Montego Bay

by Fred Galvin

  Delyse nodded. “Yes, Captain.” I figured there was less than a fifty-fifty chance that order would be obeyed. She glanced my way and winked. I just rolled my eyes in surrender.

  “Officer Dixon, you stay and keep an eye on the two in the truck. They most likely will run out of patience soon and leave. I want to know where they go.”

  Gabi was clearly disappointed but said nothing, which was proper. As we were leaving, I took her aside. “I know you’re upset you can’t come along with us. But you’ve been invaluable tonight and keeping close to those two in the truck is important to our pinning down who they are and possibly identifying and catching this T-Bone character. Hang in there, future detective.”

  That seemed to perk her up. “Thank you, Detective.

  Chapter 37: Runaway Bay

  Roje estimated a landing at Runaway Bay in less than thirty minutes unless Gillian changed his mind again. He was still standing next to Roje on the bridge. There had been a couple of moments when Roje believed he could have taken the gun but it wasn’t a slam dunk. The gun was tucked into his front waistband behind his belt. It wasn’t a sure thing that he could have snatched it cleanly and may result in a struggle the outcome of which could be very bad for either or both of them.

  At one point, right after they turned east opposite Rio Bueno, Roje thought he’d try reasoning again. After figuring he had nothing to lose, he turned to Gillian. “Gillian, why not just hand me the gun? You have my word I won’t use it on you and you will have a much better chance if you’re unarmed. At least you won’t get shot.”

  Gillian’s response was immediate. “Fuck no. Now just get us to Runaway Bay.”

  Roje thought facetiously, That went well. He didn’t reply knowing logic and reason wasn’t on Gillian’s menu. He just kept the bow of the Nymph pointed toward Runaway Bay. However he did want some clarification.

  “So, when we get there, are you just going to get off the boat and leave? Try to thumb a ride? Call a cab?” He immediately wished he hadn’t said that last part, but you can’t un-ring a bell. If he hadn’t considered calling a taxi, he would now, which meant he would keep the sat phone. Well, no matter. By the time a cab got there he should be in custody.

  Roje was actually surprised when Gillian laughed mockingly. “What? Are you nuts? Call a cab? What do I say? ‘Pick me up at, uh, this beach at Runaway Bay, I’ll be the one standing at the side of the road.’ That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard.”

  Roje thought for sure Gillian had heard many more stupid things and had actually uttered many more stupid things. For instance, Let’s kidnap Roje Deveaux’s sister to make him sail to Grand Cayman Island to pick up a load of illegal weapons from an untrustworthy mobster who’s promised us eighty-five thousand dollars upon delivery back here in Jamaica.

  Gillian seemed to dismiss Roje’s concern for his well-being after he left the boat. The sun was up and shore was clearly visible. The beaches they were passing were deserted. They passed Discovery Bay. At one point Gillian told Roje to slow down as he surveyed the shoreline.

  Not satisfied, “Keep going. Next is Runaway Bay, right?”

  “Right.” And your greeting party will be waiting and it won’t be T-Bone’s men with a sack full of cash for you, either.

  “About three miles.”

  They sailed on in silence. As they approached, in the distance they could see a small bay with beaches. Gillian took the binoculars and scanned the shore. “Slow down.” He focused intently. “There! There’s a dock coming out from the beach and I don’t see any house or buildings near it. Head for that spot. Go!”

  Roje knew exactly what Gillian had spotted. He had discovered the abandoned dock about a year ago on a charter to the Runaway Bay resort. His clients, a young couple from upstate New York, requested he stop there so they could do some swimming and lounge on an unpopulated beach. They had actually requested he leave and return to pick them up a couple of hours later. He speculated they wanted some alone-time to add that spot to their “Did it here” list. Good for them.

  As they approached, Roje surreptitiously glanced around the shore to see if he could see anyone. He couldn’t. That meant Gillian couldn’t either. He eased the Nymph up to the dock. The water was deep enough by a couple of feet with the tide coming in. He tied up to hold the boat close. Looking around, he could not see any other people. If Dan and Ronnie and the police were there, they were well hidden, at least for now. He imagined they would want to be sure they could control Gillian before making any moves. He had told them in a text that Gillian was armed. And it also occurred to him that they would be expecting Rico to be part of the picture. Of course, they had no idea Rico now “slept with the fishes,” like Luca Brasi in The Godfather.

  Gillian stepped down from the bridge.

  “What are you going to do now?”

  “Just tie up the boat.”

  “Okay, suit yourself.” Roje considered making a run for it figuring, hoping, he’d be covered by his, as yet, unseen allies. But Gillian was unstable and probably would consider Roje’s fleeing a threat resulting in his squeezing off a shot or two and Roje was in no mood to be stopping bullets or, worse yet, having one of Gillian’s strays hit anyone else.

  ~~~

  As they drove along the Coast Road toward Runaway Bay, Dan could actually see the Sea Nymph paralleling the shore. They drove a mile or so ahead and stopped, watching Delyse’s phone to be sure Roje didn’t alter course and head for shore. When the boat caught up with them, they’d continue the little ballet.

  As they passed Discovery Bay, with no change in Roje’s progress, it became apparent that Runaway Bay was most likely the landing spot.

  Antony gave the order to accelerate ahead and stop at the first beach of Runaway Bay where they could monitor Roje’s movements. As they pulled up along the road, he surveyed the terrain. “This looks likely. There’s an old dock down there. Let’s deploy here and watch the phone. He should be approaching in a few minutes.”

  Antony, Ronnie, and I took positions as close to the beach and dock as we could and still remain unseen. I made as strong a case as I could to Delyse that she should stay with the car. “I know you want to be there to be sure your children are okay. But it’s a possibility, albeit a remote one, but still a possibility that shots may be fired.” I took her by the shoulders and held her eyes. “And I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you. I’ve just found you and I don’t ever want to lose you.”

  For a fleeting moment I believed I had made my point. Then she flashed that smile and those black pools bored into me. “So, this is all about you now, is it?”

  She had me. We both burst out laughing. “Okay, I know it’s futile but please promise me, you’ll stay back and under cover until we have the situation controlled. Please? Promise me?”

  “Okay, I promise. I really will. Now go down there and save my son. I’ll be waiting.”

  We waited and watched. Soon the Sea Nymph came into view and was headed directly for the dock.

  I could see Roje tie up the bow and stern. Gillian was on the deck too, near Roje. No sign of Rico. I looked in the likely spot with my binoculars and could see Gillian’s gun butt tucked into his belt. He was still too close to Roje for us to make any moves. If he felt threatened, he could grab Roje and put the gun to his head. Several things could then happen and all but one of them were bad.

  So we waited.

  Chapter 38: Eggs-Over-Easy

  Gabi dutifully stayed behind at Rio Bueno to keep an eye on the two men in the big dark pickup truck. She was disappointed but she considered herself a good cop and well disciplined so she followed her Captain’s order without complaint. At least without any outward complaint. While Antony, Dan, Ronika, and Monro were shadowing Roje Deveaux’s odyssey along Jamaica’s north coast, she desperately had to pee while she staked out two gun smugglers in a pickup truck at dawn. Glamorous? Well, not today.

  Finally she couldn’t hold it any longer. It was now or nev
er before it became too light outside to be even remotely modest. She got out of the car and squatted, one eye on the truck. Wow, she really had to go. Fortunately she had remembered to make sure she was uphill so as not to have her stream run down to her shoes.

  As she sighed in relief, and was getting back into the car, she noticed one of the men get out of the truck and open his flip phone. A flip phone? What year is this? Anyway, she watched him talk, well actually just listen as far as she could tell, then close the phone. Seriously, a flip phone?

  He got back into the truck. Immediately the engine started and it backed up to turn around and head for the highway. She ducked down to be sure they couldn’t see her as they passed and fired up her car, thankful that she had attended to the call of nature when she did. She struggled to remain calm and disciplined so she could adhere to the protocol when tailing suspects as she did when she was following Vernon out of the Day-O. She had to be especially careful because there were few cars on the road at such an early hour.

  Fortunately, the two men in the truck drove only two miles and pulled into Montego Mike’s 24-7 Diner, the neon D flickering off and on. Both men were walking toward the entrance and neither paid her any attention. She turned around and pulled into a corner of the small parking lot and walked toward the entrance. She could see the two men sliding into a booth by the window. Surprisingly she also saw two other customers sitting at the counter, probably morning workers at the spa at Rio Bueno. That was good.

  Gabi, still in civilian clothes, took a seat at the counter as close to the two men as she dared. Perhaps she could pick up some conversation.

  As she sat down, a waitress was at the men’s booth taking their orders. Gabi ordered coffee and wheat toast at the counter. She could hear one of the men order eggs-over-easy and coffee and the other a bowl of oatmeal. Oatmeal? He must be the one with the flip phone. She was very careful not to look toward the men.

  When the waitress left, she could hear Oatmeal say to Eggs-Over-Easy, “Yeah, like I said, he was really pissed when he asked if the boat had arrived and I said no. He said it should have been there an hour ago. He said he tried to reach Gillian Whyte on the phone and couldn’t get him. He wants one of us to check out the Day-O and the other to stake out the Whyte brothers place. I guess they live together. He also said he had put Rico on the boat too and he can’t reach him either. That really pissed him off. So I figured we need to eat something first since we’ll be on stake-outs.” Eggs-Over-Easy just grunted.

  Gabi wondered how the boss would react if he knew Oatmeal and Eggs-Over-Easy were putting their breakfasts before his commands.

  Oatmeal continued. “I’ll drop you at Gillian’s and I’ll go to the Day-O ‘cause I know it. Been there with the missus. Nice place. I think I seen this Vernon kid there. The boss said if the bitch is still there with Vernon to bring them both to the club in the city.”

  Eggs-Over-Easy grunted again. Gabi figured Oatmeal must be the brains of this duo and must be fluent in Grunt.

  Just as her coffee and toast arrived, she heard Oatmeal’s phone vibrate on the table. He flipped it open and read a text. She hadn’t realized flip phones could text. Learned something new and it was barely dawn.

  Oatmeal flipped the phone shut and said to Eggs-Over-Easy, “Change of plans. One of us has to take care of the boat guy. I’ll drop you off at the marina where the boat goes. If the boat guy shows, you know what to do.” Eggs-Over-Easy just grunted.

  Gabi struggled to contain her horror. She had just heard an order being given to kill Roje. She forced one piece of toast down and gulped her coffee hoping to look like a customer who just remembered she has to be somewhere. She left money on the counter without getting her check and walked out of the diner as normally as she possibly could, adrenalin pumping through her system like a high pressure fire hose.

  She got in her car and headed for the marina. She had to warn Roje and do whatever she could to protect him. On the way she called Captain Antony. The call went to voicemail. She figured things must be happening at Runaway Bay. She left a hurried and breathless message.

  “Captain, Officer Dixon here. My surveillance of the two men in the truck has resulted in one of them going to stake out the Whyte brothers’ place and the other being dispatched to the marina where Roje Deveaux keeps his boat. He has orders to kill Roje. I am on my way there now. Please advise Roje not to return to the marina. Repeat, he is not to return to the marina. I’ll call Sergeant Banyon and request backup. Please call me as soon as you receive this message.”

  She resisted the temptation to call Roje’s sat phone. She knew he was involved in the situation at Runaway Bay and that his phone was most likely compromised by Gillian.

  She felt confident Antony would get the message and stop Roje from returning to the marina, but she couldn’t be absolutely positive, and absolutely positive was what she needed. She knew she could get to the marina before Roje could sail there after whatever it was that was happening at Runaway Bay was concluded.

  Her primary worry was Eggs-over Easy, Mr. Grunt. He had been given an order and he seemed the type who was programmed to carry out his orders, no matter the obstacles. She was reminded of The Terminator. She pressed the accelerator.

  Chapter 39: “Until I didn’t. Forgive me?”

  We waited. Ronnie and I were in position behind a dune about fifty yards from the dock. Antony and Monro were ninety degrees opposite us equally out of sight. Monro surely had his rifle on Gillian if necessary. Antony had given him specific instructions to hold fire unless there was a direct threat. Delyse was, hopefully, back at the car watching all this. I was tempted to call Gabi but figured that duty belonged to Captain Antony.

  After Roje tied the boat to the dock, with Gillian staying close to him, they went back toward the cabin. I could see the twelve wooden crates on the deck, undoubtedly the smuggled guns.

  One time I thought I saw Roje look up and around as if trying to see us or, more likely, to let us know that he knew we were there. Evidently Ronnie saw the same thing. She pointed toward the boat. “There! Did you see Roje? He was looking around in our direction. He knows we’re here.”

  “Yes, I saw. I agree. Gillian looks very agitated. As long as he has his gun we need to proceed very carefully so as not to spook him. Do you see anyone else? That Rico character?”

  “No, I don’t. That’s odd. I doubt that he would still be down in the cabin.”

  My phone, actually Delyse’s phone, vibrated with an incoming call. It was Antony. “It seems Roje Deveaux knows we are here they way he’s looking around. Be certain not to do anything until my signal. Clear?”

  “Yes, sir. And, Captain, we have not seen any sign of Rico. Have you?”

  “Negative. I have Officer Monro scanning the boat to look for him and he’s certain that Whyte and Roje Deveaux are the only occupants. Carry on with that assumption.”

  “Yes, sir.” I disconnected. Ronnie had overheard both ends of the conversation. “That’s strange.”

  “Well, this is his jurisdiction and he’s calling the shots. We have to respect that.”

  “Yeah, but my first priority is to protect Roje. If Antony acts foolishly, or doesn’t act at all, well, you know.”

  “Yes, I know and I’ll back you up.”

  Ronnie turned to me. “Like old times, eh?”

  ~~~

  On the now-docked Sea Nymph, Roje had no more to do. The boat was secure. He had looked up to the dunes hoping to catch a glimpse of Dan and Ronika and whoever else they could muster to conclude this mess but he had seen no one. He was confident the location sharing between his sat phone and his mother’s smart phone had led them past Rio Bueno to this deserted beach and dock in Runaway Bay.

  Gillian was getting more and more agitated most likely because the time had come for him to make his decision, a decision which would impact a good portion of his remaining life, however long it might be. It occurred to Roje that if Gillian made a wrong decision, that lifespan could
end here on this beach.

  “Gillian, it won’t be long before tourists start coming here. This is a secluded beach but some charters and tourist companies know about it and bring clients here for some time away from the crowds. What are you going to do?”

  Gillian was down by the cabin. He stared at the wooden crates they had picked up at Grand Cayman, probably seeing a pile of cash he would never be able to touch. He looked out at the beach and the dunes. With his hand on the gun butt in his belt he finally spoke.

  “I want you to help me unload one of those crates onto the dock.”

  “What? Why? Those crates are heavy. What are you going to do? Do you expect to sell the guns here?”

  Gillian was wild-eyed now. Roje had the feeling he was making this up on the spot. “I’m, I’m … uh, I’m going to hide the crate and come back later. I’ll take some into the city and sell them.”

  Roje was struck dumb. Evidently Gillian thought Roje was going to forget the whole thing and just let him go and hide his guns for later sale. He decided to try one more time to talk some sense into Gillian’s scrambled brain. “Gillian, that won’t work. It’s over. You need to give yourself up. Give me the gun and we’ll call the police. It’s the best …”

  Gillian suddenly pulled the gun out of his belt and pointed it at Roje. “Shut the fuck up and help me with the crate or I swear I’ll …”

  Roje heard the gunshot and saw Gillian suddenly jerked backward simultaneously. The gun went flying over the side of the boat, clattered on the dock, and fell into the water. Roje hit the deck floor out of sightline from the dunes. He could see Gillian slumped halfway into the cabin, moaning, blood oozing from his left shoulder. He was no longer a threat.

  Roje crawled to the fighting chair and grabbed one of the life vests hooked to it. He waved it above the gunnel rail yelling, “Don’t shoot! He’s down! It’s over.”