Coastal Fury Boxset (1-3)

by Matt Lincoln

  “I’m not sure what that means, but welcome.” He shook her hand with a little less enthusiasm and then returned to his seat. There were two chairs on our side of the desk, and he gestured toward a pair of seats along the wall.

  “Feel free to bring an extra chair over,” he offered. “Now, what can I do for you?”

  “Your company has been linked to some medical waste that was illegally dumped in a fragile ecosystem,” I began. I noticed Tessa glance at me. So? I liked the way she’d put it. “It contributed to the death of a person who was exposed.”

  “That’s unfortunate.” Cole steepled his hands. “Would this be referring to the incident at the Great Blue Hole in Belize?”

  I couldn’t say I was surprised he’d figured out that part. “It would.” I handed him a printout Clyde had left for me that morning. “This sheet has photos of the items, a tag and a towel, as well as the serial numbers that linked them to two hospitals in Florida.”

  Cole accepted the page and frowned at it. He opened a laptop and typed in some of the information. His brow furrowed as he clicked and typed for a few minutes.

  “Both of these were covered by our subcontractors, Sedin Disposal, but I don’t think they’ve been to Belize on business for us,” he told us. “We do handle some radioactive waste in the Caribbean area, but… Wait.”

  He did some more searching and ultimately shook his head.

  “My director of operations, Simon Kelley, can help you with this better than I,” he finally said. “I’ll call him in if you don't mind waiting for a few minutes. He likes to oversee transport personally, and that’s a few blocks away.”

  “We have the time,” I answered. Something about the name rang a bell, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.

  Cole made the call and hung up. “He’s on the way. My secretary can send for some coffee if you’d like.”

  I stifled a laugh. Not a secretary, eh, Ames? I met Tessa’s look and then to Holm.

  “You know, we did just get off the plane from Belize,” I told him. “But I don’t want to bother, you know? His aide is already busy getting his coffee and your lunch.”

  Cole pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ames is my nephew, and he is a first-rate ass,” he confessed. “I’m trying not to fire him, but my sister will give me a hard time if I do.”

  “I need to stretch my legs,” Holm said with a grin. “How about I take that nephew to help me get some lunch while you all talk? Maybe dessert too?”

  “As it doesn’t involve poor Martha from upfront,” Cole answered. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t try to pass it off on anyone else.”

  Cole and Holm went out to handle that, and I looked over to Tessa. A slight frown met my gaze.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I figured you two would stick together for the interviewing,” she told me. “Two sets of eyes and ears are better than one.”

  I shrugged. “We have two sets.” I pointed to her and then back at myself. “Seriously, Tessa, we talk with people separately more often than you’d think. We try to go in together, but some situations aren’t as risky as others.”

  “Like here, in the office of a CEO who might be behind the death of an internationally known diver?”

  “I’m not feeling it,” I told her. “I want to look at this subcontractor.”

  Cole returned and left the office door open behind him.

  “That should be interesting,” he said as he went to his chair. When he sat, he seemed at least my height. Nice chair. “Your partner charmed his way into getting Nick off his lazy butt and out the door with him.” He chuckled. “Okay, he charmed, and I threatened.”

  I nodded. “While we wait for your DOO… What’s his name again?”

  “Simon Kelley. He’s been with my company for twelve years, and he has done more for us than I could have imagined.” Cole folded his hands on the desk and leaned forward. “Don’t tell him I told you this, but without him, MediWaste would’ve folded before I took over. He was the single best hire my dad ever made.”

  A sharp rap at the office door announced Simon Kelley’s arrival. He wore jeans, work boots, and a short-sleeved shirt with the MediWaste stylized font logo over the pocket area. He was close to my height, heavily muscled in the arms, and had deep lines that spoke of a life lived hard. I guessed him to be over fifty years old.

  “Simon, these are Special Agents Marston and Bleu.”

  “Observer, please,” Tessa reminded with a generous smile. “And Special Agent Holm will be back soon.”

  Kelley walked to Cole’s desk, crossed his arms, and nodded. “Sir. Ma’am. How can I help you?”

  When he crossed his arms, the short sleeve slid up on the arm nearest me and revealed some ink.

  “Is that a bone frog, Mr. Kelley?” I asked with genuine interest.

  He uncrossed his arms and pulled the sleeve the rest of the way up. The tattoo started on his bicep and wrapped up over his shoulder. It was the familiar style of a frog skeleton climbing his arm, and this variation had a scuba tank on its back. I got to my feet and held out my hand.

  “My partner and I were SEALs for twelve years,” I told him.

  Kelley’s severe features softened. “Hoo-Yah.” He pumped my hand with a grip that would’ve damned near crushed another person’s hand. “Your partner seems a little, no offense, ma’am, but a little feminine to have been a SEAL.”

  “Oh no, not me,” Tessa protested. “His partner’s out getting lunch with Mr. Cole’s nephew.”

  Kelley cocked an eyebrow at Cole, and Cole spread his hands.

  “Special Agent Holm wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” His smile faded to exasperation. “They saw Nick ordering Martha around. That poor woman is so scared of that little shit that I’m terrified she’ll quit.”

  “Fire his ass,” Kelley said bluntly. “Tell Lisa I threatened to quit.”

  Cole leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a moment. He collected himself and took on the look of a confident CEO once again.

  “You caught me in the middle of family drama, Agent Marston. My apologies.”

  I chose not to tell him how entertaining I found it to see a multi-millionaire dealing with the same shit everyone else did.

  “Not a problem, Mr. Cole.” I turned to Kelley. “We’re here to ask about your subcontractor, Sedin Disposal.”

  “They handle radioactive waste disposal,” Kelley told us. “I imagine you already knew that part.”

  He grabbed Holm’s chair and turned it so that his back was to the wall, and he faced both us and Cole’s desk. Before I sat, I moved my chair, so I could look at him straight on, and Tessa followed suit.

  “We did,” I said. “We’re interested in knowing where they travel to do this work.”

  “They go to the client locations, collect the waste, and then move on.” Kelley leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “For part of the week, they work here, between Tampa and Orlando. Over the past year, we helped them get licensed to do collections throughout the Caribbean. Some of those islands don’t have great access to these kinds of resources. We provide it through Sedin.”

  “Do you have clients in Belize?”

  Kelley sat up. “Funny you should mention that. We picked up a new client about, oh, three months ago. They’re in Belize City.”

  Cole straightened. “I didn’t know that.”

  “It’s in the reports. You got a lot going on, boss.”

  “When’s the last time Sedin Disposal went to Belize?” I asked.

  Kelley pulled a phone out of its belt holster and tapped at it a few times.

  “Looks like five days ago,” he said as he continued to scroll through his phone. He stopped and looked up. “They flew out the next morning on their plane to make the island rounds. It’s a Merlin III.”

  The office door banged open with no warning. Kelley dropped to a knee on the ground, and I stood. Tessa jumped back in her chair, but whether from the sudden opening of the do
or or Kelley’s and my reactions, I couldn’t guess.

  “Food,” Holm announced as he carried in greasy paper bags.

  Nick Ames trailed in his wake. Sweat stained through his finely tailored suit at the armpits and upper back, and his coiffed hair now lay flat against his skull. He was laden with two drink caddies, one for soda and one for coffee, another greasy bag, and a white plastic bag with foam containers. The boy set everything on a side table Holm had chosen for their bounty, and then he stalked over to Cole.

  “Uncle Devon, this man is insane,” Ames complained. “He took me to a food truck and made me carry this… this offal back in through the building and past everyone in the office.”

  Cole gave his nephew a blank look. “And your point is?”

  Ames sputtered. “It was undignified! I’ll hear about it for weeks.”

  “I don’t suppose Mrs. Hastings ever feels that way when you make her run your errands.” Cole crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “We’ll take this up later. Your day is over. Go home, take a shower, and speak to your mother.”

  Ames marched out of the office and slammed the door behind him. Kelley burst into a hearty laugh. What I saw as hard eyes earlier now looked alive and highly amused.

  “About time you dressed that kid down, boss,” he told Cole.

  Cole groaned. “I am going to hear about it before the end of the hour.” He cleared his throat. “Thank you, Agent Holm. I don’t know how you motivated that boy to follow your instructions, but I do appreciate it.”

  “I have nieces and nephews, Mr. Cole. I’ve had practice.”

  “And more than a few years in the SEALs, I hear,” Kelley laughed. “Hoo-Yah, brother. Simon Kelley, SEAL Team Five.”

  “Robbie Holm. My partner and I were SEAL Team Eight.” They shook hands. “Pleasure, sir.” Holm went to get another chair and stopped. “Wait, I’ve heard of you. Ethan, remember the stories about the guy who took out that boatful of smugglers before they could get those guns to ground?”

  “What?” Tessa looked from Holm to me, and then to Kelley. “Alone?”

  The details came back to me, and I stared at Kelley. No wonder his name rang a bell. “I heard there were ten targets on that boat, all armed. Was that you?”

  “Well, damn, it’s not something I tell a lot of people,” Kelley scoffed.

  “Simon?” Cole looked at Kelley as if meeting him for the first time.

  “Yeah, that was me.” He cleared his throat. “It was over thirty years ago.” Cole shook his head, and Tessa shrugged. “There was an operation to stop gun runners from arming terrorists. We landed on a small island after we got intel that a plane was flying guns and all sorts of bad crap into a little spot there. Somebody paid somebody else off, you know the drill.”

  “Yeah,” I muttered. “The story of everywhere.”

  Kelley pointed at me. “See? You understand. So, a couple of guys and I got separated from the platoon while the smugglers moved the containers to their boat. Might’ve had something to do with the fact that Americans were not supposed to be there and us having to keep to cover, but I don’t know anything about that.”

  “Hold on.” Tess put a hand out. “Are you saying you were involved with military action on foreign soil without that nation’s permission?”

  “Who are you again?” he asked.

  “I’m an observer on this investigation,” she firmly told him.

  “Then observe when I repeat that I didn’t know anything about that.” He softened the harsh words with a charming smile. “It was decades ago, and investigations came and went.”

  I looked at Tessa. Her jaw was tight and body rigid in her seat.

  “Hey, he didn’t mean anything,” I told her. “He’s old guard telling a story.”

  “And I asked a perfectly reasonable question.”

  “You’re right, Miss Bleu.” Kelley stood up and walked over. He got down on a knee so that he didn’t hover over her. “I apologize.” He smiled. “Hey, I remember you. We met a few years ago at a Memorial Day event. Admiral Farr’s your uncle, isn’t he?”

  She relaxed a little. “Honorary. He served with my father, Dean Hawkins. They were like brothers.”

  “Not Hawkins?” Kelly reeled back as if looking at royalty.

  “You heard of him?” she asked.

  “Hell yeah. SEAL Team Eight, like you fellas. Did you know him?”

  “He was our CO for a while,” Holm told him. “The Hawk was one of a kind.”

  “I’ll be damned.” Kelley turned to Cole, who was watching this unfold with bemusement. “I never met Hawkins or Farr, but I sure as hell looked up to them.” He nodded to Tessa. “Pardon. Still look up to Admiral Farr, Miss. He’s a patriot through and through.”

  “That he is,” she agreed. “Were you going to finish your story, Mr. Kelley?”

  “There are some details that aren’t fit for some of this audience,” he told us. “The gist is that I barely made it aboard the targets’ boat. The other guys weren’t fast enough because that vessel was fast. I neutralized the targets. There were only six, but they were more than enough. Some of the stories had me taking out fifteen or twenty. That’s bullshit, but if young sailors wanna exaggerate the truth, that’s not my problem.”

  “I had no idea, Simon,” Cole said.

  “Like I say, I don’t exactly advertise,” Kelley explained. “Civilians like the idea of a competent military more than the reality.”

  “Truth,” Holm said in a low voice.

  “Gentlemen, this was an educational experience.” Cole walked around to the front of the desk. “And lady, of course. I’m afraid that I’m out of time. Simon, if you don’t mind, go ahead and walk them out and answer any other questions they may have.”

  “Thank you for your time,” I said to Cole. “And, uh, good luck dealing with your sister.”

  “Don’t remind me.” Cole shook his head with a wry laugh. “I hope you catch your man and that this nightmare is over quickly.”

  “Likewise.”

  Kelley took us out through unoccupied offices and cubicle farms toward the back of the first floor. On the way, we stopped in an empty office. He closed the door.

  “I assume you have more questions,” he ventured. “Sedin Disposal and MediWaste have been working together for a while, so I’ve gotten to know them fairly well.”

  “We need a schedule of when and where they’ve worked in the past year,” I told him. “Locations, transport, where they took the waste, all that.”

  “Of course. I’ll have all that sent over to your office, but I can tell you now is that they take the waste to special landfills that allow the materials. Everything is very regulated, so whatever they’re doing, it’s clever.”

  “What do you know about the owners at Sedin?” Tessa asked.

  That was my next question, as well. We were trying to keep Tessa in observational mode, but I didn’t begrudge her asking questions.

  “Tim and Marci.” He crossed his arms. “Until today, I would’ve said they’re good people. They’ve worked with tough clients and tougher transport regs, and they never go over budget.”

  “What’s the procedure?”

  “No matter where they go to pick up the waste, they make sure it’s sealed and then bring it to a landfill southeast of Tampa. It’s expensive and only licensed operators are allowed to access it.”

  “If some of that material goes missing along the way, it gets a lot less expensive,” Holm suggested.

  “Fact,” Kelley affirmed. “If there’s a motive, I’d say Sedin is dumping on his way to or from the Caribbean locations to save money and pocketing the difference.”

  “He has to know he’d get caught,” Tessa pointed out. “There are so many documentable steps that it’d be difficult to find the cracks to slip through.”

  “Tim Sedin is a savvy character,” Kelley said. “If there are cracks, he’ll find them. The guy is smart as they come. Too bad he isn’t using those smarts for the
right reasons.”

  I held up a palm. “Ease up. We don’t know for a fact that it’s either of the Sedin Disposal owners. What we have is circumstantial evidence, at best.”

  “Well, that’s who I’m betting on.” Kelley opened the office door. “The partner, Marci Anderson, she’s naïve, trusts everything Sedin says. That woman is innocent as the day she was born.” He gestured for us to leave the room. “I’ll be sure to get you that information, Agent Marston.”

  Holm and I left him our cards as he showed us out the side door. When we got out to the car, Holm got a surprise.

  “I… I can’t find the keys.” He patted his pockets and checked the ground around the car. “I had them a few minutes ago.”

  I calmly walked to the driver’s side door and held up the key fob. With a couple of pushes of the unlock button, Tessa and I got into the front. Holm glared.

  “How?”

  “You sure you want to know?” Tessa teased.

  “No.” Holm slunk his way to the car. “No, because right there, I assume you had something to do with it. You know, I don’t care which of you lifted the keys. I’ll wait for karma.” He ducked into the seat behind Tessa. “Oh wait, it already did, Ethan, when you flooded your car. I feel no remorse.”

  “It’s a department car,” I reminded him.

  “One that is dead. Killed by you.”

  Tessa looked back and forth between us. She threw her hands up in the air and shook her head.

  “You two are as bad as kids. Let’s focus.” She twisted around to see Holm gloat. “What’s the next step?”

  I backed the car out and then drove away from the parking garage.

  “The next two steps are to get a warrant and get a team to stand by,” I answered. “We’re going to pay a visit to Sedin Disposal.”

  20

  We idled in the Camry as marked and unmarked police cars gathered down the block. I’d parked across the otherwise quiet street from Sedin Disposal. They had a small building with a rock garden and silver saw palmettos, and the entrance was nestled between a pair of Christmas palms.

  “How long does it usually take for warrants to come through?” Tessa asked. The air was going full blast, but the sun was shining on her through the passenger window. “Are we going to be here for long?”