Sin (2019 Edition)

by J. M. LeDuc

  She sashayed toward him and pecked him on the cheek. “As long as everything is fine, I’m going to take the day and go to Coral Gables for a little dress shopping. There is just no place for a lady to find a decent article of clothing down here.”

  Heap’s shoulders slumped as he exhaled in a sigh. “Why don’t you just go to Key West? Coral Gables is a three hour drive and I don’t like you driving back at night.”

  Maggie smiled and fluttered her fake eye lashes at him. “I said no place to shop for a lady, and I’ll find a hotel to stay for the evening and come back in the morning.”

  Heap dropped his head and shook it in defeat. “Fine, just be gentle on the credit cards.”

  She lifted his head and gently kissed his lips—her perfume lingering on his skin. “See you tomorrow,” she said ending the embrace.

  36

  “I’m worried about the fat man,” the modulated voice said.

  “I’ll make sure the prophet capitulates,” came another electronically altered voice—a higher pitched voice. “You just get me that shipment. We have a couple of new subscribers for the next show and I plan on giving them their money’s worth.”

  “You sound excited.”

  “You’ve never complained before.”

  A sadistic laugh was shared between the two.

  “What’s the story with O’Malley?” said the higher voice.

  “She’ll arrive with the shipment.”

  “Which is when?”

  “The boat should be there by early morning.”

  “That doesn’t leave us much time, we go live at one a.m. the following day.”

  “Not my problem.”

  There was a hesitation before the conversation continued. “I’m glad this is the last show. Things are getting out of hand down here.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’ll handle things on my end. You finish up down there and we will meet as planned.”

  “Looking forward to it and I will have a special gift for you when I arrive.”

  “Will she be wrapped?”

  “Unwrapping her will be the fun part.”

  A lascivious groan could be heard through the phone. “I can’t wait.”

  “Patience.”

  “Not one of my virtues.”

  “You have no virtues, that’s why we make such a good pair.”

  37

  Sin woke up, her clothes clung to her with sweat. Again, her head felt like someone had used her skull as a base drum. Her eyelids felt as if they were glued shut as she pried them open. The pain in her joints let her know that her ankles and wrists were cuffed.

  The last thing she remembered was being given some water to drink. That prick drugged me again.

  Her vision was slow to focus, but when it did, she was glad to see Tia still in the room with her. Sin groaned while trying to sit up, and Tia came to help.

  “Are we alone?” Sin whispered.

  Tia nodded.

  “When was the last time anyone came down here?”

  “Mr. Humberto was down here a few minutes ago.”

  “Humberto, huh,” Sin smiled. “Did he tell you his name?”

  Tia shook her head. “No, I heard another other man call him by that name.”

  Sin squeezed her eyes closed trying to abate the headache. “You’re just full of useful information. What else can you tell me?”

  Tia looked around the room as if to make sure no one could see or hear them and then pulled the leg of Sin’s jeans up.

  Sin jerked away. “What are you doing?”

  Tia put her finger over her lips. Sin mouthed she was sorry and let Tia raise the leg of her jeans above her boot. Tia reached into her boot and pulled out Sin’s lighter.

  Sin’s eyes lit up when she saw what Tia had done. She leaned forward and kissed the girl on the top of her head. “Good girl,” she breathed.

  Voices and footsteps could be heard getting closer to the cabin.

  “Put it back in my boot and straighten my jeans,” Sin said.

  She sat up and watched Humberto enter the cabin with another man. “Is he the boss?” Sin goaded. “He’s bigger and better looking than you.”

  Humberto’s upper lip quivered involuntarily as he plopped his muscle-bound body in to the leather chair. “There is nothing you can say that will anger me,” he said.

  “I doubt that,” Sin disagreed. “I’m pretty good at pissing people off.”

  “I have been promised a fortune for your capture. It seems there is a price on the head of the ‘Perla Angel de la Muerte.’ ”

  Sin rolled her eyes. “You really are stupid, Humberto.”

  His lip quivered again.

  “Yeah, I know your name, but I think I’ll call you Hummer for short. Like it?”

  He shot up and slapped her face as he walked by her. “No, I don’t like it, Angel. For now on, I am El Diablo.”

  Sin licked her lips and tasted a tinge of blood. Let’s see how far I can push this asshole, she thought. “Sucker, Diablo, Hummer. They are all the same thing,” she said. “They all describe how you will be spending the rest of your days in prison.”

  Humberto reached down and grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her toward him. “You think you’re so funny,” he bellowed. “If you weren’t worth so much money, I would fuck you and kill you now.” He shoved her away and she landed hard on the wood floor.

  “Damn,” Sin groaned, as she twisted into a seated position. “So, just for a minute, let’s assume you’re correct, and you are the new boss.” Sin wanted to diffuse the situation—stoke his ego a bit. “When do I get to meet your employer?”

  “Ah,” Humberto replied, “that is why I have come on this trip. We will be docking in six hours.” He motioned the other man over. “The two of you are very important. I can’t risk you trying anything stupid, so I came to deliver you myself.” He pointed at Sin and snarled, “The money on your head is ‘dead or alive,’ so if you try anything, I will kill you.”

  Another guard entered with food and water. Humberto reached for one of the water bottles, took a swig, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and gave it back to the guard.

  Sin watched the guard place the bottles on the table, her eyes following the one Humberto drank from. As much as she disliked the idea of drinking after him, she knew that one wasn’t tainted. These bastards aren’t knocking me out again.

  “Eat,” the guard said.

  “I don’t have much of an appetite,” Sin responded.

  Humberto shrugged. “No matter. You’ll be dead by tomorrow.” He faced the guard and pointed to Tia. “Take the girl.”

  38

  The shit had hit the fan all around Tumbleboat and the Lower Keys when Heap and Miller found out the girls in the orphanage were missing.

  They had all boarded a bus as planned to go to the Miami Seaquarium, but they never went. Charlie pulled a double switch at a rest stop, loaded everyone in two delivery vans and drove them back towards Tumbleboat.

  York and his men had been so busy trying to find Sin, they paid no attention to the girls. Now they were scrambling―searching house to house looking for any sign of the girls and Rosa. Troy had notified his superiors of the girls’ disappearance and the state police were also involved in the investigation. He also mentioned that he thought York might have had something to do with the missing girls, so the state police were keeping a close eye on York and his crew.

  The entire situation was like a scene out of a Keystone cop movie—everyone blaming everyone else, no one having any idea what was going on.

  From the outside looking in, it was all a bit ludicrous. Troy knew exactly where the girls were. Charlie, being the conspiracy theorist he was, decided he couldn’t trust anyone, so instead of bringing the girls to Miami, he brought the girls and Rosa to the Johnson place. He hated the idea of anyone knowing about the house, but if there was ever a time to let the cat out of the bag, this was it.

  Since Fletcher and the rest of Sin’s unit touched down in Key West,
Charlie had them staking out the reef. He also equipped Fletcher’s boat with video surveillance which was fed to his office. He was able to keep an eye on the water from inside his office.

  From inside the library at the Johnson place, Charlie stared at the video feed of the water. The past two days had been the same―boats started to gather on the outer reef around four a.m. and on the middle reef after the sun rose in the morning. No one had gone anywhere near the inner reef.

  Charlie looked at his watch, picked up a radio, and spoke into the mic. “Is everyone in place?”

  “We have the north and south point of the island covered, and a fishing boat out in the water,” Fletcher answered. “A gold fish won’t get near the reef without us knowing it.”

  “Ten four.”

  “Have you heard from Troy?” Fletcher asked.

  “No word,” Charlie said. “I want an hourly check in,” he continued, “judging by the nautical mileage between Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua and Tumbleboat, we may see some action on the reef tonight.”

  “Eyes and ears are open; we’ll report as ordered,” Fletcher answered.

  “You want another beer?” Bubba asked, slapping Troy on the back.

  Troy leaned over the pool table, drew the cue stick back and with a quick release, fired the cue ball into the rack. Balls seemed to explode in all directions, careening off rails and each other. Three dropped into the pockets including the eight ball.

  Troy stood up—a cocky expression on his face and smirked at the boys. “Sure,” he told Bubba, “and Joey’s paying since I just won the game.”

  Bubba laughed at Joey’s misfortune and whistled to the waitress. “It’s good to have you back where you belong, Troy,” he said.

  Troy nodded, “It’s good to be back with the gang.”

  “What’d you ever see in that bitch anyway?”

  Troy accepted the beer from the waitress that arrived, slapped her ass as she was leaving, and cocked his eyebrow at Bubba. “Seriously? Did you see the rack on her? Sin might be a bitch, but she is a hot one. I just wanted to jump her and dump her—like old times.”

  Laughter erupted from both Bubba and Joey.

  Troy made sure the liquor kept pouring, and as it did, the tongues started wagging.

  Troy admired Bubba’s watch as the big guy and Joey drained their shot glasses. “Nice watch,” he said. “You two seem to be doing all right.” He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “So tell me, how can I get in on some of this cash?”

  Bubba looked over at Joey and vise versa. “The prophet treats us pretty good, but we do a lot for our pay—take a lot of shit, if ya know what I mean.”

  Troy took another swig from his beer bottle. “It can’t be any worse than what I deal with from my superiors, and I know you must get paid better than what the state pays me.”

  Bubba sat back in his chair and lit a cigarette. “I ain’t sayin’ nothin’, but why you want in all of a sudden?”

  Troy mimicked Bubba’s actions―sat back and took another pull off the longneck. “The past few days have me thinking.” He leaned forward and burned a look into both boys. “Tumbleboat is where I belong, and if this is where I’m going to stay, I might as well get the biggest bang for my buck.”

  He wagged the empty bottle at the waitress. “Another one for me and my friends, and two more shooters for the big guys.”

  “Why you ain’t doing any shots?”

  Troy shrugged. “I have to work tomorrow, unless . . .” His right eyebrow and corner of his mouth rose in unison. “You tell me how I can afford a watch like yours.”

  The waitress arrived and Bubba practically tore a shot glass from her hand, brought it to his mouth, and drank it in one belt. There appeared to be as much on his shirt as there was in his throat as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Le’ me go make a call.”

  Troy watched him stumble his way from the table.

  A few minutes later, Bubba was back. “The prophet don’t need any more help, but there is someone who could use someone in your position,” he smirked.

  “Oh, who would that be and what position are you talking about?”

  Bubba leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “The prophet,” he whispered, “is just a preacher. The real money comes from doing side jobs.”

  “What kind of side jobs,” Troy mirrored Bubba’s movements, “and for whom?”

  “Don’t know, but my daddy gets orders from time to time and then we get paid real good.”

  “What kind of money are you talking about?”

  “Five Gs each.”

  “You’ve got my attention. What do I need to do for that kind of cash?”

  “There’s a shipment coming in tonight by boat. Because O’Malley and the girls from the orphanage are missing, the State Police are everywhere. If you can keep the cops away from the fishing channel and help us move the merchandise, Daddy will give you five grand.”

  “That’s it,” Troy said. “What are you moving, drugs?”

  Bubba snickered. “Nah.”

  Troy leaned further over the table. “What then?”

  “Can’t say, but if I heard right, you’re gonna like it. In fact,” Bubba smiled, but his expression made Troy’s stomach twist, “you just might get to do some of that jumping and dumping if you know what I mean.”

  It took every bit of restraint Troy had not to reach over the table and rip Bubba’s eyes out. Instead, he leaned back, brought the bottle to his lips and downed the contents in one swig. “I think I like where this is going,” he said. “Let’s get out of here and talk someplace more private.”

  39

  The three of them left the bar and drove to the fishing pier. Bubba and Joey both did a couple bumps of coke while Bubba was driving.

  “You think that’s wise? Troy said.

  Bubba wiped under his nose and sucked in a deep, snotty breath. “Hell, yeah. It make us think straight and helps sober us up.”

  Dumb asses, Troy thought.

  Bubba pulled his truck up the dock and just sat there—doing nothing.

  “What now?” Troy asked.

  “Now,” Bubba said, “we wait. When the boat gets close, I’ll get a call. Then, you’ll make a call telling yer captain somethin’ that’ll keep the cops from here, then,” Bubba winked, “we go meet the boat.”

  “Why doesn’t the boat just pull up to the dock?”

  “We don’t ask questions, we just do what we’re told.”

  A little after one a.m., Bubba got the call. He hung up and faced Troy. “Time to make your money.”

  Troy took out his cell phone, but Bubba took it from him and shut it off. “Use mine.”

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “Boss’ orders. What’s the number?”

  Troy rattled off the number and Bubba punched it in. He looked at the caller ID and saw that the LCD screen read Florida State Police. As soon as it started to ring, he put it on speaker and handed it back to Troy.

  “Captain Reilly speaking.”

  “Captain, this is Deputy Stubbs.”

  “What do you have for me, Stubbs?”

  “I just spoke to some of the locals who said they saw the girls and O’Malley at the Bridge Hotel in Marathon. I’m headed there now, but I need back up.”

  “Good work, Deputy, I’ll pull all units and we’ll meet you there. Over.”

  “Over,” Troy said. He hung up the phone and handed it back to Bubba.

  “Satisfied?”

  “Yep, let’s move.”

  On the other end of the line, Charlie hung up his phone. He had rigged the lines so that if Troy called his number, it would show up as the state police. He radioed Fletcher to be ready, grabbed his duffle bag, and ran out the back door of his house.

  At the shoreline, there was an inflatable watercraft—a Zodiac—tied off. He pulled it into the water, rowed out past the break, dropped the outboard motor, and headed towards his destination.

  Approximately
one hundred yards away from the first reef, Charlie saw the faint glow of a boat’s running lights off in the distance. Through his binoculars, he saw a good size fishing boat approaching. They’re still a ways off, he thought, but I’m going to have to move if I’m going to reach them in time.

  Charlie quickly donned his SCUBA gear and dropped into the water. Hugging the bottom, like Sin had showed him, cutting the current which made it easier for him to make decent time. He surfaced periodically in order to gage the distance of the boat. On his second reconnaissance, he heard and saw another boat coming from the shoreline. He put his regulator back in his mouth and descended as fast as possible.

  Hiding behind a wrecked fishing boat, which now served as an artificial reef, he hoped all the metal would help camouflage him from the boats’ sonar.

  From the depth of the ocean, he could feel the vibrations as the boats neared. His adrenaline surged as the boats began to converge on the first reef.

  Fletcher and his unit had been out on the third reef along with a couple other fishing boats when he received Charlie’s call. He maneuvered his boat further out and south to stay out of sight and gave the signal to cut the boat’s running lights and engines. The tension was thick, just like the humidity, as their boat bobbed up and down with the rolling waves.

  All they could do was wait for Charlie’s next signal.

  “What are you doing heading for the first reef?” Fear spiked in Troy’s voice.

  Bubba laughed. “Relax, buddy. That’s just the first of tonight’s surprises.”

  Troy continued the masquerade of being unaware. He swallowed his anger and hoped he could continue to act like a ‘good old boy’ long enough to take these bastards down. His concentration was broken by the sound of the cocking of a trigger and the feel of cold steel against the back of his neck.