Bahama Crisis

by Desmond Bagley

  "I've just discovered that my house is infested. It's going to cost me five thousand dollars probably more."

  I said, "You take a wooden post or a beam in a house. It looks good and solid until you hit it, then it collapses into a heap of powder the termites have got into it. When the South African said he'd been white-anted he meant he'd been undermined without his knowledge. In his case it was student politics something to do with the student union. Commissioner, the Bahamas are being white-anted. We're being attacked at our most vulnerable point tourism."

  "A good analogy," said Deane thoughtfully.

  "It's true that the Ministry of Tourism is perturbed about the fall in the number of visitors lately. So is the Prime Minister there was a special Cabinet meeting last week. And there's more political unrest. Fewer tourists means more unemployment, and that is being exploited. But we need evidence the Prime Minister demands it. Any crack-down without evidence would lead to accusations of police interference in political matters. The Prime Minister doesn't want the Bahamas to have the reputation of being a police state that wouldn't do much for tourism, either."

  "Then investigate the sinking of that tanker in Exuma Sound last night. The report mentioned a twenty-mile oil slick only eight hours after she went down. If that's true the oil came out awfully fast. If I were you I'd question the skipper closely if he's still around.

  Don't wait for the official inquiry; regard it as a police matter. "

  "By God!" said Deane.

  "I hadn't made that connection."

  "And find Robinson," I said.

  "What do you know about him?"

  "Nothing at all. Your Mr. Robinson is an unknown quantity."

  Perigord came in.

  "Capistrano just left Running Mon marina, heading east along the coast."

  East!

  "Making for the Grand Lucayan Waterway and the north coast," I said.

  "Florida next stop."

  "What kind of a boat is she?" asked Deane.

  "Sixty-foot motor yacht, white hull," said Perigord.

  "I don't think she's all that fast, she's a displacement type according to the management of Running Mon. She put into the marina during the night with engine trouble. Had it fixed this morning."

  I looked at Deane who was sitting immobile.

  "What are we waiting for?

  You have a fast police launch, and Capistrano is still in Bahamian waters. "

  "So we put men aboard, search her, and find nothing. Then what?"

  Deane stood up.

  "I'll tell you what would happen next. We'd have to let her go with profuse apologies. If your Mr. Robinson is as clever as you say we would certainly not find anything because there would be nothing to be found."

  "But you might find Robinson," I said.

  "He could be aboard and he's wanted for kidnapping in Texas."

  "Not so," contradicted Deane.

  "A man calling himself Robinson is wanted for questioning concerning a kidnapping in Texas. He cannot possibly be extradited merely for questioning. We would have to let him go. He has committed no crime in the Bahamas for which we have evidence as yet' " Robinson might not be on board, anyway," said Perigord.

  "Then aren't you going to do anything?" I demanded desperately.

  "Oh, yes," said Deane blandly. He lifted his eyebrows interrogatively at Perigord.

  "I hope your contingency planning is working well."

  "It is. A fast Customs boat will pass Capistrano and enter the Lucayan Waterway ahead of her. There'll be another behind. Once she's in the Waterway she's bottled up. Then we put the Customs officers aboard her."

  "But I thought you said…" I was bewildered.

  "We might as well try," said Deane smoothly.

  "Who knows what the Customs officers might find if they search thoroughly enough.

  Cocaine, perHaps? "

  I opened my mouth again, then shut it firmly. If this pair was about to frame Robinson by planting cocaine on his boat they would certainly not admit it to me, but it seemed that Deane was a hard case who was not above providing his own evidence. After all, all he had to do was to keep Robinson in the Bahamas for four days.

  "We had better be on hand," Deane said casually.

  "You'll come, too you can identify Robinson." He picked up the photograph ofCarrasco-Perez.

  "And I shall certainly want to question those on board about their association with Perez. We rendezvous at the Casuarina Bridge in thirty minutes."

  "I'll be there," I said.

  Hoping and praying that Robinson would be aboard Capistrano I drove the few hundred yards to the Royal Palm knowing that Billy Cunningham would want to be in at the kill. As soon as he saw me he said, "Capistrano was in a marina called Running Mon, but she's gone now."

  I said, "I know. The police are going to pick her up."

  "Is Robinson on board?"

  "I hope so. I'm joining Perigord and Deane. They want me to identify Robinson. Want to come along?"

  "Try stopping me," he said.

  "I'm looking forward to meeting that son of a bitch."

  I made a decision.

  "W^e'll go by boat. Let's go down to the marina."

  We found Joe Cartwright in the marina office. 1 popped my head around the door, and said, "I want the rescue boat, Joe; with a full tank. "

  Cartwright looked up.

  "Can't be done, Mr. Mangan. Got the engine out of her. Tuning her up for the BASRA Marathon next month."

  "Damn! What else have we got that's fast and seaworthy?"

  "What about the inflatable?" he suggested.

  "She's not bad."

  "Get her ready."

  Within minutes we were at sea, roaring east along the south coast towards the Lucayan Waterway. Some people feel uncomfortable about being in a blow-up boat but they are very good. They are unsinkable, and the British even use them as lifeboats for inshore rescue. And they are damned fast even if they do tend to skitter a bit on the surface of the water.

  I told Billy about the plan of attack, and presently I pointed.

  "There's the Waterway, and that's the Customs launch just turning in.

  WA've got Capistrano trapped. "

  I slowed as we entered the Waterway. The Casuarina Bridge was nearly two miles ahead, and in the distance I could see the Customs launch lying next to a white-hulled boat.

  "They've got her." We motored on and drew alongside the Customs launch where I tossed the painter to a seaman and cut the engine.

  "Let's go aboard."

  As we stepped on to Capistrano deck I was accosted by a Customs officer.

  "Who are you?"

  Tom Mangan. " I looked up at the bridge and saw Perigord and Deane looking down.

  "I'm with Commissioner Deane." Three men stood on the after deck. None of them was Robinson.

  "That the crew?"

  "Yes; skipper, engineer and seaman-cum-cook."

  "No one else?"

  "We're still looking. I've got men searching below."

  One of the three men approached us.

  "Hell, Captain, this is crazy.

  We're not carrying anything illegal. We're just on a cruise. " He was an American.

  "Then you have nothing to worry about," said the Customs man.

  "Well, I've gotta get back before the bad weather blows '; p. Did you hear the weather report? If you don't let me go IT have to see the American consul here."

  "I'll give you his address," said the officer blandly.

  Another Customs man emerged from a hatch.

  "No one below," he reported.

  "Are you sure?" I said.

  "We opened up every compartment big enough to hold a man."

  "It's a bust," said Billy disgustedly.

  Deane and Perigord had comedown from the bridge and were picking their way along the shore towards us. I looked around the deck of Capistrano and stiffened as I noticed that the stern davits were empty. I swung around to face the skipper.
r />   "Where's the dory your tender?"

  "Mr. Brown took it."

  "Brown? Who's he?"

  "The guy who chartered this boat back in Fort Lauderdale."

  "When was this?"

  "Just as soon as we entered this canal. He said he'd have a final spin and he'd meet us at the other end at the north shore."

  "Christ, he's given us the slip." I looked at the Customs man.

  "You must have been following him too closely and he took fright or an insurance policy. If you weren't going to stop Capistrano there'd be no harm done and he'd rejoin her on the north shore. But you did and his insurance has paid off."

  "He won't get far. He'll run into the boat at the other end."

  "I wouldn't bet on it," said Billy.

  "This guy plays real cute." He gave an exasperated snort.

  "Brown, for God's sake!"

  The skipper said, "Will someone tell me what the hell's going on?"

  I turned and stepped on to the Customs launch.

  "Come on. Let's go after him." Billy followed me.

  W e dropped down into the inflatable, and just before I started the engine I heard Deane bellow, "Mangan, come back!" I ignored him and drowned his voice in a staccato roar as I twisted the throttle. We shot under the bridge and I looked back to see Deane on the deck of Capistrano. He was waving frantically.

  Billy chuckled.

  "I guess he's wondering what will happen to Robinson if we get to him first." He suddenly had an automatic pistol in his hand.

  "Put that damn thing away," I said.

  "IfDeane knows you have it you're for the chop. And we don't want murder."

  "Not murder," said Billy.

  "Execution." But he put the gun back into its holster.

  The Lucayan Waterway stretched ahead of us and there was nothing to be seen on its surface. On either side there were occasional inlets leading to the proposed residential estates on which no houses had yet been built the water maze. It all went by in a blur as I cranked up to top speed.

  "Something ahead coming this way," said Billy.

  It was a small dot in the middle of the Waterway which rapidly grew in size under the influence of our combined speeds.

  "The dory!" I said.

  "And something coming up behind it," said Billy.

  "The other Customs launch?"

  "I hope not," I said.

  There was no time to explain why because I was busy trying to ram the approaching boat. I pulled on the tiller but the dory went the other way in an evading manoeuvre, and as it flashed past I saw the man at the wheel pointing at me. Something hit the side with a thwack and there was the hiss of escaping air.

  "Goddamn!" said Billy.

  I twisted the boat in the water and cut speed.

  "This boat is compartmented. One hole won't make much difference." I looked around.

  There was no sign of the dory.

  "I didn't mean that," said Billy.

  "But if I'm shot at I'm going to shoot back and to hell with Deane." The gun was in his hand again.

  I could not argue with that.

  "It was Robinson; I saw him Where did he go?"

  Billy pointed to an inlet on the port side.

  "He shot down that rabbit hole."

  The boat that had chased Robinson from the north shore was almost upon us. I stood up and waved with both hands, and as it approached it slowed. A Customs officer leaned from the wheelhouse, and I yelled, "Get back to the north shore, you damn fool. Keep the cork in the bloody bottle. If he gets past he can lose you."

  "Who are you to give orders?"

  "If you want to argue do it wMi Commissioner Deane. Now, get the hell back and guard that bloody entrance."

  The officer withdrew and the launch began to turn in the water. There was a metallic click as Billy put a round into the breech of his pistol.

  "How to make friends and influence people." He snapped off the safety catch.

  "What do we do now?"

  T don't know. " I wished I had a map.

  "Winkling him out of there won't be easy, but if we don't he can ditch the dory and make an escape overland. He could lose himself in the pine barrens to the east, and it would take a damned army to find him."

  Billy pointed down the Waterway. ' boat's coming. Your friend the Commissioner, no doubt. "

  I slipped the clutch on the idling engine and we began to move slowly.

  "We're going in but easy."

  I took the boat into the inlet, the engine putt-putting quietly, and we immediately came to a cross canal.

  "W^which way?" said Billy.

  I tossed a mental coin.

  "To starboard," I said.

  "It doesn't really matter." We turned to the right and went on for about a hundred yards and came to another junction. Straight on or turn to the left? This was impossible worse than Hampton Court Maze and there were forty-five miles of it.

  From behind came the noise of a rapidly accelerating engine, and Billy shouted, "We went the wrong way! Go back!"

  I spun the throttle and slammed over the tiller, and I was in lime to see Robinson's dory shooting across the canal and into tUe main artery of the Waterway. As it went Billy popped off a shot and then was thrown back as the boat picked up speed and the bow rose into the air.

  We slalomed round the corner and nearly ran into a Customs boat in the Waterway, scooting under its stern and missing by the thickness of a playing card. I twisted the throttle to slow, and kicked over the tiller so as to avoid hitting the opposite bank, then I looked around. The damned dory had disappeared again so I hailed the launch.

  "Where did he go?"

  Deane was on deck.

  "Mangan, get out of here, and take your friend.

  This is no place for heroics from civilians. "

  I repeated, "Where did he go?"

  The launch moved so as to be between me and an inlet.

  "He moved in here but it's no business of yours. Perigord is organizing reinforcements. Is he Robinson?"

  "Yes."

  "Who's your friend?"

  "If you want to know, why don't you ask me?" said Billy.

  "I'm Billy Cunningham and I want that bastard, Robinson."

  "Mr. Cunningham, I see you're holding a gun. You'd better not have it on your person when we meet again. You'd better drop it over the side."

  "In a pig's eye," said Billy. He pointed to the hole in the rubber and fabric side of the boat.

  "Robinson came out shooting."

  "Suit yourself," said Deane.

  "We have excellent jails. Mangan, go away. I want to see you going back down the Waterway."

  "Let's go," I said quietly, and turned the boat away.

  "Your goddamn cops!" said Billy disgustedly.

  "You'd think he'd want our help, even thank us for it."

  "Be quiet!" I said.

  "I'm thinking."

  Again I wished I had a map. I had used the Waterway many times when I had Lucayan Girl, but I had always stuck to the main channel and had not bothered to explore the maze. Now I wished I had. I had a map ofFreeport-Lucaya in my office and I tried to visualize the layout of the Waterway.

  We went on a mile down the Waterway and came to another inlet on the same side as the one blocked by the Customs launch. I said, "W^e're going in here."

  "Is there a through connection?"

  "No."

  "Then what's the use?" you damn fool. Keep the cork in the bloody bottle. If he gets past he can lose you. "

  "Who are you to give orders?"

  "If you want to argue do it wMi Commissioner Deane. ow, get the hell back and guard that bloody entrance."

  The officer withdrew and the launch began to turn in the water. There was a metallic click as Billy put a round into the breech of his pistol.

  "How to make friends and influence people." He snapped off the safety catch.

  "What do we do now?"

  T don't know. " I wished I had a map.


  "Winkling him out of there won't be easy, but if we don't he can ditch the dory and make an escape overland. He could lose himself in the pine barrens to the east, and it would take a damned army to find him."

  Billy pointed down the Waterway.

  "A. boat's coming. Your friend the Commissioner, no doubt."

  I slipped the clutch on the idling engine and we began to move slowly.

  "We're going in but easy."

  I took the boat into the inlet, the engine putt-putting quietly, and we immediately came to a cross canal.

  "Which way?" said Billy.

  I tossed a mental coin.

  "To starboard," I said. Tt doesn't really matter. " We turned to the right and went on for about a hundred yards and came to another junction. Straight on or turn to the left? This was impossible worse than Hampton Court Maze and there were forty-five miles of it.

  From behind came the noise of a rapidly accelerating engine, and Billy shouted, "We went the wrong way! Go back!"

  I spun the throttle and slammed over the tiller, and I was in lime to see Robinson's dory shooting across the canal and into the main artery of the Waterway. As it went Billy popped off a shot and then was thrown back as the boat picked up speed and the bow rose into the air.

  We slalomed round the corner and nearly ran into a Customs boat in the Waterway, scooting under its stern and missing by the thickness of a playing card. I twisted the throttle to slow, and kicked over the tiller so as to avoid hitting the opposite bank, then I looked around. The damned dory had disappeared again so I hailed the launch.

  "Where did he go?"

  Deane was on deck.

  "Mangan, get out of here, and take your friend.

  This is no place for heroics from civilians. "

  I repeated, "Where did he go?"

  The launch moved so as to be between me and an inlet.

  "He moved in here but it's no business of yours. Perigord is organizing reinforcements. Is he Robinson?"

  "Yes."

  "Who's your friend?"

  "If you want to know, why don't you ask me?" said Billy.

  "I'm Billy Cunningham and I want that bastard, Robinson."

  "Mr. Cunningham, I see you're holding a gun. You'd better not have it on your person when we meet again. You'd better drop it over the side."

  "In a pig's eye," said Billy. He pointed to the hole in the rubber and fabric side of the boat.

  "Robinson came out shooting."

  "Suit yourself," said Deane.