Caribbean Capers

by Dan Kelly

  “We’ve been hearing rumors for some time now that these guys are moving more and more of their merchandise by submarine, but we haven’t been able to get any hard evidence. Another rumor I’ve been hearing concerns the two of you. Apparently, you’ve been asking a lot of questions of a lot of people that have come to the attention of the leaders of some of these cartels. They don’t know if you’re asking these questions as part of your research for a book Abby’s planning to write like you’ve just told me or if there’s another purpose behind the questioning. They’ve been experiencing a lot of incidents where major shipments of merchandise have been intercepted and confiscated and they’re beginning to wonder if you have anything to do with that.

  “I have no way of knowing what the two of you are really up to. I just know you, Pete, and if you’re involved in some way with the interruption of those shipments it’s for a very good reason. I’m not going to pressure you to tell me anything. I’m just going to give you a friendly warning. Big trouble could be headed your way, so I hope you have someone watching your back.”

  “Thank you for your concern my friend, but don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.”

  After leaving Pickles in his office on the main floor of the customs building, they hit the street with their awareness of their surroundings keenly heightened by Pickles’ warning. Both of them immediately looked around to see where Manny and his men were. They were all visible, especially Manny, and although they weren’t surrounding Pete and Abby like a protective cordon, they were close enough to move in within seconds to protect them if they were in any danger. Surprisingly, Manny didn’t stand out as much as Abby thought he would. He didn’t move around much or do anything else to bring attention to himself. He just stood beside a tree, sat on a bench at a bus stop, leaned against a building pretending to read a newspaper, things that would enable him to blend in with his surroundings. He was very good at it.

  Pete didn’t like holding out on his friend, but he figured it was the smart thing to do. The fewer people that knew the score about what they were up to the less chance of a leak, inadvertent or otherwise to the wrong people.

  They had gotten back to the yacht about 9:30, called Dave and gave him a summary of what they had uncovered, and then hit the hay so they would be wide awake for a 6:00 a. m. cast off tomorrow morning. The anticipated storm had hit shore, the deluge overflowing sewers, embankments, rivers and streams, but was now quickly dissipating into a light mist. The weather is supposed to be good for the next few days before another storm comes their way and Pete wants to take advantage of it while he can. It’ll take them about two and a half days to reach Belize and Pete’s hoping to beat the next storm.

  Somewhere off the coast of Nicaragua their special equipment starts acting up. Pete’s thinking it’s some kind of technical glitch and starts running some tests, but everything checks out fine. “Abby, there’s nothing wrong with the equipment. It’s telling us that there’s a small armada of subs moving at a pretty good clip in the same direction we’re headed. They’re so close together that it’s hard to determine just how many are down there. Something big is going down. I don’t think they’re military subs. It’s hard to say what they are because of the tight formation they’re in and they’re transmitting some kind of signal that’s distorting our reception. Our equipment is state-of- the- art so we’re receiving enough data to let us know that there are a lot of them. We better get this development to Dave ASAP. If these subs are what I think they are, intercepting them could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and have the cartels at each other’s throats if the rumors Phil will spread that someone inside one or more of the cartels is a snitch are believed by the head honchos.”

  When Abby got Dave on the satellite phone, she gave him the information and received some good news in return. “Abby, Sea Wasp is getting to these guys. There have been some serious confrontations between the cartels and a number of them have begun cleaning house and eliminating anyone they consider a threat within their own organizations. It’s not going to take much more to drive them over the edge into open warfare. This could be the catalyst that does that.

  “You and Pete have to be very careful from here on out. These guys are going to be suspicious of the slightest thing out of the ordinary and will not hesitate to go after you with a vengeance if they think you have anything to do with their troubles. From what you’ve told me in past reports, you are already being looked at very closely by some of these guys, so cool it with the probing and questioning of people you don’t know. Carry on with your plans to talk with Pete’s friends in Belize and Cozumel and then get your butts back to Miami. No heroics, understand?”

  “I understand. How’s the search going for that plane Trumball was on?”

  “Bad news there. The plane was spotted at a small airport in Panama, but when the local police got to the airfield the only person they found was the pilot. He said he was hired to take the two men to El Salvador. He had landed to take on fuel and when he returned from paying for the fuel his passengers were gone. It didn’t bother him any as he had gotten paid up front in cash. He didn’t know anything about Mr. Trumball and neither one of them spoke during the flight. The skinny guy was on his phone just before they landed and we think he was told to stay on the ground as word probably got out about the air search.”

  “Damn. Are you working with anyone in Panama to try to pick up a lead as to where they might be headed?”

  “We are and I’ll keep you posted on any new developments.”

  “Thanks, Dave.”

  Abby breaks the connection and tells Pete what Dave had said.

  Pete has a worried look on his face as he says, “Trumball is definitely becoming an albatross around Salazar’s neck. Fuentes knows that Trumball is worth a lot more to him alive than dead and will continue to try to keep Salazar from making Trumball disappear, at least for now, but Salazar knows that he’s pushing his luck by trying to keep Trumball under wraps indefinitely. There’s just too much publicity about Trumball’s kidnapping and I’m sure that’s making Salazar real nervous. When guys like Salazar get nervous, they get very dangerous. Trumball’s chances of staying alive are getting slimmer and slimmer with each passing day.”

  “Everything that can be done to find Mr. Trumball is being done, Pete. We’ve got to stay focused on our mission. Sea Wasp has managed to really rattle the cages of the leaders of the major cartels and they are now on the verge of engaging in open warfare with each other. Your friends in Belize and Cozumel may be able to give us vital information to help us weaken and maybe even destroy some or all of these organizations. Your contacts have really been a big help to us and those we have yet to talk to could be the icing on the cake.”

  “I could live with that.”

  Chapter 22

  - Belize -

  When they arrived in Belize, formerly British Honduras, in early afternoon it was hot, humid and overcast, but this didn’t seem to bother the tourists who were all over the place. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy as it is the home of many Mayan sites, offers some great places to scuba dive and snorkel along with some beautiful beaches to soak up some sun, rain forests to hike through and spectacular caves to explore. It is a beautiful place to visit, but Belize has its problems that cast a big shadow over its outer beauty. It has a heavy foreign debt burden, high unemployment, growing involvement in the Mexican and South American drug trade, high crime rates, and one of the highest prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in Central America.

  They had docked at Ambergris Caye, the largest island in Belize and twenty minutes after they went ashore the clouds opened up with a heavy downpour and they had to flee to the lobby of the Coco Beach Resort Hotel. They were headed there anyway because that’s where they had reservations, but they had planned to roam around a little first and visit a quaint British style pub, dart tournaments included, Pete frequented when he was in Belize. Fortunately, they weren’t too far from the hotel when the skie
s opened up, so by running under overhangs and awnings whenever they could they didn’t get too wet.

  After checking in and changing into some dry clothes, they rented a car and headed for Pete’s favorite pub. The fancily carved wooden sign over the door with its mug of golden ale overflowing the brim announced that they had arrived at The People’s Pub, Samuel Holmes & Theodore Watson Proprietors. Abby chuckled and said, “Holmes and Watson? Does anyone really buy that?”

  “What can I tell you? The regulars here insist that those are the owners’ real names.”

  It was a Saturday so the place was fairly crowded. As soon as they walked in, the bartender, Tommy Thornton, spotted Pete, waved hello and motioned with his head for them to go to the back of the pub where there was a small office. Tom met them there a minute later.

  After a hardy handshake and a bear hug that left Pete wondering if anything got broken, Pete introduced Abby and then Tommy ushered them into the office and shut the door. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Pete?”

  Tommy is a big guy, 6’4” with loads of muscle and has a voice to match, a deep bass with a timbre unique to him. At the moment, there was also deep concern in it.

  “What are you talking about, Tommy?”

  “You two have risen to the top of the grapevine and have some really bad people looking for you. Two tough looking goons have come in here a few times this past three weeks or so asking the staff and customers if they knew you and if they did where you might be found. The last time they didn’t ask very nicely. Someone’s got to be putting a lot of pressure on them to find out where you are. The last time they paid us a visit I told them to stop annoying everybody or they’d have to leave and not come back. One of them pulled his jacket aside to reveal a gun on his hip and said I could get hurt talking like that. I pulled out the old thirty eight I keep behind the bar and said that works both ways and they backed down and left. I haven’t seen them since, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be back. I think somehow they found out that this is one of your favorite watering holes and are hoping to pick up some lead as to your whereabouts.”

  “Thanks for your concern and the warning, Tommy. I wonder who they were.”

  “What are you two involved in?”

  Seeing the warning look in Abby’s eyes, he wrestled with the idea of coming clean with his friend and decided to ignore Abby’s warning and tell him some of the truth as it was now clear to him that their cover story wasn’t holding much water any longer. “Tommy, I can’t go into any of the details now, but when the time is right, I’ll fill you in on what has been going on. I was hoping to talk with you and some of your regular seafaring customers to get some input on the smuggling and piracy that have been going on throughout the Caribbean region. I didn’t see any of the ones I’ve met in here when we came in.”

  “Most of those guys come in later in the day, around six or so.”

  “Would it be alright if Abby and I came back later and talked with them here in your office? We could come in through the back door next to this office so we won’t be seen by anybody we don’t want to see us.”

  “I don’t have a problem with that, but it looks to me like you’re into some serous shit here. I hope you have someone watching your back.”

  “Take a look around your bar with that new toy of yours.” Tommy wasn’t always out front and at the urging of one of his customers had cameras installed in the bar and dart game areas that he could monitor on a video screen in his office. Using a mouse on his desk, he scanned from one camera to the next but didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary.

  Pete asked, “Do you see anything out of place?”

  “Everything looks normal.”

  “Good. That’s the way we want it. Now zero in on the two men sitting at the table by the door and then the two men sitting at the end of the bar closest to this office. Do you notice anything different about them?”

  “No…., wait a minute. They all have ales in front of them, but they’re not drinking.”

  “They’re with us. They’re the best fighting men the U. S. Navy has to offer and that’s the best there is period.”

  “Okay, I’ll bring the guys back to talk with you when they come in, but this whole story of yours has got to be a dilly.”

  Abby said, “Okay, Tommy, since big mouth here has spilled some of the beans what can you tells us about what you’ve heard about the smuggling and piracy that’s going on around the Caribbean?”

  Tommy had a lot to tell and when he finally ran out of information Abby’s anger over Pete’s opening up somewhat to Tommy had pretty much dissipated, pretty much, but not completely.

  Pete asked, “Where are Sam and Ted? They’re usually mingling with the customers and running dart tournaments for those so inclined.”

  “They’ve been in the Cayman Islands for close to a month now looking for a place to open another pub. They’ve been talking about it for quite a while and finally decided to do it. Sam and Ted both have family there and they’ve been urging them to set something up over there for a long time. They’ll be back sometime at the end of next week. I just talked with them yesterday and they said they found the ideal place and have set things in motion to launch another tavern for the working man. They’re working on advertising phrases and some of them are really off the wall. ‘Suds Sipper’s Delight’, ‘Ales for What Ails You’, ‘Brews for the Blues’, ‘For those who like to get to the point or go balls to the walls, darts and billiards tournaments’, these are just the ones I remember.” Shaking his head he added, “They must have had more than a few ales themselves when they came up with these gems.”

  Laughing Pete responded with, “I’ve got one for them, ‘Cool drafts for those hot, humid breezes.’”

  Rolling her eyes, Abby quickly intervened. She grabbed Pete’s arm and pulled him to towards the door. “Don’t give up your day job, Brody. Thanks for the info, Tommy. We’ll see you at six tonight.”

  When they got outside, Abby laced into him about opening up to Tommy. “That wasn’t a smart move in there, Pete. You’ve put us in greater risk than we were already. If Tommy says something to the wrong person, we and he could be in big trouble.”

  “Hey, our cover is full of holes already anyway from what Julio Mendoza and Tommy have told us and from our own experience with Pablo Salazar, Zarita Barranco and Hector Montoya. Strong suspicions have already been aroused and people have been following us, chasing us in cars and tossing our hotel room. I don’t think I did us any harm by telling him some of the truth and I didn’t mention anything about Sea Wasp. I think my honesty got us a lot more info from him than if I had chosen to lie.”

  Staring intently at him for what seemed forever, she finally backed off with a shrug of her shoulders and saying, “You’re probably right. We’re definitely in the headlights of some of the bad guys. We’ve got to do what we came here to do and get the hell out ASAP.”

  They headed back to the hotel and planned to eat some dinner there before they headed back to The People’s Pub. Other people had other ideas.

  They were about a block from the hotel when a car pulled up to the curb in front of them and two mean looking bruisers jumped out of the back seat. The taller of the two ordered them into the car, pulling his jacket aside to reveal a gun in a belt holster to reinforce his demand. Neither of them moved. This ticked the big guy off and he reached for Abby to push her into the back seat of the car which was a big mistake. A few seconds later he was on the ground writhing in pain, holding his broken nose with one hand and his family jewels in the other. Taking this as his cue to join the party, Pete kicked out at the other guy’s knee and as he doubled over in pain Pete finished him off with a rabbit punch to the back of his neck. The driver of the car started to get out to help his buddies, but his face ran into Manny’s fist coming through the open driver’s window and he fell over the center console out cold.

  Manny said, “You two have definitely gotten on the wrong side of some very dange
rous people. I suggest you get out of here before the police show up and start asking a bunch of questions you don’t want to answer right now. Go back to the hotel and we’ll meet you there after we take care of your playmates here. They’re hurting and under threats of more pain they might tell us who they work for and share some other goodies with us.”