“And what plan is that?” BJ asked.
“That we may have to sink Green Eyed Monster.”
“Oh, please, can I be the one to tell her?” Ginette asked, delighted.
“Ginette, if Mickey finds out, you know she’ll not go along with it and we’ll all end up feeding the fish. What means more to you, pissing her off or saving your shiny white ass, as you so eloquently put it?”
Ginette sat down and silently sulked. Victoria turned to BJ and continued, “We need a safe port, a fast PC, and a lot of luck. What can you deliver?”
“Port and PC.”
“Let’s get going. Rudy will be wondering why you haven’t reported in by now. They’ll start searching the area soon.” BJ nodded, releasing the lines that lashed the powerboat to the side of the yacht and then securing the smaller vessel astern for towing. Next, she started up the engine and shouted forward, “Raise the hook, Mickey.”
She looked across the wind-whipped deck to Victoria.
“We’re heading for Little Cayman. The wind’s behind us, and we’ll make good time. I live near Grape Tree Bay. We can moor offshore.”
“What about a computer?” Victoria stood beside BJ as the wooden hull began to cut water.
“Use mine. Can’t think what else to do. Home will be the last place Rudy will look.” At that, the cell phone on her hip vibrated. She unclipped it and read the caller ID, then casually hurled it in a high arc into the passing waves.
“The search is on.” Her fingers tightened on the wheel.
“That damn boat’s slowing us down.” Mickey grimaced at the small speedboat bouncing and yawling behind them on its short towline. “Cut her loose.”
“No, we’ll need it later,” Victoria protested.
“Then I’m hoisting the main to get some extra speed.”
Mickey unwound the halyard on the main and began to haul canvas.
“There’s something on the horizon,” Ginette called from her lookout.
“Where? Is it Little Cayman?” Victoria asked anxiously, trying to ascertain where Ginette was actually looking.
“No. If that were the case, I’d say there’s an island on the horizon. What I mean is there’s something on the horizon. That’s what I say when I don’t want to alarm everybody by saying there’s bloodthirsty pirates off the port quarter.” Mickey grabbed the binoculars from her and looked.
Shrugging, she handed them over to BJ. “Don’t recognize them, do you?”
BJ raised the glasses. “Yeah. We got bloodthirsty pirates off the port quarter.”
“Let’s try to haul the powerboat alongside. I know we’re moving, but we have to do this before they’re close enough to notice or care that we have an auxiliary vessel,” Mickey said.
BJ wrapped the line around a winch for more purchase, and with her and Mickey’s muscle power, they managed to drag the bouncing craft alongside starboard.
“Victoria, jump in and start her up. Be careful, hon. Aim to land on the seats.”
Uncertain of where this was going, Victoria made the leap onto the awkwardly bouncing smaller craft and immediately fired up the outboard.
Mickey nodded at Ginette. “You next. Hurry.” But Ginette pulled back, hesitating and looking over to Victoria in question.
Before Mickey could rush Ginette along, BJ interrupted her.
“No. You go. It’s Victoria they’re looking for, and they think you’re her. They’ll torture you both till they find the real one. You two know where the money’s at and how to get to it. Ginette and I are useless to them, and as Rudy is my uncle, I might have a little sway yet.”
“As long as it’s not from the yardarm.” Mickey gave a grim smile.
“It’s the best odds we got.” BJ shrugged. “Stay to starboard. Hide behind us as long as possible. The later they see you, the better your chances.”
Mickey nodded grimly and jumped several feet to tumble in beside Victoria, tilting dangerously until a hand reached out to steady her.
“Here, catch.” Ginette passed Mickey’s diving gear over the rail into waiting arms. “Take it, just in case.” She reached down and untied the final line connecting the two craft and tossed it into the black speedboat. Ginette stood by the guardrail looking down at Victoria. They exchanged one long look that held their good-byes.
❖
“Will Rudy be with the pirates?” Ginette asked as she watched the powerful motor cruiser slowly gain on them. Even at full sail, full throttle, and with a strong lead, it was only a matter of time before the faster craft caught up.
Shielded from the oncoming vessel’s view, Victoria and Mickey had gradually peeled away, merging into a small fishing flotilla that had fortunately crossed their course. It was easy for the two white women to look like nosy tourists on a day’s outing.
“No,” BJ snorted, keeping an eye on the pirates’ heading.
“He gets seasick. He’s safely tucked behind a desk counting his grams and dollars.”
“Grams? He runs drugs, too?”
BJ shrugged. “Small time. This motor cruiser gaining on us is one of his ponies. The Gresham money was to put him in with the big boys.”
“Do you do any drug running for him, BJ?” BJ’s answer was to spit into the wind. “No damn way. Keep that shit away from me. I even hate I had to grab the Gresham lady. But I owe Rudy my college fees. My debt was big.” She bit her lower lip then looked directly at Ginette. “I made a mistake. I see it now. I’m sorry I got your friend in danger, and I promise to do all I can to help change things.” Sighing, Ginette turned seaward. Their pursuers were even closer. It seemed they were gaining at every passing second. It was nearly time to put Victoria’s plan into action, and she could feel fear clawing at her belly already, making her limbs heavy and her head woozy. I don’t think I’ll ever be brave enough for this life. All I seem to do is hover around the periphery of courage and success, hanging on to better people like some gawping onlooker. “And I’m sorry about your gun,” she said.
“Best thing you could have done for me. No weapon, no target, as they say.” BJ smiled at her and caught the seed of fear buried in Ginette’s eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll never let them hurt you.”
“That’s not going to happen, babe.” Ginette smiled back as bravely as she could, understanding BJ’s intention. She moved forward and dropped a soft kiss on BJ’s lips. “Let’s see what we can do to even the odds a little. Are you a gambler, BJ? Because I am.” As she spoke she opened a locker and pulled out several of Mickey’s emergency fuel cans, stringing a long line through the handles and tying them at regular intervals.
“What the hell you doing, girl?”
“Party prepping. I like to mix things up a little.” She attached one end of her line to the bow, the other to a cleat at the stern, and gently lowered the whole string of fuel cans to just above the water line on the starboard side, away from the view of the oncoming vessel. “Can we head for shallower waters?” BJ nodded. Sailing on toward Little Cayman was bringing them into a series of shallows. She changed course slightly to accommodate whatever crazy scheme Ginette had going on.
Ginette noted that the faster motor cruiser changed direction and followed, slowly closing in. And behind it scooted a little black powerboat, the kind rented by holiday makers. With Victoria in a scarlet bikini and Mickey in a cut-off wetsuit, they looked like vacationers out for a day of fun.
Ginette watched the echo-sounder as the depth fell away beneath them.
“Let’s drop sail now and motor slowly onto that sand bank.”
“You want to run aground?” BJ looked dismayed. Ginette watched the motor cruiser close in. They had maybe ten minutes if they were lucky.
“Aye, Skipper, I do. We’re out of time, out of sea room, and out of luck. Let’s jam her here.” Despite the lightness of delivery, her steady gaze was crystal clear and deadly serious. “At least this way they only get to cart us away. They’ll have to leave Monster behind. And maybe Vic and Mickey can reclaim her.”
BJ shrugged and watched mystified as Ginette took the longest halyard that ran all the way from the masthead and tied it discreetly to the port grab rail. Ginette had a definite plan. Her last movements had been as precise as they were confusing.
“Remember to keep them port side of us,” Ginette said as BJ spun the wheel and brought Green Eyed Monster to a shuddering halt, the deep keel driving hard into the soft sands underneath.
BJ cut the engine and waited to be boarded. Carefully, Ginette readjusted the line of plastic fuel cans just below the starboard waterline. She had loosened a few caps, and small traces of gas seeped out in rainbows on the water. With a wild wave toward the circling black powerboat, she turned back in time to see the pirate vessel arrive on the port side.
Ping! Out of time.
❖
“Having some trouble, Bar Jack?” a voice crowed from the motor cruiser as it slid alongside. “Lost your bearings and run aground?”
“Morning, Carmelo. Why are you hounding me today?” BJ flung back casually, her arm draped over the wheel as three of the visitors leapt onboard. She hated this guy, Rudy’s nastiest, and luckily, his densest henchman. Carmelo advanced with a leer, leaving his crew to tie up alongside.
“I’m hounding you because you’re one two-faced bitch.” His smile suddenly turned cold. “And Rudy’s gonna gut you when I drag your sorry ass back. Family or no.” He next turned to Ginette. “You must be the fancy fuck I gotta cut the fingers off till you remember all your account details.
Rudy says to tell you he’s missing his pretty lady boss.” Ginette gave a sickly smile at the idiot’s mistake. Another one who didn’t know who the hell he was chasing. What was it about Victoria? It wasn’t as if she had a forgettable face. How perverse she should finally cop for her ex’s torture. Ah well, proof karma really does suck. Leveling her best millionairess sneer at the second rate henchman she drawled, “Well, if you cut of my fingers, how can I write you a check?”
“On board now.” He thumbed over his shoulder to his boat and waiting men, “Both of you. God, this piece of crap stinks of fuel. You musta ruptured a fuel line, asshole.” He pushed BJ hard ahead of him and grabbed Ginette tightly by her upper arm.
“Think you’re clever running aground, BJ? Think these flash vacation fuckers gonna come running over to help? That they might take you off this tub and somewhere safe?” He smiled.
“Hard luck, these cunts don’t give a damn. They’re too busy enjoying themselves to even look at you.”
“Well, that lady over there is waving,” Ginette said pointing at the little black powerboat that could easily dart across the sandbar with its shallow hull. She waved back. “Oh look, she’s even going to summon help. How kind of her.” Carmelo squinted in surprise at the vessel she was pointing at. His eyes widened at Victoria in her red bikini waving back at them. They widened even more as he saw her lift the flare gun.
And they nearly fell out of his head as she pointed it, not at the sky, but straight at the wooden hull of the Green Eyed Monster.
“Fuck! Everyone off, everyone off. Now!” But it was too late. The flare popped and shot forward in a crazed stream of smoke, hitting the fuel-soaked hull point-blank.
With a crackling roar, flames erupted, glazing across the white hull in a swirling liquid dance. Even the sea alongside leapt with a short-lived wave of fire as billowing red smoke enveloped everything. As each semisubmerged fuel canister ignited in turn, small booms and flashes rode up into the air through a festival of red flare smoke. It was a display that got the attention of every living thing in that sector—man, fish, or fowl.
There was no way an incident like this would go unnoticed and unreported. It was clear that Carmelo had to get away before the authorities came looking. He leveled his gun at BJ for a clean shot before he ran, only to find empty swirling smoke. Cursing, he latched on to Ginette’s wrist, dragging her to his vessel, where the crew were desperately trying to get free of the burning sloop.
Ginette knew it was the last thing any sailor wanted, fire at sea, but to be actually attached to a burning vessel was tantamount to suicide. They had to get away, and fast.
Ginette resisted as much as she could, but not so much as to get a split lip, and allowed herself to be manhandled aboard. As they passed the port grab rail, she un-slipped the halyard knot she had tied earlier. Keeping a tight hold on the length of line, she led it onto the motor cruiser. Her sleight of hand went unnoticed in the pandemonium.
Carmelo roughly shoved her down on the deck. “Sit, bitch, and shut up. One twitch and I swear I’ll blow your fucking ugly head off,” he barked before running to the pilot’s deck to scream at his helmsman. Ginette smiled quietly as she quickly looped the sloop’s halyard hard to a stern cleat of the motor cruiser, tying both vessels together.
Let’s see you outrun Monster now. Dusting her hands with a satisfied grin, sharks or no, Ginette calmly stood up and jumped overboard into a smoke-red sea.
❖
“Here, give me your hand. Give me your hand.” Victoria reached out for BJ and hauled her closer to the powerboat. With a grunt, BJ gained leverage and easily pulled herself up and over with minimal effort.
“That bitch of a girlfriend of yours kicked me overboard. She planted her foot in the middle of my chest, and slammed me seven feet up and into the water.” BJ spluttered, “Is she into martial arts or something, because I can call quits on the damn gun.”Victoria smiled. “She’s my bitch of an ex -girlfriend. My current bitch of a girlfriend is just about to destroy your family business. Watch and learn how corporate piracy works.” BJ and Victoria stood side by side in the wildly swaying little boat. They watched the mad scramble to abandon the burning sloop. BJ anxiously scanned the mayhem, trying to locate Ginette.
Victoria too stood tense with worry.
“I can’t see her through the damned smoke,” BJ growled, and asked, “Is that a halyard line running from Monster’s mast top to Carmelo’s boat?”
“I sincerely hope so.”
A splash and angry shouts alerted them to Ginette’s escape.
Victoria spun the wheel to go collect her. Even as they moved forward, an unholy creaking scream rent the air as Green Eyed Monster shifted off the sandbar. She was now effectively being towed sideways by the high-powered pirate vessel, dragged mercilessly at a perilous tilt by the halyard rope attached to her mast top.
“Shit,” shouted BJ, “they’re pulling it down on top of themselves. Ginette’s in the water. It’ll land on her.” She dove in the water, breaking into a punishing crawl, heading directly to a floundering Ginette, who had surfaced several yards away.
Green Eyed Monster had a very tall mast. The working lines or halyards that ran up and down it were much, much longer. As Carmelo’s boat powered away, the line attached from Monster’s mast top to his stern cleat snatched tight, slowing his vessel so abruptly, it stalled his engine. The powerful surge of the almighty tug managed to jar the sloop’s long keel loose from the small groove it had made for itself in the soft sandbar. Victoria watched the sickening sway as it slowly swooned sideways.
All the groaning vessel could do was tilt toward the force hauling it. Had it been afloat in deeper water it would have drifted sideways, but perched on the semisolidity of a sandbank gave her keel a pivot point, and that allowed her to simply fall over onto the vessel dragging her down by her mast top. It was a harrowing ballet, but Victoria had to drag her eyes away and hunt through the waves and drifting red smoke for Ginette, and now BJ, who was in this melee, too.
❖
BJ cleaved through the waves until her head bobbed up behind Ginette’s. She wrapped an arm around her chest and began to drag her away from the ensuing carnage.
“No, no, no!” Ginette screamed, splashing hysterically, nearly pulling them both under with her kicking and flaying.
“It’s me, babe, it’s me. Calm down. I got you.” BJ soothed her, her strong backstroke pulling them both toward Victoria and the waiting powerboat.
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“Oh, thank God, I thought you were a shark.” Ginette twisted around and floated across BJ’s belly, her tearstained face breaking into a huge smile. “I thought my karma had come to collect.”
“Maybe it has.” BJ smiled back.
They paddled backward together, grinning stupidly at one another, lost in their own floating world until a voice above them said rather snidely, “Ahem, sorry to burst the love bubble, but is there any chance you two might climb onboard so we can get the hell out of here?”
All three sat at a safe distance and watched the terror of the men on Carmelo’s deck as Green Eyed Monster slowly crept closer and closer to the hull of the motor cruiser. Sparks and flaming tatters of canvas were drifting across from the beleaguered vessel, along with blinding smoke. The rainfall of sparks had begun to singe and smolder on various fiberglass surfaces, the modern hull an even more flammable material. From the nearby island, high-powered rescue craft were already streaking toward the conflagration. Every boat in the vicinity had a camera leveled at the spectacle. It was cinematic in its high drama.
Ginette sighed happily. “Look at my beautiful creation. This must be how Shakespeare felt.”
Finally, a crewman found the line that bound them to the burning hulk and hacked it away. Above, on the upper pilot deck, a practically apoplectic Carmelo was screaming at his helm to “Get the fuck outta here!”
But it was too late. Green Eyed Monster had passed the point of no return. She keeled right over to lie at ninety degrees, her beam resting on the sandbar. The surrounding waters hissed and steamed as they quenched most of the fire on her hull and deck.
Freed at last from her blazing thirty-eight-foot anchor, the power craft shot forward for a speedy escape.
“Ooh, watch this,” Victoria said. With a sickening thump and a grinding wrench, the expensive motor cruiser came to an immediate stop, as if it had hit an invisible brick wall.
“What the hell happened?” BJ asked.
Green-Eyed Monster Page 14
