Dead in the Water (20 page)

When the police and an ambulance arrived to cart Jerry off to the hospital, I was weaving my tale for the police. “It was money from my uncle's estate. He was recently, uh, I mean he recently died and left me some funds. We just retrieved them from the Palmetto First State National Bank. You can ask the VP there.”

When the cops asked me how much was in the briefcase and I gave the amount, the two officers exchanged glances. I crossed my fingers that the bank's VP would cover my story.

“
Half a million bucks?” The older officer jotted something in his notebook.

“
Yup.”

“
Your uncle must have been a rich guy. What kind of work did he do?”

“
He was a mediator of sorts. He did business with large families and connected them with other big businesses.”

I was sweating so hard that, had it not been waterproof, my mascara would be running down my cheeks. I worried my antiperspirant was failing, and I would ruin my Ralph Lauren shirt—thirty bucks at that consignment shop in Port St. Lucie. I'd never be able to find one like it at that price. I kept spinning my tale, however, all the while wanting to scream that my friend was going to die at the hands of some Russian thugs.

Finally the police let me go, making me promise I would come down to the station and sign a statement after I visited Jerry in the hospital.

I sped off to the emergency room and told the nurse there that I was Jerry's wife. She allowed me to enter the cubicle where they were treating him.

“
He's suffered a concussion and contusions to his head. He should stay here for observation.” The doctor sounded upbeat about his recovery.

“
Am I dying?” Jerry asked.

I leaned over and patted his cheek. “No, you'll be fine, but you've got to stay here overnight.”

“
Who will take care of you, Evie?”

I let the “Evie” go for once and gave his cheek a pinch. “I'll take care of me for now, and Nappi will be out of jail today.”

I left the hospital with a promise to Jerry I'd be in touch. I had no intention of retrieving him tomorrow. I'd let one of Nappi's men do that. Right now Jerry's expertise as my bodyguard had proved to be no better than that of any amateur. I wondered if his gun was loaded or if he had a carry permit. Well, that was Jerry's problem. I was sure the police would be in contact with him tonight.

At the police station I again told my fancy tale of being an heiress picking up her loot, signed the statement about the robbery and then sped off toward Sabal Bay in Jerry's rental. He wouldn't be needing it today.

I sat in the car, waiting for Nappi and his lawyer to emerge from the arraignment. When they exited the building, I got out and waved. Nappi took one look at me and knew something was wrong.

“
I lost your money.”

He signaled to his lawyer to give us some privacy, and the man moved off to talk with several others, big guys in black suits who obviously didn't belong here. I did note that the lawyer wore cowboy boots with his expensive suit. Nice touch. Nappi certainly knew how to pick 'em.

I worried Nappi would give me one of his mobster looks and offer me to the goons speaking with the lawyer. I should have known better.

“
Where did you lose it?”

“
Some ninja types took it from us in the parking garage near the bank. They hit Jerry, and he's in the hospital. The money's gone.”

“
Do you know who took it?”

“
It could have been anybody. It was pretty obvious that there was something important in the briefcase. Anyone watching us leave the bank could figure that one out, but given their outfits I think they were waiting for us.” People in Florida can be pretty flamboyant in their dress, but even here, no one would run around town dressed like something out of a bad dojan.

“
What about the security detail with you?”

“
You might want to rethink your use of Jerry as your go-to guy, the same way I rethought him as my husband.”

Nappi sighed and looked toward the fields of grass and palms trees in the distance. “No security. The boy never learns.”

“
Nope, but he had a gun. They hit him with it.”

“
I need a drink. Do you mind? Is the Biscuit open this early?”

“
It's almost three, but you'll get better service and better booze for a lower price at my place.”

I drove him in Jerry's rental, tailed by two SUVs, which Nappi assured me were filled with his guys.

Over two Scotches, neat, I let Nappi know I hadn't heard from the kidnappers yet.

“
I hope they're not doing to me what they did to Sophia and Boris. Silence. That feels worse than hearing their demands. At least I'll know she's alive.”

“
These kidnappers are strange. Not the way I'd do it at all.”

“
They're Russian. Maybe they do things differently there. They said they'd be in touch, and we'd do the exchange sometime this evening. But we've got no money.”

Nappi leaned back into the couch and twisted his diamond pinky ring on his finger. “They don't know that, do they?”

“
We can't show up with no money.”

“
No, but perhaps we can delay them. I can get the money by tomorrow.”

“
You'd do that? You'd give me another half million?”

“
Well, I know you didn't take my money. You're too honest and too concerned about Madeleine. As for Jerry, he's not clever enough to work out a robbery, especially if it meant he'd have to get hurt. And he'd never intentionally cross me. Never.”

“
You're going to get your money back, aren't you?”

“
I am. I'm getting every red cent of it back. Even the money Winston dropped. Someone took the ransom money and someone took the drop money he was carrying for the mob. Neither of his duffel bags reached their intended parties. I don't know if the Russians are behind all of that, but I intend to find out. I owe him. I owe you.”

“
You feel responsible for Winston's murder, don't you?”

Nappi set his glass on the coffee table and leaned forward. “I thought I had it all worked out. Winston would do this last drop for the mob, and they would let him go. His boss gave me his word. Now, the boss won't talk to me. Thinks I took the money. I am insulted. This is a slur on my good name.”

“
The mob didn't kill him, did they?”

“
I don't know who did it, but if I find out it was the family who employed Winston or another family, I will have my revenge.” He picked his glass off the table, took a sip, and then slammed it back down with such fury I thought the glass would shatter. “This cannot go unpunished. Promises were made. Winston should have been safe. My family reputation is at stake here.”

In the ensuing silence Nappi and I looked at each other, and I knew I had seen the mob boss persona for the first time. It was not the face of my friend. I wanted all this to be over, and I never wanted to see that face again. I wanted the Nappi I trusted and liked back.

My cell rang, and I jumped and grabbed for it. It was Madeleine's kidnapper.

“
Okay, lady, here's how it's gonna go down.”

“
Wait a minute. Something's come up. We're missing some of the money. We can get it tomorrow morning, but I need more time.”

“
No way. Now. How much you got?”

“
Uh, we're missing about a hundred grand.” One of my tiny lies again.

“
Well, you just find it. You've got an hour, then we meet at the closed restaurant at Deer Mound Lock. You got small bills, right?”

“
Fifties, hundreds, a few thousands—”

“
Come alone. No cops. I want to get this filly off my hands as soon as possible.”

“
Wait. I want to talk to her.”

There was the sound of raised voices, then Madeleine came on the line.

“
Hi, Eve. He's been feeding me nothing but peanut butter sandwiches. Could you bring my toothbrush when you come?”

“
He hasn't done anything to you, has he?”

“
Nope. Aside from keeping me tied up, he leaves me alone in some kind of room. I can smell the swamps nearby. I think he's afraid I'll bite him again if he gets too close.”

“
I'll be there soon. Just hang on.”

Again, it sounded like Madeleine and her captor were arguing.

“
Why should
she
hang on? It's me who's been suffering here. I think three of my toes are broken and my ear's infected. Five o'clock. Don't be late. I can't wait.” I heard a chuckle and then a disconnect.

“
I think Madeleine is driving him insane,” I said.

“
I can't believe this is the work of the Russian mob. It sounds more like the guys from the Feed and Seed Store. These aren't professionals.”

Nappi would know a professional from a rube.

“
So who are they?”

“
I think someone hired this guy. He's obviously a local, and he probably won't be able to tell us much about the person who's giving the orders, but I'd like to question him anyway. Before he takes the money back to his bosses and they kill him.”

“
And the money?”

Instead of answering, Nappi pulled out his cell and made a call. Several minutes later I heard a knock at the door. The man who stood there was the size of a Mountain Gorilla but better dressed.

Nappi gestured him into the house. “Ah, Sid. What did you get?”

“
Between the six of us, we got seventy five hundred dollars. Sorry boss, but we went out to dinner last night, then to the gambling casino.”

“
Run to the bank and use your debit cards. See how much you can add to this. We just need enough layers of money to dazzle a country boy.”

By the time Sid returned and Nappi and I had made our own run to the automatic tellers, we had collected almost twenty-five thousand dollars. Not close to half a million, but enough, as Nappi suggested, to make a country boy stop and think before he turned it over to the mob.

“
We'll give him a choice. All this money now, or a chance on more later. I'll convince him later will be too late. He'll be dead.” Nappi looked pleased with himself.

I held up the Scotch bottle. “One for the road?”

He nodded. “Ransoming is thirsty work.”

T
he locks from the Rim Canal to the lake always gave me the shivers. From the other side of the canal, they looked tall and cold, imposing, and taking a boat through them and onto the lake was a claustrophobic experience. I'd only done it once in a friend's craft, and I never wanted to repeat the event. First you drove your boat to the gate, grabbed the signal button hanging there, and waited until the gate keeper opened them. The concrete gray locks loomed over you as your tiny vessel rode up and down on the waves. If there were boats in the lock waiting to enter the canal for the lake, you stayed out of their way and then took your turn. Then you proceeded forward until you nosed the gate at the end. The gate closed behind you and the water began to drop to the level of the lake water. To me it felt like descending into the depths of hell. After too long a time, the gate in front opened, releasing you into the lake.

I remembered the experience as if it had only been days ago, and I shook as the memory flowed through me. This evening I only had to meet the kidnapper, give him the money, and get Madeleine back. Thank goodness I'd be on dry land tonight and not in the middle of some boat bouncing around on the water, waiting for the gates to close in on me.

Traffic at the Deer Mound lock was brisk at this time of the evening. Boats were coming off the lake. Few were entering it. Fishing was over for the day. When the restaurant was in operation, five o'clock was the hour when the guys who had been on the lake since early morning tied their boats up at the dock and kicked back on the wooden deck overlooking the canal, ordering the place's famous bucket of beer and pound of shrimp. The stories began, becoming more exaggerated as buckets were emptied of bottles and refilled again. With the establishment closed now, the boats cruised past and headed for a fish camp some fifteen miles south on the canal. No shrimp there, but I'd gobbled down boiled peanuts, their specialty—one most northerners considered an acquired taste. I loved the Cajun ones.

I pulled into the parking area behind the restaurant. There were no other cars. Nappi and his men had left their vehicles on the road and walked down the winding sandy lane, taking cover in the vegetation alongside the buildings that stored boats. We expected the exchange to be in one of those buildings or in the closed restaurant, reasoning it was unlikely anyone would be around to interrupt us.

I turned off the engine and waited. My cell rang. The kidnapper guy.

“
You know how to drive a boat?”

“
I think so.” Although I sounded doubtful, the truth was I'd grown up on the sound in Connecticut and had been around boats of all sorts most of my life. I didn't want the kidnapper to think I had any skills that might lead him to believe I was competent. Let him think I was just a silly blonde Yankee gal.