Havana Hustle (Coastal Fury Book 6)

by Matt Lincoln

  “Call whatever favors you need. Please.” I hated saying the magic word, but there it was. “We are in the middle of a big case, and if we play this right, we’re building goodwill with the Cuban government.”

  “I know. I’ll call you back in thirty minutes. Do what you need to do.”

  “Copy that.”

  As she ended the call, I stared at the light traffic around me as the implications plowed through my mind. Whatever Whittingham’s game was, his interference was screwing with an important investigation. The first question was whether he knew we were onto the Delgado case. If so, that begged the second question of whether he had an interest in that operation.

  I dialed Donald Farr. He answered on the second ring.

  “What is it?”

  “Hello to you, too, Admiral,” I snarked. “I think we have a problem.”

  I ran through the highlights of the case and told him what I’d just learned from Diane.

  “You could be right.” Farr cleared his throat. “I’ll make sure you have your cash available within an hour, Ethan. My people will make it look like an emergency release of funds.”

  “I appreciate that, sir, but if there’s no money there, how—”

  “I’m a wealthy man. Consider a donation to the cause of justice.” Farr chuckled. “When the problems are resolved, MBLIS can pay me back.”

  “With interest?” I ventured.

  “We’ll see. I’ll keep eyes and ears on the senator after this case is closed.”

  “Thank you, Admiral.” I parked in the marina lot and leaned my head back against the Charger’s headrest. “We’ll get this sorted out.”

  “I have no doubts, son.” He coughed away from the phone and then cleared his throat again. “Good hunting. Get those sons of bitches and take them off the board.”

  “Copy that, sir.”

  I stared at the phone after the call ended. Ever since Farr pulled me into investigating a suspicious source of funding cuts at MBLIS, the Miami office had lost major resources. The plane we once used to travel throughout the Caribbean was sent off to Hawaii, and the Cybercrimes unit had been halved. Now, this. Wittington’s position as a Florida senator was no coincidence with the activities of our office being impacted by these cuts.

  I went over the threads to the funding cuts, rumors about the senator’s involvement in drug trafficking, and the current case. Was it possible that Wittington was part of the racket? Manny González had the potential to be the solid lead I needed to link Wittington to all sorts of badness.

  That meant we’d have to capture Manny alive. Our objective was to bring in suspects alive, but more than a few bad guys made bad choices that led to their deaths.

  I went down to my houseboat and puzzled through the facts as I showered and got ready to play the part of Ted Sutton to Holm’s Liam King. A knock sounded at my door as I buttoned up the preppy short-sleeve shirt I’d chosen for the delivery.

  Expecting Holm, I pulled the door open. Diane stood on the dock with a silver suitcase at her side. I opened the screen door and let her in.

  “How did you pull this off, Ethan?” she asked in a quiet voice. “Don’t deny you had something to do with it.”

  I put on a hell of a poker face.

  “What are you talking about?”

  She dropped the case at my feet with a thunk.

  “This arrived within twenty minutes of when I told you that I didn’t know if I could get the money.” She narrowed her eyes. “What I told you was in confidence, may I remind you.”

  I hated lying to my boss and, more importantly, my friends. Diane was a colleague and friend long before she became my boss. She and Holm deserved to know about Wittington, but Farr’s order rang in my head. He was officially retired, but I had growing doubts about how retired he was. That was one man I dared not cross. At the same time, the secrecy scratched at my conscience.

  “I don’t know where it came from.” That much was true, more or less.

  “Officially, it was an emergency delivery from the national headquarters.” She crossed her arms. “Funny that I was on the phone waiting to talk to someone at HQ when this showed up.”

  “I guess it went up the chain of command quicker than expected.”

  “Damn it, Ethan…”

  The screen door creaked open.

  “‘Damn it, Ethan’ what?” Holm asked. “What’d I miss?”

  Diane cleared her face and smiled at Holm.

  “I had to carry that money all the way down to this floating house because he couldn’t be bothered to pick up his phone,” she grumbled.

  I glanced at my phone and saw the missed call. That part could have been true. Chain of custody required her to have me sign for it. Somehow, though, I didn’t think carrying that case bothered her one whit.

  “Did you get the coordinates yet?” Holm asked.

  I grabbed the Cuban phone from my kitchen counter and checked it. The message notification blinked. They’d sent the location while I was in the shower, so I texted back the confirmation. Thirty seconds later, Holm’s phone chimed with a message.

  “Why do they send you these things first?” he complained.

  “I guess they see you as my lackey,” I teased.

  Diane shrugged. “Don’t knock it. You played it as the buddy in charge, and they’ve defaulted to you.” She smirked. “Make sure that Robbie gets a turn being the guy in charge some time.”

  Holm finished his confirmation text and then waved off her comment.

  “Nah. That just means more playacting for me.”

  I pulled the coordinates up on my GPS, although I had a good idea where they led. When the map showed the meet location, I shook my head and chuckled.

  “This is just down the shore from where Dollar Store parks his boat.” I looked up at Holm and snapped my fingers. “That’s where Sylvia and Lamarr can hit the water. By the time the cars are offloaded, they can get that tracker on and away.”

  “I’ll pass that on,” Diane told us.

  “Robbie, let Dollar Store know so that they don’t give him a heart attack.”

  Holm laughed and got on the phone, while Diane pulled me out to the dock.

  “We are going to talk about this money later,” she told me. “You’re not telling me something. I know you too well to not see that. Whatever it is, I’m sure you think you’re doing the right thing. After this case settles, the next right thing is to tell me what the hell is going on.”

  “I can’t promise that.” I scratched at the back of my head. “This… this thing is bigger than our office or me. All I can do is ask that you trust me.”

  Although it was too dark for a good look, I felt the hurt in her eyes. She was in a crappy position as a regional director, my boss, and my teammate.

  “Do not make me regret it,” she whispered as Holm came outside. She turned to him. “Go get those cars, boys. See you on the flip side.”

  She stalked away with staccato steps, and Holm cocked his head at me.

  “What did you do to piss her off?”

  I faked a nonchalant grin. “What haven’t I done?” I fetched the case and then locked up my place. “It’s getting late, Liam, old buddy. How about we collect our new babies?”

  Holm’s cocky grin made things feel almost normal. “Ted, this will be an excellent adventure.”

  CHAPTER 45

  I rarely took my 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 out for work. Since my baby was in great condition and worth a few pennies of her own, it was my way of showing off. Before leaving the marina garage, however, I put a set of dummy plates on her that I kept for such occasions.

  On the way to the delivery location, Holm complained about the faltering air conditioning. “It’d be better to put the windows down.”

  “It’s muggy as hell outside,” I reminded him. “Besides, the wind would mess up your hair.”

  “At this point, I almost don’t care.”

  “Ha,” I laughed. “You said ‘almost’!”

/>   He cranked the fan as high as it went and turned the vents on his face. I glanced over for a laugh but saw him frown.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “I don’t like not having a twenty on Philippe.” He stared ahead at the road. “He didn’t try too hard to keep Arturo from knowing where to find Yoani.”

  “He shot Arturo in the leg.”

  “Right, but I’m not sure he meant to do that.” Holm drummed on his knees, something he only did when struggling to piece things together. “I think Philippe wanted us to find Yoani and Felicia. We got there sooner than he expected.”

  “Then what was the point of taking Yoani?” I pulled over a street over from the delivery coordinates and turned off the headlights. “He’s been all about keeping her safe, but now, he kidnaps her?”

  “See? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “He had a dust-up with Manny earlier.” I leaned back and rubbed my chin. “Felicia Delgado’s father was José. It’s a safe bet that he gave her that damn list. He wouldn’t have allowed his wife to take it back to Cuba, where the government could use it.”

  “Which means that if Manny found out Philippe was a real Delgado, Felicia would’ve been in danger.”

  I snapped my fingers. “He took Yoani there because he knew we’d put them both under protection. He cut it close so that he knew we were there before Manny’s boys.”

  “Okay,” Holm agreed. “Now that makes sense.”

  “All he has to do now is lie low until the González brothers are off the board.” I checked my watch as a high-set pair of lights pulled up behind us, flashed twice, and then went out. “Rudy’s here.”

  Seconds later, my favorite mechanic knocked on my window. I rolled the window down.

  “You have got to stop idling her with the air running, son.”

  I groaned. “She’s fine, Rudy.” I ignored his scoff. “It’s time. I’ll text you when we’re ready for the truck.”

  “Roger, wilco.”

  Rudy vanished into the night, and I hit the lights and drove the rest of the way to the delivery site. Manny had chosen a rundown dock next to an abandoned pier. A single, flickering light shone on the loading area, where a medium-sized commercial fishing boat bobbed against its ties.

  My neck hairs bristled. I turned off the air and cracked the windows. It was too quiet, even for a clandestine event.

  “Nothing’s moving,” Holm whispered.

  I flashed my headlights, and nothing happened. After a couple of minutes, I tried again. Nothing.

  “Text Javier,” I told Holm. “Ask if we have the right location.”

  Within seconds of the text, Holm’s phone beeped twice.

  “It bounced,” he said. “I replied to the same number, but now it says there’s no such number.”

  “Shit.” I tried to text Javier and got the same result.

  An engine surged to life from beyond the fishing boat. I pulled forward and caught a speedboat in my headlights as it churned away from the dock. I jumped out of the car and grabbed our shoulder holsters and weapons from my hatchback. Holm was on his cellphone by the time I got his gun to him.

  “He will?” Holm asked into the phone. “Great. We’ll repay him for the fuel.”

  “Lamarr and Sylvia?”

  “Yeah. They were just getting into the water. Dollar Store is bringing them over.”

  “Let’s see if we can get this tub going,” I told Holm. “We can try to keep up for a while.”

  That notion died as soon as we jumped onto the fishing boat. Two men were crumpled on the deck next to the open cargo hold. Holm and I checked out the rest of the boat but found no one else on board. He got on the phone with Diane while I shined a flashlight into the hold. There, in their promised rack, safe and sound, were the cars we’d ordered. On the floor of the hold was a bonus.

  “Looks like they forgot something.” I pointed down at a broken bale of white powder. “Someone got messy.”

  “Ahoy there!”

  None other than Dollar Store, Wendell Muskie himself, pulled alongside the fishing boat. Muñoz and Birn, geared up for the canceled dive, were with him. Birn used his long arms to grab the side of the fishing boat and haul himself aboard. Muñoz took his hand and followed suit.

  “Hang tight there, Wendell,” I called out. “How much fuel do you have?”

  “Uh, truth be told, I just filled her up for a hop to Freetown.”

  “Marston, what are you doing?” Muñoz demanded.

  “Whoever offed these guys is out there. Dollar Store’s boat is all we got if we want to catch them.”

  Birn raised a brow and took a long look at the rusty speedboat.

  “Don’t you look at me like that,” Dollar Store hollered up at us. “She’s faster’n she looks.”

  “I doubt that,” Muñoz muttered. “You’re going to do something stupid, aren’t you?”

  I grinned. “It’s only stupid if it doesn’t work.” I went to the side of the fishing boat and looked down at our long-term informant. “What d'you think, Wendell? Ever been to Havana?”

  Dollar Store swore, but I couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad thing.

  “The patrols will shoot us outta the water,” the man whined. He put his hand on the throttle but didn’t push.

  “Muñoz, make sure they don’t shoot us out of the water.” I jumped into the speedboat, and Holm landed on the passenger seat, which had a thick layer of clutter. “We can’t stick around.”

  “Well, if they let us through…” Dollar Store stared at me with wide eyes and pushed the throttle forward. “I always did want to see Havana.”

  “Marston!” Muñoz yelled.

  “See you soon,” I shouted back over the grumbling motors.

  Wendell’s boat picked up speed with more gumption than I expected. The sudden acceleration knocked something over in the cabin below, and I was afraid to know what.

  “It’s at least ten hours by boat,” Holm told me. “We could get there faster in so many other ways.”

  “Really?” I raised a brow. “Think about it. Diane would have to haggle with everyone between here and Havana to get it cleared. We could call the Coasties, but if they intercept, we’ll never find the crew in Havana. Whoever is on that boat will lead us straight there.”

  “Not if they see us following.” Holm shook his head. “I don’t know, Ethan. This is one of the more hare-brained stunts we’ve pulled.”

  I rubbed the bridge of my nose. How to explain that this felt right? My gut hadn’t failed me yet. Then again, there was always a first time.

  “Ahem.” Wendell handed the wheel to Holm and then cleared the passenger seats of junk. The seats were surprisingly clean beneath his cheap knock-offs. “You guys know I’ve been cleaning up my life, right?”

  “Sure…” Maybe his life, but definitely not his boat slash living space. “What does that have to do with the boat we’re following?”

  “I’ve been able to tinker again.” He ducked into the cabin. “I used to do that, fix things.” He emerged with a wrench. “I can tweak the engines on the run. It takes more fuel, but we can move.”

  “Why would you need more speed?” I asked in a casual tone. As far as I knew, he hadn’t gotten any deeper than selling cheap crap.

  He met my eye with a serious look. “I got stuck on Grand Bahama after that big hurricane, remember?” At my nod, he continued. “That’s not going to happen again.”

  He slipped under the dash and used the wrench to open a small panel. A few seconds later, the engines surged, and we flew along. I looked far ahead and saw a small bit of churning water where the other speedboat threatened to outpace us.

  “We don’t want to get too close,” I reminded Holm and Dollar Store. “This may be our last chance to be part of bringing down the Havana side of the operation.”

  Wendell went below to return the wrench, but he paused at the cabin door.

  “Uh, I’m just gonna tidy up in here.” He disappeared into the dark inter
ior.

  “I only smelled a little weed,” Holm told me in a quiet tone. “I bet he’s hiding what’s left.”

  “Or fake Gucci bags,” I laughed.

  At that point, we settled in for the long ride. We were out of cell phone range fairly quickly, so I didn’t have to answer any call that Diane might have sent to order me back.

  I never learned what he did to soup up what I’d thought was a clunker, but Wendell’s speedboat made good time. We kept the other boat barely in sight and prayed they didn’t look back to see us. My stomach growled halfway into the ride. Food had been the last thing to cross my mind when we jumped aboard for the unplanned journey.

  “You fellas hungry?”

  Wendell’s voice carried up from below as if he’d read my mind. I was at the wheel while Holm rested and spotted our quarry’s position.

  “I don’t want to take your food,” I said. In truth, I was afraid of what he might have down there. “We’ll be fine.”

  Dollar Store stood halfway out of the cabin. “I’ll add it to your tab.”

  He grinned, and I saw that he’d lost another tooth. No matter how much better he was in other ways, being poor put dental care out of reach.

  Holm stretched and rubbed his eyes. The sun was a little over the horizon, and even though it was at our backs, there was a glare that made for a lot of squinting.

  “I need a break. Let’s see what you have,” Holm said. “Ethan, I’ll take another turn in a little bit.”

  Faint laughter floated up from the cabin with the heavenly aroma of bacon. By the time Holm relieved me, I was ready to eat the vinyl seats. I entered the cabin with a little fear, but it dispersed when I got a good look.

  “You expected me to be a hoarder, didn’t you?”

  Wendell stood at a kitchenette that was acceptably clean. The seating area was worn, but functional and clean. He had a space at the back blocked by a curtain. I recognized the area as off-limits and didn’t ask.

  “Bacon, eggs, and some tomatoes I got from a friend.” He grinned and handed me a plate.

  The rhythmic bouncing of the boat over swells made his job trickier than most people would handle. This was a new side of a guy who used to slink around stinking of body odor and bad weed.