She threw the shovel down and walked out into the parking lot. Then it came to her. Glenn’s old car was still there. It was his work car, as he called it, and she had the keys. She went to the office to get them and then went to the car where she opened the trunk. Except for a spare tire and a pair of jumper cables, it was empty. “Okay,” she said to herself, “this is it.” She closed the trunk and went back to her office.
The radio came to life with “Harbor Marina. Come back.”
A forty foot Regal Commodore, ‘My Way,’ was on its way in for two slips; one for them, and one for their friends on the ‘No No II,’ a forty-seven foot Bayliner.
Nikki got Mark, and the boats came in one behind the other but had to take slips on opposite sides of the dock and down from each other. Nikki and Mark tied down the boats, and then let the Captains take over.
Nikki went down the dock to talk to the new people who rented Dave’s old apartment, but they were on their way to work, so she headed over to the two new boats to give them the slip leases. James was on the back of his boat and at first just glared at Nikki, then he gave her the finger. She walked over to the Sea Ray and glared at him.
“Do you want me to call the Chief back? Because if you want to be swarmed by four cops and put in jail after they beat the shit out of you, just keep it up, asshole. Why don’t you just be quiet and live out your time in your slip, jack-off!”
She didn’t wait to see James reaction but continued down the dock to the new boats. She handed them their cards. “When you get done filling out these cards give them back to me with a check for fifty dollars each, per day. If you haven’t decided yet how long you’ll be staying, just take the number of days you think it will be here times fifty dollars.”
When Nikki turned around she saw James from the Sea Ray coming toward her. Mark saw this, too, so he headed toward Nikki in case there was any trouble. James held up a small tape recorder and pushed the play button. Her voice was on the tape and after playing back Nikki’s statement about the Chief, James said, “This is extortion and my attorney will love this!”
“Recording someone’s conversation in Florida without their knowledge or a wiretap is a felony. So I think you’re attorney will laugh at you, you shithead! Nice try,” Nikki stated.
“Why don’t you just get out of here?” Mark asked James.
James’ face darkened with anger and this time he centered on Mark. “Do you really want to get involved in this? Cause I’ll punch your ticket in right now!”
Mark and James were inches apart. James put his hand on his dive knife, and Mark put his hand on his push blade palm knife in his belt.
Just then Brett and Brian walked up. “Is there some kind of trouble here?” they asked.
“No, the drama is over, right, James?” stated Mark.
“This ain’t over yet,” James replied, but he started to walk off. “And you could have some of this, too,” he warned Brett.
“If it involves Nikki, I’ll be involved from the get-go,” Brett retorted to James’ retreating back.
“You okay?” Mark asked Nikki.
“Yeah,” she replied.
“You better watch yourself, Nikki,” Brett warned. “As long as that jerk is here, don’t leave your houseboat unattended.”
“I’m heading back to work,” Mark told Nikki, “but if you need me, you know where to find me.”
Brett and Brian asked Nikki to come on the Cat for a drink. She passed and said she would see them later; she went to her office where she decided to put her plan into motion before James pulled out. Since it was daylight, and she thought better while driving, she went for a drive.
She ended up in town, where she drove slowly, thinking carefully about her next step. She slowed for a stop sign and caught sight of a palm reader’s office; she had passed by many times before over the years, but never stopped. The sign said “Readings Starting at Ten Dollars.” She pulled into the tiny gravel parking lot.
The palm reader was a woman in her mid-forties, a bit on the fat side and dressed like a Gypsy. It turned out readings were ten to fifty dollars. Nikki took a twenty dollar reading which was a full deck reading, one card reading, and a crystal ball reading.
Nikki gave the woman the twenty and sat across the table from her. The Gypsy took Nikki’s hands into hers.
“You are in business for yourself,” she said. “The business is full of strife right now.”
Then the Gypsy got out the Tarot cards and Nikki cut the deck. The reader laid them face up on the table and repeated the fact that Nikki was in trouble. “You are in great danger. You must watch yourself,” she said.
Finished with the cards, she pulled the crystal ball to the center of the table. She stared into it for a long while, then looked up at Nikki.
“Someone wishes you harm. Someone close to you, physically. This person will have their wish if you are not on guard at all times.” She folded her hands in front of her. “You may ask one question. What will it be?”
Nikki thought for a long moment. “Will I get to keep what I’ve found?”
The Gypsy’s dark eyes glittered. “You already have!” She slapped her hands on the table, startling Nikki. “Your time is up!” Nikki pushed to her feet, thanked the gypsy and left.
Alone in her car, she lit a cigarette. “What a rip off,’ she said out loud and drove back to the dock.
At least the drive had cleared her mind so she could think of a plan to get the bags off James’ boat. When she got back to the dock, everyone was on the back of the Cat. Nikki asked Brett if he would spend the night at her place, as she didn’t want to be alone on the houseboat.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Brett said, laughing. After a drink they walked to Nikki’s apartment, where Nikki made a second drink for Brett and took out some burgers for dinner.
Brett opened the hatch; the hold was totally dry. Brett asked Nikki where the gun was that he had given her. He would feel better if he knew where it was, and on second thought he would like it by him just in case. They had dinner, watched some TV, and went to bed. Nothing happened that night. All was quiet as far as James went. Brett looked down the hatch one last time before he left.
Nikki went out on the dock. She ran into Tina and Randy from the Gulfstar and asked, “How are you guys getting along? Have you met most of the people on the dock?”
“Yes. We have been having rum drinks with most of them,” they replied.
They continued, “There is something we should tell you. Last night we were all on the dock partying when James from the forty-five foot Sea Ray came down to us real drunk and talked to us for thirty or forty minutes about what a bad person you are. He was drunk and eating a sandwich, but the worst part was, every time he went to take a bite of his sandwich, snot would fall out of his nose onto the bread and then he would take a bite. First the women left because they couldn’t stand it any longer, and then before the men got sick, they left, too. You should have seen that drunk walk to his boat. He was all over the dock. In fact he’s lucky he didn’t fall off the dock on one side or the other.”
“Thanks for telling me,” Nikki said. “Just so you know, days ago I evicted him from the dock. He’s always drunk and goes into the water nude, swimming around the other boats and annoying everyone. The Chief of Police has been here to talk to him, too, and come the end of thirty days, he’ll be gone. That’s in about twenty days. So don’t worry about James. He’ll be gone soon”
On the way back to her office Nikki decided she’d better carry some kind of weapon with her at all times, because that crazy asshole was unpredictable. She locked the door to her office door behind her, then proceeded to search for something to defend herself with. The claw hammer fit in her hand, but was too heavy to carry around. Any knife she found was too hard to carry around.
Then she remembered what Bill used to do in situations like this. He’d use a bandana; both ends were tied to a padlock. The padlock was stuffed into his pocket, and it was legal
as all hell. So Nikki made her padlock weapon and hit the sofa with it a few times to see how it worked. As good as a nun chuck, it would knock your teeth out or knock you out, for sure. She put the padlock in her back pocket with the bandana hanging out.
Nikki went down the dock and talked to people there. Mark came down to join in and asked Nikki if she was OK. She said she was so he took a beer and started to drink because the work day was over. Brett and Brian and the two couples from New York came down to join in, too. Before long there were ten or twelve people on the dock. Somebody put on some CD’s like “Margarita Ville,” and they had a dock party.
After dark, the party started to break up and each went their own way or made dinner on their boats. Nikki and Brett went to Nikki’s apartment for dinner. They heard James leave his boat and start an old car he had bought. There was a knock on the door so Brett opened it. It was Mark.
“Well, I think your troubles are almost over,” Mark said. “James just told me he’s going to town to get supplies for a trip to Miami tomorrow. So I think he’ll be pulling out tomorrow.”
The color drained from Nikki’s face. She hadn’t gotten the money yet. She had to get rid of Brett for the night so she could go get the money before James came back. She asked Brett if he would mind if they got together tomorrow night because she didn’t feel very good and wanted to lie down. Brett said okay and he would call in a few hours to see how she was and he left with Mark.
Nikki ran through the apartment, got a suitcase and filled it full with Bill’s old clothes and newspapers. She changed to dark clothes and got the keys to Glenn’s work car. After looking up and down the dock, she left and went to James’ boat. It was locked, so she had to go back to her office to get the extra key to the Sea Ray. She returned to his boat and once inside opened the hatch where the two nylon bags were stashed.
She quickly pulled them out and put them on the floor next to the suitcase. She opened the suitcase and transferred the money to it, then stiffed the clothes and newspaper into the two black bags. When she was about done she noticed a small leather pouch laying in the vee. It had been concealed by the bags. Nikki opened the pouch; it was full of emeralds! She thought for a minute, then put the emeralds in the suitcase, too. She put the bags back where she had found them, left the boat, and locked everything back up the way she’s found it.
When she got to Glenn’s old car she stashed the works in the trunk and went back to her office. Nikki called Brett from her office and told him she felt better, to give her ten minutes and come back. She quickly took a shower, dressed and made a drink for Brett. She also got out his 9-mm and put it on the coffee table for him. There was a knock at the door so she grabbed the 9 and opened it, holding her breath, and cocking the gun. It was Brett. First he saw Nikki, and then he saw the cocked gun, and said, “Okay, lady. I’ll take my clothes off and do whatever you want.”
They both laughed as Brett took the gun from her hand as they kissed. She handed him his drink. They ate, drank, and made love. They kept the hatch open so they could look into it when they wanted to.
In the morning, after some kitchen kidding, they went out on the dock. Brett went to the Cat, and Nikki went to work. Her first stop was Tina and Randy’s fifty-foot Gulfstar. They were going out for the day to do some snorkeling at the reef. She waved them off, saw Mark down the dock and went to see what he was doing.
Mark was one of those people that you didn’t have to worry about. He always had a full plate of things to do.
“Was your night uneventful?”
“If you are referring to Captain James and water in my house boat, it was uneventful. But if you are talking about me, it was eventful. And now I’m hoping James will leave as soon as he gets up.”
She went to look at the four-plex, which seemed to lean to the south.
“What do you think, Mark?” she called out.
“It looks okay to me, but I’ll check it out.” Mark went to the house boat, opened the hatch and entered the crawl space of the boat. When he came up. he said, “I have to get my tools. There are several holes in the bottom, and they’ve all been drilled. That asshole James went under the boat last night because he’s leaving today!”
Mark went over to James’ boat and knocked on the side of the Sea Ray until James opened the door.
“I’m calling the cops,” Mark said, “cause you drilled holes in the bottom of the four-plex. Nobody has a beef with Nikki but you, and it sure as hell isn’t the people that live here. Anyhow you’re an asshole, and I’m calling the cops.”
“I had nothing to do with that!” James and shut the door. Mark went to get his tools and the bucket and went back down into the crawl space in the four-plex to see to the holes and put a white coat hanger through one.
Nikki watched the conversation between James and Mark and put her hand on the bandana with the padlock on it, but James went back inside. While Mark was down fixing the holes in the four-plex, James went to his fly bridge and started his boat, and then he untied it. He pulled the boat out, leaving before the cops got here. Nikki told them that she suspected James, but had no proof he had drilled the holes in the four-plex, and he was gone. The cops left.
When Mark came up she told him what had happened.
“Call the diver ASAP so the hull doesn’t get full of water. I’ll set up the fans and pumps and float switches so the four-plex won’t get any worse until he gets here. Don’t worry about this house boat, it’ll be okay. You know, James leaving is the best thing for you because he’s crazy, and if he stayed until next month he would be in the water drilling holes every other night. You’d never get any sleep until he left and the cops wouldn’t catch him either.”
That night Nikki felt a sense of relief. She had a drink with eight or ten people on the dock, including Brett. Someone got out a CD player again and let it go. They all danced and drank until dark. Then they went into town for dinner where they pushed three tables together and ate and drank some more. After dinner they went back to Nikki’s place and continued drinking and dancing. They were in a celebratory mood, mainly because James was gone. The party lasted until two, then everyone went to their boats except Brett who stayed the night with Nikki.
In the morning, after coffee, Brett went to the Cat because he and Brian had work to do on their boat. Nikki decided to have coffee with Ray and Judy on the forty foot Regal. They were all hung over from last night.
The diver showed up to patch the bottom of the four-plex. Nikki left Mark and the diver working on that and went down to talk to Jay and Sally in Dave’s old apartment. They were getting settled and Sally was enjoying her new job.
There were a lot of people on the dock cleaning and working on their boats. Cynthia was on the dock, too. This was early for her! Then Nikki saw Brian come up from below on Cynthia’s boat. That explained why she was up and about so early! Brian left and went to the Cat to work on the boat with Brett.
Nikki got on board Cynthia’s boat. They talked about Bill, her attorney and the trial. Nikki asked Cynthia if she could remember anything about Bill or the gun battle.
“Just bits and pieces,” Cynthia said. “I can remember Bill drinking heavily that night and getting in a loud fight that lasted for hours. I remember Bill getting the 38 and me going to the main salon to get the other gun that was kept in the coffee table down there.” Cynthia sat on the steps. “That’s about all I can remember.
What a crock, Nikki thought. She didn’t know what psychiatrist’s call it when a person replaces the truth with a memory that is more pleasant. But Cynthia was doing it well. Nikki wondered if her attorney told her to do this or just planted the idea. She couldn’t remember shit — not really. After an hour of talking Nikki had gotten what she came for, said good bye and left.
On her way to the office, she heard the external speaker announcing, “Harbor Marina, do you copy? This is the sixty-foot Sea Ray, the McWho.” Nikki ran to her office to answer the call. “McWho, this is Harbor Marina. Can I help
you?”
“Harbor Marina, this is McWho. Do you have a space for us for about two weeks?” they said.
“McWho. Not until Monday of next week. We are full now.” Nikki replied.
“Okay, Harbor Marina. I’ll try you next week. Put me down for Monday,” they confirmed.
Nikki went out on the dock and saw Rita, who had taken Mercedes’ old apartment. “What happened to Captain James?” Rita asked.
“He was always nude and swimming around the other boats at two or three in the morning, so I had him evicted. I also think he drilled holes in my two boats, plus he threatened me all the time,” replied Nikki.
“There’s one thing I’ve learned working at the bars and that’s that talkers who threaten you, don’t do anything. To put it like Dick always says, ‘empty wagons rattle the most.’ Anyhow, I think you are safe now that he is gone.”
Rita was drinking coffee, and she and Nikki made small talk about her work and the dock and boats and people for the better part of a half an hour. Then Rita went in, leaving Nikki to ponder on how pretty Rita was, she was tan and had the body of a dancer.
Mark was working on the chain tie-downs in the middle of the dock. They were all attached with turnbuckles to the thousand pound anchors. She stayed for a few minutes then went back to her office. All in all it was a normal day on the dock, sunny, the water very blue and clear and lots of friends on the dock working on their boats. Some were on vacation and starting to drink. There was a knock at the door, and she yelled, “Come in.”
It was the Chief of Police.
“Hi Nikki. I was in the area so I thought I’d stop by and make sure you were okay. Don’t look so scared. Nobody has seen him since he left. I’m sure he’s gone to Key West or up north. So calm down. I just stopped ‘cause I was in the neighborhood. Are you okay?” he asked.
Smugglers 4 - South Beach Heat Page 12
