Hostile Waters

by William Nikkel

  She kept up with him, her receiver on in her hand.

  And only one thought.

  Don’t let something happen to Jack.

  She raced past Robert and reached their rental. Skidding to a stop on the gravel, she pressed the door lock release on the fob and jerked open the driver’s door.

  The clock in her head ticked another few seconds.

  They were cutting it close.

  She scrambled behind the wheel, shoved the key into the ignition, and turned it. Robert jumped in on the passenger side at the same moment the engine roared to life. The seatbelt warning buzzed.

  The least of her worries.

  Corey had the money. Why not take the idols.

  With only Jack to stop him.

  She put the transmission in gear and stepped on the gas.

  * * *

  Jack sat in silence until they were out of the parking lot and on the road to town. He could only wonder why Corey thought it necessary to go back and make sure they weren’t followed. By who? What he did know was the man was an antiquities thief and, in all likelihood, a killer.

  That meant anything was possible.

  He opened the box and stared at the relics swaddled in cloth. Three neatly wrapped idols. One hundred thousand dollars spent.

  “You mentioned having some special packaging to get these through security. Now might be a good time to talk about it.”

  “Inside the sack in back.” Corey motioned his head toward the rear of the Jeep. “We’ll make the switch before we board the ship.”

  Jack twisted and peered at the white paper shopping bag sitting on the seat behind him. The cruise line logo clearly visible on it. “Let’s have a look at what you brought.”

  “Not just yet.”

  “Why not?” Jack couldn’t help raising his voice.

  That brought a sly smile from Corey. “Patience, Jack.”

  Easy for him to say.

  Jack settled into his seat, unconvinced. “You’ll have to excuse me. I can’t help being a little concerned. A lot is riding on this. A hundred thousand dollars, to be exact.”

  “There’s nothing to worry about. Ship security’s not a problem. They’re interested in weapons and explosives. And I suppose drugs.”

  “What about your friends back there?” Jack couldn’t resist.

  Corey looked at him. “What about them?”

  Jack detected a flicker of irritation in Corey’s eyes that betrayed the man’s attempt to appear unconcerned. “Were they still there when you went back to check on them?”

  “They must have left by another route.” Corey faced the windshield, letting the subject die.

  Jack smiled with self-satisfaction. Corey had lied.

  But about what?

  “It bothers me,” he said, prodding. “That you’ll only get fifteen percent from the sale of these relics. I realize I put up all the money, but you deserve more. Juan’s your contact. And this was originally your deal.”

  Corey laughed as though it were a big joke. “Don’t worry about me.”

  Now that’s funny.

  Only Jack didn’t feel like laughing.

  He wasn’t concerned about Corey.

  Not in the least.

  He worried about himself.

  * * *

  Cherise raced out of the lot and onto the roadway leading to town. She had no reason to believe Corey drove Jack somewhere other than back to the ship. Still, she couldn’t relax until she had their Jeep in sight.

  And reasonable assurance Jack would make it to the port alive.

  CHAPTER 62

  Cherise eased her grip on the steering wheel, allowing color to return to her knuckles. With Jack’s Jeep in view ahead, she backed off on the gas. The low jungle that covered the island, bordered the roadway on both sides.

  “What’s happening?” she asked Robert, her focus on the Jeep in front of them.

  He directed the screen of his receiver toward her. “They’re talking about getting the idols onboard the ship without alerting security. Jack’s asking Corey about the special packaging he talked about.”

  “I don’t think ship security is cause for any real concern.”

  “Corey told Jack the same thing.”

  She glanced at the receiver, trying to think positive. “At least if they’re talking about returning to the ship, we know everything’s okay.”

  “Except for that stunt Corey pulled back there. There’s no telling what the guy is up to.”

  The same thought had crossed her mind.

  And there was no denying it.

  She started to tell Robert not to worry, and stopped when she saw brake lights come on.

  What the . . .?

  She took her foot off the gas and gently braked to match the speed of the Jeep ahead of her. “Appears they’re stopping.”

  Robert looked. “That can’t be good.”

  She kept her foot poised on the brake pedal and watched the Jeep continue to slow. “I was afraid something like this would happen.”

  “Off to the left.” Robert pointed. “Isn’t that a road leading into the jungle?”

  “I see it.”

  Shit.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Robert straighten in his seat. He gripped the dash with one hand and balled the other into a fist.

  He asked, “If Corey makes the turn, how do we handle it?”

  She didn’t have to think about her answer. “We stay on his tail like a couple of nosy tourists. And if we stop and it calls for pictures, be ready to snap a few with your phone. He won’t make a move with witnesses around.”

  “And if he does?”

  “We stop him.”

  * * *

  Jack felt the Jeep slow and saw Corey’s foot pressing on the brake for no apparent reason.

  Corey was up to something.

  What?

  He asked, “We’re stopping?”

  “Taking that road up ahead,” Corey said. “There’s something I want to show you. I think you’ll find it quite interesting.”

  I bet.

  Jack knew exactly what Corey had in store for him.

  And it sure didn’t involve sightseeing.

  He turned in his seat and peered through the rear window. Cherise and Robert stared back at him through the windshield of their Jeep. He felt relieved knowing his friends were close, but remained alert. Sitting next to Corey reminded him of a tiger shark circling a seal pup. The strike could come at any moment.

  He’d be ready.

  “More ruins?” he asked.

  “Something like that. A sinkhole, actually.”

  Jack noticed Corey look toward the rearview mirror mounted on the inside of the windshield, and then toward the one on his door. From the expression that formed, the man wasn’t happy.

  “Something wrong?” Jack asked.

  Corey kept glancing toward one mirror, then the other. Jack didn’t have to look to know what had the guy so pissed. Cherise had followed him onto the gravel road. And had closed the distance between them.

  Witnesses.

  “Someone’s in a Jeep behind us,” Corey finally answered.

  Jack couldn’t help thinking Cherise had inserted a knife into the man’s plan that surely included murder and a long goodbye down a sinkhole. He wanted to twist the blade a bit.

  “Your friends?” He held back a grin.

  “Juan, again?” Corey gave him a hard look. “Seriously?”

  He glanced innocently behind them, and shrugged. “If you don’t know who they are, they’re probably a couple from the cruise ship interested in seeing that sinkhole you want to show me.”

  “Dammit,” Corey said. “That’s all I need. A couple of nosy tourists.”

  Jack settled into his seat, relishing the man’s frustration.

  He permitted himself a chuckle. “Isn’t it ironic how things work out that way?”

  “Isn’t it, though?” Corey wasn’t laughing.

  Jack glanced at his
watch. “Maybe we should just turn around and head back to the ship.”

  CHAPTER 63

  Jack closed the door to his cabin and bolted it. For a moment, he stood there, shoulders slumped, catching his breath. A slow, satisfied smile spread his lips. If someone were to ask him if he felt lucky, he’d tell them that was an understatement.

  This wasn’t the first time.

  Cherise and Robert were to thank for that. With their unanticipated arrival at the sinkhole, Corey had little choice but to return to the Caribbean Sensation. No doubt the constant presence of her Jeep in his rearview mirror kept the man to the main road with no more side trips.

  And, Jack thanked God, no more attempts on his life.

  For now.

  As much as it pained him, he had to give Corey credit for the method he devised to smuggle the idols through security.

  Quite simple, really.

  And it worked perfectly.

  He dumped the packages onto his bed with little concern for their value and stared at the relics. They could just as well have been worthless junk.

  Souvenirs brought home from Uncle Jack’s relaxing Caribbean cruise.

  Cheap trinkets for the kids.

  Corey claimed he came up with the idea while in a tourist shop on one of his prior visits to the Yucatan. Each package a plastic rectangle as wide and a little taller than a paperback book, with a red plastic bottom and a clear plastic top that slid over the base so the ten-dollar, pot-metal imitation of the Mayan god Hunab Ku stared ominously at the buyer.

  Though the weight of each inexpensive casting was lighter in comparison, when swapped with one of the gold idols, each relic fit the indentation in the base of its respective packaging almost perfectly. And with the name of the deity, an explanation of its role in Mayan life, and a price printed on the package in Spanish, ship security didn’t give them a second look when they passed through the scanner.

  Jack, antiquities smuggler.

  The name didn’t resonate.

  And now he faced a new problem.

  If he guessed right, and Corey had intended to hit him over the head and dump his body down the sinkhole, he would have seen his last sunrise—eaten his last breakfast. Corey would have the idols and a nice profit with no official investigation and no one to complain how he got them.

  Quick and sweet. The whole enchilada.

  But the scenario didn’t work out that way.

  And since the initial scheme had failed, thanks to Cherise and Robert throwing a monkey wrench into the mix, Corey and Amanda would surely not stop after only one try. They’d have a backup plan. The challenge would be foiling it without knowing how or in what form their next attempt would come.

  Only how it would end if he failed.

  Perhaps the better plan would have been for him and Cherise to dump Corey and Amanda down a sinkhole and be done with them. Go back to Key West with the knowledge the killers had ensnared their last victim in their web of deceit. Murdered their last unsuspecting mark. Load the Adeona full of provisions, top off the tanks, and take a long boat ride back to Oahu.

  Sure.

  And never discover the truth behind what happened to Lindsey’s father?

  Or if the mother was involved?

  Veronica Kelly.

  What part did she play in this family of black widow spiders?

  Would the killing continue?

  He couldn’t fool himself.

  No way would he want to spend years of his life, or even one minute fighting off nightmares every time a passenger on a cruise ship went missing. Wondering if he should have done more.

  If he could have saved a life.

  He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and placed a call to Cherise. The one person he wanted to talk to most.

  “You’re aboard?” he asked when she answered.

  “We’re in my cabin,” she said.

  “Robert, too.”

  “The three of us.”

  He looked at the idols on the bed. “I’ll be right down.”

  CHAPTER 64

  Jack knocked on Cherise’s door. Till now he had avoided her and Lindsey’s cabin to not chance spoiling their ruse. At the moment, though, he did not feel particularly worried. He figured Corey and Amanda were busy plotting their next move. Which would likely come later in the night, after they had dinner and drinks together.

  He wanted to be ready.

  The door cracked open, Cherise’s face appeared, and she pulled it open without bothering to invite him in.

  He hurried past her and set the shopping bag on the end of one of the two beds. The dead bolt clicked closed. Lindsey stood at the foot of the bed next to him. Robert sat on the chair at the desk looking amused.

  Not much room to move around.

  He placed the idols on the spread where they could be seen. “It amazes me what people are willing to kill for.”

  “I’m sure that’s what Corey had in mind out there,” Cherise said from across the room.

  “But we saved your ass.” Robert was quick to point out. He stepped to the bed, picked up one of the packages, and studied the idol through the clear plastic cover.

  Lindsey joined him, staring over his shoulder. Her hand on his arm.

  Jack stepped away from the bed, giving them room.

  Robert asked. “Were you worried?”

  “About you and Cherise finding me? No. Not with a GPS transmitter in my watch.”

  “I meant us finding you alive.”

  Corey had size and slabs of muscle. And the man moved far more nimbly than expected. Jack said, “I’d be a liar if I didn’t say I was a little concerned. It was a relief when Corey noticed you in his rearview mirror.”

  “You’re not the only one.” Cherise picked up one of the packages and studied the relic inside. “An interesting way to get them through customs. It’s possible we may have underestimated just how clever he and his sister are.”

  “The real test will be in Miami.”

  She removed the idol, examined it, and laid the relic on the spread. She removed the other two and laid them next to it. All three in a row. Then she compared them to the photo on her phone. “As alike as two peas in a pod. These are the same ones Lindsey’s father bought. No doubt about it.”

  Robert crowded in and picked one up. He turned it over in his hand. “Heavy suckers.”

  Lindsey said over his shoulder, “Can I see that? I want to have a look at what got my dad killed.”

  Robert handed the idol to her and she swiped a tear from her cheek.

  “I can’t believe Dad was murdered for something like this.” She looked at Cherise. “All of a sudden, it feels surreal to have gotten this far.”

  “It’s what you wanted,” Cherise said.

  Lindsey swiped away another tear. “Honestly, I can’t thank you . . . all of you enough.”

  Cherise smiled. “We’re not done yet. And Jack, there’s something you need to know. It confirms what we suspected. After you concluded your business and walked into the trees, Robert and I stayed. I wanted to make sure you weren’t followed. What I saw was Corey stride back into the ruins and straight up to the man you had just done business with.”

  “Juan,” Jack said.

  “Exactly.”

  “Let me guess. Corey didn’t walk back there to say thank you?”

  “I couldn’t hear their conversation, but I watched him take the bag from Juan, remove a banded stack of hundred dollar bills, and hand the money to him. Only the one packet. Ten thousand dollars. His cut. Corey removed the remaining ninety thousand and tucked the cash into a money belt he had concealed under his shirt. The bag, he tossed aside. He and Juan then shook hands, and he walked back toward the parking lot as though nothing had transpired between them.”

  Jack nodded. “So that’s their scam.”

  Robert made a sucking sound with his cheek. “Do that a dozen times a year, and you gross a million bucks or more.”

  “And think about it,” Cherise said
. “This way, Corey cuts a ten percent deal with the middleman in a scheme to resell the idols over and over so he doesn’t have to rely on a steady flow of valuable artifacts coming on the market.”

  Jack saw the logic in the plan.

  And the fallacies.

  “There’s risk,” he said. “There always are risks. But they’d be minimal as long as Corey and Amanda worked it right. Sam King could have been the first pigeon in their scheme and me the second, with a slight variation. Truth is, we don’t know how long this has been going on. Or how Amanda got involved. Maybe she had her own hustle in the beginning. Lure a married man back to her cabin and then put the squeeze on him for big bucks to keep the affair quiet. Fortunately, we don’t have to sort it out.”

  Cherise asked, “Any ideas?”

  Jack scanned his friends’ faces. “It’s a given Corey and Amanda have a backup plan. They’d be fools not to. The challenge for us is figuring out how to foil that plan without knowing what it is.”

  Lindsey spoke up. “That’ll be some trick if we can do that.”

  “Maybe not,” Jack said. “We know Corey intended to dump my body down that sinkhole so he could have the idols and a nice profit with no official investigation and no one alive to complain how he got it. No one they’re aware of, anyway. Why would they change tactics in mid-stream?”

  “They wouldn’t,” Robert said. “I’m all ears.”

  They were all looking at him. He nodded. “If you have an animal coming around at night to eat your dog’s food, what do you do?”

  Cherise answered. “Take the food away.”

  “Exactly.”

  Lindsey sniffled. “We could throw the damn things overboard, for all I care.”

  “I’m inclined to agree,” Jack said. “Unfortunately, we need to hold onto them a little longer. But we can remove the temptation. ”

  “How do we do that?” she asked.

  He smiled. “I’m going to ask the purser to lock them inside his safe until we dock in Miami.”

  “Could work,” Cherise said. “Better yet, we’ll keep them here. Just tell Corey and Amanda you had the idols locked away for safe keeping. It will have the same effect and you won’t have to draw attention to the damned things or fight the crowd to get them back when we dock in Miami.”