They Called Her Indigo

by Sam Lee Jackson

  “Yeah. Took ten minutes to get him awake enough to make sense. I don’t know what the hell has gotten into him lately. Like he’s just exhausted all the time.”

  Indigo punched him in the shoulder.

  Blackhawk laughed, rubbing his arm, “He’s bringing the van to the Castle Creek ramp. We’ll meet him there.”

  I looked at Eddie. “Think you can get the Lily and both boats back okay?”

  “Cake,” he said. “I’ll just tie them off on each side, so they don’t bump. I’ll tie Lily off at the end of the dock and put mine away, then put the Grumman away, then the Lily.”

  “How’s the girl?” I said to Elena.

  “Sound asleep,” she said.

  “Great,” I said. I looked up at Blackhawk. “Let’s go.”

  Eddie took his boat, and Indigo drove Swoop. It took us an hour to work our way across the water. As we passed the mouth of the cove, someone above was shouting some very dirty words at us. The sound was mushed up, like maybe the guy had some kind of trouble with his mouth.

  I knew the lake very well and Eddie knew it better. We had no problem crossing in the dark. Indigo followed Eddie. When we finally reached the ramp, the eastern sky was just beginning to lighten. The ramp already had two early morning fishermen launching their boats. We had beat Nacho. We all moored to the side of the ramp and waited. Elena made coffee.

  When the sun was full up, Ashley was awake and eating Fruit Loops. The ramp had filled before Nacho appeared. We were all in the galley. Elena had scrambled eggs and fried bacon with Indigo toasting bagels when Blackhawk came down from the sun deck.

  “Nacho’s here,” he said.

  I was surprised at the grin that came onto Indigo’s face. Elena looked at me, shaking her head, smiling. Indigo set the cream cheese aside and went out on the bow. She jumped ashore and started up the hill. Nacho stood at the top waiting. When she reached him, Indigo gave a whoop and jumped on him, her arms around his neck, and her legs around his waist. He was too far away, but I swore his dark face was beet red.

  Blackhawk came into the galley and was looking out the front window.

  “Who’d a thunk it,” he said.

  Ashly looked up from her cereal bowl. “She really likes that guy,” she said with a grin.

  Elena took Blackhawk around the neck and kissed him. “Don’t expect it to last,” she said.

  “Why do you say that?”

  She smiled up into his face. “Those are two wild butterflies that just happened to land on the same flower.”

  “Butterflies?” I said.

  I watched them a second, then I looked at Blackhawk. “We can leave most of this stuff on the boat. Let’s just take what we may need.”

  “Like the shotguns,” he said.

  “Like the shotguns.”

  We packed what we wanted off the boat. Nacho drove down so we wouldn’t have to carry it up. I helped Eddie tie off the two skiffs, one to each corner of Tiger Lily’s stern. He fired her up and Blackhawk and I pushed them out. Eddie stayed in reverse until he had enough room for a wide turn.

  I held Ashley’s hand. Nacho and Indigo stood waiting.

  “Where to?” Nacho said. Ashley was watching him with cautious eyes. Nacho intimidated most people. He was tall, wide and muscled. He usually wore a black tee with some hard rock motif. His face was broad and craggy, like he’d been punched too many times. Ashley moved around behind me.

  “This is my friend, Nacho,” I said.

  “He’s scary,” she said.

  Elena and Indigo laughed. Nacho knelt down to get to her eye level.

  “I’m not scary,” he said. “I’m just a big old puddy cat. Can you make faces?” He crossed his eyes, stuck a finger in each side of his mouth and pulled as he stuck his tongue out.

  Ashley’s eyes grew wider. “My mom says you shouldn’t do that because your eyes may stick that way.”

  Nacho pulled his fingers from his mouth, but left his eyes crossed. He stood up and smacked himself in his head. “Oh, no. My eyes are stuck.” He knelt down again. “Here, quick. Hit me on the head.”

  Ashley hesitated, then reached over and lightly tapped him on the head. His eyes went to normal.

  “Oh, thank you very much,” he grinned. “My eyes are normal now.”

  Ashley grinned. “You’re just trickin’.”

  “He’s a trickster, all right,” Indigo said.

  “Let’s head downtown,” Blackhawk said.

  As we piled in, Nacho said, “What’s the plan?”

  “We’re going to see if Father Correa can help us,” I said.

  “Good idea,” Nacho said.

  34

  “Bad idea,” Father Correa said.

  Blackhawk and I had left Ashley in the van with Indigo and Nacho. Elena was with us.

  “We’re only talking a couple of days,” I said.

  We were in Father Correa’s tight office, which had not changed one paper clip from the day I first met him.

  He smiled at me. He always smiled. I don’t know what unbearable disaster would have to occur for him to not smile.

  “Jackson, you know you hold a very special place in my heart. God and I will be forever grateful for the blessings you and Mr. Blackhawk here, have bestowed on Safehouse. But first of all, we’re full. I don’t have a bed in the place, and…”

  “What blessings?” Elena said.

  “I beg your pardon?” Father Correa said.

  She was looking at Blackhawk. “What blessings? You have been here before?”

  Blackhawk looked at her. Father Correa glanced at me.

  I spoke quickly. “You know Father Correa helps young women in trouble. Usually, young mothers with no place to go,” I said. “He helped me with a couple of young women I knew that needed help.”

  Blackhawk was looking at me, his face impassive.

  “So, in return,” I continued, “Blackhawk helped me get him a new washing machine and some other appliances. Just stuff like that.”

  Elena reached over and patted Blackhawk on the arm. “That’s sweet, honey.”

  “So just a couple of days,” I said to Father Correa.

  Now Father Correa reached over and patted me on the hand. “She’s too young. She’s alone, and I don’t have a bed.” He looked at Elena. “I have young women here, and many of them have children with them, but at the same time, many of them are very troubled. Many of them are addicts, and most are not, how should I say this, um, not of the higher end of our society, either economically, or educationally. In other words, your little girl would be alone and exposed to things that a little girl shouldn’t be exposed to.”

  “She’s already exposed to Jackson,” Elena said.

  Father Correa smiled. Blackhawk smiled. I didn’t know whether to smile or not.

  “Any suggestions?” I said.

  He shook his head. You could tell he wasn’t happy he couldn’t help us.

  “From what you’ve told me I think the best course of action is to turn her over to the authorities.”

  “Child Protective Services?”

  He nodded.

  “Would you turn a child over to them?”

  He shrugged. “Depending on the circumstance.”

  “How about this circumstance?”

  He looked at me for a long time. Finally, he said, “Only if you can’t keep her safe.”

  35

  We were back in the apartment above the El Patron. At least they had a television. Elena found the Disney channel and settled Ashley in their bedroom to watching Doc McStuffins. Nacho and Indigo were downstairs prepping the bar for the evening. At least that’s what they said they were going to do. Elena had showered and was now in the midst of the laborious job of applying the perfect makeup. Despite the lack of sleep last night, she had decided to perform tonight. She didn’t want to let the band down. They relied on the income.

  Blackhawk was on the expensive burgundy leather Victorian chair Elena had selected. I was on the couch rub
bing my stub.

  There was a knock on the door. Blackhawk said, “Come on in.”

  Jimmy stepped in. “You wanted to see me, boss?”

  Blackhawk waved him in. He looked at me. “I thought Jimmy could help us find which place in Troon belongs to Newman.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Yes, it is.” He stood, “Let’s go into the office.”

  I attached my foot and followed him out the door. Jimmy followed me. We stepped out into the hallway and turned right to Blackhawk’s office. Jimmy and I followed Blackhawk into the office. Blackhawk waved Jimmy to sit at the desk. “You guys want something to drink?” he asked.

  Jimmy declined.

  “No thanks,” I said. “What I’d like is about five hours of sleep.”

  “What are we looking for?” Jimmy said, tapping the keyboard of the desktop to bring it alive.

  “Guy named Donald Newman. Vegas big shot. Mob connected developer. Guy owns a property in Troon. What I’m figuring is the property is probably owned by a corporation. So we need to look for businesses he’s affiliated with, then see if the county assessor site has a match on properties in that area.”

  “Got it,” Jimmy said. “Middle initial?”

  I shrugged. “Don’t know. But he was the developer of the golf community Quail Run in Vegas. Maybe you can track him down from there.”

  Jimmy nodded. “It may take a while.”

  “Good, I’ll get some sleep.” I stretched out on the couch, turned my back to the room and went to sleep. We had been taught to sleep when you need it. I could tune everything out and be asleep in seconds. I’d also learned how to awaken to an internal clock. I didn’t set it, expecting them to wake me when they found something.

  When I opened my eyes, Blackhawk’s office was dark. And empty. Except for me. I went into the small bathroom that was off to the side and washed my face and drank out of the faucet. I took out my phone to look at the time. I’d slept for three hours. I went to his bar and got a bottle of water. I went to the far wall and pulled the curtains to look out the two-way mirror. It over-looked the bar area. The bar was empty except for Blackhawk and Jimmy working inside the rectangled bar. I went downstairs.

  I went to my usual stool, by the corner. Jimmy brought a Dos Equis and sat it in front of me. I sipped on it and watched Blackhawk. Every move was like poetry. Finally, he came over and looked at me.

  “So you gonna tell me if you found something?” I said.

  “You needed your beauty sleep.”

  “So do you.”

  “I’ll get mine.”

  “What did you find?”

  “I’ll have Jimmy tell you.” He signaled Jimmy.

  Jimmy came over. “The guy is involved in a number of companies. C corps, S corps, a lot of LLCs. One of them is Avalon Inc. Avalon Inc. is a land holding company. One of the pieces of land it owns is a horse property on the way to Rio Verde.”

  “Down the road from Troon,” Blackhawk said. “You know where Dynamite Road is?”

  I nodded.

  Jimmy continued. “Go east far enough on Dynamite Road and you’ll run smack into Rio Verde. It’s a golf community. I mean just that. Golf. Nothing else. Lucky to have a Circle K. Well, this Avalon property is on the way out Dynamite on the way to Rio Verde.”

  “So, you think this is where Lindy is?”

  Blackhawk said, “Neighbors are far apart. The horse properties run up to ten, twelve acres apiece. People out there like their privacy. And many of them have guest houses.”

  “How do you know this stuff?”

  “Tomas Marino, the casino manager, lives out there. He tries to impress me with how much money he has. Likes to brag. Has the big horse property, but no horses. Doesn’t like animals.”

  “All hat, no cattle.”

  “Exactly. So, what do you want to do about it.”

  “Go visit, I guess. We need to find out if Lindy is there.”

  “How we going to do that?”

  “Good question. Can’t just walk up and ring the doorbell. She won’t be the one answering.”

  He reached over and took my empty. “I need sleep,” he said. “Elena needs sleep. Lord knows Indigo will need sleep.”

  I laughed. “Not to mention Nacho.”

  He smiled. “He doesn’t know what hit him. Anyway, Ashley is good, here. Whatever we do can wait till tomorrow. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

  Jimmy said, “You guys want anything else?”

  We both shook our heads.

  He started to move away, then turned back. “Oh, I think I forgot to tell you.”

  We both looked at him.

  “When I was looking through all the companies that that Newman guy was hooked up with, I saw one that sounded familiar.”

  “Which one?”

  “Sussex Financial. Wasn’t that what that other dude was hooked up with?”

  We looked at each other.

  “Luis,” we said simultaneously.

  36

  I was worried about the Tiger Lily, and I was still tired, and I didn’t like the idea of a couple of punks keeping me away from my own place. I figured Newman might still have someone watching the marina, but I didn’t care. If I couldn’t handle that, I should probably hang it up. I took a Lyft car to the marina. I had him pull up close enough to the parking area for me to look it over really good.

  They had a new kid running the shuttle. I slipped on a ball cap, sunglasses and tipped the driver. I got out and waved at the shuttle driver. He slid up next to me and I climbed aboard. As we went down the hill, I checked every person and every boat. Nothing looked amiss.

  I tipped the shuttle driver and went inside the marina store. Maureen was behind the counter, stocking power drinks. Those things never made sense to me. You want a caffeine jolt, drink more coffee. She looked up.

  “Hey, Jackson,” she said.

  “Good day to you,” I said. “You seen any strangers lurking about?”

  “They are all strangers,” she said. “But no, no lurkers.”

  “Eddie working?”

  “He’s in the bar.”

  “Thanks.”

  He indeed was in the bar. He was the only one. He was wiping down the liquor bottles. He was the only one that ever did it.

  “You have any trouble?”

  He shook his head. “You want a beer?”

  I shook my head. “I just want a few hours sleep.”

  “Don’t know what I expected, when I brought the boats in, but none of those guys were here. Maybe you’ve scared them off.”

  “I doubt it. Not as long as I have the little girl.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Blackhawk. Come on down later, we’ll have a beer.”

  “Get some rest,” he said, putting the Seagram’s bottle back in place.

  I turned away.

  “By the way,” he said. “You might check your carburetor. Seemed a little rasty. Probably just needs cleaning.”

  I nodded and went out the back way. I went down the dock and walked by the Thirteen Episodes. The curtains were back but it was dark inside. Maybe Pete had his Western done.

  I stepped aboard the Tiger Lily and automatically checked my alarms. Of course, they were off. Eddie didn’t know about them. No one did except Blackhawk. Blackhawk knew because he knew I would have something like them in place, and he had searched them out. I activated them and went inside.

  It looked like what it would look like. A lot of people had been aboard. I straightened things up, made a sandwich. Drank a cold glass of milk, pulled off the foot and lay on the king-sized bed.

  I awoke to the Lily thudding up against her bumpers. I could hear the wind was up. I felt rested. That felt good. I rolled off the bed and hopped to the back curtains. I pulled them aside and slid the double doors open. The clouds were dark and rolling, and the breeze had dropped a good twenty degrees. The lake had a cake topping of white-caps.

  I hopped to the closet and got my swim foot. I
slipped into my faded USMC swim trunks. The water was warmer than the air. I started swimming laps to the buoy and back. I didn’t count.

  It began to rain. Then the lightning cracked on the far side just as I reached the buoy. I held on. I bobbed in the water, watching. I watched a wall of rain slide across the lake. When it hit me, it came down in sheets. Thunder rolled across the water with an almost physical presence. I know it was dumb and foolish to be out on the water with the lightening cracking all around, but it was exhilarating. I found myself grinning like a fool. If I was going to go, this was a whole lot better than some hospital bed.

  After a few minutes, the rain began to lessen, but the wind was still blowing. Something caught my attention back in the marina. I swiveled my head to see Eddie and his skiff come put-putting out. Eddie had a yellow slicker and hat. He looked like a north shore lobster man. I watched as he came closer. He struggled with the wind keeping the boat on course. His course was to me.

  As he got close, he yelled above the wind. “You okay? You need help?”

  I grinned at him and gave him a thumb’s up.

  He shook his head. “You damn fool,” he shouted. “You could get killed out here.”

  He maneuvered the skiff next to me, and I pulled myself up and in. He was looking at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was.

  “Sorry, I was just swimming.”

  He shook his head with disgust and started back to the Tiger Lily. When he bumped the stern, I stepped aboard and snugged the bow line off. He clambered aboard. It was awkward with the heavy rubber slicker. I went in, changed feet, and opened the lounge drapes as Eddie stepped out of the slicker and into the back stateroom.

  I pulled a bottle of Wild Turkey and two glasses. “Make it three,” Eddie said, coming into the galley. He nodded toward the bow. I turned to look, and Pete was stepping onboard.

  He came in, shaking the rain off, like a wet dog.

  “What the hell were you doing out there?” He surprised me. He wasn’t looking at me, he was talking to Eddie.

  I had to laugh.

  “I thought I was saving this damn fool,” Eddie said.

  Pete looked puzzled.