to work harder in the water.”
“It also might be the two omelets you ate for breakfast,” Kat said.
“Don’t mention them,” Mike muttered, “unless you want to see them again.”
Even though Mike felt sick by the end of our excursion, we all agreed that we’d had a great time. After we got back to shore and unloaded our gear, Kat said she wanted to do a little shopping. Mike decided to take a pass and sat in the town square.
Alex was a big help. Kat’s Spanish was good, but Alex spoke like a local. She got me a great deal on a mask for my buddy Nate and a leather wallet for Dad. Kat picked up a bunch of things, but her big purchase was a handmade leather whip.
“Only my kid would buy a whip!” Mike laughed when we met up with him again. He was looking less green.
“It’s a work of art. Look at it!” Kat said. “I’m going to hang it above my bed.”
I
shook my head. “Did you always want to be Indiana Jones?” I asked.
“Absolutely. Why do you think I love history so much?” Kat grinned.
We grabbed lunch back at the resort. Mike didn’t feel like eating and went to nap in the room. Alex said she had some work to do, but she ate with us before she took off.
“Is it weird that Alex has work to do?” I asked. “Like, it’s spring break in Mexico.” I didn’t want to be suspicious. But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to be on high alert.
“I think she didn’t want to keep hanging out with us without Dad.”
“Yeah, I guess. But is it weird that she speaks Spanish like a local? I mean, she’s from Virginia.”
“That brain is always working, isn’t it?” Kat laughed. “Don’t forget that Spanish is our country’s second language. And she’s traveled a lot.” She shrugged. “I think it’s great. And I think she’s great. Daddy likes her. So relax!”
“It’s my stupid radar. I can’t stop looking for trouble.”
“Well, we aren’t going to find any here. We’re in paradise.” Kat shook her head at me. “And since we didn’t see any turtles today, let’s go talk to Antonio. Maybe he can tell us where we have the best chance of finding some in Akumal tomorrow,” Kat said.
Antonio was happy to see us. He was also happy to tell us more about Akumal. We toured the marina while we talked. I recognized some of the boats. Most would never be in our marina. Way too fancy.
“My grandfather has been a fisherman in Akumal his whole life. You should look for his boat when you go. She’s bright green and is called The Thirsty Turtle. My uncles are fishermen too. But Abuelo—that’s ‘grandfather’ in Spanish—he’s the boss. He knows everyone and everything in Akumal.”
“Your dad doesn’t fish?” Kat asked.
“No. My parents are teachers. My mother came here from New York to improve her Spanish. She got a job teaching English in a school here. That’s where she met my father. And now… here I am.”
“That’s why your English is so good,” I said.
“Gracias. It helped me get this job. I need to make good money. University is not cheap,” he said. “Anyway, Akumal is the best place for turtles. But don’t listen to the men trying to sell you tours. They will say you need a guide to swim with the turtles. But they lie.”
He showed us a map. “Stay away from here.” He pointed. “There has been trouble lately. Fighting and roadblocks.”
I looked at Kat. More trouble in paradise. Was this part of whatever was going on?
“Why is there trouble?” Kat asked.
“The fake guides bring many tour buses in. They don’t follow rules. Too many people and bad sunscreen.” He shook his head. “The Centro Ecologico Akumal protects the turtles. Some of them are getting cancer, probably from the sunscreens. They are stressed from too many people swimming in their habitat.” Antonio looked angry. “The Centro asked the government to stop these unlicensed buses from entering. But someone with money is helping these guides. Telling them to fight.”
“They aren’t with a real tour company?” I asked.
“No.” Antonio’s voice got quiet. “There are lots of strangers coming into the Mayan lately. Bad groups from the west.”
“We heard about the drug cartels pushing into the area.”
“Yes. They want to take over. And tourism is a good way to clean dirty money.”
Antonio’s boss called to him from the office.
“I better go. But here—take my cell number.” He quickly wrote it on a paper from his pocket. “Call me if you need directions or run into trouble.” He smiled. “And if you see The Thirsty Turtle, say hi to Abuelo for me.”
“We will. Thanks, Antonio!” Kat turned to me. “I wonder if the cartels are really the ones behind the shady tour guides. It could be someone local. I bet Jack knows.”
“Yeah. And maybe my radar’s not so stupid after all. It sounds like we’re right to keep our eyes open.” I thought of what Mike had said to me at the pool, about bad guys being everywhere. “This place is definitely paradise…” I paused. “But even paradise had a snake.”
Chapter Nine
Our morning snorkel off Akumal beach was amazing. We saw the tour guys Antonio had told us about, but we ignored them.
Kat and I snorkeled together and left Mike and Alex to do their own thing. At first we didn’t see much. Just little tufts of seagrass sprouting from the sandy bottom. Then—out of nowhere—a huge turtle loomed up in front of us. It was at least two and a half feet wide. Two smaller ones were right behind it. They were beautiful. Unreal. They dove down and nibbled the grass sprouts. They didn’t care that we watched them. It was wild.
Afterward we met up with Mike and Alex and walked along the beach. Brightly painted boats lined the shore, but we didn’t see The Thirsty Turtle. Abuelo was probably out fishing.
Two big buses full of tourists arrived as we returned to the rental car. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think they were legit.
La Buena Vida was a quick drive up the bay. Jack wasn’t there yet. We sat right on the beach, taking in the view. The waiter said there had been a manatee swimming out front earlier.
“I feel like I understand Aquaman a lot better now that I’ve seen real sea turtles,” Mike said. “No wonder he could ride them. They’re huge.”
“Daddy, you are so weird.” Kat shook her head.
Alex ordered four margaritas. “The kids should try an authentic margarita at least once, don’t you think, Mike?”
Kat and I were shocked when Mike agreed.
“What happened to the ‘no booze in the Mayan’ rule?” I whispered. “He must really like Alex.”
Kat and I explored while we waited for the drinks. The beach here was totally different from where we had snorkeled. Rocks and shells lay inches thick. We were taking selfies when Mike called us over.
“Jack called. He should be here in five minutes. He said to go ahead and order.”
The margaritas came. They were really good—and really strong. We were diving into some chips and salsa when a tall guy rounded the corner. He wasn’t in uniform, but he sure didn’t look like a tourist.
“Jackie!” Mike leaped up. He met Jack halfway and gave him a solid handshake.
“Mikey, my friend! It’s good to see you!”
Mikey? Jackie? Seriously?
Our food arrived, and as we ate we were entertained with stories from their training. We were all laughing—I couldn’t imagine Mike being as crazy as Jack made him out to be.
The talk turned to Jack’s work. Mike asked questions. I was surprised that Jack answered them, especially in front of us.
“We still can’t figure out exactly what happened in January,” Jack said. “It’s driving us crazy. We believe the cartels were involved. But we’re wondering if someone local was calling the shots. My second-in-command, Roberto, thinks we’re getting close to the truth. This rap festival is my big worry now. We don’t want a repeat of BPM, the music festival in Playa.”
“You’ve bumped up security?” Mike asked.
Jack nodded. “We brought in an expert from the States. A guy named Eric Cohen. But you never know who’s playing both sides.”
“Dirty cops?” Mike asked.
Jack nodded. “Some for sure. Which just makes this harder.” Jack sipped his drink. “Rob—Roberto—thinks there’s one person at the top. Someone local, like I said. If that’s true, this person is very good at hiding. In the shadows, pulling the strings.” Jack looked intense. “The cartels do seem to be pushing into our area. We don’t know if our local crooks will fight back. That may be what happened at BPM. Or maybe they will join them. If they haven’t already.” Jack shrugged. “One thing’s for sure. We need to get it under control soon. Nothing stops tourists faster than bad press. And tourism is our life here.”
The waiter brought the bill. Jack grabbed it. Mike tried to argue.
“You’re my guests,” Ja
ck said. “Which reminds me. I want to take you golfing, Mikey. Just nine holes, for old times’ sake.”
“You’re way too busy! And I didn’t bring my clubs,” Mike said. “Anyway, I’m here with the kids.”
“I won’t take no for an answer. I need a little downtime, and you have to see this course. It’s just south of Cancun. I have an extra set of clubs. It will have to be tomorrow morning though. It’s the only time I can get away.”
“Go for it, Daddy. Tom and I will be fine on our own at the resort,” Kat said.
On our own at the resort.
“Yeah, you should go, Mike,” I agreed.
“If it’s any help, I wouldn’t mind going into Cancun for some shopping. Maybe Kat and Tom want to come with me.” Alex looked hopeful. “If you add my name to the car’s rental contract, Mike, we could drop you off. Then I could take the kids into Cancun.”
All I heard was shopping.
That was all Kat heard too.
“Shopping? In Cancun? That sounds great!”
Ugh.
“I don’t want to crash your female bonding,” I said. “I think I’ll stay at the resort.”
“I wouldn’t want to go either,” Mike said, laughing.
“Then it’s all settled,” Jack said. “I’ll call you with the details. And Mike, give the kids my personal cell number.” He turned to us. “If you run into any trouble and can’t reach your dad, call me. I’ve got people everywhere in the Mayan.” He smiled as he started to walk away. “It was lovely meeting you all. And enjoy yourselves tomorrow. I’m afraid poor Mike won’t.” Jack was grinning from ear to ear now. “I’m going to kick his ass in golf.”
Chapter Ten
It turned out I didn’t have to stay at the resort alone. When we got back, there was a message for me from Antonio. Someone had chartered the marina’s big yacht for a trip up the coast, but they were short a crewman. If I was willing to wear the uniform, Antonio had permission for me to fill in. Why not? A day on the water, and a chance to see the southern coastline from a new perspective. I couldn’t wait.
Early the next morning, Kat, Alex and Mike headed out. I enjoyed sleeping in and having the suite to myself. I called Dad. He made me FaceTime him so he could see the suite.
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