Smugglers 1: Nikki

by Gerald McCallum

  The next morning Dave was gone and Mercedes went over to Nikki’s for coffee.

  “Nikki, where is your two million dollars? I showed you mine, now you show me yours,” Mercedes smiled.

  “It’s hidden here, of course. Why do you ask?” Nikki asked.

  “Just to be fair; you said we can’t spend any of the money,” replied Mercedes.

  Nikki was instantly suspicious. Something was up so she’d better keep an eye on Mercedes.

  Nikki couldn’t hear anything going on or being said in Mercedes’ apartment at night by standing in the hall and listening at her door, which she had done on occasion. After midnight, she went to Mercedes’ door to listen but heard nothing. By the third night she heard Dave laughing with Mercedes. They were drinking and talking. Maybe she just needed to get laid by someone of the opposite sex, something Nikki could understand.

  Mercedes kept going to Nikki’s apartment at night for dinner and afterward they spent hours in the bedroom exploring one another’s bodies. Mercedes knew just how to make Nikki come to climax, which Nikki then did for her lover.

  On the fifth night Mercedes once again broached the subject of where the two million dollars was hidden. This time Nikki had an answer. “Upstairs in Glenn’s apartment, of course.”

  The next morning Nikki set a trap by putting one of her hairs across the door of Glenn’s apartment. She used spit so it would hold. Now she would know if anyone opened the door. She then told Mercedes she would be in town all day.

  When she got home the hair was on the floor. “That asshole was up here trying to find my money!”

  Mercedes arrived at Nikki’s again that night, but Nikki didn’t let on that she knew. This time she told Mercedes that she had to go to town again in the morning and would be gone for the day. When Mercedes went home, Nikki went upstairs and put another hair on the door to make sure.

  About 1 o’clock that night Nikki went to Mercedes apartment door again to listen, and she heard Dave talking about Glenn’s apartment. Now she was sure that Dave was in on something with Mercedes. She went home and lay in bed devising a plan.

  Dawn came early. Nikki got up and made some coffee, still trying to figure things out. Dave and Mercedes were a problem, a big problem. Dave was a drunk and Mercedes was a hooker and loose on coke. Nikki had to protect herself and her money. Soon it was 10:30, so she told Mercedes that she had a lawyer’s appointment that would take most of the day.

  Nikki went into town. When she got there she went into the coffee shop for breakfast and saw the Chief of Police. After saying hello she asked where Dave was. The Chief told her Dave had the day off for personal reasons. She ordered a breakfast of eggs and toast. After she ate, she ran a bunch of errands, knowing that Mercedes wouldn’t be up until noon or one.

  She decided to pick up some stash. At the dealer’s place, she bought two eight balls, explaining that some people were leaving tomorrow morning for Key West, that they came back every year and were good customers, so he should make it out of his private stash. It had to be very, very good, she insisted. Then she went into a hamburger joint and got three straws. Next was a trip to the drug store for shower caps. Then she headed home, calling Mercedes first to let her know she was on her way.

  Back at her place, she counted out six valium, thirty milligrams each, which she ground up. Now she was ready.

  She went upstairs to check Glenn’s door, and just as she had anticipated, the hair was gone. Now she was certain. She headed out to the dock where she ran into Mercedes, but Mercedes didn’t say anything about Dave; nothing at all. Nikki was certain Mercedes had made a deal with Dave. She resolved to put her plan to work as soon as possible.

  She continued down the dock and went to work. Jerry and Loretta wanted to come over that night for drinks and possibly more. Nikki had to decline because she had to work on her plan. She knew that Dave would be off on Saturday night so she arranged her plan for then.

  Nikki got together with Mercedes for drinks and sex that night. While both Mercedes and Dave were gone on Friday, she put two of the valium in Dave’s bottle of Jack Daniels and the other two in Mercedes’ bottle of vodka. She knew that Dave would sleep until 11 or noon and Mercedes would sleep until 2:00 or so, then they might start drinking around six. She put one half of an eight ball on a plate, then she went and got Mercedes and brought her back to the office. She told Mercedes that the Pipefitter had left it behind when they pulled out.

  She knew this would get Mercedes going and make her hot. Nikki knew Mercedes. If she did the lines, sex was only minutes away. Nikki made sure Mercedes had lots of lines before she left and gave her the rest, saying she had had a lot herself before Mercedes had arrived. Then Nikki told Mercedes that she had to work on the dock until about nine o’clock that night.

  Nikki went by Mercedes apartment about 7:00 p.m. and could hear her and Dave partying and drinking. She went back to her apartment, took a fast shower, got dressed in her sexiest shorts and see-through top, made a drink for herself and returned to Mercedes’ apartment. When Mercedes opened the door, Nikki said, “Well, are you going to invite me in, or do I have to bribe you with some of this?” She showed Mercedes the baggie full of pure coke.

  Mercedes invited her in and told her to take her clothes off. They both giggled. Nikki dumped the baggie on the plate and made six lines, thinking ‘so goes the lead dog, so goes the pack.’ They all had several more drinks and lots and lots of coke. Nikki made sure of that and pretended when she could.

  After about two hours, Nikki started to kiss Mercedes at the counter where the coke was. Dave got very hot and joined them, and they all started kissing while standing around the plate. Dave kissed first Nikki’s neck, sucking on her earlobes, then gave the same attention to Mercedes’. Nikki reached for Dave’s rigid penis, rubbing it until he groaned. She then asked him if he had his hand cuffs with him; he said no, but he would get them and headed out the door. Nikki started to unbutton Mercedes’ shirt and by the time Dave got back, both girls were topless. He was happily surprised and took off his shirt and pants, revealing how eager he was to continue the sexual party. They danced, took turns kissing one another and did more lines and more drinks. Both girls slipped out of their shorts, and all three kissed in the middle of the floor, which now had become the dance floor.

  Nikki breathed into Dave’s ear. “Well, cowboy, are you up for this?” She stroked between his legs. “Me and Mercedes feel like a real rodeo.”

  Dave, drunk and stoned, said he was more than ready, and Nikki led the two of them into Mercedes’ bedroom where she removed Mercedes’ panties. She pushed Dave onto the bed and removed her own bikini thongs. Mercedes leaned over Dave, kissing him on the mouth while Nikki climbed over Dave, straddling him. Mercedes clasped one of Nikki’s breasts which she then brought to her mouth, opening wide to suckle its fullness. Dave lifted his head and took Nikki’s other breast into his mouth, tonguing her nipple until she cried out for relief. He then turned to Mercedes’ breasts, giving her equal attention.

  Nikki knew she had them where she wanted them, locked in a mind-numbing sex act where nothing existed but their bodies and the pleasure they could give one another.

  “Where’re the handcuffs, Dave,” she breathed into his ear as he tugged on Mercedes’ breast. He pointed to the living room and she said she’d get them and the plate.

  When she came back into the room, Mercedes was riding Dave, her head thrown back as she pumped over his bucking hips. They never saw the shocking devise in Nikki’s hand. She put it to Mercedes’ head and pulled the trigger. Mercedes collapsed on top of Dave who had his eyes closed in the thralls of his climax, so he didn’t see Nikki’s hand. She put the device to Dave’s forehead and pulled the trigger; after a few convulsions, whether from the climax or the shock, he was out cold with Mercedes sprawled unconscious across his chest.

  Nikki rolled Mercedes to one side of the bed, then she handcuffed Dave’s hands to the low bedpost, his head hanging face up over t
he edge of the bed. She moved Mercedes parallel to Dave with her head also hanging face up over the edge.

  Nikki filled a syringe, the kind used on boats to repair wood rot, no needle, to the top with one hundred percent coke. She gave Dave two shots in the nose, and the same for Mercedes. She also gave Dave one full shot of pure coke in the condom he still wore, then went to the kitchen and got the straws and plate. She messed up the plate and put the straw up both of their noses, using both ends of the straw for DNA.

  Nikki felt both of their necks for pulses. Dave was dead, but not Mercedes, so Nikki put more coke in the syringe and shot it up Mercedes nose. Then she un-cuffed Dave and put him in the middle of the bed. She felt Mercedes’ neck again, and this time there was no heartbeat.

  She put a quarter gram of coke in a spray bottle with water and sprayed it around the bed and house in case the DEA brought a dog. This would make the dog hit on everything, everywhere, the dresser, the kitchen, and the rest. She took one more spin around the apartment and went home, taking all of her things with her.

  Nikki went on the dock around 9:00 the next morning, going to work as usual. She didn’t start knocking on Mercedes’ door until around two that afternoon. She unlocked the door with her pass key and yelled out Mercedes’ name a few times. Then she went in and found them cold and dead with foam coming out of both of their mouths and noses. She took a look around to make sure the cops wouldn’t know she had been there. Next she went to Dave’s apartment to look around and found a 380 automatic in his apartment that he had as a clean back up. Then she called the cops, crying, and went to her office.

  The cops and ambulance came in ten minutes and joined Nikki in her office. She pointed to Mercedes’ apartment; they walked with her and she let them in. They took a lot of pictures, and more cops came including the Chief of Police.

  They questioned Nikki for about two hours, asking if she knew that Mercedes and Dave did coke and that they were lovers. She told them that everyone in the Keys did coke, and that Dave and Mercedes had been lovers for about a year. She explained that their relationship was probably been based on money and coke. After all, Mercedes was a titty bar dancer and maybe did sex for money; she didn’t know for sure. Nikki said she knew that Mercedes had drinks with a lot of men.

  When the cops were done asking questions, Nikki went back to her office. Out of the corner of her eye she could see her ex-husband Bill sitting on his boat drinking and watching the goings on. Now she just had to be cool and wait for things to calm down so she could look for Mercedes’ money. She went to work on the dock and explained to everyone who stopped, what had happened to Dave and Mercedes.

  At the end of the day she went to Mercedes’ apartment to look around. She was careful not to leave anything and left the door open. She just looked. Where would Mercedes hide two million dollars? After looking the apartment over and getting some ideas where she might start, she left.

  CHAPTER 10

  The next morning about 10:00, Nikki called the Chief of Police and asked if she could start cleaning the apartment. She told him that she needed the rent money. The Chief told her to go ahead, that they were done with their investigation. The deaths were ruled an accidental overdose.

  Nikki felt like jumping for joy. She knew she would start on Dave’s apartment so it looked like she needed the rent; she would run an ad as soon as possible to confirm this, plus she could be in Mercedes’ apartment looking for her money longer.

  She checked the dock and told Mark that she was going to start cleaning the two apartments and run the ad. She packed up all of Dave’s and Mercedes’ stuff with both doors open. A couple of people, including the boys from upstairs stopped by, and this was perfect. She could cry a lot. She tore Mercedes’ place apart, top to bottom, behind every picture and everywhere. About five or six o’clock she went home, had a drink or two with dinner and then went to bed.

  During the night her eyes popped opened, and she said out loud, “She wouldn’t!” She got a flashlight then went across the dock to Mercedes’ apartment. She went straight to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. But no luck; the paint on the screws was still on them; they had not been touched. She set the flashlight down in the sink and pulled on the medicine cabinet. It didn’t move and the paint had not been disturbed on the edge of the medicine cabinet.

  She just stood there, then closed the cabinet door and in its reflection the flashlight hit and ricocheted off the mirror to the frosted plastic suspended ceiling above the shower. She could see the shadow of two bags in the ceiling above the stall. She turned with the light and as plain as day she saw the outline of two bags in the suspended ceiling.

  Nikki ran to get a chair out of the living room, putting it under the ceiling so she could open it, reaching her hand inside to touch one bag. She pulled it out, then grabbed the other bag. Both were full of money. She put the ceiling back and waiting until it was dark, she took the bags home, careful to avoid anyone out for a stroll. She hid them under the dock, next to hers.

  The next day on the dock she met her ex-husband. He said something about all the empty spaces and apartments, plus all the dead people who used to live on the dock. Nikki didn’t exchange any dialog with Bill; she just kept on walking.

  She went aboard the Sea Cactus for coffee and waved at Don who was on the back of his boat having Cuban coffee with two friends. Jerry and Loretta were on the Sea Cactus having regular coffee. The three of them made small talk about the dock and Dave and Mercedes for about an hour. They invited Nikki to the boat for dinner that evening, and she accepted, explaining that she didn’t like being alone after all that had happened on the dock during the last month. She she’d see them around six.

  Nikki went into town to get more cleaning supplies and patch for the walls. Both ceiling fans needed to be cleaned and painted as both Mercedes and Dave had been smokers. She got back and finished Dave’s apartment then went to work on Mercedes’ place. It needed a new mattress and box spring, too. She went next door to shower, have a drink, dress, and then go to the Sea Cactus for dinner. She made another drink and left. When she got on the boat they were already drinking. Most people in the Keys on a boat are on vacation and drink a lot. Jerry and Loretta were getting ready to burn three big steaks on the barbeque grill attached to the railing. They drank, smoked, laughed a lot, and drank some more.

  As they drank, the conversation went to Mercedes and how long they had been friends and what she had done for a living. Nikki told them that Mercedes was a titty bar dancer and turned tricks once in a while when she needed the money and that Dave was a town cop. As they ate and drank some more, the talk turned to the boat trip and sex. Loretta asked if Nikki had ever partied with Mercedes. Nikki said, “Only when drunk and stoned.” Loretta said, “Me too,” and they both laughed and drank some more.

  The next morning Nikki went to Mercedes’ apartment to finish painting. It was ready to rent. The ad would break on the weekend. Each apartment would rent furnished for nine hundred and fifty dollars.

  The next day Nikki went to Don’s boat for coffee, but she brought her own in a foam cup so she wouldn’t have to drink that Cuban stuff. Later she saw Jerry and Loretta and went down to their boat to thank them for dinner and drinks plus the company. Then she made her way down the dock to check things out. Bill was sitting in a chair on the back of his boat, drinking his morning coffee. As she walked by, he spoke under his breath, “I saw what you did.”

  Nikki didn’t turn or break her stride, but just kept on walking like she hadn’t hear a thing. Evan was on the dock re-tying his boat. She stopped to say hi. Even said he and Kathy just heard about Mercedes and Dave overdosing. Nikki thought to herself, ‘Evan is up on his slip rent for a change. Better keep him.’

  Nikki asked where Kathy was, and Evan told her at work. “She serves lunch then gets off ʼtil three then back on at five until they are slow or close.”

  Nikki made more small talk then went back to her office. She thought about what Bil
l had said, but he always had something bad to say to her anyhow.

  She went into town for dinner with the folks from the Sea Cactus and got home around 11:00 p.m. or so, but didn’t have them in for a night cap. She said she had to get some sleep, gave them both a kiss and said good night. She was awakened by the phone ringing. It was the first call on her ad. It was too expensive for them. Next she made some coffee and got dressed for the day while it was brewing.

  She had finished making some phone calls when the boys came in and told her the houseboat had a lean to the north. She thanked them and said she would take care of it with Mark first thing. When she went out on the dock, found Mark, and told him about the conversation with the boys. Mark said he would look into it right after coffee. Later, Mark came up through the hatch of the boat house and told Nikki that the problem was a water pipe that was leaking, and he had fixed it. He was all wet and dirty, but he had set up the fans and closed the hatch.

  The phone was ringing when Nikki returned to her office. It was a call for the apartment. They were coming over to look at it. About an hour later, a tall, thin girl named Rita showed up to look at Mercedes’ apartment. She had been to the marina a couple of times with Mercedes when they worked together at the club. She took the apartment for the first of the month and gave Nikki a deposit. ‘Good,’ Nikki thought to herself. ‘In nine days she will move in and pay me first and last. Only one apartment to go.’

  Nikki thought she had better leave the money where it was for now in case the cops showed up with a search warrant. She made a drink and walked down to the Sea Cactus. On the way, she ran into Evan and Kathy who lived together on the old forty-five foot wood Pacemaker. They both worked at bars and were late with the rent from time to time. They had tomorrow off, so they were drinking and Evan was stoned. Kathy would be that way soon as well. Nikki sat on their boat with them and drank and laughed. When she finished her drink she saw Jerry and Loretta come up and sit at their table with drinks. She told Evan and Kathy that she had a previous appointment on the Sea Cactus and left. When Nikki sat down on the Sea Cactus they made her a drink, and Jerry yelled over to Evan and Kathy to come over for a drink and then go to dinner with them. Evan and Kathy went over for drinks but begged off on dinner. They wanted to stay home. They spent six or seven days a week in a Bar/Restaurant dealing with demanding drunks at dinner. “Not you three,” Evan said, and they all laughed.