Bonefish Blues (5 page)

Now that Will knew Cody knew something he pressed harder, “
I
care. They keep developing the small Keys out here, the fishing’s gonna die off. The flats get all silted up and the fish are gone. ”

“I ain’t worried. I got my spots,” Cody said.

“Still can’t figure how you do so well off the point out there.” Will tried to keep him talking. He knew Cody’s ego when stroked kept his mouth going. “Here, want another beer,” he set one on the table without waiting for an answer

Cody stared at him and stopped talking. Will wondered what he’d said to cause this reaction. Suddenly Cody got up and took one beer in each hand. “Sorry, can’t help you. But, hey - thanks for the beers.”

Matt walked up as Cody was about to walk away, “I’m done. Can I get a ride? I have a ton of homework.” 

“I got homework too, at the bar. Gonna have to do some damage control to the old reputation after striking out today.”

“I’ll give you a ride,” Will offered. “To your mom’s?”

“What this?” Cody blurted. “First off, you don’t need to be taking care of my boy. And second off, you got no business with his mom. You know we’re getting back together,” he boasted. “The boy can walk.” He slammed the empty can on the table and got up to leave. 

Will watched Cody walk away, three beers poorer and nothing to show for it. He knew Cody would probably forget the incident by tomorrow. 

“Nah, It’s ok - I’ll walk,” Matt watching him walk away, chastising himself for all the beers he had drunk, knowing Matt had seen it.

Chapter 6

Eli Braken sat behind his desk, the ceiling fan doing little to remove the beads of sweat on his brow. His shoes were off, his stockinged feet set on a desk drawer to try and alleviate some of the swelling he was prone to, mostly from carrying three hundred pounds. A tumbler with an inch of Scotch sat on the desk, a computer monitor the only thing visible besides the phone. Now past sixty, Eli considered himself hip. He knew how to email and even had the Facebook thing going. He looked past the man sitting in front of him at the logo of The Kraken painted on his wall. The legendary sea monster adopted as his logo after the
Pirates of the Caribbean
movies usually brought a smile to his face. He pictured his business as having many powerful tentacles like the monster and had even considered changing his surname. 

“Can you put your goddam shoes on?” The man with the scar sat across the desk, elbows resting on the surface.

“Never mind my shoes. Have you talked to your boss?” He set his feet down and leaned into the desk until his belly hit his thighs. 

“Here’s the deal. I talked to the guys in Jersey. If that island out there has a sewer and water line, like you said, that’ll service six to eight houses, then they’re in. We’ll put up the money for the little scam of yours. You do have the Army Corp of Engineers okay on the dock too, right?” he asked. 

“All that. But your guys will never get ROGO approval to release all those permits. It’ll take years. Those bastards in Monroe County passed that Rate of Growth Ordinance in 1992, pretty much shutting down new construction. They only give out about sixty permits a year now.”

“Yeah, well people in Miami never heard of a ROGO whatever. It’s only sixty miles, but it’s a freakin world away from this sandfly-infested pile of coral. We’re just selling land, anyway. They know you got water and sewer, they’re all in. All those greenies will be waiting in line for solar panels and windmills. A few pictures on the world wide whatever and boom, sold out.”

Braken leaned back, satisfied that this deal was going to be easier than he thought. “Your call.” He sipped his drink and offered the man a cigar. “Now about that other thing. That guy you punched out on the boat is not going to let this lie. My son, Cody, already had a run in with him at the docks. You want that piece of mangrove-infested sand out there, we need to deal with him now. I’ve never known him to have a spine, but you never know what’ll get someone riled up. And what about the tank?” He was starting to worry about his involvement with Pagliano and the Jersey Mob. They had done several deals together, when they went as planned they lined his pockets but a few had gone badly and Braken considered the damage control that Pagliano was famous for to be part of the game. Not every deal got you rich, he knew, but the Jersey mob had other ideas. They hadn’t had a big score in several years and he knew Pagliano and his bosses in Jersey were chomping at the bit for this deal to go through. The vacant island was his dream. The cost of the Key was nothing compared to the potential revenue when they sold lots. An environmentally sustainable island retreat - a marketers dream.

“I don’t get you, Braken.” The voice was broken and hoarse. “Back home, we want something, we take it. We just dumped a crap load of chemicals in there today. There won’t be any evidence.”

“It’s a different game here. It’s too small a town to make people disappear. I’ll bet by tomorrow morning, half the people on this spit of sand will know about our visit to the Key.”

“I suppose you have some ideas about this? After all, it’s your neighborhood.”

“Actually, I do.” Braken finished his drink. “He’s got a nice property, but he never got a final on the house. I know from a source at the building department his permit’s going to expire. That’ll give us some leverage with him. Offer him his permits back if he stays out of our deal.”

“And if he doesn’t go along?”

“Then we play hardball and have it condemned or whatever they do. I got some connections, and we can buy the property before it goes to auction. We’ll make some nice coin on it, and you can do your thing to him.”

“Sounds like we’re seeing eye to eye here.” The man got up to leave. Then he paused and turned. “Just one more thing. I got your boy’s gambling debts on hold right now, but if this deal doesn’t go through, I’ll do ‘my thing,’ as you say, to collect what he owes.” 

Braken watched as the man left the office. He realized he had been holding his breath and inhaled. 

***

Will sat at the table, half a beer growing warm in front of him. He figured it was his sixth — way over his limit. It’d been a long time since he’d been this drunk. Ned had given him the last beer when he locked up a half hour ago. Since then, he’d just been staring at the darkening water, trying to make sense of the day. First the permit thing with the county, then Braken at Flamingo Key and then casing out his property. It couldn’t be a coincidence. His hate and distrust for Braken ran deep, partly because he enabled Cody to prance around like he did, and more for his crooked deals. He’d been a judge just long enough to make all the connections he would ever need, and short enough to avoid any investigations. But what was he up to now? And what could he do about it?

The sound of a car broke him from his thoughts, and he glanced up.

An old Corolla was pulling into the lot, and a woman got out when it rolled to a stop. Will saw her coming, and wished he hadn’t had the last five beers. 

“Hey, have you seen Matt?” she asked, her face breaking into a smile when she recognized him.

The same feeling returned that he had felt last night, stronger now because of the beer. He tried to compose himself. “He left a while ago. Cody told him to walk home.”

“Nice. Where did that son of a bitch ex-husband of mine go? No, let me guess, he’s at the bar,” she spurted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to dump that on you.” She sat down and pulled her phone out, typed in a text message, and set the phone down. “So, Will, got a last name?” She leaned towards him.

He hesitated and the phone vibrated. She picked it up and typed a response.

“Well, Will whatever, he’s home, no thanks to you.” She punched him lightly on the arm.

“Normally I would have driven him, but I’ve had a few too many of these to drive.” He grabbed the beer and held it up.

“Wish my ex would learn that trick.” She leaned over toward him again. “Maybe we should get some food in you. Take the edge off.”

His mood lightened, “But what about Matt?”

“His father leaves him all the time. He’s used to it. Besides, he’s sixteen.”

“Sorry, never had kids. That stuff is way above my pay grade,” he said.

“Never mind all that. Let’s go.” She picked up the beer and finished it, then tossed the can in the trash. “Come on. I’m driving.”

He got up slowly, not sure how his legs would react. They worked to his satisfaction, and he followed her to the car, got into the passenger seat and blushed as she smiled at him. She pulled out into traffic, heading South on US1. “How ‘bout the Keys Fisheries?” 

“That’d be good. I guess I could use some food.” She turned the radio on to a hip hop station and started bopping to the beat. He watched the storefronts roll by as she drove, trying to avert his eyes as she glanced over at him. As they were about to turn he noticed the sign for Kraken Ventures. “That’s your father-in-law’s business isn’t it?”

“That would be my
ex
father-in-law. Don’t care much for that man, or his offspring. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” She turned right on Thirty-Fifth Street and pulled into the gravel lot. The single-story building housing the market and kitchen was dwarfed by the tiki bar. Generally packed during the season, the voices of a few locals were the only sound coming from the raised bar tonight.

They walked past the stairs leading to the tiki bar and went to the order window, halfway down the older building. “I’m going to have a hogfish sandwich, what about you?”

Will realized he hadn’t eaten all day “The lobster reuben. I’m starving.”

“That’ll fill you up.” She ordered and paid the cashier before he could offer. “I got this. Just a small thanks for looking out for my boy.”

“Next time’s on me,” he blurted out. 

She looked him over and winked. “Okay, you’re on.”

Sodas in hand they walked over to the rail, stood close to each other, and looked down at the tarpon swirling around the submerged light. The fish seemed to look up in a Pavlovian response, as most of the tourists fed them. Will watched and wondered how tonight was going to go. He knew he’d had too much to drink and that there was bound to be retribution from Cody when he found out they had gone to dinner - but right now he didn’t care about anything but the warm body pressing her hip into his. The loudspeaker called out
Natasha,
disrupting his thoughts. Instead of asking for your real name the restaurant asked for your favorite cartoon character. Strange how it usually embarrassed him and he often avoided the place for this reason - like you could feel every eye in the place judging you for your answer. 

Nicole returned a minute later with two plates of food. She guided him to an empty picnic table by the water. “Natasha? That’s your favorite cartoon character,” he asked once they were seated.

“It’s nothing, they just make you give a name. Always liked her spirit.”

Will tore into his reuben. He eyed the overstuffed sandwich, knowing it would be better eaten with a knife and fork, but tore into it anyway. The first bite disrupted the equilibrium of the food and half fell onto his plate. Slightly embarrassed he looked at Nicole, thankful that she was engrossed in her own sandwich. He finished what was left in his hand and wiped his face. “Hard to eat,” he muttered, and reached for a knife and fork. More conscious of his manners, now, he finished the plate off. He felt better, the food absorbing the alcohol in his stomach. While he watched her eat, his mind drifted back to Braken.

“What’s on your mind? It looks like smoke is about to come out of your head,” she said, pushing her plate aside.

“It’s nothing, just ran into your father-in … I mean
ex
father —”

She cut him off. “That’s a mouthful. I just call him Braken, like everyone else. What’s the old creep up to?

“Twice today, I ran into him with some guy with a scar across his head. Once out at Flamingo Key and then again at my house.”

“That have anything to do with that lump on your face?”

“Yeah.” He told her about the boat grounding and his meeting with Scarface.

“Scarface is Joey Pagliano. You might want to stay clear of him.” She paused, “I still work for Braken though. Don’t like it at all, but Cody never pays his child support. I think the old man overpays me to compensate for his son. He’s creepy though. You should see the way he and Pagliano look at me. If it wasn’t for the money I’d try and help you, but I can’t get by without it.”

She picked up their plates and dumped them in the trash. He was about to rise, but she sat down next to him. “Let’s forget about the Brakens.”