Sea Red, Sea Blue

by Jean James

  He sat down beside her at the helm, and she remembered something the Coast Guard and Rob should know right away.

  “Lee, Captain Dale was one of them.”

  He turned towards her. “I know. We found that out—too late to save you from this. It was a drug and money laundering operation.”

  “I heard Johnny call Captain Dale a pickup man. Did he bring in drugs with the Miss Iris?”

  “Yes—until he sold it to you. He let you do it for him, then. The Miss Iris would make pickups out in the Gulf after a small plane dropped off the goods. I’ll explain it to you when we get home.”

  Within minutes, they arrived at his house. He docked his boat, took Katherine’s hand, and they both stumbled up to the house.

  “We think we got all the main people and a few of the little guys. Lucas and Pinkston have been in custody since noon. Buzzy, too. Johnny didn’t know anything about that. He worked on his own again.”

  “There was another man after me at the dock.”

  “Lester Dodd. They caught him. He talked right away, and that’s why I showed up as quick as I did.”

  “Quick? You took forever!”

  Lee closed his eyes for a second and shook his head as if to wipe out his thoughts. His voice broke when he spoke again. “I d-didn’t think we’d find you alive. The blood at Dale’s house, and then I f-found your boat.”

  “Johnny shot Iris and Captain Dale. He would have shot me, too, but Captain Dale knocked the gun from his hand. Johnny must have struck me on the head with something when I reached for the gun. When I woke up, I was lying in the bottom of the boat alongside Captain Dale. I planned to j-jump overboard until I saw your lights.” She trembled violently

  He took her in his arms and held her. They were still hugging, taking strength from each other when Lee’s phone sounded.

  When he released her, he smiled and looked down at her sandspur-infested dress. “I think I just hugged a porcupine.” He spent only a couple of seconds on his call before he put the phone away. “That was Rob. He said that Iris was alive and conscious. The doctors are removing the bullet. Captain Dale is still alive too, though not expected to last long. Rob will come by here soon, but we have time for hot showers. You go first while I make coffee.”

  “I don’t have any dry clothes.”

  “Use my bathrobe for now. It’s hanging inside the door.”

  The hot water relieved her shivering, but she had experienced enough water for one night. It stung her many injuries, and she was glad to step out to a dry towel. Borrowing a hair dryer she found on a shelf, she made quick work of her hair before slipping into his soft green robe. She tied the belt around her waist and left on her pearl earrings and pendant. They made her feel more dressed. The full-length mirror told her the attire looked satisfactory, and Lee’s eyes confirmed it as he passed her in the hall.

  She paused in the kitchen to sort out her thoughts. We haven’t lost everything.

  The aroma of coffee asserted itself, and she forced her attention to more practical matters. They both needed something hot to eat. She searched the refrigerator and brought out everything that had possibilities. He had obviously bought some groceries, a few, anyway. She found eggs and a package of sliced ham. In the crisper tray, she found grapefruit and oranges, and on the door, she found numerous ice-cream toppings, including maraschino cherries. She left the toppings, but put the cherries on the counter with the other offerings.

  Katherine quickly peeled and sectioned the grapefruit and oranges, removing the membrane. She cut up all of them and filled a large bowl with the prepared fruit. Stirring in sugar and some maraschino cherries, she filled two crystal stem glasses with the concoction and placed them and the remaining fruit in the refrigerator to stay cold.

  Next, she cut the ham into small pieces and let it brown slightly while she prepared eggs for scrambling.

  Lee finished showering in time to let Rob and another agent in the door. They looked like they had endured a rather miserable night, too.

  So much for my candlelight dinner, she thought as she got out two more stem glasses for fruit and broke some more eggs.

  When Lee came in to see what she was doing, she put him to work.

  “We need service for four, please—plates, cups, saucers, silverware, and four slices of bread in the toaster.”

  He grinned and set the places while Katherine finished her work.

  Rob and the other agent, whom they introduced as Kenneth, came in and viewed the modest feast she and Lee had set out. Though hesitant at first to accept the hospitality, in the end Katherine had to cook more eggs and fix more toast, and Lee had to make another pot of coffee.

  When they had cleared off everything except coffee cups, Kenneth took down Katherine’s account of the evening.

  “Will I have to hide away until the trial?” Katherine asked.

  “Probably not for long,” Rob replied.

  “Did you catch everyone important? Wasn’t there supposed to be someone else working with Lloyd Lucas—a boss, maybe?”

  “Actually, Lloyd Lucas didn’t exist. He’s really Donald Townsend, Captain Dale Townsend’s little brother.”

  Rob seemed pleased with the astonishment on their faces.

  “When we left the hospital a while ago, the Captain wasn’t gone yet. He’s a tough old salt. When he found out Johnny still lived, he wanted to talk. We have his signed and witnessed statement on everything. That’s why it took us so long to get here.”

  “Did Captain Dale work for his brother?” Katherine asked.

  “Not exactly. Many years ago, he and his brother started moving drugs by boat. Later they added a small plane to the operation, which Donald flew until things suddenly got too hot for him. He ditched the plane at sea and everyone thought he’d perished with it. He resurfaced in Chicago as Lloyd Lucas, and the drug business continued in an even bigger way.”

  “So they were partners?” Lee asked.

  “Of a sort, but Dale bossed everything. The strange thing is that no one realized Dale actually ran the entire operation—mostly from Miami. He let everyone believe he only picked up the drugs. He told us he did it that way so he could better keep an eye on the business. Only his brother knew about that arrangement. From the very beginning, Dale called all the shots and handled all the major deals. To his credit, he avoided the rough stuff. He was a careful man, and that’s why they got away with it for so long.”

  “Lee told me I ran drugs. When?”

  “You just took the boat to Marco. With the spare set of keys that Dale gave him, Billy made the drug pickup while you were gone. Billy kept the drugs at the restaurant until they were distributed.”

  Katherine looked accusingly at Lee.

  “You thought I ran drugs for real.”

  “But I only thought it for a while,” he explained lamely.

  Rob saved him by continuing, “You started the ball rolling, Katherine, when you threatened the bank with publicity right when a big deal was going down. They couldn’t risk any investigations right then, so you got a ticket to Florida, and Buzzy had to foot the bill for your friend’s house. We thought we had everything tied up and tried to make all our arrests early this evening, but Johnny eluded us. When he broke into your boat cabin and saw that clipping, he didn’t know we already had his daddy and Billy in custody. All he could think of was to get rid of you before you told on him. He must have been afraid you recognized him from when he tried to run over you in Chicago.”

  “That newspaper clipping caused all this grief,” she sighed.

  “Yes,” Rob said, “but it also opened up the entire case. We’ve closed down a large drug and money laundering operation, and have probably apprehended more than one murderer.”

  “I can hardly believe that Captain Dale actually ran something like that.” The thought enormously saddened her.

  “He ran it for so long he didn’t even care about the money. His deceiving appearance and modest lifestyle are what made it work,”
Rob said.

  “We doubt he’ll live till his court date,” Kenneth added. “He may be gone now.”

  “I know you can charge Johnny with murder if Dale dies, but what about Johnny’s involvement with my aunt?” Lee asked.

  “Agents are questioning him and Lester right now. We learned that your aunt went to buy a condo, and only Johnny was there to wait on her. He convinced her of the necessity for haste, and cash, in order to forestall another contract coming from a different agency. Lester was the bogus security guard who accompanied her to the bank. Apparently she dropped off that card to you earlier that day.”

  Lee groaned. “She always kept stamped cards in her purse so she could send notes on the spur of the minute. I’ve received many of them through the years. I guess Lester delivered her to Johnny, right?”

  “We should know more about that shortly. We did learn that Lester supplied all their false IDs. When Buzzy discovered that Johnny had gotten into trouble again, he had Lester make up false credentials for him, and then he sent him up to Chicago to work at the bank where they laundered the drug money.” Rob rose from his chair.

  “Now, Katherine, we’d like you to come with us to Fort Myers and sign some statements. We plan to hide you away for a while—until we see how our case goes and make sure we have everyone.

  “Not until I stop at the hospital. I can’t go anywhere if Iris’s life is in danger.”

  “We’ll stop by the hospital on the way.”

  Katherine headed toward the door and suddenly stopped. “I haven’t any clothes. And I left my shoes in that speedboat. I can’t go out like this.”

  The men looked at her in surprise, as if they thought she wore some sort of dress and not a borrowed bathrobe. Lee rushed and brought her a pair of his sandals, much too large, but at least they were dry.

  Katherine sighed and slid her feet into them. “Oh well. Let’s go. I suppose people at the hospital will think I’m a patient when they see this robe.”

  Katherine rode with Lee while Rob and Kenneth followed in their car. When they reached the hospital, Rob rushed over to them.

  “I just had a call from one of the agents questioning Lester. They drove to his house and found not only Johnny’s expensive car but another valuable, locked in a windowless bathroom. This particular treasure appeared weak and undernourished, but full of spunk. She insisted they take her to see her nephew.”

  “N-not…not…” Lee looked at Rob pleadingly, afraid he had misread Rob’s grin.

  “I believe she said her name was Molenda. She’d been locked in there for three months and subsisted on boxes of dry breakfast cereal that Lester threw in to her. The house is in a very remote location. No wonder we never found the car—or your aunt.”

  “Where is she?” Lee gasped.

  Rob had barely glanced toward the hospital before Lee made a dash towards the entrance.

  Katherine followed as quickly as the oversized shoes would allow. She arrived in time to see him hugging a small woman right inside the doors.

  “Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Lee asked when they finally separated.

  “No one’s going to put me away in a room. I know my rights. I’ve been locked in a tiny room for more than three months, and now I need some space around me. Let’s sit down here, though. I admit my legs are wobbly.” She smiled at a disapproving nurse who stood nearby with a wheelchair. Lee helped her to a seat in the waiting room, and Katherine, her eyes full of tears, sat down with them.

  “We thought you’d been k-killed. We thought…” Lee couldn’t say more but just stared at her with an unbelieving smile.

  “We?” his aunt asked with a knowing look in Katherine’s direction.

  “I’m sorry. I was so glad to see you I forgot my manners. This is…”

  “I’m glad to meet you, Katherine,” Molenda interrupted and shook Katherine’s hand warmly. “You see, I already know your name and all about you. I got tired of those men asking me questions, so I asked a few of my own. From what I hear, you could use a hospital bed tonight yourself.”

  “All I could use right now is some more good news. But surely you must need hospital care after all that time as a captive.”

  She reached over and patted Katherine’s hand. “I’ll probably give in and accept their hospitality later. I’m looking forward to making the acquaintance of a bed after sleeping on the floor for over three months, but right now, I’m too excited to sleep. I didn’t expect to live but a few more days. They were ready to kill me. You see, my time was up…could you please get me a drink, Lee. I’m rather choked up.”

  “I’ll bring you a drink. Please don’t stand up again,” the nurse advised and hurried away.

  “What do you mean by your time was up?” Lee’s face had grown tense.

  “All I can say is the Good Lord stepped in and helped me. I was so anxious to buy that condo and surprise you that I forgot to use my brain. When I came out of the bank with my money, both Lester and Johnny waited for me. They put me in Lester’s back seat and drove off. When Johnny asked for my money, I knew what was up. And I knew enough to cooperate and act stupid, too.

  “That was a l-low moment for me. I did some fast figuring and fast praying. I apologized to God for my bad judgment and asked for a quick dose of wisdom. After I’d settled matters with Him, I searched my purse for some object of defense. I found three weapons: a pen, some postmarked cards to you, Lee, and a new post office box receipt.” She sat there smugly as if that was the end of the story.

  “We’re listening, Aunt Molenda.” Obviously, Lee knew her well. “How could you defend yourself with those three items?”

  She smiled sweetly. She had her audience. “I realized that if my death was worth forty four thousand, then triple that amount might keep me alive. While my captors watched the road, I wrote a note to you. I told you that my Maine property would close in three months, and I’d receive a check at my new post office box for one hundred, thirty three thousand dollars. I mentioned that I would have to sign for it at the post office, but intended to give the money to you as soon as I could take it to the bank. At the bottom of the letter, I wrote my new address and told you to send my mail there from now on.”

  “You never told me you rented a post office box.”

  “That’s because I rented it right after I mailed you that card about the condo. I decided I might need a place to receive mail while I was moving. I intended to send you another card with the address, but I never had a chance. Oh, here’s my drink. Milk!” She smiled at the nurse. “Thank you so much for your trouble.”

  “The doctor wants you to build back up, and I thought you might be a little tired of water,” The nurse explained.

  “Water and dry breakfast cereal. Ugh! You don’t know how good this milk looks.”

  “I’ll leave your chair here if you promise to have someone help you into it when you’re ready to go to your room.” The nurse grinned understandingly and walked into a nearby office.

  “So you let them find the letter you were writing.” Lee continued impatiently.

  “I just about shoved it in their faces, I was so scared. They had pulled into a lonesome spot by the water and turned off the motor. While they read my card and had a brief confab, I prayed the hardest I ever prayed. Ultimately, they drove to an old house in the woods and locked me in a bathroom. I tried to break the door or break a hole in the walls, but it wasn’t built like today’s houses. The wood laughed at my feeble attempts to bruise it.”

  “How did they intend to get that one hundred thirty three thousand when the check came?”

  “They threatened to kill you if I didn’t cooperate in everything. Their threats would have worked if I actually expected to receive a check in the mail.”

  “That was quick thinking to come up with a number like one hundred, thirty three thousand, Aunt Molenda. But you know that three times forty four would be thirty two.

  “Of course I know. But I sold my property in Maine for one hundred thirty t
hree, right before I came down here shopping for condos. The old house wasn’t worth much, but a developer liked the hundred acres that went with it. I should get that money in the fall, but the buyer won’t send me a check in the mail. That part of my story was a bit of a fib.”

  Lee looked his surprise. “Why did you write three months in the card?”

  “For the life of me, I don’t know why. I suppose I wanted to give you plenty of time to rescue me if the plan worked.”

  Two large tears rolled down Molenda’s cheeks, and both Lee and Katherine rushed to hug her. “I’d say your p-prayers worked, Aunt Molenda,” Lee said as he wiped his eyes. “But Kate did more rescuing than I did.”

  “I thank both of you. And now, I have more praying ahead of me—your friend, Iris.” She smiled at Katherine. “She was awake after they operated on her. My room is next door to hers, so I crept in to see her when no one was looking and spoke with her for a few minutes before she fell asleep. She’s doing fine.”

  “Thank you for visiting her,” Katherine said. “After we check on her, I have to go into protective custody. I may not get a chance to see her for a while.”

  “Don’t worry about Iris. I’ll keep an eye on her for you. She’s already my friend.” She reached out a hand for Lee’s arm. “Now, if you could help me to the wheelchair, I believe I’m ready to sleep.”

  20

  After a brief visit in Iris’s room, Katherine accompanied Rob and Kenneth to the Fort Myers office. Katherine slept most of the way and needed aid to walk when they finally arrived.

  “I’m sorry. We want you to go through everything one more time, Katherine,” Rob apologized, as he introduced her to two other men who waited in the office.

  The one more time lasted over three hours. Near dawn, they took her to a comfortable motel. Without noticing all the measures put into effect for her safety, she collapsed on the bed and slept blissfully for fifteen hours straight. That evening she awoke when they delivered a meal to her room, but she fell asleep before finishing it, and didn’t wake again until the following morning.