by Jana DeLeon
I lowered the scope and motioned to Ida Belle to look for herself. She lifted her scope and scanned to the point I indicated, then dropped her scope and stared at me.
“What the hell?” she whispered.
I shook my head, at a total loss.
The man inside was Hank Eaton. I recognized him from a picture Gertie had shown me. But he was bound and gagged.
“Do you think the supplier did that?” Ida Belle asked.
“Maybe…I don’t know. If it was the supplier then how does Lucas fit in? His presence here can’t be a coincidence.”
“Maybe Lucas has orders from the supplier?”
“It doesn’t work like that. Delivery boys and cleaners are two different jobs and two different types of people. Something is so very wrong with all of this. What are we missing?”
“I don’t know, but we can’t leave him there like that. By the time we send Riker here, Lucas could have returned, killed him, and tossed the body in the swamp. Everything we say will sound like the rantings of crazy people.”
“So what? We stroll in there and free the man who tried to kill Carter?”
“We take him prisoner.”
“What?” It was all I could do not to yell. “You want to kidnap a gun-smuggling murderer? And do what, take him to Francine’s for dinner?”
“Turn him in to Riker.”
A felt a rise of panic. “I can’t hand someone over to the ATF. They’d unravel my cover until I was standing naked on Main Street.”
“You’re right. Okay, then we get him back to town and Gertie and I will turn him over.”
I shook my head. “He’ll tell the ATF I was involved.”
Ida Belle bit her lower lip. “I’ll blindfold him and we’ll tell Gertie not to talk. That way he hears two voices, and that’s it. By the time this goes to trial, he won’t know the difference between you and Gertie on the stand, and even if he makes claims, who’s going to believe him?”
I took in a huge breath and slowly blew it out. It was a big risk with too many things that could go wrong, but what was the alternative? Leaving him here for the supplier to do a kill-and-dump? Then Carter was unprotected and all of this was for nothing.
“Okay. I’ll get closer and make sure the structure is clear. You enter and blindfold Hank, then I’ll come in. Try to do all the talking. If I have to, I’ll whisper and attempt a Southern accent. That will make it harder for him to match later on.”
Ida Belle nodded. I lifted my Glock and crept up to the edge of the structure, from the far left side. I eased down and slid over until I could peer directly into the narrow window.
Hank sat in a chair to the right of my position and facing a door on the wall just around the corner from me. His hands and feet were bound with handcuffs and duct-taped to a metal chair that was chained to the floor. A bandanna was stuffed in his mouth with duct tape wrapped around his head. From everything I could see, he presented no risk to anyone entering the structure.
I motioned to Ida Belle, who crept out of the swamp and to the front door. Hank froze, his eyes wide, when he heard Ida Belle outside. I could see beads of sweat rolling down his head and neck. Then Ida Belle swung the door open and stepped inside, and his expression went from stark fear to ultimate confusion.
“I’m going to remove this from your mouth,” Ida Belle said, “but if you yell, I will shoot you. Do you understand?”
He expression said that he didn’t understand in the least, but he nodded. Ida Belle cut the duct tape and pulled the bandanna from his mouth. He sucked in a huge gulp of air, then coughed violently, shaking the chair.
“Ida Belle?” he asked, his voice raspy. “I don’t understand.”
“Yeah, well, neither do I,” Ida Belle said, “and things are only going to get more confusing from here on out. I’m going to blindfold you.”
“No!”
“You don’t have a choice. You’re less of a threat to me if you can’t see to maneuver. So it’s the blindfold or I turn around and leave you here just like I found you.”
“Fine. The blindfold is fine.”
I could hear the desperation in his voice. He had no idea why Ida Belle was there, but I don’t think he cared. His only thought was probably whether or not she could get him out of there alive.
Ida Belle took the bandanna that had been stuffed in his mouth and unrolled it, then tied it around his eyes. She checked it for stability, then motioned for me to come in.
“My partner is here with me,” Ida Belle said, “and we need some answers. First, did you fake your death so that you could smuggle guns through the Gulf and into Sinful?”
“Yes, but—”
“Just yes or no for now,” Ida Belle interrupted.
I bent down and went to work on the cuffs and duct tape around Hank’s legs.
“Were you in this with Lucas Riley,” Ida Belle asked, “and is he the one who tied you up?”
“Yes and yes.”
“Do you know when he’s coming back?”
“No. He said he had to get the boss, and then they’d take care of me.”
I looked at Ida Belle and shrugged.
“Who’s the boss?” Ida Belle asked.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Hank said. “My boss isn’t here. He’s never been here that I’m aware of.”
“I assume you’re referring to the man representing the supplier. Would Lucas have a way to contact this man?”
“Not that I know of. Lucas was the pickup man. That’s it. I deliver. He picks up. No one knows more than one contact forward and back along the chain. That’s how it’s done.”
Ida Belle looked over at me and I nodded. His description was typical. It was always in a criminal organization’s best interest if its supply lines knew as little as possible of and about one another. That way if under duress, an employee could only provide information about two other employees, no more.
I finished with Hank’s legs and moved to his arms, removing the duct tape but leaving the handcuffs in place.
“Why did you do it, Hank?” Ida Belle asked.
His expression turned sad. “It was stupid. I know. But the baby was sick and without health insurance, we couldn’t get the treatments he needed. I was shrimping one night a couple miles off the coast and a man approached me with an offer.”
“To smuggle guns.”
Hank nodded. “I should have said no, but it’s like he knew exactly what to say. He told me that if I disappeared and my boat sank, Laurel could collect the life insurance money and get my son the treatment he needed.”
“But you’d never be able to return to Sinful,” Ida Belle said.
“The amount of money he offered me was stupid. I thought if I could stockpile enough of it, then I could take Laurel and the baby and disappear. You know, like those shows you see on TV—new town, new identity, everything. The money would buy us the credentials we’d need and time to start over somewhere else.”
“Away from everything and everyone you ever knew. Just like that?”
“Laurel doesn’t have any family left to speak of, and my family already thinks I’m dead, so it wouldn’t have changed anything for them.”
“Except their grandson disappearing.”
“Yeah, look, I know it sounds bad, but at the time, it seemed like the only way I could keep my baby from dying.”
“So Laurel knew you were doing this?”
“No! I couldn’t put her at risk. Better she think I’m dead than something go wrong and the people I work for come after her. It was only supposed to be for a year. That was my plan.”
“But Lucas knew.”
“Yeah. My boss needed someone in Sinful to pick up the weapons. I suggested Lucas. That way, I could have him look out for Laurel, feed her money along as she needed it.”
“How did he do that without telling her where it came from?”
“He told her it was charity—anonymous donations and stuff.”
I tapped Ida Belle
and motioned to the door. I wanted answers as much as she did, but I was more concerned about Lucas’s return with the boss.
“Okay,” Ida Belle said, “this is what’s going to happen. We’re going to take you into Sinful and turn you over to the ATF, who are here looking for you. I know that wasn’t your plan, but I figure they’re a better option than the boss.”
“The ATF is in Sinful?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
His shoulders slumped with relief. “I didn’t think they’d believe me.”
Ida Belle stared. “Wait. You brought the ATF to Sinful? What about your escape plan?”
He shook his head. “It wasn’t going to happen the way I’d thought. These men I’m dealing with…the deeper in I got, the more I realized I didn’t have the knowledge or the connections to get off their radar.”
“You were going to turn state’s evidence in exchange for immunity and a new identity.”
Hank nodded.
“One last thing,” Ida Belle said. “Did you shoot Carter LeBlanc?”
“What? No! I swear.”
His surprise was genuine. I looked over at Ida Belle and shook my head. He wasn’t lying. I mouthed “Lucas” and Ida Belle nodded.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Ida Belle said.
We each grabbed an arm and helped him up from the chair. His legs were weak from being bound so long, but with one of us on each side, we were able to get him out of the cabin and into the swamp. The farther we walked, the more his mobility returned until he was able to walk without losing his balance, albeit much slower than I would have liked.
We were about twenty yards from the bank when I saw the flare. I pointed up and pulled Hank off the path and into the brush, yanking Ida Belle along with him.
“What the hell—” Hank started.
“Someone’s coming,” Ida Belle whispered. “Get down and stay quiet.”
Hank clamped his mouth shut and dropped into a squat. Ida Belle and I sank down behind him and listened as footsteps approached. A couple seconds later, Lucas passed by us at a fast clip. I held up a finger to Ida Belle and waited another five seconds before hauling Hank up and hurrying down the path to the bank. About ten feet from the edge of the bank, while we were still hidden by the swamp, I pulled out my flare gun and waited.
Five seconds. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds.
Two minutes is what I figured it would take Lucas to reach the cabin. I wanted him as far away as possible before we made a break for it, but I knew as soon as he saw that Hank was missing, he’d come running. When I hit one minute fifty seconds, I lifted my flare gun and fired. A second later, I heard the boat roar to a start and race down the bayou. I waited until Gertie had almost reached us, then burst out of the swamp and tossed Hank into the bottom of the boat.
He hit the bottom with a thud and didn’t move, but a couple of bruises or a bump on the head were the least of his worries. I bailed into the boat to the left of him, and Ida Belle jumped off to the right. Our feet barely touched down before Gertie took off. I half shoved, half dragged the unconscious Hank into a corner between the passenger seat and the cabin wall while Ida Belle took over as boat captain. I took a step down into the cabin where only my head was visible above the back of the boat, and reached for my binoculars. As long as Lucas thought only Gertie and Ida Belle were on the boat, I was still an advantage.
I trained my binoculars down the channel, praying that Lucas had boat trouble or fell and broke his leg. Something. When we reached the intersection of the channel and the lake, I saw Lucas burst out of the swamp and jump into his shrimp boat. A second later it shot away from the bank.
“He’s coming,” I said.
Ida Belle swung the boat around into the corner into the lake, sending Gertie sprawling onto the bottom. She flopped around and managed to get upright about the time Ida Belle got the vessel straightened out. Ida Belle pressed the accelerator down and the boat leaped forward and rushed across the smooth top of the lake. Gertie flipped over backward and crashed into the back of the boat.
“I’ll just stay here,” she said.
I lifted my binoculars and kept watching behind and saw Lucas’s boat swing around the corner far sooner than I’d hoped.
“He’s gaining on us,” I said. “Can’t you go any faster?”
“It’s already floored,” Ida Belle said. “It’s a cabin cruiser. It wasn’t made for speed.”
I hurried to the front window of the cabin and peered outside. My hands clenched the trim around the window and I realized I was pushing it, as if to try to make the boat go faster. “The radio!” I dashed back and pointed at the CB under the dash. “Call for help.”
Ida Belle changed the channel on the radio and brought the mouthpiece up. “Mayday! This is Ida Belle and Gertie. We’re headed southwest on Lake Pete and are being pursued by gun smugglers. They are shooting at us. Send help. Repeat, this is Ida Belle and Gertie and we are being pursued by the man who shot Deputy LeBlanc. Send help now!”
“You think someone will hear it?” I asked.
“That’s the sheriff’s department’s channel. There’s a CB at dispatch.”
A couple seconds later, Myrtle’s voice came over the radio. “The ATF was here when your transmission came through. They’re en route now. Can you give me your position?”
Ida Belle glanced around and shouted off some landmarks to Myrtle.
“I’m calling for more backup,” Myrtle said. “Keep your head down and the boat floored.”
I looked at the radio and shook my head. The woman was fainting in the hospital two days before and now she was barking orders like Dirty Harry. I glanced back and saw that Lucas had closed the gap by half. Unless I did something, by the time backup got here, it would all be over.
I grabbed the binoculars and tossed them to Gertie. “Sight for me.”
She rose to a kneeling position at the back of the boat and put the binoculars up to her face. I pulled out my pistol and steadied myself as best I could and took aim at Lucas. I squeezed the trigger, then lowered my pistol and looked at Gertie. She turned around and shook her head.
“I think it went left.”
I steadied myself and took aim again, squeezing off another two rounds.
Gertie turned around and shook her head.
Damn it. With a rifle, I would have had a much better chance, but a pistol combined with the distance and the movement of not one but two boats made the shot next to impossible. Because we’d only planned on surveillance, we’d only brought the light stuff—handguns, scopes, binoculars, and the fishing equipment. Did I wait for Lucas to get closer, increasing my chances at a good shot?
A second later, I had my answer.
“He pulling out an AK-47,” Gertie said.
A second later, a spray of bullets showered the boat, splintering wood and piercing holes through the safety glass windows. Gertie and Ida Belle hit the deck and I ducked lower in the cabin, throwing my arms over my head as the shower of plastic and wood came down over me. Ida Belle reached up with one hand to hold the steering wheel straight, leaving the accelerator on full throttle. She grabbed the radio.
“This is Ida Belle. We are being fired upon. I repeat, we are being fired upon with an AK-47.”
“Holy shit!” Myrtle’s voice came over the radio several seconds later. “I’ve yelled at the ATF to go faster and I’m trying to scramble a helicopter from one of the local oil rigs. Hang in there!”
I lifted my pistol and took aim, squeezing off another three rounds. I didn’t have to ask if I’d hit. A second wave of bullet spray from the AK-47 was my answer.
“We’re taking on water,” Ida Belle said and pointed to the water seeping through the bottom and sides of the boat. “I don’t know how much farther we can make it.”
I ran to the front of the cabin and checked our position again. The island where Carter and I had our romantic dinner was just to the left about a hundred yards away. I rushed back to Ida Belle. “Head for the is
land. We can split up on land.”
Ida Belle glanced over at Hank, who was bobbing around loose on the bottom of the boat. “What about him?”
“If that’s what Lucas wants,” I said, “he can have him. I’m not risking the three of us for a gunrunner.”
Ida Belle gave me a grim nod. She didn’t like it any more than I did, but what choice did we have? Our deaths wouldn’t solve anything, but if Lucas got access to Hank, he may be smart enough to take him out, then bail before the cavalry arrived. He would expect us to call for help, which meant his time was limited and he knew it. I hoped if we scattered on the island, he’d choose to flee rather than pursue.
Another spray of bullets hit the boat and I cringed as the water poured in through the floor twice as fast as before. “We’re not going to make it,” Ida Belle said.
Hank started to stir and sat up. “What happened?”
“Your buddy is trying to kill us,” I said. “This boat is about to sink. Get ready to swim for your life.”
I ripped his blindfold off; no reason left to conceal my identity from him. He stared up at me, his dark brown eyes full of fear and regret. Too little, too late.
“We’re done,” Ida Belle said as the front of the boat crashed down on top of the water, bringing the entire craft to an abrupt stop.
Chapter Eighteen
I yanked Hank up from the bottom of the boat and shoved him overboard. His hands were still cuffed, but his legs were free. Ida Belle and Gertie both bailed over the side. I took one glance back and estimated Lucas at a hundred yards away.
He still hasn’t seen you.
The cabin was already a quarter full of water and sinking fast. I waded through to the front and popped the hatch on top. I pulled myself up through the hatch onto my belly, making sure I kept my body below the cabin where Lucas couldn’t see me. I checked the bank for an entry point and saw a reef of marsh grass about thirty yards to my right. I secured my pistol in my waistband and rolled off the front of the boat and into the water.
As soon as I dropped below the surface, I set out for the grouping of marsh grass I’d identified. Visibility was low, the sunlight making only the very top of the lake clear enough to see, but it was enough to gauge my depth. Direction was entirely up to me. I kicked with all my might, shoving my arms back with every ounce of strength that I had.