Desperate Measures (12 page)

* * * *

Barry knew his business partner well. Jack had a knack for commanding a conversation and ending it when he deemed necessary; those qualities made him an excellent DA. He needed to lighten up. Barry knew that wouldn’t happen. Jack was Jack and he’d never change.

Jack’s rude conclusion to their phone conversation didn’t offend Barry but did leave him puzzled. Jack had to know where Tomas got his information, didn’t he? The FBI agent knew the true identity of someone who no longer existed but Jack failed to acknowledge the fact. Barry’s instincts told him Jack held something back. He drummed his fingers on a large document that detailed the mandatory and thorough FBI background check of Scott Martel. His thoughts were, w
hat did you get us into back then, Jack?

* * * *

Not many boats were out and about on the still waters of Lake Mead. Gary had been fishing for over an hour and hadn’t had a single bite. He sat at the front of the boat and gripped his fishing pole, hoping he’d catch something soon. Muck from the bottom or a piece of debris would do, anything to occupy his time and stop the worries running though his head.

He couldn’t take his mind off the visit from Agent Cox and he fretted over his sister. The last question the FBI agent posed threw him for a loop. He hoped he sounded convincing enough in his answer. He’d told the truth but also lied. He never communicated with Lukas directly. The lie, he set out to make contact with Lukas after his mother confessed to him. He left messages, but they were not returned. So, no, he hadn’t spoken to Lukas.

Gary soothed his troubled mind and convinced himself he’d told the truth. He bolstered his confidence further. The FBI wouldn’t know anything about those ancient long forgotten phone calls, nor were they incriminating. His worries subsided but weren’t completely eliminated.

His thoughts switched to his twin sister. He hadn’t heard from her, the FBI couldn’t locate her, and to accelerate Gary’s concern, her cell went directly to voice mail. He knew his sister carried her cell-phone with her, turned on and charged twenty-four hours a day.

Ginny hated the heat and Vegas wasn’t the place to be for the cooler climate lovers, just as Edward pointed out. Her last visit troubled him. She seemed bothered by something. He tried to remember her words and the frightening scene played back in his mind…

“Mom didn’t tell you anything else, what about Dad? He must’ve said something about Jack’s father? Did you ever ask any of our aunts or uncles? Someone has to know, Gary, we have to find out if the Bucklin’s are related.”

Gary stared at his sister in disbelief, wondering if she took any prescription medicine to cause this state of hysteria. She became more frantic and obsessed with each passing minute.

“Ginny, what’s gotten into you? Lukas Bucklin isn’t related to us. If what Mom said is true, it’s Jack he’s related to and has nothing to do with either you or me. I thought we agreed to put this behind us.”

“No, you decided to put it behind us after you tried to blame Caitlin for telling me and Carol! I suggested we get to the bottom of it. The best thing that happened was that Jack blamed Caitlin for spilling the beans and caused quite a rift between father and his precious daughter!” Ginny’s eyes blazed in fury, her words laced with bitterness.

Gary, alarmed with the venom festering inside his sister, tried to calm her. “Ginny, why are you so hateful toward our brother and his family? He may be only a half-brother, but we grew up as a family, Caitlin’s your niece for God’s sake. How can you find joy in her pain? I caused a lot of trouble and miss the relationships we had in the past, Christmas, Easter, and birthday celebrations.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes and miss my family. My sons are grown and I barely see them, at least I’ve put the past behind me and turned my life around. Granted, I don’t have the most respectable career but I’m proud to make a decent, honest living.”

Gary’s soothing tone had an effect on Ginny. She pulled herself together and some of the fire diminished from her eyes.

She responded in a calmer, controlled voice. “You’re right. I guess I just got carried away. I admit I’ve always been jealous of Jack, so perfect and self-righteous. It makes me angry that Mom never told me herself. If she got pregnant by a rich man, why couldn’t Mom have pressured him so that we could’ve lived on easy street?”

Gary knew he stood on unsteady ground in this situation. He had to comfort and reassure his sister but her earlier outburst frightened him. She focused her anger at him, their mother, Jack, and the entire world seemed susceptible to her wrath. He couldn’t figure out why, but recognized she needed a pep talk and reality check.

He worded his response carefully so he could uplift her self-confidence and at the same time ensure she comprehended the facts. The true facts, not what Ginny had conjured up in her mind. “Ginny, there’s a lot that none of us know and probably never will. We were raised in a loving family and provided for. As far as easy street goes, I don’t think you’re in any position to complain. It’s a known fact you went through a rough time, before and after your husband died of cancer, but he set you up pretty damn good. You’ll have no financial worries.

“You can’t blame Jack for anything. We all made our own choices. He had the drive and ambition and had a very successful career. He did that on his own, Ginny. You have to accept that. Mom and Dad didn’t have the money to put him through college, let alone law school. He got scholarships and worked his ass off,” Gary said, in defense of his brother.

A tug on the fishing line broke Gary’s reverie, he reeled in a small trout too small to keep and threw it back into the water. Still disturbed by his sister and the FBI’s visit, he steered his boat in the direction of the marina.

Speeding across the calm lake, Gary once again tried his twin’s cell-phone, the same number he verified for Agent Cox. The futile call went to voice mail. He didn’t bother leaving another message.

Caitlin and her chaperone reached the pink sandy beach. She dropped her beach bag on the hotel’s blue cushioned lounge chair then ran into the deep blue waters of the open Atlantic. Diving into the refreshing waves melted the tension in her muscles. She crested over a wave and swam with rapid strokes toward her family. Alexandra tried to body surf with her life-jacket on. She swam in the pool with no jacket but out here in the waves of the Atlantic, the two-year-old needed some sort of floatation device. She didn’t put up much of a fuss when she went into the ocean.

“Mom, guess where we’re going today?” Chad fought the waves, moving toward his mother.

Caitlin raised an eyebrow and looked at her husband. “I have no clue where we’re going, someplace exciting?”

“Yup, Dad called Mel and he’s taking us out on his boat to go water skiing and knee boarding. Are you going to ski, Mom?”

“Of course I’m going to ski. That sounds like a great plan.”

A huge wave shot Alexandra up, Caitlin grabbed her. Scott struggled to keep above the surface when the same wave crashed over his head.

Scott swam over and said, “I thought boating would be a nice change of pace. Mel doesn’t have any fishing charters booked. He has the whole afternoon and early evening open. We have to meet him at one o’clock. Okay with you?”

“Absolutely. A day out on the water, without any cryptic notes or threats, is exactly what we need.”

An hour later everyone, including Mitch, boarded Mel’s watercraft. Caitlin couldn’t help but be impressed by the other vessels anchored off-shore, which Mel owned and operated. When she and Scott had first met him on their honeymoon, he’d been employed by the hotel to provide water sport activities for the registered guests. Shortly thereafter, he opened up his own water sports shop called Mr. M’s, and now owned the Lobster Shack. Busy with his growing business, Mel rarely had time to spend with them.

Mel threw out the ski rope. “Who’s first?”

Alexandra, who always had to be first at everything, shocked the group. “CC ski first then I go.”

Chad shrugged, zipped up his ski vest, and jumped in the water. “Two skis, Mom.”

“You got it but soon you’ll be ready to slalom with only one.” Caitlin threw the two child skis into the water. He slipped his feet into the skis, grabbed the rope, and signaled he was ready. Mel straightened the boat and took off.

Chad rose out of the water and jumped over the wake of the boat. Caitlin snapped pictures on her digital camera, even though she had enough pictures of this same scene to fill three photo albums. The views from the boat were breathtaking. The lush green mountains of St. Kitts were to the left. To the right Nevis, both islands full with green foliage and so high, the clouds covering the peaks gave the appearance of snow. If Chad hadn’t been skiing behind the boat, the location could be mistaken for Switzerland rather than a tropical island.

After twenty minutes of strenuous wave jumping, Chad tapped his head, released the rope, sank into the water, and waited for the boat to circle and pick him up. His gestures relayed the signal, “I’m done.”

Alexandra recognized the sign and grabbed the kneeboard. “Daddy go with me.”

While Caitlin grabbed the skis and helped Chad into the boat, Scott snapped his life-jacket on and then he and his daughter leaped into the water.

When they got up on the kneeboard, Caitlin snapped more pictures.

Once everyone had their turn or two at their favorite water sport, albeit water skiing, tubing or knee boarding, Mel took them for a slow scenic boat ride over to Nevis.

The ride to Nevis had a calming affect on Caitlin. She enjoyed the scenery and relaxed for the first time since early Monday morning and appreciated the reprieve from drama. She decided to take advantage of her good mood and call her mother. They hadn’t spoken about what happened. Caitlin chose to utilize her father as the communication pipeline since Constance became upset easily and overreacted. She dug her cell-phone out of the bag.

* * * *

Constance drove north on Interstate 95 and Dean dozed in the passenger seat. Her phone rang, Caitlin. She hadn’t expected to hear from her, maybe she had good news. The past three days had been traumatic for her daughter, with one thing after another; more accurately one threat and scare after another. She forced a positive greeting. “Caitlin, honey, I’m so glad to hear from you, everything all right?”

“Yes, Mom, for once during this trip from hell we’re enjoying a beautiful sunny day out on a boat. We went water skiing and knee boarding. Now we’re going over to a beach on Nevis to have an early dinner.”

At the sound of her daughter’s cheery voice, Constance released a pent up breath. She wanted to ask if they found the bastard but couldn’t bring herself to dampen Caitlin’s good spirits and did her best to keep the conversation light and upbeat. “That sounds wonderful. How did the baby do on the kneeboard? Is Chad on one ski yet?”

“Don’t let Alexandra hear you call her a baby, she’s a big girl! Anyway, you know the water-bug. We could barely get her out to take a rest. I’m sure she’ll want to water skate, as she calls it, all the way back from Nevis. Chad did great on two skis. It won’t be long before he’s slaloming.”

“Sounds like a wonderful day and I can’t wait to see all of you in a couple of weeks.”

“Me too, Mom. I miss you and love you.”

Relieved, Constance replied, “I love you too, Sweetheart. Have fun this evening.”

“We will. By the way where are you? Didn’t Dean get in today?” Caitlin asked.

“Yes, I picked him up this morning. He’s right here. Do you want to speak to him?”

“Sure put him on, talk to you later, Mom, love ya.”

Saying another I love you, Constance held her hand over the mouth piece of the phone, and whispered to her son. “Don’t ask her anything about what’s happening. She sounds happy and like the old Caitlin for once.”

* * * *

“Hey, Caitlin, it’s good to hear your voice.” Dean had never been very talkative, now he grasped for words to continue the conversation without bringing up the threats. He chose insignificant babble. “Mom picked me up at the airport and we took the afternoon cruise on the gambling boat out of West Palm Beach. You know Mom. Every now and then she gets that gambling urge. Remember when you’d come home from college for Christmas, she’d take a day off work and take the three of us to Atlantic City? Sometimes it’d be the next morning before we got home and Dad would be leaving for work sneering at us.”

Caitlin laughed and interrupted her brother’s rambling. “Dean, I can read you like a book and see through your façade. You’re chattering on to avoid asking me about what’s happening.”

“Caitlin, I didn’t mean to, uh, I mean how are you?” Dean fumbled.

Caitlin laughed harder. “Dean, don’t worry about it. We’re fine for today and I’m glad you brought up the good old times. It helped to take my mind off of everything else. To answer your question, of course I remember those times! How could I forget? We would always go at night after Mom got home from work. She’d make Dad dinner and give him some song and dance about gambling for a few hours. Meanwhile, she’d take us to some fancy restaurant for dinner and then we’d hit the casinos. Oh, Dean, if Dad ever knew some of the restaurants Mom took us to, he’d have a fit!”

Brother and sister gasped for air in between roars of laughter. Relief swept over Dean, he didn’t have to get into any serious talk. This he could handle. “Caitlin, a fit couldn’t begin to describe it. Dad used to bitch every time we walked out the door, ‘Sure fine run off and throw money away gambling. Here I sit eating a can of soup your mother threw in a bucket,’ with his predictable closing argument before the door shut behind us, ‘I hope you have enough money, Constance, and I don’t mean to throw away in the slot machines. Your sons aren’t old enough to gamble so don’t call me when all of you are locked up in jail’.”

“Dean, don’t forget the time when Nana went with us, she must have been in her late seventies, and Mom was convinced the slot machine she’d been glued to for the past eight hours was going to pay. It must have been five a.m. when Nana had enough and what did Mom do?” Caitlin asked her brother.