Blood Cruise: A Deep Sea Thriller (14 page)

25.

“Just ease it along side, Captain,” Tony said as he stood on the bridge, a very large revolver pressed to the back of Captain Staggs head. “Get us as close as possible and my guys will do the rest.”

“That ship has no running lights,” Captain Staggs responded. “It’s going to be hard to maneuver close to it. I can barely see the hull with the way it’s painted.”

“Yeah, ain’t that paint something?” Tony chuckled. “I’m going to have my guys look at it closely. Supposed to help keep the ship off radar. Imagine that. A paint that blocks radar.”

“I’ve come across it before,” Captain Staggs said.

“Have you? First I’ve heard of it,” Tony said. “But you can see the ship now. It’s right there. Just ease up alongside it and then cut the engine.”

“These waters are too choppy to tie up to that ship,” Captain Staggs said. “It would make more sense to settle away from it and take one of the speedboats over there.”

“But I don’t want to take a speedboat over there, Captain,” Tony said. “What I want to do is get right up next to it so my men can hop aboard and make sure what I’m looking for is actually on the ship.”

“Mr. Giraldi, sir, you have to understand that I know more about piloting a ship than you do,” Captain Staggs said. “No disrespect meant, but you should really listen to me.”

“Should I? Is that what I should do?” Tony asked. He raised the gun to smack the captain on the back of the head then stopped. “Okay. Okay, I’ll listen. So you want to settle how far away?”

“At least a hundred meters,” Captain Staggs said. “That way if a wave hits the other ship and brings the bow around, I’ll have time to move us out of the way.”

“And this thing has a speedboat? Where? I didn’t see one on the back when we flew over in the chopper,” Tony said. “You got it up your ass, is that it? Hiding a speedboat in your butt, Captain?”

“It’s below,” Captain Staggs said. “In the lower deck hold. Two speedboats and two speed rafts.”

“Speed raft? What’s that?” Tony asked. “Like those Zodiac things you see in the movies?”

“Exactly like that,” Captain Staggs replied. “Let me get this ship set and I’ll have one of the crew show you down.”

“Right,” Tony laughed. “So you can make a distress call and ruin everything? I don’t think so. Which panel is communications?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Captain Staggs asked.

“All these lights and dials,” Tony said. “Which panel controls the radio and intercom and all of that?”

“That one there,” Captain Staggs said as he pointed at a console a couple feet away. “But I don’t see why—”

He cried out as Tony pointed his pistol at the console and pulled the trigger three times, leaving the panel a smoking, sparking mess.

“You’re still coming with me,” Tony said. “I just want to make sure none of your crew can call out while we’re down below. Once my men are safely off in one of them speedboats then we’ll walk ourselves back up here and relax until they confirm what I need confirmed.”

“Yes, sir,” Captain Staggs said.

“I like your manners, Captain,” Tony said. “You know how to speak to your betters. Shows respect. That gets points with me.”

“I am glad to hear that, sir,” Captain Staggs said. “I try to treat everyone equally when I interact. It makes things more pleasant and keeps a calm atmosphere. Tension and high emotion are never a good thing on a ship at sea.”

“Now you’re ruining it,” Tony said. “No need to pile it on.”

Captain Staggs went quiet until they got closer to the other ship. He frowned and glanced back at Tony.

“No running lights and I don’t see any lights on the bridge, either,” Captain Staggs said. “Will you hand me those binoculars there, please?”

Tony pressed the muzzle of the gun up against Captain Staggs’s head as he reached for and retrieved the binoculars. He handed them to the captain and waited.

“What do you see?” Tony asked.

“Nothing,” Captain Staggs said. “Is the ship supposed to be deserted?”

“Not entirely,” Tony said. “But it shouldn’t exactly be bustling with crew members. Don’t worry about lights.”

“Well, the problem is that the ship obviously still has power,” Captain Staggs said. “The engines are running and it is moving at a nice clip. It makes more sense for us to pace it than to settle in place. By the time your speedboats get over there, it will be quite a ways away, leaving them with a large part of open ocean to travel when they come back.”

“What you’re saying is that you need to be up on this bridge the whole time, is that it?” Tony asked. “I need someone else to show me the speedboats?”

“Yes,” Captain Staggs said. “I’m not trying to play you, sir, I promise. You do not strike me as a man that likes to be played.”

“You got that right,” Tony said. “Fine. Get on the intercom and call your boss up here. He can show me where the speedboats are.”

“You shot the intercom system, sir,” Captain Staggs responded.

“No problem,” Tony said and pulled a radio from his belt. “Lou? Get your butt down to the game room and tell Frank to send Sheeran up here. I want that man in front of me in five minutes tops or I get upset.”

“Yes, Mr. Giraldi,” a man replied.

“Sheeran knows how to handle the speedboats, right?” Tony asked.

“Yes, he does,” Captain Staggs said. “He is surprisingly good with boats.”

“Well, everyone has to be good at one thing,” Tony said. “You probably don’t want to know what I’m good at.”

“Only if you feel compelled to tell me, sir,” Captain Staggs replied.

“I’m never compelled to do anything,” Tony said. “So count yourself lucky.”

26.

“Frank? Come in,” a voice called out from the radio clipped to the dead man’s belt. “Frank? You copy? Come on, man, don’t make me come down there. The boss needs that Sheeran guy up on the bridge in five. He was very clear about the five part.”

Everyone looked at Nick. He shrugged.

“He should go up there,” Ben said. “He can tell them Frank is having radio trouble. If he shows up then no one will suspect Frank is having living trouble.”

“Gee, thanks, buddy old pal,” Nick said. “Boot me from the frying pan and right into the fire.”

“Why wouldn’t Frank go with him?” Lane asked. “Sending Sheeran up there alone is just as suspicious.” He looked over at Carlos and gave the man a nod. “Lower the pistol, mate. Blogger Boy is right. We need to work together to get off this boat.”

Nick started to open his mouth in response, but just shook his head instead.

“INTERPOL lowers his gun first,” Carlos said.

“Jesus,” Ben sighed. He looked at Manny. “Other than pointing a weapon at an INTERPOL agent, has Carlos done anything for you to arrest him?”

“He has no current indictments or warrants,” Manny said.

“Does anyone else in this room?” Ben asked.

Jessica raised her hand.

“I’m wanted in Greece for wire fraud,” Jessica said.

“You are?” Ben asked.

“She is,” Manny said.

“Wire fraud, not terrorism or murder or anything violent,” Ben said, still focusing on Manny. “We need them.”

“I need to go up to the bridge,” Nick said.

“That would be stupid,” Manny said. He glared at Carlos. “I lower this and you lower yours. Then all of you help me and Agent Mulgrew get off this boat with Giraldi in hand. The helicopter can be here in two hours once I call them. That means we have two hours to secure this boat and catch Giraldi alive.”

“Does it have to be alive?” Lane asked. “I mean, it would be a lot easier if we just put two taps behind his left ear and called it good, mate.”

“I’d feel better knowing he’s dead,” Carlos said. “If he knows we helped, then even in custody he’s going to be trouble. He’ll still be making the calls from a cell.”

“He won’t have access to any communications where he’s going,” Manny said.

Lane looked at Carlos. Carlos looked at Jessica. Jessica looked at Lane. They all started laughing hysterically.

“Oh, mate, that is rich,” Lane exclaimed.

“Which facility will he be taken to?” Carlos asked, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Brussels? Paris? Berlin?” Jessica asked.

“I can’t disclose the location of the facility,” Manny said.

“If it’s Brussels then he’ll have access to a cell phone within two hours of walking in the door,” Lane said. “Paris and Berlin only means he has to wait an hour longer.”

“It’s true,” Nick confirmed. “Brussels is a joke.”

“How would you know that?” Ben asked.

Nick shrugged.

“The only way we make this work is if Giraldi dies,” Carlos said. “Otherwise we have no incentive to do anything since we’ll all be dead in a couple weeks anyway.”

Manny thought it over, his internal debate plain on his face.

“I’m going to try to take him alive,” Manny said. “If he’s shot by one of you accidentally then that’s how I’ll report it.”

“That’s fair,” Ben said, looking around at everyone in the room. “Right? That sounds fair.” He frowned and looked at the closed doors. “Why isn’t Niya back yet? She’s been gone a long time.”

27.

The guard at the end of the passageway looked at Niya and cocked his head. His resemblance to a confused golden retriever was a little too on the nose and Niya laughed as she put a little more sway into her hips, keeping her hands, and the pistol, behind her back.

“I think I got lost,” she said, her voice nothing but coquettish innocence. “Is the ladies’ room this way?”

“There is one down by the game room,” the guard said, turning his body so he was blocking the end of the passageway. “You should go back and use that one.”

Niya did the universal squirm that said she really, really had to pee.

“Is there one closer? I’m about to embarrass myself,” Niya replied.

“Why are you dressed like that?” the guard asked, finally noticing that Niya wasn’t wearing her dress or heels any longer.

“I like to be comfortable when I play cards,” Niya said. “You try wearing a skin tight dress meant for a woman with two less ribs. Does not make for an evening of fun.”

“Ma’am, you need to turn around and return to the lower deck,” the guard said.

“No,” Niya responded, her hands no longer behind her back.

The .45 barked and the guard was down and dead before his hand even twitched on his gun. Niya was at his side in two steps. She knelt and patted him down, finding another .45 and two more magazines. She tucked those into her waistband, but kept the second .45 out, giving both hands something to do.

She stood and looked back the way she came, listened, waited, then hurried forward, her destination only one deck up.

28.

“Lou? You want to tell me why Frank doesn’t have Sheeran’s ass up on the bridge?” Tony growled into the radio. “When I say five, I mean five.”

“Not sure, boss,” Lou replied. “I’ll go do it myself.”

“Yes, you will,” Tony said. “And have everyone check in. Open channel. I want to hear every single voice respond. If one of you found that pretty hostess and has her in a linen closet right now, there will be hell to pay.” Tony winked at Captain Staggs. “Especially since I always get first shot at a fine piece of ass like that.”

Tony set the radio down and sighed. He patted Captain Staggs on the shoulder with one hand while keeping his pistol trained on the man with the other.

“How long you been doing this, Cap?” Tony asked. “You look like you know what you’re doing, but you don’t have the look of a salty dog.”

“I’ve been captaining yachts for ten years,” Captain Staggs replied. “I worked as crew for ten years before that.”

“Always yachts?” Tony asked.

“Yes, sir,” Captain Staggs said.

“You never worked on a fishing boat or charter?” Tony asked. “Never ended up stinking of halibut or cod for months?”

“I may have done some of that type of work when I was young,” Captain Staggs said.

“See there, Cap,” Tony said and grinned. “Never be ashamed of doing an honest day’s work. You’re so used to sucking up to rich assholes that were born sucking caviar out of their mommies’ tits that you’ve forgotten where you come from. Be proud of who you were.”

“Yes, sir,” Captain Staggs said then whipped the wheel to the left. “The waters are getting worse. I need to put more space between us and that ship.” He started to say something then paused.

“Out with it, Cap,” Tony ordered. “You got something to say then say it.”

“It’s just that, I was wondering if what you are looking for on that ship will need to be brought over to this ship,” Captain Staggs inquired. “I just need to know if it’s flammable or explosive. If so then we have a secure locker it can be stored in down in the lower deck.”

“Don’t worry about that, Cap,” Tony said. “Whatever it is, will be staying on that ship. I only need to confirm it’s there and my men will do the rest.”

“You have someone that can pilot that ship?” Captain Staggs asked.

“Why would I need that?” Tony responded. “When I have a perfectly good captain right here.”

“Sir, no offense, but I have never captained a ship that size before,” Captain Staggs said. “Or that class. I’ve piloted yachts slightly larger than this, but never a military cruiser.”

“Who said it was military? You see any insignias or flags on that thing?” Tony asked. “I don’t.”

“I know a military cruiser when I see one, sir,” Captain Staggs said.

“I don’t think you do,” Tony said. “Because I know for sure that ship isn’t military.”

“Then what does a pig like you want with it?” Niya asked as she stepped onto the bridge with both hands up, her two .45s aimed at Tony. “If it’s not military then it must have something very valuable on it.”

“Niya,” Tony said, chuckling as he slowly set his gun on the dash by Captain Staggs. He held up both hands and faced the woman as she squared off with him. “Nice look. Yoga assassin?”

“I like to be comfortable when I work, Tony,” Niya said. “You know that.”

“Oh, I do,” Tony chuckled some more. “I certainly do. You aren’t still sore about Morocco, are you?”

“That and Croatia,” Niya said. “And Lisbon and Dublin and Hong Kong.”

“Hong Kong wasn’t me,” Tony said. “That one was Cooper.”

“The Canadian?” Niya asked. “Do not insult me, Tony. It was not him. I put a bullet in his belly three weeks before Hong Kong. He was still learning to crap in a bag back in Toronto when you hijacked my shipment.”

“Nope, not me,” Tony said. “Dublin, Lisbon, and Croatia were me, but not Hong Kong. And if it wasn’t Cooper then I guess we’re both in the dark on that one. I’m gonna have to find some new sources if they are going to be wrong on important facts like that.”

Niya glanced past Tony and frowned.

“Is that the ship?” Niya asked. “It looks abandoned. You getting into the salvage business, Tony?”

“A man should always diversify,” Tony said. “And ship salvage can be very lucrative.”

“What’s on the ship, Tony?” Niya asked. She kicked backwards and shut the bridge door.

“Why’d you ask me if it was the ship?” Tony asked. “You specifically said ‘the ship.’ Kind of like you knew there would be a ship here and I was looking for it.”

“We all have our sources, Tony,” Niya said. “Some of mine work in circles well outside your reach. There is an advantage to being a beautiful woman in this business instead of an ugly thug like you. I look like I fit in at even the most grand of galas. You barely look like you fit in at a New York deli.”

“I prefer Jersey delis,” Tony said. “When I’m in the States, at least. Not a fan of the city. Too noisy.”

“Tell me about the ship,” Niya said.

“Why should I do that?” Tony asked. “I tell you anything and you’ll put more than a few holes in my body. That don’t work for me, Niya.”

“You can tell me or not,” Niya said. “But even with what happened in Morocco, I didn’t come here to kill you.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Tony said.

“If I kill you then Lombardo takes over your territories,” Niya said. “I hate Lombardo more than I hate you. With you, I know what I’m getting. Lombardo is a lazy psycho. He kills anything and everything he doesn’t like, doesn’t understand, or doesn’t get a cut from. He’s bad business and I’ll spend more time defending my operations from him than I ever did from you.”

“I don’t exactly agree with you,” Tony said, “since I’ve known Luci most of my life. But, I do understand the need to keep the devil you know. That’s always a good philosophy.”

Tony cocked his head in the direction of the bridge windows.

“Tell you what,” he said. “You work with me and I’ll cut you in on a percentage when I make delivery to the client.”

“A percentage?” Niya laughed. “Do these pistols look like they want a percentage?”

“You can’t have it all,” Tony said.

“You got all of Morocco, Lisbon, and Croatia,” Niya said. “I want all of this. Make that happen and you live.”

“Dublin,” Tony said.

“Excuse me?”

“Dublin. You forgot I took Dublin too,” Tony said.

“I didn’t forget,” Niya said. “I just didn’t say it because I’m saving that debt for another time.”

“But if I give you this job you’ll forget about the others?” Tony asked. “We’ll be clean on those?”

“We’ll be clean on those and the hit I put out on you last week will be lifted,” Niya said.

“Hit? Damn, my sources really are not doing their jobs,” Tony said. He slowly lowered his right hand and held it out. “Throw in Dublin and we have a deal.”

“I keep Dublin for later,” Niya said.

“No, I can’t agree to that,” Tony said. “What’s on that ship is worth a clean slate. No debts, no grudges. We start clean and go back to being friends.”

“We were never friends,” Niya said.

“Then we go back to just fucking when we run into each other,” Tony said. “I miss that.” He moved his hand about to indicate Niya’s body. “I miss that a lot. Brains, beauty, and a bod that surpasses both. You got it all, Niya. We both know that finding someone to be within our line of work ain’t easy. I get the airhead bimbos that just want my money and you get the sycophants that only want to use you to get ahead in the game.”

“That’s what vibrators are for, Tony,” Niya said. “They never stab me in the back.”

“Come on, Niya,” Tony said. “It’ll be worth it, trust me. I give you this job and we’re even. But you have to let me handle the deal. They’ll never trust you.”

“Because I’m a woman?” Niya asked.

“Well, yeah,” Tony said and shrugged. “These guys are old school. They aren’t the kind that deal with Russians, let alone Russian women.”

“Ukrainian,” Niya said and her grips on the pistols tightened.

“Ukrainian,” Tony said. “My apologies.”

“Sir? The weather is turning fast,” Captain Staggs said. “I know you two are in the middle of delicate negotiations, but you are about to lose your window to board the other ship. You have maybe an hour before we need to head back to land.”

“That so?” Tony said. “You aren’t exaggerating, are you?”

“He’s not,” Niya said. “I checked before we left for this ship. Bad weather is coming this way. Mr. Sheeran’s proposed route put us outside of it, but looks like you changed the route.”

“Sir, I must also say that there is no way I can pilot that other ship,” Captain Staggs said. “I am sorry, but in the time we have, I won’t be able to orient myself with the controls.”

“Did you know ships aren’t ships aren’t ships?” Tony asked Niya. “I thought they were. Doesn’t matter. I was only testing you, Cap. Just in case things went weird. The gentlemen I’m making the deal with are coming to us. Bringing a helicopter right to the ship with their very own captain. All I need to do is make sure the cargo is on board and secure and give a call.”

“A helicopter is going to have an even harder time in this weather, sir,” Captain Staggs said. “They had best already be on their way.”

“Let me worry about that, Cap,” Tony said. “You just keep doing the fine job you are doing.” He raised his eyebrows and focused on Niya. “Do we have a deal or what? You heard the captain, time is ticking.”

“We have a deal,” Niya said. “But I’m going over there to inspect the cargo.”

“I assumed you would be,” Tony said. “You’ve always been so hands on.” He glanced at the radio. “Where the hell is Sheeran?”