Bluewater Enigma: The 13th Novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Bluewater Thrillers)

by Charles Dougherty

  "I caught what the guy said in the video, about the cops hitting Horry up for a bribe, but what if they decided to arrest us?" Beverly asked. "Like Horry pissed them off somehow, or wouldn't pay them? Or couldn't? Horry doesn't have any money to speak of; it's all his wife's. We could have been in the shit, you know?"

  "That's how we feel," Liz said. "Suppose the wrong cops decided to search us, for some reason?"

  "I didn't even think of that," Beverly said. "Berto made a big deal out of my being partners with him, but now I'm sure he'd hang me out to dry in a second. If he had been serious about our being partners, he would've told me about the whole deal, don't you think?"

  "That's how I see it," Liz said.

  "Me too," Dani said. "To someone like him, everybody's expendable."

  "I'm really sorry I got into this," Beverly said. "I walked into it with my eyes open, nobody to blame but myself. But you guys didn't even have a choice. That sucks."

  "Yes," Liz said. "That's why we want to find out who's behind it. Then we've got a chance to stop it before we get hurt."

  "I wish I knew a way out," Beverly said, "but Manny's vicious. One of Berto's selling points was that if I did this for him, I'd never have to see Manny again. You have no idea what Manny would do to me. I saw what happened when he got angry with another girl." She shuddered, her face going pale.

  "Maybe we can help," Liz said, "if you can help us."

  "How?" Beverly asked.

  "I don't know yet," Liz said. "What do you think, Dani?"

  "You have a phone number for Berto?" Dani asked, "and a last name?"

  Beverly nodded. "A phone number, but that's all. I don't know his last name."

  "And how about Manny LaRosa?" Dani asked. "How much do you know about him?"

  "I've got his phone number, and he runs a club in South Beach. He practically lives there. But he's dangerous. You have no idea."

  "If you'll give us whatever information you have on the two of them, we'll get our friend in Miami to see what he can find out."

  Beverly's brow was furrowed as she studied Dani for several seconds. "The same friend that told you who we were?"

  "Yes. That's right," Liz said. "Don't worry; he's discreet. There won't be any repercussions from his inquiry."

  "Okay," Beverly said. "I have the phone numbers and the name of Manny's club. That's it, except for the names. I'll jot them down for you when we get back to Vengeance."

  "Let's take a little break," Liz said. "This has been pretty intense. We could all stand to digest what we've talked about."

  "Let's snorkel the reef and look at the fish for a while," Dani said. "It'll do you good. We'll talk more later."

  17

  "Good afternoon, Mr. Delaney," Montalba said. "I've had some time to consider what we talked about earlier."

  "Okay, good," Delaney said. "But first, I gotta tell you. I pulled the team out of Bequia. After what happened with Norris, it's too risky to run eyeball surveillance on them. They're gonna be on high alert."

  "Norris?" Montalba asked. "Was he the former Navy SEAL?"

  "Correct. I had them put a satellite tracking device on the boat, so we can find them anytime we want. If we need to, we can have another team in place in a few hours, at most. I've got plenty of people, but since we've got the surveillance gear and a tracker on the boat, it's not worth the risk of having a team on them. Especially since we don't know how they spotted Norris."

  "Very well," Montalba said. "The only problem I see with that is that we'll need to retrieve the recordings at some point."

  "Yeah, I know. We'll need the people off the boat to do that, so we'll have to work something out. You have somebody on the inside — a woman?"

  "Yes, " Montalba said. "Wait a second. From a technical aspect, how complicated is it to retrieve the recordings?"

  "Not too tough. There's a solid-state drive. You just unplug it and plug in a replacement. Why?"

  "Can you send me detailed instructions?"

  "Yeah, sure. I'll have to get somebody to put 'em together, but that's not a big deal. You thinking the woman could do it?"

  "Yes. To me, it seems that would reduce our exposure," Montalba said.

  "Yeah. She's already there. I like it. I'll get somebody on that as soon as we finish. Email work for you?"

  "For me, yes. But put it in a format that I can send to her as a text message. We're communicating that way, and it's encrypted. Also, there's the problem of getting the replacement drive to her."

  "Shouldn't be a problem," Delaney said. "I can have it dropped off wherever she wants — bar, gift shop, anywhere. Just give me as much notice as you can."

  "Hours? Days?" Montalba asked.

  "A day would be great. We could work with a few hours if it's somewhere that's easy to get to, though. You said you'd been thinking about a fall guy. Got somebody in mind?"

  "Yes. Velasquez's brother-in-law. His name's Michael Francis McGuire, Jr. He's a real estate developer, and he owns several night clubs around the state."

  "Florida?" Delaney asked.

  "Yes. He lives in Miami."

  "I'm liking this," Delaney said. "He's got a built-in motive for spying on Velasquez."

  "That's what I thought, too," Montalba said. "He'd want to take care of his little sister. And he's a shady enough character to make a good suspect."

  "Is he mobbed up?" Delaney asked.

  "Not obviously, no," Montalba said. "But there are rumors of connections to organized crime. Their father, Michael Sr., was indicted for gambling and loan sharking. Money laundering, too."

  "No shit?" Delaney asked. "Is he doing time somewhere?"

  "No. The charges were dismissed. I suspect there was some political pressure. The old man was a mover and shaker in the Republican Party."

  "Would he make a better scapegoat?" Delaney asked.

  "Except for being dead, maybe he would," Montalba said. "He had a heart attack while he was celebrating after he beat the charges. Michael Jr. inherited the business. There's also a younger brother. He's a lawyer, a lobbyist."

  "That's great," Delaney said. "This younger brother, does he work in D.C.?"

  "Yes. At least, he has an office there. He's a partner in a law firm in Tallahassee, but he spends most of his time in D.C. Why?"

  "Access," Delaney said. "I got people who work the lobbyists in D.C. all the time. Send me whatever you have on both of them. I'll put some people to work on this, and once we have a plan, I'll run it by you, okay?"

  "All right," Montalba said. "Anything else?"

  "Not now. I'll get you the instructions on swapping out the disk drive. That'll probably be this evening, yet. The other will take a little longer."

  "Good enough," Montalba said. "Have a good evening."

  "Yeah. You do the same."

  "Did you turn everything off but the anchor light?" Dani asked, as Liz joined her in the cockpit. Their guests had retired for the evening.

  Liz chuckled. "Yes." She handed Dani a glass of wine and sat down beside her.

  "What are you laughing about?"

  "Your circumspection. I know I shouldn't; it's good to be careful."

  "Was it inactive?" Dani asked. "She said she'd let us know if she was going to record something."

  "It was. The light was off, but I decided to play it safe," Liz said. "I'm not sure how far I trust her."

  "Me either," Dani said. "She came around to our side pretty easily, didn't she?"

  "Yes. Do you think she's just humoring us?"

  "I'm not sure. I think she was already suspicious of this Berto character, though."

  "Yes. And she's scared of the other one," Liz said. "Who do you suppose they could be?"

  "I don't know, but I'll bet Luke can find out something about Manny LaRosa. A scumbag running a nightclub in South Beach should be like an open book for him."

  "We can call him tomorrow," Liz said, "while she shows Harry the reef."

  "Right. Did you put something in that rum punc
h you were feeding him?"

  "No. He just couldn't help himself." Liz smirked.

  "Where'd you get that string bikini, anyway?" Dani asked. "I've never seen you wear that."

  "I save it for special occasions."

  "Well, it worked. I thought his eyes were going to pop right out of his head. Why did you decide to do that? You could have gotten him smashed without putting on such a show."

  "I was curious about her reaction."

  "Her reaction?" Dani paused for a moment. "You mean because of what he said about a threesome? Liz, I had no idea you — OW! That hurt, damn it."

  "Good. Don't pick on me. I wanted to see if she was at all jealous; it just occurred to me to test that. It could have been important to know if she had feelings for him. I was killing two birds with one stone."

  "Oh. You had me wondering, for a minute there."

  "Ha ha, Dani. Anyway, all I picked up from her was disgust at the way he was leering at me."

  "It's obvious that her relationship with him is purely professional," Dani said.

  "It is now that she's opened up with us, but I didn't want to assume that. You can't ever tell."

  "How do you suppose she got into this whole escort thing?" Dani asked, after a moment of silence. "She's smart, she's attractive, and she carries herself with dignity. Why would she stoop to that?"

  "I'm sure I don't know," Liz said. "You could ask her."

  "I like her, Liz." Dani frowned.

  "So do I. But what's that got to do with it?"

  "I don't want to embarrass her," Dani said.

  "I see. I don't know if it would bother her. She seemed matter-of-fact about it."

  "Yes, but if I were her, I'd be embarrassed. I mean, she's a ... well, you know what I mean."

  "As she said, she walked into this situation of her own accord. You'd be embarrassed, and so would I, but that doesn't mean she would. If you think it's important, though, we should ask her about it, embarrassing or not."

  "What do you think?"

  "I haven't thought about it — not that way. What she told us so far hangs together; I'm feeling all right about her. How much harm can she do us now, really?"

  "Good point," Dani said. "Okay. Maybe it's just prurient interest on my part. I'll put it aside. I just can't imagine doing what she does for a living."

  "And she probably couldn't imagine doing some of the stuff you and I have done. You saw her reaction to that video Sharktooth sent us. She'd be horrified at some of the things we've done."

  "We haven't done anything I'm ashamed of."

  "We've done some things that most people would think should have sent us to prison. She'd agree with them, based on how she felt about that video."

  "Yes, but we only did that stuff because we had to; it was us or them. We didn't have much choice. Kill or be killed, right?"

  "Right, but she might feel the same way about her choices," Liz said. "Most people rationalize their decisions somehow; not many think of themselves as inherently evil."

  "I never looked at it that way. Anyway, if you trust her, I'm satisfied."

  "Well, as I said, I haven't thought about it. Maybe I'll change my mind after I sleep on all this."

  "While you're sleeping on it, don't forget that she's still in communication with Berto."

  "Yes," Liz said. "We can keep an eye on that, though. She doesn't carry her cellphone around with her all the time."

  "She may start clearing the messages from the notification screen, though. She might suspect that's how we got Berto's name."

  "You're right. I didn't think about that. Where are we going with all this, anyway? What's our goal?"

  "I want to know why Berto or whoever he works for picked Vengeance. There has to be a reason beyond blackmailing a congressman," Dani said. "They could have done that on any charter boat, or in a resort, for that matter."

  "I agree, but what about her?" Liz asked. "And Harry? What happens with them?"

  "Well, that depends on what we learn. Right now, that looks like a separate problem to me. I don't really care about them. Let her blackmail him. So what?"

  "But if we blow this whole thing open, whoever's behind it may take it out on her," Liz said. "I mean, she's changed sides, we think. Don't you feel like we owe her something?"

  "Maybe. We'll have to see what happens, I guess. And see how she behaves from here on. Let's go to sleep. We can talk more tomorrow after we call Luke."

  Montalba was leaning back in his swivel chair, an untouched glass of wine on his credenza. He was pondering Delaney's earlier statement that Berger's father had a contract with somebody to disrupt drug processing laboratories in Central America years ago. Delaney, with a government contractor's bias, had assumed that Berger had been working for some government agency. Montalba had a different perspective.

  The rumors about Connie Barrera coupled with her connection to Dani Berger took on new meaning for Montalba. Dani Berger's father could well be behind this mysterious cartel with which Barrera was connected. If Dani had been wrecking laboratories in her teens, J.-P. Berger had been in the narcotics trade for a long time.

  The fact that Montalba had never heard of him spoke to Berger's skill at concealing his activities. It also made it likely that he was behind the large, mysterious cartel that no one could find.

  Montalba was impressed by J.-P. Berger's use of his daughter and Barrera to run his operation in the Americas. The charter business was an obvious cover. The use of yachts to smuggle drugs was tried and proven, though it had fallen out of favor in recent years. It was an inefficient way to move large quantities of product. However, using small luxury yachts run by young women was ingenious as a cover.

  The charter business provided a perfect excuse for the women to move around the Caribbean basin. In his daughter and Barrera, Berger had two well-concealed front-line managers. Dani Berger was blood kin, too. That didn't guarantee loyalty, but it helped. She was also in a position to keep an eye on Barrera, who was likely the person with connections to suppliers in Latin America.

  Montalba was in a quandary. He needed solid intelligence on the Berger operation, including Barrera. He didn't trust Delaney; the man was a pure mercenary, and Delaney was in awe of J.-P. Berger. He could use Delaney to subvert O'Toole's political competitors, but he couldn't afford to let Delaney know why he was interested in the Bergers. He would have to revert to using his own people.

  The security risk inherent in that was troublesome. Montalba's strategy for survival was to allow no one to know he existed. No one except his sister, Graciella, knew anything about him. He kept his contacts with others to a minimum, using secure text and encrypted telephones, or prepaid, "burner" cellphones. The few times he had to meet his people face to face, he stayed in the shadows and allowed them to see only the scarred side of his face.

  Far less often, he would resort to theatrical makeup to cover the scars, as he had done when he met Beverly Lennox. He capitalized on the persona of the "scar-faced bastard" among his minions, occasionally dropping hints as to what had happened to his face.

  His favorite legend was that he had burned his own face with acid to make himself unrecognizable and then killed everyone who knew what he had done. His ruined face distorted into what might have been a smile as he thought about that story.

  Besides his sister, the only people left alive who had seen him were Senator O'Toole and Beverly Lennox. O'Toole had met him in a dimly lit car, and Montalba had shown only the scarred side of his face. Lennox would recall him as a handsome man.

  He took a sip of the wine and held it in his mouth, savoring it. After a few seconds, he swallowed and sat up straight. He needed to see Graciella; she could take his mind off this enigma for a little while, allowing him to approach it with a fresh outlook later.

  18

  "Good morning, Luke. It's Dani and Liz."

  "Good morning, ladies. Can you talk?"

  "Yes. Our guests are off the boat, and we've disabled the surveillance sys
tem just to be sure."

  "Okay. I'm not sure I know any more than I did the last time we spoke. Nothing new on Beverly Lennox or Velasquez. Phillip's kept me up to date on the two guys that got arrested in St. Vincent, but you probably know about that. Oh, and he asked me to run a records-check on Norris. Did he share that with you?"

  "We haven't had a chance to talk to him," Dani said. "Anything there we should know?"

  "Not really. Norris was kicked out of the navy because he killed several civilians in Iraq, apparently just because he could. The other two were dishonorably discharged from the army for drug-related offenses. They're going to do some hard time in St. Vincent, from what Phillip said. What's new on your end?"

  Dani and Liz spent a couple of minutes filling Luke in on what they had learned from Beverly Lennox. When they mentioned Manny LaRosa, Luke interrupted them.

  "The name 'Berto' doesn't mean anything to me, but Manny LaRosa's a different story," he said. "He's bad news; one of those characters who manages to stay out of prison because the witnesses change their stories before his court dates."

  "Beverly Lennox said a big part of why she liked Berto was that he told her if she worked with him on this, she'd never see LaRosa again," Liz said.

  "That would do it for me," Luke said. "But Manny told her Berto was the boss?"

  "That's what she said," Dani said.

  "Could you tell whether that meant he was Manny's boss, or was it just a figure of speech?"

  "When she said it, I took it as a figure of speech," Dani said. "Liz?"

  "The same, but now that you ask, I wonder."

  "Because of what she said about Berto telling her she'd never see Manny again?" Dani asked.

  "Yes," Liz said, "exactly."

  "That's interesting," Luke said. "Think you could pursue that with her?"

  "Sure," Dani said. "I think so. How about it, Liz?"

  "I agree. She'll talk with us about it. She's uncomfortable with the whole situation, since we showed her the video."

  "What video?" Luke asked.

  "Of Sharktooth questioning Norris," Liz said.