by Matt Lincoln
“That’d be preferable.” I shoved the phone into my pocket as the sliding glass door slid open, revealing Holm’s father. His eyes looked tired, but his voice was cheerful.
“Dinner is ready, boys. Come on in and fill your bellies.” He left the door open as he turned to head back inside.
“Shall we?” I knew this was why Holm asked me over, so I understood his hesitation to go inside.
“You don’t think it’s odd that we are being sent to Puerto Rico on a case? As opposed to it originating in Miami?” He made no move to walk into the house.
“Not particularly,” I shrugged. “Puerto Rico doesn’t have a MBLIS office. If they need one, we’re the closest team. It makes sense. I’m more wondering how this case even falls under MBLIS jurisdiction, although I’m sure we will find that part out tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” Holm took a long look inside the house. “I can’t wait.”
Chapter 4: Ethan
“A commercial flight? Are these budget cuts really that extreme?” Holm and I were standing with Ethel and Bonnie at the baggage claim waiting for our luggage, and I was already annoyed. Diane Ramsey had been avoiding my calls all morning, and I was pretty sure it was simply to avoid this exact conversation.
“Don’t start with me, Ethan,” Diane snapped on the other end of the phone. “I can’t help the cards we’re being handed right now.”
“Yeah, I know,” I grumbled. The budget cuts were definitely far beyond her control, but it was still frustrating on our end to have to deal with it. “We can still get a rental, right?”
“Yes, I have it set up in Mayagüez for you. Someone named Debra Slade is supposed to be picking you up at the airport and driving you down.”
“Thanks, Diane,” I replied, trying to sound a bit more pleasant than I felt at the moment. “I’ll text you when we get there.”
“Please do.” She disconnected the call, leaving our team to search for our bags.
When we did get our luggage and step outside to search for our ride, I noticed the air was actually less humid than it was in Miami. It was still hot, but my shirt wasn’t clinging to my chest, and I was grateful for that small concession.
“Up ahead,” Holm pointed, and I followed his gesture to find a woman dressed in dark blue Coast Guard ODUs. The uniform was crisp and clean, and her dark hair was slicked back beneath the matching blue ball cap. I quickly scanned the patches on her blouse and made a note of her rank and the insignia above her chest pocket. She’d been in the Coast Guard for a while, long enough to work her way up and earn some additional accolades on the way.
“Oh, great,” Holm muttered under his breath as we approached her. “She’s pretty, too. You’re doomed, Marston.”
I rolled my eyes, but we approached her too quickly for me to shoot Holm a rebuttal.
“You must be our Coastie,” I announced as we met her gaze. “I’m Ethan Marston, and this is Robbie Holm, Ethel Dumas, and Rosa Bonci.” I gestured to each of my team members in turn.
“Nice to meet you,” she greeted. Her voice was friendly enough, but her words were clipped. She was focused and on task. “I’m GM2 Debra Slade. I’ll bring you down to Mayagüez to meet our CO, and we will give you the rundown then.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I looked over at Holm, who nodded in agreement.
Debra took my suitcase, and before I could argue, she had it loaded into the small trunk of the compact sedan and was getting ready to double back for Holm’s bag.
“Thank you,” I muttered.
“Hop in.” Once all of our bags were loaded, she walked around to the driver’s side, leaving the four of us to jostle over who would be riding in the front next to our driver. Bonnie won the battle, and somehow I was the one wedged into the center seat in the back.
Debra looked over at me as she took her seat, and the corner of her lip twitched as she tried not to smile.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “This was the only government vehicle I could get my hands on.”
“Well, it’s not the most comfortable,” I pointed out, “but it gets the job done.”
“That it does.” She shifted gears and eased us into traffic, and I rested my head against the headrest and let my eyes drift closed.
“Mr. Marston?” Her voice jolted me upright, and when I turned to look at her, I realized we had stopped.
“Hey, Marston, wake up.” Holm punched me in the arm. Bonnie chuckled from the front seat and exchanged an amused look with Ethel. I turned my attention back to Debra.
“First of all, it’s Ethan,” I gently corrected. “Second of all, we’re here?”
“Yes, we are,” she nodded. “I’ll walk you all over and introduce you to CO Reyes.”
I groaned and shook myself awake. That plane ride had taken more out of me than I thought. We left our luggage behind as we wriggled our way out of the tiny car and made our way to the pier. I smoothed out my shirt and looked up at the small crowd of Coasties that had formed. I spotted who we were looking for right away, standing on the edge of the pier, talking to local law enforcement. She was tall and stood with an air of authority that could only be pulled off by a proper officer. As we got closer, though, I noticed her eyes. Despite her tough stance and decorated uniform, I could see kindness in there from all the way back here.
Holm elbowed me sharply in the ribs.
“Ow!” I muttered, shooting him a sideways glance. Holm simply winked at me and kept walking.
“I saw that,” Bonnie chuckled from behind me. I turned and glanced back at her.
“Are you going to give me grief, too?” I asked goodnaturedly.
“You bet I am!” she teased.
Debra glanced behind her to ensure we were okay. “Don’t mind us,” I mumbled, so she turned back forward.
“Hey, Cap,” she greeted as she approached the other women. “The MBLIS guys are here.”
“Perfect, thank you,” the woman replied. She cut her conversation with local law enforcement short in order to focus her attention on us.
“Hi, I’m CO Linda Reyes,” she announced confidently, stretching out her right hand for a handshake. I quickly obliged, noting she had a handshake as firm as her personality seemed to be. “You must be Agents Marston and Holm.”
“Please,” I insisted. “I’m Ethan. This is Robbie, Bonnie, and Ethel.”
“Rosa,” Bonnie interjected, stepping up to shake the CO’s hand. “Call me Rosa. My name makes no sense without my counterpart, Clyde, here.”
The CO chuckled warmly. “I know a Rosa. It’ll be an easy name to remember.” She turned to face all of us. “Jake said I should be expecting you.”
“Jake?” Holm piped up. “Not Jake Header. He was talking to you, too?”
“He sure was.” She chuckled. “Actually, I’m the one who called him about this discovery. As it turns out, he was already working the case. Now, we’re all involved.”
“Wait, slow down.” I held my palm up to her. “You’re Linda?”
“Uhm, yes,” she replied, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“No, I mean, you’re the Linda. Jake’s spoken about you a lot,” I informed her. “You two practically grew up together.”
“Ahh, my reputation precedes me,” she teased. The warmth in her hazel eyes was intoxicating. Maybe Holm had every right to elbow me in the ribs earlier.
“I didn’t know you had joined the Coast Guard,” I admitted. “And as an officer, no less.”
“Yeah, it has its perks, especially when working with Jake.” A guilty smile appeared on her face, but I didn’t think for a second that she’d want to avoid working with Header.
Holm chuckled. “I’m sure it does.”
“So, what are we doing here?” I asked, beginning to get a bit impatient about not knowing all of the information.
“Honestly?” she asked. “Officially, I am just supposed to bring you to and from the crime scene. Unofficially, I know Jake put you here for a reason. There’s more going on here than meets t
he eye, and it was something he wanted you around for.”
“Yeah,” I sighed, “I get that. I’m just trying to avoid walking blindly into this.”
“Sorry that I couldn’t be more help.” Linda shrugged. “I can get you out to the island, though. Are you all ready for the ride?”
“As ready as we can be,” Ethel chimed in.
Linda led us across the brow and onto the main deck, up a narrow and steep ladderwell, and onto the bridge. A tall man with a bright crop of red hair was standing near the center of the room, and another man sporting a thick, dark mustache sat up by the helm.
Linda began her introductions. “Everyone, this is ET2 Rogers and BMC Sanchez. Guys, meet Special Agents Marston and Holm, along with Ethel and Rosa. We will be escorting them out to Mona Island and ensuring they get back safely.”
“Nice to meet you all,” Sanchez waved from his seat upfront. “Welcome aboard.”
“Thanks,” I replied as I scanned the area. The two large chairs up at the helm had black leather upholstery. To our right was a large metal table, covered in graphs and nautical charts. To our left, there was a small computer desk with a joystick. I had to assume the joystick had something to do with the enormous white contraption noticeable through the front window.
“Is that a MK-38?” I asked in awe.
Linda opened her mouth to answer, but a voice from behind us beat her to it.
“It sure is!” We turned to see Debra standing there, beaming with pride. “It’s my MK-38. I can nerd out about it with you later, if you’d like.”
“Yes, please,” Holm chuckled. “I’d love to see it in action.”
Debra gave Linda a questioning look. “That is up to the higher-ups. Unless we get ourselves into hot water, and then it’s fair game.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, well, knowing Header, I’d say there’s a decent chance of that.”
“You know Header?” I looked up to see Sanchez had turned his chair around to face us.
“Yeah,” I replied, slightly puzzled. “Do you?”
Holm and I exchanged a look. It wasn’t like Header to be this intertwined with any form of government.
Linda barked out a laugh. “Yeah, we all do.”
“He’s been recruiting us one at a time,” Debra bragged before slapping her own hand over her mouth. “I mean, nevermind.”
Holm laughed beside me. “That sounds about right.” He shook his head and looked around the bridge. “Is the whole crew involved?”
“No,” Linda grinned sheepishly. “Mostly just us and Murphy. Others have met him but don’t really know what he does.”
“I didn’t realize Puerto Rico was so exciting.” Bonnie laughed.
“You have no idea,” Rogers snickered as he sorted through the charts. “It’s been a wild ride since I got stationed here.”
“Sounds like we’ve got a few stories to exchange,” I pointed out.
“Over a few drinks?” Linda suggested. “I’m all for it! Once you guys get settled in, we will make it happen.”
“That sounds perfect.” I knew we would need to get this boat ride out of the way first, but I wouldn’t mind a night out in Puerto Rico.
“So, how do you guys know Header?” Sanchez asked.
“They were in the SEALs together. Right?” Linda looked over at us for confirmation.
“That’s the short version.” Holm nodded.
“Yeah, the long version is… long,” I added vaguely. “Holm and I have known him for a long time, while Bonnie met him recently.”
“I sure did.” She grinned widely. “That boat of his is something.”
“You can say that again,” Sanchez agreed.
“Alright, Cap, I’m ready when you are,” Rogers announced, straightening out the last few items on the table.
“Okay! Let’s get this bad boy underway. Ready, Chief?” Linda made her way up to the vacant chair at the helm.
“Ready, Captain,” Sanchez replied.
Linda called out over her shoulder. “Make yourselves comfortable, guys. It’s going to be a bit.”
There wasn’t really anywhere to go up here, and the bridge wasn’t exactly comfortable, but luckily Debra was there to help us out.
“Come on, follow me. I’ll introduce you all to CS1 Jones. She’ll whip you up something to eat while I brew a carafe of coffee. Ethan especially could probably use some.”
Holm laughed and clapped me on the shoulder as he followed Debra down the narrow ladderwell in the center of the space. I followed slowly behind him. I wasn’t a stranger to ladderwells on ships, but it seemed steeper than I remembered, even though I was positive it was just my imagination.
At the bottom of the ladderwell, idle chatter filled the space, and a few people milled about. Linda’s voice came over the ship’s intercom to announce the ship getting underway, and that announcement had a few people scrambling out of their seats and off the mess deck to assume their positions. There were a few restaurant-style booths tucked along the wall to the right, and the galley was through a doorway to the left. Debra led us over to the doorway and peered in.
“Hey, Jones!” she shouted. “You got a second?”
A short, thin woman with light brown hair poked her head around the corner. A few strands of hair broke free from her bun, and the energy in her eyes didn’t cease when she met Debra’s eyes.
“Whatcha need, Slade?” she called out. It wasn’t until her eyes landed on us that her energy level seemed to mellow out a bit. “Oh, who’s this? You must be the Special Agents.”
“Ethan Marston,” I nodded, noting her gloves and opting against a handshake. “This is Robbie Holm, Ethel Dumas, and Rosa Bonci.”
“First name basis, please,” Holm insisted. “There’s no need to get formal.”
“Alright.” She grinned. “In that case, you can call me Hailey. Are you guys hungry?”
“I don’t want to bother you, Hailey,” I objected. I had no idea how busy she must be, but it seemed like we had caught her in the middle of something.
“Nonsense!” she shouted. “It’s what I’m here for. I made chili earlier. Have a seat, and I’ll warm up some bowls for you.”
“Chili?” Holm replied excitedly. “Count me in!”
Debra pointed out the booths. “Get comfortable, and I’ll get the coffee going.” She walked into the galley, and Hailey stepped out and leaned in toward us conspiratorially. “You’ve got the best person making you coffee. I don’t let anyone else touch the coffee maker except for Slade.” Then she disappeared into the galley, and the four of us headed over to the nearest booth and slid in across from each other.
The small porthole next to our booth showed the water churning up against the side of the boat. I was struck by how clear it was. It was a pleasant contrast to what I usually saw in Miami.
Debra came back a few minutes later with three mugs of coffee. “I’ll be right back,” she mumbled before disappearing again, and she was back seconds later with two more mugs and some sugar packets and creamers.
“Thank you for this,” I muttered, looking up at her.
“Yeah, Marston isn’t the only one who needed this,” Ethel added with a smirk.
“I’m happy to help, guys.” She took a long sip out of her mug while we set up our own. The view to our side was peaceful, albeit small, and this wasn’t the worst way to start off a case. We sipped our coffee in silence for a bit as I adjusted to the boat’s gentle rock.
I had made a decent dent in my coffee when Hailey came out from the galley with a tray topped with four heaping bowls full of chili. As she set them down in front of us, I noticed a healthy helping of cheese on the top, along with a scoop of sour cream.
“I hope you can handle the heat.” She winked. “Enjoy.”
“This looks and smells amazing,” Bonnie gushed. “Thank you.”
“What she said,” Ethel added, gesturing toward Bonnie with her spoon.
Hailey flashed us a warm smile before retreating back to the g
alley, and we all quickly abandoned our coffee to embrace the chili in front of us. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until this was in front of me.
“Well,” Debra announced, bracing her hands on the table in front of her, “I better get up top and do my job. When you’re done, the door out to the main deck is just behind me. Wander about, make sure you close all of the hatches behind you and don’t scratch anything. The nonrates just painted.”
My team barked out a collective laugh, and I had to roll my eyes. Debra searched us all for an explanation, a bemused look on her face.
“Everywhere we go, someone needs to tell you not to scratch something, Ethan.” Holm was belly laughing now, and I shook my head in disbelief, though I couldn’t help but laugh along with him.
“Is that a fact?” Debra asked with a chuckle. “Our poor non-rates.” She slid out of the booth and looked down at us. “If you need me, I’ll be up on the bridge.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” I watched as she worked her way up the ladderwell and waited for Holm’s laughter to die down.
“You done?” I teased.
“Nope.” He grinned widely at me. “You’ll never live this crap down.”
“Probably not,” I admitted lightheartedly.
“Definitely not,” Bonnie insisted.
There could be worse things for me to be known for. I picked up my spoon and helped myself to some chili. It was both flavorful and spicy, and the cheese and sour cream really melded well with it.
“Not bad, huh?” Ethel mumbled around her own mouthful of chili.
“This is pretty damn good,” I asserted. That was the last thing I said before inhaling the rest of the bowl.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. Holm and I stepped out onto the main deck for some fresh air, leaving Bonnie and Ethel chatting on the mess deck. When we spotted Mona Island in the distance, it did not seem like four hours had passed.
“I read up on this last night,” Holm informed me. “The only people who stay on the island are the rangers who keep track of visitors and wildlife. As far as off-grid adventures go, this is pretty legitimate.”