It was another twenty minutes before the boat sailed close enough for him to spot Zip standing at the wheelhouse with the young Detective Inspector he’d met a few days earlier.
The vessel moored and the detective alighted quickly with rope in hand, securing it to a palisade. Another man, his body silhouetted against the early morning light, followed him somewhat more gingerly onto the dock. John swallowed thickly, his heart jolting at the sight of the limp form cradled in the man’s arms.
He sensed the other man’s air of caution. The beach was practically empty save two fishermen preparing to go out on the morning tide. But there was more than a sense of urgency in this dramatic dawn arrival.
“What happened to her?” he said. “What happened to my daughter?”
“Jessica was shot.”
“Shouldn’t she be in a hospital?”
“I signed her out of the Princess Margaret Hospital to bring her here.”
“And who are you?”
“Jason McCormack. Jessica’s husband.”
John tensed his shoulders. It’d been a while since he’d heard that name. “McCormack? Your father’s Alexander McCormack?”
“Yes.”
John looked at the young man, taking in the arrogant tilt of his head, the defiance in his eyes, the stubborn curve of his mouth. And perhaps there was a tinge of anger to match his own displeasure. But he didn’t have the right to play the indignant father. He’d given up his rights the day he’d left Jess at High Rock and didn’t look back. He’d been selfish, choosing a life that hadn’t included his daughter.
He lowered his gaze to Jess, her head resting on Jason’s shoulder. Her arms hanging limply at her side. There would be time for answers later.
“I know of the history between our families, Mr. Thomas,” Jason said. “But I won’t allow it to destroy what Jessica and I have. Not from my father and not from you.”
He could attribute the bravado of Jason’s words to the brashness of youth, but John knew he wouldn’t be doing the other man justice. He nodded curtly.
“Come,” he said. “Let’s get her inside.”
John encompassed Drew in a cursory glance. “My car is parked close by.”
Zip elected to remain on his boat, saying Jason and Drew would find him there when they were ready to return.
They followed John in the direction of the few scattered buildings behind the tree-lined beach and approached John’s old Cadillac.
John flashed Jason another distrustful glance as the Inspector hurried ahead and opened the back door of the car. He watched Jason maneuver himself and his wife into the backseat, her soft moan stabbing at his heart. He climbed behind the wheel and waited for the policeman to slide in the passenger side. Then he put the car in gear and headed inland.
No one had eyes for the raw natural beauty passing them by. Dirt roads soon replaced tarmac and after a short while John veered the car onto an overgrown trail of flourishing banana, mango and palm trees. He maneuvered the antiquated car with effortless ease and great care. And tried to avoid the huge potholes as they meandered deeper and further off the beaten track. Jess moaned again and he cursed the dense, untamed habitat. Finally, he reached a clearing and the sanctuary that was his home.
He lived on an isolated part of the island without electricity or water, except for the well he’d dug years earlier. But the house was comfortable and clean. And there was Milly, who now stood on the veranda waiting for his return.
Milly came down the steps of the porch to meet them, taking charge and overseeing Jess’ slow, careful extraction from the car to the small room she’d prepared at the front of the house.
John watched Jason from the cramped doorway. He’d stayed by his daughter’s bedside. John didn’t need Milly to make him see what was right in front of his nose. McCormack or not, Jason loved his daughter. He cleared his throat in an effort to stem the emotions bubbling through his heart.
“You took a risk taking her out of the hospital,” John admonished gently. “But, I want to thank you for bringing her here. I never thought I would ever see her again.”
Jason turned his head to look up at him. He kept Jess’ fingers clasped between his own.
“I wish it was under different circumstances, Mr. Thomas. This can’t be easy for you, having me here.”
John raised a placating hand. “The sins of the father should never be visited on the son. I’m sorry about earlier.”
“I understand.”
Jason turned his gaze back to Jess. “You have no reason to trust me, I know that, but I will undo all that my father has done.”
“I take it you’re talking about the old plantation at High Rock.”
Jason nodded. “Jessica was hurt because I couldn’t protect her.”
“Protection. That’s a sight more than she ever got from me,” John replied softly. “If Jessica got hurt because of this mess, then I’m to blame. I should’ve confronted Carolyn and your father a long time ago. But I chose to be indifferent and act as if the whole business was above me. I should’ve at least tried. I should’ve raised hell, but I was never one for that. Jess could never have counted on me because I was never there for her or her mother.”
“But she can count on you now, Mr. Thomas, and it’s now that matters.”
John released a slow, pensive breath and entered the room. He placed a reassuring hand on Jason’s shoulder.
“I know a son wouldn’t willingly go against his own father, so I know your choice can’t be an easy one. It must hurt and I praise your courage. You must love my daughter—you must love Jessica very much.”
“I do.”
“What should I tell her when she wakes up?”
“Tell her—just tell her I’ll be back for her.”
“And when will that be?”
“To be honest, I don’t know, but keep Jessica here. I need to know she’s safe while I’m gone.”
“You do what you have to do,” John answered quietly.
* * * *
It was the middle of the afternoon when Jess finally stirred and fluttered her eyes open. The sun was high in the sky, but the curtain drawn across the window kept out the harsh glare.
She felt…she didn’t know what she felt. Bewildered? Empty? Afraid? Perhaps she was all three. Perhaps none. She turned her head to look about. She’d heard voices, hadn’t she? She tried to sit up and cried out at the sudden pain shooting across her breast and into her left side. She relaxed back against the pillows that elevated her upper body, closed her eyes and waited for the pain to subside. A hand touched her cheek.
“You have to be still, Jessica, or you’ll open your wound,” a voice said beside her.
Wound?
She remembered. She’d been shot. Eva had shot her and…Jason? Her eyes flew open, meeting the gaze of a thin, brown faced woman staring down at her.
“Jason?” she whispered. “My husband—” Tears pricked the corner of her eyes.
“Jason is fine,” the woman said. She squeezed her hand. “He brought you here early this morning.”
“Can I see him? I need to see him.”
“I’m sorry, Jessica. He and the Inspector are gone.”
“He left me?”
The woman smiled, her coffee-brown eyes crinkling at the corners. “Yes, in good, safe hands.”
“Who are you? Where am I?”
“My name is Milly. You’re on Cat Island.”
“Cat Island?”
“He wants you to be safe.”
“How long have I been here?”
“A few hours.”
Milly placed a cup to her lips. “Drink this,” she said. “It’ll help you get better and make you stronger.”
Jess grimaced as the bitter liquid trickled down her throat.
“You must drink all of it,” the woman insisted.
Jess weakly protested, but the familiar smell and taste of the boiled leaves gently suffused her senses, carrying her back in time to a place long locke
d away in the recesses of her mind, remembering a little girl whose grandmother reassured her. Who held her small hands in her own and forced her to drink the potent brew.
* * * *
“Are you sure the Lady Helen is here?” Jason asked.
“I wouldn’t know her name,” Zip said, “but there’s something down there that’s drawing the fish. I’ve done my best fishing in these waters for over forty years—I had permission from Elizabeth Roberts,” he stated firmly. “Besides, look.”
He unfastened a small pouch tied to his belt and emptied its contents onto the palm of his hand. “Sometimes I get lucky and fish other things from the sea.”
The three men looked from the handful of gold coins gleaming in the morning light to each other and back to the coins. To Jason and Drew the significance was more than clear.
“You’re sure you’re not mistaken,” Jason pressed. He suppressed his own feeling of euphoria. Imagine if they did find the Lady Helen. “The coins were definitely found here, in these waters?”
“I’m old, not senile, son,” Zip replied, mildly offended. “Of course, I’m sure. But if you’re looking for the mother lode you won’t find it.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because back in nineteen ninety there was a huge salvage operation to get at it.”
Zip returned the gold coins to the pouch and frowned in concentration. “I remember for about two months they worked non-stop in pairs. No one was allowed within five miles of that operation, but I found a way to watch them. Elizabeth Roberts had recently died and the house was empty,” he added by means of an explanation. “They kept bringing up basket upon basket of what looked liked debris from the ocean floor. But from the grin on their faces I could tell it wasn’t. They’d definitely hit the jackpot.”
“We have to get down there and make sure, I suppose,” Drew murmured. He gazed into the clear ocean depths, illuminated in the bright morning sun. “How deep is it, do you think?”
Zip shrugged. “Some places about a hundred feet. In others it could be as deep as five hundred feet.”
“But we could pin-point her position, right?” Drew stated.
They had an area of sea, some five nautical miles off the eastern shore of Andros Island in which to concentrate their search, which was good since time wasn’t on their side.
“If we’re lucky, it shouldn’t take more than a few days to locate her,” Jason said.
“How?” Drew asked.
“I need to make one phone call,” Jason said. He didn’t miss the other man’s inability to disguise his fear of the sea.
Zip dropped his gillnet in the water. It broke the surface and disappeared, leaving a line of yellow markers bobbing on the shimmering surface. The only reminder of its presence.
They returned to the mainland where Zip refused Jason’s offer of payment.
“What do I want with so much money? I’ve a roof over my head when it rains,” he said, motioning to the small wheelhouse of his boat and then arching an arm against the sky. “And a roof over my head when it doesn’t.”
Sometimes life could be just that simple.
Back in his room at the Hotel Baja Mar, Jason held the phone tightly to his ear. “I need you to take the next available flight, Nick,” he said, smiling to himself.
He could hear Nick’s fingers flying across his computer keyboard undoubtedly already searching the internet for the next available flight to the Bahamas.
“Sure,” Nick replied. “You know I don’t have a life. And because of that sad state of affairs I’ll always be at your beck and call.” His voice sounded hopeful. “Of course if you’re going to be throwing one of your wild beach parties on Purple Cay, don’t forget to invite plenty of gorgeous ladies for those of us who haven’t landed themselves a knock out wife like yours. How’s Jess by the way?”
Jason stared at the delicate iron and gold band he held between his fingers and studied the engraving. J 03 05 10 J. He’d placed this ring on Jess’ finger on their wedding day. One day he’d put it back where it belonged.
“Jason?”
“Yeah, Nick. I’m here.” He pushed the ring on to his pinkie. “We found the Lady Helen.”
“Are you sure?”
The excitement in Nick’s voice made Jason smile again. Investigating old wrecks, especially those of a somewhat obscure nature, was more than a hobby for Nick. It was an obsession.
“I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this.”
“Are you sure?” Nick repeated.
Jason struggled to contain his amusement.
“You know,” Nick continued. “There’s very little written about the Lady Helen and few believe she even existed.”
“But you do.”
“Yes, most certainly. Any report or information about her is scarce to say the least and tend to play down the value of her cargo or confuse her existence with that of another ship. I knew she had to be out there somewhere, but…what do you mean you’ve found the Lady Helen? Three weeks ago you came to me with a coin that sort of convinced me you already knew of her whereabouts.”
“I’m sorry I kept you in the dark about this, Nick, but there were things I needed to sort out first and a lot has happened since then.”
“How deep is she?”
“I don’t know,” Jason replied. “Could be a hundred, could be five hundred feet. We won’t know for certain until you get here.”
“Where is she?”
“Lying in water approximately six nautical miles off the eastern coast of Andros Island.”
“Right,” Nick said decisively. “I’ll make some calls on this end. Get a few things organized. I know for a fact The Atlantis is moored in Florida. It might take a day or two to get her to Nassau. Money no object?”
“None whatsoever. Time isn’t on our side, Nick.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“To be honest. No, I’m not.”
“I’ve just been booked on a flight leaving London in nine hours. I’ll see you in about eighteen. Nine o’clock your time. Then we’ll talk.”
“Call me from the airport when you get in.”
Jason hung up the phone and then joined Drew down in the hotel bar.
“Well?”
He expelled an exhausted breath. “Nick will be here tomorrow morning, around nine, but we won’t be able to dive for a day or two after that. I just hope we can stay one step ahead of my father.”
“Want a drink?”
“Yeah, why not,” Jason conceded. He dragged a hand down his face. “It’s been a loaded few hours. I wish things hadn’t gotten this far.”
“She was hurt because of your father, not you. He’s the one who wants her dead.”
“You believe me, then.”
Drew shrugged. “I believe that if you were a part of this—whatever this is—you wouldn’t have shown me that coin. And the fact some dead Romanian General had exactly the same coin on his person does tend to hint at a certain…something. No,” Drew reaffirmed. “You wouldn’t have shown me that coin.” He pursed his lips and frowned.
“What is it?”
“I was thinking if I wanted to get rid of a whole lot of eighteenth century Spanish gold coins without drawing attention to it, where would I go?”
“Private collectors, maybe, or the black market?” Jason said.
“And where would I deposit the money I earned?” Drew mused.
“Somewhere that wouldn’t leave a money trail, preferably an offshore tax haven like—”
“The Bahamas,” Drew chipped in. “Has your father got any offshore accounts here?”
“He doesn’t, but Eva does,” Jason said.
“Who’s Eva?” Drew queried.
“She was my ex-wife. And I don’t think you missed the mark,” Jason returned quietly.
“Meaning?” Drew prompted.
“Eva and I were married a year before she opened an offshore bank account here. In our line of business it was a logical decision.�
��
“Our line of business?”
Jason turned to look at Drew. His gaze was steady. “Eva was an arms dealer…as was I.”
“I take it Jess doesn’t know about this.”
“Of course not. And I’d like it to stay that way,” Jason warned.
Drew whistled through his teeth. “You’re an arms dealer too—”
“Was,” Jason corrected. “Our business was legitimate.”
“Yeah. Then why don’t we have any knowledge of your business? Who were your clients? Who were buying your guns?”
“Arrest me first, Mahon. Prove to me I’ve broken the law in someway and charge me. Then I’ll tell you who my clients were.”
“You’ve dragged Jess into a world she knows nothing about.”
“It’s a world I’ve left behind.”
“Maybe, but it sure is catching up with you fast, isn’t it?”
The silence stretched for an age. Jason conceded Drew was right. His past, to a certain degree, had caught up with him and it was a past too, which seemed to connect him at every possible turn to Jessica.
“It was Eva who shot Jessica,” he admitted slowly.
“Your ex-wife tried to kill Jess.” Drew was incredulous. “Why didn’t you tell Inspector Forbes this?”
“And have him assume the worst of me? I’m a McCormack, right?”
Drew shrugged his shoulders. “Not all policemen are biased in their judgments.”
“Is that an apology, Detective Inspector?” Jason took a drink from the glass set before him. “There’s nothing I can tell Inspector Forbes without keeping suspicion from falling on me. I need to get to the truth first.”
“Who else knew about your wife’s—ex-wife’s—account here? Your father?”
“Yes, he would’ve known.” Jason bristled. His father and Eva had been lovers, after all, although Detective Inspector Mahon didn’t need to know anything about that.
“When did she open her account?”
“January or February of ninety-one.”
Drew digested the information for a moment. “And according to Zip your father found the Lady Helen back in nineteen ninety. But how did treasure from here find its way to the pocket of a man killed in a road traffic accident in London?”
Blood of His Fathers (Sinners and Saints) Page 19