by J. M. LeDuc
Troy nodded, “It’s good to be back with the gang.”
“What’d you ever see in that bitch anyway?”
Troy accepted the beer from the waitress that arrived, slapped her ass as she was leaving, and cocked his eyebrow at Bubba. “Seriously? Did you see the rack on her? Sin might be a bitch, but she is a hot one. I just wanted to jump her and dump her—like old times.”
Laughter erupted from both Bubba and Joey.
Troy made sure the liquor kept pouring, and as it did, the tongues started wagging.
Troy admired Bubba’s watch as the big guy and Joey drained their shot glasses. “Nice watch,” he said. “You two seem to be doing all right.” He leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “So tell me, how can I get in on some of this cash?”
Bubba looked over at Joey and vise versa. “The prophet treats us pretty good, but we do a lot for our pay—take a lot of shit, if ya know what I mean.”
Troy took another swig from his beer bottle. “It can’t be any worse than what I deal with from my superiors, and I know you must get paid better than what the state pays me.”
Bubba sat back in his chair and lit a cigarette. “I ain’t sayin’ nothin’, but why you want in all of a sudden?”
Troy mimicked Bubba’s actions—sat back and took another pull off the longneck. “The past few days have me thinking.” He leaned forward and burned a look into both boys. “Tumbleboat is where I belong, and if this is where I’m going to stay, I might as well get the biggest bang for my buck.”
He wagged the empty bottle at the waitress. “Another one for me and my friends, and two more shooters for the big guys.”
“Why you ain’t doing any shots?”
Troy shrugged. “I have to work tomorrow, unless . . .” His right eyebrow and corner of his mouth rose in unison. “You tell me how I can afford a watch like yours.”
The waitress arrived and Bubba practically tore a shot glass from her hand, brought it to his mouth, and drank it in one belt. There appeared to be as much on his shirt as there was in his throat as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Le’ me go make a call.”
Troy watched him stumble his way from the table.
A few minutes later, Bubba was back. “The prophet don’t need any more help, but there is someone who could use someone in your position,” he smirked.
“Oh, who would that be and what position are you talking about?”
Bubba leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “The prophet,” he whispered, “is just a preacher. The real money comes from doing side jobs.”
“What kind of side jobs,” Troy mirrored Bubba’s movements, “and for whom?”
“Don’t know, but my daddy gets orders from time to time and then we get paid real good.”
“What kind of money are you talking about?”
“Five Gs each.”
“You’ve got my attention. What do I need to do for that kind of cash?”
“There’s a shipment coming in tonight by boat. Because O’Malley and the girls from the orphanage are missing, the State Police are everywhere. If you can keep the cops away from the fishing channel and help us move the merchandise, Daddy will give you five grand.”
“That’s it,” Troy said. “What are you moving, drugs?”
Bubba snickered. “Nah.”
Troy leaned further over the table. “What then?”
“Can’t say, but if I heard right, you’re gonna like it. In fact,” Bubba smiled, but his expression made Troy’s stomach twist, “you just might get to do some of that jumping and dumping if you know what I mean.”
It took every bit of restraint Troy had not to reach over the table and rip Bubba’s eyes out. Instead, he leaned back, brought the bottle to his lips and downed the contents in one swig. “I think I like where this is going,” he said. “Let’s get out of here and talk someplace more private.”
CHAPTER 39
The three of them left the bar and drove to the fishing pier. Bubba and Joey both did a couple bumps of coke while Bubba was driving.
“You think that’s wise? Troy said.
Bubba wiped under his nose and sucked in a deep, snotty breath. “Hell, yeah. It make us think straight and helps sober us up.”
Dumb asses, Troy thought.
Bubba pulled his truck up the dock and just sat there—doing nothing.
“What now?” Troy asked.
“Now,” Bubba said, “we wait. When the boat gets close, I’ll get a call. Then, you’ll make a call telling yer captain somethin’ that’ll keep the cops from here, then,” Bubba winked, “we go meet the boat.”
“Why doesn’t the boat just pull up to the dock?”
“We don’t ask questions, we just do what we’re told.”
A little after one a.m., Bubba got the call. He hung up and faced Troy. “Time to make your money.”
Troy took out his cell phone, but Bubba took it from him and shut it off. “Use mine.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Boss’ orders. What’s the number?”
Troy rattled off the number and Bubba punched it in. He looked at the caller ID and saw that the LCD screen read Florida State Police. As soon as it started to ring, he put it on speaker and handed it back to Troy.
“Captain Reilly speaking.”
“Captain, this is Deputy Stubbs.”
“What do you have for me, Stubbs?”
“I just spoke to some of the locals who said they saw the girls and O’Malley at the Bridge Hotel in Marathon. I’m headed there now, but I need back up.”
“Good work, Deputy, I’ll pull all units and we’ll meet you there. Over.”
“Over,” Troy said. He hung up the phone and handed it back to Bubba.
“Satisfied?”
“Yep, let’s move.”
On the other end of the line, Charlie hung up his phone. He had rigged the lines so that if Troy called his number, it would show up as the state police. He radioed Fletcher to be ready, grabbed his duffle bag, and ran out the back door of his house.
At the shoreline, there was an inflatable watercraft—a Zodiac—tied off. He pulled it into the water, rowed out past the break, dropped the outboard motor, and headed towards his destination.
Approximately one hundred yards away from the first reef, Charlie saw the faint glow of a boat’s running lights off in the distance. Through his binoculars, he saw a good size fishing boat approaching. They’re still a ways off, he thought, but I’m going to have to move if I’m going to reach them in time.
Charlie quickly donned his SCUBA gear and dropped into the water. Hugging the bottom, like Sin had showed him, cutting the current which made it easier for him to make decent time. He surfaced periodically in order to gage the distance of the boat. On his second recognizance, he heard and saw another boat coming from the shoreline. He put his regulator back in his mouth and descended as fast as possible.
Hiding behind a wrecked fishing boat, which now served as an artificial reef, he hoped all the metal would help camouflage him from the boats’ sonar.
From the depth of the ocean, he could feel the vibrations as the boats neared. His adrenaline surged as the boats began to converge on the first reef.
Fletcher and his unit had been out on the third reef along with a couple other fishing boats when he received Charlie’s call. He maneuvered his boat further out and south to stay out of sight and gave the signal to cut the boat’s running lights and engines. The tension was thick, just like the humidity, as their boat bobbed up and down with the rolling waves.
All they could do was wait for Charlie’s next signal.
“What are you doing heading for the first reef?” Fear spiked in Troy’s voice.
Bubba laughed. “Relax, buddy. That’s just the first of tonight’s surprises.”
> Troy continued the masquerade of being unaware. He swallowed his anger and hoped he could continue to act like a ‘good old boy’ long enough to take these bastards down. His concentration was broken by the sound of the cocking of a trigger and the feel of cold steel against the back of his neck.
“Whoa, Bubba,” he exclaimed, “what the hell are you doing?”
“The second of tonight’s surprises,” Bubba said. “We need to be sure which side you’re on, so you won’t be carrying any weapons. With your left hand, I want you to reach across and remove your gun from your belt.”
“If I give up my weapon and something goes wrong, I’m a dead man,” Troy said. “Come on, Bubba, we’ve known each other since we were six years old in Pop Warner football.”
“Just following orders. With two fingers, lower your pistol to the ground and slide it back toward me.”
Troy did as he was told and then felt Bubba’s gun move away from his neck. He turned and faced his ‘friend.’ “When this is over, I want my gun back.”
“I’ll hand it over to you along with five grand as soon as we make the transfer.”
From his peripheral vision, Troy saw a light flash three times. “Is that the other boat?”
Joey countered from the helm with two flashes of his own.
“Yep,” Bubba grinned, “along with your third surprise.”
As the incoming boat reached the half mile marker, Fletcher sent a signal to Charlie letting him know of the boat’s location. Charlie received the message through a type of Morse code which infiltrated his full facemask. Charlie knew the next fifteen minutes would be tense. They would mean life or death to Sin and whoever else was on board the boat.
CHAPTER 40
From the cabin, Sin could hear Humberto barking orders to his crew. “I want every girl’s mouth taped as well as her wrists. Be careful,” he emphasized, “there can be no marks on the girls. They must remain pure and innocent looking.”
Sin’s skin crawled as she heard the words. Unfortunately, she was in the same predicament as the girls. Her mouth, arms, and legs were also duct taped. The thing that frightened her most was that she hadn’t seen Tia since Humberto dragged her from the room. All she could think of was Veloz saying that Tia was to be a gift for El Presidente.
Sin’s arms were bound behind her back, but with a bit of contortion, she was able to pull up her pant leg using her fingertips.
Sweat poured from her brow as she continued to strain. It felt like her shoulders were about to pop out of their sockets, but she refused to give up. The more she strained, the further the tape dug into her flesh.
Finally, she was able to get the leg of her jeans pulled above the top of her boot. Now the hard part, she huffed.
Sin positioned herself on her stomach and began to bang her knee on the hardwood floor hoping to dislodge her lighter. She flopped around on the floor like a Snapper hauled on board a fishing boat. Frustrated, she took a deep breath in, held it and slammed her knee off the floor. With each strike, she reached a new height in pain. On the verge of fracturing her knee cap, she finally felt a slight movement of the lighter inside her boot.
Hearing footsteps approaching, Sin quickly flipped over and sat on her legs as best she could.
Humberto threw open the door and walked in with a Glock 18 automatic pistol. His eyes were dilated and wild.
One bump of cocaine too many, Sin thought.
“Some old friends of yours are coming out to meet us,” he sneered and wiped his runny nose. “They have something special arranged for you.”
Sin moved her arms and legs as best she could and tried to yell from under the tape.
Her moaning and gyrations only made Humberto laugh. He nudged her with the toe of his boot, bent down, and grabbed a fist full of her hair. “Who’s in charge now, Angel?”
Sin could smell his rancid breath and feel the spittle of his words.
He opened his mouth to say something else when someone yelled through the open door. “El Diablo, they are almost here, we need you topside.”
He pulled her face to his and kissed the tape covering her mouth. “I am going to enjoy hearing you beg for your life,” he growled as he dropped her head back onto the hardwood floor.
As soon as Sin heard the door slam shut, she wasted no time resuming her work. With renewed vigor, she managed to get the lighter to drop from her boot. Twisting her body around, she felt for and grabbed it with her fingers. It took a few tries, but she was able to get the flame lit and twisted her wrists so it was near the tape.
Tears came to her eyes as she felt the flame burn her skin as well as the tape. She refused to put it down and risk the chance of not freeing her hands. Pulling her hands apart while keeping the lighter relatively steady, she felt the tape start to give. With enough leeway between her hands, she dropped the lighter and twisted her wrists back and forth until the remainder of the tape broke.
Sin used the lighter to burn the tape between her legs. It was quicker than trying to peel it off by hand. In no time, her arms and legs were free. About to pull the tape from her mouth, she heard another boat bump up against theirs. Her skin crawled when she heard a familiar voice—Bubba.
Troy watched a man come forward with a young, frightened girl. Tears streamed down her dirty cheeks.
“Is this the girl we’ve been waiting for?” Bubba asked.
“Si,” Humberto said. “The gift.”
Troy pointed at the girl. “When you said cargo, you never said anything about girls.”
“Is that a problem?” Bubba asked.
“As long as I get my five grand, I don’t give a damn what the cargo is.”
“Good to hear, or I would have had to kill you, and you would have missed the best surprise of all.”
“What’s that?” Troy said.
“You’ll see.” Bubba looked back at Humberto. “Where is she?”
“Down below.”
“Where’s who?” Troy said.
“Business first,” Bubba said. “Joey, how’s the rest of the cargo?”
Troy looked over his shoulder and saw Joey and two crew members pulling six girls out of the hold of the boat. Each girl looked weaker and more frightened than the last.
“We’re good,” Joey answered.
Charlie bobbed up and down in the water. As soon as he saw the two boats gather on the first reef, he signaled Fletcher to begin stage two of the mission, abandoned his equipment, and swam the final twenty yards with the aid of a mask and snorkel.
Surfacing on the far side of the incoming vessel, he checked his watch.
Fletcher, I hope you and your unit are in position.
From his vantage point, he heard the conversation going on topside.
“Joey, you and the crew take the girls to the orphanage and then come back and get us.”
“That’s not part of the plan, Bubba. We’re supposed to take everyone to York and—”
“I know the damn plan,” Bubba yelled, “You just do as you’re told.” He shooed Joey off the boat by waving his pistol at him. Troy joined Bubba and Humberto as they watched the boat head toward shore.
Bubba pushed Troy toward the door, which led to a lower cabin. “Time to do what you talked about earlier.”
“What’s that?”
“Jump and dump.” A sick grin seemed to swallow his entire face. “Jump and dump,” he repeated.
Charlie slid his dive knife from his leg sheath and placed it between his teeth. He needed both hands free to board the vessel. He used the constant rocking of the boat by the reef to his advantage. As the boat dipped sideways in the trough of a wave, he frog kicked, thrusting himself upward allowing a good grab on the lip of the side rail of the boat before the swell took it in the opposite direction.
He hung in that position and waited. When he no longer heard any voices o
r footsteps, Charlie pulled himself up and over the side of the boat. Poised in a squat position, knife gripped in his hand, his eyes surveyed the deck, making sure there were no unwanted guests. He stayed low and traversed to the opposite side of the boat and searched the waters for Fletcher.
Shit, he thought, this is why I like to work alone. You can’t count on anyone.
He made his way to the lighted porthole and peered into the room downstairs.
Sin was lying on the floor with both Bubba and Humberto aiming guns at her.
“I’ll hold her while you cut them clothes off her,” Bubba tossed Troy a knife.
“Use this,” Humberto said, handing Troy Sin’s pearl-handled blade. “I want to watch you cut her with her own blade.”
“I like that idea,” Bubba growled. “Give the bitch some of her own medicine.”
Troy pocketed Bubba’s knife in the front pocket of his pants and flicked his wrist, snapping Sin’s straight-edged razor open. He squatted in front of Sin and ran the open blade across her cheek. “I have another idea,” he said. He stood and looked back at Bubba. “She’s been giving you the most trouble since she’s been back in town,” Troy said. “I’ll hold her and you strip her.”
Sin snapped her head toward Troy—eyes open wide and nostrils flaring.
“What,” Troy said, glancing back at her, “did you really think I bought your line of bullshit. This is going to be as much fun as doing that stupid bitch my freshman year.”
He eyed Sin a little longer than he should, hoping she got the message. He snapped the razor closed, tossed it to Bubba, and yanked her to a standing position.
Charlie pulled his gun from the inside of his wetsuit and crept towards the open door.
