Bluewater Killer: A Serial Murder Mystery Set In Florida and the Caribbean (Bluewater Thrillers Book 1)
Page 25
"Yes. Army medic for many years. Russian trained. She was in Grenada, and Afghanistan, too."
"You think she might have been tight with some of them Russian crooks workin' from Havana?"
"I don' think so, but could be, I guess."
"What about the other two, the nurses?"
"From Venezuela. More likely would be Rosa. Those two, they never been out of the islands. Rosa, she been to Moscow for training, and she was all over with Castro's advisors down here and in Africa."
"Yeah. Something stinks, Rodriguez. You hear about Julio?"
"What about him?"
"Dead. Cops in Grenada think he killed the engineer and then shot himself. Drunk, probably. The cops found him on that piece-a-shit freighter of his. Went out to see why he hadn't cleared in with Customs."
"What about the crew?"
"They don't know nothin'. What do you think? The Customs people in Grenada got Erzulie Freda impounded. Cops found some of those microwave ovens in the hold, the ones with the cocaine in the packaging. Julio must have held back a few from his last drop with you. You count that damn stuff when it comes in, Rodriguez?"
"Of course, Boss. I count it all myself. He must get some extra when he take on the cargo. Hide it from us."
"Maybe. Okay, Rodriguez. We'll go on from here, but we gotta be extra careful. I'll send you three more soldiers I can trust. You get rid of the two women. They know too much."
Big Jim noticed the emphasis on "…I can trust."
"But who take care of the next shipment of whores, then, Boss?"
"We ain't shippin' no more women or drugs until we figure out what's happenin', you dumb bastard. Now, clean that island up. Get rid of the bodies and the two broads. For all we know, they're part of this. Else, why didn't they get killed with the others?"
"Good question," Big Jim said, trying to keep the relief from his voice. He had been worried about how to explain that the women had died at his hand, trying to convince him that they really didn't know any more than they had already told him. The fish around Baliceaux were eating well.
"You got anything else?" The Boss asked.
"No, Señor, nada."
"Okay. Ask around. We gotta find out who hit Baliceaux before we do any more business. Just sit on that shipment for now."
"Okay, Boss, do you…" Big Jim paused, looking at the phone. The Boss had disconnected while Big Jim was still talking, the Cuban bastard. Big Jim put the phone down and pulled out a silk handkerchief. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he wondered whether the new soldiers would have orders for his 'retirement.' He knew he was under suspicion. El Grupo didn't take this sort of thing lightly. He was sure that the man he called Boss was even now answering some hard questions from Caracas. He reasoned that in any case, they wouldn't kill him until they had time to figure out what had happened.
****
Dani tuned out the yacht broker's voice as he droned on about all of the hand-built custom cabinetry. She would have been happy to explore Best of Times on her own, but she knew the broker had to do his job. Best of Times was a replica of Herreshoff's famous Bounty, just as she thought when she saw the boat yesterday. As the tanned, carefully groomed fool yammered away, she methodically crawled through every space on the vessel, examining everything for traces of poor materials or shoddy workmanship. As she expected with a vessel of this quality, everything she found spoke to her of meticulous care in construction and maintenance. This particular execution of Herreshoff's beautiful design was as flawless as the design itself.
Best of Times was a seaman's dream, custom-built for a life-long cruising sailor from Maine whose health had failed him soon after he and his family brought her to Antigua on her shakedown cruise. They had planned to circumnavigate, but it was not to be. Now his widow was eager to dispose of the boat and put the sad memories behind her. It was eerie to open the lockers and find the couple's clothing and personal belongings neatly stowed, but the broker said that the woman was utterly devastated, and wanted nothing to remind her of their broken dream. Everything aboard would transfer to her new owner.
Dani had started her inspection with a trip up the mast, much to the broker's surprise. He had been expounding the benefits of the gourmet galley as they walked down the dock toward the boat.
"Wait until you see the stove, Sweetie," he had said, a smirk on his face. Dani was surprised that he hadn't asked her any qualifying questions to see if she was a serious prospect. She sensed that he was just idle and bored, and that he had decided to amuse himself by showing the boat to her. He certainly wasn't treating her the way he would if he thought that she was capable of making a purchase.
He was already opening lockers in the galley, nattering away about the Wedgwood china, when he looked around and discovered that she had not followed him below decks. When he finally spotted her, she was scrambling up the mast like a monkey going up a coconut tree.
"Wait!" he said. "I'll get a rigger over for a rig survey. You don't have to do that."
"Rigger's not going to buy the boat," Dani grunted over her shoulder, continuing to climb. "I might, but I'll make my own judgments. I'm the one that'll live with 'em."
The broker watched, worry etched on his face, as she scrambled around, free-climbing through the rigging over 70 feet above the deck. He fidgeted nervously for several minutes until she said, "Looks good aloft. Stand clear of that backstay, will you? I'm coming down."
He stepped aside slightly, a puzzled look on his face as he watched her take a handful of rags from her pocket and wrap them around the sloping piece of stainless steel cable that ran from the masthead to the stern. He watched, open-mouthed, as she swung her feet off the fittings that she was braced on near the masthead, and before he grasped her intentions, she locked her ankles around the backstay and was sliding toward him at a frightful speed. A few meters above the deck, she let her legs swing down and tightened her grip on the handful of rags, braking her descent to land softly beside the stunned broker as he stumbled out of her way. The rags were smoking a bit as she dropped them to the deck.
"Wha-, wha-, what would you like to see next, C- captain?"
"Oh, let’s have a look at that china you're so taken with, sweetie," Dani said, with her best poker face.
After spending several hours scrutinizing Best of Times, Dani was still impressed with the boat.
"She's asking a million, even," the broker said.
"She might get that. Good boat, in great shape. She'll have to wait a while, though. Too late for this year's season, and besides, the boat's in Antigua."
"So make an offer. What would you give her, for a deal today, delivery here?"
"Same as I'd pay for a deal next week, I expect," Dani said, watching him wince, not offering him any hope. "Look. It's a nice boat. I may make an offer, but I need to think it over."
"I've got someone else interested."
"Good. Maybe they'll like that Wedgwood as much as you do. I'll call you either way when I decide," Dani said, climbing into the cockpit and hopping over the rail, catlike, to land on the dock.
She went back to Kayak Spirit and spent the rest of the afternoon pondering her future as she measured the settee cushions. She planned to go shopping the next morning to find some fabric to make covers for them. She had in mind something that would be in character with Kayak Spirit's Caribbean origins -- bright colors, soft texture. The battered vinyl had probably been in place since the former owner had used the sturdy old boat for smuggling jackiron rum from Grenada to the French islands, many years ago.
End of preview…
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A Note to the Reader
Thank you for reading Bluewater Killer, the first book in the Bluewater Thrill
er series. I hope that you enjoyed it. If so, please leave a brief review on Amazon. Reviews are of great benefit to independent authors like me; they help me more than you can imagine. They are a primary means to help new readers find my work. A few sentences can help others find the pleasure that I hope you found in this book, as well as keeping my spirits up as I work on the next one. If you would like to be notified by email when I release a new book or have a sale or giveaway, please click here to subscribe to my email list. I promise not to use the list for anything else; I dislike spam as much as you do.
If you haven't read the other Bluewater Thrillers, please take a look at them. If you enjoyed this book, you'll enjoy them as well. I write another series of sailing thrillers — the Connie Barrera Thrillers. Connie had a key role in Deception in Savannah, my first book. I enjoyed writing about her so much that I wrote her into the Bluewater Thrillers. She plays prominent parts in both Bluewater Ice and Bluewater Betrayal. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are a spin-off from the Bluewater Thrillers, and feature some of the same characters. Dani and Liz taught Connie to sail, and they introduced her to Paul Russo, her first mate and soon-to-be husband.
In December of 2016, I released Bluewater Revolution, the twelfth in the series. Now I've turned my attention back to Connie and Paul for the seventh Connie Barrera Thrillers adventure. You'll find progress reports and more information on my web page at www.clrdougherty.com. Be sure to click on the link to my blog posts; it's in the column on the right side of the web page. Dani has begun to blog about what's on her mind, and Liz and Connie are demanding equal time, so you can see what they're up to while I'm writing.
A list of my other books is on the last page; just click on a title or go to my website for more information. If you’d like to know when my next book is released, visit my author’s page on Amazon and click the "Stay Up to Date" link near the upper left-hand corner. I welcome email correspondence about books, boats and sailing. My address is clrd@clrdougherty.com. If you'd like personal updates, drop me a line at that address and let me know. Thanks again for your support.
About C.L.R. Dougherty
Charles Dougherty wrote quite a bit of fiction before publishing Deception in Savannah, his first novel. Most of his earlier fiction works took the form of business plans, written to secure funding for projects and startup ventures during his corporate and consulting work, but he put all that behind him when he wrote Deception in Savannah, a tongue-in-cheek crime novel.
Since Deception in Savannah was published, he has written a number of other books. The Bluewater Thrillers are set in the yachting world of the Caribbean and chronicle the adventures of two young women running a luxury charter yacht in a rough-and-tumble environment. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are also set in the Caribbean and feature some of the same characters from a slightly more romantic perspective. Besides the Bluewater Thrillers and the Connie Barrera Thrillers, he wrote The Redemption of Becky Jones, a psycho-thriller, and The Lost Tourist Franchise, a short story about one of the characters from Deception in Savannah.
He has also written two non-fiction books. Life's a Ditch is the story of how he and his wife moved aboard their sailboat, Play Actor, and their adventures along the east coast of the U.S. Dungda de Islan' relates their experiences while cruising the Caribbean.
He resides with his wife aboard Play Actor, sailing wherever their fancy and the trade winds take them.
Other Books by C.L.R. Dougherty
Fiction:
Bluewater Killer
Bluewater Vengeance
Bluewater Voodoo
Bluewater Ice
Bluewater Betrayal
Bluewater Stalker
Bluewater Bullion
Bluewater Rendezvous
Bluewater Ganja
Bluewater Jailbird
Bluewater Drone
Bluewater Revolution
Bluewater Thrillers Boxed Set; Books 1-3
Love for Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller
Sailor's Delight – a Connie Barrera Thriller
A Blast to Sail – a Connie Barrera Thriller
Storm Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller
Running Under Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller
Sails Job - a Connie Barrera Thriller
From Deception to Betrayal - an Introduction to Connie Barrera: a boxed set
Deception in Savannah
The Redemption of Becky Jones
Short Story:
The Lost Tourist Franchise
Non-fiction:
Dungda de Islan'
Life’s a Ditch
For more information, please visit:
http://www.clrdougherty.com/
or
http://amazon.com/author/clrdougherty
Table of Contents
Bluewater Killer
Windward and Leeward Islands
St. Vincent to Union Island
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Read a preview of Bluewater Vengeance, the next book in the series
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Bluewater Vengeance is available from the Kindle Store:
A Note to the Reader
About C.L.R. Dougherty
Other Books by C.L.R. Dougherty