Caribbean Capers

by Dan Kelly

  Pete asked, “What will you do with them?”

  “We’ll turn them over to some folks experienced in interrogation. If they know anything that will be helpful to us, they’ll be convinced that it will be in their best interests to share what they know. These guys appear to be pretty low on the food chain, muscle to intimidate or punish, so my gut’s telling me they won’t know too much. They might have a few names that could lead to something, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

  Pete asked, “How did you know where we were?”

  Manny smiled again and said, “While you two were wining and dining, we hid a honing device on your rental. It can tell us within a few feet where your car is.”

  Abby said, “Well, if nothing else these two will give Phil and Dave the opportunity to spread more rumors about how somebody from an anonymous group of cartels took these two out of action for some reason. More fuel for the fire. Hopefully, the rumors will exonerate us from any involvement in their disappearance, allowing Pete and I to continue our ruse of being engaged in doing research for a book.”

  Manny nodded and said, “We’ll follow you into town until you can find a gas station and then we’ll drop these guys off at a ‘friend’s’ place. Where were you guys headed before these clowns showed up?”

  Abby told him but added, “I think we’ll call it a night. I’d like to think some more about the man these two guys were talking to at the La Cocoteraie and try to find out more about him. I think he’s a lot higher up on the food chain than these two and it might lead to something if I discretely ask around about him and tap some other resources that Dave and Phil have access to. I must have hit a raw nerve somewhere somehow in my research persona to motivate such aggressive behavior from these two.”

  “Okay, you shouldn’t run into any more trouble tonight. I’ll check in with you after we unload our cargo and get back to the yacht.”

  Pete pulled back out onto the road and headed into town with the van close on their heels. Pete asked, “How are you going to check out the big guy if you don’t have a name or even a picture to show around?”

  “Check this out.” Pointing to her wrist watch she hit a button and a picture of the man appeared on its face.

  “Well I’ll be damned.” With a big grin on his face he added, “You get a kick out of doing this to me don’t you? It’s been one surprise after another with you.”

  “Hey, life’s full of surprises. I just move along with the flow. Besides, the look you get on your face is priceless.”

  “Ha ha. I’m glad I’m a source of amusement for you. I should ask the Scrounger for more money as I’m performing double duty.”

  With comfortable smiles on their faces they continued on into town. Abby’s thinking, “I could get used to this. Careful girl, this kind of thinking could get you into all kinds of trouble. Yeah, but it could lead to a lot of other kinds of surprises too.” She continued to have these conflicting thoughts all the way into town.

  After they filled their tank, they headed back to the yacht and Abby’s thoughts returned to business. “We’re accomplishing what we’ve set out to do, getting names and other helpful information, stoking the rumor fires and creating suspicion and doubt, but as things heat up we’re going to have to be very vigilant if we want to get through all of this without getting burned.”

  When they got back to the Vuelta de Lujo they checked in with Dave and gave him a summary of the events of the evening. “I’m glad you two got away from those guys in one piece. The fact that you generated enough interest to get somebody to approach you the way they did is an indication that Sea Wasp’s actions are starting to get to these slime balls.

  “If someone going around and asking questions as part of some research for a book is enough to raise the hackles of someone to the point where they are willing to do something so overt, that’s sufficient proof for me that we’re on the right track. A word of caution though. Remember, your mission is to be our eyes and ears only. We don’t want you to be so aggressive in your snooping that you put yourselves in danger. I think we can put the right spin on the rumor we spread about the capture of these two that will put the damper on any suspicion that might be out there of you being any kind of threat.”

  Pete said, “We’re planning on staying here for a few more days and then we’ll be leaving for Martinique. I’d like to stop by the hotel where Millie Trumball is staying to see how things are going with the search for her husband. Have your people been able to generate any leads?”

  “We’re working on something one of our operatives heard in a bar in Barbados. Some guy got drunk and started shooting his mouth off about how he was soon going to be rich enough to buy the place. He said he came across this guy while he was fishing off the coast of Barcelona who was going to be his ticket to the good life. Our guy has been following him to see if he will lead him to something that will shed some light on where Trumball might be. So far, nothing.”

  “Have you heard anything from the Barcelona police? Do they have any leads?”

  “Nada.”

  “Have you found out anything about Damien Christensen?”

  “Phil’s working on it. Everything about the man is classified, so Phil has arranged a meeting with the President tomorrow morning to find out what that’s all about.”

  “The Scrounger meeting with the President! I’m having some difficulty getting my mind around that picture.”

  Abby spoke up with, “I’m emailing you a picture of the big guy we told you about. I’d like to know as much as I can about him as I have a feeling our paths are going to cross again. Please see what you can find out about him.”

  “Will do. Bye for now.”

  Abby must have talked with a hundred people over the next few days, but their snooping around the marina and bar hopping turned up nothing and they had no further sightings of the big man, so they cast off and headed for Martinique.

  Chapter 12

  -Martinique-

  The first thing Pete and Abby did when they went ashore at Martinique was go to the Le Meilleur hotel to get an update from Millie Trumball about her husband. When Millie opened the door to her suite, Pete was shocked to see how much she appeared to have aged in just a few short weeks. The poor lady was going through a living hell.

  “Hi, Millie. This is Abby Keenan. We were in the area and I wanted to stop by to see if you’ve had any word on the whereabouts of Bob.”

  “Hi, Abby. I’m sorry we couldn’t have met under more pleasant circumstances. Pete, the Barcelona police have come up with nothing. They’ve assigned a very nice young lady to the case, but she’s stumped. She’s put out an alert for Bob which included a copy of a picture of him I had in my wallet along with a contact number. It’s been sent to all of the law enforcement agencies in Barcelona and even in Caracas and has been broadcast on all of the TV stations in and around those cities, but there’s been no response. The detective, a Senorita Rosa Rodriguez, is trying to get the alert broadcast in other countries around the Caribbean rim. She’s surmising that if Bob gave the kidnappers our home address and/or phone number the information would be useless because I’m not there to respond. She’s thinks that if the kidnappers see the alert they will make contact with a ransom demand. If they do, she’s hoping an opportunity will present itself to find out if Bob is alive, in good health and to get him back safely.”

  “Well, I guess all that can be done is being done. Hang in there, Millie. Don’t give up hope. You’ve got some very resourceful American agencies twisting arms to help you with this. We’d better be going now. We have a busy day ahead of us, but before we got started I wanted to stop by and see you.”

  “I thank you for doing so. It’s good to know that someone else is worrying about Bob besides me."

  As they headed back to their car rental, a BMW this time, Abby said, “I wonder if there’s some way I could include in my repertoire of questions one or two that might shake something loose about her husband without arousing any
undue suspicion.”

  “I think you could pull it off if you did it in an offhanded way.”

  “Okay, I’ll do it. I feel so sorry for what that poor soul is going through and would love to have a hand in nailing the bastards who are putting her through it.”

  The first two days resulted in nothing but frustration. They hit the shops and bars in the marina, visited some of the nicer hotels and even spent some time at an exclusive golf club, but came up empty. Early in the morning of their third day in Martinique, sipping some coffee out on the upper deck of the Vuelta de Lujo and planning their itinerary for the day, Pete spots a bait and tackle shop hidden behind a large building not far from where they are docked. It was impossible to see from the street and that’s why they missed it when they were making the rounds of the shops in the marina. “Abby, before we head out for the day I’d like to drop by that bait and tackle shop and talk with the owner and some of the customers. They might have some interesting stories to tell, especially the commercial fishermen. They’re out at sea a lot, know these waters like the backs of their hands and are an observant lot. They don’t miss much, especially when they’re out at sea.”

  “We could also try talking with the harbor master. Maybe we’ll have better luck with this one.”

  If they had been prospecting for gold, what they dug up talking with the fishermen and the harbor master would be like discovering another Homestake mine, the mother lode of all mother lodes in the U. S. of A.

  They learned more about smuggling than they ever wanted to know. They learned that smuggling in the Caribbean region involved a smorgasbord of products, including drugs, people, diamonds and other precious gems, alcohol, tobacco, coffee, fire arms, furs, antiques, high tech equipment, industrial machinery, pornographic items, exotic animals and even nuclear material.

  They learned the means of transporting these goods varies from ships, submarines, planes, land vehicles, the bodies of people and animals, alive or dead, and even parachutes are used to make deliveries. Smuggling is big business, generating billions of dollars for the traffickers, and these people have no scruples when it comes to protecting their fiefdoms.

  Most importantly, they got names, sometimes just nicknames, but handles that could lead to the real identities of the players in the regional trafficking. Pete and Abby were amazed at their candor and willingness to talk about these very dangerous people and the activities they’ve observed. Abby commented on this to the harbor master and was told that the locals gossiping about the smuggling going on in the area doesn’t concern the leaders of the local gangs and regional cartels. “They strongly believe that no one would dare to testify against them in a court of law for fear of reprisal against them and their loved ones and they are right. You putting what you have learned here today into a book won’t alarm them one bit. In fact, if they were to read your book, which I highly doubt, they would probably revel in the notoriety.”

  “Never the less, we’ll keep your names out of the limelight.”

  “Fair enough.”

  One particular piece of information has caused them to change their plans to stay in Martinique for one more day and then head for Barcelona next. They’ve decided to set sail for Puerto Rico instead. According to what the fishermen have picked up on, it’s a base of some major trafficking and they figure they might learn a lot there as well.

  As they’re heading back to the Vuelta de Lujo Abby said, “I think it’s time we pass some of the information we’ve garnered in our travels to date on to Julio Mendoza at the Listin Diario and see what he can add to what we’ve dug up.”

  “I agree. I also think we should call Dave right away with this latest info and our change in plans. We were given a lot of goodies this morning and the sooner we can have what we were told evaluated the more useful the information is likely to be.”

  Two hours later they were on their way to Puerto Rico.

  Chapter 13

  - San Juan, Puerto Rico -

  Moving along at an average speed of 15 knots, they arrived at San Juan, Puerto Rico about noon the next day. The trip was uneventful except for an unusual amount of cloud cover as they got closer to San Juan. They noticed a couple of small planes flying low as they came into port and were surprised to see any private air traffic tempting catastrophe with the visibility so poor. Pete took down the tail numbers and would pass them along to Dave later in the day.

  San Juan is full of surprises for the first time visitor. It not only is the capital of Puerto Rico, but it is a sightseer’s delight with its museums, parks, forts, churches and other historical buildings and its beautiful beaches. San Juan is known as "La Ciudad Amurallada" (the walled city) and has one of the biggest, busiest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean. It is the center of Caribbean shipping and is the 2nd largest sea port in the area after New York City.

  San Juan is also the largest processing center of the island, the metropolitan area has facilities for petroleum and sugar refining, brewing and distilling and produces cement, pharmaceuticals, metal products, clothing and tobacco.

  The bustling port’s legitimate activities make it a very tempting place for smugglers to try to conceal their trafficking operations. From what they heard in Martinique, some cartels are enjoying more than a little success in that regard.

  Pete and Abby have decided to deviate somewhat from the game plan they followed in the other ports. Instead of pumping the shop and bar owners in the harbor and the harbor master for pertinent information under the guise of doing research for a book and then heading for the more upstream places that people with money are likely to frequent, they’re just going to concentrate on the luxurious places the higher ups in the cartels as well as their clients might go to enjoy themselves. With all of the money these people are wading in, it’s a pretty sure bet that they’re going to want to spend some of it in the best places.

  The first stop on their agenda is the Ritz Carlton San Juan Hotel, Spa & Casino where they’ll register for a week and start stirring the pot and see what comes to the top. They also plan to play some golf at the Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande, a 36-hole club featuring four unique nines with water views at every turn, and the Bahía Beach Resort and Golf Club, an 18-hole course offering amazing seaside views and tee sets for pros and beginners. Pete’s thinking, “I could get used to this way of life very quickly.”

  After they checked into their suite, not room, suite, Pete continues with that line of thinking. “Man, I’ve got to look into doing this kind of work on a permanent basis. The perks are definitely top notch and a better roommate just doesn’t exist. Careful there, Peter. One wrong move with that one and you’ll wind up in traction.”

  As they are leaving the suite to check out the hotel’s many amenities, Abby’s cell phone rings. It’s Dave Morrison. “Abby, I have a name to go with the picture you sent me, Pablo Salazar. He’s been in trouble with the law since he was fifteen years old, working for a bookie in his neighborhood. He’s a real bad ass and has some powerful friends in the hierarchy of the dark side. He’s served time for assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, possession of controlled substances, the sale of same and was arrested for manslaughter with a motor vehicle, but he beat that rap and has stayed under the radar for the last eight years. I don’t know if he’s an independent or if he’s a member of one of the cartels. Our sources say he’s nobody to fool with, so be careful if your paths cross again.”

  “Thanks for the info, Dave. Any word on what’s going on with Damien Christensen?”

  “That’s been an educational experience. I never knew the United States had so many intelligence operations. The one Mr. Christensen works for is one of the lesser known ones outside of the inner circles of the bureaucracy. He works for the INL, which stands for the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. How’s that for a moniker? They’ve had their own undercover operation going for about three months now and never told the President what they were up to. The Presid
ent was not a happy camper when he heard this. It appears that the INL, like Sea Wasp, has deep concerns about leaks within the administration.