Ms. Anna

by Bill Lockwood

  “You really need to ask?” Anna laughed.

  “You don’t like her much, do you?” He smiled.

  Anna paused, as if she wasn’t sure. “I let her sleep in my cabin last night. Maybe I was just feeling sorry for her. But she’s really not my kind o’ gal.”

  Max laughed. “You know, not my kind either, really. I think she’s too much of an overachiever for me.”

  Anna pointed out a window toward the deck. “Speaking of overachievers, there’s Captain Jim checking with our chickens for eggs. He must be going to make us all breakfast again, but who does he need to impress?”

  “Certainly not me.” Max shrugged. “But, you know, some people just do what they do. Part of that old southern hospitality in him maybe—feed us all. Or maybe it’s good ol’ Yankee dependability.”

  “Right, like you.”

  He thought a moment, and he sipped some coffee. “Yes, I suppose.”

  “You know, last night you could have been down there drinking rum with the guys. If he were still the captain, my father certainly would have done that. But you stayed steady by your post with me. I like that about you.”

  “That’s just me.” He shrugged. “You’ve been piloting us steadily all night. You’re so steady and dependable. You know, I like that about you.”

  Anna looked around, and their eyes held for a moment.

  Then someone opened the wheelhouse door from outside, and they looked around.

  It was Cofresí. He looked just a bit disheveled, but he had put on his white suit coat and straw hat as he almost always did. “Ah, Señorita Anna, el Capitán Max,” he said. “It is a sad morning for me, but a good one with the progress of our mission, I think.”

  Anna nodded her agreement. “I checked the weather forecast on the radio just a while ago. Good weather all the way to Key West. On that front, we’re all set to go.”

  “Bueno, good.” Cofresí smiled. He reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a folded map. He held it open, and Max and Anna moved to where they could also see what was on it. The map was of Key West and its harbor area that actually surrounded three sides of the central town. There was a spot marked with an X at one point where the water met the land. It was on the gulf side, a little north of Mallory Square.

  Cofresí put an index finger on the X. “There is a deserted dock right there,” he said. “I will have a truck and some men waiting on the street right by the dock when we get in tonight. There are street lights, but not much else. Señorita Anna, can you find it with no problem?”

  “Hmm…” Anna thought a moment and studied the map as if she didn’t know she was probably now going to head right into the big Navy base that stood out prominently just south of Mallory Square. “I see the coordinates written in the margin there,” Anna said. “Yes, of course. I’ll find it just fine for you.” She took the map from Cofresí and put it with the other papers that had guided her to their rendezvous with the Cuban boat the night before.

  “Bueno, good.” Cofresí’s face lit with just the barest hint of a smile. “Then my poor brother will be home.”

  “Lo siento,” Max said. “Again, I am so sorry for your loss.”

  “Muchas gracias.” Cofresí nodded to Max, then turned and nodded a farewell to Anna too before he went out on deck and back toward the galley.

  “God,” Anna exclaimed after she was certain he was out of earshot. “Is he going to be playacting his sorry-assed self all over my boat for the rest of this voyage?” Then she laughed and raised her coffee mug to Max. “Great acting on your part, too.”

  Max raised his mug and toasted her.

  “Lo siento.” Anna smiled. “When did you learn that?”

  “It means ‘I’m sorry,’ right?”

  “It does.”

  “Ha, I know a lot more than you might think. I’m one smart Yankee, and don’t ever lose sight of that. You did a great acting job too, pretending you’re gonna land us at some deserted dock in the dark when we’ve just been told by a government agent that we’ll be escorted into a goddamned Navy base.”

  They both laughed and clicked their coffee mugs together again.

  Then Max was serious. “God, it will be good for my family to be rid of Cofresí. Who knows what else he might have going on at the plant? I haven’t even looked at the financial reports he sent me. Who knows how real they are? Maybe we’ll never even know everything. But he’ll be gone, and we can start new with people and a plan of our own.”

  Anna hesitated for moment. Then she spoke up. “Last night his assistant told you she was quitting…and in fact did quit, right here, too. I bet when we get back to Mayaguez you just might have to run the plant for a while and straighten out whatever mess it’s really in.”

  Max laughed. “Never thought of that when I said yes to my uncles. I’m a musician, an artist, and a teacher, an academic. God! Running a tuna plant will stand out in conflict with everything else on my resume.”

  “I hope my resume’s still on file in Cofresí’s office,” Anna said. “If not, I can give you a new one.”

  “Sure, though I’ve gotten to know you well enough not to need one…”

  Anna waited for him to say more, but he didn’t explain what he meant by that statement. She didn’t ask, and a silence fell.

  Then a movement on the deck caught her eye. “Oh, there goes Ms. Parque de Bombas out to sun herself on the deck again.”

  “Yes, I see.”

  This day, Ms. Parker still had on the cutoff jeans and T-shirt she had worn the night before. She also carried her bag.

  “Got her radio with her too, I bet,” Anna said. “Actually, that’s reassuring.” Then Anna glanced around and down at the floor behind her. “Even though that damn trombone case and gun are still with us here.”

  Max thought a moment. “If we move it, or hide it, Cofresí might get suspicious. We better wait on that.”

  Anna looked at him. “That thing is freaking me out as much as I’d be freaked if we really were transporting a dead man’s bones.”

  “You got your saints and gods in here, too.” Max gestured toward the little plastic statues. “Hopefully they can even things out, balance all the bad karma from the gun.”

  “It’s a really nice case, and I’m sure a good gun,” Anna continued, “but when the shit starts going down tonight, that sucker’s going overboard before Cofresí gets his hands on it again.”

  Max laughed. “Consider you have your captain’s permission on that, for sure.”

  “Good.”

  “Okay,” she said. “It’s time I let you take over now. I’ll go down and see what Captain Jim’s cooking up in the galley. Hopefully he found enough eggs.”

  “Send some up for me,” Max said. “And tell Captain Bob it’s his turn up here in two hours.”

  “Aye, aye.” Anna saluted, and they both laughed again.

  She left and went down to the galley, where she found the atmosphere totally oppressive. The casket prevented anyone from eating with their plates and mugs on the table. It was only Cofresí and the two older captains, but the big casket left little room for them all. Cofresí looked sad, and he sat hunched over the plate he had balanced on his knees. The two captains were looking pretty sad, too. Besides both being hung over, they were completely buying into Cofresí’s charade.

  Captain Jim had made scrambled eggs and sausage again, and he had made arroz con frijoles for it to be served over. Anna prepared herself a plate. “Maybe you guys could find a way to play cards together today to help pass the time away,” she suggested.

  “No,” her father disagreed. “It would kinda be disrespectful to the dead.”

  “Never play cards over a dead man’s coffin,” Captain Jim agreed. “Oh, my God…”

  “Sorry.” Anna shrugged. Then she excused herself and took her breakfast on into her cabin.

  Chapter 13

  Captains Bob and Jim took their turns at the wheel, and then it was Max’s turn again. Cofresí seemed restless
all day. He had a few shots of rum from a glass, but no one passed the bottle around and drank freely as they had done the nights before. He prowled the decks a few times, and he dozed off once or twice, sitting fairly upright by his brother’s coffin. There was no way to play cards on the galley table, or even try up on deck, where they would likely blow away. Captain Jim busied himself with the chickens and food preparation when not on his turn at the wheel, and Captain Bob dozed off a number of times while he was off duty.

  Anna slept, but she woke up often. One of the times she went up on deck and to the wheelhouse to check on their heading and progress was during Max’s second shift at the wheel.

  “Weird vibes on board today,” she said to him.

  “Certainly it’s very weird,” he agreed. “You, me, and Parker all know what’s really going on. Captains Bob and Jim think we’re really transporting a dead man’s bones, and Cofresí’s going to get a great big surprise. Didn’t you say this was all kind of crazy, just a while ago?”

  “I did. But that’s okay. Just so Cofresí doesn’t notice the radar screen and start asking questions, or he somehow sees that boat behind us, I guess I’ll be okay.”

  “I certainly can’t wait till dark. What’s Captain Jim planning for dinner tonight?”

  Anna rolled her eyes. “Cofresí could find us out and maybe shoot us all, and you’re worried about dinner.”

  “Captain Jim said dinner will be at four bells.”

  Anna frowned. “Four bells. That’s sailor talk.”

  Max’s face spread in a wide smile. “Yep, Yankee boy be smarter than you think.”

  Anna gave him a dubious look.

  “Okay, Captain Jim told me six in the evening is four bells in the US Navy.”

  “Señorita Anna is not part of the US Navy—or any navy, for that matter.”

  “I know, I know, everybody’s so tense. We all need to laugh a little. How about if we find some station that plays salsa music on that radio over there?”

  “I have it set on the weather channel. I’ll laugh and listen to music again after we get rid of Senor Cofresí in Key West.”

  “Okay.” Max gave a sigh of resignation. “But you know, after we do get rid of him and we can laugh again, and even if I’m still captain, I want to cook us all a dinner for celebration on the way back to Mayaguez. Maybe you’ll even drink some wine.”

  “Good.” Anna did give a little smile. “Just as long as it doesn’t involve any of my chickens.”

  “No, no, they’re safe with me.”

  There was silence for a while. Then Anna spoke up again. “I’m really glad you say you’re coming back to Mayaguez on board.”

  Max was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

  “Once Cofresí’s arrested, or whatever they’re going to do to him, you could just fly from Key West back to Maine or wherever you’re going to go.”

  “No, I’ve been thinking over what you said about the tuna plant.”

  “Oh…?” Anna waited, but Max did not say more. “What about the tuna plant?” she asked eventually.

  “Oh, nothing,” Max said. “I’m still thinking… thinking about tuna and chickens. I’m trying to figure it all out.”

  “Oh…”

  While they were talking, Ms. Parker had gotten up and come back from the bow. She knocked lightly on the wheelhouse door, and Anna turned and motioned for her to come in.

  “Everything okay?” Ms. Parker asked.

  “Shipshape and steady as she goes,” Max reported with a quick salute.

  Anna nodded. “Yeah, we’re doing good.”

  “Good.” Parker smiled. “I told Cofresí I wanted to be alone for a while, so I could stay out of his way.”

  “I’ve just got one request for you,” Anna said. “I want it dark as we can get it when we go into that Navy base tonight. The sky’ll be clear. Thank God we won’t have much moon. That and the stars will be enough to guide me. Much more light, and Cofresí might see enough to give away our change of landing.”

  Parker smiled. “I plan to do my best to keep him occupied when the time comes.”

  “Good.” Anna nodded. “He’ll be looking for his people. They’re supposed to be waiting at this deserted dock with a truck.”

  “Oh, did he give you the location? My people might want to show up there and surprise them too.”

  Anna got the map Cofresí had given her, and the two women briefly consulted on the location.

  “While Cofresí’s eating, I’ll go back out on the bow and call my people,” Ms. Parker said.

  “Captain Jim told me dinner’s at six,” Max volunteered. He looked among the instruments and found the clock. “Not too long now.”

  “Good.” Ms. Parker smiled. “Maybe it won’t seem too much longer before this is all over.”

  “We can do,” Max assured her. “So far, I think, we’re doing fine.”

  Ms. Parker looked from one of them to the other. “When this is all over, if we have a chance in Key West, I should buy you both a drink for doing so well.”

  “Okay,” Anna agreed. “And Merilee, or Ms. Parker, or whatever you’re really called, when we’re back in Mayaguez, come by the La Salida sometime and you can have one on me.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Ms. Parker smiled. “And you can call me Firehouse. It’s kind of fun.” She left the wheelhouse and went below.

  “Thought you didn’t like her,” Max said after she had gone.

  “I still don’t, really, but maybe she’s not such a bad person…I don’t know.”

  “Yeah,” Max halfheartedly agreed. “Not so bad for a federal agent, anyway, I suppose.”

  Chapter 14

  Darkness fell, and Anna took over the wheel. There were stars and just a little more hint of a crescent moon than the night before. Anna had the dark, calm night she had been hoping for. Max remained with her in the wheelhouse at his post.

  Ms. Parker sat with Cofresí in the galley, hoping to keep him calm and distract him if she needed to. Captain Jim tended to his chores with the chickens and cleaned up the galley from the remains of the dinner he had made. Captain Bob played himself a game of solitaire using an empty space on the padded bench beside him to lay out his cards. The big casket still dominated the galley as it had since its arrival on board.

  Anna was totally focused on the task at hand. She quickly pointed to the radar screen. “They’re pulling closer.”

  “Now we know who they are, I suppose that should be reassuring,” Max answered.

  “Cofresí wants me to call him up on deck when we’re less than a mile out,” Anna said. “I’m not going to do it. We’re going full speed ahead. I want to land before he realizes we’re there.”

  “I like your plan. I’d order the crew to shovel more coal on the fire, but this isn’t that kind of boat.”

  “Maybe we should toss off a little of our extra weight, like that trombone case back there.”

  “Naw, Parker might need that for evidence or something.”

  “I suppose. Before I knew she was a government agent and on our side, I would have said to throw her off as well.”

  “Yes, things changed for the better when she revealed herself as Merilee K. Framingham, or whatever the name is on that ID.”

  “I suppose,” Anna agreed again. “Maybe she’s okay, but I think Señorita Parque de Bombas fits a lot better.”

  Time passed. Then they both saw just the hint of lights in the distance ahead.

  “Okay, I’m gonna start slowing down just a little,” Anna said. “I don’t want Cofresí to feel us suddenly slow down when I prepare to dock.”

  “Not good form to slam into the dock on our landing,” Max said. “You know your stuff, for sure.”

  “Right. I’m not going in correctly with the tide or anything, this time. I’ll pass the buoys correctly and follow the channel I saw on the map, but that’s about all.”

  As they continued, they both kept glancing at the radar screen and looking around out the window to th
eir rear.

  “They are getting closer,” Anna reported. “But they must have their lights off just like we do.”

  “I hope their pilot is as good as you.”

  Anna slowed a little more. “We’ll find out, won’t we?”

  The lights on shore were becoming more visible, but nothing was distinguishable at their present distance.

  There was no sign of activity from below. Anna continued to steer, intent on her instruments, while Max watched the lights of Key West grow steadily bigger and brighter.

  “At the last minute, I’m gonna send you down to get my father and Captain Jim. They’ll need to be ready at the bow and stern. You can lie to Cofresí. Tell him we’re still a ways out. We’ll be slowing a lot, so he might not buy it. But he might.”

  “Worth a try,” Max agreed. “He doesn’t seem heavy into the rum tonight, and that’s a goddamned shame…” Max glanced over at the statues. “Sorry,” he added.

  “Wish I knew the good guys’ exact plan. Are they going to board us from land and from the boat behind us as well?” Anna looked at the radar screen again. “They’re almost right up to our stern. God, this is going to be like an old-time pirate raid.”

  Time seemed to pass excruciatingly slowly for them then, though in real time it passed quite quickly.

  The Señorita Anna passed a series of blinking buoys, left and right, Anna steering correctly, by the book. Then she swung toward an area that seemed a little darker than those on either side. “That must be Mallory Square to our left,” Anna said. “Get ready to meet the good ol’ US Navy, or whoever they better have waiting for us.”

  Max would have tensed, but he already was more tense than he had ever been before.

  “Soon,” Anna said. She throttled down quickly this time. “Okay, go!”

  “Okay!” Max bolted out of the wheelhouse door and ran across the deck. “Captain Bob! Captain Jim! Up on deck!” he shouted as he practically fell down the ladder to the galley. The two captains were startled by Max’s sudden urgency, but they jumped up and pushed past him. Max looked around and spotted Cofresí. He was over on the other side of the big casket. “We don’t need you yet,” he lied. “We’re not nearly in port yet.” Then Max realized that Ms. Parker was sitting on Cofresí’s lap.