by Cap Daniels
Will I ever know the feeling Anya’s experiencing? Will I ever get to send my parents’ killers to Hell?
We returned to the bridge to find Dr. Richter at the helm and holding his arm at his chest. He’d suffered a gunshot to his shoulder during the gunfight that seemed somewhere in the distant past, but had only happened less than an hour earlier.
“How is shoulder, Papa?” asked Anya.
“It’s all right, but I’m going to need a doctor pretty soon. I’m not sure if the bullet’s still in there or not.”
“We’ll get you to a doctor as soon as possible, Coach, but for now, why don’t you go lie down? I can manage the boat.”
Years before, I began calling him Coach accidentally, but it soon became a moniker he appreciated.
Dr. Richter scoffed. “It’s just a gunshot wound, my boy. I’ve survived worse.”
Anya wore a look of distress. I wondered how someone so deadly as her could feel bad for killing Barkov and defending us from the crew determined to kill us and retake their boat.
She caught me staring at her. “From moment Papa told me story of mother and Dmitri, I begin planning how to kill him. Now is done, and I do not feel, um . . . otomshchennyy. I do not know English word for this.”
“Avenged,” I said. “You thought you’d feel avenged, but you don’t. Feeling guilty is okay.”
“No,” she demanded, “I do not feel guilty. I am happy he is dead and I am happy I killed him. I am sad it will not bring back my mother. You said to me is time for me to have everything I want, but I cannot have back my mother. What do we do now?”
“That’s what I’ve been wondering. Here we are on Barkov’s yacht. America’s over there. Cuba’s that way somewhere. And straight ahead are The Bahamas. I guess we need to decide where to get rid of this boat and get back into the States without getting arrested.” I peered out over the endless blue expanse of the Florida Straits where I’d watched Aegis, my beloved home, burn and disappear into the depths. “Everything I had was aboard my boat, Anya. Everything was on Aegis. Now it’s all gone.”
“No, Chase. Not everything you have was on Aegis boat. You have me, and you have Papa. You can buy again everything else.”
I sighed. “Of course, you’re right . . . you’re always right.”
2
Found Money
“We’ve got a pretty big problem,” I said. “Sooner or later, the Coast Guard is going to find what’s left of Aegis.”
“I’ve already taken care of that,” said Dr. Richter. “I talked with the commander at the Coast Guard station. He’s an old friend of mine, and he assures me there’ll be nothing in tomorrow’s paper about the fire and sinking of a sailing yacht off Key Largo.”
“It’s nice to have friends in high places,” I said, relieved, “but you’re still hurt, and we have to get you to a doctor.”
“We have some options,” he said, “but all of them have their own set of problems. If we head to a hospital in the States, they’ll have to report a gunshot wound. There’s almost no way around that. And that’ll lead to police involvement and a whole lot of questions we don’t want to answer.”
“How about The Bahamas?” I asked. “Can’t we duck into Freeport and pay a local doctor to patch you up? It can’t be more than a hundred miles.”
“That’s an option, but there’s a couple little problems with that plan, too. First, we don’t have any cash, and second, we’re on a big boat that somebody is going to recognize if we pull into Freeport. We don’t need the locals talking about the two Americans and the Russian woman on the big, flashy yacht.”
“There is money on boat,” said Anya.
That caught our attention.
“How do you know?” asked Dr. Richter.
“I have been on Barkov’s boats many times. He always has money. All we must do is open safe.”
I locked eyes with Dr. Richter, then he turned to program the navigation system. “I’ll get us headed to Freeport. You two find the safe and get it open.”
Anya and I ran down the stairs.
“You start on the lower deck and work up. I’ll start up here and work down toward you,” I said. “Finding the safe can’t be too hard.”
“No, Chase. I know where is safe. Come with me.”
She led me through a doorway and into the luxurious master stateroom.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. “This looks like something that should be in a five-star resort, not a stateroom on a boat.”
“Dmitri is”—Anya paused—“Dmitri was very wealthy man. He lived like king, even on boat.”
“You know, Anya, we have to work on your English now that you’re going to be an American girl. You’ll have to start using articles like the, an, and a. Dmitri lived like a king, even on the boat.”
Anya frowned and placed her hands on her hips. “I will make deal with you. First, you put my toe back on foot, then I use English articles. Is deal?”
During our first face-to-face confrontation, I’d shot off Anya’s little toe on her right foot to stop her from drowning me off the beach in Charlotte Amalie. The wound healed, but she’d never stop teasing me about it.
Anya opened a locker beneath the portside dressing table. “Safe is in here.”
Inside the locker was a solid steel door with a digital keypad and short chrome handle. Anya drew her knife from its sheath and stared at the drying blood that coated the blade before prying the digital panel from the front of the safe. When the panel finally fell into her hand, she went to work on the circuitry. I leaned in to watch her work. She probed carefully with the point of her knife, shorting almost microscopic circuits on the complex circuit board until a green light illuminated, and she turned the chrome handle. The door swung open.
“You’ll have to teach me that little skill.”
“I will teach many things for you,” she said coyly.
Inside the safe were stacks of banded cash from all over the world. Anya pulled twenty thousand dollars from the shelf and tossed it to me.
“This will pay for a doctor in The Bahamas for Papa, yes?”
I kissed the top of her head and walked back to the bridge. “She’s got skills, Coach. She cracked a digital safe in less than two minutes. How’s it possible she knows so much? She’s no older than I am.”
Dr. Richter cocked his head. “Can she catch a ninety-mile-per-hour breaking ball and gun down a runner sliding into second?”
“Come on, Coach. You know what I mean.”
“Yes, Chase, I know exactly what you mean, but you’re not hearing what I mean. While you were learning to catch breaking balls and gun down runners, she was learning tradecraft. She was a gymnast or a ballerina or a swimmer or a who-knows-what—maybe all three. But while she was learning to flip or dance or do the breaststroke, she was also being taught a staggering assortment of ways to kill a man, and how to pick any lock ever made. If you’d started training when she did, you’d have the same skill set. She had a few years’ head start. That’s all. Learn from her, my boy. Let her teach you things, and you teach her the things you learned here in America while she was being programmed in the Rodina—good ol’ Mother Russia.”
I wrinkled my brow. “What could I possibly teach her? She’s a much better operator than I am. She has skills I’ve never dreamed of having, and she already knows everything I know.”
“I’m not talking about teaching her tradecraft, son. Take her to a ball game, and teach her how to eat a chili dog and drink warm beer from a plastic cup. Teach her to surf and sail and scuba dive. Teach her how to be alive, Chase. Life isn’t always about the cloak-and-dagger bullshit. Sometimes it’s about dancing in the rain and counting the stars together. I’ll bet no one ever taught her how to do that behind the Iron Curtain.”
Before I could reply, Anya came bounding up the stairs and onto the bridge. She pointed to the stack of money lying on the console. “That is enough to pay for a doctor, yes?”
Dr. Richter patted the bills. “Yes
, of course, my dear. It’s more than enough, but the problem of this recognizable boat still remains. We need to come up with a plan to jump that hurdle.”
“I know what to do,” I said. “I know exactly what to do. Coach, can you make it through the night without a doctor?”
Dr. Richter placed his hand over his wounded shoulder. “Yes, it’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t get infected. What are you thinking?”
“Trust me. Head for Miami, Coach. I need a phone.”
“There is phone in main salon,” Anya said.
I leapt down the stairs, three at a time. I made my phone call and rushed back up the stairs, but I stopped near the top when I heard Dr. Richter and Anya talking about me.
“What do you think he is doing, Papa?”
“I have no idea, but I trust him. Don’t you?”
“Da,” she said. “I trust him, and I will like for him to teach me to eat chili dog and go to ball game.”
Dr. Richter laughed. “Do you know your boyfriend there was one of the greatest collegiate baseball players to ever play the game?”
“Papa,” she said, “I do not know this game, American baseball.”
“Ha! You don’t need to know the game to understand that Chase Fulton was one of the best. The game defined him once. He would’ve been a professional player if he hadn’t suffered that damned injury in the final game of his life while winning the College World Series. I wish you could’ve seen him play. He was fearless.”
Anya turned to see me topping the stairs onto the bridge.
“Head for Fowey Rocks Light,” I said. “It’s just southeast of Key Biscayne.”
He frowned. “Yeah, I know where it is, but why? There’s nothing up there except rocks and shallow water. That’s no place for a boat like this.”
“You’re right, Coach, but trust me on this one. I’ve got it all figured out.”
Dr. Richter turned to the console and programmed the chart plotter for the Fowey Rocks Lighthouse. The autopilot brought the yacht around and she settled on her new course.
* * *
“Okay, Chase. It’s time you let us in on your plan,” said Dr. Richter as the Fowey Rocks Light came into sight.
“We’re trading down,” I said. “I called Dominic Fontana in Miami, and he’s coming out to meet us. He’s bringing us a less conspicuous boat, and he’ll be taking this one back to Miami where it won’t draw as much attention. It’ll still be a big yacht, but in Miami, it won’t be the biggest.”
“Chase, you can’t start calling in favors like that. Involving more people in this only makes our situation worse.”
“I know, but it’s Dominic. He’s one of us, and he’s the best boat guy I know. Getting him involved isn’t like bringing in an outsider.”
“You’re right, but you have to let the rest of us in on these decisions. They affect all of us. Not just you.”
“I understand. I’m sorry, but I knew Dominic could help.”
“Who is Dominic Fontana?” asked Anya. “His name does not sound like name of real person.”
“He’s an old friend who helped build Aegis. Remember Aegis, Anya? Aegis was my home, my boat. The boat you sank with a very nice shot with an incendiary grenade a few hours ago.”
“Yes,” said Anya. “I remember Aegis. That is where I tied you up and cut your tongue in half because you would not answer questions.”
Anya had snuck aboard my boat in Charlotte Amalie, tranquilized me, and tied me to my bunk with piano wire. The interrogation that followed left me with a nasty tongue wound from her knife.
“Yeah,” I said, “you got lucky that time. But as I was saying, Dominic’s meeting us at the lighthouse. Let’s get outside and get some fenders overboard.”
Anya and I went to work hanging fabric-covered rubber fenders over the starboard rail so Dominic could lay alongside without damaging either boat. When the fenders were in place, I found four sections of line and prepositioned them for tying the boats together. A gorgeous, fifty-foot sailing catamaran came alongside. I tossed the lines to the deckhand standing on the bow of the cat, and soon the two boats were secured together.
Dominic Fontana strolled from beneath the hardtop of the catamaran and looked up at the much larger yacht as I leaned over the rail.
“Well, Chase Fulton, as I live and breathe. Where have you been, sailor?”
I smiled at my old friend. “It’s good to see you, Dominic. Come aboard. We’ve got a lot to do.”
Dominic disappeared beneath the hardtop, then returned with a bag thrown over his shoulder and three other men in tow. The four of them leapt aboard the yacht and headed for the main salon.
Dr. Richter welcomed the group aboard but cautiously surveyed the three men he didn’t know.
Dominic introduced the trio. “These are captains Egan and Bellamy. They’re here for the boat, and this is Doctor Cribb. He’s here for you, old man.”
Dr. Richter surveyed the group, but didn’t speak. He and Doctor Cribb left the main salon and headed for the galley where the light was much better. The two captains set about surveying the yacht, familiarizing themselves with the layout and controls. Anya, Dominic, and I stayed in our seats.
“So, Chase, who’s this beautiful young lady?”
“Dominic, meet Anya. She’s one of us now, and she’s the reason I need a new boat. I’ll tell you all about it sometime soon over a bottle of scotch, but for now, suffice it to say we’re extremely happy to see you.”
Dominic kissed Anya’s hand. “It’s truly a pleasure to meet you, Anya. If you’re running about with this bloke, I may have my doubts about your sanity, but it’s still a pleasure.”
Anya smiled, obviously taken by the charming older man. “Is pleasure to meet you, Dominic, but I’m not running about with Chase. I’m looking after him because he keeps getting himself in trouble.”
Anya and Dominic laughed at my expense.
“Okay, enough picking on me for one day. We’ve got a lot to do. First, Dominic, you need to know a little about this boat. Until a few hours ago, she belonged to Dmitri Barkov of the former KGB, and most recently of Russian mafia fame. Currently, if the sharks haven’t made a buffet of him yet, he’s a couple thousand feet beneath the Florida Straits with a nice little knife wound in his chest, courtesy of the lovely Anya here. She’s pretty handy with sharp objects, and she isn’t a bad shot either.”
Dominic gazed admiringly at Anya, expressing his newfound respect.
“So,” I went on, “what you do with the boat is up to you. I suspect there will be a few people looking for her, so a paint job and some exterior remodeling might be in order. We’ll get your catamaran back to you as soon as possible. As I told you on the phone, Aegis suffered a similar fate to Barkov, so I’m a little homeless at the moment.”
“No,” he said, “the catamaran is yours, Chase. We can’t have you living under a bridge, now can we? She’s well-equipped, but purely non-tactical. She was a hurricane salvage, but we put her back together, polished her up a bit, and set her back afloat. You’ll want some upgrades if you decide to keep her, but she’ll make a fine honeymoon suite for the two of you.”
“What is honeymoon suite?” asked Anya.
“I’ll explain later,” I said.
Dr. Richter came back into the main salon with his shoulder bandaged and his arm supported by a sling. He wore a grim look.
Anya ran to him. “Papa, what did doctor say? You are okay, yes?”
He kissed Anya’s cheek. “No, my dear. Unfortunately, I’m not okay. It doesn’t appear the bullet’s still in there, but there’s damage that needs to be repaired. I’m an old man and not as bulletproof as I was thirty years ago. I’m going back to Miami with Dominic and the good doctor here. Our friends there can get me fixed up without involving anymore unnecessary folks in our little adventure.”
“Oh, Papa, I will go with you.”
Dr. Richter took her hands in his. “No, Anastasia. You belong with Chase. I’ll be fine, and we
’ll be together again soon. We still have a lot of paperwork before we officially make you an American, but it won’t take long. I’ll be in touch in a few days, and we’ll go from there. In the meantime, you go with Chase. Somebody has to keep him out of trouble.”
Anya didn’t protest. She hugged her father and kissed his cheeks. “YA lyublyu tebya, Papa.”
“I love you, too, my child.” He brushed Anya’s long blonde hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Now, go. You two make your way toward where you first met Aegis, and I’ll make sure someone meets you there with what you’ll need. Go on. We don’t have time for long goodbyes.”
I rose from the settee, shook Dominic’s hand, and thanked him for everything.
Dominic looked at Dr. Richter, then at Anya, and finally back at me. “He’s her father?”
“It’s a long story, but I’m sure Dr. Richter will fill you in on the trip back to Miami. Take good care of him, okay? He’s one of the last remaining good guys left on Earth.” I turned to Dr. Richter. “We’ll see you soon, Coach. You do what the doctors say. And no flirting with the nurses.”
“I’d rather die than live by those ridiculous rules. Now get out of here.”
I chuckled, knowing Dr. “Rocket” Richter would be the star of the orthopedic ward in a day or two.
I reached for Anya’s hand and walked away from my mentor. Once again, I’d set out on the ocean with the woman who both terrified and thrilled me beyond my wildest imagination.
3
Honeymoon
I stepped from the deck of the luxurious yacht onto the portside hull of the smaller catamaran and offered my hand to Anya. Not surprisingly, she ignored my offer and leapt gracefully aboard, landing soundlessly on the deck, and then she went into the cabin.
