Ms. Anna
by Bill Lockwood
Anna, a twenty-something college graduate, is without a job comparable to her education. She works as a part-time bartender and also as pilot of her father's fishing boat in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, a city proclaiming itself "the tuna canning capital of the world" in the 1990s. Max is an academic who was maybe once in the CIA. He is a member of a staid, wealthy New England lobstering family that has branched out to buy one of the Mayaguez tuna plants. When word reaches them (thanks to Anna) of some "fishy" activities regarding their latest acquisition, they send Max to investigate. Anna and Max would rather find out more about each other, but in no time they are embroiled in a high-seas smuggling run, tracked by the U.S. Coast Guard. The bad guy has an assault rifle in his trombone case, so it's not your parents' Caribbean cruise—romance will have to wait.