by Dick Waters
Margaret sat down on the side of the chaise lounge, pushing Holly back so she was lying down. Margaret’s hand moved fast as she sprayed Holly all over. “We can’t have you getting a bad sunburn can we?” Then she commenced rubbing the lotion in, taking her time along the way. When she finished with Holly, she put the suntan lotion on herself and laid down on the other chaise lounge. “Holly, isn’t Bermuda incredible?”
Holly didn’t respond. “Holly, do I have to remind you about the rule of answering, and answering truthfully? You don’t want Jules to suffer any consequences of your behavior do you? Now, isn’t Bermuda incredible?”
Holly closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and thought of Jules and their time together. “Yes it is.”
*.*.*
Slightly over an hour later, Margaret was off to her excursion business. She had already heard the reports of Shawn being found. She was glad she didn’t go to that location to dump Paul’s body. I have to keep one step ahead of you guys.
She pulled into her parking area. Three young men were already standing there waiting for her to arrive. She got out of her vehicle, played with her hair and then went over to the men. “Sorry I’m late…I had some pressing things to take care of this morning. Are you guys ready for some fun today?” She bent down, picked up a rusty nail and threw it into the water.
They all responded, but she could tell they were more interested in her body than anything else. She was happy with her choice of a bright blue sundress and her skimpiest underwear. As she walked to her small dive shop she could feel their eyes staring through her dress at the silhouette of her body. She turned her head to confirm where their eyes were and she was satisfied. “Are you all certified divers, or do I need to spend extra time with any of you? There’s an extra charge if I do.”
There were smiles, but no answers. That question always gets their libidos going.
She also knew from past experience, that when they were all in their wet suits, hers always created some interesting attention and reactions. It gave her an opportunity to spot the men from the boys.
Chapter 60
Holly waited until she was sure Margaret had left. “Jules are you okay?” Holly asked, but there was no response. “Jules?” She waited but he didn’t answer. “Nils, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m getting to know how to take the safest route with her. I’m okay. You?” Nils asked.
“I’m okay, thanks. Jules?” This time she yelled his name.
He finally acknowledged her yell. “I’m still here. However, to tell you the truth, I would rather be on my boat. How are you doing?”
“What’s the use of complaining? Listen, now that we know where Nils is, we need to get him and us out of here. She took me outside and I got a look at this property. We’re right on the ocean and there’s not another house near us. We must be on a remote part of the island, or there may be some physical buffer between this place and anyone else. However, the line of trees on both sides prevented me from getting a good look beyond them. Down towards the water there’s a very large shed and beyond that a dock. So, she has access to the ocean right from her property, which is obviously how she disposes of the bodies.”
No one responded, so she added, “Jules, does this give you any hint as to where we are?”
“Did you see anything out in the water, or hear anything?” Jules asked.
“There weren’t any buoys out as far as I could see. There were some waves breaking over what looked like a reef, but it was quite a distance out. I could see sailboats beyond that, but they were way out.”
Nils asked, “Why did she bring you outside?”
“She’s interested in me getting a tan. For a redhead, she’s tanned all over. You guys didn’t’ notice that did you.”
“Holly, I appreciate you trying to make light of our situation, but since you asked…yes I happened to notice that. Holly, I need to warn you, but you already know this I’m sure, you too Nils. She fluctuates between being a sex maniac, and obviously we’ve all noticed she never seems satisfied…but worse, she takes pleasure in dishing out pain.” Jules said.
Nils added, “We’ve all seen her with the fish hooks. I didn’t see her with them after she was with Paul. Judging from his screams I would have to say she passed them on. I’ve been here too long, but I’m not ready for her to kill me yet. I think when she gets tired of one of us; she gets rid of whoever it is. Holly, do you have any ideas as to how we can get out of here?”
“I would say my only chance is when she takes me outside, which I’m sure she will do again. Maybe I can choke her with the chain attached to my ankle. It would be tricky because I would have to get my arms from behind my back to in front of me. I think I could do it, but she would obviously see me trying to do that.”
“Holly, I’m sorry I didn’t protect you,” Jules offered.
“I’ve had some time to think in here and when we get out of here I’m going to make some changes in my life,” she proposed.
“Holly.” Jules paused. “Can you tell me which direction the sun was?”
“Yes, it was coming mostly from straight out to sea.”
“Well, that means we’re somewhere on the East side of the island on a patch of land without any houses. It sounds like we might be on the South East side. Nils, when she kidnapped you, do you remember anything about the trip here?”
“Not really. She managed to either spike my drink, or something. I was out cold and never saw anything until I woke up chained to this bed.” Nils paused, and then asked, “Are you guys naked?”
Jules replied, “Yeah, it looks that way.”
Holly replied, “Yeah, me too, but I’m not a guy.”
Chapter 61
Mike met Sam in the lobby and they headed into the dining room area.
They ordered quickly. “Sam, I really want to find out today where this redhead gets her supplies. More specifically, I want to learn where we can find her. Every hour that goes by, might just be the difference of finding them alive,” Mike said, but he didn’t like the thoughts of not finding them.
“Mr. Mike, I understand the situation. I too want to find Jules. I have three supply house addresses to check out…one of them should put us closer to where she is.”
Their breakfasts arrived. “Sam, did you hear about another man’s body being found?”
“I certainly did, and I’m sorry to hear that, but glad it wasn’t Jules or your associate.”
“That makes two men found murdered, and still four people missing including Jules and Holly. That’s not even considering the four who were seen fueling up the ‘Import-ant.’”
*.*.*
A short time later Sam was driving the cab to the closest address on his list. It gave Mike time to think about this whole investigation. The police seemed to be dead in the water, and to his knowledge weren’t making any progress. Mercedes and the FBI were also here, but he couldn’t tell how much they had learned. Holly and Jules got too successful and are now missing and feared kidnapped with the others, and then there’s his own investigation. He felt he was making progress, and was hopeful there would be something beneficial this morning. He considered talking with Charlotte Williams to see if she could shed any light on Paul’s kidnapping. However, he wanted to check the supply companies first.
Sam pulled the cab into a parking lot of the Bermuda Air Gas Supply Company. There were several men moving tanks and loading a truck. He went over and asked, “Is there someone I can talk to about a customer?”
“Yes, Mr. Dermot is inside.” The man pointed to the building.
Mike, with Sam following at his heels, went inside the building. The man inside saw them enter, and put down the large box he was carrying. “Yes, how can I help you gentlemen?”
“Good morning. My name is Mike Miller, and this is Sam. I’m interested in locating a potential customer of yours. I don’t know her name, but she is a tall redheaded woman, who might be a diver, or run a dive shop.” Mike saw the man’s
eyebrows react to his description. “I can see you might know who I’m talking about?”
“Yes, there seems to be a lot of interest in her lately. My name is Paul Dermot.”
‘Why do you say there’s been a lot of interest in her?” Mike asked.
“Well, there was a redheaded woman and a man in here about three days ago asking about her.”
Mike immediately asked, “Was her name Holly?”
“Yes, it was. She was with a tall black man, but I don’t remember his name.”
“Jules.” Mike offered.
“Yes, that was his name. What do you want to know about my customer?”
“Can you give me her name and business address?”
“Her name is Margaret Orion. I’ll get her address for you.” He headed to the file cabinets behind the cash register. He pulled out a manila folder, looking at Mike. “I’ll write down her address for you.” He handed Mike a slip with her address. “Why, all the interest?”
“Paul, I’m here trying to locate Holly. She disappeared along with Jules right after she talked to you. Holly works for our office and she was down here doing a private investigation into one of the missing men.”
“Oh, now all the pieces are coming together. I heard about two more people reported missing, and a new body found in another dive cage.”
“Yes, unfortunately the two new missing people are Holly and Jules. Does Margaret have anything to do with diving?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact…she runs a dive excursion business from the address I gave you.” Paul looked like he was going to say more.
“Is there something else you want to tell me?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, I guess,” Paul said, taking a deep breath before adding, “Margaret is a strange duck. She is very beautiful and has a great body. I had one experience myself and have learned that many of my drivers have benefited from making deliveries to her. She loves to show off her body and then some. She gave me the creeps, but my guys fight over who’s going to make her delivery.”
“I guess that is good to know,” Mike acknowledged.
“Mike, do you think she could have anything to do with the missing men?”
“I can’t say, but I would like to talk with her. Thank you very much for her name and address. One other question…have the police ever come to ask you about Margaret?”
“No, they haven’t.”
Chapter 62
I was in the dining room of my hotel trying to finish my breakfast. I didn’t feel much like eating this morning. I also didn’t sleep well last night. My mind kept racing on what I witnessed last night in the ballroom. I still can’t get the image of Mercedes and Ralph possibly sleeping together, but it wasn’t the sleeping part that really worried me. For some reason, I felt like I had been kicked in the gut. Well, if I hadn’t come to Bermuda, I wouldn’t be bothered by all of that. So, if you’re really here to find Holly, why are you so focused on Mercedes? I think I knew the answer to that now.
I checked out my plate and I hadn’t made much of a dent in my breakfast. Maybe I should just go over to Mercedes’ hotel and tell her I’m here. No, I think that would upset her…she is here on official FBI business. I thought about being here and doing my own investigation, but realized I was only following them. ‘Them,’ I didn’t like the sound of that at all. I should trust her; after all she has been working with him for years. So, how could he resist her?
*.*.*
I left my breakfast sitting there and went up to my room. I went out on my balcony and looked at the many sailboats tied to their moorings. There must be many rich people here on the island, judging from the size of some of them. Maybe there’s considerable money to be made selling the missing men’s yachts. How would someone go about doing that? That means there might be more than one person involved in the disappearances of the men…but what about the deaths?
The sunlight was shining just right and it looked like there were diamonds floating on the water. A slight breeze must have crossed part of the harbor and all of the diamonds in that area rushed together. For some strange reason I remembered my own captivity and was lucky to be enjoying this pretty view. If it wasn’t for Mercedes I wouldn’t even be here to enjoy it. Life is something that needs to be enjoyed every day…it can be gone in the blink of an eye. Lisa was here one minute and gone the next. Before last night, I had pictured such a bright future with Mercedes, and now I’m not sure about any of that.
*.*.*
I drove my scooter up to Mercedes’ hotel, finding my spot on the veranda. I could view the dining room from one particular location. I spotted Mercedes’ companion sitting alone in the dining room reading a newspaper. I wondered if I had already missed Mercedes. I noticed some heads turning, but I couldn’t see what they were focused on. Then I saw her. Her red hair was gathered on the top of her head, but some of it hung down framing her face. I couldn’t tell if her white shirt was a man’s or not, but it brought back some memories of her apartment. Ralph immediately stood up to greet her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
A well dressed waiter came over to take her order. Mercedes and Ralph then started talking; well Mercedes was doing the talking. I couldn’t see his expression, but she had a frown and she was waving her hands. She gestured with both hands like she was outlining her body. Even from where I was seated I could see her face turning red. The waiter came over and she settled back into her chair. She nodded her head and he left. She was back at the edge of her chair and was doing all the talking again. Ralph was shaking his head numerous times. Was I witnessing a lover’s quarrel? My stomach started to churn and now I wished I had eaten more of my breakfast. Mercedes suddenly stopped talking, leaned back in her chair, and then looked out the window in my direction.
I turned to focus on the lobby windows, but kept thinking about whether she spotted me or not. If she did spot me and saw me looking at them, I’m sure, if she was upset before, she would be furious now. How could I defend sitting and watching her, or them, and how would I explain being in Bermuda without telling her. I waited several minutes expecting at any moment to see her standing next to me. When I thought it was safe to look back, her plate was there with her food, but she was gone. The waiter came over, Ralph waved his hand and the waiter took the plate away.
*.*.*
A half hour later, they both came out the lobby door and got into a cab. It was easy to follow them, but I didn’t know where they were headed this morning. Five minutes later they pulled into the police station parking lot and went in the building. Someone noticed me sitting on my scooter and took a picture of me. He was taking shots of other things in the area, so I thought about a tourist visiting Bermuda. Hey buddy…I’m not a local. If I was him, I would wait a few more minutes and take a picture of Mercedes. As soon as I thought about that, she and Ralph came out of the police station and got back into their cab.
The guy with the camera was in the right spot to get a shot of both of them. Lucky man…I wish I had a picture of her to carry with me. They were quickly out of the lot, with me their extended tail. There was some traffic on the road, which made my following them less noticeable. At one stop sign I had to let them pull onto the shore road before I pulled up behind them. In fact, I thought I noticed someone on another scooter pull off the road when I stopped. I proceeded onto the shore road after they had driven away. The other scooter was headed our way also, but there were only two directions he could have gone.
Minutes later their cab pulled into the same dive shop as yesterday. I pulled over, watching what they were going to do today. The cab quickly pulled away. Mercedes and Ralph walked over to the rustic shack and went in. I noticed there was no traffic on the shore road at all.
Several minutes later I heard an engine start and then another. I saw the boat head out into the open ocean just a minute later and observed Mercedes seated in the back of the boat. They must be headed back to where Shawn’s body was discovered. They would be gone for hours. Now I had to decide what
I was going to do on my investigation.
*.*.*
I considered what little I knew at this point. Many men were missing, Holly was missing, two men were found murdered, three yachts were nowhere to be found, one other yacht had a man and three women on board and hadn’t been seen since they fueled up, and two men were found in dive cages. I decided to just drive the shore road thinking about those facts and speculating on what I was missing.
The breeze felt good on my face as I headed south along the shore. At one point I had to stop along with several other scooters and vehicles, as there was a migration of crabs across the short span of sandy beach and across the road. I had never seen anything quite like this before. One man got off his scooter, taking a picture of all of us waiting for the impromptu parade to finish. It was the same man I saw at the police station. He must have recognized me, waving as he headed back to his scooter.
We had to maneuver around some of the crabs, but we were all moving again. There was now considerable traffic following me. I felt uncomfortable leading the pack. I looked for the first available place to pull off the road. It was a small parking lot. I pulled in and went up to the small shack on the property. The sign read; ‘Rusty’s Dive Excursions.’ There were two vehicles in the lot, but I didn’t see anyone around.
I went to the building and tried to enter, but the door was locked. I noticed the sign, which indicated ‘Sorry, we’re down at the moment.’ There was a glassed in bulletin board on the side of the building right near the door. The pictures showed many different groups of men and a few women and most were in scuba dive gear. The common thread behind every one was a tall redheaded woman. She was very attractive and much of her body was there…not adequately covered by her bikini. There were two pictures where she was wearing a wet suit, but there wasn’t much left to the imagination there either.