Fallen Honor: A Jesse McDermitt Novel (Caribbean Adventure Series Book 7) (26 page)

They both closed their eyes for a brief second, each mouthing a silent wish. When they opened them again, the sun slipped away below the horizon and a brief but dazzling green flash enveloped the cockpit.

Coral smiled and hugged Michal tightly. “I hope you wished well, Michal.”

“If I tell it, will it still come true?” She nodded eagerly in response. Michal looked deeply into her bright blue eyes. “I wished for just one more day in paradise,” he said. “With you.”

“Hate to interrupt,” the pilot said. “This is where I’ll be dropping you off.”

Michal and Coral leaned between the seats and saw a small island ahead. In the low light of twilight, they could make out the roofs of several small buildings and what looked like torchlights flickering in a square around the cleared interior of the little island.

Seconds later, the small helicopter touched down lightly in the middle of the square and the pilot climbed out and opened the door for them, the engine still running. He helped them both down and pointed to where Charlie and Carl stood beside a pair of large tables with their two kids.

Coral took Michal’s hand and led him away as the pilot climbed back in and brought the engine speed up. Once the two of them were well clear of the spinning blades, the tone changed from a high-pitched whirring sound to a heavy whump and the helicopter lifted off. Turning southwest, it quickly disappeared.

“Welcome,” Charlie said, stepping toward the two and hugging Coral. “So good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too, Charlie.”

Coral introduced Michal and was about to explain why they were there, but Carl interrupted. “No need to explain. Jesse texted me everything. Are y’all hungry? We were just about to eat.”

Michal suddenly realized they hadn’t eaten since breakfast and his stomach growled at the mere mention of food. “I know I am,” Coral replied for both of them.

“Have a seat and relax, then,” Charlie said. “I bet you guys are exhausted. Hope you like seafood.”

Charlie hurried off to a little house on the west side of the island with the two kids. “We’re having grunts and grits with janga soup,” Carl announced, turning to a large stone grill, a smile on his face.

“Anything I can help with?” Michal asked.

“Thanks, son, but everything’s ready. Just take a load off. We don’t have guests here very often. There’s beer and water in the cooler there.”

Sitting down on the big bench in front of the table, Coral took two bottles of water from the cooler, then noticed a small plate with lime slices and squeezed one through the neck of each bottle. “Exactly where is here?” she asked Carl. “I wasn’t paying much attention.”

“The Content Keys,” Carl said. “Jesse owns this little island and Charlie and I help him take care of it.”

There was a light breeze blowing out of the west, carrying the scent of iodine and brine from the sea. Coral smelled something else, but couldn’t place it at first. Then she realized it was ozone, just as a low rumble of thunder came rolling in off the water.

“We’ll get some rain before this night’s over,” Charlie said, returning with a small pot in one hand and a carving board with a loaf of fresh bread in the other, the two kids walking carefully behind her. The little boy carried a stack of plates, bowls and silverware, and the little girl carried a large salad bowl.

“We grew the vegetables ourselves,” Carl Junior said, beaming.

Later, as Michal was helping himself to a second bowl of the delicious soup, he turned to Coral and asked, “I’ve never heard of janga soup. What is it?”

“Janga are freshwater crayfish in Jamaica,” she said. Turning to Charlie with a knowing smile, she asked, “How’d you get them up here?”

“We raise them,” Charlie replied, noting her smile. “We’ll show you in the morning, it’s too dark now. They’re actually just Louisiana crawfish, but Rufus calls them janga and I guess they’re closely related, or maybe it’s more the ingredients he uses for the soup, because it seems to have the same effect.” Smiling at her in the light of a tiki torch, Charlie nodded toward a house set high on stilts. “Jesse said to put you in his house for tonight.”

“Same effect?” Michal asked.

The three other adults laughed and Coral leaned over and whispered in Michal’s ear. “Janga are a natural aphrodisiac.”

Michal nearly choked on a spoonful and coughed. “Really?”

“That’s what they say,” Carl replied. “And I, for one, believe them. Y’all run along, I know you gotta be tired. We’ll get the dishes.”

Coral wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “Are you sure we can’t help you?”

“Y’all go ahead on,” Charlie said. “The house is unlocked and the windows are open. With that cooling breeze, it should be plenty comfortable up there.” The wind picked up then and another roll of thunder washed over the little island, closer now. “The shower is fed by a reverse-osmosis unit and all the electricity is twelve volt. Jesse never put his house on the grid, though, so use the oil lamps to save on the batteries. Do you have any clothes?”

“Only what we’re wearing,” Michal said.

“Come with me, Coral,” Charlie said, getting up from the table. The two of them walked toward the little house on the western shore.

Once they were out of earshot, Carl said, “Jesse told me most of what was going on, son.” Then, in a serious tone, he added, “Nothing like that goes on here, though.”

“No, sir,” Michal replied, knowing exactly what he was referring to. “We threw it all in the water this morning. I’m starting fresh now.”

“Good idea. New place, new way of life. You’ll like it down here after a time. The heat and humidity takes some getting used to, but the people here are genuine and can be counted on when trouble comes. Especially people like Jesse.”

Charlie and Coral returned, carrying two small bundles. “Y’all just run along,” Carl said. “We get up with the sun here, so get some rest. If you want to help, I’d be glad to have some in the garden tomorrow.”

They said goodnight and Coral took Michal by the hand, leading him toward the tall house on the other side of the clearing. At the top of the steps, away from the flickering light of the tiki torches, Michal looked out over the water to the south and the sky above it.

“Whoa,” he whispered, coming to a stop halfway across the deck and looking up into the sky.

Coral looked up into Michal’s face and saw the light of a billion stars sparkle in his eyes. “I bet you never saw a sky like that back home.”

Michal blinked, sure that his mind was playing tricks on him. “It’s beautiful. Is that janga soup some kind of hallucinogen, too? I’ve never seen so many stars.”

“You have to be away from the city to see them,” Coral whispered, taking his hand in hers. “Do you remember my rules?”

“Rule one: Coral makes the rules.”

He could see her smile in the brilliant starlight as she twirled one of her dreads. “Rule two,” she said. “Coral always comes first.”

O
nce the sun went down, I doused all the lights except the one in the guest cabin and closed the door. The interior was almost totally dark inside. Outside, I wanted the appearance that nearly everyone had gone to sleep. I’d gotten the gear we’d need from under my bunk after Coral and Michal had left, and the four of us were nearly prepared.

“Think they went for it?” Scott asked. “I mean, I’m at least a hundred pounds bigger than that girl.”

“The eyes see what the mind tells them to,” Travis answered, looking through the slits in the blinds over the porthole using my night vision spotting scope. “You couldn’t have been more obvious with the bags and they were all out there when the kids left. One of them had to have noticed they didn’t have the bags when they left. They’re drug dealers. I’d say that Jesse was right on the money and they saw that little charade as a drug deal. It’s what their minds are accustomed to seeing.”

“Let’s hope so,” I said. “There’s three of them now, though.”

“No sign of any movement anywhere outside,” Travis said. “One person on the balcony, and lights on inside the room.”

“Another couple of weeks, lobster season opens,” I said. “Every room in that hotel will be full then, as well as every square foot of dock space. You about ready, Germ?”

“Yeah,” Germ replied. “Your gear’s in excellent shape.” Both Scott and Germ were wearing the black tactical clothing they’d arrived in and now had scuba masks hanging around their necks and wore Drager LAR V rebreathers. Different from scuba tanks, they’re less bulky and don’t release bubbles in the water.

“Won’t they see the hatch open?” Scott asked.

I made my way to the port side and lifted the cushions off the sofa. Raising the lid, I said, “You’ll go down through the engine room and out onto the deck. If you hug the gunwale, they won’t see you.”

I moved a few things out of the way in the storage compartment and lifted the panel for the false bottom. “Give me a hand here, Scott.”

Both Germ and Scott were wearing Pulsar Edge night vision headsets so they could visually check out the equipment. Scott looked down in the hidden compartment, which could be accessed from here or down in the engine room. “You got it set up just like the old boat?”

“Better,” I replied, lifting out the M-2 machine gun receiver and handing it to him. “On the old
Revenge
, you could only access this from the engine room.”

Scott laid the receiver on the cushions and, leaning over, he looked down inside. I felt around until my hand found the release mechanism. When I pulled it, the underside of the compartment dropped open with a quiet hiss, from the two hydraulic pistons. “Now, it can be accessed from above or below. Should be wide enough for you.”

Scott studied the small opening. From experience, I knew he could easily make out the narrow space between the port engine and the hull, and the footholds he’d need to use to get down to the lower deck.

“Yeah, I think we can get through there easy enough.”

“Once you’re down there, move forward around the engine, then aft to the hatch. Just lift the upper part enough to get the hatch open. There’s little light out there, doubtful they’ll see the top move and they can’t see the bottom at all.”

Scott reached up and switched on the tiny earwig I’d given him. “Comm check,” I heard him say through the device in my own ear.

“Roger,” I said. Travis and Germ repeated the affirmation and Scott stepped over the side of the sofa and placed his feet wide inside the storage area. Using his arms, he slowly lowered himself until his foot found the engine manifold, then he stepped on down into the engine room. A moment later, Germ followed him and I went to the rear porthole and peeked through the blinds.

What little light there was from the dock area was shaded by the gunwale, but I could see Scott crawling toward the transom door. Within seconds, both men were through it and in the water.

“They’re submerged,” I said to Travis. The masks the two men wore were full face masks, which would allow them to communicate underwater. Being the highly trained underwater combat instructors they were, I didn’t expect any conversation.

It was a long ten minutes later before Scott said anything, but finally he reported in. “We’re ashore. Give us ten minutes to get into position.”

“Too bad you don’t have two more headsets,” Travis said.

“Yeah, that wouldn’t draw much attention. Us walking along the docks with night vision.”

“Even with this scope, I can barely see them.” Travis moved the scope up to the balcony of Bradley’s room. “Still just the one guy outside. No reaction.”

A few minutes later, I heard Scott’s voice over the comm. “We’re in position.”

My eyes had adjusted to the near darkness inside the salon and I looked over at Travis. “Okay, Colonel, time to take a stroll.”

“Wait,” he said. “I have movement inside the room.”

“What are they doing?” I asked.

“One of them is leaving. Let’s wait a minute and see where he goes.”

A moment later, Germ’s voice came over the comm. “A van just pulled into the lot. A white Dodge.”

I instinctively put a hand to my right ear, where the earwig was, trying to hear what was going on, but I knew the bone-conductive mic of the transmitter didn’t pick up any outside noise. “Hang loose, everyone.”