by J. M. LeDuc
“Whoa, Bubba,” he exclaimed, “what the hell are you doing?”
“The second of tonight’s surprises,” Bubba said. “We need to be sure which side you’re on, so you won’t be carrying any weapons. With your left hand, I want you to reach across and remove your gun from your belt.”
“If I give up my weapon and something goes wrong, I’m a dead man,” Troy said. “Come on, Bubba, we’ve known each other since we were six years old in Pop Warner football.”
“Just following orders. With two fingers, lower your pistol to the ground and slide it back toward me.”
Troy did as he was told and then felt Bubba’s gun move away from his neck. He turned and faced his ‘friend.’ “When this is over, I want my gun back.”
“I’ll hand it over to you along with five grand as soon as we make the transfer.”
From his peripheral vision, Troy saw a light flash three times. “Is that the other boat?”
Joey countered from the helm with two flashes of his own.
“Yep,” Bubba grinned, “along with your third surprise.”
As the incoming boat reached the half mile marker, Fletcher sent a signal to Charlie letting him know of the boat’s location. Charlie received the message through a type of Morse code which infiltrated his full facemask. Charlie knew the next fifteen minutes would be tense. They would mean life or death to Sin and whoever else was on board the boat.
40
From the cabin, Sin could hear Humberto barking orders to his crew. “I want every girl’s mouth taped as well as her wrists. Be careful,” he emphasized, “there can be no marks on the girls. They must remain pure and innocent looking.”
Sin’s skin crawled as she heard the words. Unfortunately, she was in the same predicament as the girls. Her mouth, arms, and legs were also duct taped. The thing that frightened her most was that she hadn’t seen Tia since Humberto dragged her from the room. All she could think of was Veloz saying that Tia was to be a gift for El Presidente.
Sin’s arms were bound behind her back, but with a bit of contortion, she was able to pull up her pant leg using her fingertips.
Sweat poured from her brow as she continued to strain. It felt like her shoulders were about to pop out of their sockets, but she refused to give up. The more she strained, the further the tape dug into her flesh.
Finally, she was able to get the leg of her jeans pulled above the top of her boot. Now the hard part, she huffed.
Sin positioned herself on her stomach and began to bang her knee on the hardwood floor hoping to dislodge her lighter. She flopped around on the floor like a Snapper hauled on board a fishing boat. Frustrated, she took a deep breath in, held it and slammed her knee off the floor. With each strike, she reached a new height in pain. On the verge of fracturing her knee cap, she finally felt a slight movement of the lighter inside her boot.
Hearing footsteps approaching, Sin quickly flipped over and sat on her legs as best she could.
Humberto threw open the door and walked in with a Glock 18 automatic pistol. His eyes were dilated and wild.
One bump of cocaine too many, Sin thought.
“Some old friends of yours are coming out to meet us,” he sneered and wiped his runny nose. “They have something special arranged for you.”
Sin moved her arms and legs as best she could and tried to yell from under the tape.
Her moaning and gyrations only made Humberto laugh. He nudged her with the toe of his boot, bent down, and grabbed a fist full of her hair. “Who’s in charge now, Angel?”
Sin could smell his rancid breath and feel the spittle of his words.
He opened his mouth to say something else when someone yelled through the open door. “El Diablo, they are almost here, we need you topside.”
He pulled her face to his and kissed the tape covering her mouth. “I am going to enjoy hearing you beg for your life,” he growled as he dropped her head back onto the hardwood floor.
As soon as Sin heard the door slam shut, she wasted no time resuming her work. With renewed vigor, she managed to get the lighter to drop from her boot. Twisting her body around, she felt for and grabbed it with her fingers. It took a few tries, but she was able to get the flame lit and twisted her wrists so it was near the tape.
Tears came to her eyes as she felt the flame burn her skin as well as the tape. She refused to put it down and risk the chance of not freeing her hands. Pulling her hands apart while keeping the lighter relatively steady, she felt the tape start to give. With enough leeway between her hands, she dropped the lighter and twisted her wrists back and forth until the remainder of the tape broke.
Sin used the lighter to burn the tape between her legs. It was quicker than trying to peel it off by hand. In no time, her arms and legs were free. About to pull the tape from her mouth, she heard another boat bump up against theirs. Her skin crawled when she heard a familiar voice—Bubba.
Troy watched a man come forward with a young, frightened girl. Tears streamed down her dirty cheeks.
“Is this the girl we’ve been waiting for?” Bubba asked.
“Si,” Humberto said. “The gift.”
Troy pointed at the girl. “When you said cargo, you never said anything about girls.”
“Is that a problem?” Bubba asked.
“As long as I get my five grand, I don’t give a damn what the cargo is.”
“Good to hear, or I would have had to kill you, and you would have missed the best surprise of all.”
“What’s that?” Troy said.
“You’ll see.” Bubba looked back at Humberto. “Where is she?”
“Down below.”
“Where’s who?” Troy said.
“Business first,” Bubba said. “Joey, how’s the rest of the cargo?”
Troy looked over his shoulder and saw Joey and two crew members pulling six girls out of the hold of the boat. Each girl looked weaker and more frightened than the last.
“We’re good,” Joey answered.
Charlie bobbed up and down in the water. As soon as he saw the two boats gather on the first reef, he signaled Fletcher to begin stage two of the mission, abandoned his equipment, and swam the final twenty yards with the aid of a mask and snorkel.
Surfacing on the far side of the incoming vessel, he checked his watch.
Fletcher, I hope you and your unit are in position.
From his vantage point, he heard the conversation going on topside.
“Joey, you and the crew take the girls to the orphanage and then come back and get us.”
“That’s not part of the plan, Bubba. We’re supposed to take everyone to York and—”
“I know the damn plan,” Bubba yelled, “You just do as you’re told.” He shooed Joey off the boat by waving his pistol at him. Troy joined Bubba and Humberto as they watched the boat head toward shore.
Bubba pushed Troy toward the door, which led to a lower cabin. “Time to do what you talked about earlier.”
“What’s that?”
“Jump and dump.” A sick grin seemed to swallow his entire face. “Jump and dump,” he repeated.
Charlie slid his dive knife from his leg sheath and placed it between his teeth. He needed both hands free to board the vessel. He used the constant rocking of the boat by the reef to his advantage. As the boat dipped sideways in the trough of a wave, he frog kicked, thrusting himself upward allowing a good grab on the lip of the side rail of the boat before the swell took it in the opposite direction.
He hung in that position and waited. When he no longer heard any voices or footsteps, Charlie pulled himself up and over the side of the boat. Poised in a squat position, knife gripped in his hand, his eyes surveyed the deck, making sure there were no unwanted guests. He stayed low and traversed to the opposite side of the boat and searched the waters for Fletcher.
Shit, he thought, this is why I like to work alone. You can’t count on anyone.
He made his way to the lighted porthole and peered into the room downstairs.
> Sin was lying on the floor with both Bubba and Humberto aiming guns at her.
“I’ll hold her while you cut them clothes off her,” Bubba tossed Troy a knife.
“Use this,” Humberto said, handing Troy Sin’s pearl-handled blade. “I want to watch you cut her with her own blade.”
“I like that idea,” Bubba growled. “Give the bitch some of her own medicine.”
Troy pocketed Bubba’s knife in the front pocket of his pants and flicked his wrist, snapping Sin’s straight-edged razor open. He squatted in front of Sin and ran the open blade across her cheek. “I have another idea,” he said. He stood and looked back at Bubba. “She’s been giving you the most trouble since she’s been back in town,” Troy said. “I’ll hold her and you strip her.”
Sin snapped her head toward Troy—eyes open wide and nostrils flaring.
“What,” Troy said, glancing back at her, “did you really think I bought your line of bullshit. This is going to be as much fun as doing that stupid bitch my freshman year.”
He eyed Sin a little longer than he should, hoping she got the message. He snapped the razor closed, tossed it to Bubba, and yanked her to a standing position.
Charlie pulled his gun from the inside of his wetsuit and crept towards the open door.
From the door, he could hear Bubba clear as day. “Don’t squirm or I might cut them big tits.” He could see Bubba pull Sin’s shirt out of her pants and start to slice the material.
Charlie knew Troy was working with him, but he couldn’t understand why he was letting Bubba get away with what he was doing.
As Bubba sliced through the fabric of her shirt, he turned to say something to Humberto. As he turned back, Sin lunged forward and head-butted him, cracking the bridge of his nose.
Bubba dropped the blade, covered his bloody nose with one hand; at the same time Troy tossed Sin to the side.
Troy turned back just in time to see Bubba pull his gun. Troy dove to cover Sin as Bubba pulled the trigger. Before he had a chance to pull it a second time, Charlie put two slugs in him.
Bubba’s limp body dropped—dead before he hit the floor.
Charlie ran into the cabin toward Troy who was also on the ground―bleeding. From the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow moving toward him.
Charlie spun toward his target when one final gun shot echoed through the cabin. He heard the thud of a gun drop onto the wood floor and turned to see Humberto holding his neck, blood gushing in time with his pulse.
Humberto’s eyes were glued not at Charlie and Troy, but at the corner of the room. “Perla Angel de la Muerte,” he gurgled.
The last words he would ever utter.
“Damn right.”
Charlie and Troy turned to see Sin kneeling in the corner.
“What the hell just happened?” Charlie said.
“Damned if I know,” Sin said. “I managed to free my hands before Hummer and Bubba made their way down here, and Troy was nice enough to put a knife in his front pocket where I could grab hold of it before he tossed me aside. I threw the knife at him, but he was shot before it even hit him.”
“That explains the knife sticking out of his neck,” Charlie whispered, “but where the fuck did the shot come from—and where’s Fletcher?”
“Fletcher?” Sin exclaimed.
“Yeah, I called him when you didn’t return as planned. The bastard was supposed to be my backup, but he wasn’t in position when I boarded the boat.”
“I was in position mate and don’t call me a bastard.”
“Care to explain?” Charlie asked.
“I watched the skinny one drop off the others on shore and double back here. I didn’t want him surprising you, so I stayed submerged next to the boat when you came looking for me. I figured I better keep an eye on him.”
“And?”
“And I stabbed the son-of-a-bitch as he was re-boarding the boat. He’s now chum—shark bait. When I got on board, the party had already started, but lucky for me, I arrived in time for the climax.” He nodded towards Humberto’s body.
Sin wrapped her arms around Fletcher and squeezed him tight. “It’s good to see you, Fletch. Is the unit with you?”
“Yeah, they’re keeping watch, making sure there are no unwanted visitors.”
“Nice story,” Troy grunted, “but do you think one of you could give me a hand?”
They turned and saw blood beginning to pool around Troy.
Sin used Troy’s belt as a tourniquet. “That will hold him, but he needs medical help.” She glanced at Troy and Fletcher. “I don’t want to call an ambulance and give away our position. Fletch, do you think you can drive him to the hospital?”
Fletcher began to nod.
“Not necessary,” Charlie said. “We have the best medical care around back at the house. We’ll transfer him to Fletcher’s boat and we’ll make a b-line home.”
“What about York and the girls?” Sin asked.
“They’ll be safe―for now,” Charlie said.
“How do you know?”
“I was able to find out quite a bit while you were on a little Central American vacation,” he smirked, “come on and I’ll show you.”
“Wait, one thing before we leave.” Sin squatted in front of Humberto and removed her gun belt from his waist. She then dug into his pockets and found her Balisong. She stood, wrapped the belt around her hips, strapped it tight, and caressed the pearl handles. “Now, I’m ready.”
Charlie picked up her semiautomatic from the floor where Humberto had dropped it and stuck it inside his wetsuit. “Now can we get out of here?”
Exiting the boat, Sin stopped short.
“What’s wrong? Charlie asked.
“We can’t just leave this boat here―with the bodies on board.”
The corner of Charlie’s mouth rose. Sin could see his mischievous smirk in the moon light. “No, we can’t,” he said.
Sin didn’t even bother to ask, she just transferred to the boat Fletcher used and sat next to Troy, trying to keep him comfortable.
“Fletcher, you mind if I take the controls?”
He stepped aside as Charlie took the helm. He maneuvered the boat behind the larger one until the stern of his abutted the stern of the other.
“Hold on,” he yelled over the rumbling sound of the inboard motors. He gunned the boat in reverse and pushed the other boat forward. Suddenly he threw the throttle in the opposite direction and jerked forward at full speed.
Sin watched as the other boat drifted forward until a huge fireball lit up the sky. Even at their speed, pieces of fiberglass rained all around them.
A knowing smile overwhelmed Sin’s expression.
The buried IEDs.
Fletcher emitted a guttural laugh. “I think I’m gonna like it in the Keys.”
41
Dr. O’Rourke emerged from a back bedroom after she had finished stitching Troy’s leg back together.
She saw Sin pacing the hall.
“How is he?” Sin’s eyes bore the signs of exhaustion—hollow with dark circles surrounding them.
“The bullet missed the femoral artery,” Dr. O’Rourke said. “He will be fine after some rest.”
For the first time, something dawned on Sin. “Why are you here?”
“With everyone looking for you, Charlie decided to bring everyone here,” Dr. O’Rourke said. “The stress of the last few days has been tough on Thomas, so Charlie asked if I would come here to watch over him.”
“My father, is he―”
Dr. O’Rourke put her hand on Sin’s shoulder. “He’s sleeping. It’s been hard to get him to stay calm, so I don’t want you waking him.”
Sin wrapped her arms around herself, as if the gesture would supplement for her father’s embrace.
She heard Troy’s voice from the bedroom.
“Can I see him?” she asked.
Dr. O’Rourke nodded.
Sin opened the door and walked into the room. “You went through a lot to
get me into your bedroom, Stubbs.”
His eyes opened to slits and closed again after seeing her.
“You look like shit,” Sin said, taking a seat on the bed.
“I look better than you,” he mumbled, wrinkling his nose. “Smell better, too.”
“All this sweet talk,” Sin whispered as she leaned toward him. “No wonder you were the quarterback.” She brushed her lips against his, kissing him gently.
Charlie made his way into the room. “I hate to break up a sweet moment, but I need you both in the library in twenty minutes.”
Troy was still a little groggy from this impromptu surgery, so Dr. O’Rourke helped him down the hall and into a recliner.
Standing around the room was Sin’s mercenary unit.
“Is this a house or a hotel,” Dr. O’Rourke remarked.
“If all the staff looks like you, I’m staying an extra night,” one of the soldiers said.
“At ease, Baxter,” Sin barked. The room became silent.
Sin stood next to Dr. O’Rourke. “Dr. Deborah O’Rourke, let me introduce my unit to you. They are little rough around the edges, but they’re harmless.”
“You’re a medic?” Baxter said. “Somebody shoot me, please.”
Dr. O’Rourke blushed at his overtly flirtatious manner. “It seems you all have things to discuss, so I will excuse myself.”
Sin rolled her eyes, and brought her attention back to the matter at hand. She stared at the monitors. “What do you have for us?”
“A few things,” Charlie said. He paused and looked up from the keyboard.
“Well?” Sin said biting her lip.
“While you were away, I was able to break the encryption on the video tapes and computers confiscated from the studio in Heap’s church, and . . .” He again started pecking on the keyboard.
“And . . .” Sin’s voice rose in frustration―or fear.
“And you were right. There is some sick shit going on in there.” He rubbed his tired eyes with his fists. “I really hoped you were wrong, but you weren’t.”
