Echoes From The Water: (A Dangerous Waters Thriller Series: Book One)

by David Banner

  "I'm Sonny Duggar," he smiled. "I'm your mom’s first husband. I'm your almost-daddy. I'm your Godfather."

  "What!" I said. "First husband?"

  "You heard it." He smiled.

  "How come I've never heard of you?" I asked.

  "Your parents were smart people, and they were good at what they did, too good sometimes. They helped a lot of people, but they also made a few enemies along the way. Enemies who still have a score to settle, enemies with unfinished business,” he said.

  "What's that got to do with me?" I asked. "I was a kid when they disappeared."

  "These kind of people don't care about that. And a lot of 'em aren't so sure your parents are really gone..."

  "Wait. What?" I said. "My parents are gone, they’ve been declared dead."

  "That might have a little somethin' to do with it too,” he said.

  "What are you talking about?" I asked.

  "Listen, kid." He sat forward in his chair. "I promised your momma and your daddy that I'd take care of you if this shit ever hit the fan and it definitely has. But I've got a few skeletons in my closet too and having you here ain't the best thing I can do for either of us. Do you got anything can help shed a little more light on this shit-show?"

  "I have this,” I said, pulling the dead woman’s phone from my back pocket.

  "Whats that?” he asked.

  "The woman, the dead one from Anna Maria. I took this phone from the floor next to her. I think it was hers, but I can't get into it."

  "You need to get moving,” he said.

  "I thought you were going to help me,” I said.

  "And I am,” he replied. "I just can't do that with you in jail, and I really can't do it with me in there too. I got somewhere for you to go, it’s a couple hours south of here, in the everglades."

  "The everglades?" I said.

  "Yea. But first you gotta make a stop. Go to The Seminole Casino in Immokalee, it’s a few hours south of here. Look for a woman with black rose on her ankle. Tell her Sonny sent you and give her that phone. Once you're done go down to the glades and wait. Give me a day or two to get a few things together and I'll be down there. We've got a few things to talk about,” he said.

  "What about Micah?" I asked.

  "Don't worry about him," he said. "We're gonna get him too."

  "Its hard not to worry." I said.

  "Well... just worry in the glades then,” he said, handing me a set of keys. "There’s a little brown car out back. Drive south, 'till you can't drive no more. You'll be in Chokoloskee, then you’re gonna take an airboat down the coast until you see a house with a red light on the porch. Wait for me there. I'm thinking I'll take a little trip to Anna Maria myself."

  "Just ride an airboat down the everglades in the middle of the night?" I asked, letting him know how outlandish that sounded to me.

  "The boat has GPS, just punch in these numbers,” he said, handing me a small piece of paper. I folded it and put it in my pocket. "That’s it?"

  "That’s it,” he said.

  "Okay,” I said, heading for the door.

  "And, kid," he said. "It's nice to finally meet ya."

  CHAPTER TEN

  A FEW HOURS LATER, AFTER A QUICK STOP AT A DINER FOR SOMETHING TO EAT AND A CHANGE OF CLOTHES I WAS WALKING THROUGH THE CASINO DOORS. It was no Caesars Palace, but this was no Las Vegas either. Slot machines lined the walls while blackjack, poker, and roulette tables sat scattered through the middle of the floor.

  The carpet, much like the rest of the place, was bright and vibrant while dark woods and shimmering golds lined the ceiling. I had never been one to gamble much, not since the disappearance of my parents left me with an excess of money to play with or anything. It just wasn't my thing, I just never managed to find the excitement in all of it.

  That didn't mean I didn't have a blast in Vegas the one time Micah and I went. It was some of the most fun I'd ever had. But the memory that stuck with me the most is how happy it made me seeing my brother let loose and finally be young. It was harder for him back then, and I think that trip really helped pull him out of his head.

  I had a woman to find though, but walking around trying to look at peoples’ feet while they're sitting at a casino table proved to be more problematic than I thought. This place didn't have the best lighting in that particular area, especially so close to the floor so I just decided to bide my time and try my best to look.

  The night moved on slowly, with me throwing a few bucks down a slot machine as to avoid any questions about what I was doing there. All the while keeping my chair turned toward the tables.

  "Can I get you anything?" A young woman asked. She was short and thin, with a Rolling Stones tattoo on her wrist.

  "No..." I said. "I'm good."

  "You look bored,” she said.

  "Just waiting on someone. A woman." I pulled the slot lever.

  "What's she look like?" she asked.

  "I'm not sure." I smiled.

  "Blind date?" she asked.

  "Yes,” I said, thinking that was a good a story as any. "She has a black rose on her ankle."

  "Ahh... You might wanna try the high-stakes table. Over there." She pointed to a round table sitting under a large crystal chandelier.

  "Thanks,” I said.

  "I'm Alley,” she said. "I'm here all night... If you need anything."

  She wasn't hard to notice, the woman with the tattoo. She was beautiful, with curly brown hair and full red lips and smiled each time the dealer spoke to her. She wore a long black dress with a high slit up the leg, perfectly revealing her tattoo. I'm sure it would have taken Micah about a half-hour to have her in bed and straddling him like a race-horse.

  But that was the farthest thing from my mind. I needed her to do something for me, though, to be honest she didn't look like the kind of person you'd normally see hacking cell phones for money. She looked to be a year or two older than me and very well groomed, like the kind of person who came from money. Which is why I was a little puzzled to see her in Immokalee, what with cities like Miami and Tampa just a short drive away.

  "Excuse me,” I said. "Is this seat taken?"

  "Do you see anyone sitting in it?" she said, not taking her eyes off the table.

  "Right,” I said. "I was just looking—”

  "Listen, buddy,” she said. "I'm busy here. I'm not interested, got it?"

  "No," I said. "I mean, yes... That’s not what.. If I could just talk to you for a minute."

  "Not gonna happen,” she said, giving me a brief glance.

  "Sonny sent me,” I said. "He told me you could help me."

  "Did he now?” she said, flipping her card. "How 'bout that."

  "Can you help?" I asked.

  "Depends,” she said.

  "Look, I don't got a lot of time here. Will you just look at me?" I said, grabbing her wrist.

  "Hey, asshole!" she said. "Hands off."

  "Fine!" I said. "I'll just wait."

  "Fine by me,” she said.

  I spent the next two hours sitting at that blackjack table watching her play. She was good, winning big money, then losing a little bit, then winning again. That’s when I noticed a suited man standing a few yards diagonally from her. He was holding a clipboard and speaking into an earpiece. Then, it dawned on me.

  "You’re counting..." I whispered. "You're counting... and I think they're on to you."

  "Quiet!" she muttered.

  "I need to go. I can't get involved in any of this,” I whispered nervously.

  "Then go,” she replied.

  "Not until you help me,” I said

  "Just come with me!" I said, grabbing her arm.

  "I told you. Hands off!” she said, throwing a jab into my stomach.

  Then, from behind the suited man I could see another figure walking toward us. "Police,” I said. "Lets go!"

  With that I was gone from the table in a flash, the woman with the tattoo following right behind me. Her long dress flowed in the wind a
s she ran and her brown curls bounced on her shoulders. Looking back I could see we were being followed by the two men as we moved in and out of tables trying to get out.

  Maybe it was the stress of the last few days, maybe it was my parents in me or maybe I had just had enough, but for whatever reason I was done playing nice. Rounding a roulette table I grabbed a chair and launched it backward, sending it sailing through the air and colliding with the suited man’s legs. At that point two other men, one in a police uniform and another in a suit came rushing towards us from the front door.

  "Over here,” she yelled, pointing toward a hallway.

  Turning on my heels I ran to follow her. I hopped across an empty table, grabbed another chair and launched it back. Then, as we turned down the hallway I noticed a custodian leaving what looked like a laundry room. We quickly made our way to the back and out a side door.

  "Over here,” I said, pointing to my car.

  "In here," she said, as we ran in and slammed the door behind us.

  Jumping in and slamming the doors behind us we made our way down the highway and away from the casino. She kept her head turned back for a few minutes, making sure we weren't being followed. Then when she was satisfied we weren't, turned to me.

  "What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled.

  "The police were coming. We were going to be arrested,” I said.

  "No," she exclaimed. "You moron, that was security. You can't get arrested for counting cards, it legal. The only thing they can do is make me leave."

  "Then why did you run?" I asked.

  "Because you caused a scene by acting like a total jackass. So the police would have been called and would start asking me questions. I don't need that kinda heat. You fucked up my whole take,” she said.

  "I'm sorry," I said.

  "You got somewhere to go?" she asked.

  "What?" I said.

  "Well, my car is at the casino and I can't go back there now, can I?" she replied.

  "Sonny told me to meet him somewhere,” I said.

  "Fine," she snapped. "Guess we're both going then."

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “W ELL," I SAID, PULLING INTO THE CHOKOLOSKEE ISLAND MARINA. "I GUESS THIS IS IT."

  "Yeah," the woman beside me said.

  "Hey," I looked her. "I never got your name."

  "Hope,” she said. "Hope Duggar."

  "Duggar... Are you Sonny's daughter?" I asked.

  "Something like that,” she said. "Might as well grab something to eat, seeing as how we gotta sit here 'til morning."

  "We're not gonna go to the cabin now?' I asked.

  "Ever tried to ride through the glades in an airboat at night?" she said curiously.

  "No..." I stammered.

  "Gator food,” she said with the kind of finality that let me know we weren't going anywhere until the sun came up. "There's a little diner just over there."

  "Do you think its still open?" I asked looking at my watch to see it was almost midnight.

  "Come on,” she said. "It won't be a problem.

  We spent the next few minutes walking down the small pebble streets of Chokoloskee. It reminded me of Anna Maria a little. Only this town seemed to be a little less crowded and a little more casual than that. From what I could gather under the soft white moonlight this was no tourist destination, not in the same way Miami or, to a much smaller extent, Anna Maria Island seemed to be.

  This seemed like the kind of place inhabited by mostly locals and true Floridians. Open-top SUV's sat along roadways, diagonally perched on sand dunes. Some looked like they hadn't moved in years while others were a little newer, a little shinier. Every business seemed to be perched on stilts, high above the water line, all the houses as well as the one small apartment complex I passed.

  "I've never been to the everglades. Drove through them as a kid, but never actually stopped,” I told her. "It seems really quiet down here."

  "It's midnight,” she deadpans. "Of course it quiet."

  "You don't like it here?" I asked, trying my best to pick up on her emotion.

  "It's fine for what it is,” she said. "If you like swampy wet land, snakes, and gator-catching hicks. Which I do."

  "Ahh..." I said, not sure where to go with it.

  "By the way," she said. "What was it you needed from me in the first place?"

  "Oh, right,” I said, having had momentarily forgotten my reason for even being with the woman. "It's this phone, I need to get access to see what's inside of it."

  "Like... Photos?" she asked.

  "I guess," I said. "Photos, phone calls, texts, location history... whatever."

  "I can do that,” she said, taking the phone from my hand.

  Rounding a small corner I followed behind her as she came to a stop in front of a small restaurant. Like everything I had seen so far it was a simple place. A single sign above the door read “Mike’s” in neon red lettering. Through the windows I could see a single light on in the kitchen and hear the sound of dishes clanging around. But I could see no customers, each booth as well as the old-fashioned looking bar sat empty.

  "I think its closed,” I said.

  Hope didn't seem to mind though, it only took her a minute to get the locked door open and go walking right in as if she owned the place. I followed behind her, hoping some guy wouldn't come running out from the kitchen holding a gun and demanding our hands in the air.

  I watched as she walked up to the bar and took a seat on the stool closest to the register. She turned to me and smiled, tapping her finger against the small bell in front of her. The noise in the kitchen came to a sudden stop and from behind a door appeared man. He was tall with shaggy brown hair and a well-trimmed beard.

  "Well, hello there..." He took one look at her and smiled. "You're looking well."

  "This is..." she said, turning to me. "Which one are you? The oldest or the youngest?"

  "The oldest..." I said, more than a little confused. "I'm Brandon."

  "Right.” She turned to him and smiled. "This is Brandon."

  "Nice to meet you,” he said, giving me a firm handshake. "I'm Mike. Now what brings you here so late?"

  "We need a place to sleep." Hope spoke up.

  "I was hoping Brandon here could spend the night in the back." She looked at me. "There's a bed a TV and a bathroom. You'll love it."

  "What about you?" I asked.

  "I'll be fine,” she said, giving Mike a look that brought a little clarity to my question.

  "Hey, man.” He looked at me. "There's fresh fish in the fridge, gator tail, oysters... whatever. And some Corona too. Just try and clean up after yourself."

  "Sure,” I said, doubting I would find much use for anything but the Corona.

  I watched as Mike came around from behind the bar, placed his hand on the small of Hope’s back and the two disappeared out the back door. I spent the next few hours sitting at a window-side booth trying to drink myself into sleepiness. Sometime after 3:00am it seemed to work well enough and I made my way to the back of the bar.

  There I found a small office with a cot and a radio that looked like it had seen its fair share of gator-hunting on the glades. It was pretty old and pretty banged up, but after flicking the switch it still managed to come to life. I quickly searched for a melody to drown out my mind, eventually settling on an old episode of A Prairie Home Companion, no doubt being piped through the air to help soothe the insomniacs and lovelorn souls who stayed up until all hours of the night.

  Just as I began drifting off into sleep Hope came busting through the door. "We have to go!" she yelled, pulling a pair of jeans shorts onto her legs.

  "What?" I said, feeling a little disoriented.

  "The phone you gave me. When I unlocked it, the damned thing took my picture and sent it to like three-different people. The damned thing’s been tracking us since you handed it to me. I think whoever you’re running from is on their way,” she said.

  "Fuck!" I yelled, jumping up and sliding my s
hirt over my head. "Where the hell are we gonna go?

  "We're gonna have to go to the cabin,” she said.

  "What about being gator food?" I asked.

  "I'd rather take my chances with them than with whoever the hell is after you,” she said. "So, c'mon. Haul ass!”

  Grabbing my arm she bolted out the door and started running for the marina where we had parked. "You still got those keys?"

  "Yeah,” I said. "They're in my pocket."

  "Hand 'em over,” she said between heavy breaths. "I'm driving."

  Reaching into my pocket I pulled out the keys and gave them a good toss. Without breaking stride she turned to catch them. It only took a couple of minutes to reach the marina. Running out onto the dock Hope leapt forward, landing dead canter in the middle of an airboat.

  "Who the hell are you?" I panted.

  "Just hold on,” she said.

  A few seconds later the fan sprung to life. It was loud, far too loud to be able to go unnoticed in the dead of night. "Won't they hear us?" I ask.

  "Not if we get out of earshot before they get here. Just hold on,” she said again, sending us speeding out into the pitch-black Florida night.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  I HAD NEVER BEEN SO UNPREPARED FOR ANYTHING IN MY LIFE, I COULDN'T HEAR MUCH OF ANYTHING PAST THE NOISE FROM THE BOAT AND I COULD BARELY SEE MY HAND IN FRONT OF ME. That didn't seem to stop Hope though, she seemed to know exactly where she was headed.

  "I can't see anything!" I yelled in her ear.

  "There should be a couple of lights on the floor behind you, in that bucket,” she said.

  Fishing around on the floor and trying me best not to fall out of the boat I managed to find the bucket and after a few seconds of digging I happened upon the light. I quickly pulled it out and flipped the switch. It was bright, and seemed to work well, maybe the first good thing to happen all day.

  "Where do I put this?" I asked.

  "You don't. Just shine it forward,” she said.

  I shimmied my way as close to the front of the boat as I could get, trying to hold the light as steady as I could. Hope weaved in and out of narrow waterways like a pro, taking each bump and turn like she had been doing it all her life.