Sailor's Delight - A Connie Barrera Thriller: The 2nd Novel of the Caribbean Mystery and Adventure Series (Connie Barrera Thrillers)

by Charles Dougherty

  "Nervous? Shit, Troy, they'll go fuckin' ballistic when we snatch her. We may have to off her old man, you know, or that charter boat guy."

  "He's a retired cop; we gotta watch out for him, Linton. He's got them cop eyes. I seen the way he looked at me."

  "Her old man's a freakin' cop? Jesus! I'm not likin' this."

  "Not her old man, Linton. I don't know what he does. I was talkin' 'bout the guy that runs the boat with that Mexican babe."

  "Now she's more like it. Don't need no 15-year-old when there's a full-growed woman like that around. That other broad's not bad, either."

  "That's her stepmother," Troy said.

  "My fuckin' stepmother never looked like that. Maybe we should just blow the guys away when we take her an' have ourselves a little party to celebrate."

  "I don't think so. Too risky."

  "We'd be better off doin' them four people when we snatch the girl. They gonna see us, Troy. We leave 'em alive, it'll come back to bite us, man."

  "You can get away with a lot of shit down here in the islands, Linton, but you go killin' four American tourists ... " Troy shook his head. "All kinda shit'll rain down on us then."

  "And you think we can snatch a 15-year-old girl with them watchin' and shit ain't gonna rain down on us?"

  "I got a plan, man. Just stick with me. We'll have the delivery made and be gone before they know she's missin'."

  "How you gonna ... "

  "Shut up, Linton. I got some details to work out. I don't need you fuckin' yammerin' at me while I'm tryin' to think."

  Diamantista was on a close reach in 18 knots of wind as they approached Ship's Stern Point on the southwest corner of Bequia. Julia was in her accustomed position, steering the boat. Connie sat beside her in the cockpit. The other three were sitting on the starboard side of the coachroof, passing a pair of binoculars back and forth as they studied the three small islands that were arrayed off Bequia's south shore, forming a large, protected bay.

  "The closest one to us, at the right end, that's Pigeon Island. It's the smallest," Paul said.

  "There must be a zillion Pigeon Islands down here," Monica said. "I noticed there's one at the north end of St. Lucia and another along the west coast of Guadeloupe."

  "You've been studying the cruising guides, haven't you?" Paul asked.

  "She's already planning our next trip down," Luke teased. "Decided we don't have time to see everything on this trip."

  "Well, you're right about that, Monica," Paul said. "I'm not sure you could see everything worth seeing down here no matter how long you stayed. It's the most beautiful area in the world, if you ask me. Now, the big island, just to the left of Pigeon Island, that's Isle à Quatre."

  "Is that where the whaling station is?" Luke asked.

  "No. It's on Petit Nevis. That's the little one closest to Bequia."

  Monica swung the binoculars in that direction.

  "Look at the right end, just up from the water, Monica. You should see some slightly overgrown masonry ruins."

  "Got it," she said, studying the ruins for a moment and passing the binoculars to Luke. "Is that a fortification of some kind?"

  "No. It's where they render the blubber. The stonework is a big firebox that supports some huge iron bowls. It's called a try-works."

  "Paul, this is off the subject," Luke said, "but I want to thank you for being so good to Julia. You and Connie both have been wonderful to her. I don't think I've seen her this happy since her mother died."

  "She's a pleasure to have around, Luke. Both of us are fond of her. I think she's amazing, especially given what she's been through."

  "You know about her mother, then," Luke said.

  "Connie told me."

  "I see. Did Julia ... "

  "I thought she should know, Luke. I told her," Monica said. "Julia's gotten so attached to her."

  Luke nodded, looking off into the distance and scratching the back of his neck. "She really has. You have any children, Paul?"

  "No, Connie and I ... "

  "I thought maybe you'd been married before. Sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

  "No need to apologize. I was married before," Paul said. "It didn't work out, and there were no children."

  "You'd make a good father," Monica said. "You and Connie both have an easy manner with Julia. I've never seen her warm up to other adults like she has with you, even before ... "

  "You're right," Luke added. "She's always been shy around strangers."

  "Well, I'm glad we've made her feel welcome. That's our goal, but she's made it awfully easy."

  They sat in an easy silence, watching Ship's Stern Point sliding past a hundred yards away.

  "Grab the handrails," Paul said. "We're going to get a big blast of wind in the next few seconds."

  As he finished the sentence, the wind hit, knocking Diamantista over at a 45-degree angle. As Julia steered the bow into the wind a bit more, the boat stood up a few degrees, feeling much less overpowered. They heard the screeching sound of bar-tight lines being drawn over heavily loaded turning blocks as Connie cranked in the sheets, trimming the sails for their new course. The boat accelerated dramatically.

  "Welcome to Admiralty Bay," Paul said. "That town straight ahead is Port Elizabeth."

  "Wow! Talk about a dramatic entrance," Luke exclaimed. "Look at all the boats in here."

  "It's a popular spot, but there's plenty of room. It just looks crowded from here."

  "We're really smokin'," Luke said. "How fast?"

  "Probably close to 10 knots," Paul said. "We're in flat water with maybe 35 knots of wind right now."

  "We'll be there in no time," Monica said.

  "It won't be long, but this wind won't last," Paul said. "There's always a big gust like that coming around the point. It'll begin dropping and backing — that's shifting counterclockwise — any minute now."

  He was proven correct within the next two minutes. Diamantista was almost upright, moving at a much slower speed, when they heard Julia cry, "Ready, about!"

  In a moment, Connie answered, "Ready!"

  "Hang on and keep your heads down," Paul counseled as Julia spun the helm, turning the bow through the wind.

  They were now pointed toward the shoreline on the south side of the harbor. The racket from the two headsails flogging in the wind was deafening until Connie cranked in the sheets, trimming first the Yankee and then the staysail, now on the opposite side of the boat from where they were before the maneuver.

  "What's happening?" Monica asked.

  "This is called beating into the wind, or tacking," Paul explained. "A sailing vessel obviously can't go straight into the wind, which is where we want to end up. The best we can do is sail at an angle to the wind. It looks like the wind's maybe 30 degrees off our bow, but that's sort of an illusion. That's the apparent wind. We'll zigzag, first with the wind on our port bow, and then with it on our starboard bow, until we get to where we want to go. Each zigzag is around 45 degrees off our desired course."

  "So is it going to take forever?" Monica asked.

  "Not forever, but sometimes it seems that way. Figure maybe half again as long as it would take if we could go this fast straight into the wind. If we were lazy or impatient, we could take in the sails and start the diesel. Then we'd just drive right into the wind, but it would be a slow, uncomfortable ride compared to this."

  "I'll bet Julia's having a grand time back there," Monica said. "I'm going to get the camera."

  As she made her way cautiously back to the cockpit, Paul raised himself into a crouch. "I'd better go give Connie a hand; grinding the winches gets tiring when you're short-tacking like this."

  "I'll come. I could use some exercise, if you'll show me what to do," Luke said.

  "Sure. Come on. Just do what Julia and Connie tell us to." Paul's grin was matched by the one on Luke's face as he heard his daughter call, "Ready about!" again.

  12

  "Ahoy, Diamantista!"

  Connie and Paul
were stretched out in hammocks in the shade of the cockpit awning. They both sat up at the hail, but Paul was the first to spot Joey, standing in a dinghy a few feet off their starboard side. "Hey, Joey. What's up?"

  "We watched you guys come in yesterday. Looked real good, sailing right up to the anchorage like that. Second time I've seen you do that; you always do it?"

  "Any time we can," Connie said. "Julia thought you might be here, but we didn't spot you on the way in. Where's Sueño?"

  "Up there close to Princess Margaret Beach," Troy gestured with his right hand, his left gripping Diamantista's toe-rail. "We're mixed in with all the other white boats with blue canvas. Not easy to pick us out of the crowd from here. Julia around?"

  "No. She and her folks are ashore; they're taking an island tour today."

  "With one of the taxis?" Troy asked.

  "Right. Have you done that?"

  "Yeah. Doesn't take too long; Bequia's pretty small. I'll check back later."

  "Okay. We'll tell her you came by. They should be back by mid-afternoon. They were planning on lunch somewhere toward the east coast and a visit to the turtle sanctuary."

  "Cool. Harry told me about this pizza place here that does lobster pizza."

  "We know the place," Paul said, "but I like the fish pizza better than the lobster."

  "Yeah? Maybe I'll try that. We're going there for dinner; I thought maybe Julia and her folks might like to join us. Harry kinda wanted to meet them."

  "Want us to pass along the invitation?" Connie asked.

  "Sure. You guys are welcome, too. More the merrier."

  "We'll see," Paul said.

  "Depends on what our guests want," Connie explained. "But maybe you should book a table, just in case. That place is popular; it could be hard to get seated with that many people."

  "Good idea. Thanks. I'll do it. I can always change it if they can't make it."

  "We'll tell them. Check back after 3 p.m.," Connie said.

  "Okay, then. See ya' all later." Joey started the outboard and motored slowly away.

  "He's a nice boy," Connie said. "Polite, but not too shy with adults. Sort of like Julia."

  "Mm," Paul grunted.

  "You don't agree?" Connie asked.

  "I'll wait until I meet the uncle," Paul said, stroking his chin. "But there's something a little off about that kid."

  "You spent too long as a detective; you don't trust anybody."

  "That's not so. I trust you." Paul had an earnest look on his face.

  "You know what I mean." Connie grinned.

  "Maybe so," Paul said, "but he sets off my cop alarm for some reason."

  "Well, just keep it to yourself, okay? Let the Regans make their own choices; poor Julia's had enough trouble without you scaring off the only other teenager for miles around."

  "Yes, ma'am. Want some cold juice while I'm up?"

  "Hey, guys!" Julia greeted Connie and Paul as she scrambled aboard from the water taxi while Luke paid the operator.

  "How was it?" Connie asked, as Paul extended a hand to Monica to help her up. Luke was right behind her.

  "Awesome," Julia said. "I got to pet that turtle you were telling me about. Her name's Busybody, and they said she never let anybody but the owner pet her before."

  "Can we sit down before you give the full report, Julia?" Monica asked. "You're blocking everybody's way to the cockpit."

  "Sorry," Julia said, scrambling into the cockpit and taking a seat next to Connie. Monica and Luke settled themselves on the opposite seat.

  "Cold drinks while I'm up?" Paul asked, as he stepped back into the cockpit with the others. "There's beer, wine, water, cocktails, whatever anybody wants."

  "It's early, but I'm on vacation," Monica said. "Can you do one of those rum punches?"

  "Sure, no problem. Julia?"

  "Can you, like, do a rum punch but without the rum?"

  "You bet. Luke?"

  "An ice-cold beer sounds really good, Paul. Thanks."

  "So you saw the turtles," Connie said. "What else?"

  "The whaling museum, and that place called 'Moonhole.' That's really different."

  "I guess they told you the story about the man who built it?"

  "From New York," Julia agreed. "Way back in the 1960s, too. That must have been some adventure."

  "It's a beautiful spot," Monica said. "Not sure I'd want to stay there, though."

  "It's a little primitive," Connie agreed. "Before we forget, Joey asked us to tell you he came by, Julia."

  "They're still here, then?"

  "Yes. Sueño is anchored over there off the beach, he said."

  "He say how long they're staying?"

  "No, but he'll probably be by in a little while. He and his uncle are going to a pizza place on the beach for dinner, and they were hoping that you'd all come."

  "That sounds cool," Julia said. "Can we, Dad?"

  "Sure. Why not? The food any good?"

  "It's excellent," Paul said, "especially if you get one topped with local ingredients."

  "What kind of local ingredients?" Monica asked.

  "Fish, lobster, all kinds of wonderful vegetables," Connie said. "Of course, they do the traditional toppings, too. Those're good too, but you can get them anywhere."

  "Will you and Paul come with us?" Julia asked.

  "We'd love to, but we don't want to ... "

  "I insist," Luke said. "Our treat."

  "Then of course, we'd be pleased to join you."

  They were interrupted by another cry of, "Ahoy, Diamantista." Julia took her drink and went to sit on the side-deck, dangling her legs over the side as she and Joey chatted.

  "I'd like to meet his uncle," Luke said in a quiet voice, "and spend a little time with Joey, too. She didn't stop talking about him all day. I'm ... "

  "Being a typical teenaged girl's father," Monica interrupted. "Ease up, Luke. They're just kids; he hasn't asked for her hand or anything."

  Paul shifted in his seat and put down the beer he'd been sipping. Connie put her hand on his knee under the table and gave it a hard squeeze. He looked over at her and caught the almost imperceptible shake of her head. He picked the beer up and took another sip.

  "What did you do in North Carolina before you decided to sail to the islands, Harry?" Luke asked, as Linton finished chewing his bite of pizza.

  "Residential construction. Another guy and I, we were building kinda medium-priced houses, you know."

  "I'd think that could be a tough business, with times like they are," Paul said.

  "Yeah, kinda. We got lucky. Finished up this little development just when the bottom fell out. We split up the business, and I decided to go sailin' for a while."

  "Sounds like a good life to me," Monica said. "Are you what they call a 'single-hander'?"

  "Yeah, pretty much. Except when Joey can come visit, you know, like when school's out an' all." Linton took a swig of beer and suppressed a belch, letting it out as a sigh.

  Joey and Julia were in a world of their own, sitting at a corner of the table. They had eyes only for each other as they chatted. Connie glanced in their direction for a moment and turned back to Paul, a smile on her face. His eyes were narrowed as he watched Harry answering Luke's questions. She reached under the table and squeezed his thigh, causing him to look at her. He smiled, his face relaxing. "Your pizza good?" he asked.

  "Very," she said, softly. She and Monica and Julia had ordered a medium lobster pizza to split, and there wasn't much left.

  "Yours?"

  "Mm-hmm." He reached for the last slice of the small fish pizza that he had ordered.

  "So what're you all doin' to amuse yourselves in this here big city?" Linton asked, looking at Luke and Monica.

  "We saw most of Bequia today, and the guy driving our taxi suggested we book a tour of the big island with this friend of his, so that's tomorrow's agenda," Monica answered as Luke chewed a last mouthful of pizza.

  "St. Vincent?" Linton asked, his eyebrows risin
g.

  "Yes," Monica replied. "You look surprised."

  "Never heard of nobody goin' over there, except to buy dope. It's supposed to be kinda rough."

  There was an awkward silence, until Connie said, "Well, it's like all the islands, I guess. There're probably some bad spots, but I'm sure the tour operator will keep you out of trouble."

  "It's one of the most self-sufficient of the islands down here, agriculturally," Paul added. "They export a lot of produce. It's a beautiful, lush green island. Definitely worth seeing, because it's not especially touristy."

  "Lotta that produce gets smoked," Linton said, grinning.

  When no one responded, Julia said, "It sounds boring to me, six hours riding around in a van looking out the window."

  "He said we'd see the movie set, Julia," Luke reminded her. "Where that guy you drool over made Pirates of the Caribbean, remember?"

  "Dad," Julia said, drawing the word out into several syllables as her face flushed. "That was years ago, when I was still a child."

  Connie and Monica exchanged glances, stifling giggles at the look of confusion on Luke's face. Paul smiled. "Funny how your interests change when you grow up, isn't it," he said, looking at Julia. "I bumped into one of my childhood heroes when I was in high school and wouldn't have recognized him if my younger cousin hadn't gone ape."

  "Me and Joey booked a snorkel trip tomorrow 'round to Friendship Bay. Gonna hit the Moonhole and the Devil's Table on the way back," Linton said.

  "Now, that sounds like fun," Julia said, enthusiasm rippling in her voice.

  "Hey, maybe you could come with us," Troy said. "How about it, Harry?"

  "Well, it's okay by me. Pretty much an all-day excursion, though. Guess it depends on Luke and Monica, huh?"

  "Oh, please, Daddy," Julia begged, her eyes growing bigger as she waited.

  Luke looked at Monica, but found no help there. His shoulders sagged visibly as he said, "Sure, honey, if that's what you want."

  "It's safe and all, Mr. Regan," Troy added. "I mean, we're going with one of the big dive excursion outfits. They've got a fifty-foot launch, and they take cruise ship visitors out. We'll take good care of her, don't you worry."