by Diane Rapp
“Everything was happening so fast,” Paul added. “We didn’t have time to think before the shooting made us dive to the ground. Sorry.”
Jason ground his teeth. Feeling his cell phone vibrate, he whipped it out like a gunfighter ready to fire. Glancing at the screen, he grinned and held the phone to his ear. He stood frozen as he heard Natalia’s conversation with Hank Martin.
People started to ask questions, but Jason held his hand up, demanding silence. He pressed the mute button on the screen to prevent sound from reaching Natalia’s end. He announced, “Hank Martin’s got Natalia, and they’re heading to Fort Zachary Taylor Park. There’s some kind of quay north of the park. Does anyone know where it is?”
Geraldo and Roberto arrived just as Jason answered Natalia’s phone call. Geraldo said, “Papa took us fishing and docked our boat at that quay. It’s pretty close to the U.S. Naval Reservation where he’s taking Raven’s yacht. Let me get him on the phone. We should avoid using radios in case Hank can monitor the channel.”
Esteban answered after three rings. “What’s up, son?”
When Geraldo explained the situation, he asked for orders.
Esteban didn’t hesitate. “I’ll send a chopper to pick up your team at Higgs Beach near the monument. Be ready in five minutes.”
Amanda touched Jason’s shoulder. “You realize that we need to minimize civilian casualties. Who do you plan to bring along?” She glanced toward the group of twins.
Jason asked, “Drew, are you willing to pretend you’re a hostage on that yacht? Amanda might fool Hank from a distance if she wears Raven’s clothing.” Drew and Amanda both nodded. “Geraldo, tell Esteban we’ll land the chopper and board the yacht with our plan in the works.”
*****
The twins all wanted to go along to rescue Natalia, but Jason refused. “I appreciate your bravery but unskilled civilians only get in our way. Drew is going along to help fool Hank Martin, who believes that Raven is coming to pick him up. If he sees Drew with a dark-haired woman wearing Raven’s clothes, we might get close enough to take him out.”
Jason prayed that Natalia would survive long enough to get rescued. He mentally kicked himself for making her drive the white van alone, but how was he to know that Hank Martin was the man tied up in the back? No one in the group knew the man’s name, and they thought he was adequately sedated. No use assigning blame right now, but he was glad Tally took that gun and was able to make a secret call.
The chopper landed on Higgs beach. It took only minutes to load everyone and head the short distance to the Naval Reservation. Jason leaned out of the open door, trying to spot the white yacht, but a dense fog obscured a small spot on the water. The strange fog moved toward their destination.
“Docking in two,” Esteban announced over the radio.
“Copy that. Landing right now,” Jason replied, hoping that Hank didn’t listen to the military channel.
Off-loading the five bodies took a few minutes, and Amanda could search for clothes inside the cabin and change into her disguise while they sailed. Jason paced the deck of the yacht, trying to imagine what was happening with Natalia.
*****
Natalia drove slowly through the narrow streets of Key West while Hank peered out the window watching for signs. They turned left onto Duval, a wider street that contained more traffic. She glanced sideways and noticed that Hank’s head drooped. Suddenly he jerked up straight and his wild eyes scanned the area for trouble. Natalia decided that the effects of the sedative might still be active. Perhaps his reaction time would be slower if she pulled out her gun.
“Turn left on Amelia,” he stated and pointed ahead. Natalia clicked the van’s turn signal. She waited a moment for traffic, glancing inside her purse. The phone’s screen had gone black. Did that mean the battery was depleted or her call to Jason was disconnected?
“Turn already! It’s clear.” Hank waved the gun at her and Natalia floored the gas, narrowly missing a car that tried to turn from the opposite corner.
“Sorry,” she gasped. Sweat trickled into her eyes, and Natalia reached into her purse for a tissue.
“What you doing now?”
“I was getting a tissue to wipe sweat out of my eyes. It’s hard to see when the sweat stings,” she explained, noticing that she’d touched the phone activating its screen. Her call was still active, so she breathed a sigh of relief.
“When Amelia ends turn right on Fort Street,” he growled, grabbing the damp tissue from her fingers and wiping blood out of his own eye.
“Do we need to go inside the fort’s grounds?” Natalia was hoping there would be too many tourists for him to shoot her.
“No. Don’t worry, I know my way. We drive toward the harbor and end up on East Quay Road.” He wiped his eye again, and Natalia noticed that his head wound kept bleeding.
“You need a bandage on that,” Natalia suggested. “There should be a first aid kit in back, and I could stop that bleeding with a bandage.”
He sneered at the offer. “A little blood won’t hurt me.”
As they turned right onto Fort Street, she noticed he eyed the back of the van. Perhaps he’d try to retrieve the first aid kit, and she’d have a chance to get her gun.
No such luck.
“Pull over and park right there.” He pointed to a clear spot ahead. “You go into the back and grab that yellow box in the corner. It will only take a minute to tape up this wound.”
She followed his instructions, leaving her precious purse hanging on the arm of her seat. Opening the box, she grabbed a large bandage and stripped paper from the sticky surface. She carefully placed the bandage over the seeping wound and pressed gently.
“That should do it,” she said and settled back into her seat.
Hank pressed his fingers around the edge of the bandage and motioned with the gun. “Get going. Rose won’t like it if I’m late. But since I’m bringing another valuable hostage, she might not skin me alive.” His grin looked predatory, and Natalia shuddered visibly. Her fearful reaction made him happy.
When the van reached a split in the road, he indicated that she should stay to the left. They wound through the turns until they reached East Quay Road. Hank relaxed and leaned back in his seat. “It won’t be long now, girl. Rose told me how you tried to make her believe that Jim’s ghost warned her off killing Drew. We both know that psychic stuff is all a crock.”
Natalia’s mouth tightened. She stared straight ahead, willing herself to remain quiet about the vision she received when he gripped her elbow. She knew that this man was a vicious killer.
*****
The yacht’s engines churned as it raced around the bend. When they passed the edge of the forest, the red-brick fortress of Fort Zachary Taylor appeared over the low shrubs that lined the beach. Its irregular shape looked ominous with a sparkling moat that stretched in front of the stalwart stronghold.
Just north of the fort, a man-made quay stretched along the water’s edge. Luckily there were no ships docked alongside the quay today, perhaps by direct order of the Feds. Jason realized that there was no other boat traffic to be seen and felt glad that these blokes were on his side.
A strange dark fog continued to surround the yacht as they moored and strung ropes over the concrete bollards along the quay. The fog might actually prove advantageous, making Amanda harder to identify.
A portable gangway stretched from the yacht’s deck to the solid dock, and Amanda stepped off the boat with Drew close to her side. She stood with Raven’s rifle pointed at Drew’s head, while Jason and Esteban remained in the cockpit with guns ready. Roberto and Geraldo had already scuttled across the roadway to crouch behind decorative boulders along the verge. The paved road swung around the quay’s dead end, giving Hank and Natalia a clear view of the scene before the van stopped.
Jason could hear Hank barking orders to Natalia over the phone connection.
*****
“Don’t climb out the driver’s side,” Hank gr
owled. “Step into the back and we’ll exit together through the sliding wheelchair door.”
Natalia’s heart pounded as she stared at Drew and the woman holding a rifle. She wore a long red scarf tied over her dark hair and the ends whipped up in the stiff breeze. An eerie fog moved from the yacht, creeping onto land like a living animal that followed the two people ashore.
“Move!” Hank spat out the order and jabbed at her ribs with his gun.
As Natalia rose from her seat, she hooked the purse over her right shoulder, keeping her body between Hank and her bag. He twisted the door handle and the van’s door slid out of the way. Hank leaned forward and peered outside like a wolf ready to leap on its prey.
Natalia shuddered as he grabbed her arm. More visions flickered through her mind as he dragged her outside. Damp tendrils of fog seemed to reach out like angry fingers as they walked toward the two people standing next to the yacht.
Hank suddenly stopped. “That’s not Rose!” he bellowed and tried to drag Natalia back toward the van.
Amanda immediately turned her rifle and pointed it at Hank. “Drop your gun!” she shouted. “We have you surrounded.”
Hank turned to see Geraldo and Roberto with rifles propped on the boulders that kept them safe. As his attention wavered, Natalia jerked out of Hank’s grasp. She quickly reached into the pocket of her purse and withdrew Jason’s revolver.
Feeling the warm and comforting presence of Grandma Natasha, Natalia aimed the revolver at Hank. She calmly stated, “Rose was right, Hank. I gave her a message from Jim and now he’s got a message for you. He claims that you murdered him. Drew just ran away after Jim fired a shot inside the cottage. I can see Jim’s ghost in this fog, making sure you don’t escape punishment.”
“What? How do you know these things?” Hank roared, aiming his gun at her face. “No one knew that I shot Jim, not even Rose.”
Natalia nodded. “When you grabbed me, I saw the most important day in your past. You entered Jim’s bungalow, expecting to see his corpse, but Jim was still alive. He had tears in his eyes and told you he couldn’t do it. He was afraid to die.”
“You can’t know that!” Hank jerked on the gun’s trigger but it failed to fire.
Natalia saw a ghostly figure dressed in green holding her hand over that gun. Seeing Celeste made her feel confident and protected.
Shocked, Hank threw the gun at Natalia’s head, but Grandma Natasha deflected it from hitting her. “What’s happening?” he cried, stepping back as the fog closed in.
Natalia saw the tall, dark figure of a man inside the fog. She knew that Hank finally heard the ghost’s voice. “Why did you kill me?” Jim asked. “You were my closest friend, the one I believed would protect me from anything.”
Hank tried to squirm away from the fog’s touch. “I loved Rose, and you were going to take her away from me. You always grew tired of your women so I waited patiently for you to leave her. But that day you said you were going to run away with her.”
The ghost’s face frowned. “If you simply told me that you loved Raven Moon, I’d have gladly given the woman to you. She was just a warm body in my bed and I could always get another.”
Suddenly Hank’s shoulders slumped and his mouth drooped. “I believed in you Jim, but my passion for Rose was too strong to ignore. I needed to get you out of my way.”
Grandma Natasha and Celeste approached together and touched the fog. Natalia heard hundreds of voices chattering in the distance, the angry people from the Jonestown Massacre. She could see that Celeste was creating a barrier to protect them from the voices, but the strain was evident on the beautiful specter’s face.
Glancing toward the light, Grandma Natasha announced in a worried voice, “We must leave now, Jim. We can’t hold ze dead off any longer. We must take you to ze Gatekeeper. He can help you offer confessions to peoples you have harmed, beg forgiveness and accept your punishment from on High.”
“Haven’t I been punished enough all these years?” Jim asked, cringing away from their touch.
“You must face judgement. We can only be the guides,” Celeste said in a smooth voice meant to comfort. He hung his head and offered his hands. The two women gripped his ghostly hands, and they all disappeared.
When the fog evaporated, Hank stood alone in the street.
Natalia retrieved his gun and waved it above her head. She shouted, “Hank is disarmed. Come out and take him into custody.” Sticking her own revolver back into her purse, she grabbed the cell phone and announced, “Jason! I’m just fine now.”
“Yes, my dear. You’re in excellent condition in my humble opinion,” his voice came from over her shoulder. “Wonderful job of disarming the suspect, my dear. Of course, my preference was that you hid behind the van rather than airing the man’s past sins in the open. That’s a personal choice although it all worked out in the end.”
Natalia whipped around and wrapped shaking arms around his neck. “It wasn’t my choice, Jason. The fog made me tell Hank everything that I said.” She gestured around her at the cleared air. “Jim Jones was in that fog, and now that he exposed Hank, he’s gone with Grandma Natasha and Celeste to face his judgment.”
“Really?” Jason stood pondering the revelation. “Facing nine hundred angry souls sounds ever so ominous.”
Esteban and the brothers dragged a handcuffed Hank toward Natalia. Esteban said, “He ask to speak more with you, miss.” Esteban stood with his hand resting on his holster.
Tears streamed down Hank’s face. “You were right about me. I entered the cottage and found Jim Jones sitting safe and sound at his desk. He admitted that he couldn’t kill himself and planned to run away to start over with Raven Moon. I got so angry! Without even thinking, I shot him in the head with my silenced gun. Rose never knew it was me that killed Jim, and I couldn’t admit my guilt to her. I’ve loved that woman from the very first day we met and refused to allow that sniveling coward to take her away from me. She deserved better than Jim Jones and a life on the run with a fugitive.”
“You were the coward!” Drew marched forward and smashed Hank’s face with a closed fist. “You let Raven chase me down for thirty-nine years, believing I murdered my father. You realize that he shot at me! That’s what made me dash out of the cottage so fast. My father wanted me dead because I wouldn’t go blindly with him again! After that I ran from the Red Brigade, who tried to kill me. I was forced to abandon the woman I loved because of your lie.”
Hank narrowed his eyes. “Jim had a soft spot for you, Drew. That’s why he sent you to town to collect those jewels and wanted you to go along with him into hiding. If you’d gone, I could’ve stayed behind to comfort Rose. We might’ve had a chance to be happy. After you escaped with those jewels, the Red Brigade needed to get them back. Sure, Rose wanted you dead, but I never cared about killing you. We just needed that money.”
Laughing, Esteban gestured toward the police cars roaring down the road. “You won’t need money where you be going.”
Hank shrugged and let the police lead him away with his head hanging.
Drew turned to Natalia and said, “Thanks for giving me back my life. I’ve been running for so many years that I hardly know who I am anymore.”
Smiling, Natalia replied, “You may now have a chance to get to know your sons and Kate. Matt and Felix deserve a real father in their lives.”
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Do you think they’ll let me into their lives after all the trouble I’ve caused?”
“You didn’t cause the trouble, you just ran away from killers.” Jason pounded him on the back. “Running is understandable, considering the folk who were chasing you.” They walked toward an approaching vehicle filled with familiar faces. Jason said, “Looks like you have a chance to ask for yourself. Make the most of their admiration for your bravery today.”
Natalia leaned against Jason and watched the van unload its passengers. “We’ll have lots to discuss with them during the final day of the cruise.”
“At least we won’t have people trying to poison, drown, kidnap, or shoot anyone. It may actually seem like a humdrum tropical cruise now.” Jason kissed her forehead. “I’m ever so grateful that you came through alive, my dear.”
Natalia nodded. “That’s the thing about seeing into a person’s future. I knew he’d be dragged away in handcuffs, so I felt I’d be okay.”
Jason halted. “You mean you didn’t see yourself walking away in one piece?”
Shaking her head, she explained, “That’s not part of my talent. I can’t see myself in any future vision, but I had a good feeling about everything. After all Grandma Natasha stood at my side to give me courage.”
“A ghost? You thought you’d be fine because a ghost stood by your side? Didn’t you ever worry that she stood there preparing to lead you into the light? Bloody ghosts, you can’t rely on them for protection, you know!”
Natalia considered the idea. “No, I’d know if it was my time to depart from this world. Grandma radiated warmth, and I felt safe with her at my side, and I was right.”
Jason kissed her soundly and then muttered, “In future I’m keeping you by my side for your own safety. Anyone who trusts ghosts is not of sound mind.”
“I’ll stay by your side to keep you safe as well, chum.” She kissed him back.
Chapter 12 ~ Cruising Back to Galveston
As police vans pulled up to the cruise ship dock, Natalia and Jason both shuddered at the gaggle of reporters and cameramen standing ready to snag interviews. The group of twins got out of the van as paparazzi swarmed the dock with blinding lights and clicking cameras.
Amanda Spears brandished her Secret Service badge and I.D. She tapped a microphone and stated, “The twins agree to take orderly questions for a short period of time. Stop flashing those cameras during the press conference or I’ll shut you all down!”