Even Luke had to smile at the boy's effort to put him at ease.
13
"Don't forget your sunscreen," Monica said, giving Julia a hug. Luke was waiting in a water taxi, the outboard idling. He and Monica were catching an 8 o'clock ferry to St. Vincent, and Joey was supposed to pick Julia up for their snorkel trip soon.
"I won't," Julia said. Lowering her voice, she leaned toward Monica and said, "Thanks for helping me convince Dad."
Monica smiled. "You're welcome; he just worries about you. You have a good time, and be careful. You can tell me all about it this evening, okay?"
Julia smiled and nodded, watching Monica as she stepped down into the water taxi.
"Make lots of pictures for me," Julia called, waving, as the water taxi pulled away.
Luke gave her a mock salute. "Aye-aye, captain," he called, grinning as he waved to her.
"I wish he didn't worry about me so much," she said to Connie and Paul, taking a sip of café au lait.
"That's his job," Paul said. "He'll never quit worrying about you. It's got to be tough, seeing your little girl turn into a woman overnight."
"Not exactly overnight," Julia said.
"Not to you, but it seems that way to him. Just think about it. You're 15, right?"
"Right."
"And your dad's, what, about 45?"
"43," Julia said, looking puzzled.
Paul said, "So, 15 years is your whole life, but it's only a little more than a third of his lifetime, right?"
"Yes, but what's that got to do with it?"
"It means that for him, time passes about three times as quickly as it does for you. The older you get, the faster time seems to go by."
"I never thought about that," Julia said. "It kind of makes sense."
"So to him, it seems like just yesterday when you were little."
"Right."
"He's a good dad, Julia," Connie said. "He just wants everything to be right for you."
"You're right, I know. It's just ... I don't know ... "
"Kind of embarrassing when he treats you like a child?" Connie asked.
"Yes, I guess that's it. Even though I am still a child in some ways."
Their conversation was interrupted by Joey's cry of, "Good morning, Diamantista."
"G'bye, you two," Julia said, standing up and grabbing her beach bag. "Thanks for everything. See you this afternoon." She stepped down into the dinghy with Troy and waved as he motored carefully away toward town, weaving through the anchored boats.
"You're good at that," Connie said. "It was thoughtful of you to try to explain that to her."
"Well, I saw too many kids that took wrong turns because nobody tried to explain things to them. It's easy to underestimate somebody Julia's age, especially if you're her parent."
"I don't think Luke underestimates her," Connie said.
"No, I didn't mean to say he did. I was generalizing from my time working with juvenile offenders. Too many people don't give kids the respect they would give to an adult, and that's just wrong. Kids respond to being treated like equals."
"You're a prize, Mr. Russo. What are we going to do with our day?"
"I was going to take care of some serious provisioning, since we're here. Gloria and her gourmet market beat everywhere else south of Martinique. I thought I'd go to the Rasta market and stock up on fruit and vegetables, too. You going to tag along?"
Connie frowned, thinking for a moment. "Is it okay if I don't?"
"Sure," Paul said.
"I'd like to just chill out for a little while; I enjoy Julia's constant companionship, but I just need a little down time, if you can spare me."
"No problem. Anything special you'd like for me to pick up for our lunch?"
"How about if I buy you lunch at Mrs. Walker's? I'd like to see her, and you could meet her."
"Dani's friend, right?"
"Yes. She practically raised Dani, when Dani was little, anyway. Her husband was a business partner of Dani's father, along with Phillip and Sharktooth. She was really nice to me when I was cruising with Dani and Liz; I'd like to spend a little time with her."
"Okay. Want me to meet you there?"
"Yes. Maybe I'll take a water taxi in and check out that gift shop around the corner from her place. I'll get there a little early and warn her about you."
"Noon at Mrs. Walker's, then?" Paul asked, as he untied their dinghy and pulled it alongside.
"See you there," Connie said.
"Excited?" Troy asked, speaking a little louder than normal to be heard over the sound of the outboard motor.
"Yes," Julia said, grinning at him. "Connie said it's going to be a perfect day for snorkeling."
"I hope she's right; I'd like to get some more shots of the reef fish," Joey said.
"Shots? You mean like photographs?"
"Yeah."
"You've got an underwater camera? That's really cool."
"No big deal. I mean, it's just a cheap one, but it does an okay job, especially for just snorkeling. You couldn't dive with it or anything."
"But still," Julia said, "It would be great to have pictures like that. Have you taken a lot?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess. Maybe a few hundred. Some of them are pretty good, I think."
"I'd like to see them sometime."
"Really?"
"Really."
"You're not just puttin' me on?"
"No, I'd like to see them."
Troy glanced at his watch. "It's only a few minutes after 8 o'clock."
"So?"
"So, we've got some time. The snorkel boat doesn't leave until 9:30."
"I thought you said 8:30."
"Yeah, I did, but I was wrong. Harry called right before I picked you up to make sure they had room for one more in our party. They postponed the start because there are a bunch of people coming from some resort at Friendship Bay, I guess. Anyway, I can show you some of my favorites. I've got them all in my laptop. That okay, or would you rather go back to Diamantista and let me pick you up in an hour? You look kinda worried."
"No, just surprised. I just thought we were going to swing by Sueño and get your uncle, that's all. I'd like to see the pictures."
"Great," he said, throttling the outboard down as they came alongside Sueño. He stood up and handed the dinghy painter to his uncle, who had been sitting in the cockpit, sipping coffee.
"Julia and I are going to look at some of the pictures on my laptop."
"Great." Linton extended a hand to help Julia aboard, and Joey followed her up the folding ladder that hung over the side of Sueño.
"It'd be better if we went below," Troy said. "It's too bright up here for the computer screen."
Julia nodded. "Okay."
Troy looked at his 'uncle.' "Ready for guests, or do I need to do a quick clean up?"
"Nah. It's fine. I rolled up the sleeping bags while you were gone."
"Sleeping bags?" Julia asked.
"Yeah, this is just a little boat — nothing fancy like Diamantista. I mean, sure, we got beds, up forward," Troy said, watching Julia's frown begin to melt, "but we usually sleep in the main cabin on the settees, 'cause the ventilation's better. Not as stuffy as the forward cabin."
"I'll go on down, just to make sure," Linton said, stepping through the companionway.
Troy gestured for Julia to follow his uncle below.
Julia turned, facing the cockpit, and went down the companionway ladder backward, the way Connie had taught her.
"Very seamanlike," Troy said smiling and nodding.
Before Julia could reply, Linton grabbed her from behind. Startled, she took a deep breath, preparing to yell, but his hard, callused hand closed over her mouth. Terrified now, she struggled as Troy came down the ladder. She saw him pick something up from the galley counter, and then he pinched the fleshy part of the back of her right arm, just below her shoulder. She saw the syringe in his hand just before she felt the prick of the needle, and then she felt herself go
ing limp. Linton was supporting her weight now, and she didn't have time be frightened before she drifted into unconsciousness.
"It's 4 o'clock," Paul said, looking at his wristwatch and sitting up in his hammock. He and Connie had been snoozing and reading in the shade of the cockpit awning after a lengthy lunch at Mrs. Walker's little restaurant on Bequia's quaint waterfront.
"I'm surprised Julia and Joey aren't back yet," Connie said. "I figured they'd be here before Luke and Monica got back."
"Yeah, me, too. Luke and Monica will probably be on the five o'clock ferry. Think I should get in the dinghy and go see if the kids decided to hang out on Sueño?"
"No. Give poor Julia a break, Paul. She's got enough trouble with Luke worrying about her."
"I don't feel good about those two."
"Joey and Julia?" Connie asked, the pitch of her voice rising in surprise.
"No. Joey and his uncle. Harry, was it?"
"Yes. He did seem a little rough around the edges, but he was nice enough. Not quite what I expected, from Joey's manners, but still, the poor kid didn't choose his family. He seemed a little embarrassed by Harry, didn't you think?"
"Maybe," Paul said. "I was too focused on Harry."
"What about him got your attention?"
"My bet is he's done time."
"Done time? You mean like in jail?"
"Not jail; hard time, in prison for a while."
"Just because he was a little uncouth? Come on, Paul."
"Not because of that. It's just a bunch of subtle things. The chemistry between me and him was pure cop and ex-con."
"Give me an example of something, can you?"
"Well, when Luke asked him what he did before he sailed down here, did you ... " Paul stopped and stood up. "Another time, okay?"
"What's the matter?" Connie asked, surprised.
"Here come the Regans." Paul pointed at an approaching water taxi and stepped onto the side deck, waving the operator alongside.
"Didn't expect you quite this early," he said, as he helped Monica aboard.
"We got enough, and I was worried about Julia," Luke said, taking Paul's outstretched hand as he came aboard. He slipped some folded Eastern Caribbean banknotes to the water taxi operator, who touched his forehead in a gesture of appreciation before he pulled away.
"Julia sacked out below decks?" Luke asked.
"Haven't seen her and Joey," Paul said. "I thought they'd be done by now. Sun's pretty low in the sky for snorkeling."
"Can we take a look on Sueño?" Luke asked.
"You want me to run you over in the dinghy?"
"If you don't mind."
"No problem," Paul said walking back to the stern where the RIB was tied.
"Luke," Monica said, "she'll be mortified."
"If she's there, she deserves to be a little rattled. She should have known we'd be worried. If she wanted to hang out over there when they got back, she should have let somebody know."
"We've been aboard since right after lunch," Paul said.
"But still," Monica protested.
"Look," Luke said, "if she's there, I'll act calm — just say Paul and I were headed for that beach bar for a sundowner and wanted to see Sueño. If they're not back yet, then she'll never know, okay?"
"Okay," Monica said, rolling her eyes at Connie as the two men left in the dinghy.
14
"She still out?" Linton asked, as Troy stepped into the cockpit with two cold beers.
"Off in dreamland," Troy said, as he handed Linton a beer.
"That shit really works. Wish we'd had it for the last three we did," Linton said, taking a big swallow of beer and belching.
"Yeah. It even beats the roofies I gave that broad in Grenada. We shoulda asked them sooner, I guess," Troy said. "What was it, again?"
"Attic fan, I thought she said, or some shit like that. You got more of the shots, right?"
"Yeah, three of them, but they ain't labeled or nothin'," Troy said. "The little bottle they gave us for emergencies says 'Lorazepam.' I looked. Ain't ever heard of that. 'Attic fan,' either. There's nothin' like 'attic fan' on the bottle. What do you mean, 'she said,' anyhow? I thought you set it up with a man."
"Yeah, I did. But when I told him we were after a virgin this time, he said to make sure we didn't fuck her up like we did the last three."
"Fuck 'em up? We didn't do anything but slap them around a little."
"They want the virgins without a damn mark on them, anywhere. Said if we bruised her up, they'd come get the money back and mess us up bad."
"Dickheads," Troy said. "I'd like to see them try some shit like that."
"Careful, boy. Anyway, these people are our customers, 'member? Gotta keep the customers happy, so they keep comin' back."
"Yeah. Well, anyhow, he said don't fuck 'em up, and then what?"
"And then he gave the phone to this woman. Said she used to be an Army nurse, somewhere in one of those places where they were all killin' one another a few years ago. She sounded pretty butch. She started tellin' me shit like how to figure out how much of the shit to give the girl, based on how much she weighed. I told her that was too fuckin' complicated, so she asked how big did I think the girl was. I told her I reckoned about 120 pounds. Then she mumbled some numbers and shit and said she'd make up the shots and that guy in the fishin' boat would bring them to us."
"Why'd she give us four of them?"
"She said use one every twelve hours, in case somethin' went wrong and we didn't make the handoff right away."
"What's gonna go wrong, Linton?"
"Nothin', pretty boy, not now. We're all set for the handoff tonight. Just a few more hours, and we can start tryin' to figure out where to get us another virgin."
"Hell, yeah!" Troy chugged the rest of his beer. "The three extra shots they gave us? Think of them like $25,000 each. Let's hurry up and offload this little piece and make us some real money."
"She's a pretty little gal," Linton said. "Sweet, too. Almost could feel sorry for her, you know?"
"You feel sorry for her, then, but don't forget, she's just a piece of meat, worth about $250 a pound."
"$250 a pound? That's gotta be prime meat. Where'd you get that number, Troy-boy?"
"You said she weighs about 120 pounds, right?"
"Shit, I reckon, yeah. So?"
"So, she's worth $30,000. You jus' divide $30,000 by 120 pounds, and you get $250 per pound."
"Where did you learn shit like that, man?"
"Raiford, while I was your cellmate. When I was gettin' my GED, they taught me a bunch of stuff like that, for 'life skills,' or some such shit."
"Damn, boy, you could be an engineer, doin' word problems like that."
"I might could, Linton, but I don't want to drive a damn train."
Linton looked at him, puzzled, for a minute, and then convulsed with laughter.
"The fuck are you laughin' at, asshole?"
"You. You either got one hell of a sense of humor, or you're the dumbest bastard ever walked on two feet. Get us another beer."
"Well?" Monica asked, a frown on her brow as Luke came aboard Diamantista 30 minutes later, Paul on his heels.
"Not there," he said, agitated. His jaws were clenched as Paul went below.
"I knew she wouldn't be; she'd have come here first," Monica said.
Luke whirled, his face contorted with worry. "The boat, Monica!"
"What? I don't ... "
"The boat's not there, damn it!"
"Sueño? Maybe you missed it."
Luke took a deep breath. "We didn't miss it. We asked around. There was a spaced-out old guy on a junky boat that looked like it hadn't moved in years who saw them leave the anchorage around 9 o'clock this morning."
"Was Julia ... "
"He described her. She and Joey came up in the dinghy and climbed aboard. They went below, and a few minutes later, Joey and Harry came on deck without her and got under way."
"What do you think ... "
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Monica's question trailed off when Paul came back on deck and handed Luke a satellite phone.
"I placed the call. It's ringing," Paul said.
Luke took the phone up to the foredeck.
"The police?" Connie asked.
Paul nodded. Before he could say anything, Luke was back, anger twisting his features as he handed the phone to Paul. "Sorry bastard," he muttered.
"What's the ... "Monica asked, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder.
"He seemed completely disinterested. The son of a bitch told me I'd have to come by in the morning and fill out a report, if she didn't come home."
"Is there someone else we can call?" Monica asked. "Like their headquarters, or something?"
"Yes, but it won't help," Paul said. "These guys aren't geared up for this sort of thing; think of them as small town cops. If you stay after them, they'll eventually start asking questions, but they're short on experience with this kind of thing."
"So what can we do?" Luke asked. "You were a detective in Miami, right?"
"Right. We've already taken the first steps. We'll just keep at it until we find her."
"But how?" Luke asked.
"We know they left on Sueño at about 9 a.m. They've had about eight hours under way. At, let's just say, about seven knots, they're somewhere within about 60 miles of here. They either had to go north or south. There's nothing to the west for over a thousand miles, and east is into the wind. South is back where we came from, so my bet is they headed north."
"So are we going to chase them down, then?" Luke asked.
"Not just yet. We can do a lot more by using our heads at this point. We've only got about a two-knot speed advantage, so it'd take a long time to chase them down, and they'll probably go to ground somewhere before we could catch them."
"So ... "
"Luke," Paul interrupted, "Monica, is it possible that somebody would kidnap Julia for ransom?"
"What?" Luke asked. "Ransom?" He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I mean, we're not poor, but ... "
"Let me put it differently," Paul said. "How much cash could you raise in a couple of days if Julia's life was at stake?"
Sailor's Delight - A Connie Barrera Thriller: The 2nd Novel of the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Connie Barrera Thrillers) Page 10