by Matt Lincoln
“No, we are actually trying to locate her,” Holm informed him. “Whose house is this? Where does Maria usually go?”
“Our grandmother lives here. My sister and I are visiting.” He gestured to the woman on the couch, who waved her hand shyly. I offered her a gentle smile, but let Manny continue. “Maria comes to stay here often, but her parents live in Puerto Rico. That’s where she spends a lot of her time.”
“Do you know where in Puerto Rico?” Holm asked.
“Yes, by San Juan,” Manny replied. “I don’t know the address offhand. I haven’t been there in a while.”
“Do you know where Maria would go if she was in trouble and needed to escape?” I interjected.
Manny’s eyes widened. “Wait, do you think she is in trouble?”
“We do,” I admitted. “We are trying to track her down, and any information you can provide would be helpful.”
“Well,” Manny sighed, “chances are, she would head to San Juan. Like I said, that’s where she spends most of her time. This house is the only place she would have to go here, and she hasn’t been by.”
“What about her boyfriend?” Holm asked.
Manny balked for a moment as he considered Holm’s question. “Uhh, they haven’t been together for a very long time. I don’t know much about him. I try to stay out of family squabbles with her side of the family, but I know her father did not like him.”
Holm and I exchanged a look. “Any idea why?” I asked.
Manny shook his head. “I am sorry, I don’t know. I never asked, I just assumed it was my uncle being overprotective of her. He always has been.”
“Alright.” I looked over at Holm, who shrugged and turned back to Manny.
“Thank you for your time,” Holm said graciously. He handed Manny a card. “If there’s anything else that you think of, please give us a call.”
“Yes, sir, will do,” Manny nodded. “I want to find her and bring her home safe.”
“We want the same thing,” I assured him.
Holm and I stepped out through the garish purple door to find our cab still sitting outside the chain-link fence that surrounded the house.
“I think we need to find a place to grab some beers and good food for tonight,” I suggested as I climbed into the scratched-up white sedan.
Holm slapped the roof of the car as he hopped into the opposite side of the cab. “I saw a small shop a couple of blocks from the dock. We can take the cab there, buy what we want, and walk the rest of the way.”
We did just that, asking the driver to drop us just shy of where we needed to go. Holm grabbed the beer while I popped into the small, rundown pizza shop next door and ordered a pie topped with virtually every type of meat I could think of. By the time we got back to the yacht, my stomach was growling, and I was glad I had ordered the large pizza. We headed up top and laid out our purchases on the table in the center before making up our plates.
“So, now that we’re alone, what do you really think about all this?” Holm asked, plopping down onto the white cushions and taking an oversized bite out of his slice.
“I think it’s all pretty shady,” I replied casually, folding my pizza and letting the oil drip out. “I don’t know who to trust, and now one of the people I don’t trust is going to be our liaison? I’m not comfortable with any of this.”
“Oh, come on,” Holm mumbled with his mouth full. He swallowed quickly. “She’s the president’s daughter.”
“That doesn’t mean she can’t go against her own father,” I pointed out. I dropped my plate and the pizza on my lap and looked at Holm pointedly. “Have you ever disagreed with a family member? Blood only runs so deep.”
“This isn’t a small family squabble,” Holm reminded me. “Whoever these people are, they are planning a coup and trying to get President García out of office. They killed innocent people for this and kidnapped her brother. She seemed awfully comfortable talking to her father back there for someone who would be planning all of this behind his back. Either that, or she’s a great actress.”
“Or maybe she doesn’t realize the extent of what is going on. We’ve seen that before, too. People support causes without knowing how deep the rabbit hole really goes.” I picked up my slice and took a bite. It was savory with a bit of a kick, and there was enough oil on there to warrant diving forward to grab a napkin.
“So, what’s your solution?” Holm asked pointedly. I understood what he was getting at. We could discuss this until we were blue in the face, but it didn’t change the situation, so what could we do?
“I mean, short of interrogating her, I have no other ideas.” I grabbed my open beer bottle off the table and took a healthy sip. The ice-cold carbonation was a nice contrast to the pizza.
“I mean, we could,” Holm offered. “We have a long ride back tomorrow with plenty of time to get to know each other.”
“That’s a good point,” I agreed, sitting back in my seat. I felt better now that we had a plan.
“There’s just one thing,” Holm added after a momentary pause.
“Yeah, what’s that?” I asked, the remnants of the slice of pizza dangling in front of my face.
Holm sat up a little straighter, and I could tell that whatever it was, Holm was serious about it.
“I saw the way you looked at her in the president’s office,” he warned. “Just keep your objectivity, is all.”
I let out a sigh. “Yeah, I know this speech,” I retorted.
“You should know it well since you hear it enough,” Holm teased.
The rest of the evening was spent mostly just enjoying the view and the ambient sounds of the ocean. For a serious case, it definitely had its perks, and I couldn’t wait to see what else it had in store.
Chapter 9: Alejandra
Alejandra was accustomed to being sent out to represent her father on various occasions. She usually wasn’t assigned to cases like this, though, although she understood the need. She had been wrestling with the idea of her brother being gone ever since she found out. Even though they didn’t see each other as often as they’d have liked, they had been very close growing up, and she wasn’t sure what her life looked like without him.
Getting assigned to this case was no easy feat, though. Although the Special Agents had seemed concerned about the raised voices, they hadn’t been privy to the previous arguments. Her father had been pushing for this for the past few days, and his staff refused to be okay with Alejandra taking the liaison position. They claimed she would be impartial, and they also claimed her to be too inexperienced.
She couldn’t lie, there was truth to both of those statements. She knew how to charm her way into or out of plenty of situations, thanks to her public relations experience, but that could only take her so far in a case like this. She wasn’t sure how her father managed to argue his case, but now she was more determined than ever to handle this correctly and prove his staff wrong.
Her father had called a car for her in the morning, and it now made itself quickly through the streets of Santo Domingo. She wondered what kind of Special Agents were rich enough to travel around on a yacht while they solved their cases. On the first impression, they didn’t seem like the typical rich Americans that pulled in with their yachts. Those men flaunted their money in their designer clothes and extravagant purchases. Although she was grateful for their contribution to the Dominican Republic’s economy, their pride and ambition proved too much to deal with, and she would rather avoid them altogether.
Alejandra stepped out of the car and grabbed the taupe-colored rolling luggage, ambling it over to the pier. She scanned the rows of white hulls until she spotted a man standing on the top deck of his yacht. His light brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes were unmistakable. Beside him, his partner sat in one of the chairs, mirrored aviators perched on his nose and his blonde hair combed back. She yanked at her luggage again to get it rolling and made her way up the pier.
“Hello, boys,” she called up to them, flashin
g them her best public relations smile. It may not have been the most genuine move, but it always worked.
Special Agent Holm removed his glasses. “Hey, there!” he called out. “Come aboard! I’ll help you with your bag.” He hopped out of his seat and began working his way down to her.
Special Agent Marston simply looked down at me with a nod and then back up to resume whatever it was that he was doing. It was a colder welcome than she would have liked, but she was confident that she’d get him to warm up to her sooner rather than later.
After getting her bags on board and making her way up top, Alejandra discovered just how upscale this yacht really was. She was no stranger to boating, but there were dials and gadgets up here that she had never seen before.
“This… this isn’t your personal yacht, is it?” she asked, wondering what on Earth her father had gotten her into.
“Nah, we borrowed it from a friend of ours,” Special Agent Marston replied casually before turning to face her. “Alejandra, right?”
“That’s right.” She walked up to the helm and scanned the length of the panel, taking in every detail.
“Call me Ethan,” he insisted. She remembered him introducing himself as such yesterday, as well.
“Sure,” she nodded, “and you’re Robbie, right?”
Robbie grinned as he resumed his seat. “That’s me.”
“The trip is about ten hours long,” Ethan informed her. “We have plenty of food on board and plenty of space to spread out.”
“You have generous friends,” she remarked, taking a seat on the bench behind the two men. The cushions were plush, and she quickly let herself sink in.
“We do,” Robbie agreed. “This would never have been in MBLIS’s budget otherwise.”
She could have sworn she saw a look exchanged between the two men, but she wasn’t about to get involved in their financial discussion.
Ethan got the yacht moving, and she positioned herself so that she could watch her country shrink into the distance.
“So, tell me, Alejandra,” Ethan spoke up after a few minutes of silence. “What do you usually do at work when you’re not cruising the Caribbean waters with strange men on expensive yachts?”
Alejandra let out a laugh. At least these two men seemed like they were easy to talk to.
“I’m mostly in public relations,” she informed them. “I’m on his advisory staff, and I’m usually smoothing things over with the press or determining how we will spin certain pieces of information.”
“So, how did you end up here with us?” She had a feeling that he already knew the answer to that question, and she wondered where this conversation was headed.
“My father needed someone he could trust without a doubt. I was the logical choice. It didn’t go over well.” She stared out at the rippling water and took a deep inhale. As far as assignments went, this one wasn’t half bad.
“Yeah, it didn’t sound like a pleasant argument,” Robbie chuckled humorlessly.
“So, what’s your take on all of this? Ethan pressed.
“In what regard?” she asked.
“How do you feel about the government mistrust and your father coming up with a backup plan?” he pressed on. “Most people would choose one or the other, but your father is doubling up his efforts.”
“Like you said,” she shrugged nonchalantly. “There is a lot of mistrust, but he also needs to put on a good show. Everyone knows that his son is missing. This is the perfect situation for government collaboration and a show of diplomacy. It certainly feels disingenuous while we are both fearful for my brother’s life, but it must be done.”
“So, what role does Jake Header play, then?” Holm turned to face Alejandra from his seat.
She let a small smirk escape. “Captain Header is not our backup plan. You two are his backup plan. Captain Header has helped us before, and we know he can do it again. He is unaffiliated with everyone that may or may not have my family’s best interests at heart, and he has already proven himself to be loyal, with fast results.”
“I’ve never felt so useless,” Ethan muttered, but he didn’t elaborate further.
“We’re helping Header, though,” Robbie added. “Header isn’t going to focus on the missing couple or the cocaine. His primary concern will be saving the government from being overthrown. We’re secondary, but we’re not useless.”
Ethan looked over at his partner. “Are you just saying that so that we can stay in Puerto Rico a bit longer?”
“You got me there,” Robbie chuckled.
“So, Alejandra,” Ethan continued, “what do you plan on doing while you’re with us? We need to know how to adjust our approach.”
“Oh, please don’t do any adjusting on my account,” she insisted. “My plan is to stick to you two like glue until my brother is found, however that works best for you two.”
“Well, that’s easy enough,” Robbie grinned warmly.
“I do have one single request, though,” she said, her voice a bit lower.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I don’t want anyone outside of this small group to know what my relationship is to this case. There is a lot going on that your crew doesn’t know about, and I do not trust anyone outside of my immediate family.”
Ethan shrugged. “That sounds easy enough.”
Robbie nodded. “Consider it done.”
“Thank you,” she replied gracefully. She sat back and closed her eyes. The canopy overhead shielded them from the full strength of the sun’s rays, but the ocean breeze cut through the deck perfectly, blowing her hair back off her neck and keeping her just cool enough.
“You know,” Robbie began, looking over at Ethan, “I think it would make the most sense to throw Clyde in our suite and let Alejandra room with Bonnie.”
“We could do that,” Ethan nodded. “Send Bonnie and Clyde a message and let them know the plan. This way, we don’t catch them off-guard when we arrive.”
“Oh, you won’t get cell phone service out this far,” Alejandra began, but the smirk on Robbie’s face told her she was wrong. Robbie typed out a message and sent it before looking over at Alejandra.
“It’s a perk of having generous friends,” he pointed out.
“Yes, I suppose it is,” she replied goodnaturedly.
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, though she did take Robbie up on the offer of a warm lunch. As the sun began to set on the horizon, she saw the island of Puerto Rico come into view. The water crashed into the cliff faces at odd angles, sending sprays of rogue water shooting up into the air. Beaches scattered the perimeter, though none of them were too crowded at this hour. Ethan appeared to be steering the yacht right at a stone wall.
“Should I be alarmed?” she asked, stepping backward as if that would lessen the impact somehow.
Ethan barked out a laugh. “Only if I miss,” he teased as he turned a corner. Around the corner was an alcove that appeared to be barely big enough to fit the yacht, and yet somehow, Ethan deftly managed to get the yacht through the space. Robbie jammed his finger on a button, and behind some overgrown shrubbery, a rolling garage door opened up into the cliff. Ten seconds ago, Alejandra would not have noticed that door was there.
They pulled the yacht into a large cave that was lined with dim red lighting. There were two slots on the deck. The first slot was already taken up by something smaller than the yacht and awkwardly shaped. It was covered with a beige paint-splattered tarp, and Alejandra was immediately struck by how mysterious this all seemed. Ethan maneuvered the yacht into the second slip, and once the boat had powered down, she grabbed her suitcase and hopped off onto the pier.
“Where are we?” she gasped as she looked around.
“You’re in my home,” a loud booming voice echoed through the space. She looked up to find a tall, handsome man with thick black hair and bright green eyes.
“Alejandra, I’m Jake Header.” He approached her with an air of superiority that she automatical
ly didn’t like, but knowing who he was and what he’d done for her family, she decided to let it slide.
“Nice to meet you, Captain Header.” She held out her hand for a handshake, and he accepted it, his hands warm and calloused.
“Captain,” he chuckled. “No, that’s not necessary. Either Jake or Header is enough for me. Don’t stress about it.”
“Alright,” she conceded, “Jake, then.”
“I have some rules,” he informed her, his voice shifting to something a bit more serious.
“As do I,” she replied cheerfully. “Please tell me yours, first.”
Jake’s eyes bore a hole right through her. “Don’t touch the tarp or what’s beneath it, be careful around the rest of the electronics, and forget everything you ever saw here. If you ever break any of those rules, I can promise you, you will live to regret it.”
Alejandra’s eyes widened a bit at the last part. “Noted,” she replied quietly. She stood up a bit straighter and looked him in the eyes. “My one rule is simple. Don’t let anyone outside of our small circle know who I am or what my status might be within the government. I have some trust issues.”
Jake smiled finally. “As do I,” he replied smoothly. “I think we will get along just fine. Marston, Holm, you’re just in time. Rosa is preparing dinner as we speak. Follow me upstairs.
With one last glance at the misshapen beige tarp, Alejandra followed Jake up a hidden flight of stairs, with Ethan and Robbie behind her. When they surfaced, they were standing on an immaculately landscaped lawn, looking at the back of the home, complete with a large swimming pool that ran flush with the railing around it. Jake led the way around the front of the house and in through the front door where we were all greeted warmly by a group of people in the kitchen. The aromas flooding the space were drool worthy. The woman by the stove had beautiful red hair and sharp eyes, and she paid no mind to the two men sitting at her kitchen island. The skinny man with the curly hair was working on his laptop, and the other man with the graying goatee seemed relieved to see us.
