Bluewater Quest

by Charles Dougherty

  "No problem. I stay wit' these bad people. We talk on phone if trouble come." He raised the hand that held the phone.

  Dani nodded. "Ready, Rick?"

  "Yes." Rick backed out of the entrance and began sidestepping toward the corner where the crevice met the cliff face, his arms spread as he leaned into the rock, his head turned to the left to see where he was going.

  Dani waited until he turned the corner and then followed him.

  "Almos' there," Sharktooth said, his voice raised.

  "Should I call Dani?" Marie asked, also speaking up because of the roar from the three big V8 engines. Lightning Bolt was leaping across the waves' crests, making about 80 knots in the two-meter seas a couple of miles off the western shore of St. Lucia.

  "Le's wait 'til we there. They on a mooring in Soufrière. Won't be hard to find."

  "Is that a sailboat?" Marie asked, rising from her seat and holding on to the top of the windshield with both hands, peering a little to the right of their course.

  "No sails," Sharktooth said.

  "But I thought I saw sunlight reflecting from a mast a few seconds ago."

  Sharktooth opened a small locker in the console in front of his seat. He took out a padded, camouflaged case and snapped it open, extracting a bulky pair of binoculars. He handed them to Marie. She sat down again and looked at the binoculars.

  "On the right side," Sharktooth said.

  "Thanks," Marie said, flipping the switch she'd found at his direction. "These are different."

  "New model," he said. "Jus' tryin' them out."

  She held them in one hand as she stood back up. This time, she wedged a knee against the dash to leave her hands free. Raising the glasses to her eyes, she said, "These are better than the ones I've used before. The stabilization is quite good."

  "The button on top turns on focus tracking, once you got your target in the reticle," Sharktooth said.

  "Okay. It is a sailboat, with no sails up. Two people on deck. Do these have zoom?"

  "Little lever on top of the left side."

  "Got it … okay. A man at the helm, and a woman in the cockpit with him. They look uncomfortable. Why would they not put up some sail? At least enough to stop the rolling?"

  "I don' know," Sharktooth said. "Mebbe somet'ing broke? Sails ripped?"

  "It's a ketch rig," Marie said. "They could at least put up the … Sharktooth?"

  "Yes?"

  "It looks a lot like Vengeance. But the woman's not Dani or Liz."

  "Mebbe their guests?" Sharktooth asked.

  "Maybe, but why wouldn't Dani and Liz have sails up?"

  "Don' know. An' why they goin' way out wes'? Nothin' out that way 'til Central America. Le's swing by an' take a closer look. Mebbe not Vengeance. Bes' sit down; I open her up."

  Marie dropped back into her seat and Sharktooth grasped a knob on the dashboard. He pulled it toward himself and opened the exhaust cutouts as he shoved the throttles forward. Lightning Bolt surged forward, the acceleration pressing both of them back into their seats.

  In a little more than a minute, they were within a few hundred meters of the sailboat. Sharktooth throttled back and closed the exhaust cutouts. Marie looked over at him, raising her eyebrows. He nodded, and she got to her feet again, wedging herself in and lifting the binoculars.

  "It's Vengeance," Marie said, after a few seconds, "and they're both staring at us."

  "You recognize them?" Sharktooth asked. "Rick an' Shellie?"

  "I don't think so." She handed him the binoculars.

  Steering to cross their bow at a distance of around a hundred meters, he raised the binoculars for a quick look. Shaking his head, he handed the binoculars back to Marie.

  "Well?"

  "Couldn't see the woman's face," he said, "but her hair is wrong, and man is not Rick."

  By now, Vengeance was a quarter of a mile astern of Lightning Bolt.

  "What do you think?" Marie asked. "Should we pull alongside?"

  "Call firs'," Sharktooth said. "Rude to drop in unannounced."

  Marie took out her phone and scrolled through her directory. She raised the phone to her right ear, covering her left ear. She shook her head. "No answer on their sat phone. I'll try Dani's cellphone."

  "You should have let her make that call, Dani," Rick said. They were a few feet apart on the ledge, working their way across the cliff face.

  "It wouldn't have helped, Rick. She could have passed them a coded message and let them know that she and the other asshole were in trouble."

  "But they've got Shellie and Liz."

  "And Vengeance," Dani said. "They've signed their death warrants. They're not getting out of this alive."

  "Shellie?" There was a tremor in Rick's voice. "And Liz? You think … not really?"

  "I wasn't talking about Shellie and Liz. I meant those two scumbags that stole my boat. I'm going to kill them both. And Leila and that numb-nuts with her, too."

  "But Dani, they've — "

  Dani's phone rang, interrupting Rick. She paused and reached into her pocket, balancing precariously as she extracted the phone.

  "Hello?" she said, pausing for a few seconds. "Marie? Hang on for a second." She brought the phone around in front of her face and switched it to speaker mode, then slipped it into the breast pocket of her shirt. With her hand free, she extended her arm, putting her palm against the cliff face again, restoring her balance.

  "Marie? Can you hear me okay?"

  "Yes. We are about a mile south of your position. Who are those people on deck?"

  "You're where?"

  "We just passed across your bow. Sharktooth and I don't recognize the people in the cockpit. Are you okay?"

  "You've seen Vengeance?"

  "Yes. We just passed you. What's — "

  "Ask her about Shellie," Rick interrupted.

  "What? I didn't understand that," Marie said.

  "Hold on, Marie. Rick, let me talk, please."

  "But I — "

  "Rick!" Dani snapped. "Sorry, Marie. Rick and I aren't aboard Vengeance. You were saying you've spotted her?"

  "Yes. There's a woman at the helm, and a man with her. We don't recognize either of them. Where are you?"

  "Rick and I are traversing the cliff face at Petit Piton. Where are you and Sharktooth?"

  "About three miles west of Soufrière. Who are those people?"

  "They have to be Herbert and Ashley. The other two are tied up in the cave."

  "Cave?" Marie asked.

  "I'll tell you later. There's a beach bar with a dock at the south end of the bay at Soufrière. Rick and I will meet you at the dock as soon as we can get there — maybe five or ten minutes, okay?"

  "Okay, but what about Vengeance? And where are Liz and Shellie?"

  "They're aboard Vengeance. My guess is they're tied up below deck, unless these people are even dumber than I think they are."

  "You don't want us to check on them?"

  "Yes, but I want to be there. Pick us up, and we'll double back to Vengeance. They can't get far in a few minutes, and the odds will be better with three of us to deal with them. Somebody's got to run Lightning Bolt while we board. They're dangerous people."

  "Your call. We'll be waiting when you get to the dock."

  "Okay. While you're waiting, can you get somebody to pick up the two injured prisoners from the cave?"

  "Yes. I'll send for one of the sightseeing helicopters. Clarence has one on standby for us, with a few men. Are the prisoners mobile?"

  "No. They'll need basket stretchers. And there's a Rastaman keeping an eye on them. He's a good guy. I'll call and tell him what's going to happen, but if one of your men speaks Kwéyol, see what you can find out from him. He's mentioned some men who were in and out of the cave a month or two before we got here, but we've had a language problem. See what he knows about that, please."

  "We can handle that," Marie said, "but where is this cave you are talking about?"

  "There's a crevice in the r
ock face on the west side of Petit Piton. About 50 meters above sea level, there's a ledge that cuts across the face and intersects the crevice. Just inside the crevice from the intersection on the north wall, there's a cave. That's the place."

  "Got it. That would be maybe 150 meters to your right, facing the cliff?"

  "Yes. You know the crevice?" Dani asked.

  "No, but I see the two of you."

  Dani craned her neck around, squinting into the glare. "I can barely make out a speck on the horizon to my northwest. Is that you?"

  "Yes. Get busy with your climbing. We'll be at the dock in a couple of minutes."

  "Can you scoot forward a little bit?" Liz asked. "I need room; I don't want to elbow you."

  "Okay," Shellie said. "I'll try. What are you going to do?"

  Bert had wedged the two of them into the narrow space between the companionway ladder and the nav station in front of the entrance to the aft stateroom. He had lifted Liz and tossed her across Shellie's extended legs, leaving Liz leaning back against Shellie, who had her back to the door into the stateroom.

  "First," Liz said, "I need to try to get my arms out in front."

  She rolled onto her side and spun herself around until her feet were against the bulkhead. Shellie watched, frowning, as Liz drew her knees up to her chest and scooted closer to the bulkhead, pressing the soles of her feet against it.

  "That guy's creepy," Shellie said, as she watched Liz scrunch her spine into an arc, forcing her wrists down toward her buttocks. "His hands were all over me. You don't think she'll let him, uh … "

  "I hope so," Liz said, as she wriggled, working her arms under her hips. She kept shifting her weight as the boat rolled, using the movement to work her left arm between her body and the cabin sole. "I did my best to encourage him. Didn't you hear me making kissy sounds at him?"

  "Is that what I was hearing? I thought he was making those disgusting noises."

  Liz chuckled. "He was too busy licking his lips and drooling while he groped me."

  "Why were you encouraging him?"

  "Because she's not my type. Besides, she's the brains of the pair."

  "I don't understand why you were teasing him," Shellie said. "I just hope he doesn't decide he wants to … what are you doing, Liz?"

  Liz had rolled onto her back, her feet still against the bulkhead. She had managed to get her arms past her hips, and her wrists were now behind her knees. She curled into a tight crunch and slipped her bound wrists past her feet.

  "All right. Now I need to get to a sitting position."

  She scooted herself around until her back was against the side of the seat at the chart table. Twisting to one side, she used an elbow to lever herself up until she sat on the edge of the cushion, facing into the aisle. She wriggled her arms, twisting them until she had her palms together.

  Extending her arms to the front, she balled both hands into fists and jerked her arms back with all her strength, her elbows bending. The momentum pulled her fists in tight to her stomach, and her forearms were forced apart by her ribcage. She repeated the movement, and the second time, the cable ties came loose. Liz pulled her right hand free and slipped the loose ties over her left hand.

  "How did you know to do that?" Shellie asked.

  "Dani taught me," Liz said, massaging her wrists.

  "Where did she learn something like that?"

  "She had some strange experiences in her teens," Liz said, extracting her rigging knife from its pouch on her belt. "She picked up all kinds of odd skills." She opened the knife and cut the ties at her ankles. "Let's get you free, and then I'll see if Bert was serious, or if he's just a tease."

  "What are you going to do?" Shellie said. "They've got guns."

  "I noticed. It's not fair that they have two and we have none. I'm hoping maybe I can get Bert to share; he seems like that kind of guy."

  "They'll kill you, Liz."

  "I'm sure they think so. I could use a little privacy, if you don't mind."

  "What?" Shellie frowned.

  "I'd rather you didn't watch what I'm about to do, okay? Why don't you close yourself in your stateroom? I'll let you know when I finish with Bert."

  "I don't … "

  "Trust me, Shellie. This is not going to be pretty, and you might be in the way. You could get hurt. Now, go."

  Once Shellie closed the door, Liz sat back down on the cabin sole, wedged back where Bert had left the two of them a few minutes earlier. She put her ankles together, laying a cut cable tie across them in case Bert noticed.

  She pulled first one lip and then the other into her mouth, chewing and sucking on them until they were swollen. Tucking her hands behind her back, she called, "Bert," raising her voice to carry over the sound of the engine. She did her best to sound seductive. "Oh, Bert?" She parted her lips and ran her tongue over them, looking up toward the companionway entrance.

  In a few seconds, Bert's head and shoulders appeared. "What?"

  "I like to do it when I'm tied up," she said. "I've been thinking about it ever since you touched me. You made me really hot, Bert. Help a girl out?" She made big eyes at him and ran her tongue over her lips. "You won't even need to untie me, or anything. Just come down here and stand in front of me. I'll do the rest; you won't be sorry, I promise. I'm really good at it. Please?"

  He looked back over his shoulder and said something to Ashley, but Liz couldn't hear their conversation. Then she saw him coming down the ladder and braced herself, grinning.

  "How long will it take to reach Vengeance?" Dani asked, as she climbed aboard Lightning Bolt. Rick was already in one of the seats.

  "Five minutes, at mos'," Sharktooth said. "How you want to do this?"

  Dani looked at Marie as Sharktooth pulled away from the dock. "You said they were in the cockpit?"

  "Yes," Marie said. "And we didn't see Liz and Shellie."

  "They're below, then," Dani said. "That's good; they'll be out of the way."

  "We will need to move fast," Marie said, "to get aboard before they can make hostages of Liz and Shellie."

  "Or take them out before they know what's happening," Dani said. "Is your .50 caliber Barrett aboard, Sharktooth?"

  "Mm-hmm." Sharktooth grinned. "No prisoners?"

  "That's what I'm thinking. If we try to take them alive, they might damage Vengeance or hurt somebody."

  "You aren't planning to shoot them down in cold blood?" Rick asked.

  "Me?" Dani asked. "Of course not. I'm angry as hell. There's nothing cold-blooded about it. I'm going to blow them away in the heat of the moment, and feel badly about it later. For about a nanosecond."

  "You can't just … " Rick shook his head. "But … "

  "Rick, if we can make a clean kill before they know what's happening, it's less likely that they'll hurt Shellie and Liz. Don't you see that?"

  "But we don't even know why they're doing this," he said.

  "Good point," Dani said. "Marie, can your people interrogate the two in the cave before they dispose of them?"

  "Yes, certainly. You wish to know who sent them, and why. Is that correct?"

  "Yes. Can you think of anything else we should ask them, Rick?"

  "That's not what I meant, Dani. You can't just kill people like that."

  "Why not? They tried to kill us; they were going to blow the cave up with you and me in it. Surely you don't think they hijacked Vengeance with the idea that they were going to let Liz and Shellie go free at some point."

  "That is Vengeance, I think," Marie interrupted. She was pointing at a white speck on the horizon to the west.

  Sharktooth throttled back and Lightning Bolt settled in the water. "Sea state's not too bad," he said. "I get the Barrett." He ducked into the companionway that led to the cabin under the long foredeck of the ocean racer's hull.

  "How close did you get to them earlier?" Dani asked.

  "One hundred meters at the closest," Marie said. "Why?"

  "Think they'll recognize Lightning Bolt?" />
  "Oh, I don't think so. We were going too fast. I was using stabilized binoculars."

  "Eighty-five knots," Sharktooth said, rejoining them. "Jus' a cloud of spray. Tha's all they saw. Mebbe thought it was a waterspout." He grinned and handed Dani the .50 caliber sniper's rifle. "Hundred yards?" he asked.

  "I think so, with this sea state," Dani said. "I'll go for center of mass. Shouldn't be a problem. I'll take up a prone position aft, on the sunbathing pad."

  Sharktooth nodded. "Aim low. It's sighted-in for 500 meters."

  Dani crawled out onto the padded sundeck, the rifle in her right hand.

  "Dani?" Rick asked.

  She looked at him. "What?"

  "Will you at least shoot to wound them? Please?"

  "Of course. I'll do that. No problem. Wound them. That's what I'll do."

  "She's coming toward us," Marie said, braced against the windshield, binoculars pressed to her eyes as Sharktooth began closing the distance.

  "What?" Dani asked.

  "And under sail," Marie said. "I can't make out who's on deck yet, but still only two people. Range is under a thousand meters and closing fast."

  Sharktooth slowed the boat down and said, "I pass to the north and put us beam to the sea when we at 100 meters, Dani. Jus' enough speed for bes' stability, okay?"

  "Good. So you'll be stern to the target, then?"

  "Mm-hmm."

  "Perfect," Dani said.

  "Hold it," Marie said. "They've spotted us. Somebody's coming forward on the windward side deck — she's on the bowsprit, waving — it's Liz!"

  Dani scrambled back into the cockpit, holding the rifle at the ready. Sharktooth swung Lightning Bolt in an arc, turning onto a parallel course a hundred meters behind Vengeance. He pulled up even with her stern on the downwind side as Liz returned to the cockpit. Sharktooth matched their speed, and they saw that Shellie was at the helm.

  Liz cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Heaving to!"

  Sharktooth made a thumbs-up sign and opened the distance between them a bit. Vengeance turned smartly to port, sails flogging violently as she swung through the eye of the wind.

  Then the headsails were back-winded, working against the main and the mizzen. Vengeance was fore-reaching at less than a knot, rising and falling gently with the swell. Sharktooth brought Lightning Bolt close alongside, and Rick yelled, "Are you okay?"