Bonefish Blues

by Steven Becker

  She stared at him in submission.

  “Do you understand me?”

  She nodded her head, but a sense of urgency flowed through her. There had to be a way out of this and it had to be right now. Once they were on the water she could bail out of the boat if he didn’t tie her down - but then what. The thought of floating around in the gulf didn’t warm her but it could be a last resort. Pagliano’s phone dinged, interrupting her thought.

  “Okay, here we go. Remember what I said.”

  He got out of the car first and went around to her side. She got out on her own and started walking next to him towards the dock. Then her phone vibrated in her back pocket again. Taking a chance, hoping it was a call and not a text, she moved her hand around and slowly lifted the phone out of the pocket. With the same hand she found the round button on the bottom and swiped the screen, hoping to activate the call. The phone slid back in her pocket and she turned quickly to Pagliano. “Where are you taking me? You know I’ll cooperate now that you’ve threatened Matt.”

  “Shut up bitch.” He reached over and grabbed her butt. “What the fuck?” he pulled the phone from her pocket, wound up and tossed it into the water.

  ***

  They stood at the counter of the sheriff’s station, a deputy in front of them, taking notes on a form. Will was answering his questions, as patiently as his distaste for authority allowed. Matt fidgeted and thought, Why don’t they find her now and do the paperwork later? He looked out the window and saw the street lights flicker on. It would be full on dark soon, making it that much harder to find her. And still Will and Sheryl just stood there answering questions. They needed to do something besides answer questions, his mom was in danger!

  “Just for the record, why don’t you try and call her again?” the deputy asked.

  Matt put the phone on the counter, put it on speaker, and dialed. He was about to grab it and disconnect when the ringing stopped. They listened intently, Sheryl having to put a hand over Matt’s mouth to keep him from talking. The deputy reached over and hit the mute button, just as the man told Nicole to shut up. The line remained open, but they could talk freely now.

  “You see. They’ve got her,” Matt said.

  The deputy reached for his phone and made two quick calls, one to the sheriff and the other to the tech assistant. He turned to Matt. “I’m going to need that phone,” he said, grabbing it off the counter. Just as Matt was about to protest losing the only link to his mother, the door behind the counter opened.

  “What’s up?” the girl asked, looking at the three figures huddled in front of the counter. “Hey Matt.”

  He blushed. “Hey, Justine. I didn’t know you worked here.”

  “Got an intern gig. Pretty cool, huh.”

  “This is your tech guy? She’s still in high school,” Will muttered.

  The deputy looked at him. “Don’t you worry. This is right up her alley.” He turned to Justine. “Glad you’re still here. We’ve got an abduction. See if you can get us a location on the phone that just called this one.”

  Matt watched as Justine took the phone and went back through the door. Marathon High School was small enough that everyone knew everyone else - his class was only a hundred. Matt was liked but not popular. His father was a known drunk and his grandfather making the front page of the newspaper too many times for not the right reasons meant he was often ostracized. Justine’s parents had been clear that she stay away from him when he had asked her out last year. In some ways he wished that she had just told him she wasn’t that interested or something; anything than it was because of his family. Now he felt awkward whenever he was around her - like he was being judged.

  “What now?” Will asked the deputy.

  “Why don’t you have a seat? The sheriff’s on her way.” He started shuffling papers, making a noise with his lips every time he wrote.

  Will and Sheryl went to the chairs against the wall and sat, but Matt was too nervous. “Hey,” he said to Will, “I’ll be outside. I need some fresh air.”

  Without waiting for an answer, he pushed the door open and stepped into the hot evening, to lean against the building and think. There was something about the phone call that had caught his attention. Adrenaline was running through him and he had to do something.

  ***

  The video was gone. Doug stood across from the group and tried the YouTube address again, with the same result. He was slightly embarrassed, but he knew what he had seen, and addressed the group with confidence. The Meetup group consisted of almost a hundred members throughout the Keys, although only a handful had answered his call, probably because of the short notice. He knew that once they had decided on a plan, he would get the support of the entire group - and then some. Development of the out islands in the Keys was a hot topic, and one that environmentalists got passionate about. There was no reason to develop these pristine islands. The impact on the environment from construction and then habitation, no matter how sustainable, was unacceptable to the radicals assembled in front of him.

  “Dave, you saw it. Anyone else?”

  Four hands went up, giving him enough authority to continue. “It was clearly Flamingo Key. You can tell from the shot showing the mainland in the background. I called the building department and big surprise, the file was missing. I’ve got a call into the building official, but it’s after five on Friday, now. We won’t hear back from them until Monday. I say we take action tomorrow while this is still hot. Millions of people saw that video. If I can just find one of them that downloaded it or has it cached on their computer it would help, but even without it, we can act.”

  The call to action was greeted with murmurs of approval from the group. These were the hard core planners that would drop everything and come to a meeting on an hour’s notice. The people who got things done.

  “We should send a message for a Meetup to all our members — both the environmental community group and the kayak group. That’s at least a couple of hundred people. Tomorrow morning, we meet at the boat ramp by 54th Street and paddle out to the island. We can form a ring around it and hang out for a while. If we can turn out some numbers, we’ll have video and pictures flood Facebook and Twitter. Half the country will know about this by noon.

  Doug looked at the group. The excitement was palpable as each member focused on their cell phones and started pecking away invitations and postings. He smiled and thought how easy activism had gotten in the social media age.

  In the meantime, his own thumbs flew along the keyboard of his phone, posting to every site he belonged to.

  Chapter 16

  Braken pulled the phone from his pocket and quickly shut off the sound.

  It was too late, though; Joey turned to him, having heard the ring. “Nice ring tone. Wild Thing? What the fuck?”

  “Oh, that’s nothing.”

  “Do you even know what you’re doing with that thing?”

  “Kind of. Got some apps, you know, the Facebook, Meetup … keeps me connected.”

  “What the hell do you have to be connected to? All’s you need to do is front my deals, sit back, watch porn and drink Mai Tais.” He reached for the phone. “Let me see that.”

  Joey grabbed the phone, waved in front of Braken’s face to taunt him them unlocked the screen and opened the notifications window. “What’s this? The Keys Kayak Meetup group. Somehow I don’t see your fat ass in a kayak.”

  “Good way to meet the ladies.”

  He opened the Facebook app to the page, “Shit. That freakin’ kid of yours.” He pushed Nicole forward, knocking her to the dock. “That video he made has done irreparable damage. There’s some activist group posting about some kind of protest out at the Key in the morning. This is bad.” He grabbed Nicole by the hair and pulled her up. “We need a place to go for the night. Somewhere where the two of you can sit tight while I put something together.”

  “We can use my place,” Braken volunteered.

  “Think you can handle wild
thing here? Or do I have to take care of her now?”

  “No, no. I can take care of this.” Braken looked around. Pagliano had rattled him and he didn’t think he was being paranoid. He had been coerced into helping bring bodies to the tank on Flamingo Key, and even though he had never seen the bodies, he knew he was in deep - deep enough for jail time. Business was business in his mind and no matter the shade of the deal he maintained a clear conscious, but now, he was worried Pagliano’s behavior was about to hurt his family. He glanced at Nicole, and knew the damage was already done. “Maybe we ought to get out of here now before anyone sees us. Matt is too smart to sit for too long, waiting for her to be released, before he goes to the police.”

  “That’s a loose end that could use tying up,” Pagliano said. He started to hand the phone back to Braken, but withdrew it. “You got his number in here?” He scrolled through the contacts. “There you go … Matty, how cute.” He typed in a text to Matt. “He should be answering any second now. Let’s get to the car and go find boy wonder.”

  ***

  Matt wandered aimlessly around the parking lot, not sure what to do. Sitting inside, watching the deputy fill out forms was not getting his mom back. Wanting his phone back, though, he walked around the building and knocked on the back door, hoping Justine would answer.

  The intercom crackled. “Matt, that you?”

  “Hey, let me in.”

  He stepped back as the door cracked open. “I’m not supposed to do this,” she muttered.

  “I need my phone.”

  “Just finished and gave it back to the deputy. Sorry, Matt. Can’t get a line on your mom’s phone. Must be dead or something.”

  Matt thought for a minute, and wondered if Will and Sheryl had missed him yet. It’d been at least ten minutes since he had walked outside. If he went in again, he suspected they might not let him leave again. “Justine, do me a solid and get the phone back. Tell him you thought of something else or something. I don’t want to go back in there.”

  “Sure thing. Deputy dog gives me the creeps, anyhow. Hang out a minute. I’ll be right back.”

  Matt waited by the door, thinking about his next move. He was so revved up he could feel the blood pulsing in his ears and felt useless hanging around here just waiting. Hopefully Justine would help.

  The door opened and Justine poked her head out and handed Matt the phone. “Here you go, Matt. Good luck.”

  He glanced at the screen hoping there was something about his mom. Just as he was about to look away a text came in from his grandfather. Got your mom. Meet us at the Marina - all good. His spirits lifted thinking his mom was safe. But he needed transportation. Will would give him a ride but he didn’t want to chance going back inside and being asked to stay for whatever reason deputy dog dreamed up. He looked at Justine “Cool. Hey, you got a bike here? I need to do something besides sit here and wait.”

  “Sure. It’ll cost you later, though.” She winked. “Wish I could have helped more. It’s around the side there.” She pointed to a concrete bollard protecting the electric meter. “Lock is 33533.”

  “Thanks.” Matt turned to see if she was still there as he walked to the bike, he was met by her smile as the door shut. He fumbled with the lock, his trembling hands out of sync with his racing mind. Finally it came free and he stuck the U shaped lock on the seat stem. Before he took off, he texted his dad not knowing how, but hoping he could help. He knew that there was bad blood between them, but that his dad still cared for his mom. Maybe this would be some kind of wake up call for him.

  Without looking back, he pedaled out to US 1, stopped at a crosswalk, and checked his phone. The battery was running down to ten percent, but he didn’t dare turn it off. Just as he was about to put it back in his pocket, it pinged with a message from his grandfather asking where he was. Hoping it was good news about his mom, he texted back that he was heading for the Marina.

  He tried to force Justine’s smile from his mind and focus on what he had to do now as he peddled the two miles to the marina. The pink cruiser made the turn into the lot and coasted to a stop next to his grandfather’s car. There were two people in the car; his grandfather behind the wheel, and a woman was in the passenger seat.

  The window rolled down. “It’s all right Matt. We got her back,” Braken said.

  Her head turned towards him and Matt saw the bruises. “Mom! Are you okay?” He dropped the bike and ran around to the passenger side. Just as his hand touched the door handle, she ducked and a figure rose up from the back seat, a gun pointed at Matt’s head.

  The back door opened and Pagliano emerged, keeping the gun pointed at Matt. “In the car. Now.”

  Matt stood there in shock.

  “Now, or she’ll suffer more of the same.” The gun motioned toward the back seat. Matt could see his mom through the window. She was injured and out of it. As he looked closer he could see her torn clothing and bruises. The only chance he had to help her was to go. If he ran off again he was sure Pagliano would inflict more damage. He moved toward the door and nodded his head for Matt to slide over. “Well, looks like we’ve got a family reunion. All except the drunk one, and he’s probably lost in a bottle somewhere. Now, I’ll take you up on that invitation to use your house, Braken.”

  ***

  Will and Sheryl alternated sitting and pacing. He wanted to go outside and see what Matt was doing, realizing he’d been gone a while, but he was anxious something would happen the minute he stepped out. He glanced at the clock and calculated they had been there for almost an hour. Normally patient enough to wait out a tide, he was tired of waiting. Matt needed his help. Figuring the boy would still be outside, he whispered something to Sheryl who nodded in understanding, stood and went to the door.

  “Sheriff should be here anytime,” the deputy called out from his desk.

  His resolve faded but with Sheryl behind him he couldn’t turn back. “No problem, just getting some fresh air.” He looked over at Sheryl. “Want to stretch your legs?”

  She followed him outside, frowning. “Where’d Matt go? It’s been a while.”

  “I don’t know. He said he was just going to get some air. Matt!” he yelled. He waited for a response and then yelled again, starting to get concerned. “I’ll go around this way. Why don’t you take the other way and see if he’s here?”

  Will went to the right, Sheryl to the left. A short minute later they had checked the building.

  “I didn’t see him,” she said as they met in front again.

  “Me either,” Will said. “What now?” He cursed himself for letting Matt get out of his sight. “ He must have gotten impatient and went after Nicole by himself.”

  “But how? We drove him here.”

  “I don’t know, but we need to find him. It’s not good for him to be cruising around looking for her by himself. And what if he finds her? I don’t think that scarface would think twice about hurting him. Or worse,” he said.

  “Let me tell the deputy we’re going to grab a bite to eat, not that he’ll care. At the rate they work, he’ll still be filling out paperwork when we get back.” She pulled on the handle.

  “But where would he have gone?” Sheryl asked as she emerged from the building.

  “No idea. We can check his house or the marina but I doubt he’ll be at either place,” Will said. “Deputy OK?”

  She nodded and stared at her phone, then gasped. “Will, I’m in a couple of groups around here, you know, kayaking and some environmental stuff. I just got some notifications that they are holding a protest out at Flamingo Key in the morning.” She opened the link to the event and scrolled through the page. “There’s a link to a video, but it doesn’t work.”

  Will knew right away what it was, “That must have been the video Matt posted.”

  “Does it say anything else?”

  “It’s a big group to start with but the RSVP’s are already two pages long and still coming. Hey, you know I’ve seen Braken hanging around the group. T
here’s a couple of guys like him - old guys trying to pick up young girls. Guys like that give me the creeps - especially him.”

  “So, he would know too?”

  “I think so. He would get the same messages I did.”

  Will thought for a minute. “That’s going to force their hand. They’ll have to do something and cover this up before then.”

  Sheryl looked back at her phone. “They are meeting at 8:00 tomorrow morning at the 54th Street ramp.

  “If I was Braken, I’d make that thing go away before that.”

  ***

  Braken walked up to his house with a gun at his back, Pagliano walking behind the three hostages. “No lights.” He held up his phone, moving it around the building. Like most homes in hurricane-prone areas, the house was built up on piers, with a carport and often a storeroom below. There was only one door for the enclosed space downstairs. Pagliano yanked on the locked knob, “Open it.”

  Braken withdrew a key chain from his pocket and fumbled in the dark for the key. He saw Pagliano growing impatient, but that only increased his nervousness, and he dropped the ring.

  “Pick it up and find the key.” He pointed the gun at Matt.

  Matt picked up the ring and started to try each in the lock. On the third try, the door swung open.

  “In.” He motioned with his gun. Braken went in first, followed by Matt, who was helping Nicole. Once they were inside, Pagliano closed the door and turned on the light. The room held the usual garage assortment of tools and hardware. He picked up a crowbar, turned off the light, and went outside, closing the door behind him. “You guys sit tight. I won’t be long, gotta make a Home Depot run.”

  They heard a smash as the crowbar came down onto the lock.

  Chapter 17

  Joey Pagliano cruised the aisles of Home Depot, feeling out of place as he pushed the signature orange cart through the aisles. First stop was the outdoor garden area, where he loaded six bags of fertilizer with the highest nitrogen content he could find. Still outside, he located the pool chemicals, and added a case of muriatic acid to the cart. He’d spent several minutes on his phone in the parking lot, and pulled up the top ten homemade bombs. The materials on his list were a combination of the most popular ingredients from his quick search. Later, he would spend some time on the proportions, but now he hustled through the store, loading up kerosene, acetone, some five-gallon buckets, and a couple of tiki torches. Surprised that he wasn’t detained and Homeland Security called, he breezed through the checkout without the twenty-something inked up clerk giving him a second glance.