Butler Did It! (19 page)

Butler suddenly interrupted. “And I
answered, ‘for a beer, I’ll let you.’”

Ignoring the interruption, Tommy
continued. “Several barked knuckles, two hours of sweaty effort and
about a dozen beers between us got the engine safely on dry land.
All the while we labored; this bastard was picking my
brains.”

“Actually, after I milked him for his
story, I was trying to find out why he didn’t take the job offered
to him.”

Katharine looked at Tommy, “didn’t you
know who he was?”

“No, this sly bastard didn’t bother to
tell me he was the heir-apparent to Butler Marine for another two
hours.”

“I was just trying to figure out what
this crackpot was good for,” said Matthew.

“Well he must have found out something,
because just as we finished, Matthew says to me, ‘if you got a few
minutes, I’d like you to see Nancy.’ It’s just a short walk down
the road.”

“As I remember it, I had to tempt you
with more beer,” Butler laughed.

“Nancy?” Katharine had to
ask.

“As in NO VACANCY with the O and VAC
burned out. Laughing boy here lives in a 1950’s pink stucco motel
on Dauphin Island at the mouth of Mobile Bay.”

“You live in a motel room?” She asked
incredulously.

“I live in the entire motel,” explained
Matthew. “I bought it just before it was going to be torn down. I
gutted it out, and made it into my home. I kept the NANCY sign to
fend off the tourists.”

“Just don’t ask what’s on the bottom of
the swimming pool,” interrupted Tommy.

By now, Katherine had learned the rules
of the game. “Okay, what’s on the bottom of the swimming
pool?”

“Oh, it’s just a ten-foot long,
photographically accurate, scale model of the wreck of the
Titanic.” Butler modestly admitted, with a huge grin on his
face.

“He won’t let anyone bring it up,
either,” Tommy chimed in. “It’s surprising to me that Bob Ballard
hasn’t tried to dive on it.”

Matthew, refusing to defend himself any
further, concentrated on piloting the boat into Victoria
Harbor.

<<>>

Soon Tommy, Matthew, and Katharine were
happily walking down Market Street in Victoria searching for a
dress shop. At midmorning, the fresh tropical sunshine reflected
off the windows where shop after shop of handicrafts and trinkets
lined the street. Finally, they came across a little place next
door to a grocery that carried a collection of breezy summer
dresses in bright colors.

As Katherine and Butler entered, Tommy
suddenly begged off with a weak excuse. “I’ll keep an eye out for
trouble,” he said, staying on the street.

Katharine gave Matthew a questioning
look. “Are you expecting trouble?”

“No, that’s just Tommy’s excuse not to
hang out in a women’s clothing shop.”

In no time, a cool simple shift of dark
blue and green caught Katharine’s eye. Matthew appreciated the way
it hugged her curves, the long skirt split at the thigh to show one
shapely leg. On a whim, Matthew also picked out a little sundress
for her to try because she was still wearing the same clothes she
had put on at her hotel the day before. A pair of strappy sandals
completed their purchases and they headed down the stairs into the
bright sunlight.

“Hey, you know, I saw those twins again
while you were inside,” Tommy said, falling into step with the
pair. “You know, the blondes we saw at the hotel yesterday? Who’d a
thought they’d be here today, too?”

“That is weird.” Butler casually
commented, thinking little of the coincidence.

“You know, I thought they were staring
at me yesterday, but today I know they were. I wonder if…” Tommy
speculated.

“I think you’re obsessing over
inaccessible women,” Butler laughed. “Let’s go to the Sir Selwyn
Market and see if we can get some lunch,” he suggested. “Then I’m
going to have to leave you two for a little while to run an
errand.”

“Great! In lieu of love, I’ll settle
for lunch and a beer,” said Tommy.

“Really, I thought you said you were
only going to drink tea from now on…”

“You know I only said that because of
the hangover. You can’t hold me to anything I say in those
circumstances.”

Katharine was barely listening to their
verbal jousting. A black pearl necklace in a shop window had caught
her eye, and she was calculating whether she could afford to
purchase it.

“Ack, what did I just step in?” Matthew
asked, bending over to look at his shoe.

“Hah, Pink Poodle Poop!” exclaimed
Tommy, pointing ahead. The same woman who had been at the hotel bar
the day before was now tottering down the street in front of them,
towed by her little pink poodle.

“What are the chances we’d see her
again, too?”

Katharine turned to look once more at
the jewelry store window, but this time she saw the reflection
instead of the merchandise. In the glass, she saw the two tall,
spiky-haired blonde women looking directly at the three of them.
One was talking urgently on a cell phone.

“Look at this,” she said quietly,
tugging on Matthew’s sleeve.

“Nice pearls,” Matthew
commented.

“No, look in the reflection. Aren’t
those the twins we saw in the hotel? I think they’re watching
us.”

“Uh-oh, I think you’re right,” said
Tommy, also pretending to look at the merchandise in the window.
“You think they had something to do with the bar brawl on the roof
of Katharine’s hotel yesterday?”

“Could be,” Butler replied. “It’s
always better to be safe than sorry. Let’s see if they follow us
into the market.”

The Sir Selwyn-Clarke Market’s ornate
gate; painted in bright colors of red, yellow, and turquoise, led
them into an enormous shelter over a busy open-air
courtyard.

The aisles were crowded with locals and
tourists wandering among the many tables of brightly colored
vegetables and tray after tray of gleaming fresh fish. Next to
them, stalls sold the sundry items needed for living or vacationing
on a tropical island. Voices in spirited debate over the price of
today’s catch filled the vast space with a friendly
roar.

Tommy began to laugh, pointing to a
large Coco De Mer on display. “I’m sorry,” he gasped, “but that’s
just plain indecent.” The Seychelles’ iconic souvenir was a large
double coconut, which looked very much like a woman’s
bottom.

“Stop acting like a hick and keep your
eyes peeled for those twins,” hissed Butler.

Tommy raised his eyes to scan the crowd
and stumbled over an elegant white cattle heron. The birds were
recognized by locals and tourists alike as the market’s unofficial
cleaning crew.

“Bold little bastards,” Tommy
complained, as one nipped at his ankle.

Katharine, Tommy, and Butler dove into
the chaos, mixing with the crowd.

Matthew handed Katharine a pair of
sunglasses to try on. “Look in the mirror. Do you see anyone
following us?” He asked her.

“Yes, your Ice Maidens are standing
next to the octopi.”

“Do you see the Poodle
woman?”

“Nope, I think we lost her.”

“Ice Maidens is a good description of
those two,” Matthew mused. “They didn’t just appear out of the
blue. The only way they could have found us is if they have eyes on
the Pelican.”

“Do you think they’re dangerous?”
Katherine asked, suddenly concerned.

“Yes, I do.” Both men answered
simultaneously.

“So, what are we going to do?”
Katherine asked the pair.

“Follow me, I have a plan.” Butler
commanded.

Then, in the worst escape ever
attempted, Matthew suddenly ducked under the nearest vendor’s table
and, crawling on hands and knees, led Katherine and Tommy toward a
loading dock.

Frantically following Butler’s butt,
Katherine made two important discoveries. First, she couldn’t crawl
in a dress, and second she was kneeling in unidentifiable fish
parts.

Tommy, bumping his head, and skinning
his knees, muttered to himself. “This is a plan?”

Shouts of curious and outraged vendors
followed the trio’s progress.

A cattle heron who didn’t want to give
up its place under a fish vendor’s table flapped its wings in
Matthew’s face. He swept it out of his way, whereupon it took
flight, croaking complaints. With all the ruckus the three were
generating, things definitely weren’t going well.

“This isn’t working,” Tommy said,
noting the escalating commotion. “Those two blondes are headed this
way. I’ll create a diversion while you two slip away. Call me, and
we’ll meet back up later.”

Tommy abruptly stood. Taking a large
fish from the table in front of him, he handed the vendor a wad of
bills and said, “Mother, I’ll take this one.”

Not waiting for a reply, he turned and
advanced on the twins. “Let’s see if a frontal attack will work,”
he muttered.

Intentionally, Tommy plowed head-on
into one of the statuesque blondes and unexpectedly rebounded. It
was like hitting a well-padded pillar full force, the woman barely
moved.

“Oh, excuse me!” he bellowed, rubbing
his shoulder. “Are you guys, twins? Any chance I can get a date?”
He brayed, improvising madly.

Katharine and Butler, nearing the
loading dock, stopped and turned to see Tommy making a complete ass
of himself.

“Maybe we could do a …” Tommy
started.

With a “pah” of disgust, the strikingly
beautiful woman turned to her doppelganger.

“Elke,” she said, gesturing toward
Katherine and Matthew in the distance, “Don’t lose
them.”

As she and her twin both advanced,
Tommy whipped around in a great arc and slapped Eva full in the
face with his cold fish. Eva went down faster than an oyster on the
half shell. He immediately followed through and backhanded her
sister with the deadly haddock. Elke catapulted into the adjacent
table, tossing its contents into the air. Like an accomplished
matador, Tommy flourished his fish, watching as a rain of squid
covered the pair.

“That worked like a charm,” gloated
Tommy. With his customary bravado, he handed his slimy weapon to
the nearest vendor. Pointing at the squid-soaked women floundering
on the floor, he said, “The ladies will take everything to
go.”

<<>>

When Butler told Katharine that they
were meeting with an illegal arms dealer, Katherine expected find
herself in a dingy office or in a dark back alley. As it turned
out, the meeting place was at a sunny beachside bar where
bikini-clad servers smiled and swayed for tips. Joseph, the
friendly neighborhood arms dealer and close friend of Captain Z,
favored this bar for all of his business dealings. The servers all
knew his standard order. Even before he sat down, a dirty martini
was on its way to the table.

For nearly ten years, Joseph had
operated a tour guide company in the Seychelles. He had run boat
tours to the outer islands, building the business up into a fleet
of five boats. Then tragedy struck. Four years ago, Somali pirates
captured one of his tour boats and killed everyone aboard.
Devastated, Joseph had decided to go into a less dangerous line of
work; arms dealing.

Katherine and Matthew found him at the
bar, looking every bit the pleasant tour guide he no longer
was.

“Mr. Butler, it is so nice to see you
again. And, I see you brought company with you.”

“Call me Matthew,” Butler returned.
“Joseph may I present Miss Katherine Annenberg, a dear friend.
Katherine, this is Joseph Labonville, a good friend of Captain
Zamora.”

“Aren’t you the young lady that invaded
the beach party?” Joseph asked, teasingly.

“Yes, I am.” Katherine admitted,
blushing furiously.

“And she is also the reason I’m here to
see you today.” Butler added.

“Did you discover what it was all
about?” Joseph politely asked, waving his hands toward
Katherine.

“I think we’re in the process of doing
just that.” Matthew replied. “Odd as it sounds; I think it has to
do with someone named Levasseur. For the last two days, we’ve been
watched by a couple of women; twins, very tall, statuesque, and
blonde.”

“Elke and Eva,” supplied Joseph
instantly. “It’s a small community,” he said, shrugging. “Look,
Matthew, this is bad. If Elke and Eva are on your tail, it means
that Mr. Levasseur is interested in you. He’s a very dangerous man.
Those two women are La Busse’s bodyguards…with benefits, according
to the rumor.”

“I suspected as much. Last night we
caught a couple of assassins sneaking onto the Pelican. It looks
like they were after this man, Kobi, the one we rescued from Little
Curieuse. He told us that he escaped from Levasseur’s yacht after
being nearly beaten to death. He also claims to be following the
trail of some Egyptian antiquities that belong to
Kenya.”

“That doesn’t sound like Levasseur to
me. He’s more into guns. I’ve never known him to have more than a
passing interest in antiquities, although I hear he does have a
fine collection of African tribal weapons at his compound on the
north shore of Mahe.”