Bluewater Target_Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series

by Charles Dougherty

  "Why were you talking about me? Still thinking about how to scam Delaney?"

  "Actually, we were talking about you because we've decided to make Annapolis our base while we're on the Bay," Liz said.

  "Oh, good choice. You'll enjoy that. Lots of historical sights, and Liz, be sure not to miss the model ship collection at the Naval Academy. You'll see some real works of art there; the 16th-century dockyard models are fantastic. Anyway, Paul's here. Last night we got another email from my cousin."

  "Good," Marie said. "He has more information on this man, Lucas, yes?"

  "A bit," Connie said. "He sent people to see about establishing surveillance on Lucas, but somebody else got there first."

  "He is doing this as a favor to us?" Marie asked. "Your cousin?"

  "Well, he's passing on the information as a favor. I'm sure he has his own reasons for surveillance. He's keeping an eye on things to see if somebody tries to pick up where Montalba left off. He's not willing to assume that Montalba was in this alone; he says it's possible he had a partner, or even that he was working for someone else."

  "I see," Marie said.

  "You say somebody got there first?" Dani asked. "What happened?"

  "Lucas's office was bugged, and the phones were already tapped when Leon's people got there," Paul said. "There are no warrants; they checked. So they think it's probably SpecCorp's work."

  "This means we will get nothing more on Lucas from bugs and phone intercepts?" Marie asked.

  "No, we'll be okay," Paul said. "Leon's people somehow piggybacked on the equipment that was there. We will get the same data the other people get. Plus Leon's troops have a portable stingray; they'll monitor Lucas's cellphone as well. The others may or may not be doing that. Our side has no way to tell."

  "Do they have anything yet?" Dani asked.

  "No. Nothing of interest related to SpecCorp or Delaney. Just ordinary calls in and out," Paul said. "I also called Luke a few minutes ago, just to see if he knew anything about Walter Lucas. I've never heard of him, but I've been retired long enough now for that to be expected."

  Luke Pantene was Paul's long-time partner at the Miami Police Department. When Paul had retired, Luke filled Paul's old job running the homicide department.

  "And?" Dani asked. "Did he?"

  "I don't know yet; I left a message. He's probably not going to have any current stuff that Leon doesn't have, but he may have some background that's worth knowing. We'll call you when we hear from him."

  "Okay, great," Dani said. "Any further thoughts on how to scam Delaney?"

  "A few, yes. We've about exhausted the topic of Lucas for now, anyway. I take it you've been thinking about the scam idea, too."

  "Yes," Dani said. "Marie raised a good point about using you and J.-P. as our references to establish credibility."

  "What's that?" Connie asked.

  "Not about Connie," Marie said. "Only about J.-P."

  "But we're connected," Connie said. "Or at least we were in Montalba's mind."

  "That's the problem," Dani said. "The point Marie made was that you were connected in Montalba's mind."

  "I'm missing something," Connie said.

  "Marie thinks Delaney may not see that the same way Montalba did," Dani said. "She's worried that Delaney may have J.-P. on a pedestal, of sorts. Marie thinks he'll question why somebody as high-powered as J.-P. would need SpecCorp."

  "Yes," Marie said. "If I am Delaney, I ask myself what is it that I offer J.-P. that he does not have already."

  "And your other point is good, too, Marie," Liz said. "I think it's the stronger one."

  "You mean about J.-P.'s reputation?" Marie asked.

  "Yes," Dani said. "Given the business he's in, Papa runs a clean operation — no drugs, no dirty money. Delaney's in the same market, just on a smaller scale; he would know that about Papa. He might see the inconsistency."

  "I hadn't thought of those things," Connie said. "I was more focused on how to get Delaney to check out my reputation with Alfano, or maybe O'Toole. But I haven't come up with anything yet. They didn't seem to have a problem believing I was dirty. I don't know how they view J.-P., though."

  "O'Toole would be likely to know more about him than Alfano or Montalba," Dani said. "He's probably at least heard of Papa in some of the Armed Services Committee meetings. And that would be consistent with what Marie said. Papa runs a clean shop, considering."

  "So where does that leave you?" Connie asked.

  "Thinking about what you said before, about letting the mark draw his own erroneous conclusions," Dani said.

  "Okay, but have you come up with a way to do that?"

  "Yes, maybe. I haven't discussed it with Marie, yet — just Liz. But I think we were trying to spoon-feed Delaney. That's not the right way to suck him in."

  "I see what you mean," Connie said. "You have another way?"

  "If I were behind a mysterious cartel," Dani said, "I wouldn't announce myself. I'd make Delaney wonder who was pushing him into laundering money, let him figure out for himself that I'm the one who took out Montalba."

  "I think you're onto something," Connie said.

  "So we would call him on Montalba's special sat phone and demand that he do what we tell him?" Marie asked.

  "Basically, yes," Dani said.

  "But we must have some threat to hold over him, some way to show we have the upper hand."

  "I agree. I think money is the tool to do that, but I'm still thinking about the exact way to use it."

  "It's a cliché, but it's true," Connie said. "Money talks, especially in scams. On a different subject, when are you going to get to Annapolis?"

  "If the weather holds, day after tomorrow, in the evening," Dani said.

  "Good," Connie said. "That gives us a little more time to think about this and to see what the surveillance on Lucas turns up."

  "Yes," Marie said. "We have more time than that. I must see Delaney's estate and connect with our local people. Plus, we still must find the killing zone, if it is to be different from his estate. I have some days of ground reconnaissance to do."

  "Okay. Well, we'll stay in touch," Connie said. "Fair winds."

  "Thanks. Talk with you later," Dani said, as she disconnected.

  "Lunch is served," Liz said. She had been standing on the companionway ladder during their phone call. She climbed into the cockpit and picked up the tray of sandwiches she had put on the bridge deck a few minutes earlier. Setting it on the cockpit table, she said, "Let me get the drinks. You two go ahead and start."

  Delaney had just finished lunch at his desk when Larry Thompson, the chief intelligence officer for SpecCorp, knocked on the frame of his office door, which was standing open. "Come on in, Larry. You got something for me?"

  "Something, but nothing too exciting. We got a recording of Walter Lucas giving a report to somebody on his visit with you."

  "Who was he talking to?"

  "We can't tell. The call went to a voicemail box."

  "Can't you trace it?"

  "No. We tried a trace, but it had a bunch of relays. We didn't get past the first couple before Lucas hung up. We tried calling it ourselves and we couldn't reach it."

  "What do you mean, you couldn't reach it?"

  "The techs think the voicemail box was set up to screen for a specific calling number and block any other calls. When we tried to call it, we got one of those telephone company announcements that says, 'The number you have called is not in service. Please check the number and try your call again.' So then the techs tried spoofing the number Lucas had called from, and the call went high and dry."

  "What's that mean, 'high and dry?'"

  "It went nowhere — no ring tone, no answer, no recording. The guys said it may have been a one-time deal — somebody rigged the voicemail box to disappear from the network once the message was received. They say that's possible."

  "How the hell would that work? Somebody would have to be able to retrieve the message, or it would be
a waste," Delaney said.

  "I don't know, Clayton. That's way too technical for me. You want me to get one of the techs to brief us on that?"

  "No, never mind," Delaney said. "It doesn't matter how it worked. Bottom line is, we don't know who he called. It must be somebody with a way to communicate with O'Toole, though."

  "I think you should put aside the idea that it's O'Toole, at least until we have more evidence to support it."

  "But he said he's working for O'Toole."

  "Did he? Or is that what you thought he meant? There's a big difference, and we know first-hand how hard it is to get word to O'Toole. From what Lucas said in his report, he could be working for someone else, and just throwing out O'Toole's name."

  "I don't know, Larry. O'Toole makes sense, but I get your point. What did Lucas say, exactly?"

  "Want to hear it? I have the recording." Thompson brandished a recorder the size of a big cigar.

  "Yeah. Let 'er rip."

  Thompson nodded and pressed a button, placing the device on the edge of Delaney's desk.

  "I delivered the message as instructed."

  Thompson stopped the playback. "Recognize his voice?"

  "Yeah, that's the guy," Delaney said. "Lucas."

  Thompson nodded and pressed the play button.

  "Delaney's security's really tight. Three guys that looked like they were from a SWAT team met me at the gate. Searched me and the rental car and cuffed me. They put me in a Hummer and took me to Delaney. He was waiting in front of this big house. Told the two men who were holding my arms to step back so the sniper would have a clear shot."

  Lucas chuckled and then resumed speaking. "I gave him the message and told him it was from O'Toole. He asked if I represented O'Toole, and I gave him the 'attorney of record' line we worked out. He wanted to know if I could get a message back to O'Toole. I told him about O'Toole not being allowed any communication or visitors. I think I sold him on the idea that I'm working for O'Toole, even though I denied it, just as you ordered.

  "Then I gave him the 'last link in the chain' line, that I didn't know how many people were even in the chain. Told him I knew the person who gave the message to me, but not who gave it to her, just as you instructed. He didn't give any sign that he picked up on the 'her.' I told him there was another woman behind the scenes, but he didn't react. If you want me to reinforce that, or drop a name for him, let me know. I'm not sure how sharp he is. We may have to spell it out for him. I really laid on the secret-squirrel shit.

  "Anyway, that's it. He didn't ask any more questions; just had his goons escort me back to the rental car. I'm back in my office. End of first report."

  There was a click as Lucas disconnected the call.

  "Interesting," Delaney said. "I see why you're cautious about the O'Toole thing, now. I did miss the 'another woman' reference, and from the emphasis he put on it, it must be significant."

  "Yeah, I agree," Thompson said.

  "Also, there was something odd about the way he referred to O'Toole," Delaney said. "You catch that?"

  "No," Thompson said. "What did you pick up there?"

  "I'm not sure. He told me the message about the hit was from O'Toole. The way this report sounds, though…"

  "What?" Thompson asked. "You've talked with Lucas in person. You may have picked up on something the rest of us missed. His inflection, his choice of words, maybe. Tell me exactly what he said about O'Toole. In his words, as best you can remember. Take your time; picture the setting, his face, everything. Take yourself back in time to your meeting with him. All your impressions are important; tell me everything."

  Delaney closed his eyes and leaned back in his swivel chair, his face turned toward the ceiling. He rubbed his chin with his right hand for several seconds, then rocked forward and opened his eyes.

  "Okay. They brought him to me in the Hummer. Two of them frog-marched him up to within a couple of paces, and I told them to back off, like he said, so the sniper would have a shot." Delaney grinned, remembering the momentary flicker of surprise on Lucas's face. "That shook him, but he was good; if I hadn't been watching, I wouldn't have seen it. He was cool, recovered in a heartbeat. He laughed and shook his head, trying to cover his surprise, I guess." Delaney paused, looking Thompson in the eye.

  Thompson held his gaze, not saying anything, not even blinking.

  Delaney resumed his story. "Then he said, 'You're Delaney; I've seen your picture,' or something close to that. I asked who he was, and he told me 'Walter Lucas, a lawyer from Miami, and that he was delivering a message from his client, O'Toole."

  "Wait," Thompson said. "Don't lose your mental picture. File it away so you can come back to it after we talk about it a little."

  Delaney closed his eyes for a few seconds, then looked at Thompson and nodded. "Okay, got it."

  "Are you sure he said O'Toole was his client?"

  Delaney frowned, staring into the distance. After several seconds, he said, "No, now that you mention it. If I go back to his original phone call, he said he had a message for me, but his client ordered him to deliver it to me personally. I asked him who his client was, and he wouldn't tell me. Said it had to be a face-to-face meeting."

  "Okay, good," Thompson said. "Now, he told you his name was Walter Lucas when you were face-to-face. What were his next words?"

  "He said he was a lawyer from Miami, and he had a message from William O'Toole. It's coming back to me, Larry."

  Thompson nodded. "Good. He didn't say O'Toole was his client, then. Not yet, anyway. Tell me his next words."

  "I asked him if he represented O'Toole, and he said he didn't — that O'Toole's attorney of record represented him, and O'Toole's attorney didn't know about Lucas."

  "Okay. Sounds like O'Toole's not the client then. Not directly, anyhow. Lucas is working for somebody else."

  Delaney nodded and said, "Good catch, Larry."

  Thompson said, "That's what you're paying me for. And Lucas gave it away in the report. After he told you O'Toole's attorney didn't know about this, then what?"

  "That's when he said there was a contract out on me. I asked if O'Toole sent him to tell me, and he weasel-worded his answer. Damn lawyers. He said, 'Mr. O'Toole thought you should know,' or something close to that. I asked who put out the contract, and he said he didn't know anything else except what he'd told me.

  "Then I asked him if I could hire him to get word back and forth to O'Toole, but he said O'Toole wasn't allowed to communicate with the outside, or… no, 'his communications are restricted,' he said. And it was hard to arrange for this message, even. That's when he told me about the links in the chain thing he mentioned."

  Thompson waited several seconds before he spoke. "Anything else come to mind, Clayton?"

  Delaney shook his head. "No. I think you've wrung me dry, Larry. How'd you do that?"

  "It's a learned skill. You remembered a lot more than you realized."

  "Lucas never said he was working for O'Toole," Delaney said. "But he said in the report that they wanted me to think he was. What the hell kind of mind game are they trying to play on me?"

  "I'm not sure. I think he was being deliberate in his choice of words, expecting that we'd pick through all of this. Lawyers do shit like that; it's one of the things they're trained for."

  "But why would he do that?" Delaney asked.

  "I think there was a message within the message," Thompson said.

  Delaney frowned. "What was it?"

  "I don't know, yet. But he was very careful about not saying O'Toole sent him, so there must be another player in the game. He may be counting on us to pick that up, or maybe not."

  "If he didn't mean for us to pick it up, then why'd he bother?"

  "So if we discover it later, we won't think it was an inconsistency. It could be somebody's giving us pieces of a puzzle."

  "Why would they do that? Why not get to the point?"

  "It's a technique to make us believe a certain story."

  "I d
on't get it, Larry."

  "They give us enough pieces to let us draw our own conclusions, so we're invested in believing them. You've heard the saying that you should never deprive a man of the richness of his own experience, right?"

  "Yeah, okay. I see what you're driving at, but who could be behind this?" Delaney asked.

  "Remember the emphasis on the word 'her?' Any women involved that you can think of?"

  "Maybe so. Remember the guy we lost on that mission to retrieve recordings from a yacht down in the islands? The one Montalba had us plant the recording gear on?"

  "Yes. They sent us a video of somebody questioning him."

  "Right. That's the one," Delaney said.

  "The yacht belonged to J.-P. Berger's daughter," Thompson said. "I remember that. You think she's the woman?"

  "No. There was another woman, a friend of hers. We bugged that yacht to get to the Berger girl's friend. But I'm damned if I can remember her name. She was supposed to have cartel connections, working against Montalba. At least that's what Montalba thought."

  "Want me to check back with the other people who worked that job?" Thompson asked. "If I can find anybody. I think we lost several, but the ones who stole the yacht may still be with us."

  "Yeah. Get that woman's name and then let's see what we can find out about her. I think maybe somebody's trying to pick up the pieces of Montalba's empire."

  "You think it's her people? Whatever cartel she's with?"

  "It could be. Or not. But it's somewhere to start," Delaney said.

  15

  "Do you still think we will arrive in Annapolis tomorrow evening?" Marie asked Dani.

  Dani was behind the helm, and Marie was setting up the cockpit table for their lunch. Liz was in the galley, putting together one of her signature warm seafood salads.

  "We've had an outstanding 24-hour run," Dani said. "We're several hours ahead of where I thought we'd be when I gave you that ETA yesterday. We will lose the lift from the Gulf Stream sometime tonight, though. But if the wind holds, we'll probably be in Annapolis in time for dinner ashore tomorrow."

  "That is good. I do not know about dinner ashore. I think we must see how tired everyone is when we arrive, yes?"