“What is it Larry?”
“The other one is back! I can’t see him, but he’s over there on the island. You’ve got to take him out before he gets here in the skiff. Stay low and crawl out so he can’t see you behind the cabin!”
Jessica did as he said, worming her way out onto the cockpit seat on her belly. She had Grant’s 10/22 with the same magazine, and Larry guessed there were probably 10 or 12 rounds left in it, though he hadn’t counted the shots fired when she killed the two men.
“Shoot him, Jessica! Just stay as low as you can though. Don’t give him a target, because if you miss he’s going to start shooting back!”
Larry kicked and pushed with his feet to slide forward on the deck to the front crossbeam, where he could see around the cabin. He had just stuck his head out to look when he heard Jessica fire her first shot. The man on the beach was struggling to push the heavy skiff back into the water and the distance from where Jessica was shooting was about 50 yards. It would have been an easy shot for him, but Larry realized she’d missed when he saw the man stop and stare for a second, screaming a curse in the direction of the catamaran as he registered surprise at what was happening. Jessica had ample opportunity to take him out with her second shot, and Larry saw that she hit him this time, apparently in the upper arm because he grabbed at it with his other hand and screamed more curses. But then he crouched down behind the boat and tried to reach inside it for something. Larry knew it was a rifle, because he’d seen the man lay it down in the boat before he left his two partners to go ashore.
“Keep shooting, Jessica! Don’t let him get to his rifle!”
The man’s hand reached over the gunwale, but quickly drew back as he screamed again.
“I think I hit him again!” Jessica yelled.
“Keep shooting! Don’t let him get that rifle!”
Larry heard the .22 bark five more times and then the magazine was empty. He was afraid the heavy wooden planking of the skiff was providing the man sufficient cover against the .22, especially with the hollow point ammo it was loaded with.
“It’s out of bullets, Larry!”
“Grab that AK then! Hurry!”
Jessica quickly dropped back into the cabin and returned with the Saiga in hand.
“I don’t even know how to use this!”
“It’s just like the .22! Just push that lever on the side all the way down and start shooting! Hold it tight!”
Jessica fired one round and Larry saw her jerk back and flinch at the much louder report. The shot went wild, but there was no doubt the jacketed AK bullets would punch through both sides of the wooden boat. The man hiding behind it must have realized this too, because before Jessica had it shouldered and ready to fire again, he sprang up and suddenly bolted from behind it, making for the palm trees. Jessica fired at him again, but to Larry’s dismay, didn’t even come close. He couldn’t fault her though. She’d done a good job with the first two men on the boat. She couldn’t help it that she had no real practice with marksmanship, especially on moving targets. He hated that the man got away though, especially when two pistol rounds smacked into the sides of the Casey Nicole’s cabin from somewhere in those trees.
“Get down, Jessica!” Larry screamed. “The son of a bitch has still got his handgun!” Larry rolled aft as he said this, cursing the handcuffs as he reached Jessica’s side.
“Are you okay? You’re not hit are you?”
“No, are you?”
“No, but that was too damned close!”
The two rounds were all that came their way though, and Larry figured the man had decided to save his ammo and head for deeper cover in the bush. He kicked the side of the cabin in his fury. If only his hands were free he could have cut that bastard down before he reached the trees. Jessica flinched at his anger, apologizing profusely for missing those last shots.
“It’s okay, Jessica. You stopped him from coming out here and you stopped him from getting his rifle. I know he’s hit and he’s hurting. I don’t think he’ll try to come back to that skiff, but you’ve got to hurry now. You’ve got to find those keys and get these handcuffs unlocked!”
This time she was only below for another minute before she came back on deck with a small key ring in her hand. The right key was there and seconds later Larry was free. He scanned the tree line for signs of movement but saw nothing. Then he looked with disgust at all the new damage to his beloved boat. An expanding pool of blood under the body of the one in the cockpit would be easy enough to wash overboard. The pistol bullets had cut through the cabin sides leaving holes that Larry guessed were nine millimeters in diameter. When he looked below, he saw two new sources of daylight just above his bunk like Jessica said. At that range the buckshot hadn’t spread, and had punched holes nearly an inch across. At the foot of the ladder, the first man Jessica had shot was lying in a bloody mess and would have to be hoisted out. There was a lot of work to do, but at least they were alive and unhurt.
“What about Grant?” Jessica asked. “What are we going to do? What if that guy already found him?”
It was a good question but not an easy one to answer. If they left to look for Grant, they would have to leave the boat unguarded, because there was no way Larry was going to leave Jessica behind to watch it. With the wounded man still out there, it was far too risky to leave it, and besides, he might ambush them as soon as they were ashore. Then there was the small inconvenience of a dead man in a police uniform inside the starboard cabin and another body in the cockpit. If anyone else came along and saw that while they were gone… Jessica didn’t like it, but Larry had no choice but to tell her that Grant was going to have to make it back on his own. Larry wanted to move the boat farther from the beach in case the wounded man tried to sneak back, but first he was going to swim to the beach to secure that skiff and the rifle inside it.
* * *
Grant’s heart was pounding as he listened to Mindy hacking her way through the heavy brush, slowly making her way to the west side of the island somewhere at his back. He had picked a spot at the base of a large gumbo-limbo tree from which he could see their back trail to the beach. From what Mindy had told him, he expected two or more pursuers. If the one that had shot at him was scouting ahead, he might press on immediately or he might wait for backup before entering the woods. Either way, Grant was confident that waiting for them and taking them by surprise was the best strategy. Since they were locals they probably knew the island well. Trying to beat them back to the anchorage without a fight would likely not work.
The big question he had was how they had gotten here. There were no other boats in view on the side of the island where the Casey Nicole and Intrepida were anchored, and none off the beach he’d just left either. There had to be another cove or beach somewhere else, but he’d not studied the charts of the area enough to know for sure. All he knew was that other than along the old abandoned road connecting the ruins to the shore, the interior of the island was difficult to traverse. He wasn’t worried about Mindy running into anyone in those thickets. Their pursuers would either follow their trail or try and cut them off on the shore on the other side.
Grant was lying prone at the base of the tree, the .357 Magnum carbine at his shoulder with a round in the chamber. He ignored the mosquitos that swarmed around his face and neck as he listened to Mindy chopping at branches. It was good that she was making all that noise, because anyone following would believe they were both farther away, and walk right into his kill zone. But though he waited and waited, no one came. Finally, Mindy was so far from him that he could barely hear the ring of the machete, and he started getting concerned that something else was going on. Were the men already circling around to get ahead of them? Was there perhaps a trail that ran that way that he didn’t know about? Grant decided he couldn’t wait any longer. He slowly rose to his feet and stalked back to the edge of the beach, where he stopped to listen for a couple of minutes before emerging far enough to see. There was no sign of life in that
direction, even as far as he could see well beyond the turtle nest Mindy had been digging and the place where Grant knew the road ended at the beach. No one was waiting there, so Grant figured they were up to something else. He turned and hurried back into the woods to catch up to Mindy. He couldn’t hear any chopping at all at this point, but when he found her he saw the reason. Mindy had come to an old path, and was standing there in it awaiting his return.
“I thought you might want to see where this goes,” she said. “Maybe we can follow it.”
Grant looked both ways down the narrow trail. It appeared to run in a direction that would take them to the west side of the island, where they needed to be. Following it would certainly be easier and faster than cutting cross-country, and quieter too. Since he was sure that whoever had fired at him had come from some other place than where Larry and Jessica were waiting, the path might allow them to get there and set sail before they caught up.
“Okay, come on Mindy, let’s go! Stay close behind me, and if there’s any shooting get down to the ground.”
Grant had barely said this when suddenly there was shooting. It came in a rapid succession of what sounded like faraway rifle shots, then after a pause several more. Mindy obediently dropped to the ground even though there was no danger to them here.
“It sounds like that’s coming from the anchorage, Mindy!”
More of the distant pops sounded, and then a minute or so later, there was a far louder report that sounded much closer and then another and another. Seconds later those shots where followed up by two more that sounded like pistol shots.
“What in the hell? We’ve got to hurry, Mindy! They must be shooting at Larry and Jessica!”
“I’m scared, Grant! They will kill us as soon as they see us!”
“We won’t let them see us. Just follow me and keep quiet! If this trail comes out near that beach we’ll be able to see what’s going on there from the woods before they can see us.”
Eighteen
LARRY STEPPED OVER THE body at the foot of the ladder and crawled into his bunk to open the locker beneath it. He brought out two boxes with more ammo for the .22 and the AK. After returning to the deck and reloading the magazines for each, he handed the .22 to Jessica and placed the AK on the seat beside her. Then he pulled her close and brought his lips to hers for a long moment before turning away to do what he had to do next.
“Keep a sharp lookout, Jessica. If you see anything move in those trees, open fire. You’re going to have to cover me because I can’t do it myself while I’m swimming.”
“Please be careful, Larry!”
“I will. I’ll get that boat and be back as fast as possible. I don’t think that guy’s coming back, and he may be hit harder than we know. Either way, we’ve got to get that boat so he can’t leave the island if he is still alive.”
Larry knew Jessica was worried about Grant, and he was too. If he didn’t show up soon all they could do was sail around the island and hope to spot him from the boat. But first he had to get that skiff, and get out of the anchorage with those bodies. He would leave the kayak on the beach for Grant, as he doubted the wounded man would try to use it to mount another attack or to escape with. From what Larry had seen after Jessica’s fusillade with the .22, it appeared he’d been hit in the arm or hand at least twice, so wielding a paddle probably wasn’t an option for him.
His dive from the catamaran carried him several yards in the direction of the beach, and when he surfaced he was in waist-deep water and quickly waded to the wooden skiff. Just as he’d expected, the lever-action rifle he’d seen in the boat before was still there. Even though Jessica hadn’t put him down, her shooting had prevented the man from getting the rifle, which could have changed the outcome of the gunfight completely. They would be sitting ducks out in the anchorage even now if he’d escaped to the woods with a rifle. Larry glanced nervously at the trees where he’d disappeared. From where he stood now, straining with all his might to pull the boat into the water, he knew he was within the effective range of a pistol if the man had remained nearby. But no shot came from the woods; instead, he was surprised to hear Jessica’s .22 ring out again—two shots in rapid succession. When he turned to see what she was shooting at, he saw her aiming at the wood line near the north end of the cove. Then he heard a shout from that direction. It was Grant! Grant was yelling at her not to shoot, but Larry doubted Jessica could hear him from out there on the boat. Larry jumped up and down, yelling and waving to get her attention:
“JESSICA! IT’S GRANT! DON’T SHOOT!!!”
Jessica heard him and Larry saw her stand up, the rifle still in her hands, but pointed away. Then he turned back to the spot where he’d heard Grant and saw him step out of the woods. A second later, someone else appeared behind him. Mindy! He had found Mindy and she was alive! But Grant and Mindy were north of where the wounded man had disappeared when he got away. If he was still watching, they would be in grave danger making their way back, as they would have to pass right in front of that palm grove. Larry grabbed the .30-30 and headed their way, waving to Jessica to keep watch as he did. He met Grant halfway, but there was no sign of the other man.
“What’s going on Larry? We heard a lot of shooting!”
“Yep! Sorry Jessica almost shot you too. She’s a little nervous right now. Come on! We’ve got to hurry and get the hell out of here!”
With Grant’s help, Larry had the skiff afloat and the outboard running within a minute. They tied the kayak to it and quickly motored back to the Casey Nicole. “I’ve got to warn you about what you’re going to see out there,” Larry said to Mindy as he steered towards the catamaran.
“Those bastards killed her husband,” Grant told him. “They barely missed me too.”
“The one that got away then,” Larry said, as he gave Grant a quick rundown of all that had transpired here. “The other two won’t be hurting anyone else, but we’ve sure got a hell of a mess to clean up.”
“We should hunt the other one down and kill him,” Grant said. “If he’s wounded he may not have gone far.”
“It’s too dangerous to be worth it. Without a way off the island he’s not a threat, but we’ve got to get out of here now, before more of his friends or anyone else comes along.”
“What about her boat?” Grant said, nodding at Intrepida. “We’re not going to just leave it, are we?”
“No, because I don’t want to leave anything connected to us here.” Larry glanced at Mindy, who was standing on the far side of the catamaran, talking to Jessica. “We’ll tow it offshore and scuttle it when we get rid of the skiff,” Larry whispered, low enough that Mindy couldn’t hear. When he saw the look of shock on Grant’s face, he continued, “What else can we do? We’ve got to get to Flamingo Cay and get the others in gear and get the hell out of the Bahamas, Grant! One of these dead guys is a district constable in the Royal Bahamas Police Force. So is the one still on the island. I know everything’s gone to shit and we’ve already killed our share of thugs, and these men were thugs too, uniform or not, but I’m not going to be comfortable anchoring anywhere in the Bahamas now—not even for a night! Her husband is dead, Grant, and even if he wasn’t, they couldn’t keep up with us on that little boat. She’s in no state of mind to sail it again anyway after what happened.”
“So what’s going to happen to her now? That boat was all they had. It was her home.”
“We’ll take her with us, of course. What else can we do? Assuming she wants to go. We’ll work out all that later. Hurry up and pull the kayak aboard and get it secured. I’m going to go over to Intrepida in the skiff and haul in her anchor. You and Jessica can get the Casey Nicole underway. Just get the anchor up and sail due west. It looks like there’s nearly a full tank of gas in the skiff. I’ll be right behind you with Intrepida in tow. Don’t run off and leave me. When you’re far enough out that you can’t see the beach anymore, heave-to and we’ll finish this business.”
“You want us to sail out there
with them on board,” Grant looked at the dead man sprawled in the cockpit.”
“We’ve got to, there’s no time to do anything else and I’d rather dump them well out to sea anyway. I’ll help you drag that one to the rear tramp right now before I go. We’re going to have to use a halyard to get the other one out of the cabin.”
* * *
“What an awesome anchorage!” Casey said, standing next to her dad on the bow of the Sarah J. as they waited to make sure the anchor wasn’t dragging before going back to the cockpit to join Tara and Rebecca.
“Yes, it’s fantastic! And all ours! Larry was right about these cays being off the beaten path.”
“Uncle Larry knows all the good spots,” Casey agreed. “He’s been to all of them. I wouldn’t mind seriously spending some time here. I’ll bet the fishing is really good too.”
“I suspect we’ll have a few weeks here at least. You know there’s a lot to do to get ready to go offshore again. It’s just too bad about our timing, with hurricane season and all. I’m like you, I’d just as soon stay here, and I know Tara feels the same way.”
“Nothing’s going to change Uncle Larry’s mind though.”
“Nope. You got that right, Casey.”
“I’m looking forward to getting to know Charles and his family. It’s so nice to meet new people we don’t have to shoot at for a change!”
“I agree! They are mighty good folks. They sure didn’t have to help us get off that sandbar, much less tow us all the way here.”
“They seemed happy to do it. I guess they’ve been craving company too, even if we’re not the friends they thought we were when they saw the catamaran.”
“Yeah, it’s the lifestyle they’re used to. Larry’s told me all about it. These retired cruising folks just go from anchorage to anchorage to hang out with their buddies. Charles seems to think they can keep on doing it. I guess they’ve been a lot luckier than us. They’ve missed the worst of it.”
Horizons Beyond the Darkness Page 12
