There were several beer cans scattered across the ground, and someone had taken a toilet paper roll and tossed it up into a tree, leaving a long trail of white that snaked around the yard. There was an overturned picnic table, and a portion of the iron fencing that went around the pool was bent. Someone had driven a sit-down lawn mower into it.
“Now that is going to cost them,” Skylar said.
As they moved around to the doorway, they started to realize that perhaps the mess wasn’t the result of a party. The walls of the home were riddled with bullet holes, and the front door’s window was shattered and shell casings were all over the floor.
Skylar pulled her service weapon, as did Harvey, and he called out, “Franklin County Sheriff Office.”
There was no reply.
Cautiously they entered through the door, glass crunching beneath their shoes. Skylar held her gun out straight listening and moving purposely. Inside it was a complete state. Walls were peppered, furniture overturned, photo frames smashed, large holes punched in the drywall. It looked as if someone had gone through that place with a sledgehammer.
The ground floor was utterly destroyed.
They made their way up the stairs only to find it wasn’t much better up there.
As Skylar crested the stairwell, she saw a body on the floor. Moving swiftly while Harvey covered her she tucked her service weapon back into her holster and rushed over to find Gabriel on the floor. His face had been heavily beaten, several of his fingers looked as if they had been broken, and someone had shot him in the leg. She dropped down and checked for a pulse.
“He’s still breathing. Call EMS.”
Within ten minutes the place was swarming with cops and medics. They whisked Gabriel away still unconscious and Skylar and Harvey followed. They stuck around at George Weems Memorial Hospital for the better part of an hour in the hopes of speaking with him. While they waited they drank bad coffee from the vending machine and discussed the case in the lounge. Skylar sat in front of Harvey as she devoured a large sandwich from the cafeteria.
“How can you eat at a time like this?”
“How can you not? I’m starving. Besides, I have a feeling this day is going to be long.”
“So you think it was Santiago?”
“Had to have been. They went after him hard — it was personal.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t inflict this kind of damage on him before and they had plenty of time to do so. So why now?”
“Who knows, maybe to tie up loose ends?”
“Then why didn’t they execute him?”
With a mouth full of food, Skylar frowned. “How should I know, Harvey?”
“Well you went after these guys when you were in the Marshals.”
“I wasn’t an expert. We had a few run-ins.”
She washed down a mouthful of food with coffee and winced. “Damn, that is awful coffee. It’s like they sought out the worst beans in Florida, brewed some up, left it on the hot plate for a month, then warmed it up multiple times in the microwave, only to let it bake in the sun for a week before serving it up again.”
Harvey chuckled.
She got up and tossed the cup in the trashcan, then fished into her pocket for some change to get an orange juice. That was one thing they couldn’t get wrong in Florida. Juice tasted like gold down in the Sunshine State. As she tapped in the code for the vending machine product, Harvey brought up the topic again.
“He hands over the drugs to them. They get what they want. Why come back?”
“Perhaps they didn’t get what they wanted.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
She fished out the plastic bottle of orange juice and walked over, cracking off the top.
Skylar shrugged. “Maybe he wasn’t the one that made the mistake. Maybe Matt didn’t make everything they wanted and that’s why Gabriel wasn’t beaten to a pulp in Tallahassee. They wanted to know where the rest was and perhaps he promised to get it for them.”
“Or we just got to him in time,” Harvey said.
“There is that possibility. We won’t know until they let us in to speak to him.”
She took a seat and gulped down some of her food and continued eating.
“Speaking of eating. Rumor has it. And I’m just putting it out there. It might be completely bogus but you know how gossip has a way of getting around town.”
“Spit it out, Harv.”
“Rumor has it you were seen with Ben Walker having a cozy, romantic dinner the other night. Care to serve up some juicy details?”
Skylar coughed a couple of times. “I swear nothing is sacred in this town. Don’t people have better things to do than spy on others?”
“People don’t spy, Reid. They observe. The two are very different.”
“Spy. Observe. Whatever. Folks need to get a hobby.”
“They already have one. Fishing. That gives you lots of time to sit and think and… observe,” he said placing emphasis on the word observe before he grinned.
Skylar was about to reply when a nurse came into the room.
“Detectives, you can see him now.”
“Right. Thanks,” Harvey said rising to his feet. As they made their way down the hall he asked again. “So? Is there any truth to it?”
“If there is, would I tell you?”
He laughed and they entered Gabriel’s room. His bed had been positioned so that he was at a forty-five degree angle. There was an EKG machine to his right and a bedside table to his left. The curtains were partially open letting in the warm afternoon light. He was wearing hospital clothing, and he had a device attached to his finger to monitor his heart rate. There was a steady beating. His heart rate was good and strong. There was more color in his face but no smile as it looked painful. One side of his face was swollen and his lip had ballooned. There were multiple cuts that had been attended to with butterfly stitches. Gone was the hard exterior and the cocky persona of someone heading up a fraternity. Before them was a young, scared kid.
“Mr. Barber,” Harvey said. “Good to see you are still alive.”
“I heard you called for an ambulance. Thank you,” Gabriel croaked out.
“Just doing our job,” Harvey replied.
Gabriel’s eyes darted to Skylar. They hadn’t seen each other since her truck was run off the road.
“I see you made it,” he said.
She stretched out her arms before taking a seat. “Here in the flesh. I’m a hard person to kill.”
“She is,” Harvey said. “Trust me on that.”
Gabriel groaned as he reached for a glass of water on the side table. Harvey leaned forward and helped him. After he took a drink his eyes bounced between them.
“How you holding up?” Skylar asked.
“Rough.”
“So you want to tell us what happened?” Skylar asked.
“There were three of them. One of them I’d seen before.”
“Santiago?”
He nodded.
“I was in the middle of cleaning up the place after our guys threw a party last night when I heard gunfire. It was crazy. I looked out the window to see what was going on but by then they were already inside. I tried to phone the police but they shot me in the leg before it connected. After that they began wailing on me, saying I’d screwed them over, that it was a bad batch and they wanted their money back. I told them I didn’t have it, and hat I wasn’t even involved in the transaction. I said that Matt was behind it and I was just friends with Iris and her father.”
“Did Matt owe them money?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I don’t know. I knew he was creating for the fraternity and Iris said that he wanted to get out.”
“Was that why you beat on him?” Harvey asked.
Gabriel shook his head.
Skylar piped up. “No, it wasn’t that, was it, Gabriel? I think you beat on him because you were jealous of his relationship with Iris, weren’t you?”
“No. That’s not right,�
�� he replied.
“No? Then why did you put GHB in her drink at Harry’s Bar? That is why you followed her out?”
“No I followed her because her father wanted me to keep an eye on her.”
“And I suppose you never saw her for the rest of the night?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Oh drop the act, Gabriel. We saw the video footage from Iris’s home. But I’m guessing you weren’t aware they had surveillance? You reached her home expecting she would head back after not feeling too well at Harry’s Bar. Except you didn’t bank on her showing up with the Latin Syndicate.” She paused and studied him. She could tell he knew the jig was up. “You put GHB in her drink in the hopes of raping her.”
“I…”
“Don’t even try to deny it, Gabriel. We saw you take your coat off. I saw you run your hand up her skirt. You had every intention of having sex with her after the syndicate left but you didn’t.”
“That’s right, I didn’t.”
“So who texted you?” Skylar asked.
His mouth parted ever so slightly and he looked at a loss for words.
“Gabriel,” Harvey said. “You can tell us now or we can get a warrant. Oh, and if you’ve deleted messages we have a real smart guy who knows how to retrieve those. So probably best you—”
“Tom Bowman,” he blurted out. “It was Tom who texted me.”
“And what did he want?”
“Like I said, he wanted me to keep a close eye on Iris. He didn’t trust Matt.”
“And?”
“And so…”
“Iris told you she was going to meet him, didn’t she?” Skylar said.
He nodded.
“And he wanted you to bring her to him but how could you do that if she was drugged up?” Skylar asked. “Unless of course you say that Matt did it? And that you caught him in the act and gave him a beating? That’s why when I asked Tom if he knew about it, he could only tell me that one of you had phoned him to let him know that he had been taken to the hospital.”
Right then as she was saying that Skylar’s mind began to make connections. It shifted back to the call from Hanson and what he’d told her about the text messages found on Diego Martinez’s phone. “There had been a text to Diego later that evening from an unknown source telling the Latin Syndicate where Matt was. Except he didn’t stick around, did he?” she said pausing for a second and looking at Gabriel. “What did you do with Iris?”
“I met her father at the boat and he said he was going to take her to the hospital. I transferred her into the back of his car and he drove off.”
Skylar scoffed and looked at Harvey. “And that’s why he wanted the video footage from Vagabond removed. It would have placed him there instead of in Tallahassee that evening.” She breathed in deeply. “Where is Tom?”
“Last time I spoke to him he said he was preparing to take the boat out of the harbor.”
It was beginning to make sense. All the pieces were falling into place but there was still something she needed to hear from him. Skylar stood up and tapped Gabriel on the chest. “While we might not be able to charge you for murder there might be enough evidence on the recording at the Bowman house to charge you with drugging her. However, I’m sure your father could pay for a good lawyer to work out a deal for you whereby your confession of what you just told us is taken into consideration. But if you try to change the story, believe me, this could end far worse for you. Do you understand?” Skylar said giving him a death stare.
He nodded and gulped.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already got his statement,” Harvey said as she turned to find him jotting it down. Skylar tapped him on the chest and they exited heading in the direction of the Moorings of Carrabelle.
Chapter 20
Secrets. Fraternities were full of them. They spoke of brotherhood and loyalty for life and maybe that was the case but when it came to flesh and blood, blood was thicker than water. Skylar punched the accelerator on the truck, and felt a shot of pain go up her leg. She cried out as she swerved out of the parking lot into a road of traffic. Angry drivers honked their horns, and a couple swerved.
“Reid. Slow down.”
“Listen, if Santiago showed up for the money and Gabriel gave him the names of Iris and her father, who do you think they’ll be planning on visiting next?”
Harvey nodded and got on the phone to Carrabelle Police to have them send several units to the Bowman home, he then tried phoning Iris but got no answer. He slammed his fist against the door. “I’m telling you I am not sending my kid to a university and it’s not about the money.”
“Once they’re old enough to make these decisions, sometimes we don’t get to choose where they go, Harv,” she said weaving the truck around vehicles and reaching speeds of up to ninety. Pines and cypress trees shot by in her peripheral vision as she floored it and the engine roared.
“You mind going easy on my baby?” Harvey said.
“I keep telling you, Harv, you should use one of the cruisers,” she said.
“Do you know how bad they smell?” he replied.
“It’s either that or…” She jerked the wheel hard as traffic ahead hit their brakes because of a stoplight. The truck bounced up to the sandy shoulder and tore along leaving a plume of dust and grit behind them. They tore across an intersection nearly causing a pileup again. Harvey hung on for dear life as they careened around bends and left East Point in their rearview mirror.
“Are you trying to kill us?” Harvey yelled.
“Hang on tight,” Skylar said. The truck caught some air as she swerved off U.S. 98 and over a mound of earth to avoid hitting a U-Haul truck. It landed with a thud and they bounced in their seats.
Skylar had this big smile on her face as she said, “There goes the suspension.”
“I think the suspension is the last thing we need to worry about,” Harvey shouted.
It didn’t take long to arrive at the harbor. They must have broken every speed limit in the county, and the land speed record of driving between Apalachicola and Carrabelle. They weren’t sure what to expect when they arrived. As they tore into the parking lot there was already a crowd gathered outside the Vagabond, and an officer on scene. They were all staring out into the bay at two white boats that weren’t that far from shore. One was in pursuit of the other.
“Miles, bring us up to speed,” Harvey said panting as he pushed out of the vehicle and jogged over with Skylar in step.
“I’ve called the U.S. Coast Guard. We got a call of shots being fired. By the time I arrived, two boats were already out in the bay.”
Donnie Wu squeezed through the crowd. “Skylar, three men went after the owner of the boat.”
“Any others onboard?”
“I only saw one,” Donnie replied.
Without giving it another thought she took off down the dock, pain shooting up her leg from her ankle. Harvey wasn’t far behind. He was yelling for her to leave it in the hands of the U.S. Coast Guard.
“Oh I intend to, I’m just going out there to get a closer look.” She hopped onto her boat, and he followed as she took to the cockpit to fire up the engine.
“Hold on a minute. Do you know how to drive this?”
“How hard can it be?” she said with a grin on her face.
“Reid!”
“Settle down, Harv, of course I’ve taken it out.”
A few seconds passed.
“Yeah, how many times?”
“Twice.”
“To get into a high-speed pursuit?” he asked.
“Please. This can’t go any faster than 35 knots.”
The engine roared to life and she brought it out of the slip heading for the gulf.
“Are you telling me you’ve—”
Before he could say anything she hit the throttle and the boat shot forward causing him to tumble backward. He groaned. She chuckled as it cut through the blue waters heading out towards the other two boats in the distance. There wa
s no sign of the U.S. Coast Guard. By the time they got out there all manner of things could go wrong, she wasn’t one for leaving the fate of others in someone else’s hands. Water sprayed up, and the sun glistened on the waves as the boat churned up the waters.
The sound of rapid gunfire carried on the wind as they got closer.
All they could do was watch and hope to God that Tom was alive by the time they reached them. Off the starboard side Skylar caught a glimpse of another boat cutting through the water at a high rate of speed. Without binoculars she couldn’t tell who it was but she figured it was the U.S. Coast Guard. At least that gave her some peace of mind as by the sounds of gunfire they were packing some serious heat.
In the distance they saw the pursuing boat catch up with the other and after a few rounds were exchanged, two men boarded by leaping from one boat to the other. One engine was cut and the noise of hollering could be heard as they got closer.
Before they had got a hundred yards, they came under heavy fire.
Harvey ducked. They weren’t close enough yet for them to cause damage and it wasn’t going to prevent Skylar from slowing down either. She stayed low and kept the boat heading their way. Scot wasn’t going to like this one bit, hell, there was a chance that she might not even have a place to sleep that night. Skylar yanked hard on the steering wheel and brought it around until they were within shooting distance. Rounds cut into her boat and both of them hit the deck. Skylar cut the engine and crawled along the deck down into the saloon.
“Harvey. Start negotiating,” she yelled.
“Negotiating? Are you out of your mind?”
“Stall them.”
Down in the saloon she went to a closet where she stored a rifle case. It belonged to Scot. She hauled it out and popped the latches to reveal a Heckler and Koch SR9(T) sniper rifle with a 20-round magazine. She emptied out a box of ammo on the floor and filled the magazine, and palmed it into place. Meanwhile she could hear Harvey attempting to reach some kind of agreement with two Latinos who had nothing to lose and were liable to take out as many people as they could before they got taken in.
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