by Denise Irwin
Sam laughed, “That’s okay, since we’re not far from Puerto Rico. As soon as you’re dressed, come take the wheel, so I can get my clothes back on.”
He returned to the cockpit with a cold beer and a stainless steel wine cup for Leona. “How’re we doing Skipper?”
“I think we’re still on course, but feel free to check. I’ve been tempted to head out to sea and sail to the other side of the world.”
“We could do that.”
“Listen, stay on the wheel a little longer, I want to call Sue’s house to see how her guest is doing.”
Leona laughed at the thought of heading out to sea. In her heart she wished it were true, but alas, her husband was due in court in just over a week, and for some crazy reason, she needed to find a job. She listened to Sam as he called Sue’s house.
“Hey babe, yep it’s me. I wanted to make sure everything was okay there.”
Sam chuckled, “Is that right? How’s her attitude?”
“Sure, if she’s right there. So, my dear, how are you doing?”
“I wish I could as well, but trust me you’ll be in good hands.”
“Maybe, but remember, if Leona comes with me, you can’t see her.”
“She and I would be staying together. Leona could leak top secret information and then we’d be in a pickle.”
The conversation turned serious. “That very thought’s been nagging me as well.”
“If that happens there’s nothing we can do to stop it. I don’t think Smyth or Frankel would go for a plea agreement. Maybe I’m wrong, which means it could happen. Just remember it’s likely that his boss is pissed enough to take him out, and in that case we all go home.”
“Don’t worry about it. Your head is getting ready for the upcoming shit. We’re having a blast. My wife is hinting to the possibility of sailing off into the sunset.”
“We’re heading to Puerto Rico.”
“Yes ma’am, she’s on the helm.”
“Let me see, we started in St. Thomas for two days, then we went to St. Martin for two days. After that, we anchored down in St. Bart for two days. We’ll do Puerto Rico for a day or so, and then it’s back to St. Thomas. Sure.”
“Leona, let me take the helm, Cassie wants to say hello.”
“Cassie, how’s it going?”
“Not bad, Sam tells me you want to sail off into the sunset.”
“I do, and you know I just might.”
“If you do, come get me. Are you coming with Sam?”
“We haven’t really talked about it, but I’m unemployed, so what the hell. Will you come back to Sue and Neal’s house?”
“They both said they were willing to take me back so, I’ll be here.”
“Great, we’ve taken lots of photos. We’re going shopping in Puerto Rico, so we’ll have gifts too.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“Yes I do. Sam said I can’t bring them home on the plane, so I’ll ship them home.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re having a wonderful time. I guess I’ll see you at Sue’s.”
“Okay, that’s a plan.”
When she hung up with Cassie, Leona asked Sam, “Can I call my mom?”
“Of course you can.”
Nancy was still at work, so when Leona called her office line, Nancy’s voice mail answered the call. “Ma, it’s me, Leona Marksman, your daughter, who wants to let you know, that Sam and I are having a wonderful Caribbean honeymoon adventure. I’ll call when we get home.”
Sam followed his bride in an out of every tee-shirt stand and tourist trap in Puerto Rico. She generously allowed him to carry her bags, which he found quite amusing. He was about to tell her that he couldn’t carry any additional bags when she smiled, that oh so special smiles and told him, “I think we’re done. I’ll check to make sure once we’re on the boat, but I think I’ve got everyone something.”
“Did you get the mailman a gift?”
“No I didn’t.”
“Then I suppose you think we’re not really done.”
“Do you think we should get the mailman a gift? I will if you think I should.”
“Do you know why women live longer than men?”
“Do they? I never knew that.”
“Yes they do, because women have their husbands lugging bags of junk around.”
“Don’t be so silly.”
“Let’s dump this shit on the boat. Since we’re docked at a marina, we’ll have dinner ashore.”
“That is an excellent idea! I’m in the mood for a margarita”
“I’m game for anything that gets you out of your shopping mode.”
“Husband, there are times when you are a complete pain in the ass.”
Leona changed into a summer dress and sandals after stowing her gifts away. Sam whistled when she climbed back into the cockpit. “You look great. Let’s go, I’d like to show off my bride, before the sun goes down.”
They stopped in several sidewalk cafés, eating appetizers and drinking their way through the port village. Leona lost count of how many margaritas she’d had. She told Sam, “I’m close to getting all giggly.”
“That’s okay, when you get giggly, you also become quite amorous. I may even have to take the boat out of the slip and go anchor down somewhere so that the neighbors won’t hear you squeal.”
“I don’t squeal.”
“Oh, yes, you do.”
One of Sal's contacts, called to LoVerde to tell him that Sal wanted to meet with him at a local bar. “Sal, I went to the prison today. They have him totally secure. He’s in solitary confinement, which means we can’t get any of your boys in the prison to do the job.”
“So then Tony, what do you plan to do about this little problem?”
“Sal, he’s facing capital punishment and he’s guilty of everything he’s been charged with. I say let this thing play itself out.”
Sal pointed his finger at the attorney. “Is that the best you can come up with?”
“We’re sitting between a rock and a hard place. If you manage to have him eliminated in prison, whoever does the job will want some sort of favor from you. If that happens, trust me, he’ll spread the word that he did you a favor. Do you really want that to happen?”
Sal pondered that thought for a moment. “That asshole is gonna squeal sure as the sun comes up at dawn. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Think about this for a minute, after what he’s done, do you think he’ll be let go?”
“Tony, don’t talk to me as if I’m a child. They’ll put him into that Witness Security Program the Marshals run.”
“Do what you want, but I’m telling you, you need to back off this one or we’ll all end up in jail.”
“Is that right? If Grossman fingers me, I’m going away until I die. Before that happens I will make sure, you don’t see your next birthday. Do you get my fucking drift?”
After three days in Puerto Rico, Sam suggested they spend two nights anchored near St. John Island. “It’ll be a nice sail for the day. If you want to sail tomorrow, we sail to the other side of the island. Do you have any objection to sailing?”
“None at all, and for the record, since we only have a couple of days left, I’d love to get in a couple more days of sailing, so sailing to the other side of St. John works for me”
“Well then my sensible wife, we’ll sail from one side of the island to the other side twice.”
Leona laughed at him. “Sam Marksman even though I think you are crazy at time, I love you.”
Once they anchored the Island Hopper in a small isolated cove, Leona shimmied out of her bathing suit and stood bare ass naked on the deck rail outside the lifeline. “Wanna race to the beach?”
“What’s the winner’s prize?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Well then, if you can’t tell me, why should I race you to the beach?”
Leona winked at him with her most come-hither wink and dove into the water. She was s
everal laps ahead before he joined her in the water. Sam was a much better swimmer than Leona was. He hit the beach long before her and lay in the surf waiting to see what his prize was. Leona swam to the beach and joined him in the surf.
“Mrs. Marksman, I believe there was a prize associated with this little race of yours.”
“Yes, Mr. Marksman, there is. Your wife is the prize.”
They made love in the rolling surf and then rolled over on their backs, letting the water cover their bodies. Leona laid there for as long as she could, but when the sand crabs appeared, she jumped up and ran through the incoming surf. Just before she dove into the waves, she yelled to Sam, “Let’s Race Back!”
When she reached the boarding ladder, she looked for him in the water and saw he wasn’t even close to the boat.
She waved to him and called out, “I win.”
As Sam climbed the boarding ladder, he laughed and asked Leona, “Please share with me what you won.”
“You cook dinner this evening.”
“You are going to be so surprised when you see what I have in mind.”
“Well then, I just might need to rest up. Captain, do I have time for a nap?”
“Yes you do.”
A guard served Grossman dinner on a tray that barely fit through the slot in the cell door. Inmates in solitary confinement aren't entitled to a table or chair in the cell. Grossman thought to himself as he sat on his bed to eat his dinner. Guess these assholes are afraid we’ll commit suicide by hanging ourselves from the ceiling using the cobwebs as a noose. He choked down what they called food. The opening in the door had a little shelf on the hall side. Grossman put his tray on the shelf, and then went back to the only piece of furniture in his room, the bed.
He lay on his back trying to count how many days he’d been in this hellhole. He’d lost track what seemed a while back. LoVerde was such an asshole in his mind. LoVerde was more intent on saving his own hide, and he showed up just to make sure Grossman rat Sal out. He had every intention to kill that fucking FBI agent. He was taking his time to get the job done right. Sal likes to move fast, while he prefers to play a little cat and mouse when the target is a woman. He had no idea who the bastard in the courtroom was. He also did not know who turned him in, but promised himself; he’d kill whoever it was before he died.
Grossman wasn’t sure how long he lay on the bed because those fuckers didn’t have a clock in his cell, but he started to feel cramps in his stomach. Grossman was sure it was the food. The goons in the kitchen had no cooking skills. The food tasted like dog shit. He knew the cramps were a result of the dinner they fed him. Grossman sat up thinking if he sat up, his nausea would pass. If he’d lain down on a full stomach, it was likely that was what made him feel sick. The prison kitchen had three menu items, chicken and potatoes, beef stew, chicken and rice. They gave the inmates salads, if you called a bowl of lettuce a salad. Oh yes, and there was always a piece of some half-rotten fruit.
Sitting up didn’t help, so Grossman stood. He paced the small cell hoping to walk off the intensifying cramps in his stomach. Grossman knew he was going to vomit, but before he reached the toilet, he spewed vomit around the small cell. His legs buckled and he fell to the floor. He dragged his body through what was once his dinner to the cell door. He banged his fist on the door screaming for the guard.
Grossman had passed out in his own vomit by the time the guard unlocked the cell door. The guard radioed the infirmary requesting a medical team. Grossman was unconscious when the gurney rolled down the hall to the infirmary.
It didn’t take the prison doctor long to assess the situation. He picked up the phone and told the Warden to come to the infirmary immediately.
When the Warden walked through the door, the doctor told him, “This prisoner has been poisoned. He needs a transport to the hospital.”
“Are you sure doc? Grossman was in solitary confinement.”
“I don’t know what was used to poison him. Without the proper equipment here in the prison infirmary, I can’t urge you enough that this prisoner is going to die if he’s not taken to the hospital.”
The Warden nonchalantly said, “Is that right? In that case, have the guards take him to the hospital.”
“He needs to be transported in an ambulance, not a prisoner transport van.”
“We don’t have an ambulance.” The Warden left the Infirmary.
In Baltimore, Sue asked Cassie if there was anything, she could do for her.
“I wish there was. I’m just feeling a little lost at the moment. Isn’t it time to bring the dogs in from playtime?”
“It is, let’s go out and round up the mongrels.”
“Sam, can we stay another night in this anchorage? It’s too beautiful to leave.”
“Of course we can, as long as we do another race to the beach.”
“Will it be for the same prize?”
“Yes ma’am, it will.”
“Then, you’re on.”
As they lay naked in the sand, Leona told Sam, “Sam, am I behaving like a loose woman by swimming naked and loving the feel of the water on my skin?”
“I don’t think so, and I gotta tell ya, I do love looking at your golden brown skin with absolutely no tan lines.”
She giggled, “I don’t it’s really a golden tan. It’s more like a red tan, since I burned the other day. You are all brown and I love it. Cassie asked me if I was going to join you for the trip to Atlantic City. I need to go back to work on Monday.”
“Why, if John’s last day was October 31, he won’t be there?”
“If John recommended a severance package for me, I won’t be given that option if I don’t show up for work.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember you telling me that. So, you’re right, it’s probably best if you stay home. It’s my guess that I’ll be gone for no more than a week.”
“I’ll leave the porch light on. Bailey and I will be fine.”
In New Jersey, LoVerde needed to get in touch with Cappella, and to do that, he needed to make a call to a contact number. The contact would call yet another unknown contact that would make the call to Cappella. Someone in Cappella’s mob hired LoVerde to represent Grossman. LoVerde didn't know the name of the person who deposited LoVerde’s fees into his bank account. He’d worked defendant other mob associates and it was a common practice to funnel funds through someone else. He was smart enough to know Cappella wanted no association or trail that would alert the authorities that he was involved with Grossman.
Tony waited anxiously for the anonymous contact to call him back. He watched the clock in his office. Communication with the mob boss was a long and arduous wait, but LoVerde waited. Cappella had gone too far and LoVerde was not going to be his next target if he could help it.
When the contact returned his call, LoVerde simply said, “I need a face-to-face.”
LoVerde needed wait again as call transferred back to Cappella.
The Island Hopper sailed everyday for three days. Once Sam anchored down for the night, the newlyweds counted the stars in the sky and made love until morning. Each night, Leona grew to love her husband more. Their wind-swept and tan bodies had reached the end of the honeymoon, and Leona regretted that it would soon be time to head back to the Island Hopper’s homeport.
In Baltimore, Sue noticed that Cassie grew quieter with each passing day. Cassie had shared with Neal and her that Sunday afternoon; a team of US Deputy Marshals would come to take Cassie to another safehouse. Sue’s heart was full of sympathy for her houseguest. She watched Cassie throwing a ball for Bailey to retrieve in the yard and noticed that Cassie’s red hair was showing blonde roots.
Sue joined Cassie in the yard to ask Cassie, “Hey do you wanna head to the store with me? I need to pick up red hair dye to cover those blonde roots in your hair.”
“I sure do; I noticed them when I showered this morning.”
As they drove to the store, Sue asked, “Are you sure you’re okay?”
; “When Sam called, I spoke with Leona who said she might come with him to Jersey. The more I think about it, the more I think it’s a bad idea. Whoever is behind this knows Sam’s face, which means Leona’s life could be at stake if she rides with him. I guess I wasn’t thinking straight when she told me she might join Sam.”
“Cassie, I’ll call Sam after we dye your hair. I’ve listened to how the two of you speak in code. I think I got the hang of it listening to those calls.”
Cassie laughed, “Sounds to me that you caught on fast.”
Nancy and Bill were sitting in the afternoon sun on the patio. “Bill, do you believe that woman who was at Leona’s wedding was really Sue’s cousin from San Francisco?”
“She said she was. What makes you ask that question?”
“Didn’t you notice that Sam went on a walk with her to talk in private?”
“No.”
“Well, I did. If he’d just met her, why would he want to talk with her in private? I also saw them look at one another in a knowing way. I swear, that they communicated with one another through their eyes, like married couples do.”
“I can see where your over-thinking daughter came from.” He laughed, “Are you saying that your new son in-law is having an affair with Cassie?”
“I’m not sure what I’m saying, other than the fact that my intuition is telling me that Sam knows Cassie well. Bill, didn’t you notice that Cassie didn't have that California tan? Her skin tone was fair.”
“I think you’re reading way too many of those mystery romance novels.”
“Well, I suppose we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”
LoVerde’s phone rang. When he answered it, a female voice told him, “Pizza shop on the boardwalk at 2:00 this afternoon.” She, whoever she was, disconnected the call. He waited until it was time to leave his office.