Sea Red, Sea Blue

by Jean James

  “Thank you Bu—goodbye.” She looked helplessly at Lee. “That’s the second time he’s asked me to call him Buzzy. I just can’t.”

  “So he’s Buzzy now? Good catch, Kate.”

  “Where’s that board?”

  “No, not again. No girl will ever look at me if you pulverize my face again.”

  “Oh? Do they look at you now?” she asked coolly. She was irritated with him, not just because of his pretended interest in her to gain information, but because he kept something back when she had divulged everything. Guilt was clearly written on his face—even on Rob’s expressionless face. They didn’t trust her to act discreetly. If anyone gave away secrets, it wouldn’t be her.

  Conversation dwindled after that. They talked trivialities, but it was as if a wall had sprung up between them. It had turned dark before they arrived back at Lee’s place, so Katherine promptly left and returned to the boat.

  She sank onto her bed, thankful to be home. An immense burden had been lifted—Lee was innocent. She had a friend now, however mortifying it felt to realize his advances meant nothing. Still, her lips burned at thought of his last kiss.

  Had just fourteen hours passed since his saving revelation had left her stunned and too emotionally drained to react—that very morning, lying there in the sand by the dumpster? It seemed eons…and eons…

  16

  While she and Iris sat together on the church pew the next morning, she noticed a sudden stir to their right. Katherine looked around just as Lee sat down beside her. Although he looked straight ahead, he found her hand and for a second held it in his warm grasp.

  She whispered to him out of the corner of her mouth. “You’ve broken Rob’s rule. We’re not supposed to hang around together. You’ll never make a good agent.”

  “I don’t think we need to worry here. Besides, I was lonely.”

  Near the end of the service, he nudged her. “Can you meet me at Doctor’s Pass as soon as church lets out?”

  She nodded an affirmative.

  “Park somewhere inconspicuous—somewhere you can leave your car for a while. And wear a swimsuit.”

  He left before she could reply. She understood now why she never saw him after church. He must always leave early.

  When she arrived at Doctor’s Pass, Lee stood at the water’s edge, not far from the blue-and-silver flecked speedboat she had seen before. He was accompanied by two others—a young man and a very attractive woman. The woman seemed very interested in Lee. Everyone wore swimwear.

  “Kate’s going with us today as an observer,” Lee explained to the others. “She may start a diving class later on. Soon as Jim arrives, we’ll start out.” He drew Katherine aside and spoke in an undertone. “I thought this would serve as a good way to keep an eye on you and not get in trouble with Rob.”

  “And who’s to keep an eye on you?” She stared at the swimsuit-clad woman.

  “I’m sure I’ll find someone if you won’t.”

  “I haven’t eaten yet,” she said, ignoring his hint

  “Why didn’t you eat before you came?”

  “I thought you would take me to eat. You always do.”

  “You’re spoiled.”

  “You said to meet you here right after church, remember?” She folded her arms.

  “Why can’t I ever win? We’ll find you something to eat later. Did you wear a suit? We have to wade out a ways before we climb aboard. By the way, this is just a beginner’s class, so don’t feel intimidated.”

  As soon as she had slipped off her beach cover-up, she discovered Lee’s gaze riveted on her new navy-blue swimsuit.

  “Ready to go?” she asked, embarrassed, and folded the jacket away in her bag.

  “I can’t believe you clean up so…ouch, nicely,” he said as she elbowed him in the ribs.

  Lee boated to an area of sparkling clear water where they could view all varieties of sea life in the depths, even the shells resting on the ocean floor. Katherine listened to his instructions and found them immensely interesting. When the others started to practice diving techniques, she went off by herself and snorkeled around the area.

  “Have you ever found a junonia on one of your diving trips?” she asked when Lee swam near.

  “Why a junonia?”

  “I want to find one for Iris. She needs one for her wonderful shell collection.”

  “I’ll check into it for you,” he said and swam off to aid a student.

  The class soon ended, and he dropped the students off at the pass.

  When Katherine started to climb out, Lee took hold of her arm.

  “Can you run by my place with me for a few minutes? We can rob my refrigerator, and you can see a different part of the bay. I have another group to take out in a little while.”

  The trip back gave new meaning to the word run. From Doctor’s Pass to Gordon Pass, he ran the motor wide open. Her hair wanted to leave her head. Never had she ridden in a boat of such speed—not even when she boated with her speed-crazy Chicago friends.

  Lee slowed his engine for their ride down the bay, and she soon discovered that his dock wasn’t far past her marina.

  “Could you see what you can find to eat? I have to make some phone calls and do a few things,” he said when they entered his kitchen.

  “It looks like you have a pan of soup in here,” she said while rummaging.

  “No…don’t use that. Better yet, throw it out. I experimented, and my experiment didn’t come out like I expected.”

  “What kind of soup?” she asked and sniffed it curiously.

  “I think it’s some…Alaskan recipe. I call it yuk-yuk.”

  “OK, I’m convinced. Do whatever you have to do, and I’ll see what I can scrounge up.”

  The refrigerator’s contents represented typical bachelor fare. He obviously didn’t cook often. She had set out a meager lunch when Lee returned and placed a junonia on the table in front of her.

  Surprised, she picked it up. “A junonia? How lovely. And it’s absolutely perfect. Would you know where I might find one?”

  “This one’s for Iris. It sat in my garage for years—along with countless other shells—and now it has a real home. It’ll make me happy to know that it will give someone pleasure.”

  “Thank you. She’ll love it. I’ll give it to her today.” Katherine thrilled with the thought.

  “Now, for more serious news—I just talked with Rob. He’ll come this evening and we’ll all go to your office in his car. In other words, tonight is the night. Would you like to stay out of this?”

  “And let you men bungle everything and ultimately get me killed?”

  “OK. Come back here before nine and put your car in my garage. Watch close for snoopers. If anyone follows you, call me on your phone, and we’ll figure what to do.”

  “Should I bring anything?”

  “No. You’ll show Rob around. He’ll do all the work, and I’ll keep watch. I guess I don’t need to tell you about the risk.”

  “Sorry about dinner,” he apologized as he sat down to eat.

  “You realize there are only so many ways to fix bologna? I could cut the sandwiches in triangles, rectangles, or squares. Or I could cut off the bread crusts and—”

  “You’ve done well…you’ve done well, my dear,” he interrupted

  “I’ll fix you a real feast after we make it through this trouble. After all, it is my turn. Let’s take these sandwiches with us so you’re not late for your students.”

  When they arrived at the pass, two students waited at the water’s edge—attractive young women in bikinis.

  “Really, Lee.” Katherine raised her eyebrows.

  “All part of the job,” he said sheepishly.

  “I don’t want to keep you from your work. I’ll see you tonight.”

  She took her leave of the diving party and drove straight to Iris’s with the shell.

  “My land, Katherine. Wherever did ya find it?” Iris’s hand trembled in excitement as she took th
e shell.

  “It’s a gift from Lee Thorpe—the man who sat with us at church this morning. He’s a diver, and I’m taking navigation classes from him.”

  Iris reverently placed it on the glass shelf and stood there taking in the effect of the new addition to her collection. At length, she turned around. “He’s a nice lookin’ man. I knew he was a seaman as soon as I laid eyes on him,” Iris said confidently.

  “How would you know that?”

  “I don’t rightly know. It’s somethin’ in the eyes. I can always tell a seaman. Oh, did I tell ya that I had May Johnson and Sarah over yesterday? They set a spell with me. They loved my shells, and I gave them a few of my extras. I spend a heap’a time just lookin’ at them myself—now that they’re out where I can see them.” She gazed at them with a far off look on her face. “They’re all full of memories.”

  Without asking, Katherine could tell she meant memories of happier times. A shadow hung over Iris. She had responded beautifully to Katherine’s friendship, and she was genuinely happy with her new/old friends and her new/old church, but she kept her reserve. Katherine was glad she could bring a speck of happiness into Iris’s bleak life. She cherished their friendship immensely. An unspoken kinship bound them together, and they understood each other.

  “Will you come with me some day on one of my boat trips?” Katherine ventured.

  “Just ask me and see how quick I get ready,” the old woman said curtly.

  Katherine laughed in surprise.

  “We’ll take a trip soon, then.”

  17

  Midnight found Katherine riding in a nondescript car with Lee, Rob, and another man called James. They had gone over material and plans for almost three hours at Lee’s house and were well prepared for their night’s work. They left the car at the dealership across from the office and cautiously entered through the kitchen door.

  Rob and James immediately pulled out the refrigerator while Lee placed himself at the front windows to keep watch. The expected safe was there in the wall and it took James less than twenty minutes to open it. He and Rob examined the contents.

  Katherine kept watch at the back door. It contained a fair amount of money, but nothing obviously incriminating. They also swabbed some dust from inside and sealed it as evidence. They took pictures of the contents and recorded serial numbers before putting everything back as it was before.

  “Now, where does he keep the locked file cabinets, Katherine?” Rob asked.

  Katherine led them to the file room where they could work behind closed doors.

  “Katherine, these will take a while. Would you use this camera and take photographs here in the main room? Start with Johnny’s desk and photograph each desk’s nameplate, name card, or some identifying paper on the desk before you begin to take photos of address book pages or other documents. Remember to put everything back exactly as it was. If you notice anything else interesting as you go along, photograph that, too.”

  The agents completed their task before Katherine finished hers, so she showed them the room with the maps and plats. They worked in there and took more pictures and notes while she finished.

  Finally, they all went into Buzzy’s office while Lee continued to keep watch. They spent a longer time there and took pictures of everything—including the gun she had seen earlier. She would have enjoyed the night if she hadn’t felt so dreadfully aware of the danger. A few minutes after four o’clock, they left.

  Back at Lee’s house, they drank coffee and talked.

  “We’ll put people to work on this information within an hour,” Rob said. “We’ll locate the properties Big Buzzy owns and the corporations he’s involved with. Hopefully, we’ll locate some structure that can be identified as a cabin, and we’ll probably find that vehicle purchase before evening if Johnny purchased it in this state. Actually, by evening we should know more about everything. The agents at the Chicago end of this have worked around the clock ever since you gave us that information yesterday. I want you both to stay cool. Continue to act as normal as possible.”

  Katherine left Lee’s house at the same time the agents left. The sun had just come up when she arrived back at the Miss Iris to get a few hours of sleep before that day’s party arrived.

  All too soon, the real estate agent showed up with his prospects. Aware that any trip might be her last for a while, she gave thanks the associate wasn’t Johnny. She would get what enjoyment she could out of the day.

  The trip itself wasn’t noteworthy, but while they dined at the restaurant, she saw Billy again. She got the impression he managed the restaurant, or was at least someone high-up in authority. She couldn’t help but wonder why he tended the condo dock those two days. He and Johnny also seemed very well acquainted. Late that afternoon, she called Rob and told him all she knew about Billy.

  “It may not have anything to do with this investigation, but you said to call.”

  “Everything’s important. Call on everything. I need to meet with you and Lee, probably sometime tomorrow.”

  “I have to take a party to Marco in my boat tomorrow. I usually go to Lee’s class in Fort Myers on Tuesday evenings—when I get back early enough, that is.”

  “Even if you get back late, go to the class, and we’ll meet afterward. I’ll call Lee now. Remember, call immediately if something bothers you, or even if something just seems slightly strange.”

  Tuesday night she and Lee met Rob at the same office as before.

  Rob had a pile of papers in front of him and motioned them to sit.

  “We’ve about put this together. The Chicago end has done well. They have corroborated your hunch about Lucas and Pinkston. I’m only telling you this because you need to be doubly careful now. We want to wrap this operation up in the next couple of days, if possible.”

  “What about the car Johnny bought? Did you learn anything about that yet?” Katherine asked

  “We found the car dealership that sold Johnny the car—a small sleazy lot in Miami. The date checks out, and it was a cash deal. The dealer cooperated after we gave him a hint of how much trouble he might bring upon himself if he didn’t help us. Still, we don’t have any really solid proof against Johnny. Big Buzzy is worth a pile of dough. He could say he gave the money to Johnny. About all we can prove against Johnny, right now, is that he used false identification papers.”

  “A good lawyer could get him off with a reprimand,” Lee said, disgusted.

  “We’re still working on that, Lee. We do have Katherine’s testimony, which is more than we had. And that leaves us with two things that still stump us. Our investigations indicate that there is some other biggie besides Lucas—maybe a boss, or maybe a partner to Lucas. You two would be amazed how much we’ve learned in the last two days.”

  “What’s the other thing that eludes you?” Lee asked seriously.

  “The cabin they mentioned. We hoped to find the rest of our answers there. It may contain the records and proofs we need. We’ve checked every property that has anything to do with Amano or Lucas. There’s nothing you could call a cabin. We’ve checked leases. We’ve looked at shacks. We even checked out a houseboat Buzzy owns. No luck on any of it.”

  Rob looked at Katherine.

  “We have someone checking out this Billy you told me about, and we’re also trying to locate Johnny’s car. It’s parked somewhere, and that could give us another clue.”

  Katherine and Lee listened in silence.

  “Now, Katherine, could you give me a detailed account of your boat trips to Marco. Do you take one tomorrow?”

  “Yes, at one o’clock. I usually take a sales associate and one to four prospects. We take the Intracoastal on the way there and come back by way of the Gulf. We dock at the condo dock, and I accompany the party while they look at the condo. After that, we take them to the restaurant I told you about—the place I saw Billy.”

  Rob looked at his notes.

  “The Captain’s Cabin Seafood Shack?”

  “Ye
s…always there. We…that couldn’t be the cabin—could it? I mean, they wouldn’t use a restaurant, would they?”

  Rob’s expression didn’t show the slightest hint of change, but he rose immediately and went to the next room to use his phone.

  “What did you say your line of work was before real estate?” Lee asked.

  “I should have thought of it sooner.” She was pleased at his implied praise. “I’ve been there almost every day, have called it the Cabin many times, and I never associated it with the cabin we’re trying to find.”

  Rob returned, this time wearing a broad smile.

  “Almost there, I think. For your own protection, I don’t want either of you to know what happens next, but we’re probably only one or two days away from arrests. Katherine, whatever happens, we’ll take you into protective custody until after the trial. Right now, you’re our most important witness because of what you heard. Tomorrow will probably be your last normal day for a while.”

  “Normal? I’ve forgotten what normal means.”

  Rob chuckled and turned to Lee.

  “We still haven’t got a strong case against Johnny, unless something new turns up. But we’ll get him for something, even if we can’t convict him of murder.”

  Lee stared down at his clenched fists. Finally, he looked up at Rob. “Let’s get him before he does more. In Chicago he almost added Kate to his victim list.”

  “He’s a bad one. It’s generally someone like Johnny who exposes these operations. Evidently, Big Daddy Buzzy has covered all his tracks thus far. Who knows what other crimes he’s committed. We’re sure that Lucas and the others know nothing about this incident with your aunt. Johnny Boy did that one on his own.”

  “Like the bank deal?” Katherine asked.

  “Yes…but that was chicken feed…extremely foolish on his part. We probably never would have gotten to this point if it hadn’t been for that.”

  “Your newspaper clipping, Kate. That’s what got things rolling again,” Lee admitted.

  “I remember when I caught you reading it—you were, weren’t you?”