Fallen Hunter (Jesse McDermitt Series)

by Wayne Stinnett

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “You did it?” he asked. “What the hell you need me around for?”

  I laughed, clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Carbs I know, computers are a whole different thing. We’re gonna grab a shower, lunch will be in about an hour.”

  We went to the Revenge and I locked the salon door. We took a quick shower together, but it was more of a rinse, because of the cramped space. It was impossible to be in the shower without being in full contact with one another and my excitement was very evident.

  “Do we have time?” Tina asked.

  Thirty minutes later we were drying off in the stateroom and putting on clean clothes. We walked up to the house, went inside and it looked like Chyrel had turned the main room into a high tech communications center.

  “Sorry for the mess,” she said. “But all this is necessary. I’m just glad you have a south facing window for my satellite link. Everything’s all set, we’ll have constant communication, both voice and video, from the boat and the insertion team. A satellite will be available if we need it for eyes in the sky.”

  “Did you get anything from the bug?” Deuce asked as he and Julie walked in.

  “Sure did,” Chyrel said. “He and the woman talked at length about getting you to carry an arms shipment down to Cuba next week. He mentioned he thought relying on one boat would be better than the three he was currently using. That means there’s two other boats out there. He told her to seduce you, Jesse. Oh, and she speaks perfect English.”

  “Seduce you?” Tina asked.

  “Not gonna happen,” I said.

  “Let’s take a look at the transcript on the way over,” Deuce said. “And email the recording to Jesse on the boat.”

  “The transcript will have to be emailed too,” Chyrel said. “With all the background noise, they’re still working on it up in DC. Those three things were clear enough, though.”

  “Then let’s go get some lunch,” Deuce said. “And afterwards maybe get a nap in. It’s going to be a long night. Tina, have you ever piloted a boat? We can use the help on shifts tonight.”

  “Only Jesse’s a few times,” she said, “But only in daylight.”

  “You’ll do fine,” I said. “We’ll be on autopilot almost all the way. Whoever’s on duty will just be watching the radar and even that has an alarm.”

  We walked over to where the tables were. Trent had a hot fire going in the grill and was already steaming the clams and stone crab claws in a big pot. Charlie had the tables nearly set and most of the crew were already sitting, some drinking beer and some water. I noticed that Hinkle and Mitchel were tending their small fire and walked over to them. I squatted down next to Hinkle and gazed into the fire. Neither man said anything. I just stayed hunched like that staring into the flames.

  Finally Hinkle said, “You’ll burn out your retina’s staring into the flame like that, mate.”

  I continued looking intently at the fire.

  “He’s right, you know,” said Mitchel after another minute.

  “Urban legend,” I said, still looking into the fire. “Told to boots by old salts. Mostly to keep them from wanting to have a fire at night.”

  “Who you calling a boot?” Mitchel asked, somewhat pissed.

  “You two,” I said still watching the fire.

  Mitchel was the more volatile of the two. I’d already picked up on that much. He shifted slightly, turning a few degrees toward me.

  “We were SEAL’s for eight years, man,” Mitchel said. “Not exactly what…”

  I cut him off mid-sentence saying, “Exactly. Two boots still wet behind the ears.”

  His right fist came around quickly as he pivoted further toward me, aiming straight for the side of my head. I was not only ready, but expecting it. I caught his fist in my left hand, while still gazing into the fire. I slowly turned my head towards him and quietly growled, “Think long and hard about your next move, swab.”

  I could see the fire die in his eyes. I released his fist and said, “You distance yourself from your teammates and they start to think you’re a little weird. Yeah, what we do is a whole lot different than the type of warfare they engage in and it takes a whole different mindset. But, if you can’t turn it on and off at will, you’re completely useless. The more distant you become, the less trust they have in you. They start to think you don’t like them. A team like this without complete trust in each other, especially toward the guys with the long guns, is doomed to failure. Nobody trusts the guy they don’t know.”

  I stood up and walked back over to the group. Trent was loading lobster onto a large tray and Williams was loading clams and crab claws onto it. A large platter of assorted fish filets was warming beside the fire. Everything looked delicious.

  I took a seat next to Tina and leaned over and kissed her. “What was that for?” she asked.

  “No reason,” I said. “I just feel happy.”

  Doc and Nikki sat down across from us and Doc said, “We both talked to Deuce, then I sat with him alone while he described in more detail what the team does. I shared what I could with Nikki and we both agree, I’m a good fit. I went back and told him I’m in.”

  “Knew you would be,” I said. “When not training or on a mission, you’ll be my First Mate, too. Pay will be 20% of what the boat brings in. That’s usually about $200 a day, when I work and that’s not often. The government stipend will keep you from having to find full time work so you can be available. Sound fair to you?”

  “Sounds great,” he said. “Even if it’s only once a month, to get out on the blue.”

  “You’re gonna have a lot of free time,” I said.

  “I’ll keep him busy,” Nikki said. “We put a down payment on a house on Cudjoe Key. It’s a real fixer upper.”

  Charlie came out of the west bunkhouse with a big tray of sliced fruit and a bowl in the middle with a huge salad and placed it on the table. “Hey Charlie,” I said. “Where’d all these utensils come from?”

  “Dave brought it out,” she said. “He has a lot of stuff always on board the plane.”

  Just then Mitchel sat down next to me and Hinkle across from him, next to Doc. I looked from one to the other and Mitchel said, “I want to apologize, Gunny.”

  “Consider it done brother,” I said. “Grab a banana leaf and pass me one of those lobster tails would ya?”

  He passed one of the biggest tails to me, then took one for himself. Hinkle stood up and said, “Can I ’ave your attention, mates?”

  Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. He raised his beer and said, “I ain’t much of a speaker. So ’ere’s an old Orstralian toast. Ere's to the U.S., the land of the push. Where a bird in the ’and’s worth two in the bush. ’Ere’s to Orstralia, me own native land. Where a push in the bush, is worth two in the ’and.”

  The whole table erupted in laughter and Hinkle raised his hands to get everyone to quiet down. Then he continued, “Seriously mates, I just want to thank the Gunny ’ere, for his generous ’ospitality. And for yankin a coupla boots straight.”

  We all ate our fill and surprisingly there was nothing left over. I only had one beer, as did Deuce, Tony, and Art. The rest of the team had a few more, but none got drunk. Hinkle and Mitchel opened up a bit more. Hinkle make it look easy, but by midday Mitchel was cracking jokes with the rest of the team.

  I pulled Deuce aside and said, “I converted the crew quarters to a double berth. The four of us should get a little rest, maybe an hour or two.”

  “Yeah, it’s going to be a long night. Everyone’s staying over, to wait until Tony and Art are inserted at least. Odds are, they’ll all be here when we get back in four days. Hey, what did you say to those two to get them out of their shells?”

  “Just a little advice from someone that’s been where they are,” I said. “You’re good with a long gun, but you’re not a sniper. Those two are. Totally different mindset.”

  “Well, whatever it was, thanks.”

&nb
sp; He turned to the team and said, “It’s time to get started. I want all six of us that are leaving to get a little rest. The rest of you try to hold it down to a dull roar, okay. Tony, you and Art bunk in the salon. You won’t be pulling watch on the trip over. I want you completely rested when we arrive at the insertion point.”

  Williams stood up and said, “Would it be alright if I hang out here tonight? I got a hammock strung up in the Beaver.”

  “Us too?” asked Doc.

  “Sure,” I said. “Make yourself at home. Don’t know where you’ll be able to bunk, Doc.”

  “More than enough room in the bunkhouse,” Trent said. “They’ve spent the night with us plenty of times before tonight.”

  The six of us walked to the Revenge and tried to get some rest. It wasn’t easy, I never was one that could force myself to sleep. I dozed off for about an hour, then got up and went into the galley and started the coffee maker. Tony and Art must not have my problem. Both men were snoring away on the settee and couch in the salon. When the coffee was done, I poured a cup then heard the latch on the crew quarters hatch softly close and reached into the cupboard for another cup. I poured coffee for Deuce and we took it up to the bridge and sat down. I used the key fob and released the catch on the big door, which slowly started opening on its big tension spring.

  “You think we’ll have any problems?” Deuce asked.

  “No,” I said. “Not on the trip over. I just hope those two guys don’t run into any trouble.”

  “I picked them because they’re the absolute best at infiltration, concealment and intelligence gathering,” he said. “Hell, Tony could sneak right into their camp and post himself in the rafters of one of their huts.”

  We sat and looked through the windshield out over the water. In a few minutes, Tina joined us with a cup of coffee and a thermos. She silently refilled our cups and sat down in the second seat.

  “I’m nervous,” she said. “We didn’t train for anything like this at the academy.”

  “It’s a cake walk,” I said. “We’re just going diving.”

  A moment later Julie was climbing the ladder. She sat down next to Deuce on the bench seat and held out an empty cup. “The pot’s empty,” she said. “I put on another brew.”

  Tina poured her cup and set the thermos in the small cabinet by the helm. We each sat silently and drank coffee watching the pelicans dive on bait fish in the channel.

  It was about 1500, so I reached down and started the engines. Within a few minutes the rest of the team was gathered on the dock, Hinkle and Mitchel untying the lines. Tony and Art came out into the cockpit and shook hands with everyone. Words of good luck were said by everyone to the two men and then I put the engines in gear and slowly idled out the narrow channel into Harbor Channel.

  I stepped the throttles up to 1300 rpm, just enough to get the Revenge up on plane, as I turned northeast and followed the channel to the cut north of Upper Harbor Key. Tina turned on the radar and sonar and said, “Nothing on the radar all the way to Key West, Jesse.”

  I smiled and said, “I just might promote you from galley wench to swab before this is over.”

  Tony and Art came up and joined us on the bridge. Art sat down next to Julie and Tony leaned against my seat. Once we passed through the cut Tina leaned over, checked the sonar and said, “Ten fathoms under the keel, Captain.”

  “Now you’re bucking for Vice Admiral,” I said as I pushed the throttles on up to 1600 rpm and the big boat surged forward to its cruising speed of 26 knots.

  “You two should get back below,” Deuce said. “Just in case. And try to get some rest.”

  “Aye aye, Commander,” they both said in unison, before climbing back down the ladder and disappearing into the salon.

  “You’re going to have a hard time choosing between those two aren’t you?” Julie said to Deuce.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “To be your best man,” she said with a smile.

  “You two are getting married?” Tina asked.

  “Yeah,” Julie said. “In late May, when I get back from training.”

  “Congratulations,” Tina said smiling.

  “No,” Deuce said. “I’ve already made up my mind.”

  “Which one?” I asked.

  “You,” he said. “It would have been dad, would you take his place?”

  I looked at Deuce and said, “I could never take Russ’s place in any way. However, I’d be damn proud to stand in for him.”

  We cruised west for almost an hour then began a long slow turn into Northwest Channel. Another half hour later and we were past Key West and into the Florida Straits. I set the GPS with a destination for Cozumel and a way point about fifteen miles off the western tip of Cuba, turned on the autopilot and let the computer take over. The waters were very calm and there were only small, puffy clouds to the west. It was going to be a nice smooth passage.

  “Let’s go see if Chyrel has emailed the transcripts,” Deuce said.

  “Tina, you have the helm,” I said as I stood up. She slid over into the first seat and sipped her coffee, while checking the radar.

  Deuce and I climbed down the ladder and found Tony and Art asleep once again in the salon. I used to be able to do that, but find it harder to just flip the switch these days. I got my laptop out and powered it up. I plugged in a set of ear buds and offered one to Deuce. Opening the email with the transcript first, then opening the audio file, we were able to follow the sound using the written transcript. The audio file was only eighteen minutes long, then we heard the engine shut off and Santiago and the woman leave the boat. The transcript stated that the audio continues with occasional words from passersby for another forty-two minutes before the bug powered down, having depleted its battery life.

  We played it back again and reread the transcript. There really wasn’t much more to it, than what Chyrel had already told us. Santiago telling the woman how much he wanted to get me to haul the arms shipment, how he thought I’d be more dependable than the broken down old shrimp boats he’d been using and the three Cuban crews that were ferrying for him now and him telling the woman to seduce me. The only part that Chyrel hadn’t mentioned was her response, “Sera un placer, estoy seguro,” she’d said. “That will be a pleasure, I’m sure.”

  “Maybe we can use that,” Deuce whispered to keep from waking the two men.

  “You’re new lady friend seems like the type that would go ballistic,” Tony said without opening his eyes.

  “Not a lady I’d want pissed at me,” Art added, his eyes closed also.

  “I’m not going to sleep with the woman,” I said.

  “Who said anything about sleeping?” Deuce said and the other two men started to chuckle.

  “Y’all are Neanderthals,” I said.

  “And Jarheads are Cro-Magnons,” Tony said.

  “You two get some rest,” Deuce said. Then to me he said, “Let’s split the watch into two hour shifts, starting at 1900. All hands on deck at midnight, when we’ll be off Guadiana Bay, turn and make a fast run into the bay to a spot about two miles off the point of land between Guadiana Bay and La Fe. They can use the scooters to make it to the point on scuba and stash the scooters and scuba gear. It’s about two and a half clicks across the point on foot and then less than a click cross the smaller bay underwater using rebreathers. They should have no trouble getting on station half a mile from the camp well before sunrise.”

  “Just to be safe,” I said. “We’ll stay at least fifteen miles off the coast until we’re almost past the bay. The wind’s out of the west usually in that area and with calm seas, we can make about forty-five knots, when we turn back toward the bay. We can be well inside the bay in twenty minutes and I’ll turn completely around before they go feet wet. Shouldn’t take more than two minutes to get them in the water and start back out to the twelve mile limit, maybe another fifteen to make that. Less than forty minutes of course deviation and there’s no radar near the bay itself
. The nearest military facility is the air base at San Julian, twenty miles inland from where we’ll drop them. Their radar won’t pick us up and just after midnight, we’ll be in and out before anyone could even think of mounting a response, should anyone hear us and think to call it in. Once we’re sure that we’re in and out undetected, we can go back to two hour watches until 0600, when we’ll be getting close to Coz.

  Deuce and I went back up to the bridge and I took over the helm. I checked the radar and noticed that a freighter was ahead about fifteen miles. I checked the GPS and saw that Tina had already plotted a course correction to take us aft of the freighter.

  “I’m a quick learner,” she said when I looked at her and smiled.

  “Yeah,” I said. “You sure are.”

  Once we cleared the freighter I entered the way point where we were going to make our turn into the bay to drop Tony and Art off. I planned to make the high speed run completely blacked out, using only sonar and my night vision goggles. I didn’t want to risk using active radar in case it might be picked up at the air base or one of the mobile missile launchers the Cubans were known to have along the coast. I doubted there would be any on the far western tip of the island country, but I always preferred to minimize risk whenever possible.

  An hour later the sun was slowly slipping toward the horizon. There wasn’t a single cloud in the western sky and just some high, wispy clouds above us. “This sunset is going to surprise you,” I told Tina.

  “After that green flash the other night, I don’t know how another sunset could be more surprising.”

  Deuce and Julie smiled, knowing what I meant. In the open ocean there is no twilight. As the sun sets you go from daylight to total darkness in a matter of minutes. We watched the sun, just off the starboard bow, as it fell lower and lower. At a point just above the horizon, the water seemed to leap up and grab it, startling Tina once again. The conditions were right, it was cool and perfectly clear. There was a good chance of another green flash. The clouds over our head streaked with hues of pink, orange, red and purple as the sun slowly started to flatten out and disappear below the far horizon. I reached up and turned on the running lights as well as the powerful spotlight. In these waters it wasn’t uncommon to see floating debris, or even Cuban rafters.