He started his search in the guest cabin. He reasoned that the luggage was as good a place to begin as any, and he methodically worked his way through the matching brown leather bags. He discovered that Maria Velasquez was the woman with the perfume as the scent wafted from a small case that held her makeup.
He was fantasizing about her, imagining inhaling her scent as he pulled her soft, pliant body tightly against himself. A soft bump against the hull of the yacht brought him out of his reverie. He heard the dying gasp of an outboard as it was shut off and thought that Toby must have decided to join him. That would make the job go more quickly; maybe they could find the diamonds and get out of here before the women came back, although now that the perfume had worked its spell on him…
****
"Okay, just hang on alongside. I'll only be a minute," Liz said. "Can't believe I forgot to turn on the anchor light." She scrambled up the boarding ladder and into the cockpit. "Damn!" she remarked. "Dani?"
"Yes?"
"Did you lock the companionway?"
"Yes. I didn't put the bars in; just the regular lock on the doors."
"Somebody's broken in, then," Liz said.
Dani tied the dinghy painter to the first rung on the ladder and vaulted up onto Vengeance's side deck. "Wait there," she said to Connie. She joined Liz in the cockpit and opened one of the lockers, rummaging in the dark for a flashlight and a heavy bronze winch handle, the yachtsman's weapon of choice for close combat. She shined the light down the companionway, peering below carefully. "Anybody there?" she yelled. "Come out now, and nobody has to get hurt." There was only silence. She stepped back and handed the heavy flashlight to Liz.
"Here's the plan," she said. "You charge down the ladder and get forward to our cabin as fast as you can. I'll be a half a second behind you down the ladder to cover your back. When you reach our cabin, turn around and shine the light back at me in the galley."
"What if somebody's in the aft cabin?" Liz whispered.
"Nothing for it; I'll chance it. I'll be watching for it and I've got the winch handle. If I get in trouble, you come whack 'em with the flashlight."
"There might be more than one," Liz said.
"Close quarters; only room for one to engage us at a time. Let's do it," Dani said.
Liz turned on the flashlight and dove down the companionway, dashing forward in a blur of motion. She had no sooner taken her first step below deck than Dani landed, cat-like, behind her and stepped into the galley, her back to the stove on the port side of the hull.
With one eye on Liz, she reached her right arm through the door to her right, which opened into Connie's cabin, and flicked on the light. A quick glance showed the cabin to be empty.
"Forward cabins are clear," Liz said, turning back to face Dani just in time to see a man step out from behind the door to the aft cabin. Liz registered that Dani had turned to look at her, and before she could shout a warning, the man grabbed Dani's hair with his left hand and yanked her back against his chest. His right hand flew up, a long-bladed, folding knife gleaming in the beam of Liz's flashlight. He brought the point to rest on the left side of Dani's throat.
"Drop the winch handle, bitch," he hissed.
As the winch handle thumped against the cabin sole, he quickly shifted the grip of his left hand, wrapping his arm around Dani's upper body and pinning her arms to her sides. "Tell the other bitch to get down here right now or I'll kill you both."
Dani saw the flicker of doubt in Liz's eyes. "It'll be okay, Liz. Just do what he says."
"Good girl," Willie said. "Maybe I'll save you for last. We could have some fun before I go."
"I don't doubt it for a minute," Dani said. "I like chickenshit men the best of all."
He jerked the knife, breaking the skin. "You'll pay for that. Now get that Velasquez woman down here," he growled.
Liz nodded, taking in the drop of blood on Dani's neck. She mounted the companionway ladder.
"No tricks or your girlfriend dies, and you'll get to play with me instead," Willie said.
"What's going on?" Connie asked, as she saw Liz poke her head up.
"You need to come on down. This guy's threatening to cut Dani's throat," Liz said, in a matter of fact tone.
"What? I don't…"
"Just do it. Everything will be all right. It's under control, trust me."
Connie looked dubious, but she climbed aboard and followed Liz back below. Her face lost its color and her eyes went wide when she saw Willie with the knife at Dani's throat.
"Okay, loverboy," Dani said. "We're all here. Now what?"
Willie was on a testosterone high. He tightened his grip around Dani's chest, feeling her small, firm breasts pressed against his forearm. He wondered if she felt his arousal; he ground himself against her buttocks, thinking about later. He had three beautiful women, ready to do anything he wanted in exchange for their lives, and he was going to get Wallace's diamonds back and be set for life, all at once. He contemplated how best to proceed, deciding that business should come before pleasure. "Get the diamonds," he barked.
Connie's knees gave way and she collapsed clumsily on the settee that was behind her. Liz frowned and looked perplexed.
"Diamonds?" Liz asked.
Willie jerked the knife again. This time, a ribbon of blood ran down Dani's neck. "In the chamois bag, in my jewelry box, Liz. Just give them to him; they're not worth dying for," Dani said, a tremor in her voice for the first time.
"Yeah, baby, that's it," Willie whispered in her ear, grinding himself against her again as Liz turned to go into the forward cabin. He felt the woman sag against him as her knees seemed to wobble. "That's it, baby. Lean on old Willie. You gonna like what I got for you."
Liz returned with a small bag in her hand. She approached within arm's reach and extended the soft pouch toward Willie. He locked his right arm across Dani's upper chest, holding her firmly against himself, the knife now off to the left side of her neck, the tip pointed at her face. He extended his left hand and grabbed the chamois bag, feeling the stones shift inside it.
Then he felt Dani slump forward, pulling him slightly off balance. He jerked her backward, wrapping his left arm around her again. The back of her head smashed his nose as he felt an excruciating pain in his right elbow. The knife slipped from his numb fingers as she spun under his right arm, tearing his right thumb almost off with a vice-like grip of her small, hard hand. She pulled his right arm into a hyper-extended position and cupped her left hand over the right elbow. At this point, she raised his right hand, forcing him to his knees.
"Put the diamonds in your pocket, asshole. I wouldn't want you to lose 'em after all this trouble," she said. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Connie was alert again.
"I'll call the police," Connie said, getting to her feet.
"NO," Dani and Liz both said, simultaneously.
"Not worth the trouble," Dani said, cranking another notch of bend into Willie's arm. He screamed. She eased the pressure momentarily and saw that he was putting the chamois bag into his left pants pocket. "Good boy," she said.
"But what…" Connie started to ask, but Dani interrupted.
"Willie boy's about to go for a little swim. Can you swim, shithead?"
"Yes, ma'am," Willie groaned.
"Don't call me ma'am, asshole. My name is Dani Berger. Can you remember that? Say it for me."
"Dani Berger," Willie repeated.
"Good. Don't forget it, because if I ever see you again, you'll be fish-bait. Now you tell whoever sent you that I said they're messing with something they don't even want to know about. Can you do that?" She leaned into his arm again until he screamed. Tears ran down his face.
"Ugh! What's that smell?" Dani asked, wrinkling her nose.
"He's soiled himself," Liz answered, laughing. "Tough guy."
"Okay, Willie boy, it's almost over, poor baby. I'm going to ease up on the arm a bit, so you can stand up. Then we're going up on deck, and you're going to j
ump in the water. Got it?" She twisted his arm again.
"Yeah," he whined.
"Oh!" Dani exclaimed, twisting his arm again. "I almost forgot. Who sent you?"
Willie groaned, but held his peace. Dani shifted her grip, her left hand applying pressure to his distended wrist as she gripped his little finger in her right fist. "Please," he whined. "They'll kill me."
She gave his pinkie a quick twist, and there was a soft a pop and a sickening, tearing sound. Willie screamed and vomited. "Who, Willie? Or should I see if I can tear it off?"
"Wallace Rolle and Sam Alfieri. From Nassau," he mumbled, as sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped from his face.
"There, now. That wasn't so hard. Let's see if you can swim."
Dani shifted her grip again, and Willie struggled to his feet as she eased the pressure on his arm. They negotiated the companionway ladder uneventfully, disappearing from view.
Connie said, "How did she do that? I never even saw what happened."
"She's quick, and she's had some pretty intense training. Mostly, though, she just gets really angry when somebody messes with her boat. He scratched the varnish on the doors when he picked the lock. A lot of adrenalin and a little skill go a long way when she's got her temper up."
They heard another piercing scream, and a snap like the sound of a dry tree limb breaking, followed by a splash.
"The broken arm's just a reminder, Willie. If I ever see you again, you're dead, right on the spot," Dani said, her voice raised just slightly.
Chapter 16
Toby paddled the dinghy quietly up beside Willie, who had managed to drift and swim about 20 yards from the side of Vengeance. They were hidden from view by another anchored yacht. "Guess it didn't go so well," he commented as he grabbed a handful of Willie's shirt above his right shoulder, preparing to heft him into the dinghy.
"Ow!" Willie grunted through clenched teeth. "Bitch broke my arm; go easy." He wrapped his left arm over the inflated tube of the RIB and pulled himself up as Toby helped him to roll over the tube and into the bottom of the boat. "But I got the diamonds," he added, a smug grin on his face despite the pain from his right arm.
"No shit?" Toby asked, surprised, as he started the outboard. "You must have found 'em before they got back," he said, motoring slowly through the anchorage, keeping an eye out in the direction of Vengeance to be sure there was no pursuit.
"No, I ….," Willie started to say, but caught himself. He realized that what he was about to tell Toby didn't make sense. Why didn't Dani Berger take back the diamonds after she overpowered him? "Right," he muttered, trying to think of a plausible story.
"So what happened?" Toby asked.
"I was just about to come up the ladder when the two blondes came down and caught me. I had my blade out; they were under control. Then the Velasquez woman showed up with a damn gun and everything turned to shit. One of the blondes hit me with a winch handle; broke my damn arm trying to take the knife away. I almost had that pistol. Shit. Bitch didn't fight fair."
"Well, at least you got the ice. That's the main thing. We can deal with the women later."
"Yeah. I'm gonna have me some fun when we do, too. Pay that Dani Berger bitch back for my arm."
"Who?" Toby asked. "How'd you get her name? Which one is she?"
"One of the blondes. Told me her name before she broke my arm; said to tell whoever sent me she said not to mess with her, or some shit like that."
"Sounds like a tough chick," Toby said.
"Yeah. Easy to be tough when somebody's holdin' a gun to back you up. I'm gon' mess her up good, nex' time I see her."
****
Connie sat at the dining table, sipping a cup of hot tea. Liz and Dani were on deck, checking over the boat, making sure that the thief hadn't taken anything or done any damage besides scratching the varnish around the lock. Liz had mopped up the urine and vomit in the galley first thing, while she and Dani laughed.
"He shat himself," Liz chuckled, as she cleaned up the mess.
They apparently thought the intruder was just an opportunistic thief, but Connie didn't think so. He had specifically asked for 'the diamonds.' That reminded her; Dani had forgotten to take back her jewelry bag after she got the upper hand.
Connie was certain that whatever valuables Dani and Liz had inadvertently lost wouldn't begin to satisfy her pursuers. She knew that once the man called Willie got himself sorted out and reported to his employers, they would send someone else. She weighed her options.
Liz and Dani didn't know what was happening, so she could continue with her charter, although she didn't feel good about putting them at risk. They had been so nice to her; it wouldn't be right.
All her things were on Vengeance, but there was nothing she cared about except the diamonds. She could concoct a story that required her to leave Vengeance for a few days and fly away with the diamonds, never to return, but the thought of that made her sad.
As much as she considered herself a loner, she realized that she had been enjoying the company of the two women. She thought of them as friends; that was something new for her. She had never had the luxury of female friends and she liked their easy companionship.
"How're you holding up, Connie?" Liz asked, interrupting her musing. Connie hadn't noticed that the two had come below.
"I'm okay. I feel stupid for fainting; Dani's the one that was in danger."
"Not really," Dani said. "Maybe I let it go farther than I should have, but I was having fun."
"What?" Connie asked in a sharp tone, sitting up straight.
"I should have taken him down right away. It was irresponsible of me to let him upset you just so I could get my kicks."
"Get your 'kicks?' He had a knife at your throat."
"First sign he was in over his head."
"I don't get your meaning," Connie said.
"If you're using a knife as a weapon, you never let your opponent know you have it until you stick 'em in a critical spot. Threatening somebody with a knife is the mark of a rank amateur; look what happened to Willie."
"Where did you learn to handle yourself like that, anyway?" Connie asked.
"Friends. I had some wild times when I was a teenager." Dani sat down at the table across from Connie and poured herself a cup of tea, stirring in sugar as she gazed at Connie, who was fidgeting with a teaspoon, her eyes downcast.
"On the subject of friends," Liz began, pausing until Connie looked up and caught her eye, "Dani and I were talking while we were on deck just now."
"Yes?" Connie asked, a tremor in her voice.
"We think you are one," Dani said.
"One?" Connie's voice cracked with tension.
"One friend. We like you; it doesn't take long to size up a shipmate on an offshore passage. You're a keeper. We wanted to tell you that."
"Well, okay. Thanks," Connie said, embarrassed as she felt a tear leak from her eye and run down her cheek. "I, I've never really had a friend; just men. You know. You've been very kind to me."
"That's the way it works," Liz said. "We're on your side. We don't want to pry into your business, but we're sort of all in this together."
"In what together?" Connie asked, losing her grip on the spoon and wincing as it clattered across the table.
"That's what we want to know," Dani said. "Willie didn't target us at random. He referred to you as the 'Velasquez woman' before he told Liz to get you below. And then he demanded 'the diamonds.' What's going on, Connie?"
****
Toby wrapped another strip of the torn bed sheet around the magazines that he had used to splint Willie's arm. After a quick, painful shower to wash off the salt from his unplanned swim in the lagoon, Willie had consumed a large, medicinal dose of rum, and was feeling a little better as long as he remained still.
"That should do until we can get you to a clinic tomorrow. They can put a regular cast on it," Toby said, tying one last knot to make a sling for the arm. They were in a cheap motel on Airport Road, clos
e to the airport entrance. While not luxurious, the place was clean and it had a dinghy dock on the lagoon, which made it ideal for their purposes.
"Thanks, man," Willie said, belting down another slug of the cheap rum.
Toby watched Willie's eyes wobbling. "Better go easy on that stuff now. Your head will be hurtin' worse than the arm in the morning."
"We call Wallace now?" Willie asked. "Tell him I got his diamonds back, an' see what he wants us to do 'bout them women?"
Toby glanced at his watch. It was only 9:30 in the evening; he felt like it was much later. "Yeah. Sure." He picked up Willie's cell phone from the night stand and handed it to him.
Willie grinned and shook his head. "Only got one hand," he said.
Toby grimaced and scrolled through the directory on Willie's phone, pressing send when he had Wallace's entry highlighted. He passed the phone to Willie as the ring tone began, watching Willie's face as excitement changed to perplexity. Willie shook his head. "Some message, say 'subscriber not available.' Guess we have to try later."
"We've had a long day, Willie. I'm done in. I'm going to my room. We'll call Wallace and Sam first thing in the morning." Toby stood and walked to the door, glancing back over his shoulder to see Willie reaching for the rum.
Chapter 17
Toby sat in his room gazing through the window as he sipped a cup of sour coffee from the in-room coffee maker. He hadn't been able to get back to sleep after his son's phone call at 2 a.m., and now he was watching the sun come up over the ridgeline that cut across the island.
"Sorry to wake you up, Pop, but it's important," Ricky had said.
"What's important?"
Bluewater Ice: The Fourth Novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Bluewater Thrillers Book 4) Page 9