"I imagine the U.S. authorities may want to talk to him," Cedric said. "We wish to, as well."
"You must go through the normal channels, Cedric," Sandrine said. "I'm sorry, but I cannot do much now that he has been charged with the murders of the people at the clinique, you understand."
"Yes, I do," Cedric said.
"What's going to happen to Marian Canaday?" Connie asked.
"She will be going back to the States soon," Cedric said. "The police from Fort Lauderdale will come for her as soon as the paperwork is done."
"Are they going to charge her with something?" Connie asked.
"I don't know," Cedric said. "We are happy to see her go, so we aren't standing on formality."
"I thought you were going to charge her for filing a false report with your Coast Guard," Paul said.
"The politicians have weighed in," Cedric said. "The less connection there is with St. Lucia, the happier we will be, officially. Any crimes she may have committed here are minor compared to the damage that such scandalous news could do to our tourism, you see."
"Are you happy with that?" Paul asked.
"I can live with it. She is an evil woman, but most of the harm she has done had no effect on our people. I have bigger fish to fry, as the saying goes."
"That's a reasonable attitude," Connie said.
"I try to be a reasonable man. I hope that you will come back to St. Lucia soon. My wife and I would like to entertain you for dinner when you do."
"We'll plan on it, Cedric."
"Do. And Sandrine, Phillip, thank you for everything," Cedric said. "I will carry on through the normal channels as you suggested, Sandrine."
"But call us if there is difficulty," Sandrine said. "Stay well."
"Blessings on you all, thank you," Cedric said, and disconnected.
"So, tomorrow, you and I will go to the shops, yes, Connie?" Sandrine asked, after Cedric hung up. "You are not rushing away, are you?"
"No," Connie shook her head, smiling. "To the shops, it is. I want a slinky dress and some sexy shoes."
"I know the exact place to go for these things," Sandrine said, with an impish grin. "You are planning something, maybe?"
"Not really," Connie said, returning Sandrine's grin. "I just like to be prepared."
"Oui," Sandrine said. "Then when you are prepared, we go to the new fancy restaurant for the dinner, yes?"
"Yes!" Connie said. "We're going to stay here until things settle down a bit — a few days, at least. That will still give us time to spend a few days in the Tobago Cays before our next charter."
"Looks like you and I can work in a little fishing, Paul," Phillip said.
"That's fine with me," Paul said.
"Just don't happen across any shipwrecked sailors or vessels in distress while you're out there," Connie said. "And if you do, don't let Paul get involved. He's had enough fun playing detective the last few days."
"I promise to keep him out of trouble," Phillip said.
"Wait a second," Paul said. "I'm not the only one who got wrapped up in solving the Canaday puzzle. I seem to recall that I had some help and encouragement."
"I think you are playing with the fire, Paul," Sandrine said. "You are being married long enough to know when it is best to be silent, yes?"
"Oh, don't give him a hard time, Sandrine. He's right. I got drawn into it right along with him, but I learned my lesson."
"What is this learning the lesson?" Sandrine asked.
"It's just a figure of speech," Connie said. "It means I won't repeat my mistakes."
"Perhaps you can give me the example, please?" Sandrine asked. "What do you learn from this?"
Connie watched the sunset for a couple of seconds, and then smiled at Sandrine. She turned to Paul, winked, and said, "If I ever see another uninhabited island, I'm not stopping. I'll blow right by under full sail."
The End
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A Note to the Reader
Thank you for reading Under Full Sail, the seventh book in the Connie Barrera Thriller series. I hope that you enjoyed it. If so, please leave a brief review on Amazon. Reviews are of great benefit to independent authors like me; they help me more than you can imagine. They are a primary means to help new readers find my work. A few words from you can help others find the pleasure that I hope you found in this book, as well as keeping my spirits up as I work on the next one. If you would like to be notified by email when I release a new book or have a sale or giveaway, please visit http://eepurl.com/bKujyv to subscribe to my email list. I promise not to use the list for anything else; I dislike spam as much as you do.
If you haven't read the other Connie Barrera Thrillers, please take a look at them. If you enjoyed this book, you'll enjoy them as well. I also write another series of sailing thrillers set in the Caribbean. The Bluewater Thrillers feature two young women, Dani Berger and Liz Chirac. They sail a luxury charter yacht of their own. They are friends of Connie’s; they met her when she chartered with them in Bluewater Ice.
Connie had a key role in Deception in Savannah, my first book. I enjoyed writing about her so much that I wrote her into the Bluewater Thrillers. She plays prominent parts in both Bluewater Ice and Bluewater Betrayal. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are a spin-off from the Bluewater Thrillers, and feature some of the same characters. Dani and Liz taught Connie to sail, and they introduced her to Paul Russo, her first mate and husband.
In September of 2017, I released An Easy Sail, the eighth novel in the Connie Barrera Thrillers series. Now I've turned my attention back to Dani and Liz for their fourteenth Bluewater Thrillers adventure. You'll find progress reports and more information on my web page at http://www.clrdougherty.com. Be sure to click on the link to my blog posts; it's in the column on the right side of the web page. Dani Berger has begun to blog about what's on her mind, and Liz and Connie are demanding equal time, so you can see what they're up to while I'm writing.
A list of my other books is on the last page; just click on a title or go to my website for more information. If you’d like to know when my next book is released, visit my author’s page on Amazon ( www.amazon.com/author/clrdougherty ) and click “Follow” near the upper left-hand corner, or sign up for my email list at the link in the opening paragraph above.
I welcome email correspondence about books, boats and sailing. My address is [email protected]. If you'd like personal updates, drop me a line at that address and let me know. Thanks again for your support.
About the Author
Welcome aboard!
Charles Dougherty is a lifelong sailor; he's lived what he writes. He and his wife have spent over 30 years sailing together. For 15 years, they lived aboard their boat full-time, cruising the East Coast and the islands. They spent most of that time exploring the Eastern Caribbean. Dougherty is well acquainted with the islands and their people. The characters and locations in his novels reflect his experience.
A storyteller before all else, Dougherty lets his characters speak for themselves. Pick up one of his thrillers and listen to the sound of adventure as you smell the salt air. Enjoy the views of distant horizons and meet some people you won't forget.
Dougherty has written over 25 books. His Bluewater Thrillers are set in the yachting world of the Caribbean and chronicle the adventures of two young women running a luxury charter yacht in a rough-and-tumble environment. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are also set in the Caribbean and feature some of the same characters from a slightly more romantic perspective. Besides the Bluewater Thrillers and the Connie Barrera Thrillers, he wrote The Redemption of Becky Jones, a psycho-thriller, and The Lost Tourist Franchise, a short story about one of the characters from Deception
in Savannah.
He has also written two non-fiction books. Life's a Ditch is the story of how he and his wife moved aboard their sailboat, Play Actor, and their adventures along the east coast of the U.S. Dungda de Islan' relates their experiences while cruising the Caribbean.
www.clrdougherty.com
[email protected]
Other Books by C.L.R. Dougherty
Bluewater Thrillers
Bluewater Killer
Bluewater Vengeance
Bluewater Voodoo
Bluewater Ice
Bluewater Betrayal
Bluewater Stalker
Bluewater Bullion
Bluewater Rendezvous
Bluewater Ganja
Bluewater Jailbird
Bluewater Drone
Bluewater Revolution
Bluewater Enigma
Bluewater Thrillers Boxed Set: Books 1-3
Connie Barrera Thrillers
From Deception to Betrayal - An Introduction to Connie Barrera
Love for Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller
Sailor's Delight - A Connie Barrera Thriller
A Blast to Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller
Storm Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller
Running Under Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller
Sails Job - A Connie Barrera Thriller
Under Full Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller
An Easy Sail - A Connie Barrera Thriller
Other Fiction
Deception in Savannah
The Redemption of Becky Jones
The Lost Tourist Franchise
Books for Sailors and Dreamers
Life's a Ditch
Dungda de Islan'
For more information please visit www.clrdougherty.com
Or visit www.amazon.com/author/clrdougherty
Read a sample of An Easy Sail, the 8th Connie Barrera Thriller
Chapter 1
“It never ends," Connie Barrera said, biting off the words through clenched teeth.
"What's that?" Paul Russo asked. Both his arms buried in Diamantista II's engine compartment, he craned his neck around to look at her. "Problems with Marcia Levine?"
They were anchored just outside the entrance channel to Jolly Harbour, Antigua, waiting to pick up their next charter guest. Connie sat at the chart table, her laptop computer in front of her. Scowling, she reread the offending email.
"No, she's all set. She's arriving at three tomorrow afternoon. It's this stupid email from Leon Contreras."
Paul stood up, stretching the muscles in his lower back. He wiped the grease off his hands and shrugged. "Okay, skipper. What's new with your Cousin Leon?"
"He sent me one of those 'coded' emails of his, telling me to check that blind-drop email account he set up for us last year."
Paul frowned. "And?"
"I just read the message he left there." She shook her head. "I'm really getting tired of this. I thought we were set for a nice, easy charter with this Marcia Levine woman."
"He wrote you about Marcia Levine?" Paul frowned.
"No, of course not. Why would he do that?" she asked, her tone sharp.
Paul put a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look up at him. "Slow down, skipper. Start at the beginning. I'm on your side, remember?"
She smiled, but a tear ran down her cheek. Paul drew her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She pulled away enough to look up and give him a wry smile. "I guess I was never meant to have a normal life."
"Now, Connie, I don't know what you mean. What did Leon say that upset you?"
"He's involved in some kind of investigation that he can't talk about," she said.
"Is he in trouble or something?"
"No. I mean, I don't know. Maybe. But that's not it. He thinks we may be in some kind of trouble."
"We may be? I don't get it."
"There's some big-time drug dealer whose people are trying to spy on Dani and Liz, he says."
"Dani and Liz?" Paul asked. "But not us?"
"He thinks they've targeted Dani and Liz as a way to get to us. He said the Miami Police Department was looking for the guy in connection with the theft of Vengeance."
"The theft of Vengeance?" Paul asked, his eyebrows rising.
"That's what he said."
"This isn't making sense, Connie."
"No, I know. But he thinks it's the same people who were after us before."
"Why, though?" Paul asked.
"Probably because of the scams I've run to avoid the drug dealers ever since I got crossways with Sam Alfano. I did too good a job of convincing them that I was connected to some mysterious cartel. Whoever this guy is, he's trying to monopolize drug smuggling into the southeastern U.S. Leon says I'm his target."
"Then why steal Vengeance?" Paul asked.
"After the big bash we all had in Miami for Mario's 75th birthday, Dani and Liz took a couple of weeks off and went to New York. They left Vengeance in Miami, and his people stole her."
"But why?"
"Leon says that they know Vengeance is a sister ship of ours. He doesn't know the details. He said your old partner was running the investigation. He thought you should call him."
"Luke's running an investigation into the theft of a yacht?"
"Leon said there was a murder-suicide connected to it. He's curious to know what Luke has to say about it."
"About the murder-suicide?" Paul asked.
"Right. That's the way I read it."
"He's fishing for information; I'm not sure how I feel about that. I guess I'd better call Luke. Maybe he can tell us what's going on, but I don't know about sharing it with Leon."
"Paul?"
"Yes?"
"I don't want to play these crazy games any more. I just want to run a nice, quiet, boring charter business. No drug smugglers and human traffickers, no castaways pretending to have amnesia, just sailing and showing our guests a good time. Can't we just have an easy sail, for a change?"
"We'll get there, skipper. We'll get there. Let's see what Luke can tell us, okay?"
"Okay, cookie. But before you call him, let's run into the marina. I want one of those chocolate croissants from the coffee shop."
"It'll be interesting to see what happens to the Pink Pussycat now," Leon Contreras said. He sat at his makeshift desk in the cheap hotel room he and his two men were using as an office in Miami.
"You mean who's gonna end up running it since Manny LaRosa killed himself?" Jorge Salinas asked.
"Yeah, exactly."
"Why the hell would LaRosa kill himself, anyway?" Jorge asked.
"Maybe he didn't," Contreras said.
"You think maybe it was some kind of setup?" Miguel Alvarez asked.
"I'm just trying to keep an open mind," Contreras said. "Wouldn't be the first time the cops jumped on an easy answer to close a case. They would have told the press as little as they could, anyway. I wish we had a way to get information from the Miami Police Department without blowing our cover."
"What about the building's security people? We could try them instead," Miguel said. "They might know something."
"That's a thought," Contreras said. "You still have those phony press credentials?"
"Yeah," Miguel said. "I'm on it."
"Just a second," Jorge said. "Did you find out anything from your cousin, Leon?"
"Not yet. I just sent her an email. She hasn't had time to answer. Why?"
"Her husband was a cop, right?" Jorge asked.
"Yeah. Paul Russo — he ran homicide for the MPD before he retired," Contreras said. "You thinking maybe we could use him to get info from the cops?"
"It was just a thought," Jorge said.
"Yeah, maybe so," Contreras said. "I dropped a hint about that, but I'm not sure how it will play with them. Meanwhile, why don't you see how things are shaping up at the Pussycat while Miguel checks out the security staff in that condo?"
&nbs
p; "You got it, boss," Jorge said, grabbing a scruffy backpack and heading for the door.
"Later, guys," Miguel said, leaving as well.
"You know," Paul said, "before I call Luke, we need to talk about this Contreras character."
"Okay," Connie said, "but I've told you everything I know about him. What's on your mind?"
"I'm going to be hitting Luke cold with this. He won't be surprised that we've picked up on the theft of Vengeance — he knows we're close to Dani and Liz. But I feel a little uneasy about playing him, you know? We were partners for a long time. That's not how it works between us."
"You're saying you want to tell him about Leon?"
"Well, yes," Paul said. "Leon's as good as asked us to pump Luke for information about that murder-suicide, so I feel like I need to be open with Luke."
"Then tell him. I don't get what's bothering you."
"I feel a little like I might be betraying a confidence. If we're right about Leon, and he's some kind of deep-cover agent for the DEA or whoever, I could do him some damage. I'm kind of caught between protecting him and being open with Luke."
"But you trust Luke," Connie said. "And Leon never said we shouldn't tell anybody."
"That's true," Paul said. "I trust Luke, absolutely. But I've worked with more than a few people in Leon's situation. I have to respect how he might feel about my telling Luke about him."
"Well, Leon must be in Miami, if he's picked up on the theft of Vengeance, and he suggested we talk to Luke about it," Connie said. "I'm confused."
"Yeah, me, too," Paul said. "I wish I could talk to Contreras before I call Luke."
"I don't know how to call him," Connie said. "I have the last phone number he called me from, but he said it wouldn't work for long, and that was months ago. And he doesn't trust telephones, anyway."
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