Leap - 02

by Michael C. Grumley

  Alves grabbed the desk chair and sat down smoothly. “I suppose there comes a time when we all must take a stand on what we believe in, no?” He waved his hand casually as he spoke. “I suppose you could say we found out what Luke’s stance was.”

  DeeAnn shook her head defiantly. Her eyes filling quickly with tears. “You killed him, you bastard!”

  Alves smirked, dismissing her without a hint of remorse. “It was unavoidable. I did try to reason with him. But he remained an obstacle.”

  “An obstacle?” she cried. “An obstacle to what? More power? More money? What happened…did he find out about some fraud you were involved in?!”

  Alves surprised her with a burst of laughter. He leaned back in his chair, recovering slowly. “Oh, Ms. Draper, you are naïve. You believe this is over a business deal? Over money? What a simple world you must live in.” He reached up and wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of his wrinkled eye. “No, Mr. Greenwood didn’t have much business sense. He was lucky to figure out his email.” Alves shook his head, traces of laughter still on his face. “You really have no idea what’s happening here, do you?”

  “I know you’ve cut off our cellular and internet access, so we must know something we’re not supposed to.”

  Alves laughed again but not as hard this time. “And what is it that you know?” he challenged.

  DeeAnn looked back to Juan. The truth was that they hadn’t the slightest idea. The only thing they really knew was that Alves killed Luke. They had nothing else.

  Alves watched her fumble. “You haven’t even asked the question of why yet.” He looked past her to Blanco, who remained as still as a rock, listening. Alves’ laugh fell to a mild chuckle. “Why would I go out of my way to bring you here?”

  He watched with amusement as the question sank in and marveled at their naivety. “I didn’t bring you here to find Luke, DeeAnn.”

  She glared at his sarcasm.

  “I brought you to find his monkey. Dexter.”

  “Why?”

  “Dexter was Luke Greenwood’s stand. His line. It was Luke who let Dexter escape in the first place. He was a smart man; I’ll give him that. But as you know, his sense of ethics bordered on obsessive. In the end, that was his liability, blinding himself to rational thought. And more importantly, his own mortality.”

  “Yeah,” DeeAnn was seething. “Well, I’m sure it’s hard for someone like you to believe, but sometimes even innocent animals are worth dying for.”

  Alves rolled his eyes. “Please. It wasn’t the monkey he gave his life for. Dexter was merely a symbol. No, Luke Greenwood gave his life for something much bigger. I suppose he should be commended for that. Even though he failed, thanks to you.”

  DeeAnn was still confused. “Failed?”

  “Yes. After all, you found the monkey he tried to free. After Dexter’s accidental capture, Luke realized there was something very special about him. They are exceedingly smart for monkeys. Organ grinders, I believe you call them. But this one had unusually high levels of intelligence and dexterity. Luke said it was ‘off the charts.’ He became obsessive in studying the monkey and, in the end, even more rabid in his moral convictions to protect him.” Alves’ eyes almost seemed to grow darker. “It turned out that while Dexter may have been a symbol for Luke’s convictions, what Luke ultimately discovered about him proved to be a much bigger surprise. A secret no one was expecting.”

  “A secret worth killing for,” DeeAnn snarled.

  Alves’ lips curled into a sordid grin. “Very much so. And thanks to you, one we have now recaptured.”

  “So,” Juan spoke up, “bringing us here to find Dexter was just so you could figure out how to make yourself smarter?”

  Alves suddenly laughed again, harder. He pushed himself up and out of the chair. “My, you Americans are dim. No, Mr. Diaz, that’s not why you’re here.” He motioned past them to Blanco, who smoothly removed a .40 caliber Glock from behind his back. “Not even close.”

  40

  It was truly a pilgrimage and bigger than anything Alison could ever have imagined. They had been surrounded by a veritable sea of dolphins for hours before IMIS picked up Dirk and Sally’s words again, calling to her.

  The sun was steadily falling down toward the horizon when Alison finally slipped beneath the cool waves once again. “Can you guys hear me?”

  “We’re here, Ali.” Lee reassured her through his microphone. “Are you okay?”

  “So far.” Alison was surrounded by a wall of dolphins, all swirling around her, endlessly. They all adjusted their path to keep just out of reach as if she were in her own bubble. As she descended in her small space, she could see glimpses of bright colors below.

  It was once she passed thirty feet that the dolphins began to thin and disperse. At forty feet, she broke out below them. Dolphins were mammals, which meant lungs to breathe air. Most activity was spent closer to the surface. They could venture much deeper. However, at the moment, Alison still felt as though she were swimming beneath a living, moving ceiling.

  Yet, it was what she saw on the ocean floor that nearly drained the blood from her face. The entire floor was a section of raised seabed spreading as far as her visibility could see. But more than that, it was what covered the entire bottom: seagrass.

  Different from seaweed, the seagrass was bright green in color and comprised of many forms of underwater vegetation, including flowers, roots and leaves. The growth here was as dense as Alison had ever seen it, so green and lush that it almost glowed against a background of blue water. Both in and above the seagrass were countless starfish, urchins, and crustaceans of dizzying numbers. There were life forms of all kinds, including billions of smaller fish with bright colors that resembled a giant underwater kaleidoscope.

  Alison was stunned. She simply floated in place, without a sound, taking in a landscape that was beyond green with sea life of every imaginable color. It was not until she heard Lee and the others gasp over her headset that she managed to speak.

  “Are you guys seeing this?!”

  “Amazing!” whispered Lee. Kelly and Chris were both staring over his shoulder at the monitor, transfixed.

  Kelly slowly shook her head. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

  Beneath the boat, Dirk and Sally finally appeared next to Alison. She glanced at them and tried to form words. “It’s…incredible.”

  See Alison, replied Sally. World is good. Beautiful.

  Alison nodded. “It is…beautiful.” She simply could not believe how full and vibrant everything was. “How long has this been here?” she whispered.

  Dirk wiggled his tail. Forever.

  The entire crew sat on the back of the boat in the darkness, staring out over the water and the endless sea of frolicking dolphins. With no moon out, only the stars were left to shine faintly across the choppy waves.

  Chris held his empty plate while the others continued eating under the bright glow of the overhead deck lights. “It looks so normal from up here. No one would ever imagine what was below us.”

  They all stopped and considered his words. With a smile, Alison lowered her dish. “Tomorrow you all have to go down. You have to see it up close.”

  Chris gripped an overhead stainless steel bar as he stood up and agreed, “Amen to that.”

  Josias stood on the bow as they quietly motored through the mass of dolphins around them. Something they had seen many times before during the same time of year.

  But tonight Josias’ eyes were focused dead ahead. The lights from the distant boat could be seen easily from several kilometers out. He couldn’t tell what kind it was, but judging from the number of lights, it was most likely a small private craft. He turned to look at the other two men behind him. One stood at the wheel and the other was busily checking the AK-47s. All three men were dressed in black. The same color as their boat.

  Josias didn’t meet the standard image of a pirate. He was short and slight with fairly well-groomed dar
k hair. No one would ever take him for a murderer. But why should they? The handful of people he had killed were all unintentional. They were victims of circumstance, usually a skipper or crewmember who tried to resist. During a hijacking, even on a small yacht, things could get out of hand quickly. But he wasn’t a monster. He had remorse. He regretted those people being dead, but he had rationalized long ago that it was their own stupid fault. He was never looking to kill anyone. Josias was simply looking to feed his family.

  Many countries throughout the South Caribbean were heavily populated with poor, starving citizens. Subjected to bad political regimes and devastating storms, life throughout the islands was hard. Much harder than for the yacht owners. If they could afford such an expensive boat, they sure as hell could afford the insurance to go with it. And some were still dumb enough to resist.

  Of course, Carlo was probably largely to blame. Josias looked back to Carlo at the stern and watched as he lowered one rifle then picked up another, making sure each was fully loaded. Josias and their skipper, Junior, were both men just trying to keep their families alive, but Carlo was very different. Carlo had no family. He was young, big, and grew up sleeping on the streets of Haiti. He learned at a young age that the only way to get ahead was to find what you needed and take it; by using more force than the person you were taking from.

  Carlo glanced up and caught Josias’ eye, still watching him. He smiled and made a crazed, hungry motion with the AK still in his hands. He then laughed and set it down, picking up a third rifle. For Carlo, it wasn’t just about surviving. He liked to hurt the people. Something his large size made all too easy.

  Junior, their skipper, standing next to Carlo, kept his head down. Like Josias, he hoped it was a quick raid. And that Carlo was in a good mood.

  With less than two kilometers left, Josias grabbed the old rusted lifeline and made his way back to the cockpit. It looked like it was going to be a good score.

  Alison sat on the bench seat at the main table, casually observing Lee’s work on his laptop. She leaned back against the thin cushion and watched Kelly help Chris with the dishes. He made a joke, and Kelly feigned a look of shock before pushing him playfully.

  Alison shook her head. She couldn’t tell whether there was something more than friendship there. Chris had a few years on her, but Kelly had a great mature, yet playful, way about her. Not to mention a tall, curvy figure.

  Lee continued typing but curled his lip, knowing what Alison was thinking. When she leaned forward to speak to him, he stopped typing.

  “Lee, when we go down again tomorrow, can you record the video?”

  “I should be able to. The signal was a little weak with all the dolphins in the way, but it may still be strong enough to get a good picture.”

  “Good. If anything is worth recording, this is.”

  “You can say that again.”

  Alison let herself fall gently back against the cushion again. She was in a great mood. Everything was going well. They still had more than enough food and fuel, the weather was holding, and IMIS was working well…with a few exceptions, of course. Although, it was peculiar that she hadn’t heard from DeeAnn recently. She no doubt had her own hands full.

  “Any more ideas on how long it might take to give IMIS the ability to differentiate between more than two dolphins?”

  Lee let a burst of air out of his mouth as he considered the question. “That’s a good question. A couple months maybe, including testing. I’m presuming you want that as a priority.”

  Alison gave him an exaggerated smile. “Please.”

  “You do realize I have about a dozen things for you, all sharing the number one spot.”

  “It’s because you’re just so amazing!” she teased.

  “Yeah, tell that to my wife.”

  Alison tilted her head and wrapped her arms around her bare knees. “Speaking of whom, aren’t you supposed to call her?”

  “I will. I didn’t want to run down the battery on the sat-phone before you called John.”

  “Very funny,” she squinted.

  “Hey,” Chris called out to the pair from his position at the sink. “Anyone mind if I put on some tunes?”

  “Please do.” Alison jumped from the seat and walked toward the steps. “I’m going to take a shower.” With that, she grabbed Chris’ music player and handed it to him as she headed downstairs.

  It was less than twenty minutes before they heard it or, rather, felt it. With the music playing loudly, no one had the slightest idea that a vessel was approaching. It wasn’t until Kelly felt the slight bump on the side of their boat that anyone looked outside. By then it was too late.

  The three darkly clad men silently coasted their aging speedboat in, next to the side of the Prowler catamaran. Junior, with line in hand, was already tying the boats together by the time Carlo and Josias jumped aboard. When they reached the sliding cabin door, Kelly was just stepping out to investigate.

  Without the slightest hesitation, Carlo grabbed her with his giant fist, pulled her forcefully out into the cockpit, and threw Kelly to the deck.

  “Kelly?” Chris’ voice called from inside upon hearing something hit the cockpit’s thick fiberglass floor.

  Instantly, Chris was pulled out next into the darkness, but much harder this time. He stumbled forward and tripped over Kelly, smashing headfirst into one of the hard bench seats and careening sideways.

  “What the-” was all he got out before Carlo stepped in and hit him hard in the face with the buttstock of his AK-47.

  “Shut up!” Carlo growled. He turned back and forced the sliding door completely open.

  Lee’s shocked expression kept him still just long enough for Carlo to step inside and level the barrel of his gun at Lee’s chest. Outside, at the same time, Josias stepped smoothly over Chris and jammed his muzzle into his back.

  Carlo stepped closer to Lee and held a finger over his lips. “How many aboard?” he whispered, in a thick Haitian accent.

  Lee stared at him and decided lying was a bad idea. They would probably search the boat anyway. Something told Lee that the beast standing in front of him didn’t like surprises. Without a word, Lee held up four fingers.

  41

  All four were sprawled on the floor of the cockpit. With hands bound behind their backs, they lay as Carlo and Josias searched the boat for valuables. The two quickly rounded up the jerry cans of fuel and most of the food.

  Josias was downstairs, staring at the IMIS servers, when Carlo came in behind him.

  “What are those, computers?”

  Josias nodded. “Expensive ones.”

  “Can we sell them?”

  “Yes. My cousin would buy them.”

  “Fine.” Carlo quickly scanned the rest of the confined cabin and ducked back out.

  Fifteen minutes later, they were back up top and furious. They were expecting much more than a few phones and computer tablets. The diving equipment and computers were the only things of considerable value. For a boat that nice, it was beginning to look like a major bust.

  Carlo stood over Alison and the others, fuming. There had to be more. They were hiding something.

  He looked at Lee and kicked him hard in the stomach. “Where is it?!” he yelled.

  Lee shuddered violently from the pain. He coughed up some spittle and struggled to speak. “Where’s…what?”

  “Money! You have some, I know it!”

  “We don’t!” cried Alison. “I swear.”

  Josias stood off to the side and sneered. “Bullsheet.” His accent was even stronger.

  “I swear we don’t. We’re researchers.”

  Carlo turned and stared at Josias. There was a brief moment of silence when the satellite phone suddenly rang behind them.

  Carlo leaned through the door and spotted the ringing phone on the counter. Its buttons were lit in a bright orange hue while it continued ringing.

  He turned and peered back down at Alison. “Who is calling?”

&n
bsp; Alison, still partially on her side, twisted around but wasn’t even close to the phone. “I have no idea.”

  “Yeah?” Carlo cried. He reached in and grabbed the phone, then stepped back outside. “You don’t know?”

  “No,” Alison sighed. “Maybe you should answer it.”

  Carlo examined the phone, still ringing. He scoffed and, in an instant, flung it overboard into the ocean.

  Steve Caesare finished dinner and returned down the narrow hallway toward their rooms. When he reached the end, he spotted Clay’s open door and peered inside. Clay was sitting on the small bunk with one knee propped up and an arm resting across the top. On the bed next to Clay was the small, flat silver cube.

  “Any ideas yet?”

  Clay raised an eyebrow at him and looked down at the cube. “Not yet.”

  “You’ll get it,” Caesare winked. “You always do.”

  Clay reacted as though he might chuckle. “You know this isn’t like a word puzzle.”

  “Really? I thought it was a deck of cards.”

  Clay smiled. “If it is, then it’s a pain to shuffle.”

  “I bet,” Caesare said, with a brief laugh. He motioned to Clay’s dangling hand, which was holding a phone. “Talk to Alison?”

  Clay turned back. “No. She’s not answering.”

  “Did you tell her to keep it on?”

  “I did,” Clay replied, with a slow and deliberate nod.

  Caesare looked curiously at the phone again. “How many times did you try?”

  “Four.” Clay shook his head. “It’s not like her.”

  “Where was their last position?”

  “Just a little east of Trinidad.”

  “Really?! What are they doing so far south?