I took her hand and led her to a table. Sitting down next to her I said, “Interested? Yeah, a lot, I thought. I’ll admit, I wanted to go slow. You’d become a good friend and those are hard to find. I’ve never had much luck with relationships though. You know that. I just didn’t want to risk losing a friend.”
“Jesse, you spent a lot of time over seas, I know that. Neither of your exes could handle that. They were weak women, if you ask me. Many women can’t handle that. Too bad for them, though. Besides, your globe trotting warrior days are over now. Let’s just sort of pick up where we left off last year, okay? No rush, no lifetime commitments, just one day at a time.”
“I like the sound of that. Once this storm passes, I have a surprise for you. Do you remember that island I bought up in the Content Keys? Well, I cleared part of it, cut a channel and built a little stilt house.”
“Really? You don’t sleep on the Revenge anymore? The old man from the sea has a real house?” She laughed at her own joke. “I can’t wait to see it. Do the snook still run through the pass up there? Does it have a kitchen?”
Typical Alex, I thought. Always thinking of her next big catch. I’d tried with both my ex-wives to get them to go fishing. But they were both too citified. Alex isn’t like that at all. This woman was born to fish. “Yeah, I got an eight pounder just last week. And yes, I have a galley and even a head. Nothing fancy, just a propane ships stove and refrigerator, a few cabinets and a small table. The lights are all twelve volt and there’s a solar panel and small wind turbine to keep the batteries charged. I’m pretty sure you’ll approve.” I couldn’t wait to show it to her. She’d mentioned once that her ideal home would be on or near the water, away from the rat race in the city. Every day, as I was building it, I was thinking of her. And what she’d like in a house. I never guessed she’d be back in my life, though.
Rusty, Art and Tony came back in. Deuce was talking to Julie at the bar, but came over to the table when Rusty went behind the bar. “You got a minute, Jesse?” he asked.
“I’ll go out and see if I can help Rufus,” Alex said. “I just love that little old Jamaican mon. His voice reminds me of singing.” She smiled at Deuce as she headed to the back door. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, as her hips swayed in those tight jeans.
Deuce sat down and handed me a beer. “To sea farers and the women who wait for them,” he said as he touched the neck of his beer to mine.
“I’ll certainly drink to that. What’s up, Deuce?”
“Suddenly, I have a number of things to talk with you about. Damn, where do I start?”
I looked over to the bar, where Julie was watching us. “Maybe you could start with that little bar wench, over there?” I kidded.
“Yeah, well, there is that. First, about my dad. You brought it up last night. Now, I’ve only known you a little over twenty-four hours, but I’m good at sizing men up. You said that dad was part fish. Truth is, I have my doubts about that coroners report and I think you do, too.”
I thought it over for a minute. “We’re all gonna leave this life one day,” I said. “I just can’t imagine any circumstance where a man like Russ Livingston would go out that way.”
“Coroner’s report said he’d gotten his tank fouled in his anchor line. Said he must not have been able to pull the anchor free and ran out of air. Dad never dived without at least one knife. He’d have cut that anchor line.”
“What did the cops say?”
“Big city. Too many murder investigations to handle. They seemed to accept the Coroner’s report, rather than have another investigation on their hands.”
“Big city? Fort Pierce is a small town.”
“It happened in West Palm. About a mile off the coast. I’d talked to him a few days before and he said he had some new information on a Civil War wreck he’d been searching for. I just don’t buy that report. He also said he had a new diver working with him, part time. A muscle head by the name of Lester. Look, dad changed some since he left the Corps. He’s found a few things, sometimes in areas he wasn’t supposed to be looking. Sometimes he turned a blind eye. He told me about what you and he found, back when I was still a kid, living with mom.” Russ and I had promised not to let anyone know about that, I thought. Was Deuce trying to feel me out? Did Russ really tell him? I knew he’d been skirting some laws.
“A hundred thousand in silver,” Deuce added, confirming that Russ had told him. “He’d been drinking when he told me; I doubt that he remembered it the next day. Anyway, his and your secret is safe with me. We have to get back to the base, day after tomorrow. What I wanted to ask you was this. I won’t have time now because of this storm, but if we can get out to that reef tomorrow, to fulfill his wishes, I’d appreciate it. Then, I’d like to impose on you to go up to Fort Pierce and box up his stuff and send it to my mom, for me. His boat’s in evidence at the Sheriff’s Office, along with his dive gear and everything else that was on the boat. Think you can bring it all down here and sell it? Whatever you get, you can donate to whatever charity you like. We have a mission coming up in about a month and I’ll be way too busy training.”
I thought about it. “Tell ya what,” I said, “we’ll all go out to Conrad tomorrow afternoon and give Russ a Viking send off. Then Wednesday, if I can borrow Alex’s Jeep, I’ll drive up and take care of his things. Knowing Russ, it won’t take but a few hours. Now, what about that bar wench?”
Deuce colored a little and smiled. “That obvious, huh?”
“Well, considering that neither Rusty nor I have seen her take an interest in anyone, yeah, it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb. She’s a great kid and Rusty likes you. He might not always show it when he likes someone. I’d advise you though, read up on the ‘Rules for Dating a Marine’s Daughter’.”
Deuce laughed so hard, I thought he was gonna spew beer out of his nose. “You know I have a sister, right?” he asked when he got it under control. “Dad had those rules framed and hanging by the kitchen door when she started dating. I really felt bad for those guys. There’s one other thing, though, that I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Fire away, but make it quick. I smell blackened grouper coming through that back door,” I said.
“I’ve actually left the Navy,” he said simply. Just like that?
“Really?” I asked. “Why? Hell, you gotta be more than half way to retirement.”
“I resigned four months ago. I was offered a position where I can make a bigger difference. Our hands were getting tied tighter and tighter with new ROE’s,” he said. ROE means Rules of Engagement. In the first Gulf War, we were shackled with some very stringent ROE’s, so I knew exactly what he meant. “I can’t really say anything more,” he continued. “But, I do know this. The people I’m working for now are looking for someone like you, too. I talked to my new boss, and he asked me to give you this.” He handed me a business card, with a name and phone number on it, nothing more. I looked at it for a minute. The printing was standard military style block lettering, not embossed. But the card itself was heavy stock, with no rough edges.
“Deuce,” I said, “I’ve been retired for over five years now. I like what I do and where I do it. Alex has just came back into my life after being gone for over a year and I’m going to take her up to my island, where I built a house over this past year. I’m not really interested in a nine to five job.”
“Just call the guy,” he said. “Doesn’t have to be right away. Maybe I can tell you more tomorrow.”
Just then, Alex and Rufus opened the back door and a gust of wind blew in, carrying with it the smell of some of Rufus’ finest concoctions. “No promises, man,” I said. “Let’s eat.”
The wind was getting stronger as we chowed down on some fine grouper, shrimp and crab claws. Rufus had thrown over a dozen ears of corn in a steamer, too. It was nearly midnight and we were having a good time, but still checking the updates on the storm every fifteen or twenty minutes. At 0130, Rusty finally called it a night by saying, “
I gotta switch the power over to the house soon, or I’ll lose everything in the fridge there. That’s our breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. I think it’s time we all turned in.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Alex said, smiling at me. “I’m getting pretty tired anyway. It’s been a long day. What’s the latest on the storm?”
Julie had changed the TV from the Weather Channel to a PBS channel that only showed the most recent update, scrolling across the screen. “Says its seventy miles west northwest of Key West and still heading northwest. It probably won’t get any closer than eighty or a hundred miles of us to the north, maybe just before dawn.” Then she faked a yawn and said, “Deuce, walk a girl home?”
Deuce got quickly to his feet and together they headed for the door. Again, I looked at Rusty, behind the bar. “They’re adults,” he said. “And Deuce seems like a nice enough guy.”
“Alright everyone,” I said, “party’s over.” Lefty and Diego had left quite a bit earlier, as soon as the food was gone. Rufus had gone to his little cabin, shortly after that.
“Lock up, will ya, Jesse?” Rusty asked. “I’m gonna turn in and clean up in the morning.”
Jimmy headed for the door and said, “Come on dudes, I’ll show you where you’re gonna bunk. I think there’s still a few beers in the fish cooler.” Together the three of them headed out the door into the howling wind.
“Here’s your chance, ‘friend’,” Alex said. “You can run out that door and sleep under the bridge.”
I grinned and took her in my arms. “No,” I said, “I’ve been thinking about this for two years. Damn shame it’s not a little better night. Gentle breeze, bottle of wine, stars all across the sky, you and me back at my little house….”
“I never pictured you as the romantic type,” she said. “Let’s go, Captain, before you change your mind,” she added, reaching up to kiss me again.
Just then, the lights went out and it was pitch dark inside the bar. “Guess Rusty’s trying to hurry us along,” I said holding her and enjoying the scent of her hair. Lightning flashed far to the south, briefly illuminating the inside of the bar, just enough to get my bearings. I took her hand and we made it to the door, without tripping over anything.
“Wait,” Alex said. “My overnight bag is behind the bar, with my purse.”
“I’ll get it,” I said and went behind the bar. Getting to the bar in total darkness was easy since I’d done it so many times. I knew where Julie kept her purse stashed and that’s where I found Alex’s small bag and purse. I walked back to the door again and opened it. The wind was howling, but for the moment, the rain had stopped. I locked the door and we walked to the Revenge, hand in hand, with the wind whipping at us. The overhead light from the cockpit illuminated the gangplank and I could hear the burbling sound of the generator and the hum of the air conditioning unit. I crossed over the gangplank, with Alex behind me. I jumped down to the deck, turned and lifted her down lightly beside me. Opening the hatch to the salon, I saw that Jimmy, Art and Tony were sitting around the settee, checking out the storm on the laptop. Jimmy was a computer guru and installed a satellite wireless system, so when I was far offshore, or when local cell phone towers were out like now, I’d still have internet.
Looking up, Art said, “It’s moving faster now, still in the same direction, but at thirty miles per hour. Your First Mate here thinks it’ll make landfall south of Fort Myers about 0500.”
“Jimmy’s probably right,” I said. “He’s lived here all his life. Any beer left?”
“I’m going forward,” Alex said. “Don’t be long, ‘friend’.”
She disappeared down the steps to the forward berth, as I grinned and said, “Be right there.”
Art opened the cooler and handed me a cold Hatuey and two bottles of water. “What’s with this ‘friend’ thing?” he asked.
“Long story, Art. About two years,” I replied. I was wondering about it myself. “If Jimmy’s right, it should be fairly calm by morning. There’s gonna be a lot of work to do around here when we get up. Good night guys.”
I headed down the steps and opened the hatch to the forward berth. Alex’s purse and bag were sitting on top of the combination washer and dryer on the port side and the door to the private head was closed. I moved them to the long shelf on the starboard side and kicked off my Topsiders. I put the beer and water bottles in a small cooler built into the port side shelf. Pulling off my tee shirt and shorts, I tossed them both in the washer, then pulled down the covers and sheets on the large bed and climbed in wearing only my skivvies. I turned the lights down to very low and waited, listening to the wind howl outside.
The door to the head opened, and Alex stepped out, wearing a light blue, very sheer nightgown. The light from inside the head silhouetted her firm body through the flimsy material. She turned off the light and climbed into the large bed beside me. The warmth of her body next to mine was like a furnace. “I’m so glad to be home,” she said and curled up into my embracing arms. Within minutes, I was glad there was a hurricane blowing outside, with the howling wind, driving rain and rocking waves. Or was there?
11
Monday morning, October 24, 2005
Sunlight was streaming in through the hatch in the overhead, when I woke up. My skivvies were laying on the shelf to my right and a satin blue nightgown was lying on the floor. Alex was curled up next to me, with her head on my shoulder. I wanted nothing more than to just lie there like that for a month. Well, maybe wake her up for round three, I thought. She stirred and opened her eyes. “Are we still alive?” she asked.
I laughed softly and kissed her cheek. “Yeah, the storm’s passed. I’m guessing it’s after 0900.”
“Do you always do that?” she asked laughing.
“Do what?”
“You’re not in the Marines anymore. It’s after nine o’clock, or even nineish.” She jabbed me in the ribs and said, “We better get out there. There’s probably a huge mess.”
She got up from the bed and went to her bag lying on the shelf. Damn Jesse, I thought while admiring her body, it sure took you long enough. When she turned around, pulling a denim work shirt on, she caught me looking at her backside, smiling. “Don’t even think about it, Captain Horny,” she laughed. “I’m already going to be walking bow legged for a week.”
“You know, I’ve really missed your laugh,” I said, climbing off the bunk. I reached below the foot of the bunk and pulled the release that allows the spring-loaded bed to lift up. I grabbed a clean pair of skivvies, a tee shirt and a pair of denim shorts from the locker and started to close it back.
“What’s in that huge box under there?” she asked.
“Just some tools and things,” I lied. Truth was, you can take the man out of the Marines, but you can’t take the Marines out of the man. Inside that box was a small arsenal.
She was pulling on a pair of jeans, wiggling them up over her hips, when I grabbed her from behind and held her tight. “Where are you staying?” I asked.
“I hadn’t even thought about it,” she said. “I only got here yesterday morning and spent the day with Julie catching up on the coconut telegraph, until she left to get you. Is there some place you recommend?”
“I know of a little house, not to far away. It’s sort of remote but the fishing is supposed to be pretty good.”
“Of course I’ll have to inspect it first,” she said, turning inside my embrace. She reached up and kissed me, then said, “Let’s get some work done, first.” She was headed out the door, while I was still struggling to get dressed.
Stepping down from the salon to the cockpit, I looked around the anchorage. The lines were all secure and the water was calm. There was a lot of flotsam in the water near the barge and the palm trees on the west side of the basin were frayed, as were those on the east side. A large lignum vitae tree had uprooted and fallen, narrowly missing the bar. Alex was just walking into the bar and I saw that Tony and Art had a chain saw and were just about to star
t cutting the tree up, to remove it.
“Tony,” I yelled, as I crossed the gangplank onto the barge, “Hold up a second.” I walked over to where they were. “That’s a lignum vitae tree, it’s super hard wood. There’s no way that little chainsaw will last through two cuts. Notice that none of the branches are broken?”
Art replied, “Yeah, we noticed that. Thought maybe it fell over softly in the wind.”
“No, this wood is so hard, no wind on earth could ever break the larger branches. A ten foot long two-by-four made of this stuff would support all three of us. Rufus has the right kind of saw for this project. Have you seen him?”
“He’s out back, cooking,” Tony replied. I’d noticed something about these two Sailors. Ask one of them a question and the other would answer.
“That guy sure can cook,” Art added.
“Yeah,” I said, “he was the head chef at a five star resort in Jamaica, up until about thirty years ago. He retired and came here in the seventies. If you go out to the shed next to his cabin, you’ll find the big brother to this little thing. If you would, make the cuts at the ends of any straight branches and leave the trunk whole. Rusty can have it hauled to a mill up in Homestead. It’s worth a lot of money to some people, namely me.”
“Sure thing, Jesse,” Tony said. “Doesn’t seem to be any other damage here, except for some scattered debris. Jimmy got up at 0530 and checked the storm. Never got any closer than eighty miles, it looks like, but your wind gauge was showing ninety mph gusts. He said he had to go check on his mom and would be back later.”
“We dodged the worst of it. Your first hurricane?” I asked.
“No, we’ve been through a couple,” Tony replied without further explanation. Looking around the property, he said, “The Commander talked to you about our change of duty?”
“All three of you?” I asked and both men nodded. “Well, from what he said, it sounds like it’ll be a benefit to the country as a whole, but I can’t help thinking it’ll be a great loss to the Navy.”
Fallen Palm (Jesse McDermitt Series) Page 7