To Honor We Call You: A Florida Action Adventure Novel (Scott Jarvis Private Investigator Book 9)

by Scott Cook

“Educational,” I said, returning the man’s strong grip. In spite of his friendly demeanor, his overly strong and aggressive handshake was competitive. “Especially the flight training.”

  “Bryan here heads our counter-insurgency division,” Grayson supplied. “He and his fellow snake eaters are the guys we send in when… discretion is required.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at that, “You mean the Commander here is the guy who won’t be accompanying me tomorrow?”

  “I already explained—“ Grayson started to dodge.

  “And I don’t believe you, Colonel,” I said tersely. “You’re gonna tell me that your organization can’t infiltrate a sovereign nation on an op like this? It seems to me that sort of thing would be your… our… bread and butter.”

  Amanda cast a look at Grayson and Bryan’s smile flattened into a hard line. Grayson gazed at me for a second or two and then sighed, “All right, you caught me. I should’ve known you’d guess that.”

  “Then what the Christ?’ I asked, feeling irritation rising. “I’m to give up my family’s personal possessions, put myself in the power of a man who’s already tried to kidnap me, not to mention put myself in the clutches of a communist government that insists on participating in this crime. Further, I’m to go in more or less alone or with any of my personal friends that I choose to endanger? I hope you have a good explanation for this, Grayson.”

  “You’re out of line, Lieutenant Commander,” Turner snapped, anger settling on his features. “The Colonel doesn’t need to explain himself. He’s your superior officer and that’s all that matters.”

  I met Turner’s gaze with one equally hard, “The hell you say, Turner. Because if this kind of shit is how you people operate, then you can have my goddamned badge and my resignation right now! I told you how I feel about this shit before, Colonel.”

  “Who the hell—“ Turner began hotly.

  Grayson held up a hand, “At ease, everyone. At ease. I’m sorry, Scott. I shouldn’t have lied to you, but I did have a good reason.”

  “Colonel,” I stated. “There is never a good reason to lie to your friends. You lie to enemies, that’s acceptable. But I value the truth, both in myself and others. If I can’t trust you, then we can’t work together. There’s no negotiating that point with me.”

  Amanda said nothing but I swear I saw an imperceptible nod from her. Grayson sighed and had the decency to look sheepish.

  “Can we go inside and talk about it?” he asked.

  “No,” I said, “Because more has happened even since I spoke with you a while ago. Lisa went to speak with Ramon Tavares’ mother. Apparently, after leaving this interview, the mother was abducted and Lisa and Jackie gave chase. I don’t know the details. Except that the kidnappers managed to shoot out her tires and rolled her car over.”

  “Oh my God…” Amanda breathed.

  “They’re okay,” I said. “But currently dealing with the cops maybe ten or fifteen blocks from here. I think we should go over there and deal with that before we discuss our next moves.”

  “Christ…” Turner muttered. “You do get yourself into the quagmire, Jarvis.”

  I chuffed, “Yeah, Turner… it’s one of my powers.”

  The SEAL actually grinned, “I’ve walked a mile in those shoes. Hell, it’s a family trait. Goes at least as far back as my great grandfather.”

  I blinked in confusion. Grayson grinned.

  “Commander Arthur Turner was my great grandfather,” Turner explained. “Long history of naval service in the family.”

  “Wow…” I muttered, feeling a momentary sense of déjà vu.

  Although I’d obviously never met the man, I felt that I knew Turner a little through the story that Hank Lambert had told me. It also occurred to me that there sure seemed to be a lot of these coincidences cropping up in my life of late. I couldn’t take the time to ponder it then though.

  “Interesting… but let’s talk about that another time,” I said. “I’d appreciate it if we could ride over to the scene. What’d you come in, Colonel?”

  “A minivan,” Amanda said. “Seven passenger. You’re sure the girls are okay?”

  I shrugged as Grayson turned and led us back toward the parking lot, “Lisa says yes… but who knows. It sounds like the car skidded, hit the curb and went over on its side. Airbags deployed, and they were laughing about something… I was on Bluetooth when it happened. But it could be that adrenaline…”

  Amanda rested a hand on my arm and her pretty amber eyes met mine, “I’m sure they’re okay. I’ll give them a once over when we get there.”

  Getting to the scene was a bit more complicated than I’d hoped. With all of the one-way streets and the traffic back up at the scene, it took Turner a few minutes to weave us close enough to the intersection to park and walk over. When we arrived, there were two Miami-Dade police cruisers and a flatbed wrecker on the scene. A traffic cop was guiding cars through the coned off accident scene and there was a considerable backup. There was also a crowd of pedestrians that looked to be well over a hundred strong.

  “So much for social distancing…” Amanda muttered.

  I could see Lisa and Jackie standing in front of one of the cruisers. The car was parked along the curb behind the upturned Mercedes. The sight of the SUV on its side sent a little wave of queasiness rippling through my vitals.

  “Excuse us,” Grayson said to a group of looky-loos. “Official business.”

  “Make a lane, there!” I roared in frustration when nobody moved. They did then and we passed through the crowd and walked over to the cops.

  “Please stay back, folks,” The cop with the clipboard said irritably.

  Grayson showed his wallet and credentials, “Colonel Grayson, ICE. Federal agents, officer. We know the participants, one of whom is one of my team members.”

  The cop squinted his eyes at the badge Grayson displayed, “ICE? Never heard of it, Colonel.”

  “You will, son,” Grayson said. “But either way, we supersede you. Miss Stevvins is a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marine Corps and one of my officers. Ms. Gonzalez is… a friend.”

  “You gonna shove us off this?” The cop’s partner asked as he walked over and hitched up his gun belt.

  “Negative,” Grayson said. “But this is part of our investigation. We’d like to hear the statements as you take them down.”

  I pushed past this conversation and took Lisa in my arms and kissed her, “You okay?”

  She nodded and shivered a few times, “Yeah… just a little shaken up now that it’s over.”

  “Hey, I was there, too,” Jackie said with a crooked smile.

  I turned and hugged her too, “Glad you guys are okay.”

  “We need to talk,” Jackie said in a low voice into my ear. “About Mrs. Tavares.”

  Lisa met my eyes and nodded.

  “Can we get on with it?” The clipboarded cop asked reproachfully.

  “Hey, these two ladies were in a roll over,” I said, glaring at the pudgy faced officer. “Maybe you could spare a few fuckin’ seconds for a little comfort?”

  “Hey, pal, we’re tryin’ to get this cleaned up and we’d like to get traffic moving again, y’know?” The pudgy cop’s partner quipped.

  “I don’t give a damn what you want,” I said, leveling my glare on him.

  “It’s okay,” Lisa said, stepping forward and putting a hand on my arm. “It’s better if we get this over with fast.”

  I scowled and stepped back, spearing the two cops with my glare. I hoped that they got the point that if I felt they were being disrespectful to Lisa or Jackie that I would have no compunction about throwing my new Federal weight around.

  I was a little surprised that both Lisa and Jackie told the truth about the situation. There was no reason that they shouldn’t, it was simply that all of this cloak and dagger ICE junk seemed to lend itself to secrecy.

  “So you don’t know who these three guys are?” The cop taking the statement asked.

&nb
sp; “No,” Jackie replied. “And I’m fairly certain that there are now two guys. I believe I hit one before we turned onto Third Avenue.”

  “You shot one?” The second cop asked.

  “That’s what I said,” Jackie replied stonily.

  “Isn’t there some kind of law against that?” The first cop asked. “I mean a Marine operating on American soil?”

  “She’s not just a Marine,” Grayson stated. “All members of ICE operate within our borders as well as internationally. We’re a law enforcement agency primarily.”

  I could see that the cops didn’t like the idea of private citizens shooting at other private citizens in their town. However, the jurisdictional power of ICE meant that there was nothing they could do about it.

  “Okay,” the first cop said, setting his clipboard on the hood of his prowl car. “I’ve got your statements. We’ll file a report and then you can deal with your insurance company. I don’t know what the hell they’ll make of this.”

  In the interim, the wrecker crew had hooked up chains to the Mercedes and were currently hauling it upright and onto the flat bed. There was a resounding thump as the SUV came down on all four wheels again, a sickening screech and squeal and then the car was hauled up onto the ramp.

  The wrecker driver came over and gave Lisa a card and then they pulled away. The cops said the two ladies were free to go and we all started walking back toward the van.

  “So what’s so critical about Angelique Tavares?” I asked.

  Lisa sighed, “When I asked about Ray’s father she got really indignant.”

  “Tossed us out on our asses,” Jackie added with a grin.

  “Apparently he wasn’t Cuban,” Lisa continued. “Visiting from South America when he met Angelique sometime in the early seventies.”

  “Hmmm…” I muttered, rubbing my chin most thoughtfully.

  “Hmmm indeed,” Grayson said.

  “What does it mean?” Jackie asked.

  “Hmmm? It’s a nondescript utterance meant to convey thoughtfulness,” I explained.

  Amanda and Lisa tittered and Jackie punched me playfully, “Shithead.”

  I grinned and then sighed, “Maybe the info about Ray’s dad means nothing… but the Colonel here tells me that Manuel Garcia has a half-brother from Columbia. The father, while dead now, was involved in drugs before that. Garcia’s brother’s name is Antonio Bolivar. Just out of curiosity, what’s Ray’s father’s name?”

  Lisa and Jackie looked blank. Lisa shrugged, “We didn’t even get that. Angelique just flipped out when I tried to get more info about him… you don’t think…”

  “You think Tavares’ father is Garcia’s father?” Turner asked in shock.

  I spread my hands out wide, “I don’t think anything… yet… yet there are a lot of coinky dinks here… and you all know how I feel about those… well, maybe Turner here doesn’t.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot to ask,” Lisa said with a gleam in her eye. “Who’s the new cute guy?”

  “Commander Bryan Turner, miss,” Turner said, smiling at Lisa and taking her hand. It was definitely not the same smile I’d gotten. “It’s a true pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

  “That’s sweet,” Lisa said.

  I heard Jackie groan under her breath.

  “I’m very sorry that our investigation caused you such distress, Lisa… may I call you Lisa?” Turner asked charmingly.

  I suddenly felt the urge to put my fist straight into that pearly white grin. I wasn’t normally a jealous person. I wasn’t really feeling jealous at the moment, either. I knew Lisa and had no reason not to trust her. It was just that I could tell when another dude was blatantly coming on to my girlfriend and it rankled a little. At least have the decency not to do it in front of me, for all love!

  “Very thoughtful, Commander,” Lisa said, pulling her hand back. “But you can throttle back on the charm. I’ve already got myself a Navy man.”

  Jackie choked down a guffaw with less than perfect success. Turner’s face flushed, although he did manage to maintain his smile. He cut his eyes to Jackie and shrugged.

  “No offense, Lisa,” he said. “I didn’t mean to come on so strong. I guess I’ve got a weakness for beautiful strong women.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  “And who can blame you boys?” Lisa asked. “You are but men, after all.”

  Jackie tittered and I glanced at her, “Oh, you think that’s funny, huh, Gunny?”

  Jackie cleared her throat, came to attention and said: “Aye, aye, sir!”

  “Everybody’s a wise ass…” I muttered.

  26

  I was going to call Ray Tavares as soon as we got back to his boat, but he beat me to the punch. He was waiting for us when we walked down the dock and he looked none too pleased.

  “Can I assume you heard?” I asked as I led the way up the brow.

  “Yes… I got a call just a few minutes ago,” he said, looking visibly perturbed. “They have my mother… and they say that you know why.”

  “In truth, I don’t,” I replied, squeezing his shoulder. “Although I have a pretty good idea. Let’s go inside and have a talk. It’s about time you met my friends here as well.”

  We all took seats in the big saloon. Ray poured himself a rather stiff scotch and sat looking uncomfortable. I introduced everyone and Ray was more than a little surprised by the connection as well as the far-reaching power of ICE.

  “So let me get this straight,” he said. “Your organization is now involved with my… whatever is going on?”

  Grayson nodded, “It seems so. International elements that we’ve been monitoring for some time seem to be involved somehow.”

  Ray looked to me, “And you think you know who kidnapped my mother and why?”

  I sighed, “It has to do with that map to El Dorado. I have it on good authority that Raul Montoya provided the men responsible for the two break-ins… aboard this yacht and my grandparents’ house. His men were also working with Cooper and Nikki. And I’d bet anything they were the ones that offed the Morris brothers.”

  “But why…?” Ray asked in abject bewilderment.

  “You said it yourself, your father wasn’t Cuban,” I went on. “When Lisa and Jackie here went to talk to your mother and asked about him, she got very upset.”

  Ray frowned, “She doesn’t like to think of those days.”

  “It’s more than just that, Ray,” Lisa added. “She nearly flew into a rage. Why? What’s the big deal?”

  Ray looked uncomfortable, “It’s… its very personal for her.”

  I was getting tired of this shit, “Dammit, Ray! People have been murdered, kidnapped and threatened. The time for keeping secrets is over. Do you know who your father is or not?”

  The Cuban took in a long shuddering breath, “His name was Antonio Bolivar.”

  “Oh, holy Jesus…” Grayson muttered. “Mr. Tavares, did you know that your father was involved in drug smuggling during the eighties?”

  Ray scowled, “There were rumors. My mother knows much more, I think. She doesn’t like to speak of it.”

  “Well, we’re going to damned well speak of it now,” I said sternly. “The Colonel here informs me that your father had several children. One of whom is named Manuel Garcia. I’ve dealt with him before, in Nicaragua, and he’s involved. He’s the one holding your cargo ship in Havana harbor. He’s the one I have to go meet tomorrow and deliver my family’s map in order to get the ship, crew and a possibly rogue FBI agent free.”

  “Ay dios mio…” Ray said, holding his head in his hands.

  “And that’s not all,” Grayson put in. “You have another brother, Mr. Tavares. A Columbian named after your father, Antonio Bolivar. And yes, he’s a drug lord there.”

  “All of this is starting to make sense now,” Lisa said. “The connection between Ray and Garcia… although it’s still kind of muddy.”

  “I have a theory,” I said unhappily. “Although the connections are st
ill a bit muddy, as the lovely lady says.”

  “What’s your theory?” Turner asked.

  “Okay, let’s see if I can put this all in some kind of order…” I began, getting up and pacing. I wished I had my pipe.

  “Sherlock is about to educate us,” Jackie quipped.

  “Before I do,” I said, turning and facing Grayson. “I want to know why you lied to me.”

  Grayson drew in a breath and centered himself, “I said I couldn’t provide you with additional operatives tomorrow because I don’t want to tip our hand to Bolivar … that’s who you think is behind all of this, right?”

  “I think so,” I confirmed.

  “I do as well,” Grayson said. “We’ve had our eye on him for years but have been unable to nail him down enough to do something about him. But all that’s happened this year may finally make that possible. I didn’t want to use any of our personnel tomorrow just in case things went bad or somebody was caught. I don’t want Bolivar knowing that there’s a powerful organization on his trail until the time is right. I’m sorry, Scott… I just thought it was the best move under the circumstances.”

  “I understand that, Colonel… but you could have simply told me the truth. You could have trusted me.”

  Grayson sighed, “Fair enough.”

  I grunted something non-committal and continued to pace, “All right… the one thing I don’t get is how Bolivar, Garcia or even Nikki Sloane knew that I have Catherine Cook’s papers. I also don’t get why any of them would think Ray does… although the fact of his father also being the father of the man we’re chasing might answer that question. We’ll have to assume Bolivar knows about El Dorado. Somehow he knows who finally got their hands on the map and deed. We’ll put that aside for now.”

  Everyone was silent and nobody had anything to offer. That was unfortunate, because I’d hoped that since Grayson and ICE seemed to know everything that they might know that.

  “Sometime in the past year,” I began. “Someone broke into the Israeli records center at Yad Vashem. There they discovered a report filed by Simon Wiesenthal about an obscure secret Nazi mission. The mission was Hitler’s last gasp, a U-boat was to deliver a load of flesh-eating bacteria to Florida as a retaliatory biological strike.”