Key Manatee

by Robert Tacoma

  “This your wallet, Harry?”

  My shark had started a sideways run and I let the big lawyer get close enough for a good pop on the side of his head with the rod tip. The old man grabbed him trying not to laugh.

  “Careful there, Big ‘Un! That big shark’s making a move!”

  The blow stunned Grizzel for a second but then he gave me a hard look. He started to say something, but the old man dragged him to the other side of the boat and told him to stay out of the way.

  By the time my shark came to the side I was so exhausted I was about to get sick. I snuck a look up top while they were busy measuring the fish still in the water with a long flexible pole. Consuelo had been quiet, holding the boat on course. I could see the concern on her face. I gave her a weak thumbs up just as Shark dropped the pvc measuring stick back on the deck.

  “Seven foot, three inch Bull Shark! Nice one, Taco!” He produced a rusty pair of wire cutters and at last the pressure was off the rod and the shark was gone.

  Grizzel started back in bitching and complaining while Shark got him re-rigged and fishing again. The secure cell phone Jimmy gave me had been vibrating off and on for several minutes. The first time a good ten minutes before the agreed call times. I managed to get to a bunk in the cabin while Grizzel took the chair again and laughed at me. I could hear Consuelo then, yelling at the old man to relieve her.

  The next time the phone went off I had it.

  “That you?”

  “Yeah, thought you were out of range or something.”

  “I had my hands full, what you got?”

  “We’re in, been in for a while. Slip’s standing lockout.”

  Consuelo came into the cabin at a run. “Are you-”

  I held my hand over the phone. “They’re in.” I went back to Jimmy. “No problems then? No one else there?”

  “Oh, there was someone else here.”

  “So Slip used the device you gave him?”

  “No. He said he was having problems with it so he put something else in the candybox.”

  “What?”

  “A brick. Guy opened the door and Slip yells, ‘Candygram’ at the top of his lungs and starts smashing the guy in the face with the box. Guy’s still out, laying on the floor.”

  “Who is it?”

  “One of the Blue Manatee thugs, I guess. Some big guy with a white X on his face.”

  “Well, you should have at least another hour or two. Our boy is well occupied.” Out on deck I could hear Grizzel yelling at the captain again. “You finding what you’re looking for?”

  “I just got in what looks like his main computer files, and we’ve already got a lot of paper files, tapes, and pictures. If I can’t find what I’m looking for here soon we’ll take the computers too. I’d just like to know for sure what we need is here.”

  “Good luck. I’ll let you know if anything changes on my end.”

  “Right, same here.” I punched the phone off and dropped it on the bunk. Consuelo had a cool, wet cloth for my forehead and a warm smile for the rest of me.

  “Taco, how much longer do we have to baby-sit this moron? We don’t take him back soon I think either Shark or myself are going to be doing some dental work on him with that fish billy.”

  “I know. As soon as we get word from Jimmy he has what he’s looking for we’ll head in.” I saw those bright blue eyes soften above me. I knew what was coming and tried to raise a hand to stop the pair of slowly incoming lips. But there was a strong hand holding down on each of mine. I was too weak to resist and relaxed on the bunk. I could feel her sweet breath on my face and her body began to press against me just as Grizzel’s reel and Grizzel both started screaming like banshees.

  “AHHH!!! I got you now, motherfucker!”

  We ran back to the cockpit just as the old skipper finished strapping Grizzel and the big rod to the seat. Consuelo went up top to get the boat back on course while Shark yelled instructions to her and Grizzel. Line was still peeling off the big reel. Then the fish jumped, about three hundred yards straight back. A big one. The old shark fisherman took his hat off and held it reverently over his heart.

  “Mako. Biggest I seen in years. Go twelve feet at least.”

  He turned slowly to look at the big sweaty man straining in the fighting chair. He shook his head and spit, obviously disgusted Grizzel would hook into so fine a specimen.

  The shark sounded and after a few minutes the lawyer relaxed and let the seat straps do most of the work. The shark came up again and thrashed the surface. Grizzel had let the line go slack and the old man was livid.

  “Reel in the slack you silly bastard! He makes another run like that first one he’ll snap the line!”

  Luck was on Grizzel’s side since the big Mako instead sounded again, started putting slow, steady pressure on the heavy line. Grizzel lit another cigar took a puff, then yelled up at Consuelo.

  “Hey, Sugarpuss, what’s this remind you of?” He worked the cigar in and out of his mouth a few times, then motioned me over. When I got close he grabbed my shirt collar and pulled my face up to his.

  “Soon as I get this bad boy up to gaff there won’t be any more doubt who the best man is.”

  This guy was in serious need of a breath mint, but I felt the advice would go unheeded, so instead when he let loose of my shirt and popped his cigar back in his mouth and started to suck, I hit the hot end with the palm of my hand. Hard.

  I got burned a little, but it was worth it to see such a big man trying so hard to grab me while strapped in and coughing up bits of cigar. Priceless.

  “You fucker! That was a twenty dollar Monte Cristo!”

  Our captain brought out his first real grin of the day.

  “You better pay attention, fat boy, that big fish ain’t done yet!” And it wasn’t. The Mako was heading deep still, but heading for the boat. If it got close enough the line could catch the boat, rub, and break. Consuelo caught the captain’s signal and moved the boat forward enough to keep the big shark behind us.

  Everyone was fixed on the shark, so I saw it first. Out on the horizon, a boat as big as a cruise ship. But as it came closer over the next few minutes I could see it was jet black, stem to stern. Then Grizzel saw it.

  “Ha! There she is!”

  He had another cigar going by now, using it to point and yelling up at the helm. “Hey, Sweetcakes! Maybe after you get your tonsils polished tonight I’ll introduce you to my boss!” He seemed to think this way funny. “You ever met a dead man?” While the rest of the crew did their best to ignore the annoying blowhard, I slipped back in the cabin to take a call.

  “You find anything?”

  “I got the Mother Lode. He’s been doing wire taps on his own clients. I guess sort of insurance. They told JB they wanted to talk about funding a children’s home in the Keys, invited him out on a big boat, then threw him overboard. I just found everything including names and phone conversations for that second Marty hit. It also looks like that county commissioner killed in a car crash a few weeks ago wasn’t an accident.” He hesitated for a few seconds. “Found a list of other people they planned the same treatment for. The last and newest name on the list was yours.”

  “I guess that’s not much of a surprise, but I could have gone without hearing it all the same.” My hands were shaking. I couldn’t tell if it was nerves or the fever coming back again. “You about wrapped up there?”

  “Yeah, I’m transferring a bunch of files to DC now so they can see some of what I’ve got. We’re going to finish loading everything in ice chests next and stroll out of here.”

  “Sounds good. I’m sure you’ll be in touch.”

  “You bet, and thanks for your help. I thank you and your country thanks you.”

  “I’ll pass that last part along to our host when we get in.” I almost punched off, then remembered. “There’s a really big black boat out here our boy seems awful fond of. Know anything about that?”

  “If it’s the Big Black Boat, then t
here’s likely someone on board we’d like to have a word with. I’ll pass that along as soon as I can.”

  “Later, then.”

  “Later.”

  Back on deck Grizzel was more excited about the black boat than the several hundred pounds of prehistoric eating machine he had on the end of his line. He was horsing the fish in fast now, ignoring the forty years of shark-fishing experience being yelled in his ear.

  “He ain’t near tired yet! You been dicking around letting him rest instead of working him! Let him make a couple more long runs before you get him up here by the boat!”

  Grizzel pulled the fish up by the port side of the old boat and started jerking hard on the rod like he expected to yank aboard hundreds of pounds of the ocean’s deadliest creature.

  “Get over there and pull him in, old man!”

  “I ain’t getting near him yet! I told you-”

  The giant shark came easy until he bumped the side of the boat, then water and pieces of boat exploded into the air and the shark made a hard run straight back. Grizzel was holding on for all he was worth with the reel screaming out line again. Clarence ‘Shark’ Hunter walked over to the straining lawyer and got up in his face, smiling.

  “Now do you believe me?”

  Grizzel turned red in the face and spit hard in the old man’s face.

  “You old bag of shit! I get this fish in I just might throw you overboard like we did that faggy manatee!”

  Shark took a couple of slow steps to the side of Grizzel, still smiling, with spit running down his cheek.

  “That so, big boy? You going to hurt me, are you?”

  The Mako had been slowing a little, but started another hard run then, putting a terrific strain on Grizzel, the rod and reel, and the seat. Grizzel started in yelling curses at the old man over the noise of the reel. Shark stepped closer to the sweaty lawyer and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Grizzel looked over, shocked.

  “Huh?”

  Shark never took his eyes from those of the perplexed lawyer while he hooked his big toe in the ring on the pin in the seat pedestal. There was a metallic ‘ping’ as the pin came out, followed by a short scream, a wet thud, and a big splash behind the boat. The old man took a bucket of water and washed his face, then the two bloody marks Grizzel’s knees had left on the stern on his way to join the big shark. I just stood there staring at the place where the fighting chair had been. Between the weight of the chair and the pull of the shark, Harry Grizzel had sunk like a rock.

  Consuelo cut the engines and jumped down to the deck. She walked to the back of the boat, waved goodbye, and yelled into the distance.

  “So I guess tonight’s off, Harry?” When there was no answer she turned to me and shrugged. “Looks like I’m free this evening, got any plans?”

  ∨ Key Manatee ∧

  Twenty-Three

  It came to me on the way in why the old shark fisherman had insisted I use the newer heavy rod and reel. But mostly my mind just ran the scene of Grizzel and chair going over the stern of the boat.

  Back at the dock we inspected the damage the big shark had done to the side of the boat. It looked pretty serious and if Shark hadn’t rigged an extra bilge pump on the way back in we might not have made it. He didn’t seem too concerned though.

  “No problem. I got forty years experience patching up old boats and several wired young partners who need something to do to work off a little nervous energy before tonight anyway.”

  ♦

  I was exhausted by the time we got back to my place later that afternoon. Jimmy called and said the haul from Grizzel’s was even better than he’d thought earlier. I told him I didn’t think Grizzel would be around for a while. When I told him what happened, he thought about it a minute and said he’d write it up as Grizzel last seen leaving his houseboat early that morning. We never did see the bodyguard or the Hummer again.

  Jimmy had slipped some cash expense money to Slip on some pretense, but I felt too poorly still to go out with him and Consuelo that evening. Turns out Floaters was up, open and having a special on stone crab claws. But as luck would have it, the restaurant had sunk again the next day when Slip and I rolled up in my truck.

  “Well, poo. Really, Taco, it was open last night.”

  “So much for that. Governor’s?”

  I was feeling mighty good driving my old truck to the restaurant for an early lunch. Knowing I had done my part to help my country and community, that and ten hours of sound sleep, had me feeling like a new man.

  Slip was wired, about to blow, just dying to tell me all the goings on of the night before. Consuelo had to work a shift at the hotel and it was strange not having her around. She said her sisters were on her bad about taking so much time off.

  We got to Governor’s just as they opened. Since the place was nearly empty, we were able to get a table in back with some privacy. I was hungry as a bear, but took my time with the menu. I contemplated the Eighteen Wheeler while Slip started filling me in.

  “You hear about that fancy Blue Manatee Park?”

  “No, what happened? Someone writing on the signs again?”

  “Nah, better than that. While you were off fishing on Shark Hunter’s boat, some politicians and Blue Manatee big shots were giving speeches for TV cameras. About the time they got going good some kind of mutant skunk-dog ran up on the stage and bit the shit out of a couple of ‘em and scared hell out of the rest. The perp run off, but from what I heard from folks and seen in the paper this morning, it sounds like it might have been that aromatic set of walking teeth Shark calls a dog.”

  “Wouldn’t surprise me.”

  “Anyway, since Blondie had gone on home last night, I was planning on taking the guest room. You were dead to the world on that old couch, but I was still wired about the little game me and Jimmy run on Grizzel’s place. So I figured I’d head over to the other side of the island, see if there might be any mischief needed doing around that fancy new park or the construction site.” The Offroad looked good, but I didn’t really feel like a salad. “I stopped on the way and had a few beers so I wouldn’t be getting thirsty in the middle of anything. Just as I walked out of the bar here comes a big explosion from the direction of the new development.” The waitress came and I decided on the Skidmark – bacon strips on a chicken patty – with a side of Road Gravel. Slip ordered a complicated array of foods without opening the menu. The waitress left.

  “So, I ran over a few blocks to take a look and ended up sneaking out on that causeway they’d just built. With everything that was happening out on the water by then the guards weren’t paying much attention to anything else. At one point they all got in a truck and hauled ass, so I looked around and found a big bulldozer with the key in it and pushed a few Blue Manatee pickups, a backhoe, and some other stuff in the water.” He took a quick conspiratorial glance around. “You know, I thought with big ol’ tires full of air like that, those loaders might float some, but they don’t float a bit.” We got our drinks and each took a long pull.

  “So then, here comes some of the guards back all worked up about their headquarters being all smashed and on fire.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “Beats me. I did run into the building a few times with the dozer, but damned if I know how it caught on fire.” He gave me an blameless shrug.

  “So what happened out on the water? Was that Shark Hunter and those folks?”

  “Yeah, at least at first it was. After those guards came back and started running around like a bunch of ants and yelling into their radios I jumped into their truck they’d been nice enough to leave running. There were plenty of other folks out there gawking by then, so as I left the scene I kinda scrunched down so nobody would see me in case it turned out later my actions might be seen as some sort of infractions of the law.” A sly smile.

  “It was real late, but I headed for the Scorpion Pit since I knew that’s where Shark and his gang would likely be stopping for refreshments after an even
ing of mayhem. The place was closed by then, so I parked the truck in the middle of the empty parking lot and climbed up in a tree next to the building. About the time I got settled in good, here comes that little car of Julie’s barreling into the parking lot at a hard slide right into the truck. Smashed shit out of both vehicles, but Julie and the rest of ‘em jump out laughing like it’s the funniest thing ever. They break into the bar and go right up to Shark’s usual table and start partying like a bunch of pirates coming ashore, which I guess is about right.

  “Anyway, they’re all sitting around drinking and talking about the evening’s excitement. All I got to do is listen in and not fall out of the tree. Seems Shark knows some old fella who’s always going out with his boat looking for stuff after a storm. A few years back the fella found one of the old mines the navy put out for German subs during the war. They traded a case of liquor and Shark’s ex-wife Levita for the mine and that newspaper fella figured out just where to put it. So they got the mine set in the right place with a GPS, then eased over in the dark and hooked up one of those giant sand barges they anchor over by the construction site every night. Towed it over real sneaky-like, cut it loose, and watched the tide take it right into the mine. That was the big explosion I heard.” The food arrived and I started while Slip tried to talk faster so he could jump in himself.

  “The gang sat there drinking and had a lot of nice stuff to say about how things built with American engineering, especially mines, are built to last. I guess that old mine blew the shit out of the giant barge and sunk it dead in the middle of the main shipping channel. Totally blocked the channel so there ain’t going to be any sand barges coming through there for a while.” Slip inhaled a few of what looked like real small barbeque ribs, then went back to his report.

  “When the mine blew they all started whooping and hollering out there on Sharks old boat thinking that was it, but it wasn’t. Not by a long shot.

  “Shark said it was like flipping on the kitchen light and seeing roaches scatter. The mine blowing like that lit up the whole area for a few seconds. Until then they didn’t know less than a mile away was a black cruise ship with no lights and several other dark boats that looked like they were creeping up on it. As soon as the mine blew the little boats and the big one started shooting at each other with all kinds of machine guns and rockets and shit. That’s what me, the Blue Manatee guards, and a bunch of other people were seeing from land. Looked like the Fourth of July going on with all those little boats chasing the big one hauling ass and all shooting at each other. That went on for an hour or so. The big one and at least one of the little ones were on fire by the time they got out of sight.”