Sailing into Death (CJ Washburn, PI Book 2)

by James Paddock

  "That's funny considering that it was his partner who bumbled the bomb Saturday and our kidnapping this morning."

  "Surprised she didn't mention it. She did spit back at him that the mission was none of his concern, that the Fed involvement was calculated, that everything was right on track."

  "Calculated. Interesting. I wonder if he's still on the clock."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Has he fulfilled the remainder of his contract after killing Douglas and Eveleen, that is to bring us in, get us off the street so to speak, or is he also playing the role as our guard?"

  "What difference would it make?" Stella said.

  "It would be good to know who it is we're up against; him and his bumbling partner or her bumbling idiots."

  "Oh." She shifted again and took a deep breath. "He left in that red car."

  "The Fiat Barchetta."

  "Whatever. He took me out of the Explorer and then she took over, brought me inside and up here."

  "Did he leave by himself?"

  "In the Fiat? Yes. His partner never got out of the explorer."

  "Did Alan or his partner tell the woman or Gabe about the SIG in your purse?"

  "I don't know."

  "If I were them I'd have searched it and removed it. If they didn't they really are bumbling idiots."

  "So you think Alan also killed Douglas?"

  "Yes, I do."

  She closed her eyes for a time. "Speaking of bumbling idiots, they tried killing you three times. I really hate to ask this question, but why not this time now that they've got you? It would be so easy."

  "I've thought about that, too. Here's the thing. The first time was the boat ride. That may not have started as an attempt on my life, but a kidnapping that got away from them. The second time was the bomb. I'm certain now that that was Alan and his partner. I was likely not the actual target. It was Ms Danohough or her and Rebecca. DuPont and I were to become nothing more than collateral damage. As a matter-of-fact it was probably only me they intended for collateral. I'm sure they didn't know that a police detective had arrived. If they had known maybe they'd aborted. Killing a police officer can bring out all kinds of attention. They've got an agenda and I'm sure they don't need that kind of heat right now. The third time, our little event this morning, may have again been a kidnapping attempt that went out of control. I saw the gun and never gave the guy a chance to explain himself. My sudden reaction caught him off guard."

  "Why do they want you alive, then? They've gone to a lot of trouble."

  "Exactly. Have I come up with so many answers that they think that they just need to get me out of the way until their mission is complete?"

  "They're not afraid to kill people. Two are dead already."

  "True," CJ said. "If they wanted us dead they've had ample opportunity since the elevator. This is something else. I just don't know what it is."

  "Then why did they try to kill us in the hotel..." Stella paused for a few seconds, "...this morning? I cannot believe that was barely over twelve hours ago. Seems like a week."

  "Know what you mean. Like I said, I think I was supposed to be taken alive. Doubt that they cared about you. You were..."

  "I know," Stella said with a sigh. "Collateral damage."

  "The guy was surprised when you answered the door. It may be that he didn't expect me to have a guest. Maybe he thought you were a nobody, a one night stand, a call girl, dispensable. Shooting you was as a result of the surprise, a reflex. Now they know you are of value to me, thus a bargaining chip to get me to do what they want."

  "I still don't see how they would know that. Who would tell them? It does seem like Agent Blain is the mole, but he disappeared Saturday morning, well before I arrived. And besides, it seems that Taffer cleared him. After I arrived, the only people who knew about me were the FBI and the police."

  "Don't forget the McGee family."

  Stella thought about that for a moment.

  "No," she said. "I can't see any of them being on the wrong side of this."

  "I agree."

  "So they, whoever they are, have been watching us."

  "No doubt about it. I first spotted the guy with the blue shirt, Alan, while we were at the beach today."

  Stella looked shocked. "You didn't say anything?"

  "He was just a guy who walked onto the beach and then walked off. I never saw him again after that even though I was looking when we packed up and headed home. I recognized him in the elevator just seconds before he pulled out the gun."

  "Oh."

  "I should have noticed him when he first got onto the elevator."

  "You were tired and, like me, hurting."

  "I was standing there with my head down, staring at the floor instead of looking at people. I should have seen both of them when we entered the hotel. Feeling bad is no excuse. The question is, how have they been tracking us? None of us, Josh, Parker or I, ever spotted a tail when we left Parker's house. Believe me, we were watching."

  "A tracking bug?"

  "How would they've known we'd be traveling in Parker's vehicle?"

  "Cell phone locator?"

  CJ shook his head. "That's not as easy as the movies make it out to be. A bit more sophisticated than the average Joe."

  "Agent Blain is not your average Joe," Stella said. "Could he still have access to the technology?"

  CJ considered that for a few seconds. "Yes... Maybe... No. Not now anyway, but this morning before we notified Taffer of our suspicions, he certainly could have. His mother in a car accident kind of takes him out of the picture. I doubt he's playing the wrong side."

  Stella pulled her legs up under her and worked at trying to find a more comfortable position. "I guess that makes sense. I still think..."

  "Think what?"

  "I don't know." She fooled with her position a little more. "I'm going to try and get a little nap. Lack of sleep last night and then my adrenaline rush are catching up with me. And then I'm going to be hungry." She closed her eyes. "I hope they bring us a last meal."

  CJ didn't say anything more, didn't want to comment on her last meal statement. Watching her, he continued to think.

  Stella's next comment was a light snore.

  Initially CJ thought that the UIRA operation had to do with smuggling weapons and explosives into Northern Ireland. He recalled his conversation with Agent Taffer Saturday afternoon during which time Taffer actually confirmed most of CJ's suspicion. Did the FBI have it completely wrong, even with Douglas as an informant? The woman had said that the Fed involvement was calculated, that everything was right on track. Could it be that the UIRA knew about Douglas' secret all along and had been feeding him false information so as to send officials off in a direction other than the actual mission? Is that what she meant by the Fed involvement being calculated? Could Douglas have all of a sudden found out the truth and thus had to be eliminated before he could pass it along? Douglas passed it to his handler, Agent Blain, and then where?

  A mole inside the FBI... Maybe.

  Douglas told Blain.

  Blain told somebody. Who would he tell? Taffer? His partner?

  CJ very much doubted that the mole would be Taffer. Moles are generally nearer the bottom of the pecking order. That would leave Agent Coulter.

  What CJ would very much like to know right now is, what is Taffer doing to figure that out? Was it false information being fed to Douglas or was it a mole inside the FBI? That and why were he and Stella handcuffed to a wall in a FROG? Another thing, secure rings and chains weren't something one did on the fly. They'd set this up a long time ago for someone else. Douglas and Eveleen? Douglas and Rebecca? Eveleen and Rebecca? Whoever it was, they were part of the plan and he and Stella were last minute substitutes.

  Also, what was Josh and the FBI doing to find them? Did Josh even know that they were gone?"

  Chapter 37

  "Clint!"

  CJ awoke groggily, aware that Stella was trying to wake him.

  "C
lint!"

  She was calling in a stage whisper, and there were other voices off in the distance.

  "What?" CJ said.

  "Wake up and be quiet."

  With a start CJ remembered where he was and recognized also that it was still daylight. He looked at his watch. 6:25. He hadn't been asleep very long. "What's going on?" he asked in an equivalent whisper.

  "It sounds like they're having a meeting. Listen."

  CJ looked over at the door which had previously been closed. It was ajar a few inches as though someone had looked in on them and not closed it all the way. The voices were leaking in from down below. The woman who earlier seemed to be in charge was the most prominent, though CJ could only make out a word or two. There were at least two other voices, male, of which he could catch nothing but murmurs. He shifted his position to get circulation back to one leg that had fallen asleep. The chain rattled.

  "Hush!" Stella hissed through her teeth.

  He froze. The voices didn't stop. He moved more carefully to keep from making any further noise.

  "Understand," said a new male voice. "Blah...blah... world center...blah...blah...blah..."

  "Blah...Tampa...blah...blah..." said the woman. She continued on during which time CJ could pick up only the words, "fifteen" and "breakfast."

  More murmurings came from the other male voices, though not a single word could be made out. The woman said, "Okay," and then went on with more instruction. That's what it felt like to CJ anyway. She was giving instructions, or going over a plan, or as far as CJ knew it was a meeting of a book club and she was reading passages from The Grapes of Wrath or Gone with the Wind.

  Or maybe it's a new title: Attack on the Summit.

  That was the word that CJ was listening for but had not heard. Summit.

  Another murmur came from a male voice and the woman said, "Listen and listen carefully. The...blah...blah...will...blah...blah...not...blah...blah." There came another question or statement, then, "I...blah...blah...a rat's ass. You...blah...blah...eating."

  The conversation went a bit quieter for a time. The only other words he picked up were "vans" and "loaded."

  Then all went quiet except for what he guessed was a microwave dinging and a door opening and closing a couple of times. After a few minutes, when it appeared nobody was coming up to check on them, he whispered to Stella, "What all did you get?"

  She got up and pushed her chair over as close as she could get it to him and sat back down. He took the hint and did the same.

  "I heard 'center' and 'Tampa'," she said, "plus 'breakfast' then nothing for a time until she seemed to get angry and said something about meeting."

  "Meeting? I didn't get that."

  "It was after 'rat's ass', 'you' something 'meeting'."

  "I thought it was 'eating'."

  "I'm sure it was 'meeting'."

  "Okay. You heard 'center' and I heard 'world center'. We both heard 'Tampa'. Is there a World Center in Tampa where there is a breakfast meeting? Maybe that's where the summit is. They're getting ready to load vans to go there."

  "Or the vans are already loaded."

  "If they are loaded, that would mean that the summit or meeting or whatever it is they're targeting, is tonight or tomorrow."

  "It's a breakfast summit," Stella said. "and it's tomorrow morning. I'd put money on it."

  "But where?"

  "You think it's a World Center in Tampa. Even if you're right, there's not a thing we can do about it."

  CJ had no response to that.

  The chairs were situated so that they faced the door, sitting side-by-side just over a foot apart. CJ placed his hand on top of Stella's, on her armrest.

  "I'm looking forward to us getting married," he said and then for a time they talked about life back in Tucson, what they'd do once they got married, where they'd live. Then they talked about CJ's children, Josh and Trish, and about Stella's sister and brother-in-law, Sara and Bill, and their son Lucas, the three of whom lived near Albuquerque. Stella mentioned that her sister invited them for Thanksgiving and that they should bring Trish.

  "Trish would like that," CJ said, "though her mother might have other plans."

  "I hope we're still around to find out," Stella said.

  "We will be."

  "I'm really scared."

  CJ squeezed her hand.

  "Don't lie to me again and say that it's going to be okay," Stella said.

  "If you don't want me to, I won't. But when I say it'll be okay, I think it's not so much to convince you that everything will be okay. It's to convince myself."

  "Positive thoughts make for positive results. Is that it?"

  "Yeah. Something like that."

  They suddenly realized that the woman was standing in the doorway.

  "That's a lot of bullshit if you ask me," she said. "Positive thoughts do nothing but give one a false sense of security. Action is what gets results and nothing else."

  "I have to pee," Stella said.

  "You're a woman. I'd be shocked if you didn't have to pee by now." She looked directly at CJ for at least ten seconds and then said, "I'm going to demonstrate the difference between positive thoughts and action. You, sir, likely have to pee as well, however, you figure that by sending out positive thoughts I'll let you tag behind Stella here so you can also empty your bladder. Your loss, I'm afraid. Stella, you see, took action and voiced her need, therefore she'll get to go. As you said nothing, I can only assume you have no such need."

  With that she turned and walked out.

  "What was that all about?" Stella said.

  "I have no idea."

  "She knew my name, didn't use Mariana like I'd told Alan."

  "Interesting. Alan knew my name but didn't know yours, yet I didn't get the feeling you were a surprise to him."

  "So...?"

  "So, I don't think Alan is part of the organization. As I said before, I believe he's a pro hired to kill Douglas and Eveleen and then kidnap us. It does appear that she has an accurate source of information but isn't sharing it except on a need to know. I've a feeling Alan knew nothing about the overall plan, i.e., taking out a few leaders of countries. He is probably completely out of the picture now, paid and sent on his way."

  Five minutes later two men came in, one of them Samuel Blight. The other guy CJ didn't recognized. He displayed a gun while Blight removed Stella's handcuffs.

  "Make it quick," Blight said.

  Stella did. When she came out he told her to put the handcuffs back on.

  "They hurt my wrist," she said.

  "Tough."

  She put them back on.

  "I have to go, too, Sam," CJ said.

  Blight shrugged and grinned. As he and his comrade started to walk out Stella said, "I'm hungry. Will we get anything to eat?"

  "I'll pass your request along to the chef," he said and closed the door.

  CJ stared at the door for a time and then said, "She's demonstrating that she's in control and can be compassionate."

  "I'm not impressed."

  "At least you got to pee."

  "There is that," she said. "At least I can relax a little now. You called him Sam. Do you know him?"

  "Samuel Blight. He's the guy who was driving the boat and with whom I got into a scuffle before he tumbled off the back. I think it gave him a thrill to ignore my pee request."

  "Oh."

  "It was his wife's boat, or at least it was in her name, and chances are it is still in impound. He likely holds a bit of a grudge."

  "Did you recognize the other guy?"

  "No."

  An hour later Sam and his gun handler returned and removed CJ's handcuffs.

  "I'd let you sit in your own piss except the boss says you both need to be relaxed and focused." He pointed to the bathroom. "In and out. No dilly daddling."

  CJ stood and headed toward the bathroom.

  "The gun is on her," Sam added.

  "I got it," CJ said. "No daddling." When he finished his
business and came out, CJ said, "So what is that we need to be focused for?"

  "You'll find out soon enough. Hook back up."

  CJ did so.

  "Food will be up in a few minutes."

  Chapter 38

  Dinner wound up being pizza and water, delivered by Sam.

  "How about a couple of beers to go with this," CJ said. "Did you get any with jalapeños? How about pineapple?"

  Sam turned and walked out without a word.

  They ate the pepperoni and sausage pizza in silence. An observer would report that Stella ate hers with slow deliberation, CJ as though he hadn't eaten in days, putting away three pieces to her one. In actuality, neither of them even tasted it, their minds fully engaged with their situation.

  CJ pushed the box and what was left, aside and guzzled half the bottle of water. Stella broke the silence.

  "Why do they want us relaxed and focused?"

  "I don't know, but the fact that they're concerned with our biological needs tells me that they're not planning on killing us."

  "I hope you're right."

  That's what CJ was thinking out loud. Internally, however, he was worried that they were keeping them satisfied until they did whatever it was that they needed to be focused for, and then, when they didn't need them anymore, they'd kill them both. Why would they keep them alive if they and this house could be identified? Was Stella along as a hostage? With a gun to her head he'd do whatever they wanted.

  The way CJ saw it, if they didn't do what they wanted, he and Stella would be dead. If they did what they wanted, their deaths would only be delayed.

  More silence ensued, CJ turning his water bottle around and around in his hand as though the answers were somewhere in the fine print.

  "What are you thinking, Clint?" Stella said.

  "I'm figuring that there must be a way to turn this bottle into a weapon."

  "Oh."

  "If I cut off the top, there would remain jagged edges that could be jammed into one's face."

  "And while you're lying on the floor bleeding to death from a gunshot wound, I could be jamming the shooter in the face with my water bottle. Sounds like a great plan."