The Long Gray Goodbye: A Seth Halliday Novel

by Bobby Underwood

  Laura had given Caroline her private number before we left, and told her she would love to stay in touch on a regular basis, even after this was all settled. We had quite a bit of time to kill before meeting up with Sonny, so when we hit Miami I did the absolutely unthinkable, and drove the ‘Cuda to a mall.

  Though I kept a tidy sum — most of it money from Fernandez — for emergencies and day-to-day operations on the hidden safe aboard Sweet Caroline, I still had an account in Miami. Caroline had her own Visa card linked to the account. I deposited Laura Garner’s check and we bought a couple of nice duffles and one sturdy backpack to carry aboard the flight to Paris. Then I kissed Caroline and told her no more salmon colored shirts please, before letting her loose to pick us up enough clothes for a week. I didn’t think we’d be in Paris more than a couple of days, three at the outside, but I also planned on taking a look around Mykonos, though I hadn’t told Caroline yet.

  We arranged to meet by a bench near an ATM machine. I walked out to the ‘Cuda and put the duffles in the trunk, then came back inside. I wandered through the two-story mall navigating around throngs of self-involved young girls traveling in packs, each staring at their respective phone while moving thumbs in a spastic flurry to reply inconsequentially to an equally inconsequential text message, or comment on a selfie from the latest inconsequential young singing idol who thought everyone wanted to watch her perform inconsequential tasks and listen to her inconsequential songs about getting banged and partying. Ah, Connie Francis, where have you gone?

  I finally found what I was looking for. After an extremely patient girl with a big smile and even bigger breasts ran through all the features and doodads with me, I signed what I had to sign and the phone was activated. It had taken quite a while so I was a little surprised not to find Caroline waiting for me on the bench. There were too many clothing outlets in the mall to count without taking off my shoes, so I waited at the bench as we’d arranged. And waited. Fifteen minutes went by, then thirty, then forty-five. I wasn’t panicking but I was more than a little concerned.

  The afternoon sun had been bright so I’d put on the Green Bay Packers cap I kept in the ‘Cuda on the drive back from Lauderdale.

  I found a receipt in my pocket and wrote on it: Looking for you. Will come back to this spot. Love - Seth. I left the note on top of the cap, and began searching. I’d do an imaginary perimeter, then return. I came back twice, checking two different perimeters. On my third trip back after coming up empty, I spotted her from about thirty feet away. She was sitting on the bench, very still, next to two large shiny bags. She was wearing my Packers cap — which I was surprised hadn’t been stolen yet — staring straight ahead, looking very small. It reminded me of a time not long ago in her room at Rosita’s, when she hadn’t yet known that I had fallen in love with her and wanted her to be with me.

  When I was about ten feet away she must have caught sight of me out of the corner of her eye. She turned and her body visibly relaxed, as if she’d been holding her breath. She smiled but I could see that at some point she’d been crying. I sat down next to her and said in a playful tone, “You women can take the longest time shopping.”

  She whispered, “I forgot to write it down, Seth. I got too comfortable.”

  “You forgot where we were going to meet?” I asked softly. She nodded. I knew it had hurt her, and been a reminder of the past. It was one thing to talk about it so that Laura would not be the only one lain bare, but another to only a short time later be starkly reminded of it.

  I pulled the I-Phone from the little bag they’d given me and handed it to her.

  “It’s silly for you not to have one, just because I have an aversion to them. There’s a deal in there where you can make note of trivial things like this that you only need to recall for a short time, just in case. You can put Laura’s number in there, and everyone else’s. You can’t forget that way.”

  Her head was tilted to the side, and she was looking at me as though I’d just given her a new puppy at Christmas. “Thank you. I don’t want to put the important stuff in here. I might misplace the phone or lose all the information I’ve put in it, somehow. But it would be useful for stuff like this.” She wiped away a tear that had returned. “It was such a tiny thing, and I haven’t forgotten anything in a while.” I could hear the frustration in her voice. “I just thought I could let it slide.”

  “This is what you should forget. It’s just a tiny moment. It happens to me sometimes, Sanchez, Florencia, everyone. It just happens to you for a different reason, that’s all. Once, I was supposed to show up in court to testify on a Tuesday, and completely forgot, thinking it was Friday. I even had it marked on my desk calendar as Friday. You know why? The perp’s attorney looked like Jack Webb. You know, Joe Friday, of Dragnet. So even though the DA was very specific about the court date, I wrote it down as Friday.”

  Caroline was looking doubtful. I held up my hands, palms outward. “I swear to God,” I said laughing. “That’s a true story.”

  She smiled and said, “I love you, Seth.”

  “I love you, too. Now please tell me I’m not wearing pink and purple shirts in Paris.”

  She laughed and began showing me the clothes she’d purchased.

  Twenty-One

  As we neared the marina we spotted Sonny’s little white and yellow seaplane in the slip where his boat should be but wasn’t any longer. Caroline and I covered the Plymouth and stored her, then made the long walk down the dock. I carried the bags.

  Late afternoon shadows were lengthening as early evening fought for control of Miami. In a couple of hours Magic City would be transformed into a glamorous playground for sexily dressed girls looking to get some blow or just get laid, and rich, heavily cologned millennial males using their Ferrari or Lamborghini as bait to catch a hot piece willing to give blow to get blow, or just willing in general. If they weren’t willing, a little something could always be slipped into their drink. A nightly ritual of the shallow seeking out the shallow, using alcohol and drugs to hide from their empty existence for a few hours.

  Real glamour had all but disappeared, not just in Miami, but the entire country. The days of a decked-out Tyrone Power and Loretta Young, dining and dancing at a posh Miami hotspot during the 1930s, had long since passed. Now it was all pretend. Once there had been Jo Stafford and June Christy, now there was Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse. Once there had been Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennet, now there was Kanye West and Marilyn Manson. Once there had been Leslie Gore and Connie Francis, now there was Kate Perry and Miley Cyrus. Once there had been Count Basie and Duke Ellington, now there was Dime Bag Daryl and Fifty Cent. And once upon a time, there had been a society which would have recognized that something had gone terribly wrong. But today, only half of them did, and those in charge were trying to use political correctness as a means to shut them up.

  Sonny and Katarina were sitting on the dock with their legs dangling above the water, facing Sonny’s plane. They stood when they saw us coming. Caroline gave both of them a hug. Sonny received the longest hug, as Caroline told him how sorry she was about Candida. She had been aboard her once, during the Cozumel affair, when Sonny took us out to the Keys to ask Marquez about Carlos Vargas. She knew Sonny had named the boat after a girl he’d known.

  “Yeah, stuff happens.” He glanced at Katarina. “At least no one was hurt.”

  I caught Katarina’s gaze and wasn’t certain what it held. Regret perhaps, and a plea for understanding.

  “Let’s talk about it over dinner at the hotel. We have a suite. Tricia and Cassie will have cleared out earlier. You guys can stay with us and we’ll head out tomorrow for Paris.”

  “Tricia, the clothes gal?” Sonny said. “Who’s Cassie?”

  I quickly explained how they’d ended up spending the night in the other room of the suite. Sonny knew Tricia because I’d gone in there with him and his girl — I’d forgotten which one; it had been during that period after Maria’s death when Sonny was sleepin
g with anything with tits — to get clothes for some soirée he had been taking her to.

  When Caroline pulled out her I-Phone to call for a cab Sonny said, “Oh, man, the world really is ending,” making Caroline smile wide and become a little red-faced.

  “It’s not mine,” I said. “It’s Caroline’s.”

  “That’s alright, buddy, we understand. I always denied it was my stash when I got caught, too.”

  “Shut up!”

  The three of us were laughing fairly loudly so Caroline had to walk a few feet away from us to complete the call.

  We didn’t have to wait long because a cab was dropping off someone at Dinner Key. By the time we reached the end of the dock we saw him pulling in and began walking toward the cab. It was a van taxi, but no one was getting out. I put a hand out in caution and asked Caroline, “You sure the dispatcher said he had a fare to Dinner Key?”

  “Yeah, that’s why there was one so close,” she answered with a worried frown.

  I moved in front of her and instructed Sonny, “You and Katarina dive for the water unless…”

  I never finished telling them because the van’s side door opened suddenly. I had my gun in my hand but quickly relaxed and put it away. My old Russian pal, and Katarina’s comrade, Vlad, was waving us into the van. “Come, the real cab will be along soon.”

  We piled in. Vlad put up a hand when Katarina started to ask him something. “Over dinner, my lovely.” He climbed over into the driver’s seat and pulled out. He turned around, smiling, and commented, “I hear they have excellent food at the Raleigh.”

  There wasn’t much talk on the drive to the hotel. Vlad chose to wait downstairs in the lobby while Sonny and Katarina got situated and Caroline and I were taking a quick shower. I suspected Vlad wanted to get a look at anyone coming into the hotel. With Katarina arriving in Miami with Sonny only hours earlier, anyone tracking her — if Vlad hadn’t already killed them — would have no way of knowing she would end up here. That meant there would be no time to set up a hit. It would have to be a plan made on the fly, and plans made on the fly had weaknesses. The weakness here would be having to enter through the front door, where they could be spotted. The who and why were what I wanted to know. Sonny probably wanted to know much worse.

  Katarina had been carrying a small overnight bag which she’d brought from Manta. She was obviously an expert packer. Not only had she changed into a blue velvet dress which looked spectacular on her, but Sonny had changed clothes as well. The bag hadn’t looked that big. Caroline was wearing a white dress somewhere between casual and dressy and she looked lovely. It was among the clothing she’d picked up at the mall.

  I nodded to Vlad as the four of us stepped out of the elevator. He walked over to join us and in a few moments, even with no reservation, we were able to get a table. After a very lovely woman in her late twenties had taken our orders, I asked Vlad, “So, who is trying to kill Katarina?”

  “It is my doing, I am afraid,” responded Vlad. Then looking at Katarina, “It was the woman in Prague.”

  Sonny was not happy. “What woman?” Evidently, Katarina had not told him about any woman in Prague. She looked genuinely surprised that the woman had played a part in all of this. She placed her hand on Sonny’s arm and gave it a squeeze.

  “A young woman who took something incriminating from a high-ranking official in the Russian Government,” Vlad responded calmly. “When I discovered Katarina had set a trap to retrieve the sensitive information from the young woman and then turn her over for interrogation, I maneuvered myself into the operation. I ordered Katarina to let her go, interceding on the girl’s behalf.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  Vlad took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Because, she is my daughter.”

  Katarina was either truly shocked, or the best actress in the world. I hadn’t been aware he had a daughter. There were a lot of things about Vlad of which I was unaware. He wasn’t finished.

  “I countermanded her prior orders.” Vlad reached across the table and squeezed Katarina’s hand. “I am sorry. I could not tell you everything. That is not unusual, but in this case, it seemed the less you knew the better. If questioned, you could simply be truthful and state that I had given you a direct order which you had followed. It would fall on me and you would be in the clear.”

  He stared at her hard for a moment. He looked at the rest of us, stopping at Sonny.

  “But because she was loyal to me, she made an excuse for aborting the operation and allowing Petra to escape with the file. Katarina was not believed and a termination order was sent out in case she had seen the file.”

  “So anyone who sees the thing is toast? What’s in that file, man?” said Sonny. “And how do you know what’s in it?”

  “Did your daughter show you?” I asked.

  “No, she did not have to show me. I already knew what was in the file but could not prove it without the file itself. So I had Petra steal it. She was…involved with the person whom the file concerns. She was unaware of his activity until I told her.”

  “How involved, Vlad?” I asked.

  “They were…engaged.”

  I whistled.

  The pretty brunette returned with three of our meals and we waited until she brought the other two to get back to our conversation. It was Sonny’s turn.

  “So the KGB or whatever sent a team over here to take Katarina out, and didn’t lose any sleep about the collateral damage.”

  “They are being used as a pawn, manipulated by the person in the file, which is why the file cannot be turned over to them. I am uncertain whom I can trust.” He made a palms upward gesture as an apology, and said directly to Sonny, “I apologize for the destruction of your boat.”

  “Katarina is more important than the boat. How do you propose to get her out of this?”

  Vlad took a bite of his steak and smiled for the first time since we’d sat down.

  “That is where you come in, my friend,” he said to me. “I have — how do you say? — stashed, Petra in a very safe place. I have the file, but I have added information to it. The file now also contains my notes and communiques with Katarina. These will exonerate her from any blame for aborting the operation. This will temporarily take the — heat? — off of her, and in conjunction with the message I left with the four men sent to terminate her, place everything squarely on me.”

  “Temporarily?” I said.

  “Yes, once the file gets into the correct hands, I will be hailed a hero behind closed doors, as will Katarina.”

  “What is that file, Vlad?” It was Katarina.

  “A very high ranking official has been arming Islamic terrorists both within Russia and the United States.”

  “Who?” Katarina asked with some force. Vlad rattled off an unpronounceable name that she immediately recognized and the rest of us didn’t, not being up on Russian politics. Other than Putin, we were ignorant. Katarina’s mouth remained open for at least five seconds. When she closed it, she whispered, “Oh, my God, Vlad. He’s right next to the big bear himself.”

  Vlad nodded rather gravely. “Because he has betrayed his own country and our rival, it does not matter whose hands the file falls into. In fact, it is preferable it fall into your hands.” He grinned. “Your government can do something other than spy on its own citizens for a change.”

  “I’m a bit fuzzy on how I fit into all this, Vlad.” I took a bite and washed it down. They’d managed to cook the steak medium-well without losing the juice or flavor, a rare culinary skill these days, apparently.

  Vlad glanced at Caroline. We’d only had time for brief introductions and all our talk had been about this deadly business. He said, “I did not get to offer my congratulations for your great happiness. My daughter is a bit younger, but just as lovely, I think.”

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling. “I’m sure you’re very proud.” I had told her about Vlad ages ago and she’d written it down. She knew I truste
d him, and that’s all she needed to know to accept him at face value.

  He said quietly, to me, “I believe you are acquainted with Krista Wallace? Her father is a very powerful Senator who happens to sit on several important committees, one of which deals with delicate matters of this nature. He has had some dealings with someone in our government and been found an honorable man more interested in reality than perception or political gain. His passing along the contents of the file after it is scrutinized and verified, will not be questioned. It is in the interests of both countries to take care of this matter quietly and decisively, behind closed doors. I have no doubt a tragic accident will befall someone in our government very soon after the file falls into his hands.”

  “I know her, not him, Vlad.”

  “That is why you will give it to her. She will give it to her father.”

  I looked at Sonny and Katarina. Katarina’s life hung in the balance. “I can put off Paris a day or two. It’s another state, but not too far. We can leave tonight.”

  “Ah, but that is the fortuitous part, my friend. She happens to be here in Miami at the moment. The man she is to marry lives here, and she is visiting him.”

  “I assume you know where he lives?”

  “Yes,” he said, glancing at his watch, “but there is no rush. They are at dinner as well.” He took a bite and smiled. His tone when he spoke next was much lighter, as though the matters of life and death were in the past, long forgotten. “Eat my friend, and be merry, for tomorrow you and your ever so lovely bride will be in Paris. It is a very romantic city. It would in fact, be perfect, were it not for all the French who live there.”

  We couldn’t help but laugh, even Sonny. The joke, and Vlad’s tone, had lightened the mood at our table.

  Vlad urged, “Now tell me about this murder you are all working on. I love a good mystery.”

  Twenty-Two

  I hadn’t seen Krista Wallace for several years and the emotions it stirred when I did set eyes on her again surprised me. We had been a summer fling on the beaches of Ecuador, a brief yet sweet encounter before my intoxicating affair with Josselyn began. Perhaps the intensity of the latter had unfairly overshadowed the former.