Outside was a white Mercedes SUV. Flower and Charlotte were waiting on the curb.
“Here we are ladies,” I said, stooping to get a hug from Flower.
Q went through and introduced the girls to Charlotte and Flower.
“Well, aren’t you ladies lovely,” Flower said, getting a nervous laugh from the girls. “I think we’re all going to get along just fine.”
Q opened the door for the girls and they filed into the SUV.
“There might be a language barrier for a while,” I informed her.
“Already got that covered,” she assured me. “We set up some English classes for them at the local community college.”
“That’s very considerate,” I applauded.
“After that I think most men will be able to understand them just fine,” she said with a wink.
Q and I got a chuckle out of that. I was busy trying to figure out what a Russian/Southern hybrid accent was going to sound like.
“We should get back,” Flower informed me. Charlotte came over to get a big kiss from Q and they rolled out.
Bobby came downstairs a minute later.
“Did you miss your ride?” I asked, thinking he was going to ride back with Miss Flower.
He looked pensive. “No, I didn’t miss it,” he said a little sheepishly. I figured it out when V rolled up.
“Oh,” I said with a smile.
“Teddy gave me the month off,” he reminded me, “and Miss V says they have these big ass fish that eat nuts, they’re called Tam...tabi…”
“Tambaqui,” I finished for him.
“Yeah,” he beamed. “Miss V says you have to use 120 pound test to catch them suckers.”
V rolled down her window. “Problem?”
“No problem,” I assured her. “Try not to hurt him.”
“Ha!” she laughed. “No guarantees.”
Bobby threw his stuff in the backseat, jumped in the front and they drove off.
“Well, if that ain’t some shit,” Q observed.
“That it is,” I agreed. “That it is.”
Chapter 30
The next day Anita showed up at the docks in a truck, weighed down so much it was riding on the springs. We opened the back and found it loaded with lead bricks.
“Pierson Brothers said they forgot they had it,” Anita grinned. “Their memory improved dramatically when they found out about the insurance fraud investigation.”
“Nice bit of tail-twisting,” I smiled.
Fred’s guys came out and started unloading the lead. Ana’s half would come to enough she’d never have to worry about money the rest of her life or whether the kids would be able to pay for college. We ended up with our half, plus another three tons Fred managed to bring up before they had to hightail it out of town. It wasn’t our biggest score but it would keep the lights on for a while.
“The funeral was yesterday,” she reminded me.
“Yeah, sorry, we’re--”
“Not big on funerals,” she finished for me.
“What about you?”
She shrugged. “They offered me my old job back, with a promotion,” she smiled and I reminded myself to make sure Deek put her on our dental plan to get that crooked tooth fixed.
“You can still change your mind,” I pointed out.
She shook her head. “You were right about what you said, about people living in boxes all their lives. I want out of that box.”
“Whenever you’re ready,” I told her, “just call Deek.”
To my surprise Anita gave me a big hug. The surprise of the gesture and the fact she was really strong caught me by surprise.
“That’s from Ana,” she said.
“I’m sorry that’s all we could do,” I said.
We said our goodbyes, not certain how long it would be before we saw Anita again but really glad she was part of the team. Q and I walked across the parking lot to the marina picnic tables where Amber was waiting.
“I saw that hug,” she teased.
“A grateful employee,” I retorted.
She grabbed my ass. “I’m feeling pretty grateful myself right now.”
“Hi-i-i-i-i, “ a familiar voice interrupted. “Here were are.”
“David!” I said, recognizing the young man from the property service.
“You said I could hire him,” she reminded me.
“I did,” I confirmed. “Just didn’t expect it this soon.”
“Miss Amber,” David began, here’s your non-fat Mocha Frappuccino and an almond biscotti,” he said handing her a cup and small bag from the tray.
“Thank you, David,” she smiled.
“And Mr. Q, tall black coffee and a scrambled egg and sausage sandwich on a croissant.”
“Sweet!” Q beamed.
“And Mr. Fatman, a double tall nonfat latte and a whole wheat muffin.”
“He gets a sausage and egg sandwich and I get a muffin?” I complained.
“A girl’s gotta watch her figure,” David chided gently.
“I think I’m going to like having employees,” Amber said, taking a bite of her biscotti.
“I’ll trade you,” I said to Q.
“Not a chance,” he said, taking a big bite out of his sandwich.
“I have a showing of the Miami property at 2,” he told Amber, “and Mr. D says I’m scheduled to leave for training next week.”
“I’m sure you’ll do great,” Amber smiled.
“And I’d like to thank you gentlemen for this opportunity,” he said to Q and I.
“If Q or I ask you to do anything, you should probably do it,” I pointed out. “But you live and die by what this lady says,” I said, nodding at Amber.
“I’m sure we’ll get along just fine,” David assured me.
“Oh, drop the Lambo off at the garage for me on your way back, please,” Amber asked.
“Certainly,” David agreed.
“Lambo?” I questioned. “You mean the Lamborghini? The white one?”
“That’s the one,” David confirmed.
“Who put you on the exotics list?” I asked Amber. Not anyone could check out the exotic cars in our organization. “The only people who could add you are Deek, me or….,” I looked over at Q, who had his face buried in his sandwich.
“Et tu, Brutus?” I asked sarcastically.
“She promised she’d be careful,” he said through a mouthful of sandwich.
I gave him the look that promised we’d be having that conversation another time. My phone chirped a message.
“Time to roll,” I told everyone. The three of us made our way back to the Swan for our last cruise on the old girl but first we had to stop by West Palm and pick up a couple extra passengers. We made our careful way down the Intracoastal and Teddy and Flower were already waiting for us on the dock.
“Come on aboard,” I waved them up the ladder, helping Flower up the steps.
“My this is lovely,” she said, looking around. “Miss Amber.”
“Hi there!” Amber gushed, getting a big full-boob Flower hug.
Q, Teddy and I shook hands all around.
“This is great,” I beamed. “We’re going to have a blast.”
Q looked a little stiff. He was doing the mental math that he was going on a long cruise with two other couples and he was the odd man out.
“Oh, Mr. Q,” Flower said brightly. “I left a couple old bags in the car. Would you be a dear and run and get them for me?”
Q’s jawline tightened. First he was the odd man out, now he was the bag boy. He briefly considered calling one of the crew, then decided it wasn’t worth it and hopped down to the dock and headed for the parking lot.
“Do you think he knows?” Flower asked me.
“Not a clue,” I assured her, enjoying the moment greatly.
Q got to the SUV and the valet unlocked it for him. He opened the back and then quickly came around and opened the rear passenger door. A pair of long legs unfolded themselves like landing gear fo
r an alien spacecraft and all 5’10 of Miss Charlotte followed them out. She was laughing when she gave Q a hug.
He got her luggage and they came back to boat arm in arm.
“Feel better now?” I asked, when he handed off Charlotte’s bag to the mate.
“Asshole,” he smiled. “That was your idea.”
“And I didn’t even know about the Lambo then,” I laughed.
The girls did the group hug thing and headed into the salon. “We’ll see you boys later,” Flower said over her shoulder with a sly smile. “Right now we’re going to go talk about what you may or may not be getting later.”
There were peals of girl laughter from inside when Amber showed them the stripper pole I had installed for trip, over the very surprised objections of Captain Mackey. He balked at the idea until I told him he could take it out before we sent the Swan to the broker. I had Ashley lay on a lot of extra booze and food for this cruise.
“Drinks?” I asked, pouring three glasses of brandy while Teddy supplied the cigars. We took seats around the rear deck table as the Swan’s big diesels came to life and the mate and Ashley made ready to cast off.
“We have to make a short diversion to the islands,” I informed Q and Teddy, handing out brandy and gratefully accepting my cigar.
“Where we going?” Q asked.
“We have to drop off the first installment of Teddy’s cash,” I informed him. “About $40 million worth.”
“Where’s it at?” Teddy asked.
“You’re sitting on it,” I informed him.
“Oh,” Teddy said, wiggling his bottom. “I kinda thought my butt felt richer on this boat.”
We all got a laugh out of that and we had weeks of drinking and partying from the islands to New Orleans ahead of us. There was a thud from the salon followed by another peal of girl laughter.
“Amber’s still getting the hang of that stripper pole,” I said lighting my cigar.
“Stripper pole?” Teddy asked.
I smiled but didn’t answer right away. That was a long story and there would be plenty of time to tell it.
End of Mission File
Blue Tango Salvage
Status: Closed
The Blue Tango Salvage: Book 2 in the Recovery and Marine Salvage, Inc. Series Page 34