by Ken W. Smith
“I don’t remember going to a dance with you.”
“You didn’t know I was there. Jojo and I snuck in a back door.”
* * *
The ten days of open sea sailing had taken a toll on crew and scientists alike. Despite the pirate warnings, Captain Michaels stopped in Salvador de Bahia to refuel. He agreed to let the researchers go into port. Not because the city had the lowest crime rate of any of the ports in Brazil, but because Jay was providing security.
Jay agreed to chaperone the six female researchers. He knew they wanted to have a good time, and he would make sure they stayed safe. Williams joined him as a chaperone. Perry piloted the small boat.
The short ride to the downtown marina was uneventful, and the girls located the Zen, a wild dance club.
The club was loud and crowded. But the drinks were cheap, and the patrons were friendly. Jay’s Portuguese was rusty, but he remembered enough to have a few brief conversations. The researchers danced together in a group and managed to fend off the local males. As the night went on, a few girls staggered off with guys. Williams followed close behind.
Jay kept his distance from Olivia and her friends. His job was their safety, and he couldn’t let himself get distracted. He’d have plenty of time to nurture his romance with Olivia when they returned to Cape Cod.
He took a sip from his glass of Coca-Cola when he heard a familiar voice, “Hey Mendes, what brings you to this dive?”
An overweight, dark-haired man stood next to him. He wore a nondescript blue polo shirt and khaki slacks. He looked familiar, but Jay couldn’t place the face.
“Do I know you?” Jay said.
“It has been a few years, but yes, we met on a mission in northern Brazil. You were working with the U.S. DEA to hunt down a notorious drug lord.”
“Right, Ernesto. Ernesto Cabral,” Jay said. “Now I remember. You’re with the Federal Police. You coordinated the search through the Amazon basin. I’ll never forget the monster mosquitoes in that area.”
“There you go, my friend. What brings you to Salvador? I notice you’re not in uniform anymore.”
“You’re observant. I left the Navy a few weeks ago. I’m now working with a maritime security company aboard a research vessel. We stopped in port for supplies, and some of our researchers wanted to let their hair down for the evening.”
“You’re babysitting rich college kids.”
“Bingo. You were always observant. Why are you here? I thought you worked out of headquarters in Rio?”
“I’m investigating a rash of drug-related deaths in northern Brazil. Very sad because most of the victims are young adults between the ages of 18 and 25.”
“That’s awful. What kind of drugs?” Jay said.
“We call the shit Jungle Fury because some of the ingredients grow in jungle plants. Plus, a Brazilian drug cartel is doing most of the production. On the streets, it’s simply Fury.
“How are the people dying?”
“It seems to be causing instant strokes in some people. Others are dropping dead. There isn’t even a cure or antidote. Our government is funding research to try to find a way to treat strokes. It’s awful.”
“Are they smuggling it out of Brazil yet?”
“We think so, but we’re not sure. It’s one of the reasons I’m here at the port. Since it’s a liquid, the cartel can’t transport it by commercial airlines. The smugglers are using container ships. You don’t need a lot of liquid to make a lot of money. They’re using two-liter Coke bottles.”
Jay’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He saw the call was from Williams. “Jay, we have a situation. I’m outside the ladies’ room.”
“Hey, Ernesto, I gotta go. Let’s stay in touch.”
Ernesto handed Jay a business card then said,” My pleasure. It was great seeing you, Jay.”
* * *
Jay reached inside his jacket to check his gun, then pushed his way through the crowd.
Several drunk young men surrounded the researchers. One girl, a tall blonde named Stephanie, was screaming at one of the local guys. Jay could tell she was drunk, and the young man was trying to calm her down. He pushed his way through the crowd and stood between Stephanie and the man.
“That basshtard felt me up,” Stephanie said in a drunken slur. “We were making out, and he, you know…” she held her hands up and cupped her fingers.
There was no way Jay would referee this argument, so he looked at Stephanie and said, “Williams, time to go.”
Williams grabbed Stephanie’s arm and escorted her out of the club. Olivia and the rest of the researchers followed behind.
When they were outside, Jay turned to see if they were being followed. The coast was clear, so they headed back to the launch.
Someone grabbed Jay’s arm, and he turned, reaching for his gun inside his jacket. He relaxed when he realized Olivia had clamped onto him.
“I’m freezing,” she said. Jay wrapped his arm around her.
Once on the small boat, the crew members counted their researchers. Satisfied everyone was present, they left the dock.
Jay kept an eye out for anybody following them. Williams watched the bow.
Olivia curled up next to Jay and fell asleep with her head on his shoulder. It was one o’clock in the morning.
Jay’s phone buzzed. He saw Captain Michael’s name on the screen.
“Mendes, our radar is showing two small boats approaching your launch. One from the port side and the other from starboard. They’re moving fast. Assume they are not friendly.”
“Aye aye, sir,” Jay said and hung up. He pulled his gun from his holster. Perry noticed the look on his face and sped up.
Jay heard the small outboard motors before he saw them. They were half a mile from the ship—plenty of time for mayhem.
“Olivia, wake up,” Jay said. When her eyes opened, he yelled, “Everyone down on the deck. Don’t look up!”
A moment later, bullets whizzed inches over Jay’s head from the starboard side. The sound of the automatic fire followed a split second later.
“Hit the gas,” Jay said to Perry. We need to get back to our ship!”
Gunfire erupted from the port side boat. Jay and the researchers were being attacked from two sides. Jay held his fire. He only had a single ammo clip, and the boats were too far away to do any damage.
The boat on the starboard side was fast and closed in on the inflatable. Jay saw a driver and at least two passengers. Each was armed with AK-47s. Jay crawled to the center console of the boat. He opened a side panel and pulled out the two AR-15s, tossing one to Williams. He grabbed the shotgun and gave it to Perry.
“Nobody boards this boat!” Jay said. “That’s an order!”
Jay scrambled back to the starboard side. The outboard was only one hundred yards out, shooting without any effect.
He aimed at the pilot of the boat, released the safety, and squeezed the trigger twice. The driver’s head disappeared from view and veered off to the right.
Jay adjusted his aim on the second gunman and squeezed the trigger twice again. The man fell back into the water. Two more shots and the third gunman was down. Six shots. Three kills from a moving boat. Jay hadn’t lost his shooting skills.
“Did you hit anybody?” Olivia said from down on the deck.
“No,” Jay said, lying. “I scared them away.”
Jay looked towards the ship. Only three hundred yards to go.
A metallic clang caught his attention. A grappling hook pulled tight on the aft of their boat, which lurched to a stop.
Jay flew forward, missing the corner of the center console by inches. He reached down to stop his fall, dropping his rifle in the process. He landed on top of Stephanie, who didn’t say a word.
“Are you alright?” Jay said. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
Stephanie shivered in fear, “I’m scared I’m going to die. Please stop them.”
Several of the other girls screamed. A dark-skinned man with an
AK-47 stood at the bow of the outboard.
“Perry,” Jay yelled. “Shoot him!”
She pointed the shotgun at the man but didn’t pull the trigger. She froze. Jay stared at her, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t risk wrestling the gun away from her.
The man pointed his rifle at Perry.
Olivia sprang up from the deck of the boat. She yanked the shotgun from Perry’s hand, racked the barrel, then pulled the trigger. The blast echoed across the water.
The bright muzzle flash blinded Jay. When his vision returned, he saw the attacker was gone.
“Jay, watch out!” Olivia yelled. He looked up to see a giant hand grab him by the collar and pull him out of the boat. He punched the man in the face with his right hand, then wrapped his left arm around the man’s neck and pulled down. They both fell into the water.
The attacker grabbed Jay around the neck as they sunk into the dark, murky water. Jay punched him in the head. The man punched back. Jay hit him again and again, but the man’s grip didn’t loosen.
Jay struggled to hold his breath, knowing that he would drown if he gave into the natural reflex to breathe.
As an underwater diver, he trained to deal with stressful situations. He learned how to fight underwater and survive. Jay knew his attacker didn’t have the same training.
Jay reached down into his right pant leg and pulled out his desert dagger. He punched the razor-sharp point into the back of the man’s neck and twisted. Jay pulled the knife out and then slammed it into the center of the man’s chest, slicing through the heart. The man’s body went limp, and Jay pushed him away.
With several powerful kicks, Jay was back on the surface. Looking behind him, he saw the pirate’s small boat was empty. He cut the rope to the grappling hook, then replaced the knife in its holster. Jay swam back to the inflatable.
“Olivia, use the shotgun to punch a few holes in the boat’s hull,” Jay said as he crawled back onto the boat.
She obeyed his orders and placed several shots under the waterline until the boat sank.
Williams and Perry helped him aboard. Jay collapsed on the deck, relieved to be alive. Olivia dropped the shotgun and scrambled over.
“Oh my God, Jay,” she said. “Are you alright? I can’t believe you saved our lives.”
“It’s the other way around,” Jay said with a big smile. “How did you learn to shoot like that?”
“Jojo and your Dad taught me how to skeet shoot when we were kids.”
Chapter 5
The Nereus II sailed into Martha’s Vineyard Sound early on a Sunday morning. The March air was crisp but not cold. Seagulls swarmed over the ship’s fan deck, looking for scraps of fish, but Jojo wasn’t giving up a single bite. Now seven months old, the fur seal pup weighed close to one hundred pounds. He splashed in his pool, scaring away the pesky gulls.
Olivia and the other researchers scrambled around, securing the last of their gear. The fan deck was full of equipment harvested on the return journey.
Jay viewed the Falmouth shoreline for the first time in fourteen years. It felt good to be home. He wondered how his family would react to seeing him.
“Hey, Mendes,” Williams said. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”
Jay ignored her, which he knew irritated her more than coming up with a sassy answer. She grunted and returned to her navigation screen.
As the ship approached the Woods Hole dock, Jay picked up his duffle bags.
“Remember, you have ten days’ leave,” Captain Michaels said. “I don’t want to see you back a second sooner. You deserve a break. You did a great job, Mendes. Especially what you did in Brazil, I can’t thank you enough.”
“Thanks, Captain,” Jay said. “I was doing my job.”
Jay scrambled down the ladder to the fan deck. The boisterous fur seal swam over to him. Jay reached into a metal pail and held up a fish. Jojo grabbed it out of his hand and splashed back into the pool, forcing Jay to jump out of the splash zone.
“You have to work on your footwork,” Olivia said from behind as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Jay turned to hug her back but stopped himself short. Mud covered Olivia from head to toe, her dark-blue coveralls soaked in seawater.
“Wow do you look sexy,” Jay said. “Thanks for sharing.”
She laughed. “Welcome to the fashionable world of marine biology.”
“What are you doing now?”
“I’m going home to sleep,” Olivia said. “Three hours of sleep in four days isn’t hacking it. But I’ll stay awake long enough for my father’s party. He’s throwing it for us at the Portuguese Veterans Club. He’s inviting a bunch of old friends to celebrate our return.”
“That’s great,” Jay said. “I didn’t know your father liked me.”
“He loves you, silly. You saved my life.”
“Well, I’ll have to let him know he’s wrong. It’s the other way around.”
* * *
That night was a blur. Jay saw so many friends and neighbors he couldn’t keep their names straight. He gorged himself on stuffed quahogs, lobster, and clam chowder, drinking enough beer to last a lifetime. Olivia and Jay danced late into the night then went back to her apartment.
The next morning, the couple sat on her porch looking out over the small Wood’s Hole inner harbor. Jay drank a strong cup of Colombian coffee and enjoyed a thick slice of Portuguese bread. Olivia cuddled next to him wearing an oversized Red Sox t-shirt. She kept staring at him with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Did you have fun last night?” Jay said with a sly grin on his face.
“You know I did. But I didn’t get any sleep.”
“Can’t you sleep in today?”
“Not quite. I have a ton of work to catch up on.”
“I hope you can save a little time for me. I only have ten days before the next trip.”
“What were you thinking of doing?” Olivia said.
Jay glanced towards the bedroom. He stood up and held out his hands to Olivia, who accepted them. Jay pulled her to her feet and gave her a long, passionate kiss. She moaned and melted into his arms.
“Not sleeping,” Jay said as he picked Olivia up and carried her into the bedroom.
* * *
The next ten months flew by for Jay. The ship’s calendar was full, and the maintenance schedule was demanding. When he was home, he spent all of his time at Olivia’s apartment.
Most of the research trips were short, from a week to ten days. On the last trip, the Captain called Jay into his office. He managed to stay clear of Williams and stay out of trouble, so he wasn’t sure why the Captain summoned him.
“Mendes, you have a visitor,” Captain Michaels said as he stood up from his desk. “I’ll leave you two alone for a few minutes.
Jay turned to see Steve Bonner walk into the office. “Hey, Mendes. Great to see you.”
Jay stared at Bonner, “I have a few questions for you.”
“I’m sure you do.”
Chapter 6
The Bonner Maritime Security Agency shared a small office with a construction company. The agency hired former special operators for security jobs on commercial ships. Steve Bonner, the owner, was a former Marine. He had a good reputation because he paid well and only placed his employees on American vessels. He had a dozen openings on container ships and tankers based in Bahrain and the UAE. Most assignments lasted for twelve months. They paid well and the considerable profits wer tax-free. Best of all, he had no problem filling assignments.
New job requests came in through his website. Today he received a strange request. A U.S. marine research vessel needed a security agent with diving experience. They needed someone fast and offered him twice his standard rate if he sourced a candidate within twenty-four hours. That meant he had to find a Navy SEAL. He made a few calls but came up empty. He would have to go out and do some active recruiting. He knew exactly the place to go.
* * *
Jay felt alive for the first ti
me in six months. The bed in the Ramee International Hotel was soft and covered with fine silk sheets. The feel of Natalie’s soft skin was even smoother. She curled up next to him in the king-sized bed. Her head on his shoulder, and her legs wrapped around his torso. She grazed her fingers across his sweaty chest.
“You lost so much weight,” she said. “Was it bad in prison?”
“It wasn’t a prison. It was a Navy detention center. The inmates were sailors, so they didn’t give me a hard time. They looked up to me. But I spent most of my time in my cell.”
“Then did they starve you?”
“No, but the food sucked, and I didn’t eat a whole lot. I tried to stay fit doing sit-ups and push-ups, but over time, I lost my enthusiasm.”
“I missed you a lot,” Natalie said as she kissed him on the cheek and ran her hand down his chest and between his legs.
“I can tell. You won’t stop.”
An hour later, Jay admired Natalie’s slim, naked body as she crossed the room towards the shower. His cell phone buzzed, and he looked at the screen. “Pete says he’ll meet us at Rocky’s at 17:00,” Jay said. “That gives us an hour. He booked us on a commercial flight to Norfolk for 06:00 tomorrow morning.”
“He’s a great guy,” Natalie said as she stepped into the shower. “He paid for this room out of his own money.”
Jay’s phone rang. He answered. “Mendes. What? Are you guys in the bar already? Yes, we’ll come down. Order us some food. We’re starving.”
* * *
The bar at Rocky’s Cafe was empty except for two linebacker-sized men sitting at a high-top table. They each coveted a pitcher of beer. Gunny Mack’s half-full pitcher contained a light pilsner while McCoy savored a dark Guinness stout. A third pitcher of Sam Adams sat on the table with two glasses. Baskets of Buffalo wings and french fries filled the middle of the table.
“Now, this is what I call a healthy meal,” Jay said as he entered the bar. He slapped Gunny on the back and sat down. Natalie sat down next to him. Jay poured each of them a beer, and he raised his glass.
“Here’s to the best friends a guy could have. I wouldn’t be here now if it weren’t for your testimonies and support.”