“You let him scam you?”
I get a sly smile. “Lydia says, when you’re doing surveillance a confident jerk is an easier mark. She’s right too, since now the guy just ignores me. I can sit fishing right by his houseboat and he doesn’t even care.”
“Did you tell Lydia?”
“Yep. She said I did real good.” The kid is beaming. “She made pancakes especially for me the next morning. Father Murray said since I’m home-schooled and all, it was all right for me to stay over there at the hotel for a while. He said something about I was learning some valuable life lessons.”
I think to throw out an ‘I told you so’ but just nod and motion for him to go on instead.
“Anyway, the sisters won’t let me stay out here after nine at night, but in just three days I already know who the potheads and juicers are. There’s a big party almost every night over at S Dock, and the fat guy at S-16 snores so bad it shakes the dock boards.” Tim checks his notebook. “Night before last, I seen the guy from T-3 sneaking around acting suspicious just after dark. He slipped onto the sailboat at T-22 when he thought no one was watching.”
“Oh? What did he do? Was he breaking into a boat? Sabotage? Stealing?”
“Nah. From the sounds I heard a little while later I’d say the night bartender at Kevin’s is liable to have a bad surprise if he ever comes home early to surprise his wife.”
“What about the big guy who did the short-change thing?”
“He’s pretty quiet when he’s around. Seen him bring women home a couple of times. Heard some bad arguing once. I think he likes to slap women around. Like I said before, he’s a real jerk.”
Tim shrugs and the notebook closes.
“It sounds like you’re doing a good job, Tim.”
Another shrug. “Yeah, I know. It’s kinda fun, and I’m learning a lot, but I’m already getting tired of peanuts.”
“Eating all your profits?”
“Actually, I’m making out pretty good.” I get a sideways look. “Father Murray said you might have a surprise for him?”
“I’m working on it. And you’re helping with what you’re doing here.”
The boy likes this.
“Well, just let me know if you need me to do anything, cuz, you know, Father Murray has helped me out, a lot.”
“Just be careful and keep up the good work.”
I get a snappy salute and the kid is on his feet and gone.
♦
I watch a couple more charter boats pull up to the dock, and then one of those boats with the little roof over the motor is coming, and it’s Taco Bob. He’s been out fishing.
I get a quick report on the morning’s fishing while I help my friend tie up the small boat, then we go onboard the Sandy Bottomed Girl.
“Have a seat, Dali. Something to drink?”
“I’m fine, thanks.” My host leaves me in the comfortable living room of the old houseboat and returns drinking from a bottle of water. He motions to a yellow couch and has a seat himself in an old wooden deck chair. Across the room are several fishing poles hanging up flat against the ceiling.
“Taco Bob, I see you have a new watchdog for the marina.”
I get a big smile. “He’s working out fine so far. A good kid, too. Consuelo and her sisters have really taken to him.”
“This is good news. I spoke with him briefly and he seems to be learning a lot from them. He didn’t have any big happenings to report, so I assume there’s been no further sabotage around here. Is there any news with the bank?”
“Jim and his wife haven’t heard anything from the bank’s lawyers in the last few days, but the plumbers finally got the sewer lines cleared. They confirmed what we’d suspected all along: someone flushed potatoes down the toilets to stop up the whole system.”
“I asked young Tim about the big man Steve but he didn’t have much. Any other ideas as to who might have done all these things to the marina?”
“No, Big Steve is still on top of the list. I keep hoping Tim will come up with something or we get a break some other way, but meanwhile Consuelo and Slip are hot to make a move on Steve.”
“Oh?”
My friend looks uncertain. “I’m not sure how far you want to get into this, Dali.”
“I told you of my quest. I am very serious about helping Father Murray, and willing to do whatever I can to get this bank problem taken care of for the marina people.”
“Well, you had some good intel on Steve, and coming up with Tim has sure helped us keep an eye on things around here, but I don’t know what else you can do to help.” He pauses for a moment and seems to come to a decision. “We’ve learned Steve plays poker in town every Tuesday night, and it’s looking like we may try to slip aboard his boat while he’s gone. If he’s our saboteur, a quick look around and a peek at his computer might turn up something. We’ve got a plan pretty much worked up at this point. We just need to take care of one last little problem and we’ll be ready to go. Consuelo is working on that now and I should be hearing from her soon.”
“What is the problem, if I may ask?”
“Well, Consuelo and Slip are planning on keeping an eye on Steve while he’s at his card game so we don’t have any surprises, and Josephine is going to take a look at his computer while I check around in the boat. But we need to find someone we can trust on all this who can take care of the alarm system on Steve’s boat.”
I can’t help but smile.
“I think I might have a surprise for you, my friend. When did you say this is going to happen?”
“Today is Tuesday – if we’re going in, it’s got to be tonight.”
∨ Key Dali ∧
22
Mallory
Taco Bob seems somewhat skeptical of my abilities with alarm systems until I tell him about my two years experience in the field while working for my since disappeared former foster father. I also tell him of the fun I had with a condo system recently.
“I didn’t know you could set those things to go off like that.”
“Sure. Just set the automatic test mode for, say 3 am, and it’s plenty of fun for everyone.”
Taco Bob offers to fill me in on the details of the plan for the evening, but first he makes a call while I take another stroll around the marina.
For two dollars I get another bag of peanuts and learn from the diminutive nut seller that Steve uses two keys to unlock his boat. So it’s not a wireless system. Tim says no one is on the big man’s boat, so I ease by, and while eating nuts and admiring boats I can just see it is indeed a keyed alarm system. There’s even a warning sticker on a window conveniently telling me the familiar brand of system – likely an older one at that. No sweat.
I admire a few more boats and before long I’m again at the houseboat, talking with Taco Bob.
“No problem. Most of those old alarms are contact systems on the doors and windows. I’ll need to stop by the hardware store, but it shouldn’t be any trouble to disarm the system.”
Taco Bob shows me his impressive toolbox and some buckets of odds and ends that came with the boat when he bought it. After a few minutes of digging I no longer need to make a trip to the hardware. I find an old dental pick going to rust that I bend and sharpen into a nifty lock-pick, and even some old keys and a Sawzall blade which can all be made into different size bump keys in a few minutes with a file and some black tape.
Slip stops by a little while later, then Consuelo joins us along with her younger sister Josephine. I remember Josephine from when I’d visited the hotel the last time I was in Key West. Their mother had told me that when they were younger, Halloween was the girls’ favorite holiday, and they’d spend weeks making their own costumes. Josephine would usually dress up as Elvira since with her curves and dark eyes and hair she already strongly resembled the popular Mistress of the Dark. While Consuelo is blonde and outgoing, her sister is dark and quiet – no doubt in part because of a bad stuttering problem. These two young women are so different th
at by just looking at them you’d never know they were sisters. The only thing they seem have in common is that they’re both knockouts.
Taco Bob, Slip, Consuelo, Josephine, and I gather around the low coffee table in front of the couch for the strategy session. Lydia is going to take the front desk at the hotel and be ready at a moment’s notice if her help is needed.
Once everyone is settled, Taco Bob and Consuelo lay out the plan. I listen carefully as they go over everything, then go over it all again.
We set a time to meet back at Taco Bob’s old houseboat and I head for Mallory. I’m anxious to see Socks and on my way I allow myself to entertain thoughts of make-up sex after an evening of fun with my friends at the marina. Who knows, if we hurry, maybe even a quick one before as well.
♦
I’m a little late at Mallory, but only a little. As is usually the case after a rained-out evening or two, the place is jumping. For the entertainment of the large and still growing crowd of tourists, there are the usual food vendors and musicians, artists and psychics, tumblers and stumblers, acrobats and dingbats, and even a few new acts: a sword-swallower in a parrot costume, an all-gold Elvis playing an accordion, and a man chewing the husks off of coconuts with his teeth.
I see Crazy Nancy with her paintings, Hooman with his oddities, Robert with his books, the little fraud with his fake art, and even Ponce with a new girlfriend. I see everyone except for one very troubling exception: Socks.
“Hooman, have you seen the glass walker?”
“Hey, Dali! Today? No. I think the last time I saw her was a few days ago, with you.”
Hooman pulls a white, longhaired cat out of a box and sets in on his small table. He shows me just what I expect to see – an extra toe. I take a closer look and complement him on the excellent glue job. A tourist lady with a big, red hat on her head, and pure, unmitigated cat-love in her eyes, walks up and starts petting and cooing to the feline. I hear Hooman tell her the story of the Hemingway cats and that this cat’s name is Papa. As I’m walking away I hear him telling her he could never part with such a rare and valuable animal.
“Ponce, have you seen the glass walker?”
“Dali! Mi Amigo!” I get a rib-cracking hug. “Sandra, my love, this is the gifted artist Dali I told you about!”
I flee as soon as I politely can and search and query and search some more, but my beloved Socks is not to be found at the Sunset Celebration. Though I normally avoid the things like the Plague, I borrow a cellphone from Hooman, who is swiping a credit card through a portable machine for the smiling red-hat lady now proudly holding Papa.
Using the faded number written in pen on my wrist, I call and get no answer. So I leave a message, then call a few more times, but still no answer. Where is my Socks?
This question haunts me as I find my designated spot for the evening and create my art for the tourists and collect generous contributions from true connoisseurs of trash art. But my heart isn’t really in it.
I search through the throngs of vacationers once again as darkness comes to Mallory, but she is still not to be found and no one has seen her. I would borrow a bicycle to go to her trailer to apologize, to beg if need be, but it is now time. Time to go back to the marina.
∨ Key Dali ∧
23
Sneak
Nighttime at the marina. There are lights around the marina office, and streetlights along the road, but out on the docks only some scattered post lamps and the lights from a few of the larger live-aboard boats give any break to the darkness.
A slight breeze stirs the air, and I can hear muffled music escaping from the party boat on the other side of the marina. The only other sound is the usual tapping of steel lines against the masts of gently rocking sailboats. I see a small form sitting on the dock further down as I step aboard the Sandy Bottomed Girl.
Everyone is there and looking stone serious as I come inside the old houseboat’s main room, which I remember now Taco Bob told me is called the salon. Everybody is either sitting on the yellow couch or in chairs close by, except for Consuelo who is standing. She gestures towards the couch.
“Have a seat, Dali. Glad you could make the party.”
She gives me a small smile and dead calm eyes. I take the only seat available, which is next to Josephine, who only nods. Since it had been decided earlier I would be teamed up with the dark-haired beauty, I’m glad she’s now wearing more than shorts and a bikini top. I’m distracted enough as it is with Socks disappearing. But thankfully Josephine’s wearing loose-fitting, all black clothes and, appropriately enough, tonight looks more like a cat burglar than a beachwear model. Taco Bob, Slip, and Consuelo are all dressed for the cool evening in long pants and light sweaters instead of their usual shorts and t-shirts.
Consuelo is not only pacing the floor, but has it as well.
“Okay, we’re all here, so let’s go over it one more time.” No beer in sight. Even Consuelo is drinking coffee. “Slip is going to be leaving soon. He and I are the surveillance team and will be on our boy Stevie like glue tonight. We’ll keep an eye on him and call it in if he does anything unexpected – like leave the card game early.”
The lady checks her watch before continuing.
“Our little set of eyes on the dock will let us know the minute Steve leaves the boat. By then Slip should be sitting in TB’s pickup where he’ll have a good view of the docks. Slip will buzz Taco as soon as he has the man spotted. Then I’m out of here.” Hard, blue eyes are now on me. “Dali and Josey are the operations team. Right after I leave they’ll walk down the dock and go aboard Steve’s boat. Dali will disarm the security system and get them inside. Taco Bob will stay here at command and control and be on standby in case something comes up. We decided the fewer people on Steve’s boat the better.” She does a quick sweep of everyone in the room and gets only nods of agreement. “Josey will find the computer and do her thing. We don’t want to turn on any lights, so Dali will hold a flashlight for Josey as needed. He will also keep watch and help Josey in any way possible. Once the alarm is down and you’re both inside, Josey is in charge. Got it?” I tell her no problem. As organized as they are here, I can’t help wondering if perhaps they haven’t done this sort of thing before.
Consuelo knocks back the last of her coffee and continues.
“Slip and I will call in a report twice an hour. Tim will hold his present location during the operation and only buzz Taco Bob if he sees something he doesn’t like. Once Josey is done with the computer she’ll creep the man’s boat as well before they leave. As soon as the operations team is back here, TB will notify Slip and me, and we’ll break off surveillance and head this way.”
Consuelo gives her watch another quick look.
“Everyone check your phone, make sure it’s on vibrate with the ringer off. Slip, it’s about time for you to go.” And just like that, the burly fishing guide is out the door. Consuelo looks at the rest of us and sighs. “I just hope our man is feeling lucky tonight. It’s going to be a long evening if he stays home.”
♦
Over the next twenty minutes or so I check the contents of the fanny pack Taco Bob has filled with the tools and materials I’d put together earlier. I also test the small but bright flashlight. They make me leave my orange poncho and my hat in the houseboat. I’m wearing a ball cap instead and Consuelo has arranged my mustache into a Fu Manchu.
Consuelo pulls a chair up next to her sister and goes over each step Josephine will take once inside. Next she and Taco Bob go over some ‘what if’ scenarios with Josephine, who in spite of her stuttering seems calm and confident. I’m getting caught up in the energy of the room and a little nervous.
I hear a low buzz and Taco Bob pulls the cellphone from his pocket, opens it, and winks.
“Show time, folks. He’s leaving.”
∨ Key Dali ∧
24
Going In
No one in the salon moves or probably even breathes for several minutes. Then the b
uzz again. Taco Bob checks his phone and nods to Consuelo. She doesn’t say a word, just slips out the door.
Josephine has an incredible set of dark eyes on her. Consuelo had warned me not to look into them for more than a glance. I’m not sure why she told me this, but I’m not taking any chances and look at Taco Bob instead.
“Okay, you two are next. Tim hasn’t buzzed me so it should be clear. Remember, you’re just a young couple taking a romantic walk along the dock.”
Josephine and I step out on the deck of the houseboat, then up on the dock. I’m really caught up in this now and getting more nervous. Once we’re on the dock, Josephine holds my hand and leads me along the dock at an easy pace. We’re both scanning the area but don’t see anyone around except for the small figure sitting by a post light further down the dock.
Josephine plays her part well and points at something in the dark and giggles, bumping my shoulder with hers. Her touch and easy manner have a calming effect on me as we stroll along.
“Peanuts, mister? They’ll put lead in your pencil.”
“No thanks, not tonight.”
“Hey, a woman like that, you can’t have too much lead.”
I make a mental note to strangle Tim when this is over. Josephine leans against me for a moment and laughs softly as we walk on past the grinning little comedian.
We move casually along the dock and, just like the plan called for, step aboard the boat like we belonged there.
The closest lights are from a fancy cabin cruiser several slips down, so thankfully it’s fairly dark. The plan also calls for a quick huddle and kiss for the benefit of any suspicious eyes in the night. This makes me miss my Socks all the more.
But now it’s time for me to go to work. I open the fanny pack and hand my partner the flashlight. She’ll use it only if absolutely necessary; in the meantime, she stays in the shadows and keeps watch. I don’t worry about the door lock just yet and concentrate on the alarm. A tiny red light is right next to the security system keyhole to let people like me know the system is armed and ready to shriek at an ear-splitting level.
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