by Chris Niles
“Looks old, like an antique. If I had books like that, I don’t know if I’d have the guts to bring them on vacation with me. I’d probably build some special sealed case for them. But I guess that’s why I don’t have any collectible books. No, it’s the library for me. Or sometimes I’ll pick something up at Half Price Books if I know I want to read it over again. I know some people like those electronic—”
“Lady, I get you’re trying to be friendly, but I’m not really in the mood to make friends.”
“But … this is a singles cruise. I thought we were all here to make friends?”
Vince stared at her. “You mean this isn’t a gay cruise? I’m gonna kill my travel agent.”
“I’m sorry.” The woman stammered and backed up a couple of steps. “I just thought, you being into books and all…” She stepped another step back and bumped into a bulkhead. “Just, well, good night.”
The woman’s cheeks flushed red, and she spun and took off down the deck.
He pulled out the card key he had lifted off a tourist in town. The man bore a passing resemblance to Vince — similar height, build, and hair. Vince had bought the guy a couple drinks and discovered enough to know he was traveling alone. Vince loved Singles Cruise days.
It had been easy enough to slip the guy’s key from his pocket and leave him with another drink containing a special surprise. In the rush to get stragglers aboard, he looked enough like the guy to pass through security check and get onboard. The asthma attack didn’t hurt either.
He walked back inside and scanned a diagram of the ship near the elevator. His room was on deck seven near the stern. Vince climbed two flights of wide, carpeted stairs, then walked the length of the ship until he reached the correct room. He slid the card key into the lock. With a soft click, a green light blinked and the lock disengaged.
“Mr. Lombardo!” A steward in a crisp white uniform waved from the end of the hall. Vince waved back and wrapped his fingers around the door handle. “How was your day in Key West? Can I get you anything this evening?” The steward jogged down the hall toward him. Vince lowered his head and motioned to his stomach.
“Not feeling well? I can bring up some medicine or call the doctor for you sir?”
Vince nodded and fumbled with the door handle until it finally opened. He slipped into the tiny stateroom then slammed the privacy lock.
He collapsed on the narrow couch. An elephant made from rolled up bath towels stared back at him from the bed. His doppelgänger was a tidy man, shirts neatly hung in the closet and shoes all lined up on the shelf below. Vince loosened the collar of his shirt, kicked off his shoes, then stretched out on the bed with the antique book.
An hour later, still unable to decipher the scratched notes in the back of the book, Vince set it on the desk. He picked up the ship’s brightly-colored itinerary for the next day, which lay beside the smiling towel animal.
Cozumel. Of course. Vince had run variations on the cruise-ship gag a few times before, ending up in a variety of Caribbean locations. Cozumel, Belize, even once in Honduras. Ship security supposedly matched your face with a photo of the passenger, but when the lines were long and the ship was about to leave, they didn’t look too closely. Vince had been Al Rizzo, Joe Agnoletti, and Tommy Ricci in the past year, and he’d gotten a few relaxing getaways out of it. He’d just need to get off and blend in with the crowd at the next port before his mark sobered up, reported his key lost, and booked a flight to catch up with the ship again.
Cozumel was a great place to blend in. As soon as they got into port, he’d send Baumann an update. In the meantime, there was no harm in spending a little time in the casino and picking up some company for the evening.
Vince selected a comfortable-looking outfit from Tony Lombardo’s closet, took a hot shower, slicked his hair back, then ambled down to the ship’s casino.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Chuck, that was the guy who put Babette in the hospital. Who is he? How would he …”
Chuck sat on the steps of the Custom House, his head hung low. “Baumann is a scum, but I never imagined …”
“Who knew where we were going to be tonight and why we were here? It was just you, me, and Babette, right? And the drag queen and this Amy woman.” Kate pointed toward the street where the curator waited for the ambulance.
“Well, I mentioned it to Steve when I ran into him down at the fuel dock this afternoon.”
“Was anyone else around? What did you tell him?”
“No one else, really. No one important. Just the Jenkins guy from the catamaran that came in on Saturday. Well, him and his wife. And the fuel guy.”
“Jeesh, Chuck! Maybe next time you could broadcast it on the VHF.”
“Well, I had just gotten back from the hospital and was telling Steve we’d be closed for a few days, and so I offered him and that mom and son who just took a camp spot this morning some of the stuff from the fridge, you know, that’d spoil before Babette is back on her feet.”
“So those new people know, too?”
“Yeah. And I had the fuel guy deliver a little extra since I thought we’d be, you know, going out to search.”
“And you told him this?”
“Kinda. I told him if all went well tonight, we’d be out a lot over the next few days, and he asked where I was going. I told him I didn’t know, but I would after tonight.”
“Oh, Chuck. You didn’t.”
“He seems like a good guy. He’s been delivering my fuel for a year. It’s not like he works for Baumann or anything.”
“Chuck, anyone could work for Baumann. You said it yourself. He owns half the Keys and he’s trying to steal the other half. It stands to reason he’d also own half the people.” Kate sat on the pier and leaned against a concrete piling. “I knew this was a terrible idea.”
“What was a terrible idea?” William Jenkins’ baritone resonated across the little plaza. He and Steve climbed off Steve’s Island Hopper and joined them, beers in hand.
“Nothing,” Kate spat.
Chuck took a beer from Steve. “You know that little errand I mentioned this afternoon when y’all were at the fuel dock? Yeah, it didn’t go so well.”
She took the bottle from Chuck’s hand then set it up on the concrete wall. “It went fine until we got ambushed when we left the building. The guy had to have been following us. Same guy that came at me yesterday and then attacked Babette. We came out, he tackled Chuck, grabbed the book, then ran for the ship. I couldn’t get past security and watched them close—”
“Wait, he can’t have been a passenger on that ship if he’s the one who put Babette in the hospital?” Steve interrupted. “How can it be the same guy?”
“I don’t know, but I busted his nose at Shark Key yesterday and I saw the same busted up nose board that ship tonight. I have no clue how he got on it, but he did, and it’s gone. The ship. The guy. The book. Sorry to be the one to say it, Chuck, but I think you’re screwed.”
Jenkins waved Steve over toward Chuck, rested a huge hand on Kate’s shoulder, and crouched beside her. “It’s not that bad, is it?”
Kate noticed Steve checking out Chuck’s eyes with the little flashlight he kept on his keychain. “I’m a monster. Chuck’s the one that got tackled. He’s the one who’s going to lose the marina. I never should have agreed to get involved in this. He needs professional help. Lawyers. Police. Whatever. Not some random chick who lives on a broken-down boat.”
“Katherine. Listen to me. We’ve tied up at dozens of marinas in our travels. We’ve met beach bums and washouts and retirees. We know the customs. Everyone’s friendly, everyone helps out, but no one relies on anyone. Everyone eventually moves on. Right?”
Kate shrugged. “Yeah, that’s how it works.”
“What I’ve seen at Shark Key is different. You all are family. And not the kind of family you’re stuck with. You’re the family a person chooses. So if Charles turned to you for help, he must believe you’re a person he
can trust and the help he needs.”
She stared as the ambulance’s flashing lights preceded it into the parking lot. “Family. All family gets you is …” She pushed his hand off her shoulder then stomped off.
“Wait!” William caught up to her and spun, jogging backward. “What did I say?”
“Never mind. Trusting people is just BS, that’s all.” She reached her car, opened the door, climbed into the driver’s seat. “Maybe all those people at all those other marinas are on to something. Quit trying to make it all better. Just. Don’t.” Kate slammed the door of her Civic then peeled out of the parking lot.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Serenity’s salon door slid shut with a crash. Kate caught Whiskey glaring from inside the glass.
“Sorry, bud. Maybe next time. I know it’s late, but I’m running way farther than you can keep up.” The big dog pawed at the door as she flopped on a storage box to tie her running shoes.
“Kate!” William’s voice rose over the sound of tires crunching across the parking lot. “I’m glad I caught—”
“Don’t.”
“They’re keeping Chuck overnight, but he’s going to be fine.”
“Good for Chuck. Maybe y’all can help him now, since my help just gets people hurt.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“What do you know? You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me.”
William checked his watch. “You have a point. How about I grab my shoes and get to know you better?”
“No, thanks.”
“How about I just grab my shoes and we can run in silence? It’s a little late for a young lady to be out alone.”
“I appreciate it. Really, I do. But I run out here at night all the time. Besides, you never know. You could actually be the dangerous one.”
“Not everyone is a threat.” He paused, his dark face difficult to read in the sodium orange of the dock lights. “Please? I’ll just be a second.” He ran down the dock to his catamaran.
Kate tightened the laces and started down the lane at a comfortable jog. Just before she reached the highway, she heard William’s steady steps behind her. They turned east on Overseas and he matched her pace.
Two miles passed in silence before Kate spoke. “Why do you care?”
“Nothing better to do, maybe?” They jogged on. “Michelle and I retired a few years ago when we sold an app she developed. We went a little crazy at first. Fancy cars, big house, swank cocktail parties with movers and shakers. But it got boring fast. None of our friends cared about anything but how they looked. After a while, that’s all we seemed to care about, too. And what we thought was more money than we could imagine seemed like not enough at all.
“One day I looked at her, she looked at me, and we realized we’d become strangers. We didn’t know each other anymore. So we sold it all and bought the boat. We stayed two weeks in Havana. A month in Cozumel. Worked our way around the coast, with a few weeks of diving in Curaçao and Bonaire before hopping our way back up the Windward and Leeward islands. We move when we feel like moving. And everywhere we go, we make a point to get to know the locals. Get a feel for the real culture of a place beyond what they show the tourists. We haven’t been here long, but I can tell you folks on Shark Key are a solid little family.”
“I don’t do family.”
“Chuck sees you as family. The closest he’s got, anyway.”
“Sucks to be him, then.”
“Look, Kate. What happened tonight wasn’t your fault. Chuck’s going to be fine. And it’s not the end of the road. We checked, and that ship is headed to Cozumel. The guy isn’t going anywhere until it docks at noon tomorrow, so all we have to do is beat him there.”
Kate laughed. “And how do you propose we do that?”
“We fly.”
Kate flapped her arms at her sides. “With these great big wings?”
“I have a plane. I called a buddy, and he’s bringing it down first thing in the morning.”
“Of course you do. You have fun with that.”
“Kate, it’s not like that. Look, Chuck is in the hospital. Babette is in the hospital. You’re the only one who can recognize this guy.”
“They’re both in the hospital because of me.”
“You’ve seen him three times now. We need you in Mexico.”
“And how do you possibly think this will work?”
“The only way he could have gotten on that ship is with another passenger’s ID. Somewhere on this island, there’s some poor tourist passed out drunk somewhere and missing his card. Tomorrow morning, that guy wakes up and raises holy hell with the cruise line. If our guy doesn’t get off in Cozumel and stay off, he’ll be in a world of hurt. So Cozumel is our place to catch him before he boards a flight or rents a car or charters a boat to heaven knows where.”
Kate ran faster.
William matched her pace.
“I’m sorry. If you really want to go, I’ll give you a description.”
“A description won’t be enough.”
“Then I need to fix this for Chuck myself. My check comes in a couple days. I guess I could book a flight to Cozumel in the morning and chase this guy down.”
“On your own?”
“Yes.”
“He’ll be long gone.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Let’s say you find him. Then what?”
“Then I get the book back from him.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Kate stopped. “It’s all I can do. I don’t have the money to give him. You say I can’t get the book back for him. I don’t see a way to fix it, and my only other option is to start looking for a new slip for my boat.”
William turned around and jogged in place. “No, it’s not. Steve has military experience. I have resources. I hear you’re pretty badass yourself when you need to be. We go together, we find the guy, and we deal with him.”
They ran together in silence for another twenty minutes.
“I came down here after my husband died.”
William slowed, but Kate kept her pace. He caught up. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Not yours to be sorry for. Anyway, our friends tried to help me, but what did they know about it? I was so angry. Angry at myself for leaving him there alone. Angry at the jerk who killed him. Angry at him for being vulnerable. He was a cop. He wasn’t supposed to get cut in our own house by some punk who wanted our DVD player.”
“Kate, I’m…”
“I came down here to start fresh. To build a life on my own. To not need anyone and for no one to need me. Just me and my dog. That’s all.”
“We’re not meant to be alone. We’re pack animals. We do better when we’re together.”
“You might. I don’t.”
“You do. You don’t like how it feels when things go sideways. I get that. But I promise if they go sideways and you’re all alone, it’s a thousand times worse.”
They turned up the lane to Shark Key. She looked over the low seagrape bushes at the moonlight glinting off the rippling water.
William finally spoke. “It’s beautiful out here. I hate bullies, and I’m not willing to let some greedy developer steal this place out from under Chuck. Neither are you. I’ll pick you up at seven. Bring your passport.” He jogged up the dock then climbed aboard the Knot Dead Yet.
Kate let Whiskey out. He ran up to the hedge and did his business while she stretched her aching muscles. She’d pushed a faster pace than she was used to, and Jenkins kept up as if he was walking.
She whistled to Whiskey, then went into the boat’s salon to find her passport.
Chapter Twenty-Five
AT 6:55 a.m., Kate’s boat rocked. Someone rapped on the sliding door. She threw a lightweight plaid shirt over her black tank and khaki shorts, slipped into her shoes, then grabbed a small day pack.
She pulled a can of tomato juice and an apple out of the nearl
y bare refrigerator before opening her door.
“Good, you’re ready.” William looked like he’d been up for hours. “The plane’ll be here in about twenty minutes, so we need to get over to the airport. Do you mind driving? Save Steve the trip out here to pick us up?”
Kate pulled her keys out of her bag.
Fifteen minutes later, they parked outside the General Aviation terminal on the southeast end of Key West. Steve waited, his legs stretched out in a tiny chair in the cool, tiled office. Susan sat in the chair beside him.
“Thanks for coming, Kate.”
“Don’t you have a charter tomorrow?”
“Yeah, but I’ve got a good feeling about this. We’ll be back tonight. And if not, the keys to my boat are in the office. Justin can moor up at a dive site well enough, and hopefully one of his dive-master buddies is better at lobstering than he is.”
William joined them and pointed through the window at a sparkling white single engine plane taxiing toward them. “All fueled up and flight plan filed. Let’s rock and roll!”
Kate hitched her bag over her shoulder, pushed open the door, then led the others out to the small airplane. A tall, lean man in cargo shorts and an olive polo shirt climbed down from the pilot’s seat. He perched his aviators on top of his sandy blonde hair and shook William’s hand.
“She’s a beauty.”
“Jake, thanks for bringing her down for me.”
“No problem at all. Been meaning to run down here for a while now, anyway. I saw a property just listed that looked interesting, so it’s a great excuse to spend a few days. You saved me a tedious drive, my friend.” The pilot grinned. “If you’re not going to be back by the first of next week, just give me a call.”
“Oh, I expect we’ll be back tonight. But stay as long as you like.” The men shook hands again, then William walked all the way around the plane, touching and caressing it like it was his wife. Steve climbed up into the front seat, and Kate and Susan settled in the back behind him. As William completed his preflight checks, Kate adjusted the headset over her ears.
