Lost Witness

by Rebecca Forster

  "Nothing, Burt. Thanks."

  "Did you eat breakfast?"

  "I'm not really feeling all that good," Josie said. "I think I'll give my stomach a break."

  "I've got just the thing for that. Chicken noodle soup. I made it yesterday," Burt said. "I think you've been working too hard."

  "Not you too. I've already got Archer trying to take care of me." Josie looked over Burt's shoulder and pointed toward the door. "Party of four coming in. Go take care of them."

  "Nothing changes around here. She's still the boss of everyone." Burt laughed as he went back to work.

  Billy's eyes lingered on him. The man was exactly as he remembered. He still looked like the biker he had been before an accident left him crippled. There was a little more grey in his hair and his limp might be more pronounced, but he still knew how to make Billy feel like the most important person in the world.

  "You okay?" Josie asked.

  "Sure. Why not," he answered as he sat down and snapped his napkin open.

  The night had been hard, but the morning had been a breeze. Josie paid the scheduled bail, took him home for a quick shower, and now here they were. He rested his arms on the table, lowered his voice.

  "Who's the guy Hannah's moving in with?" Billy asked.

  "It's not my place, Billy. Hannah should—"

  "But Hannah didn't," Billy said.

  Josie mirrored him, crossing her arms on the table and locking eyes with him.

  "When exactly would she have had a chance to tell you that she's seeing someone, Billy?"

  "She's not just seeing someone. She's moving in with him, right?" Billy said, before he faltered and lowered his eyes. "She must love him.”

  "He loves her," Josie said. "I don't think Hannah would make a commitment if she didn't love him. What kind of love they have is their business."

  Josie touched his hands. Billy's lashes fluttered, his head tilted to one side. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the right words to say.

  "We all knew this was going to be complicated the minute we saw you," Josie said. "But you've got to hang on to the fact that you are a part of our lives, especially Hannah's. She'll do what's right."

  "For who?" Billy asked, his voice tight.

  "For everyone," she answered. "And that includes Jamal. Don't put her in a position where she makes a decision out of loyalty or pity. Nothing good will come of that."

  He nodded and withdrew his hands as if it hurt him to be touched. He looked out onto the beach.

  "I never understood how she couldn't love this place, Josie. I missed it something awful."

  "We missed you," Josie said.

  "I wish she would have told you I was alive. Everything would be so different, don't you think?"

  "We'll never know."

  Josie sat back in her chair and followed his gaze. It was a beautiful day. All the volleyball nets were spoken for, claimed by teams of two and four. Funny how there were always people out there even on a workday. Josie wished she was picking up a game, feeling the sun on her back. . .

  "Maybe there's a reason," Billy said wistfully. "I mean a reason I was supposed to come back here."

  "Maybe the reason is Tala. Maybe you had to be put in her way so that you'd be there when she needed you."

  "Lot of help I've been." Billy turned away from the window and clasped his hands on the table.

  "You've done everything you can, and some stuff you shouldn't have."

  He hung his head and shook it. His blond hair fell over his face the way it had all those years ago when he was just a latchkey kid making stupid trouble in Hermosa Beach. The sight of him grown and almost broken made Josie long for those days. Then again, maybe Billy was right. Maybe Fate had been their traveling companion and free will had been lost years ago. That was something Josie didn't want to believe.

  "We'll make it right. I promise," Josie said.

  "Yeah. Sure," he said, sounding less than convinced.

  "And you've got to cut Hannah some slack. Matter of fact, you've got to cut yourself some. Let’s figure out the mess you're in. You and Hannah can figure out the rest. Okay?"

  "You're right." Billy was back. He had always been resilient; self-pity wasn't in his wheelhouse. "What do we do now?"

  "We've got a court date. We'll plead no contest, and you'll get probation and community service. If the judge imposes a fine, then I'll—"

  "No. I mean what do we do about Tala? What thing do you have to do to get us on that ship? Can't you get some kind of court order or something?"

  "I thought you understood that there's nothing we can do. The ship is probably long gone," she said.

  "Tala is on it, Josie, and at the very least we have to prove that to someone. Just doing that might make a difference. You have to believe me. She is there."

  "It doesn't matter whether I believe you or not," Josie said, frustrated that Billy thought she could reach into some magic hat and pull out a legal precedent that would save the day, "Everything is stacked against us. This isn't a terrorist threat that will panic law enforcement. I don't have any proof that I could hand to a federal prosecutor regarding abuse on board the Faret Vild. Even if I could get someone to listen to me, he would probably laugh me out of his office because there are a lot more urgent matters to deal with. We're not talking about a country-to-country dispute, so what do I tell a maritime court? I don't even know how to approach a maritime court."

  Seeing he wasn't buying her objections, Josie leaned forward again and tapped her finger on the table to underscore her argument.

  "You have no standing, Billy. You are not a relative, you are not married to this woman, and you have no proof that Tala exists or that you were on that ship."

  Billy met her half way.

  "I can tell you the names of each mate, where they came from, how the ship functions, what laws the captain has broken. I can even tell you that he wears a gold bracelet and a pinky ring and is an asshole. I can tell you where the first mate, Nanda, hails from. Isn't that proof that I was on the Faret Vild? I can tell you —"

  "Stop right there. Just stop, Billy," Josie snapped. "Whatever happened on that ship, it's done. I'm sorry. I know this is torturing you, but it's over."

  "No." Billy shook his head. "She deserves better than that. Tala, she's — she's different. She pulled me out of a scrape in Manila. I owe her my life, Josie."

  "And I get it. Look, you did more than any other human being could have. If she's as strong as you say, she'll survive. Maybe it's time for you to think about yourself. That way when she comes back someday, you're ready."

  Josie steered the conversation away from Billy's pipe dream of saving Tala Reyes by offering a sliver of hope for the future. Billy was proof such things happened.

  "Here you go!"

  They heard Burt well before he put their food in front of them. It was a feast and he stood back to admire his handiwork, only to be disappointed when they didn't share his enthusiasm.

  "You two look like you lost your best friend," he said.

  "We're good, Burt. We're just making some homecoming adjustments," Josie said.

  He nodded then looked over his shoulder as the front door opened.

  "Well, look what the wind blew in."

  Burt headed for Archer. He paused long enough for Archer to say:

  "Can you get me a brew, Burt?"

  "You're going to need more than one," Burt said. "I put my foot in it, man. Let it slip about Hannah and Jamal."

  "Not your fault. Billy's got more to worry about than a broken heart."

  Archer clapped him on the shoulder. At the table, he gave Josie's shoulder a squeeze and leaned in to kiss the cheek she offered. He pulled out a chair and sat down.

  "You don't look the worse for wear," he said to Billy.

  "It wasn't exactly hard time, but I'm happy to be out," Billy said.

  "You two made good time. Any problems?" Archer asked.

  "No. They used the bail schedule, so we
didn't have an appearance," Josie said. "I'll see if I can get the charges dismissed, since I doubt the port lawyers will show up for this one. He'll get community service. Billy's legal status is going to be a problem, but first things first."

  Josie filled Archer in on their conversation about Tala Reyes, and Billy still insisted there must be something they could do.

  "I suppose we could track down the owners of the Faret Vild, but there's no incentive for them to respond," Josie said.

  "That being said, maybe we're looking at the wrong road. Maybe there is no legal solution, but we can make some noise. If we can do that we might make some people uncomfortable enough to tip their hand," Archer said as he put a large envelope on the table, bent the grommet, and withdrew a sheaf of paper.

  "I've got a friend at the Seamans Association in San Pedro, and he gave me a lesson in maritime history along with an earful about his kid who wants to be a rock god but can't carry a tune. It seems the Philippines is the go-to country for maritime workers. They make up about a third of the labor force on ships around the world. The money they send back to the Philippines is a huge part of the country's GDP, so we're talking big money for the homeland and for the companies who hire Filipino crews.”

  Archer rifled through the papers. He gave them each a piece of paper.

  “These stats are a year old, but this will tell you what we're looking at. Forty-two thousand Filipinos are signed on to bulk carriers; thirty-one thousand plus are on container ships; ten thousand or so were posted to general cargo ships. I didn't even bother looking up the numbers on the cruise ships."

  "Nice lesson in statistics," Josie said. "But even if the numbers were cut in half, finding Tala would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

  Josie set aside the paper and picked up her spoon. She tasted the soup hoping that if she ate Billy would eat too, but he was only interested in what Archer had to say. She gave his plate a nudge; he glanced at her.

  "Not hungry," he said.

  "I'll talk, you eat," Archer said. "You don't get one without the other."

  Billy picked up a French fry, and when that didn't satisfy Archer he went after the burger. Burt brought Archer's beer.

  "I just wanted to give you context," Archer said. "Once I gave my buddy the name of the ship he was able to break the information down. Take a look at the next paragraph. The Faret Vild is an FOC, a sweat ship."

  "He's got that right. That thing was kept together with bubblegum and run with half the necessary crew," Billy said. "The pay was rock bottom. The captain was an idiot. I think the first mate really ran the show."

  “Then what sets this ship apart?" Josie asked.

  "Not much, really. The Faret Vild is registered in a country other than the country of ownership. That is no different than any other owned by a company that wants cheap labor and to steer clear of any legal obligations.

  "If there were an egregious matter — like the one we're talking about —we'd have to take it up with the country of registry which in this case is Liberia. How far do you think you'd get in a Liberian court?"

  "I don't even know where Liberia is," Josie said. "Anything else?"

  "Only a small percentage of Filipino crew sails under Liberian flag ships, the Faret Vild sails under the Liberian flag, and that means our universe is knocked down even further."

  Billy set aside his plate and scooted closer to the table.

  "So if this dude could pull up all this information, couldn't he just look up who signed on the Faret Vild?" Billy asked.

  "He didn't have access to that information, but someone does," Archer said. "He's going to see what he can run down. All I could give him was Tala's name and age. If you can fill in anything else that might cut down discovery time."

  "Tala is twenty-four years-old, five-four, dark haired," Billy said. "I know, I know. It could be a thousand Filipino women, but she worked on a container ship. There aren't many women who do that. Just tell him to ask his contact to send a list of women who are assigned to Faret Vild. There was only one from Manila."

  "It's not that easy. He needs to go through the union, check out the associations, and try to access the port records in Manila. The problem is that nobody is going to have any skin in this game, so they won't move quickly. The more we give them, the easier we make it, the better chance we have of figuring out a way to get to Tala - or at least force someone in authority to recognize her existence. Anything will help," Archer said.

  "I know she's from Manila. Supposedly her mother is still alive."

  "Where does the mother live?" Josie asked.

  "She said once. It was like Cruz." He snapped his finger. "Santa Cruz or it was Marikina. I think she had family in both places. She mentioned both."

  "What about her father? Brothers? Sisters? Any particular family history that might help us pin point her?"

  He shook his head.

  "She only said a lot of bad stuff had happened at home, and she didn't want to talk about it. Whatever it was, it was pretty ugly."

  Josie and Archer exchanged a look. It seemed to be Billy's karma to hook up with strong women with deep hurts.

  "Wait. Wait. I did see a picture of her father once. I think it was her father. He was in a uniform. It was like a newspaper article. She had circled him."

  "Military?" Josie asked.

  "I don't know," Billy said. "Maybe a cop. I didn't see it for long. She just took it away. He was in a fancy place. Like a palace or something. Maybe a government building."

  "Okay," Archer said. "It's a place to start. We look for a Reyes in the government."

  "That's like finding John Doe in the morgue,” Josie said.

  "I love a challenge, Jo." Archer said.

  "Guess that's why you married me?"

  Archer chuckled, Billy laughed outright. For a minute the mood lightened, but only for a minute.

  "What about something less personal. School? My guy says Filipino seafarers need a degree in engineering or . . ." Archer looked at his stash of papers. "Or marine transportation. Either of those things comes up in conversation?"

  "Yeah. Yeah. She was an engineer. That's why the captain had her on the reefers. Reefer maintenance was supposed to be handled by an engineer. I was her assistant.

  "But you're not an engineer."

  "Like the captain cared?" Billy said. "I was signed as general labor, but he put me with her anyway 'cause we knew each other. I cost less than an engineer. I monitored the containers, and if something went wrong she fixed it," Billy said. "Tala knew her stuff, and I got grunt work when I wasn't busy with the containers."

  "Did she mention a college? We could request information from a college based on her age."

  "We never talked about it. All I know is that we went looking for work in Manila, and she bee-lined for the Faret Vild. There were better ships but she wanted to be on that ship. I think she just wanted to get to the U.S. and that was the only one headed that way."

  "Any idea why the U.S. was so important?"

  "Nope. I'm not even sure that's what set her off. She's a funny one. Keeps a lot to herself, but when she decides to do something there is no stopping her. She's kind of like Hannah that way. . ."

  His voice trailed off and just when it seemed they might lose him, Billy snapped his fingers.

  "Wait. I do know about the school. She went to the University of Cebu. Maritime Education and Training Center."

  "You're sure?" Archer asked.

  "I remember because Nanda — he's the first mate — asked her why she would want to sail on the Faret Vild. He said University of Cebu graduates could have their pick of ships."

  "And she said?" Josie nudged

  "She just said, 'I have my reasons'." Billy looked from Archer to Josie. "What do you think it means?"

  "It means she had her reasons," Josie said.

  "And she dragged you along with her?"

  "I wanted out of Manila, and they got a good deal with the two of us," Billy said. "She may ha
ve had the degree, but I had the experience. I was a mate on Alaskan fishing boats. I sailed on a freighter out of San Francisco that went to Hawaii. When that gig ended, I got picked up to crew a private yacht and ended up in Japan. From there I got another freighter to the Philippines."

  "So how long were you there?" Josie asked.

  "Six weeks? Yeah, about that," Billy said.

  "And you wanted to come back to L.A.?" Josie asked.

  "I didn't think that far. With Hannah gone, it wasn't like there was anything to come back for."

  "Any problems with the rest of the crew?" Archer asked.

  "Tala and I kept to ourselves," Billy said.

  "She never mentioned any kind of harassment?" Archer asked. "Did the captain have it in for her? Or maybe he had the hots for her."

  "No. Nobody would mess with Tala," Billy said.

  "Someone did, Billy," Josie said. "Unless you think she's a cold blooded killer."

  "No way. And that guy was not part of the crew," Billy said. "But if he didn't want anyone to know he was on board, why attack Tala when it was a sure thing he'd get caught?"

  "Not if he knew the captain would cover it up, which is exactly what it seems he's doing," Josie said.

  "And the question is why would he do that?" Archer said. "Then again the why doesn't really matter? All we want is to validate and put that captain on notice so he doesn't do anything to Tala."

  Archer stood up. Josie and Billy followed, and Burt gave them a wave as they headed out the door and turned toward home. Outside was picture perfect: blue sky, white sand and bright sun. The Strand wasn't crowded so they could walk three abreast and still give the roller bladers and cyclists room to pass.

  "You and Josie focus on your problems, I'll run down Tala," Archer said as they turned off The Strand and headed for Josie's house.

  More than once, Josie cut her eyes to Billy and wondered where he fit into their lives now that he was back, now that he knew about Hannah and Jamal, now that he was no longer a boy. Then again, that question was moot. Billy might not stay with them if the personal hurdles were too high. He might sleep in Hannah's room one night and be gone the next morning, back to the sea, back to Alaska, back to someplace where he could disappear. His attachment to Tala Reyes was proof that it was possible for him to live life without Hannah.