Storm Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller: The 4th Novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Connie Barrera Thrillers)

by Charles Dougherty

  "But wait," Paul said. "We just decided the rhumb line would probably be faster."

  "Exactly," Connie said.

  "Huh? I don't — "

  "Who's in a hurry? It's beautiful out here, and we've had way too much company. When we get to Martinique, the whole gang will be gathering; we won’t have a minute’s peace. I’ve missed you. And besides, I need to brush up on my sextant skills."

  Paul laughed. "I see. Well, you're the captain."

  "That's my guy. I'll head up and throttle back. You raise the main, and I'll get the mizzen."

  A minute later, both sails were drawing. Connie reached down and shut off the engine.

  "Yankee?" Paul asked.

  "Sure." Connie was studying the main and the mizzen and feeling the rudder's resistance through the helm. She un-cleated the Yankee jib's furling line and started paying it out as Paul hauled in the leeward sheet. The last few feet of the big sail unrolled, and she pulled the slack from the furling line and re-cleated it as Paul cranked the starboard primary winch, trimming the sail.

  She rested her hand on the helm, feeling the boat's response for several seconds. "Staysail, please."

  Paul nodded and moved to the leeward staysail sheet winch as she released the staysail's furling line. The smaller sail filled quickly, and he sheeted it home as she belayed the furling line.

  "Well done," she said, settling behind the helm and putting one bare foot on its rim. "We're perfectly balanced. Come sit down next to me, stranger. Let's enjoy the peace and quiet."

  "Should I go below and get the sex-tant?"

  She shook her head, smiling at him and blowing him a kiss. "I know where we are, and where we're going. Once you come back here, I'll show you."

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later, in Ste. Anne, Martinique ...

  "It's great that you could come, Bill," Connie said leaning against her husband.

  "I'll second that," Paul said, his arm around her as they stood on Phillip Davis's Veranda looking out over the anchorage, admiring Diamantista II and Vengeance, the two sisterships anchored within a boat-length of one another.

  "I wouldn't have missed it for the world," Bill O'Brien said. "What I've seen of Martinique is beautiful, and Dani Berger's parents have invited me to go for a sail on Vengeance tomorrow."

  "Dani mentioned that," Connie said. "I guess she and Liz are taking everybody out. I was surprised, given that Dani's parents are staying aboard."

  "They're such nice people, J.-P. and Anne. All your friends are. I felt strange at first, like the only outsider at a family gathering, but everybody's really gone out of their way to make me welcome. Especially Sharktooth and his wife. He's quite a character."

  "He is that," Paul agreed. "Just don't get in between him and food, though."

  "Somebody say food?" Sharktooth asked, leaning in to kiss the bride. "Phillip an' Sandrine 'bout ready to call us inside for deenah, I t'ink."

  "Hey, Sharktooth, I wanted to ask you something," Bill said.

  Sharktooth raised his eyebrows. "Wha's that, mon?"

  "How can a Rasta from Dominica preside over the wedding of two Americans in a Department of France? I mean, legally speaking?"

  Sharktooth grinned. "Well, you noticed that Connie and Paul and I were standin' on the bow of Lightning Bolt when they took their vows, right?"

  "I thought that was a great idea, so the rest of us could stand along the rail of Diamantista II and see what was going on. The way you had Lightning Bolt tied alongside, it was like a stage, kind of."

  "Mm-hmm," Sharktooth said. "Lightning Bolt, she registered in Dominica. Dominican territory, so to speak."

  O'Brien frowned. "Okay."

  "I'm a magistrate in Dominica, mon. They got married in Dominica, not France."

  "But what about a license?"

  "All taken care of. My mother's step-brother's sister's cousin is the registrar in Roseau. She takin' care of us. All legal, I promise. Jus' like the FBI, mon."

  Phillip and Sandrine Davis joined them on the veranda, followed by Dani and Liz and Dani's father and stepmother. Dani and Liz carried trays with flutes of champagne.

  "Everybody take a glass," Dani said. "Papa has something to say."

  All eyes turned to J.-P Berger. "I am the oldest man here, and so, I will take the place of the bride's father in asking you all to toast the health and happiness of our friends, Connie and Paul. Fair winds and following seas to you."

  "Health and happiness," everyone repeated, and took a drink.

  "Thank you all," Paul said.

  "Yes, thanks," Connie said, looking around at their friends. "I've put off questions from most of you about what happened to our would-be hijackers after we left them in the Virgin Islands. I wanted everyone to hear that story at once, and then I'd like for us all to put it behind us. The most recent addition to our circle, our friend, Bill O'Brien, has the latest and most complete information. Bill?"

  Bill cleared his throat as everyone moved to get a better look at him. "The man Connie and Paul knew as Dalton Evans was identified from his fingerprints as Devon Egan, an escaped serial killer. He was convicted of killing six people in West Virginia, all of whom had been his foster parents at some point. Gina Smith's father was his first victim. Egan recovered consciousness a few days after Connie and Paul left St. Martin, and he sought a deal in exchange for information which would support the prosecution of Gina Smith. Egan had gotten crossways with the Aryan Brotherhood somehow while he was in prison. He feared for his life if he was sent back. He was serving six consecutive life sentences when he escaped, so he wasn't a candidate for witness protection. However, there are ways for him to be kept under wraps and in custody, which I can't discuss. In exchange, he provided testimony to support charges against Gina Smith. She stands accused of the same six murders of which Egan was convicted. She was an active participant in his crimes, and there is solid evidence besides his testimony to convict her. In addition, she will be tried for the murders of Marilyn and Harry Lloyd, the owners of the sailing vessel Blue Wing. Smith and Egan were volunteer crew on Blue Wing on her last voyage. We don't know what triggered her to kill them, but it happened during Hurricane Ian. The Coast Guard found Blue Wing adrift and damaged, but afloat, several days after the storm. When the Search and Rescue team found the bodies, they called in the Coast Guard Investigative Service. CGIS found forensic evidence that Gina Smith was the sole killer; her finger prints were the only ones on the murder weapon. She also left bloody handprints all over the place. Egan was probably incapacitated by a near-fatal overdose of crystal meth. His prints were obviously on the boat, but none of his were bloody, and none connected him to the killings. And that's about all I can tell you. Connie? Paul? Care to add anything?"

  "No," Connie said.

  "No," Paul agreed.

  "Thank you all for sharing this day with us, everybody," Connie said. "We'll be sailing away with the sunrise tomorrow, so we'll say our farewells this evening."

  "For those who are up for a little sailboat race, Vengeance will be leaving at sunrise as well," Liz said. "You're all welcome to join us; just be there. Sharktooth has volunteered to provide water-taxi service for those staying with Phillip and Sandrine."

  "Who are you racing?" Paul asked.

  "An upstart sistership called Diamantista II," Dani said. "Our victory celebration may span a few days; be ready. Last one to the Tobago Cays has to feed everybody."

  "No way," Connie said. "We'll do a horizon job on you before noon."

  "Who taught you everything you know about sailing?" Dani asked, grinning as the crowd began to chuckle.

  "Not you," Connie said. "You only taught me everything you know about sailing; the rest, I learned at sea with my husband."

  The End

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  A Note to the Reader

  Thank you for reading Storm Sail, the fourth book in the Connie Barrera Thriller series. I hope that you enjoyed it. If so, please leave a brief review on Amazon. Reviews are of great benefit to independent authors like me; they help me more than you can imagine. They are a primary means to help new readers find my work. A few words from you can help others find the pleasure that I hope you found in this book, as well as keeping my spirits up as I work on the next one. If you would like to be notified by email when I release a new book or have a sale or giveaway, please http://eepurl.com/bKujyv to subscribe to my email list. I promise not to use the list for anything else; I dislike spam as much as you do.

  If you haven't read the other Connie Barrera Thrillers, please take a look at them. If you enjoyed this book, you'll enjoy them as well. I also write another series of sailing thrillers set in the Caribbean. The Bluewater Thrillers feature two young women, Dani Berger and Liz Chirac. They sail a luxury charter yacht of their own. They are friends of Connie’s; they met her when she chartered with them in Bluewater Ice.

  Connie had a key role in Deception in Savannah, my first book. I enjoyed writing about her so much that I wrote her into the Bluewater Thrillers. She plays prominent parts in both Bluewater Ice and Bluewater Betrayal. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are a spin-off from the Bluewater Thrillers, and feature some of the same characters. Dani and Liz taught Connie to sail, and they introduced her to Paul Russo, her first mate and husband.

  In July of 2017, I published Bluewater Enigma - the 13th novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series. Now I’ll turn my attention back to Connie and Paul for their eighth adventure. You'll find progress reports and more information on my www.clrdougherty.com. Be sure to click on the link to my blog posts; it's in the column on the right side of the web page. Dani Berger has begun to blog about what's on her mind, and Liz and Connie are demanding equal time, so you can see what they're up to while I'm writing.

  A list of my other books is on the last page; just click on a title or go to my website for more information. If you’d like to know when my next book is released, visit my author’s page on Amazon at www.amazon.com/author/clrdougherty and click the "Follow" link near the upper left-hand corner, or sign up for my email list at the link in the opening paragraph above.

  I welcome email correspondence about books, boats and sailing. My address is clrd@clrdougherty.com. If you'd like personal updates, drop me a line at that address and let me know. Thanks again for your support.

  About C.L.R. Dougherty

  Welcome aboard!

  Charles Dougherty is a lifelong sailor; he's lived what he writes. He and his wife have spent over 30 years sailing together. For 15 years, they lived aboard their boat full-time, cruising the East Coast and the islands. They spent most of that time exploring the Eastern Caribbean. Dougherty is well acquainted with the islands and their people. The characters and locations in his novels reflect his experience.

  A storyteller before all else, Dougherty lets his characters speak for themselves. Pick up one of his thrillers and listen to the sound of adventure as you smell the salt air. Enjoy the views of distant horizons and meet some people you won't forget.

  Dougherty has written over 25 books. His Bluewater Thrillers are set in the yachting world of the Caribbean and chronicle the adventures of two young women running a luxury charter yacht in a rough-and-tumble environment. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are also set in the Caribbean and feature some of the same characters from a slightly more romantic perspective. Besides the Bluewater Thrillers and the Connie Barrera Thrillers, he wrote The Redemption of Becky Jones, a psycho-thriller, and The Lost Tourist Franchise, a short story about one of the characters from Deception in Savannah.

  He has also written two non-fiction books. Life's a Ditch is the story of how he and his wife moved aboard their sailboat, Play Actor, and their adventures along the east coast of the U.S. Dungda de Islan' relates their experiences while cruising the Caribbean.

  www.clrdougherty.com

  clrd@clrdougherty.com

  Other Books by C.L.R. Dougherty

  Bluewater Thrillers

  Bluewater Killer

  Bluewater Vengeance

  Bluewater Voodoo

  Bluewater Ice

  Bluewater Betrayal

  Bluewater Stalker

  Bluewater Bullion

  Bluewater Rendezvous

  Bluewater Ganja

  Bluewater Jailbird

  Bluewater Drone

  Bluewater Revolution

  Bluewater Enigma

  Bluewater Thrillers Boxed Set: Books 1-3

  Connie Barrera Thrillers

  From Deception to Betrayal - An Introduction to Connie Barrera

  Love for Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  Sailor's Delight - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  A Blast to Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  Storm Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  Running Under Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  Sails Job - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  Under Full Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller

  Other Fiction

  Deception in Savannah

  The Redemption of Becky Jones

  The Lost Tourist Franchise

  Books for Sailors and Dreamers

  Life's a Ditch

  Dungda de Islan'

  For more information please visit www.clrdougherty.com

  Or visit www.amazon.com/author/clrdougherty

  Sample of Running Under Sail -

  Running Under Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller

  Read a sample of Running Under Sail - the 5th Connie Barrera Thriller

  Prologue

  Running Under Sail

  "What did he say?" Connie asked. She was steering Diamantista II; Paul had been below, talking on the satellite phone with his lawyer.

  "She's just making trouble, he thinks."

  "What do you think?" Connie asked. "You know her better than he does, right?"

  He shook his head, a wry grin on his face. "I can't say that I know her at all."

  "You were married to her for five years, Paul. How does her mind work?"

  He laughed, a hearty, deep-down belly laugh. "That's a trick question if I ever heard one," he said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Asking me if I know how a woman's mind works. I'll take the fifth on that one."

  Connie frowned. "But anyway, what did he say?"

  "He talked to her lawyer. All he got was that she claims I concealed assets when we were getting the divorce."

  "Did you?"

  "No, of course not. But she's picked up on my participation in the purchase of Diamantista II – million-dollar luxury yacht, and all that, according to her lawyer. She smells money."

  "How'd she find out any of that?"

  "Who knows?" Paul asked. "Probably saw some of the publicity Elaine arranged for the charter business and hired someone to check it out, looking for a way to squeeze some money out of me. She's tried before."

  "I thought she married some rich guy after you two split up. Why would she care about Diamantista II?"

  "She thought she was marrying a rich guy; that's the story she put out. But you know South Beach. They all look like they're rich; nothing's real. Turned out he'd been sponging off his boyfriend. Paralegal. Worked in her lawyer's office and knew about the cash settlement she got. They were scam artists; they'd done this before."

  "Him or the boyfriend," Connie asked.

  "What?"

  "Which one was the paralegal?"

  "Oh. Sorry. The boyfriend was the paralegal. Her new husband was some kind of wannabe actor. He'd been busted for fraud, but the charges didn't stick."

  "You knew that? At the time?"

  "Yeah. I heard. In-house stuff; the fraud guys had checked them both out, but it didn't go anywhere. They were small
time, but they were smart. Victim was too embarrassed to testify."

  "Didn't you tell her? I thought you said it was an amicable divorce. I'm — "

  "It was, as divorces go, I guess. I mean, we both wanted it. Beyond that, though ... "

  "Sorry. I didn't mean to dredge up bad memories."

  "No, that's okay. There was a fight about the property settlement. She wanted everything; there was a lot of hostility. When I heard she was getting married afterward, I mentioned it to Luke, and he recognized the guy's name from when he was working fraud. I asked him to let her know."

  "You made your partner do the dirty work, huh?"

  "Hey, that's what partners are for. I knew she wouldn't listen to me. I thought Luke might have more credibility with her."

  "Guess not, huh?"

  "Good guess. She gave him a ration of shit and told him to tell me to mind my own business."

  "I see. So she married this con man?"

  "Yes. It lasted until her money ran out, and then he let her find him with his lover boy in their bedroom."

  "Didn't she have any recourse? I mean — "

  "I don't know, Connie. She told Luke to tell me to mind my own business. I took her advice. I know she didn't go to the police; I don't know any more about it."

  "How much did they take her for?"

  "I'm not sure; her share when we split was around $200,000 in cash. I bought out her equity in the condo and we split up the investment accounts. Sounds like a lot, but that's because I sweetened it to keep her out of my pension."

  "How long did it last? Her marriage?"