by David Wood
To Maddock, the answer seemed too simple. “Could anything else have affected it? Any other changes?”
Again, the local shook his head. “No. The only thing that was different at all was that people came in and started exporting lots of a particular local plant, a kind of fern—very primitive—that releases spores that appear to have some medicinal effect.”
Bones smirked, and the old man went on. “Not long after that began, airplanes started crop-dusting regularly. Weekly at first, then monthly, until now it's twice a year. Some people take ill after the crop dusters pass by, and the government has been petitioned for answers, but they always deny they are behind it. They say they have launched an investigation, but nothing ever comes of it.”
Maddock nodded, then shifted tack. “What about a legend of a lost shipwreck treasure, or a lost Spanish sailor?”
The old local cackled with gusto. “This island of Tortuga was a hotbed for piracy.” He threw his hands up in the air. “One legend is much like another and ships wreck all the time.”
Maddock tried a few more questions but it was clear the old man had already offered what he knew, and so they thanked him and asked him if he needed any assistance.
“I’ll be fine,” the oldster said as he pushed himself onto his feet from the rock. “But you boys....” His eyes took on a faraway look, as though seeing something related to their future. “You boys be careful.”
Chapter 25
Cap-Hatien
Fabi heard the clinic manager—not Dr. Avila but another physician in charge of day-to-day operations— close his office door. She heard his key turn in the lock and then listened as his footsteps approached her office. The closest building exit to him was in the other direction, so Fabi guessed he was going out of his way to stop by her office, since her light was on and the door open. Anticipating his arrival within seconds, Fabi cleared her screen of the document she had been looking at and replaced it with a routine accounting form.
Sure enough, the manager—Fabi had already forgotten his name—turned into her office, jacket slung over his briefcase, keys in one hand. “Hey, Fabi—you doing all right?”
She beamed at him as if she had never had so much fun. “Oh yeah! Getting the new database up and running.”
The supervisor’s eyes flicked momentarily to her screen and then back to her eyes. “Glad to see you hit the ground running. But it’s your first day so don’t burn yourself out, okay? We like to keep our employees long-term around here.”
He left and Fabi waited a few minutes before resuming her research activities—waited until she heard the outside door close, faintly heard the sound of the manager’s car engine starting up. Then she got up from her desk and walked out into the hallway, looking both ways while listening carefully. She was pretty sure she was the last one in the clinic, but to be safe she did a walkthrough of the building. She didn’t need anyone catching her at what she was about to try. After completing a circuit of the facility and finding it deserted, Fabi made her way to the manager’s office.
His door was closed so she reached out and turned the knob, only to find it locked. Fabi found that to be a little suspicious. None of the other office doors were kept locked after hours. The building itself was reasonably secure; it had to be, since this was a health clinic where drugs were kept. But an office? The computers did contain information that could be considered sensitive—patient records, financial information—but that data was encrypted and password protected.
Maybe the manager was reluctant to leave his office open knowing that a brand new employee would be here after he left? He didn’t know her, after all. But still, he was aware she had volunteered under Dr. Avila’s umbrella of clinics on Haiti for some time now, and therefore should be considered trustworthy.
Fabi examined the lock more carefully. Not a serious affair like a deadbolt, but merely one of those stock doorknob locks meant more for convenience than anything else. She removed one of the bobby pins from her hair and used it to pick the lock. As a child growing up in Haiti, she’d had plenty of friends in school to show her these sort of tricks.
She stepped into the office and softly closed the door behind her. Leaving the room lights off and using a small keychain flashlight, Fabi took a quick look around the office. As expected, nothing at first glance seemed fishy. The manager had visitors to his office every day, in any case, so she wouldn’t anticipate anything not above board to be in plain view.
She walked behind the desk and eyed the computer. Powered completely off. She was no technology or hacking expert, and so no way was she going to try and get into that; she knew it would be protected, and even if she could get in, she wouldn’t know how to cover her tracks.
She surveyed the room again from this new vantage point. When her weak beam highlighted a rusty metal file cabinet, she moved to it. The piece of old furniture was about head high, with six deep drawers. She tried a couple of them, but they were locked. Eyeing the locking mechanism, Fabi swept a hand on top of the cabinet, but aside from a thick layer of dust, she came away empty. Then she eyed the desk again and moved back to it. Figuring these drawers would be locked, too, she tried the shallow one in the center beneath the computer keyboard. To her surprise, it slid open with a creak.
The contents were routine office supplies, but she lifted a plastic divider tray that held rubber bands and staples and smiled when she saw a small gold-colored key beneath it. She took it over to the file cabinet and tried it in the lock. It fit, and when she turned the key she felt the click of the lock disengaging.
She opened the top drawer and rapidly scanned the files it contained, held in hanging folders. These were patient records, and Fabi nodded her silent approval that they were kept in a secure fashion before moving on to the other drawers. Two more also contained patient records, while another two seemed to be devoted exclusively to routine clinic financials. Flipping through the folders in the bottom drawer, however, Fabi’s features took on a puzzled expression. What were these?
After a few minutes of examination, she determined that they were one-off projects of some kind. Each had its own budget and records. She was about to close the drawer when the title card of one of the folders, each of which appeared to be named for a different project, caught her eyes.
Project HAITI.
The same one she had come across earlier in the computer file. She plucked the folder from the cabinet and moved to the desk chair where she could examine its contents more thoroughly. She had just dug in when she heard footsteps coming down the clinic hall outside.
Quickly, Fabi doused her light and snapped the folder shut. The footsteps grew louder. She pulled the chair out and got beneath the desk.
Then the sound of the walking stopped, and the door to the office opened.
Chapter 26
Tortuga Island
Safely back aboard the Sea Foam, still at anchor in the natural harbor, Maddock, Bones and Willis sat on deck, each with a cold bottle of the boat’s stash of Dos Equis in their hands. After a few laughs over Bones’ encounter with the gigantic tarantula, as well as a recapping of their conversation with the old local, talk turned to next steps. They were still no closer to finding the treasure, and it worried Maddock that he could see the frustration settling in deeper in both Willis and Bones. Especially Bones.
Yet the fact was that Maddock didn’t think Tortuga was a likely spot to find the sailing ship’s riches. “According to the journal, the crazy sailor drifted along, floating with the current for about eighteen hours.” Maddock put a finger on a marine chart spread out on a folding table, held in place against the breeze with seashells on the corners. “Considering the prevailing wind and current patterns in the region at that time of year, he'd have been carried west-northwest, which would make it virtually impossible to end up on Tortuga instead of being carried ashore somewhere on the Haitian coast.”
Bones and Willis agreed with this after a brief discussion of the finer details pertaining to the l
ocal currents. When they had finished this digression, Maddock looked up from the chart.
“Besides the probabilities we have based on current and wind patterns, we know the sailor was most likely captured on the south side of Haiti, closer to the fort where he was originally imprisoned.”
Bones drained the last of his beer and tossed the empty in a bucket. “Maybe Jimmy can check that out.”
Maddock nodded, his sea gray eyes alight with a twinkle. “He’s already on it.”
Cap-Hatien
Fabi ducked down as a wedge of light penetrated the manager’s office as the door opened. A woman’s heels clacked on the floor. She drew herself into a tight ball in an effort to be as small as possible. Her mind reeled with what she was going to say if discovered. Just looking for a file...and I got scared when I heard someone coming? She sure hoped it didn’t come to that. But then a darker thought overcame her.
This wasn’t the best part of town. What if she was about to be found by some common criminal here to rob the place or worse? Her mind was running through all sorts of terrible scenarios when she heard her name being called, by a female voice.
“...Fabi? Fabi, come out! It’s me, Cassandra. I know it’s you; I saw you go in there and not come out again.”
Beneath the desk, Fabi hung her head and breathed a huge sigh of relief. If anyone had to find her, Cassandra was the best possible person. It was still embarrassing, but infinitely better than if her manager, or God forbid—Dr. Avila—had caught her. She had no idea what she’d do then. As it was, it was going to be awkward.
“Coming.” She crawled out, stood, and gave Cassandra a sheepish look.
Cassandra left the door open but didn’t turn on the lights. “Fabi, what are you doing in here? You trying to get fired? Or more than fired...one time we had a part-time worker caught stealing office supplies—I’m talking really minor stuff— and Avila had him arrested. Never saw him again, even around town.”
Fabi blushed. “I wasn’t trying to steal anything. I was only looking for paperwork that could help me to do my job better.”
Cassandra put her hands on her hips. “Oh really? Poking around our manager’s office in the dark? You think I was born yesterday, honey? I like you, but don’t take me for an idiot.”
Fabi eyed her new friend. At least, she was really hoping she was a friend right about now and not overly loyal to Dr. Avila.
“All right, take it easy. I'll tell you everything.”
Chapter 27
Off the coast of Alto Velo Island
“Don’t Haiti me because I’m beautiful.” Bones said to Maddock, who consulted the chart plotter on the console of the Sea Foam and then rolled his eyes.
“Bones, you don’t know where the heck you are. We’re not in Haiti anymore. We crossed into Dominican Republic waters ten miles ago.”
That the island of Hispaniola was now separated into two countries did not escape Maddock, for when the crazy sailor was here, it was but an island called Hispaniola constituting no country at all. Looming before them, a rocky isle jutted from the sea, taller than it was wide, a monolithic rock. Maddock couldn’t think of it any other way. It was simply a massive rock in the middle of the ocean, off the southwest coast of Dominican Republic. The island was green up top, but all gray rock on the bottom third.
“You're sure this is the place?” Willis sounded a little worried. They’d endured a not unpleasant but nevertheless long voyage on the Sea Foam to get here.
Maddock shrugged. “Not sure, but it's as good a candidate as any. Remember that weird plant the man on Tortuga told us about?”
Willis and Bones nodded.
“Jimmy identified an island near the forts at St Louis de Sud that had high zombii activity and a high concentration of that plant.”
“The one with the spores?” Bones eyed the nearing coastline with increasing interest.
“That’s the one. Also, I’ve come across accounts that herbicides have been dropped there as well.”
“Herbicides?” Willis also seemed drawn to the island, his inclusion in the conversation a mere afterthought. Maddock exhaled in frustration.
“Yes, Willis, herbicides. As in, they kill plants, especially the one our old friend told us about—the one with the spores?”
Willis nodded, “Okay, I hear you. But the currents...are they right? That sailor’s account of the weather....”
Bones picked up the ball, sensing Maddock was losing patience. “He predicted a drift that would place the shipwreck near this island—Alto Velo.”
Maddock pulled out some crumpled notes and read from them. “Listen: Our sailor said he drifted past an island, one so small it was barely visible, but that it had lots of birds. He drifted for twenty-one days before hitting the zombie island.”
Bones looked doubtful. “But how do we know where that is? Which island? Hispaniola has thousands. How do we know this is it?”
Maddock was undeterred as he looked out at the island. “Alto Velo fits the bill. For one thing, it was endowed with large guano deposits—yeah, bird crap—which was valuable as fertilizer and as a source of saltpeter for gunpowder.”
“Holy crap,” Bones added, “I'm suddenly feeling depressed.”
Willis chuckled before answering. “What for, you finally look in a mirror?”
Bones shot Willis a look that conceded, nice one, but quickly moved on. “No, because now comes the boring part—running a grid pattern actually looking for this thing.”
Chapter 28
Cap-Hatien
When Fabi finished talking, she was out of breath. She ended by telling Cassandra about how she watched their manager leave and deciding to see what he kept under lock and key all the time in his office, that maybe it had something to do with the disappearances. Cassandra eyed the folder Fabi had pulled from the file cabinet.
“And what’s that?”
Fabi opened the folder on the desk. “It’s some kind of special project called HAITI. I hadn’t yet gotten a chance to look at it when I had to take cover.”
Her new friend smiled. “Sorry about that, but I was a little worried about you. Let’s take a look...”
Together they read through the file’s contents, splitting the pages amongst them. After a few minutes Fabi stabbed a finger onto one of the papers. “Right here. You see that number?”
Cassandra squinted as she eyeballed the digits. “Yeah? What of it?”
“Earlier today I processed some payments, so I recognize it. It’s the same account Dr. Avila once used to purchase some computer equipment for the main clinic. He’s using it to bankroll this HAITI project, whatever it is.”
“Must be some high limit he has on that card, too, judging by these expenditures.” Cassandra raised her eyebrows as she traced a finger along the recorded charges. Fabi looked up from the records.
“Okay, so Dr. Avila is funding this HAITI project. There doesn’t appear to be a description of the actual project work anywhere here, but I do notice that some of these invoices are related to other clinics here in town.”
Cassandra leaned over. “Let me take a look...I recognize that one. It’s a small clinic in a bad part of town, receiving lots of money for unspecified ‘equipment’. That is strange.”
“What’s strange?”
“That place is notorious for being understaffed and not having enough equipment.”
Fabi shrugged. “Maybe he used this project to change that?”
Cassandra continued to study the file. “You would think, except that I was there not too long ago for a meeting to show their data manager how to set up one of our databases, and believe me, they didn’t have anything new that I could see.”
Fabi studied the reports some more, finally shaking her head. “This seems irrefutable to me. The money is flowing their way for some sort of equipment. How much of the building did you see when you went there?”
“Not all of it, but I did see the patient areas. You would think that’d be the place for new
equipment.”
“Why don’t we go over there and have a look?”
Cassandra looked unsure. “You mean set up a meeting—”
“No, I mean we go over there right now and see what’s going on.”
“Fabi, I don’t know. For one thing, I don’t have a key to that place.”
Fabi grinned. “You’re not going to let a little thing like that stop us, are you?”
The clinic lay on the outskirts of town, where there were no streetlights. Only a weak outer security bulb kept the place from being in complete darkness.
“Not the kind of place that shouts, ‘all kinds of valuable stuff in here’, is it?” Fabi whispered as she and Cassandra walked up to the entrance.
Cassandra shook her head. “I doubt anybody pays much attention to this place, including Dr. Avila. But we’re here to find out, right?”
Fabi examined the latch on a window. “That’s right,” she said, reaching into her pocket and producing a nail file.
“Seriously, girl?” Cassandra sounded concerned.
“Just look around, make sure no one’s coming. I’ll have us in in a...got it!”
“Already?”
“Yeah, that was even easier than I thought.” She pulled the window open, noting the lack of a screen. “Now I need a boost.”
Cassandra held her hands together and interlaced her fingers so that Fabi could step on them. She boosted her up onto the window sill until Fabi could swing a leg over. A minute later, Fabi opened the front door and stuck her head out. “Come on in.”
Cassandra entered the clinic and they closed and locked the door behind them. Not wanting the room lights to draw attention from outside, Fabi again relied upon her keychain flashlight. Cassandra led Fabi on a tour of the facility based on what she knew of the layout from previous visits, but it didn’t take long.
