Limiting Liabilities: Book Two - The Martinique Files

by Colette Alaine

  Billy cannot imagine the terror Tawny must be going through. Captured by pirates she is at their mercy. Billy instinctively knows she will do everything she can to protect the two girls stranded with her. He and Ken must find her and do it quickly.

  If pacing and worry could rescue the three girls, then the environmental attorney and the environmental engineer would have them back already. On the phone constantly, both of them are using every contact they know and calling in every favor they have to find Tawny, Chinyere and Chioma.

  But no one is coming through with any leads. Making another trip to visit Loko, they learn that he has not heard from Nwankwo. In fact, everyone he asked to tell his brother reported back that they cannot find him. It appears that the pirate that is in the best position and with the best motive to free the girls still knows nothing about their capture.

  With worn faces and sagging eyes they sit across from each other at the hotel café eating either a late breakfast or an early lunch. It doesn’t much matter anymore. Neither of them sleeps much. They don’t know where to go or really what to do. Sleeping makes them feel guilty since they can only imagine the horror Tawny is experiencing.

  With little more to say to one another the silence between them is more comfortable than any words. Both blame themselves for her disappearance. Besides, Billy cannot get Gloria Martinique’s sobbing or Jeremy’s ranting off his mind. They are entitled to be furious with him. This is the second time in two years he put their daughter in grave danger and this time, he is not even with her.

  All of Billy’s pride and arrogance disappear after that telephone conversation. What more could he say to them after promising to do anything and everything to find Tawny and to bring her back safely? Depleted from his own emotional desperation, her parents’ fears only add to his despair.

  It takes all his effort to convince the Martiniques not to fly to Nigeria. Thank goodness they do not have passports. They don’t see how Billy can possibly get their daughter back safely. He cannot do much of anything right in their minds. Angry and fearful beyond words, they attack him with all they have.

  Then, they decide they are calling every politician they can to get their daughter returned to them. Gloria goes so far as to tell Billy that once Tawny is back in Indiana, she is not going to ever leave. Billy can only listen to a mother’s pain and know that it is her only release. How he wishes her words alone could free her oldest daughter.

  Once the call ends he drops his phone and his head to the table. This is more than he can handle. A city boy, he has no good reason for being in Nigeria with her. Ken’s enthusiasm for his attorneys to see the underwater lab should have waited until it was closer to the United States and safer for all of them.

  His own fears of descending into the deep ocean could have been reason enough to deny this trip. If only his arrogance had not gotten in the way of his common sense, none of this would have happened. Tawny would be safe in Chicago and he would not be making deals with Heaven.

  Encouraged by Tawny’s initial text he has not heard from her since he received it. Either her battery died, she lost the phone or they’ve killed her, he surmises. He does not dare text again for fear that it could harm her even more.

  Ken lost ten of his best friends last year in the underwater lab tragedy and he almost lost his own life when investigating the island. It was Tawny who saved him. He cannot lose another friend. The underwater lab is not worth all the lives it is taking.

  Out of the blue Ken’s cell phone rings. Startled from the sound because he has been calling out and no one has called back, at first he is not sure what it is.

  “Answer it.” Billy quickly jolts him into reality.

  “Hello?” Ken listens intently. “Yes, yes, I remember. Sure. How much? Okay. You’re sure? We’ll be there.” Billy only hears Ken’s side of the conversation.

  “What’s going on? Who was that?” Billy motions for the waitress to bring the check.

  “The old guy at the boat; he wants five thousand dollars and he’ll give us some news,” Ken informs him enthusiastically.

  “I’ll get the money from the safe. My brother wired it to me and I cashed it so we’d have real money. I figured we’d need it with pirates.” Billy is on his feet and to the door faster than Ken can turn his head.

  “Good thinking. Should we tell anyone?” Ken wants to follow the correct protocol.

  “Not yet. Let’s wait to see what he has to say. I’ll bring five thousand but I plan to negotiate with him.” Billy is not going to just turn over the money and hope for the best.

  “Always the lawyer, huh, Billy?” Ken is a bit frustrated with his friend and not the time to be frugal in his mind.

  “Just being smart. If he thinks we’re gonna just hand him money when he asks for it he may never produce any real information.” Billy’s mind is working a mile a minute.

  “Alright but don’t gamble with Tawny’s safety or her life.” Ken remained calm up to now but he is low on faith and this is the only hint of help they received so far.

  “You know me better than that. By the way, I made a few phone calls and got us some guns. I figure we may need them.”

  “Good idea. I packed my knife and got it here but no way was I trying to pack a gun. I truly didn’t think I’d need one this trip. I thought it would be a nice adventure but nothing like this.” Ken rubs his hand through his thinning hair for the umpteenth time.

  “Meet me in my hotel room in ten minutes and I’ll give you the pistol I got for you.” Billy wants to reduce any risk of being caught with loaded guns as they leave.

  “Pirates have AK7s and other semi-automatic and automatics.” Ken confidence in simple pistols is low.

  “I’m not looking to start a war with pirates. I just want some basic protection. I’ve learned that talking is the best option; guns are only necessary when the communication breaks down.” Billy is learning.

  “If that’s true then all the women you date should carry.” Ken tries to lighten the heavy dark mood.

  “Very funny. I’ll see you in ten.” Billy gallops up to his room, a shimmer of hope increasing his depleted confidence.

  Packed and loaded with guns, knives, water, nutrition bars, basic medical supplies and rolls of cash, the two head out to greet the car that is driving them to the old man. Surprised when the driver exits, it is the same guide they had when they lost Tawny.

  “Have you found her yet?” He quickly inquires. The men can tell that the guide is not sleeping well either.

  “Not yet but we might have a lead,” Ken tells him and Billy raises his eyes, unsure that he should be revealing any information just yet. But at least another human being can say when he last saw them.

  “Get in de car, den. I vill take you vhere you need to go.” Ken and Billy do as they are instructed and Ken provides more information about the old man.

  “Dat is Durvi. Yes, Durvi.” The guide immediately recognizes the description of the old man from Ken.

  “Tell me about this Durvi.” Ken wants to know everything he can before trusting the old guy. “Can we trust him?”

  “Yes, you can trust Durvi. He is bery smart. He vill want something in return but he is vise and finds out all de information dat you vill need to find de pretty Tawny.” The guide is giving Ken more confidence in this tip. The old man Durvi called him from either a pay phone or a borrowed phone. No chance that he has a cell phone.

  “So if he says he has information then he will have it, right?” Billy double checks.

  “He vill have it.” The guide is confident.

  Driving another thirty minutes the guide continues to tell them the life story of Durvi and how he is the most respected of all fishermen. He knows the water like no other and no one dare harm him. They believe he possesses some strange power over the water. Well, they actually believe he talks to Jesus and arranges for a good catch. Nowadays, the talk is more about a good hijacking. No one seems to think it strange that Jesus would approve, much less ar
range, a successful overtaking of an innocent captain and crew and theft of their cargo. Nevertheless, Durvi is the man to appease and they’ve struck gold by meeting him.

  Instead of dropping them off at the edge of the road so that they can walk to Durvi’s boat, the guide insists upon staying and waiting to see what might happen. Billy is suspicious about the whole encounter but Ken reminds him that they really have no choice so he should just go with it.

  Walking in the same direction that they did two days ago, they quickly find Durvi’s boat and the old man is waiting for them. He stands up so that they can easily see him and they hasten their step to meet him.

  “Ahoy,” Ken says.

  “Did ye vring me de money?” Durvi is not going to be fooled. This tidbit is going to cost them.

  “Yes. Now what can you tell us?” Ken is taking over much to Billy’s dismay. Ken is not a negotiator and he is frightened that Billy will forget about Tawny’s plight in his quest to play lawyer.

  “I vant to see money first,” Durvi demands.

  “Not until we find out what you know,” Billy speaks up.

  “Show him the money, Billy.” Ken is not playing games right now.

  Billy gives him a hard look but then opens the back pack and pulls out a wad of one hundred dollar bills. “All Benjamins.”

  “American money?”

  “Well you said five thousand dollars and dollars are American so that’s what I got.” Billy is irritated at both Ken and Durvi.

  “It is okay. I vill exchange.” Durvi realizes his own mistake. “Get in de boat.” They do as they’re told. He starts the motor but he doesn’t ask for the cash.

  “Where are we going?” Billy must know.

  “To talk to Nwankwo.”

  “We’re going to meet him?” Ken is surprised.

  “Is dat not vhat you vanted?” Durvi does not understand these two at all.

  “Well, yes. We only thought you’d have information, not that you’d be taking us to see a pirate.” Ken covers up his astonishment.

  “Pirate captain,” Durvi corrects him.

  “Well, then.” Ken quiets down. Billy is not sure what just happened. How did they go from paying for a little information to riding in a skiff to the mothership to meet face to face with a pirate captain?

  ~

  Tawny deals the cards to the ten pirates and Chinyere. Now that they’ve got the basics of the game she intends to show them a few more pointers to win at blackjack. It is the only way the pirate captain will allow her to be the dealer. A few hands and he will be taking over once again.

  “Should you hit me?” One of the pirates cannot decide whether to take another card with two eights.

  “I’d split and double down your bets.” Tawny is teaching them what she knows.

  “Dat’s right. You said dat before.” He splits his cards and she lays down two more. He gets a nine and a queen.

  “We’ll see how that goes in a minute.” Tawny finishes the hand with all the others. Returning to her own cards, she shows a face card and hopes she gets anything but a nine or a ten. She prefers to lose to these guys. Quickly flipping her second card over, it is a king and she happily loses.

  The pirate captain is in a different mood tonight. Not once has he told her he wants to deal. At first engrossed with the new lessons, now he is growing bored. Tawny has given them every trick she knows and only two hours have passed. No way will she keep him interested into the night.

  He bears with it one more hour and then his attention is gone. Tawny searches for an alternative to make him content but nothing comes to mind. Nothing she wants to do anyway.

  “Captain, do you want to deal?” It is risky asking the question and upsetting the rhythm of the game with the other pirates enthralled with this new entertainment but she figures it will not be long until he ends it on his own terms.

  “I don’t vant to play this game anymore. I like poker better.”

  “Aye, poker is better dan blackjack!” One pirate roars and the rest suddenly join in.

  “Poker it is.” Tawny collects the cards and shuffles in the way that still mesmerizes many of them.

  “You know how to play poker?” the captain asks.

  “I’m better at blackjack but yeah I can play poker. If Chinyere can sit next to me I’ll teach her to play too.” Tawny feels like the young teenager should be closer to her instead of nestled between two burly pirates who continue to look down her dress.

  “I know how to play poker,” Chinyere says meekly.

  “How do you know how to play poker?” The captain does not believe Chinyere. Besides, he is quite annoyed that she thinks she can play.

  “Um, my fader played vith de vorkers and I serve dem drinks. I vatched dem to learn. Vne night dey leave and he says ‘come here, girl, I vanna see if you can play’. So he teach me vhat I do not know.” Cowering in her place she tells the truth.

  “Are you any good?” The pirate captain cannot help but address her.

  “Not like a man.” She is savvy enough to say what he wants to hear.

  “Den you play. Vhen you lose you kiss a pirate.”

  Oh, oh. Tawny’s natural instinct kicks in. This is going to get rough. The liquor is flowing and the two females are going to be the entertainment at the end of the night unless Tawny can figure something out. This is not going as planned. Where are Billy and Ken? Why hasn’t anyone found them yet?

  “Here’s the cards.” Tawny hands them to the captain. The less conspicuous she is the longer the men will play. At least that is one of her many hopes at this moment.

  Ten hands later Chinyere has not lost. In fact she is quite good. The captain is not liking this one bit. He wants a little action but he made a deal and he is not ready to back off of it just yet. He knows Tawny will fight tooth and nail but Chinyere will succumb.

  Although not the best drinker in the world, Tawny can hold her own for a while if she sips the hard liquor handed to her. Problem is she has to use the restroom and does not want to leave Chinyere alone.

  “Chinyere, I need some help in the bathroom. Come with me,” Tawny finally states. She cannot hold her bladder any longer.

  “Go by yourself,” the pirate captain proclaims.

  “I can’t.” She hesitates for effect. “It’s a girl thing.” The captain looks at her and she bulges out her eyes to show him that girl things apparently require two girls. He motions for Chinyere to join her.

  Amazing how this works on men. She and her friends have used this line on men for years. Apparently, some of them still think there is some great mystery only known to women but it worked on the pirate captain. Grateful for his permission she quickly escorts Chinyere to the small restroom.

  “I am so happy you told him you had to go. I am needing to go so bad.” Tawny never considered that the girl also needed a bathroom break.

  “You go first. Hurry before he comes knocking.” Chinyere follows orders and then Tawny finishes her business. “You know how to play poker very well.”

  “I always von when I played papa and he always beat the vorkers.” She grins wryly. “I don’t lose.”

  “You could be a hit in Vegas. Anyway, let’s see how long we can keep them going. I’m going to drain as much liquor as I can in those glasses and hope they’re too drunk to do us any harm.” Tawny’s only plan has to work.

  “I have bella donna in my pocket.” Chinyere just changed the plan.

  “Well that will do nicely. Good thinking, Chinyere. So, how are we going to drop it in their drinks?” Tawny is fast finding as cagey a prisoner in Chinyere as she is herself.

  “I take care of it but don’t drink any of new bottle. Put old in my glass,” Chinyere warns.

  “Gotcha. I’ll pour a deep one from this bottle so they won’t notice. I’ll do the same for you. Have you ever drank whiskey before?” If the girl can play poker like this who knows what other hidden talents she may have.

  “Only two times. I vill sip only a lidle vit. It v
ill make me sick to drink too much.” Ah, she cannot hold her whiskey, a good thing really but just her drinking will be a surprise to the men. She is fitting in nicely.

  Exiting the bathroom together the pirates are unsettled. Tawny hurries to her place and expects Chinyere to come behind her. Instead, the sixteen year old heads toward the mattress where they’ve slept these two nights.

  “Be quiet Chioma. De men are playing,” Chinyere says although Tawny has not heard a word out of the sleeping Chioma in hours. Chinyere hurries to the child and whispers some words in her ears.

  “Play now or one of dese pirates vill come over to you.” The pirate captain is starting to make some exceptions in his deal.

  “I come now but I vant whiskey too. I go get new bottle.” Tawny already poured her glass full leaving enough to fill the teenager’s glass less than halfway full and emptying the bottle. Chinyere quickly goes to the liquor stash and grabs two more. Like a bullet she opens both and dumps in the bella donna without detection.

  Coming to the table she obediently pours each pirate a very long shot. She’s done this before. She knows her way around a card table and a little witchcraft too.

  Seven more rounds of cards take their toll on the men as Chinyere keeps their glasses full. They certainly can hold their liquor and their voodoo drugs but eventually their focus wanes and she can see their eyes drooping. In no time they will begin to nod off and still, Chinyere has not lost a hand. Or kissed a pirate.

  “You cheat.” The pirate captain points a long jagged finger at the young girl, a deep scowl on his face.

  “She can’t cheat. She’s surrounded by men. They would catch her. She’s just good,” Tawny quickly defends her. She has to buy just a little more time to make sure the drugs make an impact. Not knowing how much bella donna Chinyere used or how much she needed to use, Tawny has no idea how much longer any of these men will remain alert enough to do them any harm. Besides, these are not the only pirates on the boat. There are others who are not drugged and are not drunk.

  “No girl is dat good. She has secret,” he continues to glare at her as if she really is a witch.