The Hibiscus Heist

by C L Bauer

  Lily was taking her mind off the job at hand by looking out occasionally at a sailboat or the differing colors of the water. Pelicans sat by docks. Egrets flew by. The landscape changed into a Caribbean island look. Soon they were in Key West, heading down Flagler Avenue to Duval Street and then turning down several side streets. She saw several signs for key lime pies. She’d buy a whole one before she left, well at least a good-sized slice. Food didn’t really define her, but it sure made her happy. She’d be happy after all this was over, wouldn’t she?

  Dev instructed her to park in front of a small white conch style home that had a sign “Hibiscus Cottage” on the white picket fence in front. The other two cars of agents were out of sight.

  “Hibiscus,” Lily whispered. Her skin was crawled.

  By the time she grabbed their two small bags from the trunk and Dev’s computer from the backseat, he had made his way up the short sidewalk and had entered the house. She knew he was hurting when he didn’t offer to get their little bit of luggage. Pain won over chivalry.

  “Where do you want your computer? Over here?” She pointed to a table between the kitchen and the living room.

  “That’s fine for now.” He was looking inside the freezer for an ice pack, and smiled when he pulled it out. “This little thing started everything.”

  She smiled. “Yes, it did. Remember Gretchen proudly holding those up? And then she hit on Tom? Lord, she called you delicious.” She still does, Lily thought. After their late-night bonding, she’d be lucky if Gretchen didn’t arrive in the shop one day with incorporation papers for a new company, Malloy and Schmidt, Private Eyes LLC. Dev would find that amusing, maybe, much later.

  Dev pulled his shirt out of his waistband and placed the pack on his aching ribs. Lily saw the purple-black bruises. There was also green, in fact he almost had more colors on his chest than the sea had hues of blue and green.

  “Delicious, huh? I don’t feel very delicious right now.”

  “You probably need some meds.”

  He ignored her. The meds made his head fuzzy and he couldn’t afford to be impaired. “There’s two bedrooms. You pick one. The bathroom is in between. I need my bag for a second, please.”

  She set the small bag on the table near his computer. Carefully, he reached in and pulled out a small gun and then another. Holy Moly. What else did he have in there? She really didn’t want to know.

  She watched him slowly attach the small gun around his leg. The other he examined and placed it on the table. She headed into the bedroom to the left.

  “Lily, could you come back in here?”

  She quickly returned concerned about his health. “What do you need? What can I do?”

  “Sit down. I’m going to show you how to shoot a gun, just in case.”

  A cold shiver ran down her back. “I don’t want to. I really don’t like guns. They’re dangerous, well deadly. I don’t like how they look. I don’t want to touch it.”

  “Lily, stop stammering. This is not arbitrary. I just want you to know how to shoot it, to make noise, to scare someone if you have to. That’s all.” He could see her resistance was more than anti-gun it was visceral. He could almost see her visions of John’s shooting flashing across her forehead.

  “Sweetheart, the noise will alert us and frighten Garrett. You don’t even have to aim the damn thing if you don’t want to, but I need you to know how to shoot it. Pick it up, Lily. There’s just a couple of things you need to know.” Take her to a gun range when this is all over.

  His tone, his explanation, forced her hand to pick it up, and his instructions began. It was just to make noise. That’s all she would need. She was justifying what she had to do. What he wanted her to do.

  Agent Tori joined them an hour later. “Tori is going to be spending the night with you,” Dev explained.

  Lily sat on the couch watching him. He was briefing Tori on something. They needed to tell her something. They needed to warn about this and that. This was getting way too real. She tried searching her memory for old “Murder, She Wrote” episodes. Was Jessica ever this frightened? There were a few times, when J. B. Fletcher was wondering when the police were going to swoop in to capture the bad guy. There was that time when she loved that one publisher, but he was a murderer.

  “Lily, did you hear me?”

  “No, sorry Dev. What is it?”

  “This house is wired so if you need to yell or talk to us, we will hear you. Tori will spend the night and stay with you until late morning tomorrow. Carlos has already spotted a couple of Garrett’s men in town and a couple of Cartel thugs. If he is going to make a move, it will be soon. He was seen at a bar.”

  Garrett was here. Lily wanted to throw up. Lord, you get me through this and I’ll give you anything. Crud, she was already vowing to go to church every day, what more could she do? I could offer a kidney to someone. Would that work, Lord? I could donate some clothes, shoes, whatever or maybe volunteer at the local children’s hospital?

  There was a knock on the door and Carlos entered. He smiled at her and then picked up Dev’s computer and small bag. “Good luck, Lily. Everything will be fine. Trust us.” She smiled at Carlos, but she’d heard that line before. Did they learn that at DEA school? Class, let’s begin the mantra, tell them to trust you.

  She needed to get up. She needed to pace but was stopped in the middle of the small living room by Dev. “Lily, look at me.” He moved his right hand to her cheek, holding gently at her chin. He continued in a whispered tone. “I love you. I can’t kiss you right now, but when this is over I am going to kiss you senseless.”

  “Senseless?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you really do that Agent Pierce?” Inside, she was growing the mother of all stomach aches, outside she was attempting to appear cool and smug. Just pretend you’re on a difficult wedding, Lily. You can act. You’ve done it before.

  “I told you before you have no idea of all my skills. Do not doubt me.”

  Lily took her own hands and placed them on his shoulders. “I can’t wait to learn of your many talents.”

  “Dev, we need to go,” Carlos directed as he opened the door.

  Lily and Dev pulled away from each other. He retreated without looking back. Carlos saluted her.

  Carlos assisted Dev into the car. They were a block down the street when Dev finally broke the silence.

  “That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, leaving her.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Agent Tori left the next day around noon. Lily was completely alone. Tori had shared a text message with her from Dev saying that he was feeling much better and could actually move his left arm a little. He hoped she’d had a good night.

  Are you kidding me, Devlin Pierce? How could you sleep when you knew you were the target of some mad man? She began to make lists, short ones and lengthy ones involving contracts with God, supplies she needed at the shop, who she needed to call when she got home. Was she getting home?

  Around three in the afternoon there was a knock on the door. She opened it slowly and found a wilting bloom of hibiscus with a note attached.

  “Meet me at sunset at Mallory Square”

  Her first thought was of Dev. How romantic that he wanted to watch the sunset with her. It was such a big thing in Key West to celebrate at Mallory Square the sleepy time of that ball of fire. Lily, get a grip. The note wasn’t from Dev. She ran to the bathroom. This time she really did throw up.

  After she washed her face, and brushed her teeth she came back into the living room. Every part of every nerve and muscle in her body was shaking.

  “Everybody, he has just contacted me. I’m supposed to meet him at sunset at Mallory Square. I hope you all are listening. Let me know please.” It was like talking to God, but she hoped this was more direct with a shorter response time.

  A text came immediately on her cell phone. “WE HAVE YOU. WE HEARD YOU, AND WE WILL BE THERE. JUST DO WHAT WE DISCUSSED AND TRY TO GET
HIM TO TALK ABOUT THE DRUGS, THE MURDER, WHATEVER YOU CAN. YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO. YOU’VE GOT THIS.” She had no idea if Dev or some other unnamed agent was sending the message.

  Lily checked on her phone to confirm the time to begin her walk. She was always early no matter where she went. She blamed the weddings for that. Her blasted schedules. So what if she arrived late? Was Garrett going to walk away?As she strolled nervously, she looked at the houses, the colors, the hurricane shutters, the shops.

  Lily stopped in front of a very large sign, THE BASILICA OF ST. MARY STAR OF THE SEA. She looked down at her phone. She had a mile walk and a couple more blocks to reach Duval Street. Garrett could wait; God couldn’t. She walked inside the church and took a seat in the back pew. She knelt for a few minutes and the only prayer that came to mind was “Bless us oh Lord and these Thy gifts that we are about to receive.” Come on, Lily. Keep it together. You are saying the prayer before you eat. You need to be begging for help. As if God had heard her plea in that brief moment, Dev slid into the pew next to her. A baseball cap was pulled down near his sunglasses.

  “Just keep looking straight ahead,” he whispered. “We are behind you every step to Mallory Square, and we will be there all around you. Somehow, I just knew you’d end up here.”

  “Church is where we began,” she answered. “You were actually an answer to my prayer once.”

  He chuckled softly. “That’s interesting because you were an answer to mine. You know, there’s a lot of times I’ve been religious in battle. There really are no atheists in foxholes, in caves or on deserts. But most of the time, God and I didn’t talk much. It wasn’t until Kansas City that I started going back to church, not regularly but more than I used to. You see, Lily, you brought me back to Him, to God. I will always be grateful to you for that. I think God missed me, and I know I needed Him more than I knew.”

  “Geez, you’re sounding like Father Dan.” She reached over and touched his hand. “Don’t make me cry. I’m on my way to meet my dream man.”

  “Can you ever stay serious?”

  “There are those few times when my sugar levels are low.”

  Dev shook his head. What had he gotten himself into, falling in love with someone like her? “You leave first. I will see you when this is all over.”

  Her hand shook as she pulled it away and left the church to begin her walk. Each step placed her closer to the end of this part of her life and maybe the beginning of a new one. Was she really ready? What would that new life look like and would it all be worth it? Despite her insecurities, she thought she heard God. Trust me, Lily. I’ve brought you this far.

  Lily’s heart was beating faster. She took in some deep breaths. I can do this. Her legs were rubbery. She stopped for a second and looked in the window of one of the many jewelry shops. In the reflection of the glass, she saw Tori on the other side of the street. This was very real. Carlos had prepped her, but what she was feeling couldn’t be planned. There was no list that could make this better. She’d have to rely on herself to survive.

  “Here I go,” she said out loud. She casually looked over at the woman agent. Tori nodded and began to mirror her every step to Mallory Square.

  Lily arrived in the middle of the celebration. She walked past a clown making brightly colored balloon animals. Jugglers abounded among the crowd waiting for the sun to set into the ocean. There was something fanciful about the farce around her. People were celebrating an atmospheric happening that occurred every day. Usually, Lily wouldn’t stop driving for a sunset or even stop washing her dishes to see its color on a cold winter day. But today, she stopped. Somewhere in this crowd were federal agents; somewhere in this crowd was Garrett Notte. For now, here she was alone among the masses. It was just her and the sun. It was amazing.

  She touched the wire taped to her bra. “I’m ready,” she said out loud for the agents to hear. She only hoped God was listening too, just in case. She needed backup of the divine kind to get her out of this mess.

  She felt someone behind her. He was here. He had taken the bait.

  “Lily, I like it better this way, just the two of us,” he whispered softly, but a threat was loud and clear. “Here we are at Mallory Square, at sunset together.”

  She kept watching the large orb slowly plunging into the Gulf. “Garrett, what exactly is your problem with me?”

  “You’ve made my life a living hell. You,” he said as he ran a finger down the back of her neck, “messed up my life. You and your Boy Scout boyfriend. I had a good life, a nice business.”

  Lily laughed, still not turning to face him. “You have a drug business; you are a drug trafficker. You are the worst of the worst.”

  “I’m respected.”

  “You’re a piece of dirt.”

  Finally, he spun her around to face him. She was staring directly into his eyes, no light only darkness. She stifled a gasp as she finally realized she was staring into the face of her nightmares, the hooded figure, a killer. “What would your grandmother think?”

  His laughter pierced the space, mingling with the celebratory cheers as darkness slowly began. “I don’t care. I haven’t cared since she gave me a pair of socks on my sixteenth birthday. Grandfather promised me a car, but she talked him out of it.”

  “Seems like your grandmother had you pegged way back then.”

  “It’s all her fault, you see. We needed the money and she wouldn’t share. She provided a home for us and some used cars, but not the money we needed for the lifestyles we wanted. My father and I were her servants. She wrapped us up good; the longer she lives, the more we get. We have to keep the old bat alive.”

  Lily crossed her arms in front of her in defense and then placed them on her hips. Remember the wire, Lily. I want them to catch every word. “It’s never your fault, is it? John is dead, those young men and women at the club are dead, good police officers are in prison, but none of that is your fault.”

  “Don’t talk to me about any of that. This is about your interference. I had a sweet thing going and then one mistake blew it up and you had to involve the Feds.”

  Lily planted her feet a foot apart. Her legs were shaking, but she had to keep pushing. “I had nothing to do with bringing them in. Cops seem to show up to catch the bad people. Your people goofed up in Miami and missed a shipment. My car was stolen, and your buddies were uncovered. I just seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You have the three stooges running your organization. My people are organized, meticulous. They take their time and don’t rush into anything. They certainly aren’t in it for the money.”

  Garrett’s face was within inches of her own. She could feel his breath on her cheek, and she smelled the aroma of bourbon.

  “I thought it would be funny to use your car for a drug run. But again, your friends messed it up.”

  Lily smiled. “My friends were efficient, again. Your thugs, your employees are the ones always messing up.” She pressed her hand in the middle of his chest and shoved him back, a foot out of her personal space.

  Away from Garrett and Lily, Carlos looked at Dev. “What is she doing? Is she trying to get herself killed? We need just a little more.”

  Dev’s eyes were shut in an exasperated silent prayer. “No, she’s just being herself. She’s trying to do her job and doing it well. God help us.”

  “When do you want to go in?”

  “Just a few more minutes. Let’s see what else he drops.”

  Another agent transmitted that Garrett’s power was unraveling. The cartel’s goons were in a car traveling north back to Miami. Only his men remained, and the agents were moving on them.

  Garrett grabbed Lily’s wrist and held tight. Dev moved slowly through the crowd, closing in on the couple as Carlos rounded behind them. Other agents and police stood at food carts, in doorways, and in the crowd celebrating.

  Tori checked with Dev. She could go in now. Lily was placing herself in a precarious position with no way out. It was frightening to watch Garrett to
uch Lily. Dev told her to move in closer but stand down.

  He checked in with another agent closer to the pier. Garrett’s three men had been apprehended without a shot. Now, Americano was alone. Alone, with Lily.

  The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on the florist as Garrett tightened his hold. The most magnificent sun had set, leaving the skies decorated with hues of pinks, oranges, reds and purples; Garrett was turning her wrist black and blue. Couples were kissing, held to each other in tender embraces; Lily couldn’t get loose from this madman. She saw the reflection of a badge, a badge on a police officer walking through the crowd. He had no idea what was taking place. She caught a glimpse of Tori only a few feet away.

  Garrett saw the officer too. “I’m tired of you. This is settled tonight. My father and I need to deliver a message. It’ll be poetic justice, Lily. The florist who delivers flowers dies to deliver a message.”

  “What message? That you’re a big boy?”

  “That I’m a force. I’m a leader in the drug world. We move drugs from South America not just to Kansas City, but nationwide and around the world. It’s high quality too. We run routes to Mexico freely. Our shipments through Europe can’t be stopped. We ship product in flower and fruit through Miami every day. We use stolen cars. We take out anyone who gets in the way. I almost got your boyfriend. He should be dead, but now you will be.”

  Lily smiled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You. You are done and so am I.” Lily suddenly stepped on his instep just like Tori had showed her last night. His hold on her wrist was broken. She kicked out and found the soft place in his lower belly but began falling backward at the impact. Someone caught her. It was Carlos.

  “Thank you,” she calmly said.

  Carlos gently pulled her to a standing position. “No problem.”

  Dev and three other men had tackled Garrett to the ground. Dev winced as he pulled back Garrett’s arms to cuff him. The other agents pulled him up. She wasn’t sure when Tori ended up at her side, with gun drawn in one hand. She had her other arm around Lily’s shoulders. Dev looked over to Lily and nodded. They shared a quick comforting smile before his attention returned to Garrett Notte.