The Sea Horse Trade

by Sasscer Hill

  “Here you go.” I controlled an insane desire to laugh.

  “Very soon we will tattoo you with a little horse,” he said. “We will sell you, and when the buyer is finished with you, I will find you.” He smiled. “Then you will become a street whore.”

  Jade’s face drained to white. I stopped breathing. Victor grabbed the glass from me and downed the contents in one greedy swig. I exhaled.

  CHAPTER 50

  Klaire’s potion worked immediately. Victor’s eyes widened, he made a choking noise, then sagged forward onto the glass table, knocking the wine bottle over. It rolled across the table, slopping red wine that spread and dripped onto the carpet below.

  “Victor!” Currito cried, rushing forward.

  I hardened my heart as I slid my fingers around the dagger. God help me.

  I lunged across the table and drove the blade of the knife across Currito’s neck. His cry became a gurgle. His blood spurted and pumped out in jets.

  Carla leapt up from the floor, snatched the wine bottle, and smashed his head. I grabbed the knife from his unresisting fingers and blood smeared my hands. Had I really killed a man?

  “Don’t think about it,” Carla said.

  “Right.” I held the knife out to Carla. “Take this.”

  She did and stepped closer to Jade. I pushed back from the table and grabbed Jade’s arm.

  “We’re getting off this ship!”

  The girl stared at me, her confused gaze shifting to the two men slumped over the table. She seemed numb. I jerked her arm.

  “We have to go!”

  “But we’re locked in.”

  “Maybe not,” I said.

  Carla glared at her daughter. “Go on!”

  Jade scrambled off the bed and followed me to the door. The handle turned. In their arrogance, the two men hadn’t even bothered to lock the door. I pulled it open. Then the three of us were in the passage outside. I pushed the lock button and yanked the door closed behind us.

  I looked right and left. Where was Gonzales? Maybe closer to the bow, or up top with the captain. Voices sounded from that direction and we fled down the hall toward the stern, stopping at the spiral staircase. From the lower floor, the sound of the engine vibrated upward. We peered down. Two men in short sleeved shirts with epaulets walked in the passage below. Crewmen.

  Up the stair shaft, all was quiet and motionless. We scooted up, finding ourselves in the lounge we’d been dragged through before. No one there. What had they done with Rick’s body? Thrown it overboard? I shuddered and forced myself to look around.

  Couches upholstered in silver and white leather. A black marble bar I hadn’t noticed before across the room. I motioned Jade and Carla to follow, ran to the bar, and opened its narrow side door. We slipped inside, and dropped to the floor.

  “What are we doing?” Jade asked.

  “Hiding,” Carla said.

  “I’m going to find us a lifeboat.” I slowly rose to look over the bar counter. I strained my senses, searching for voices, sounds, or movement. Nothing. On the back wall, there was a long couch, a coffee table, and a huge flat-screen. I didn’t see a phone. But I did see a silver lighter and cigarette box lying next to an ashtray. That lighter would fire up a cherry bomb.

  Windows lined the wall across the room. I could see the railing outside, lit by the exterior lights on the yacht.

  “Come on,” I said.

  The three of us crept from the bar. I made a “wait here” motion and jogged to the coffee table, where I slid the silver lighter into my pocket. I gestured at the sliding door in the wall of glass, so close to where Rick had been lying. A long damp spot marred the carpet, and the chemical smell of rug cleaner hung in the air. I didn’t look too closely at the stain.

  I slid the glass door open and eased my head out. Jerked back. Too late. Gonzales. He barreled toward me.

  I flicked the silver lighter, grabbed a cherry bomb, and lit the short fuse.

  “Run!” I shouted to Jade and Carla.

  I tossed the bomb into the doorway. We tore across the lounge and plunged down the spiral staircase. I heard loud popping noises and a shriek from Gonzales above. We kept going. At the bottom, I lit a second firecracker and threw it down the passage toward the bow of La Sirena. We ran toward the stern, Gonzales’s feet pounding down the stairs somewhere behind us.

  I opened a cabin door and we slipped inside. I left the door open a crack and watched the hall. Bang! The little bomb exploded, and Gonzales raced in that direction, probably imagining he was hot on our trail.

  We bailed from the cabin through acrid smoke that filled the passageway. We ran toward the back of the yacht, passing the room we’d escaped from. It was still closed, locked, and silent.

  We paused when we reached the wide opening to the rear deck. The crew must use it to bring in supplies. A pleasant odor reached me from an open door. The galley. I was so hungry. I could swear I smelled bread baking.

  A huge dumbwaiter outside the galley must service the ship with goodies from the kitchen. I imagined a dozen cocktails with little umbrellas and sandwiches rising from the galley to the sun deck.

  Get with it! How long did I think it would be before Gonzales sent crewmen after us? Before he saw what I’d done to Currito and Victor?

  I shifted my attention to what lay beyond the opening.

  “Let’s see what’s out there, “I said.

  CHAPTER 51

  Slowly we inched onto the rear deck of La Sirena. A bright moon had risen overhead. The area stretched before us, appearing deserted. Where did they keep the life boats? I didn’t see any. I led the way to the railing and stared out. We were in the open sea, slowly plowing straight out, slicing into those twelve miles of US control before reaching international waters.

  The dim outline of a steamer moved silently away from us at right angles. Calling for help across the empty water didn’t seem an option. Beyond La Sirena’s wake, a web of night lights shimmered and winked from an increasingly shrinking coastline.

  A loud splash from below. We peered over the rail. Jade’s breath sucked in. I followed her gaze. Pale skin and hair floating on the surface. My horror quickly dissolved. Not a body, only a fish, maybe a porpoise or dolphin. He must have flashed his white underside. What looked like hair had to be seaweed.

  With a loud splash, a glistening tail surfaced. Whatever it was, it dove deep into the sea.

  I turned from the railing. Did I smell horse? Jade and Carla followed me toward a dark area in the center of the deck. As we drew closer, the image solidified. A swimming pool, enclosed by railing. No reflection from water. I caught the scent of sawdust. It must fill the bottom. A cleated, aluminum ramp lay on the deck behind the pool.

  “There’s something in there.” Jade’s voice quivered.

  I stared into the dark pit. Diablo’s eyes gleamed back through the rails. He lifted his head into the ambient light. His ears pricked forward, his nostrils working to place my scent. He whinnied.

  I called softly, “Good boy.”

  He shook his head up and down and nickered.

  I whispered to Carla and Jade. “Stand under that.” I pointed. A pool-side umbrella provided cover.

  “Why you here?” a male voice asked.

  Whipping my head toward the sound, I saw the injured groom, Pedro, sitting on a chaise lounge in some deeper shadows by the pool. I walked closer to him. His expression was more curious than threatening.

  “How you get away?” he asked.

  “We haven’t yet,” I said, “but Currito is dead.”

  “Los otros hombres son muy malos!”

  I didn’t need to be told the other men were very bad. “We need a lifeboat. Will you help us, Pedro?”

  He stared at me a moment. “Si. I will help you.”

  “Can you get Diablo out of there?”

  At first, he looked at me like I was crazy. Then understanding, he nodded. “What you do,” he said, “is better than to stay with these men.”


  “Are there life jackets?” I asked.

  He pointed to a supply cabinet near the rear entrance.

  “Jade, grab three life jackets out of there!”

  “Why?”

  “Just get the fucking jackets!”

  She ran for them. Pedro opened part of Diablo’s railing. Carla grabbed one end of the aluminum ramp and she and Pedro slid it into the pool.

  Diablo stomped one hoof onto the ramp and snorted. He tossed his head up and eyed the cleats with alarm. He tested it, placing another hoof on the board.

  With soft words, Pedro encouraged Diablo before turning to me.

  “What you need,” he said, pointing “está allí.”

  I ran to a supply cabinet by the pool and ripped the door open. I pulled out two lead shanks, grabbed a tiny exercise saddle, and the neck strap of a martingale. I started to turn, then plucked a long coiled lunge line off a hook.

  Diablo snorted and blew as his hooves crashed up the metal ramp. I ran back to him, tossed the saddle to Carla, and reached Diablo just in time to grab his halter and snap the two leads to the rings on either side of his nose.

  Pedro took the saddle from me, threw it onto the colt’s back, then slid the martingale strap over Diablo’s head. It settled around the colt’s neck. God, or Diablo, or somebody liked us, because the colt stood there like a rock.

  Pedro got the girth fastened. Jade handed Carla and me life jackets; hers was already on. I set mine down and snapped the clip on the end of the lunge line to a ring on Jade’s life vest.

  “Keep the line coiled up and hold it tight, Jade” I said, before turning to Carla.

  “Carla, you have to—”

  Shouting erupted overhead.

  “Oh, God,” she said.

  I followed her frightened gaze. Gonzales stood at the railing on the deck above with two men. He pointed at Jade and Carla. Shit. They didn’t seem to notice Pedro and me. They ran for a metal staircase and quickly descended to the deck.

  Carla moved closer and grabbed my arm. “Take care of Jade. I’ll buy you some time.” She raised the knife and flew toward Gonzales.

  He kept running at us, then broke stride. He raised his gun.

  “No!” Carla screamed.

  Gonzales held his gun with both hands, aiming at Carla. Still she ran straight at him. He shot her. She sagged onto the deck. Almost lazily, he walked toward her and shot her in the head. Making sure.

  The other two men stood behind him, staring at Carla’s body.

  I grabbed Jade. “Jump over the rail. Now!”

  Frozen, she stared at Carla’s limp form. No time for that. I was older, fitter, and probably twice as strong. I grabbed her, pushed her to the railing, and threw her overboard.

  Pedro’s eyes were as big and round as Diablo’s hooves. “Madre de Dios!”

  “Give me a leg up,” I said. He did, and I picked up the lead lines, then hooked two fingers in the neck strap.

  “Buena suerte,” the little man whispered. He disappeared down the ramp into the pool.

  I turned Diablo’s head toward the railing.

  Hell. My life jacket was on the deck. A bullet whined past my head. Screw the jacket.

  “Come on, Diablo, move it!”

  He snorted, eyeing the rail with doubt. I locked my fingers into his thick mane and the martingale strap. He whirled toward the men running at us. He must have picked up Gonzales’s scent. With a half rear, he bolted toward them with me hanging on for dear life.

  Gonzales’s two men cursed as Diablo bore down on them. They scattered like rats to either side. Standing steady, Gonzales aimed his gun at Diablo. But he underestimated Diablo’s rocket speed. The horse knocked him down as he pulled the trigger. The shot tore past my head; the gun skittered across the deck.

  I clung to the strap, my knees in a death grip on the colt’s shoulders. How far behind the yacht had Jade drifted? Gonzales crawled for his gun.

  I turned Diablo toward the rail. “Yah!” I yelled, slapping his neck with a lead line.

  He started forward, then balked, his metal hooves striking sparks on the deck as he propped and stopped.

  “Come on, you son of a bitch!” I screamed, and slapped his shoulder as hard as I could with the palm of my hand.

  He snaked his head back and forth angrily. I could hear his thoughts.

  You want me to jump? Watch this.

  He pinned his ears and charged the rail, gaining speed, gathering himself. He sailed into the air, and everything shifted to slow motion.

  The rail passed lazily beneath us, the sea foamed far below. Plenty of time to lean back in the saddle, slide my legs forward, and brace my feet against the stirrups for the inevitable downward plunge. We floated straight out. I saw Jade bobbing in the water in the distance, then we began our descent.

  The water rushed toward us, I took a deep breath, and Diablo plunged into the sea.

  CHAPTER 52

  Diablo dove down, descending deeper and deeper. The ambient light from the surface receded to black and still we went down. A strong current seemed to grip us.

  Beneath me, Diablo jerked, raising his forelegs, dropping his hindquarters. I lost my grasp and floated away from him as he began his ascent.

  The water closed in around me, pulling me down. I couldn’t see Diablo, no longer knew which way was up. No air. I had to breathe. Couldn’t I take one breath?

  Tangled, wet hair. A sudden, familiar face. The wistful eyes of the mermaid from the sea horse box. Was I dead?

  Something bright and glistening pushed against me. It drove me rapidly, faster and faster. I broke from the water, gasping for air. Choking. How had I reached the surface?

  I saw Diablo. Paddling easily, he swam close to me. Somehow I avoided his churning legs and after grabbing his neck strap, I slid onto his back. I choked up salt water, coughing and gasping as I drank in the air. Where was Jade?

  Something small bobbed in the distance. Jade? Behind it, I saw a glow. The sunrise, or the shoreline?

  Reaching into the water, I found Diablo’s lead lines and turned his head toward the floating object.

  “Jade!”

  I heard a faint, strangled cry and urged Diablo toward her. His strong hindquarters drove like pistons, churning us forward. It was like riding a horse on a merry-go-round. He surged up and down, his hair sleek as a seal. I could never have stayed on without the saddle and the strap. Not with the whitecaps that washed over us every few moments.

  Diablo swam closer to Jade, and something brushed against my leg. A nylon line. Jade’s line! I grabbed it.

  “I got you, Jade! I got you!”

  She moaned, and I looped the end of the line around Diablo’s neck strap and tied it in a knot.

  Where was the yacht? Gonzales and his gun? I searched the horizon on four sides. I spotted La Sirena in the distance behind us. She ploughed through the swells toward the now recognizable glow of coming dawn. I turned my head to the glimmer on the opposite horizon. Had to be the lights from the shoreline! Diablo could probably smell land.

  He power-stroked past Jade, and the line tightened as we towed her behind us. She was fighting to keep her head above the swells, but making a pretty good job of it. I was afraid to pull her to the horse. She could be struck by Diablo’s legs. Or I could fall off—without a life jacket. I decided to leave well enough alone. I refused to think about Carla. Not yet.

  The sea fought us, dropping us into troughs, raising us high into surging white caps. Some of them washed over Diablo’s head. He continually snorted and blew to clean his nostrils. But his huge lungs and air-laden blood made him more buoyant than a human. I found a sort of rhythm, grabbing a breath when I could, closing my eyes repeatedly so I wouldn’t be blinded by salt water.

  Diablo, all heart, swam determinedly toward shore, towing Jade in his wake. As I struggled to stay with my sea horse, the lights of the shoreline slowly grew more distinct. But we had to fight so hard to get air as the water roiled around us. The shoreline s
eemed more and more like a hallucination that never got closer.

  A swell found its way to my lungs, and I gasped, spitting out salt water. When my eyes cleared, I could make out the shapes of buildings. Diablo snorted, his hind legs driving harder, his energy renewed. Even I could smell land. The ocean seemed to hurry us forward, suddenly our friend. Moments later, I spotted a familiar onion shape rising above the sand.

  Spotlights and the steadily rising sun behind us illuminated the water tower and the painted words, “Welcome to Hallandale Beach.”

  CHAPTER 53

  Six days later, Will and I sat with Jade in a house outside of Baltimore, in Pikesville, Maryland. The grave-side service for Carla was over. Some of her Ruben cousins were holding this final afternoon gathering of her friends and relatives.

  I tried not to stare at Jade. Her face was drawn. Her eyes knew too much. This was her third burial in too few days. Two for the Paulsons, one for Carla.

  The only good thing was Gulfstream Park’s removal of Jim’s suspension. He’d returned to Hallandale, and I’d been able to stand by Jade through the past six days. Maybe I identified with her sense of abandonment. Or how much she looked and even acted like Carla. I intended to keep her in my life.

  Her aunt, Sophie Paulson, who’d come up from Florida with Jade, entered the living room with sandwiches. She’d stuck close to the girl and seemed a kind woman, her personality open and honest.

  I rose from the couch to give Sophie room to sit by Jade. When I stepped away from them, Will joined me. We walked into the adjoining small den. It had a fireplace and I leaned against its wood mantel.

  “How are you doing?” he asked.

  I half-closed my eyes, comforted by the sound of his quiet voice.

  “Okay,” I lied.

  “I talked to Mike Stonehouse at Gulfstream earlier,” Will said. “Victor, Gonzales, and their goons are going to the federal pen. For a really long time.”

  “It won’t bring Carla back.” The satisfaction of knowing Currito was dead and that Victor and Gonzales had been rounded up by the Coast Guard didn’t weigh much against the horror of Carla’s death.