Bluewater Ganja: The Ninth Novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Bluewater Thrillers Book 9)

by Charles Dougherty

  Chapter 16

  "What did you do with them?" Wong asked Eric Schmidt, the captain of Lotus Blossom.

  "They're tied up in one of the storage lockers next to the engine room."

  "Ah," Wong said. "And their boat?"

  "In the garage, where the tender you were using goes. I wanted to get that yellow boat out of sight as quickly as I could."

  "Yes, that's good," Wong said. "Once we're over the horizon, you can dispose of them."

  "Do you wish them to be found? We could — "

  "No, I don't think so. Just make them disappear in deep water. The boat, too. There will be fewer questions that way."

  "As you wish, Mr. Wong. We can tow the tender until then and bring it aboard once their boat's no longer in the way."

  "Actually, Eric, I need the tender again, and probably Riley. We have to lay a false trail. Everyone on the island knows by now that I brought the girl aboard, thanks to those two morons."

  "Why Riley? He's my pick to handle the disposal. Couldn't one of the other men — "

  "There will be some theatrics required, and Riley enjoys certain things that the others might find perverse."

  "I see," the captain said, going pale beneath his tan. "Will I need to bleach the teak deck again?"

  "No. Riley and I will confine our activity to the tender. You can just hose it out when we're done."

  "I should probably have someone rig the steam-cleaning equipment to get rid of the trace evidence," the captain said.

  "Not necessary, in this case. Riley and I will both appear to be victims, so the trace evidence will only serve to corroborate our story, if it comes to that." Wong grinned at the captain's discomfort.

  "Don't look so queasy, Eric. Riley enjoys this kind of thing as much as I do. Summon him, please."

  "What about the girl?"

  "What about her?"

  "Will we keep her aboard?"

  "Only for a little while. When Riley and I get back, I'll arrange for a transfer. Then you will need to remove any trace evidence that would indicate her presence aboard Lotus Blossom."

  "Yes, I understand, Mr. Wong. Let me get Riley for you."

  "Just have him meet me in the tender, please. We need to hurry. As soon as we leave, you get under way. Head due west until you're over the radar horizon from the islands. You understand?"

  The captain nodded, reaching for an intercom handset.

  "And Eric?"

  "Yes, sir?"

  "Treat the girl as a guest; make sure nothing happens to her, and give her anything she wants, but don't allow her out of Madame Chen's stateroom."

  ****

  Cynthia made the most of the steaming shower; she'd found the shower on Vengeance to be adequate, but this one was luxurious. She lathered and rinsed her hair twice, then applied some of the conditioner that she found on the shelf.

  She contemplated filling the tub and enjoying a bubble bath, but decided that she might not have time. She settled for the delicately perfumed, hard-milled French soap instead, scrubbing herself thoroughly with the loofah and then standing under the near-scalding water as long as she could stand it.

  Turning off the water, she wound an oversized bath sheet around herself and stepped to the vanity to blow dry her hair. She considered using some of the makeup that she found on the vanity, but decided against it; she'd be back aboard Vengeance soon, and then she'd just need sunscreen.

  She opened the head door a crack and peeked into the stateroom. There was no one in the room, and as Wong had promised, there were clothes laid out on the bed. She walked to the bed and dropped the bath sheet, running her hand over the cream-colored silk lounging pajamas that had been left for her.

  The silk was heavy, soft and rich to her touch. She eagerly stepped into the pants and tied the drawstring, relishing the way the fabric caressed her sunburned thighs. She picked up the top, pausing for a moment as she held it to her chest, enjoying the feel of the raw silk on her tender skin.

  With a sigh, she put the top on and walked toward the door, thinking she would find Mr. Wong and thank him. She was surprised to find that the door to the stateroom was locked. She looked down, studying the knob, searching for a latch of some kind, but none was there.

  She knocked on the door, tentatively at first, then with increasing force, but there was no answer. She remembered that Mr. Wong had mentioned the bell-pull by the bed. Walking to the bed, she realized the yacht was moving. Feeling disoriented by the increasing acceleration, she sat down on the bed.

  There was a curtained window along the side of the bed. She shifted her position to where she could push the curtain aside, but she could see nothing except pristine blue water and an impossibly beautiful sky. The few clouds were so well defined that she wondered for a moment if they were real or some image on the glass. She couldn't guess where they were headed, but judging from the surface of the water, they were moving at a high speed, much faster than Vengeance had gone.

  She thought again about the bell-pull, but she felt a tremor of fear at the thought of the locked door. She decided to examine the stateroom before she summoned anyone, to see if she might find some hidden mechanism to open the door.

  Cynthia was a veteran of several years of weekly visits to a shrink as a result of her difficulty dealing with her mother's death. She recognized that she was engaging in what her counselor called avoidance behavior; she might still be a prisoner, but she didn't want to confirm it just yet. She let herself escape into imagining the reunion with her father and Dani and Liz.

  ****

  Wong and the first mate, Riley, stood facing one another in the tender as it bobbed in the remains of Lotus Blossom's wake. The yacht was rapidly diminishing in size as it streaked toward the horizon.

  "Ready?" Wong asked.

  The burly first mate grinned. "Yeah, Mr. Wong."

  "You go first, Riley. Make it count; don't hold anything back." Wong braced himself as Riley set his feet and launched a hard, scarred fist.

  Wong enjoyed the explosion of pain from his forehead as his vision went red. He wiped the blood from his eyes, grinning at the muscle-bound first mate. "Good one. Again, Riley. More blood, this time. Go for the — "

  Wong blacked out momentarily when Riley's fist split his nose like a piece of ripe fruit. He shook his head, wiping his eyes again.

  "Okay?" Riley asked.

  "Fine, Riley."

  "Again, Mr. Wong?"

  "What do you think? Do I look like I've been beaten senseless yet?"

  "Where you want it, then," Riley asked.

  "Bust my lips; careful of the teeth, though."

  Riley delivered a vicious backhand blow that split both of the little man's lips. "Ain't nothin' left to bleed, Mr. Wong. Your turn, boss."

  Wong had been braced against the steering console, the better to stand up to Riley's punches. He nodded and stepped forward. "Ready?"

  Riley dropped into a boxer's stance and grinned. "Yes, sir."

  Wong shifted slightly, and Riley saw that he held his straight razor down next to his own thigh, where Riley couldn't reach it.

  "Go ahead, Boss," Riley said. "Make me bleed, too."

  Wong laughed. "If I cut you again, you'll bleed to death before we get there." He reached in a locker and passed the big man a towel. "Wrap your forearms up before you go into shock."

  Riley reached for the towel and caught a glimpse of the blood coursing from the gashes on both forearms. As the first mate's knees went weak, Wong pushed him back against the pneumatic tube on the port side of the tender and wrapped the towel around one of his forearms. Grabbing another towel, he wrapped the other arm.

  "Hold those in place. I'll get us to the fuel dock. Don't forget; two East Indians in a yellow speed boat. Knocked me out, cut you up, and snatched the girl."

  The mate, his skin gone pale beneath his tan, mumbled his understanding as Wong started the engine and slipped behind the helm.

  Chapter 17

  "I don't see any boats
like the one Ed described," Dani said, lowering the binoculars as she and Sharktooth idled through the anchorage off Petite Martinique in Lightning Bolt.

  "Wait," Sharktooth said, edging closer to the fuel dock. "That RIB got blood all over it." He pointed to a large, inboard-powered rigid inflatable boat of the sort used as tenders on large yachts. It was tied to the fuel dock with no one around it.

  He pulled in behind the RIB and shut off his engines as Dani tied bow and stern lines to the pilings.

  "The attendant's not around," she said. "Let's check at the office."

  "Mm-hmm," Sharktooth said.

  They climbed up onto the dock and walked toward the shore. Dani pointed out the trail of blood drops on the weathered boards under their feet. No one was in the office, but there was a woman behind the counter in the snackette at the head of the dock. She was talking softly on a cell phone when they walked in.

  She finished her call and said, "Good afternoon. Welcome."

  "Good afternoon," Sharktooth said.

  "You can sit anywhere you like," she said, waving at the empty tables.

  "Actually, we were looking for the fuel dock attendant," Dani said.

  The woman shook her head, a solemn look on her face. "He gone. Took them po' men to the clinic."

  "From that yacht tender?" Dani asked.

  "Mm-hmm, yes," the woman nodded. "Terrible."

  "There was a lot of blood in the tender," Dani said. "What happened?"

  "Them two men from Trinidad," the woman said shaking her head and clicking her tongue in disapproval. "Knew they was evil soon as they come in here. Sometimes, you can jus' tell when Satan done put the touch on a body."

  "They in a yellow boat, with two big outboards?" Sharktooth asked.

  "Mm-hmm. They do sump'n to you folks, too?"

  Dani and Sharktooth exchanged quick looks. She nodded, and he said, "They kidnapped a guest from our charter yacht up in the Cays."

  The woman nodded. "We 'spected it was sump'n like that. She done got away from 'em, praise be to Jesus."

  "She escaped?" Dani asked.

  "Mm-hmm. Went to the church. Father Daniel was helpin' her. He took her to the p'lice, an' while they was figgerin' out how to get her back to her father on that yacht, Mr. Wong come along an' say he give her a ride back to the yacht she on."

  "Mr. Wong?" Dani prompted.

  "Mm-hmm. He on Madame Chen's yacht, Lotus Blossom. He been doin' some bidness dungda Grenada, an' he come by heah to bring somethin' to Father Daniel, I t'ink. Sister DeMontfort, she tell him 'bout this po' girl, an' he go to the p'lice an' say he take her back to the yacht, 'cause he goin' thataway anyhow."

  "Uh-huh," Sharktooth said. "Tha's ver' nice of him. So he take her back up to the Cays?"

  "Well, not 'zackly, see. Them two devil men, they musta see the girl get in the tender goin' out to Lotus Blossom. They stop the tender an' take the girl back. Beat up Mr. Wong real bad, an' cut the man wit' him. Tha's where Walter gone."

  "Walter?" Dani asked.

  "Mm-hmm. Walter work on the fuel dock. He take 'em to the clinic. They in bad shape."

  "They say which way the men in the yellow boat went?" Sharktooth asked.

  The woman shrugged. "Reckon mebbe they hurt too bad to see."

  Dani looked at Sharktooth for a moment and then turned back to the woman. "Thanks for your help. Could you ask Mr. Wong to give me a call when he's able?" Dani handed the woman a business card. "I'm the captain of the yacht the girl was taken from. Her father's beside himself with worry. I'm sure he'd like to speak to Mr. Wong and thank him for his help."

  "No problem. Mr. Wong, he in much bettah shape than the other fella. Reckon they figured he couldn't do them much harm, little dwarf fella like him. Jus' hit him a few times." She shook her head. "Other fella big an' strong. They cut him up bad."

  "Thank you," Sharktooth said. He and Dani walked back down the dock to Lightning Bolt. "What now?" he asked, once Dani had untied the dock lines.

  "Back to Vengeance, I think."

  "You don't want to try to talk to this Wong?" Sharktooth asked.

  "Not just yet. Let's see if he calls. While we're waiting, we can see what we can find out about him and this Madame Chen."

  "I'll put the word out again 'bout the yellow boat, too," Sharktooth said, reaching for his satellite phone.

  ****

  "Good afternoon. This is the yacht, Vengeance," Liz said, answering the satellite phone. The display showed 'calling number blocked.'

  "Give me Edward Savage," the caller said, the voice warbling.

  "Just one second." Liz put her hand over the mouthpiece.

  "Ed, this is probably the kidnappers. The voice is electronically disguised." She handed him the phone, switching it to speakerphone mode.

  "This is Ed Savage."

  "Liquidate your brokerage accounts," the voice gargled. "You need to wire us $10 million in the next 48 hours if you want to see your daughter again."

  "I want to talk to — "

  The warbling voice cut him off. "Follow our instructions, or else we'll sell her to the highest bidder. Right now, you need to be raising the cash. We'll be in touch." The connection was broken.

  "Shit," Ed said, giving the phone back to Liz and hiding his face in his hands.

  She put the phone on the seat beside her and laid a soothing hand on his forearm, patting him. "It's progress."

  "Yeah, I suppose. I'd like to know she's okay, though."

  "That's understandable. They'll probably let her talk to you at some point. One thing about kidnappers in Trinidad is that they're professionals; they're just in it for the money."

  "Do they usually release their victims?"

  "Yes. It's a business to them. They have to maintain a certain level of credibility, or they couldn't operate effectively. It could be worse."

  "Why do you guys seem to know so much about this kind of thing?"

  "Dani and I both have some personal experience with kidnapping."

  "How's that?"

  "We've both been kidnapped."

  "Both of you?"

  "At different times."

  "For ransom?"

  "Y-yes."

  "What was the hesitation for?"

  "There was more to it than just ransom. We'd gotten crossways with some drug runners who dabbled in human trafficking. There was an element of payback."

  "But you both survived," Ed said.

  "That's the important thing," Liz said, nodding.

  "Were you running drugs or something?"

  "No, of course not. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

  "And the kidnappers?"

  "They aren't around anymore."

  "In prison?"

  "No."

  "You mean they got away?"

  "No. Dani and her friends prefer their own form of closure, and as the song says, the sea never gives up her dead."

  "You mean — " He stopped talking when Liz jumped up and pointed at the rooster tail on the horizon to the south.

  "Lightning Bolt," she said, pointing. "They're back."

  ****

  "Where is the girl?" Marissa Chen asked, the telephone handset wedged between her left shoulder and her head as she worked her way through the stack of documents on her desk, signing in the places that had been marked with tags by her attorney.

  "Ah, we have her; she is secured," Wong said, standing on the bridge of Lotus Blossom as he watched Eric Schmidt directing the crewmen down on the foredeck. They had hoisted the tender aboard and were scrubbing the bloodstains away.

  "Answer me, my little one," the Dragon Lady said, her tone betraying her impatience.

  "She's here aboard Lotus Blossom, but — "

  "You fool! Aboard Lotus Blossom! I'll — "

  "Please, Madame, it's only temporary. She escaped."

  "Escaped?! What are you saying, Wong? Escaped from where?"

  "From the men who took her, but it's under control, now."

  "No
t if she's on my yacht, it isn't. Where are those two buffoons? You said they could pull this off."

  "We're going to handle them; we're under way, and as soon as we're out of radar range of the islands, we'll dump them."

  "There must be no trace of them, Wong. Nothing to connect them to us."

  "I understand, Madame. They and their boat will never be seen again."

  "Where were they when the girl escaped?"

  "Having lunch on the fuel dock in Petite Martinique. They left her tied up under a tarp in their boat."

  "What happened?"

  Wong described the events that led to his 'rescue' of the girl from the police station.

  "Imbecile!" she hissed. "Now she was last seen in your company, bound for my yacht."

  "I've taken care of that, Madame." He went on to explain the ruse he had employed. "So for now, everyone thinks the two men from Trinidad recaptured her."

  "And you got to indulge in your favorite pastime, you little pervert."

  "I only did what was necessary."

  "Will Riley recover the full use of his arms?"

  "He should, Madame, with time."

  "Meanwhile, he's useless to us."

  "With respect, Madame, he corroborates the illusion."

  "Who knows besides the people on Petite Martinique?"

  "Ah, the woman who runs that yacht, Vengeance. She came looking for the girl."

  "She what? How did she track the girl to Petite Martinique?"

  "I don't know, yet, Madame, but I — "

  "Don't know yet? Did you talk to her?"

  "Not yet. She talked with Irene at the snackette. She left a business card, and asked for me to call her."

  "You will not do that. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, Madame, as you wish, but — "

  "I will deal with her directly. Who is she?"

  "Danielle Berger."

  "And her telephone number?"

  Wong read off the digits to her.

  "Was she alone? How did she arrive in Petite Martinique?"

  "She was in a parasailing boat, driven by a big, bald-headed Rasta man."

  "Bald? Why does Irene think he's a Rasta then?"

  "She said he was a giant; maybe 7 feet tall, and dreadlocks to his waist, but bald on top."

  "Hmph. Must be one of the boat boys that hangs out in the Cays, looking for parasailing business. Check him out, but stay out of sight."