Alumni Association
Page 19
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When one of the coast guard officers came on board Red Sky to interview them, Beth took the initiative.
“I’m sorry,” she began, “but the fog prevented us from seeing what happened to Tanks Banks. All we heard was a loud crash and lots of shouting.”
“Did you see what happened to Mr. Gartenberg?” he asked Beth.
“I saw him struggling, so I jumped into the water to help, but he went under before I could reach him.”
The officer made some notes and then briefly questioned Max, Andi, and Pam, but no one’s story contradicted Beth’s, nor did the floating debris suggest anything other than an unavoidable accident that ended in Gartenberg’s drowning. The coast guard officer was satisfied and returned to the cutter. If he saw any bullet damage on Red Sky, he ignored it. As soon as the cutter left the scene, Red Sky raised her sails and continued on to Guadeloupe.
Chapter 80
It was a restrained crew that sailed Red Sky toward Port Louis on Guadeloupe. The storm was over, the sea had calmed, and the wind was perfect for a seven-to-eight-hour sail straight into the port. Max turned on the autopilot and sat quietly in the cockpit with Beth and Andi, each assembling their own thoughts and feelings, while Pam slept in the forward cabin, exhausted from her ordeal.
When Beth had enough of the introspection, she went below and cranked up her laptop. There was an email from Luis Benetez asking how they all were. She considered a caustic reply based on what she had learned of his participation in Cadet Berland’s abuse back in BMI, but decided to file that one under “too many generations ago.” Instead, she just wrote back that they were fine and heading for Guadeloupe.
Luis replied that Madre de Oro would skip Guadeloupe and continue on her way straight to Venezuela. He repeated that he looked forward to working with Beth in the near future. She didn’t reply to that one at all. The FBI would be delivering her answer when she gave them the thumb drive.
Beth then wrote Sean and asked him to fly down and join her on Guadeloupe. She said she loved and missed him and there was a lot for them to talk about. He replied that he loved and missed her, too, and would be down the next day on the first flight out of JFK.
Beth smiled and began to contemplate his arrival.
Dedicated to Elizabeth with love. Hi! It’s me again.
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Sixty Years at BMI: Published by BMI in 1945 to commemorate the school’s sixtieth anniversary. Thanks much to J. S. Cureton, granddaughter of BMI dean H. M. Smith, for providing me with a photocopy of the volume and for sharing her memories.
Bordentown Briefs, Vignettes of a Colonial Village 1682–1982: Published in 1982 by the Literary Guild of Greater Bordentown Area and Bordentown Historical Society.
Bordentown 1682–1976: Published in 1977 by the Bordentown Historical Society, as a project of the Bordentown Area Bicentennial Committee.
Locations
Bordentown Military Institute, Park Street, Bordentown (The author is a graduate.)
Ocean Spray Cranberries, Park Street, Bordentown
Bordentown City Clerk, 324 Farnsworth Avenue, Bordentown
Bordentown Historical Society, 211 Crosswicks Road, Bordentown
Burlington County Clerk, 49 Rancocas Road, Mount Holly (where I was able to locate and photocopy the original 1817 deed to Joseph Bonaparte)
Antigua Parks Commissioner and Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua
Antigua Sailing Week
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Author’s note: Some on-site research was also intended for use in connection with a master’s thesis in creative writing.
Finally: Thanks always to two special people, Kara Cesare (editor at PRH) and Mel Berger (agent at WME) for being there.
BY MICHAEL RUDOLPH
Noble Chase
Alumni Association
About the Author
MICHAEL RUDOLPH is a retired Park Avenue attorney, an ex–New Yorker, an ex–Connecticut Dodger, and the author of Noble Chase. His idea of nirvana is to sail off into a Caribbean sunset with his wife, Elizabeth, their golden retriever, and a handful of grandchildren. He sailed his own sailboat on Long Island Sound for many years and chartered other sailboats for extended cruising in the Caribbean. He polished his sailing techniques and blue-water skills with many classes in navigation and seamanship.
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