Bluewater Rendezvous: The Eighth Novel in the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Bluewater Thrillers Book 8)

by Charles Dougherty

  When she hung up, Rollie asked, "Hey, can I go now?"

  "You're not under arrest or anything, if that's what you're asking. Why? You gotta be somewhere?"

  "No. I'd just like to shower and get some fresh clothes, you know? I'm pretty rank."

  The detective sniffed, wrinkling her nose. "Yeah, now that you mention it. You got anywhere to stay? Any money?"

  Rollie patted himself down. "Uh-uh," he said. "All my stuff's at the clinic in New Jersey. Wallet too. They didn't let us keep stuff like that in our rooms, so I threw on these clothes when Suzie came to get me. All I had in the closet — what I was wearing when I checked in."

  Santos eyed his greasy looking khakis and stained polo shirt. "All right. Let me check with the Lieutenant on the timing, but we've got a deal with the hotel up the street for witnesses. It's not the Ritz, but it's clean, and there's plenty of hot water. We might be able to scare up some clothes for you, too. You said your mother was sending some stuff?"

  "Yeah, credit cards. The Lieutenant gave her the address here, but it'll be tomorrow. How long do I need to stick around?"

  "A few days would be helpful. We'll want you to identify Suzie, once we bring her in, and the D.A.'s gonna want some time with you, too. Can you handle that?"

  "Yeah, sure. I'm on a leave of absence. Now that I'm through with rehab, I won't have anything pressing until I start work again. Always liked Miami, especially South Beach."

  "You might want to think about going back and finishing up with the rehab, as long as you got the time off from work."

  "Nah. I'm good. I'm just a recreational user, see. I can control it."

  "Well, that's your business, but I hear that a lot from people who are in a bad way. Coke is a nasty drug — sneaks up on you, and makes you feel like you don't need it. Anyway, we're going to want you back for the trial at some point, so keep that in mind."

  "Sure," Rollie said. "No problem."

  "Okay. Let me call Lieutenant Pantene, and then we'll get you to the hotel."

  ****

  Luke sat on the sofa across from Suzie's roommate, listening as Marian Santos questioned the girl. His eyes roamed the condo, appraising the furnishings; it was clear that the two young women were bringing in some cash. The condo alone would be worth close to a million dollars. There was original artwork on the walls, and the furniture looked expensive, too.

  "So you haven't heard from her since late yesterday afternoon?" Santos asked.

  "Right. She came by about four to change and get some stuff. She was pretty excited. She had a gig lined up last night that was a big deal."

  "You know who she was meeting?"

  The girl shook her head.

  "At a hotel? You know which one?"

  "Oh, no," the girl said, "not that kind of gig. She's been trying to get in with these people that do videos. She was set up for some kind of shoot last night; she had the starring role."

  "What kind of videos?" Santos asked.

  The girl looked puzzled.

  "I mean, like a TV commercial, or MTV, or what?"

  "No; hard core. That's where the money is. We're both trying to break into that so we can get off the game, like."

  "I see. But she didn't say where she was going?"

  "No. She was in a big hurry; somebody was waiting downstairs to drive her to wherever it was. I'm kinda worried about her, though."

  "Because she hasn't come home?"

  "Not so much that, but we always call each other right before we go in to, um ... well, you know, a trick or whatever, and then again as soon as we get out. It's like a personal safety thing. Most of the guys are pretty nice, but you never know for sure. You don't have to be on the game long to meet a few real sickos."

  "She didn't call?" Santos asked. "Either time?"

  "No." The girl shook her head, screwing her face into a worried frown.

  "Do you know Franco Andretti?" Luke asked.

  The girl's face went blank, like a shutter had closed. "You mean the guy that owns all the strip clubs?"

  "Yeah, him."

  "No! Suzie and I don't work the clubs; that's low-class stuff. We only do outcalls, people we know, or like, you know, somebody with a reference from an existing client."

  "Okay," Luke said. "Thanks."

  "No problem," the girl said. "You don't think Suzie's in trouble, do you?"

  "Hard to say," Santos said, handing the girl a card. "Call me if you hear from her, okay? She's not in any trouble with us. We're just looking for information about the guy we mentioned earlier, the one she went up to New Jersey to meet. If you remember anything else about him, or whoever set her up with him, that might help us find her."

  The girl nodded and put the card down on the coffee table next to her cellphone.

  ****

  "What do you make of her reaction to Andretti's name?" Santos asked, as they boarded the elevator.

  "Sheer panic. But we already know Suzie was working for him. This gal is too, probably. She did seem worried, though."

  "Yeah. Too bad Suzie Conner wasn't here. This is kind of a setback as far as connecting Cappelletti to the kidnapping, unless Andretti rolls over."

  "That ain't gonna happen," Luke said. "We'll have to keep digging. We'll find something. Maybe Conner will turn up."

  Chapter 28

  Angela gave Dani a worried look as she accepted the satellite phone. She'd heard Dani greet Luke Pantene and offer to put him on the speaker so they could all hear. It was clear that Luke had declined.

  "Angela?"

  "Yes? Luke? What's wrong? Just tell me, I can't take any — "

  "Whoa! I'm sorry to alarm you, but relax. It's all good news, okay?"

  "About John?"

  "Yes. Sorry about the speakerphone, but I thought you should hear this in private. You can tell Dani and the others, but it's your news. John came to early this morning. He's been in and out of consciousness a few times over the last several days. But never long enough for the doctor to have a conversation with him. He woke up several hours ago and walked out to the nurses' station. Freaked 'em out. He's completely coherent now, remembers everything. He's going crazy to talk to you."

  "Well, put him on!" Angela squealed.

  "Soon as they bring him back to his room. I'm here waiting for him; he asked me to call you before they hustled him out."

  "Hustled him out? Who?"

  "A whole platoon of doctors. They're testing him six ways to Sunday. They're scared to death to let him go until he's been alert for 24 hours, but they can't stop him from signing himself out. He cut some kind of deal with them; if they don't find anything with this latest round of tests, he's leaving."

  "I'd better book a flight, then."

  "Don't. That's why he wanted me to call you as soon as I thought you'd be awake. He wanted you to tell Dani and Liz you guys are taking the option for the second two weeks, whatever that means. He's already got reservations on a flight to St. Thomas this afternoon."

  "Oh! Well, okay. Is he going to be able to travel? And the boat, it's — "

  "He's in pretty good shape. It's been almost two weeks, remember. There's some bruising on his face, and he seems a little stiff when he's walking around. The only big problem was this concussion, I guess."

  "Thank you so much, Luke. I don't know what to ... " Angela burst into tears and handed the phone to Dani.

  "Good news?" she asked, as she put the phone to her ear.

  "About John, anyway. I'm no doctor, but I think he's in great shape. He told me all about Cappelletti and Andretti working him over at that same warehouse where they had Rollie. I'm glad now we kept this quiet and kept Angela away. Those bastards think he's dead, I'm sure."

  "So he can testify against Cappelletti?"

  "Yep."

  "That makes him kind of a marked man, doesn't it?"

  "Yeah. I offered protective custody, but he's not having it. 'Maybe after the cruise in the islands,' he said."

  "Have you arrested Cappelletti?" />
  "Yeah, the son of a bitch. He's got three guys that swear he was playing poker with them the night they tried to kill John."

  "Some of his thugs?"

  "No, unfortunately. The gods aren't that generous. One of them's a judge, one's a developer, and the third one — get ready — is a fucking ... sorry, a goddamned priest."

  "Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good."

  "Well, it's early days, Dani. We'll check all that out. They're all lying, probably because Cappelletti's holding something over them. Meanwhile, though, he's out on bail already. It's just as well that John and Angela stay out of sight for a little while until we get a better grip on the situation."

  "All right. I guess John will be calling soon, huh?"

  "Yeah. I'm sure the doctors are doing their best to sandbag him; they wanted to hold him until tomorrow, but he's having none of it."

  ****

  Luke needed to get back to his office. He was writing a quick note to leave on the nightstand in John's room when his phone rang.

  "Pantene,"

  "Lieutenant?"

  "Yes?"

  "Marian Santos. We got a call a minute ago from the lockup. Andretti's asking to see you; says he wants to deal."

  "Okay. You want to talk to his lawyer while I get back to the precinct?"

  "He didn't want his lawyer involved."

  "Uh-oh. I don't like the sound of that. He's playing some kind of game. Probably laying the groundwork for tossing out what he's told us so far. Has he talked to his lawyer since we first brought him in?"

  "Yeah. Guy that called said the lawyer had just left when Andretti said he wanted to talk to you."

  "Sounds even more suspicious. I guess I don't have much to lose by listening. What do you think?"

  "Want me to go see if he'll talk to me? These jerks don't see women as much of a threat; he might drop his guard."

  "Why not? See what you can get out of him. I want to get to work on Cappelletti's alibi witnesses."

  "Okay. I'll call you once I've seen him."

  ****

  Luke was sitting in his car, parked in front of a storefront soup kitchen. The priest who claimed to have been playing cards with Guido Cappelletti ran the place. Luke had learned a few minutes ago that the priest was on a retreat somewhere. The man running things in his absence had no idea how to reach him, nor when he would return. This was a familiar pattern for Luke; the priest would appear just in time to testify, if they ever got to court with this. He still had the judge and the developer to talk to, but he had no doubt that both would be unavailable until the trial.

  His phone rang as he was reaching for the ignition key; he saw that it was Santos.

  "Hey, Marian. How'd it goes?"

  "I'm not sure what to make of it, Luke. He said he'd plead guilty to kidnapping Stanwicke, which is kind of a no-brainer."

  "No shit. What does he want in exchange?"

  "He told me an interesting story on Welsh. I think it's bullshit, and I'm not sure what he's trying to do."

  "What did he say?" Luke asked.

  "Well, he admits that he worked Welsh over in that warehouse down on the river, but he says Cappelletti wasn't there. Says Cappelletti didn't even know about it. He claims Welsh made that up because there's bad blood between him and Cappelletti over Angela. He says Welsh and Cappelletti have been at odds for years."

  "Okay, so he's willing to take the fall for Cappelletti on Welsh. No big surprise there, but how does he explain the assault on Welsh if Cappelletti didn't order it, Marian?"

  "He says Welsh is a long-time client of Suzie Conner's, and that he's into some pretty kinky stuff. Andretti claims that Suzie had a date with Welsh that night he went missing. She dressed up like an EMT and picked him up at the airport as part of some kind of fantasy Welsh had scripted."

  "Shit!" Luke said.

  "Just wait. It gets better. Andretti says Suzie called him from a motel near the airport. She called for help while Welsh was in the bathroom. She told him she was afraid Welsh was going to kill her — that he was high on something and was hallucinating. Andretti sent a couple of guys to the room, but Welsh and Conner were gone. The desk clerk told Andretti's guys that Welsh and Suzie left in a rental car. Welsh was driving and Suzie was in bad shape. Welsh was carrying her. His guys caught up with Welsh at the rental car return, and there was no sign of Suzie. They took Welsh to the warehouse, and Andretti worked him over to find out where Suzie Conner was. Welsh told them he killed her and dumped the body out in the 'Glades. Andretti says he and his boys dumped Welsh in an alley near the airport. He says maybe Welsh went out to the Everglades looking to cover his tracks and passed out. That's his story."

  "That's crazy," Luke said. "He offer any explanation for why Welsh would kill Suzie?"

  "Oh, yeah. Welsh claimed Suzie was blackmailing him, threatening to tell Angela about him."

  "Damn," Luke said. "You know, if his lawyer gets hold of this and they come up with a few witnesses to corroborate even part of that story, our case may fall apart."

  "How so?" Marian asked.

  "Well, let's say we go to court. His lawyer will produce witnesses who put Welsh with Suzie Conner at that motel. Count on it. He'll also bring in the guys that Andretti claims he sent to the motel. Conner's roommate might even testify that Suzie had a date with somebody that matches up with Welsh. Conner will either turn up to testify, or we'll find her body somewhere with something to link Welsh to her death. Remember, Welsh's personal effects are missing — wallet, cellphone, carry-on bag. You see what the bastard's doing?"

  "Yeah. What are we gonna do, then?"

  "Did you record any of that bullshit?"

  "Um ... he declined to allow a recording."

  "That's not what I asked, Marian. This is between us. Did you get a recording?"

  "Yeah, but we can't use it."

  "That's okay. We can share it with the prosecutor's office and let them decide where to go."

  "They'll hit the ceiling about the recording."

  "Maybe. But that's the least of the problems they're going to see with this case."

  "Are you telling me this piece of shit is gonna walk, Luke?"

  "He's not gonna walk, but he's not gonna do any hard time, either. Not for Welsh. Stanwicke's kidnapping is a different story. We've got the victim's testimony, there. All we can do is try to come up with a motive that will tie Cappelletti into that, but it's pretty slim."

  "What about Cappelletti for Welsh?"

  "That won't even get to court by the time Andretti's done."

  ****

  Guido sat in his study, working through his options. By now, Andretti would have dropped his bomb. The lawyer had called almost an hour ago to tell him that Andretti was primed and asking for a private audience with Pantene. The rest was up to him. He picked up the burner cellphone and keyed in a number.

  "Hello?" Guido heard. Good old Sol. No names, no worries.

  "Let's talk baseball," Guido said.

  "Sorry. Maybe you got — "

  "Remember who sat next to you when Hammerin' Hank knocked that one outta the park?"

  "Is it really you?"

  "Yeah. You don't recognize the voice?" Guido asked.

  "You sound like an old fart. No disrespect."

  Guido laughed. "Yeah. I am. You do, too."

  "What can I do ya fer?"

  "A friend of mine was askin' you about a certain investment banker with a drug problem."

  "Yeah. I remember."

  "Word was he might have embezzled some money from one of the bank's clients."

  "Yeah. No doubt about that. Open and shut case. He'd do some time if word got out."

  "But you wouldn't share that with the FBI or the SEC or anybody like that, right? As long as he keeps his mouth shut about his recent vacation, of course?"

  "You know me. The soul of discretion."

  "Is there a way you can make him understand that? He's a little nervous."

  "No problem. Consider it done.
"

  "Nice to hear your voice," Guido said.

  "Same here." There was a click as the call disconnected. Guido put his feet on his desk and leaned back in his swivel chair.

  ****

  Dani and Sharktooth were sitting in the shade of the cockpit awning enjoying the late afternoon breeze. Vengeance swung to her anchor in Redhook Bay. Liz and Angela had taken the dinghy in to the marina to get a taxi to the airport. John's flight was due soon, and Angela had been beside herself with excitement.

  "I wish I felt better about all this," Dani said.

  Sharktooth looked up at her, pausing as he picked through the bucket of fried chicken. He had bought it at the gourmet market ashore when they arrived in the anchorage earlier.

  "Mm-hmm," he said. "Not all tied up nice, yet. Too many bad peoples still loose. But yo' bruddah an' Angela's frien', they good now, so don' worry. T'ings work out. Soon come. Luke takin' care of t'ings."

  Dani picked a wing out of Sharktooth's bucket of chicken. She was munching on it when the satellite phone rang.

  "Speaking of Luke," she said, putting the chicken wing down as she picked up the phone and looked at the display.

  "Hello?" she answered.

  "Dani?"

  "Yes. Sharktooth and I are here. Liz and Angela have gone to meet John's plane. What's up?"

  "Your brother just knocked my legs out from under me."

  "How so?"

  "He's recanted all his testimony. He claims he can't remember a thing about who kidnapped him, or how he got in the trunk of Andretti's car, or anything."

  "What does Andretti say?"

  "Nothing. He hasn't said anything of consequence since we picked him up. He offered to plead for a deal that didn't make any sense. Once we thought about it, we realized he was using it to tell us how he was going to unravel our case against him for Welsh. The prosecutor's office is backing away from that one as fast as they can."

  "Damn. You caught Andretti with Rollie in the trunk of his car. How's he going to explain that?"

  "I have no idea, but without Rollie's testimony, he's got a lot more options."

  "I don't know what to say, Luke."

  "Oh, I wasn't expecting answers. I thought you should know that this mess isn't over yet. Don't let Angela and Welsh do anything dumb; I think he's still in danger, at this point. Your brother, too, but he's headed back to New York, so I can't do much for him."