Sabotage: A Reece Culver Thriller - Book 2

by Bryan Koepke

  “Hi baby, what’s going on?” he said.

  “I managed to get away from Marie so I could call you.”

  “Good, so what was it you needed to tell me?”

  “Are you sitting down?”

  “No, now what is it?”

  “I was included in a telecom with the Draecon board of directors. Woodbine and Rhodes must have set it up,” Candice said.

  “A telecom. Why wasn’t I invited?”

  “It might have been out of respect. Anyway, they wanted me to tally the votes. Everyone except Tsang and the new woman from Spain voted to liquidate Defense on an earlier call. This morning’s meeting was to revisit the subject.”

  “Motherfucker,” Alex yelled, slamming his cellphone down against his thigh. “Where are Woodbine and Rhodes now?”

  “Woodbine is near Marie and I at the shops, but I don’t know about Karl. Why?”

  “Candice, enjoy your day of shopping. I’ll see you tonight.” Alex climbed back on to the scooter. After starting the engine he grabbed a hand full of throttle and tore out of the parking lot and back onto the two-lane highway. It was time to do some damage.

  Chapter 65

  Large white puffs of tall cumulus clouds had combined into a single shape just above the turquoise blue waters of the Caribbean. A gentle breeze broke through the sunshine-warmed air as it rose from the dock. Reece and Marie joked and teased as they came up into the salon of the Woodbine III. Tiffany and Huston stood on the fantail, stuffing diving tanks into one of many fiberglass compartments. Tiffany wore an orange and brown silk summer dress and Huston looked like a twin to Reece in his white polo, khaki trousers, and blue blazer.

  After all of his guests had gathered in the salon, Joseph Woodbine led the group down the dock and toward the French restaurant, stopping along the way for Huston to snap a group photo with the last minutes of the stellar sunset behind them. Joseph continued with Karl Rhodes and Candice at his side, Tiffany and Huston were just behind with Reece and Marie, and Alex brought up the rear.

  “What do you have planned for us tomorrow?” Candice asked.

  “That depends on what everyone feels like doing. We could go for a cruise in one of the small boats, or if you’d like, I could take everyone for a dive,” Woodbine said. “I know a place that’s teeming with sea life.”

  “The dive sounds good,” Alex said, coming up alongside Woodbine.

  The group followed their host toward an array of yellow lights that covered the wooden railings leading toward the restaurant. Joseph arrived at the front door first and stood just outside, waiting for the rest of the group to catch up.

  “Tiffany, you look very nice this evening.”

  “Thanks, Marie. I think your dress fits the occasion nicely.”

  “Candice was nice enough to loan it to me.”

  “I wish I had an arrangement like that,” Tiffany said.

  Woodbine held the door open and Tiffany led the group into the French restaurant.

  “Good evening, I believe you have a reservation for the Woodbine party,” Tiffany said to the hostess.

  “Yes ma’am, let me see here. Oh yes, here we go, Woodbine party of eight. Right this way, ma’am.”

  Joseph held an arm out, allowing Marie and Candice to lead the way following Tiffany and the hostess. He cut Alex off by stepping to his right as the other man attempted to follow the women, and at the same time he motioned for Reece to follow.

  Woodbine’s first mate, Tiffany, led the group through the dining room and stopped at a large table facing oceanfront. Reece was next to Marie and he followed a string of lights running in a half circle down the coastline. He could smell the scent of her perfume wafting toward him. It was subtle, yet he could pick it out anywhere. Reece eyed Woodbine and thought the older man seemed tense. Woodbine guided his crew member Tiffany into a chair that had a perfect view of the harbor, and then he took the seat to her right. That put him four seats to Reece’s left.

  Karl Rhodes and Candice sat next to Woodbine on the side opposite Reece. That left one seat with a partial view for Alex James. To Reece it seemed like Alex was the odd man out.

  Later that night, between the third and fourth course Reece leaned back in his seat wondering how much more was to come. They’d enjoyed salad, crab claws, lobster bisque, and now he wondered if the main course might arrive.

  “How are you doing, dear?” Marie said. “Can I get you a little more wine?”

  “Fine, and yes, a little more wine might help wash this all down,” Reece said as he watched Candice Carlyle stand from the table, drop her napkin down to the side of her dinner plate, and walk off toward the restrooms.

  “Reece, I forgot to ask. Did you tell me you’d gone scuba diving before?” Woodbine said.

  “Yes, I’ve gone several times. I got certified years back when I was in the Air Force,” Reece said.

  “Oh, yes. Where were you serving back then?” Woodbine said.

  “I was in Italy at Aviano,” Reece said.

  “What part of the country? Is that near Rome?” Alex said as he stood up from the table. “Excuse me. I’ll be right back.”

  “Aviano Air Base is in the northeastern part of Italy. It’s at the base of the Southern Carnic Alps about fifteen kilometers from Pordenone. If you’ve never been to that part of the country, it’s really a beautiful setting,” Reece said, knowing Alex didn’t care, but figuring Woodbine might be interested.

  Karl got up just as the waitress arrived to collect their empty bowls. A second waitress followed her with an arm full of large dinner plates.

  “Excuse me,” Karl said, smiling at Reece. He walked through the dining room and to the restroom. Once inside, he stepped up to the first of three stalls. Four more wooden doors led to toilets. A sniffing noise sounded like it was coming from the far door.

  “Shush, now give me the straw,” a woman said. “It’s the least you can do after all I’ve endured.”

  “You’ve done a fine job,” a man said.

  Karl pulled his hands from the running water in the sink and in doing so stopped the flow of water. He listened to what sounded like a man and a woman in the far stall. There was giggling and the tone of the man’s voice reminded him of Alex James. Karl listened and quickly dismissed the thought. Then the woman moaned loudly and there was no mistaking that voice.

  Is that Candice? he wondered. No, it can’t be. Who would she be with here in the men’s bathroom?

  “Oh God. Ahhhhh, baby. That feels so dammed good. Don’t stop,” Candice said.

  “Wait until you catch that flight out of here tonight. Mira’s got the rest of my stash,” Alex said. “I’ll take care of business, and then I’ll come join you on that beach.”

  “Flight? What are you talking about?”

  “She’ll fill you in on the plane,” Alex said.

  Karl made his way over, taking careful steps. Then he squatted down to look underneath the wooden door, hoping no one else would enter the restroom. On the other side of the door were two pairs of legs. One, a woman’s facing outward. He could see her red high-heeled shoes straddled by a pair of men’s black loafers pointing inward. The fabric of the man’s trousers was moving in a rhythmic fashion. The woman let out a long slow moan and then she said. “What do you have planned?”

  “A response,” Alex said.

  Karl stood up. “Candice, is that you?” he said, knowing full well it was as he reached for the door handle.

  The stall door sprung open nearly hitting Karl’s face. Alex came out trying to pass, but he wasn’t quick enough. Karl pulled his right arm back and punched the man squarely on the nose. A small trickle of blood oozed out of Alex’s right nostril.

  “Bloody hell. Look what this stupid bugger did to me,” Alex said turning back toward Candice who was now seated on the toilet adjusting her outfit. Karl stared. Her lipstick was smeared, eyes glassy, and both of her cheeks were bright red.

  “If you know what’s good for you you’ll leave,” Karl
said pushing the man’s shoulder. Alex turned quickly toward him trying to throw a punch, but Karl caught the other man’s fist in his hand and in one quick move he took Alex’s hand down and around his back.

  “Stop, you stupid arse,” Alex protested.

  Karl felt a rage he hadn’t experienced in years. He wanted to pummel the man and leave him lying in a heap on the bathroom floor, but instead he pulled the man’s arm upward increasing the tension on his rotator cuff and trotted him quickly toward the exterior door of the restroom.

  “Careful, you’ll hurt him,” Candice yelled as she came up behind him.

  “Careful? Is that what you said? What kind of person are you?” Karl said as he put both of his hands on Candice’s shoulders and walked her backwards into the bathroom wall.

  “I ruined my marriage for you and this what you do to me,” Karl yelled resisting the urge to throw her sideways. “If you know what’s good for you? You’ll get out of my sight.”

  Chapter 66

  Julian parked the gray Ford Fiesta he’d driven from Rendezvous Bay in the marina parking lot of the Grand Haven Anguilla. He switched off the lights and killed the engine. The humidity of the night quickly settled on the windshield and fogged it. He got out and stood near the side of his car, adjusting to the darkness. Then he pressed the door shut, trying his best to avoid making noise.

  Reaching into the trunk, Julian removed a military-issue green zip top bag with twin cloth handles. He shut the trunk with a soft click, and walked through the parking lot toward the boats. His foot slid on a patch of sand as he stepped onto the wooden dock, but he recovered nicely. Despite the fact that the sky was pitch black, a series of recessed yellow lights illuminated the planks, looking like lights in a landing strip.

  Julian eyed each of the boats. Last Resort, Titan’s Villa, Prologue, but no Woodbine III. He continued on and heard the cackling of a woman in the night. She was with a man, and the two of them were weaving back and forth. When the pair stopped, Julian hid behind a large wooden fueling shack.

  “I know ittsss here somewhere,” the man slurred. “That is, unless I forgot to tie up the rooope.”

  Julian set his bag down and waited. The pair bumbled forward into the night. He waited wondering what they’d do. He wasn’t in any hurry. It was late and his task would only get easier the later it got. Julian crawled toward the edge of the baby blue shack he was hiding behind. The couple had turned back. They were now thirty or so yards past him.

  “What are you doing!” a voice yelled out in the night. This is just what I need. Julian thought, as he stayed crouched down behind the shack. He could feel the pull of his right knee. It was a new pain that had come since he’d landed in this humid corner of the world. He was aging and he knew it. At forty-two he was old for an athlete, or in his case a hired assassin.

  “Okay, sorrry!” The drunk guy yelled.

  “Shush. Shut up. You’re too loud. Now get lost,” someone said farther down the dock.

  Julian rose slightly, reducing the strain on his knee. He waited, wanting to peer around the side of the structure, but not so much that he was willing to be discovered.

  After a ten-minute spell he rose to his feet and listened. It was a complete waste of time, but necessary. Julian had fought off the urge to exercise. He’d thought about his pushups—the up and down, the concentration, the power of his biceps holding his torso off the cement. It had been too long since he’d done his routine. The only thing close had been the performance he’d put on back in Biscayne Bay with Mira.

  Julian grabbed the twin handles of the satchel. He stepped out from behind the fuel shack and walked in the direction of the nearly full moon. The dock was well lit, but the glow of the moon was brighter than anything else. He came to an L-shaped junction and spotted dock number four, right where Alex had told him it would be. Painted in large gold letters on the stern of a huge yacht was Woodbine III. Julian smiled as he climbed up the gangplank of the yacht as if it were his own.

  After he had studied the plans to the boat multiple times, it felt like a familiar friend. Everything was just where it should be. He pulled up a recessed T-shaped handle from the floor, twisted it ninety degrees, and opened a white fiberglass entry door that led down into the engine room. Setting his bag on top of the exhaust manifold of one of the twin turbo diesel engines, he took out a flashlight and familiarized himself with the cramped room. It was immaculate. Each of the large mechanical engines was painted in glossy black. A series of stainless steel lines came and went from each of the power plants. Green, yellow, and blue bundles of wire crossed the ceiling of the compartment.

  The floor was spotless as well, and all that hinted of his being in an engine room was the heavy smell of diesel and grease. It was a welcome smell. Julian had a sweet spot in his heart for mechanical assemblies and had always appreciated the beauty of a well-tuned engine. It was something he’d learned from his father. They’d spent many a morning tuning his five horsepower Briggs & Stratton four-stroke motor. They’d found a metal-tubed go-cart in a dumpster, and with his father’s skilled hands the two of them had brought the machine back to roaring life.

  After passing through a doorway at the rear of the room, Julian placed packs of pre-wired explosives on each of the large fuel tanks and in a line along the keel, ensuring a catastrophe when the time came. He’d decided against putting anything on the engines, because they’d heat up and the timing might be wrong. He couldn’t leave anything to chance. As always, it had to be just as he’d planned. That was the only way he worked.

  Emerging from the hatch with the flashlight in his teeth, he made his way toward the equipment storage bays near the stern. Inside bay number two he found ten or more black mesh diving bags. Each had a bronze tag with a number. He rifled through the bags quickly until he found one with the initials JW. Joseph Woodbine’s diving gear was top shelf. The best money could afford, just like his yacht.

  Julian went to work modifying the air tank. Using a screwdriver, he opened up the breathing regulator and with his knife he sawed back and forth on the O-ring. He didn’t want to go all the way through—it had to be just enough to do the trick. He buttoned the regulator back up and stowed the gear back as he’d found it within the bay.

  Julian climbed up onto the upper deck and fastened the detonation transceiver that he’d designed and built himself to the top of the room near a large white box containing some of the yachts’ navigation equipment. It was out of sight, but in an area where the signal could reach it.

  With the installation complete, he stood on the lower deck, looking around to ensure he’d left everything as it was before his visit. Just before he left the vessel he kissed his hand and patted the side of the yacht as if to say goodbye.

  Chapter 67

  The next morning Reece and Marie exchanged smiles and jumped in unison off the rear swim deck of the boat. They both bobbed up, breaking the surface of the water.

  “This is going to be a blast,” Reece said. “I can’t wait to dive with you.”

  “Me too. God, it’s nice here. Maybe we should find an island and look for a little cottage,” Marie said.

  Reece positioned his regulator in his mouth, reminding himself to keep calm and let air into his lungs. He’d dove before and on that trip had learned to avoid anxiety when diving so his air lasted a long time. He followed her back toward the boat, and they both took a pair of colorful yellow swim flippers from their dive master, Tiffany. Reece held onto the fiberglass swim deck on the stern and pulled on his swim fins. Up above one deck Tiffany pulled colored dive bags out of a compartment. He noticed that one had a tag on it that said Joseph Woodbine—Master Diver. Impressive.

  Karl stood nearby on the deck and let the captain, Huston Briggs, help him with his air tank. Woodbine was behind them waiting. Reece lowered his mask into the water and peered beneath the surface toward the ocean floor a hundred feet below. He heard the odd sound of laughter muffled by water and looked over toward Marie. She wa
s a couple of feet below the surface and was pointing at a group of needlefish swimming a few feet below Reece’s flippers.

  Joseph was taking longer than the rest and was the last to slip into the ocean with Tiffany close by his side, attending to him. With their regulators in their mouths the group submerged and swam down to where Karl and Alex had landed on the sandy bottom. Tiffany swam around each of them, and Reece watched the divers give her a thumb’s up as she pointed at them. Finally, she reached Joseph, whose mask was half full of water. Reece could see the older man struggling.

  Tiffany instinctively removed Woodbine’s regulator and slid her spare regulator into his mouth. The older man’s look of concern melted into a warm smile. He watched Tiffany make hand signals to the group, telling them she’d be right back. She and Woodbine swam in unison back toward the surface.

  Anxious to go on their dive, but needing to save their precious air, the group followed Tiffany up to the surface and waited for her to troubleshoot Joseph’s faulty air system. Seeing that Joseph was having troubles, Huston, the skipper, made his way back to the swim deck, and assisted both Joseph and Tiffany out of the water.

  Reece pulled his regulator out of his mouth and swam toward the deck at the stern.

  “Tiff, don’t wait on me. It’s this damn old regulator. I knew I should have had it rebuilt with the others when we were in town.”

  “Are you sure, Joseph? I have a spare in my dive trunk. It will only take me a minute to fetch it for you,” she said.

  “No. I think I’ll take a rain check on this one. Go show them a good time.”

  “Okay, if that’s what you want. We can go again later if you’d like and I’ll show you the good spots we find.”

  “That sounds great.”

  Tiffany reminded Reece of a mermaid as she slipped back into the water. The group trailed her back toward the bottom. Reece caught up to Marie and they followed the line of divers as they swam parallel, putting distance between themselves and the Woodbine III. At a depth of forty feet Tiffany led Karl, Marie, Alex, and Reece toward the first of her favorite reefs.