Fallen Palm (Jesse McDermitt Series) (18 page)

“Is Deuce planning to do some fly fishing?” Alex asked. “He has about the same build as you and could probably use a few pointers.”

“Fly fishing?” I asked.

“I saw the fly rod case he stowed on Rusty’s skiff. But something tells me there’s no rod and reel in that case. What’s going on?”

The lady was sharp as a tack, no denying that. Rather than try to lie about it, I knew the best tack for me was to give her most of the truth, so I told her about our plans for tomorrow. Then I surprised her with, “I think we should get married.”

For the first time since I’d met her, she was speechless. She looked deeply into my eyes, then wrapped her arms around my neck and held me so tightly I thought I couldn’t breathe.

“If that’s a proposal, the answer is yes,” she said.

“It was,” I said, feeling more secure. “If you want, we can go down and get the license first thing in the morning.”

“Can Rusty officiate, on board the
Revenge
?” she asked.

“I know he’s a notary,” I replied, “So he can do it aboard the
Revenge
or anywhere else. You in a big hurry?”

“No, nothing like that,” she said. “I’m not one of those girls that started looking at bridal magazines at fifteen and planning every detail of an elaborate wedding ever since. All our friends will already be here tomorrow, that’s all.”

“Okay,” I said, feeling that shanghaied feeling again. “Tomorrow it is, then.” I saw Deuce coming out of the salon and added, “Why don’t you go ask Rusty if his notary license is up to date.”

She’d seen Deuce coming too and said, “Okay, I’ll get out of the way.”

“Good news, Jesse,” Deuce said after Alex was out of earshot. “The Director has given approval for our plans. If it comes down to it, taking Lester out is sanctioned, but only as a last resort. He wants to know if he’s involved in any way with the terrorist smuggling. What’s up with you? You look pale.”

“Pale?” I asked. “Yeah, well, I think I just got shanghaied again. I asked Alex to marry me.”

“Hey, man, congratulations!” he said. “Why would you feel shanghaied if you asked her, though?”

“The wedding is tomorrow.”

I saw Rusty and Alex come out of the house and Alex ran toward the bar, while Rusty walked out to us on the dock.

“I told ya she was about ready to set the hook, brother,” Rusty said.

“It’s not like that, Rusty,” I said. “I asked her and she said yes. Plain and simple.”

“Bet you didn’t ask her to marry you tomorrow, though,” he said.

To save face, I lied and said, “Actually, I did. We’ll go get the license in the morning and you can marry us before the shindig gets started at noon.”

“Sure ya did,” he said, as he turned and walked back to the house, laughing. Then he yelled back over his shoulder, “Congrats, bro. Y’all are right for each other.”

Saturday afternoon, October 29, 2005

The Carver pulled into Boot Key Harbor after completely loosing sight of the big fishing boat and it wasn’t there. “Damn,” said Walt. “The Boss ain’t gonna be pleased about this. Tomas, you shoulda put the hammer down and kept up with him like I told ya.”

“No es posible, Walt,” Tomas argued. “That big boat es muy rapido. It took off at over forty miles an hour. El barco,
One-Eyed Jack
, not do that even if she was new.” “What we gonna do now, Walt,” Lester asked.

“Head for the fuel dock, Tomas,” Walt said. “This tubs runnin’ on fumes. Lester, me and you gonna go see that manager and get a place to dock this piece of shit and see what we can find out.”

Tomas pulled up to the fuel dock and Walt and Lester headed off to the managers office to pay for the fuel and get a docking space. “He musta picked up the rest of his fishing party somewhere else. Les, you shoulda got more information from those two fishermen.”

“I was in a hurry to get to the boat,” Lester said.

“Yeah, I guess you did right,” Walt said as the entered the Marina office.

Aaron saw the boat pull up at the fuel dock and the two men coming toward the office. Jesse had told him to make sure they knew about the party that was set to start at noon, but wouldn’t get fully underway until mid-afternoon.

When Walt and Lester walked in, Lester immediately noticed that the manager was wearing a necklace exactly like the one he’d taken from the old man. It surprised him, at first. Walt said, “We never did find our buddy, Jesse, up in Miami like that guy said. We ended up renting our own boat, as you can see. Need some gas and a place to park it, if you got room. We figured he’d come back here.”

Aaron noticed that Lester stared at the doubloon, hanging on a gold chain around his neck. “Actually, he did a couple days ago. Closed out his account and said he’d come back next week to remove his signage and gear from the dock. Sorry to see him go. He brought a lot of business to the marina.”

“Well, that sucks,” Walt said. “Did you tell him we were looking to charter with him?”

“I wasn’t here,” Aaron said. “That’s what my assistant told me, later. I can put you in slip ten, down near the end. They’re numbered on the pilings.”

“Any idea where he’s staying now?” Lester asked as he handed over a credit card that the boss had given him for expenses.

“No, he didn’t say,” Aaron replied, running the card through the machine. “I asked Robin that, specifically. But you can probably catch him at the big party tomorrow at the Rusty Anchor. All the locals’ll be there.”

“A party huh?” Walt said. “Yeah, where is this Rusty Anchor?”

“Go out to highway one,” Aaron said, “turn right and go about a half a mile. It’s the crushed shell driveway on the right. No signs or anything. Right across highway one from the U-haul place.”

“Hey, thanks,” Walt said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and catch up to him there, before we, um, head out on our fishing trip. Let’s go, Lester.”

The two men left the office, and then Lester said, “I’ll be right back, Walt. Forgot something’.”

“Be quick about it,” Walt said.

Lester returned to the office and when he walked in, Aaron was just about to dial the phone on his desk. Lester said, “Hey, I just wanted to ask ya where ya got that necklace?” Reaching down the front of his shirt, he pulled his own necklace out and said, “I got one looks just like it.”

“Oh this,” Aaron said, lifting the necklace Rusty had given him. “My wife gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago. It’s from the Atocha.”

“The Atocha?” Lester asked. “That a store, or something?”

“No,” Aaron said laughing. “The Atocha was a Spanish shipwreck that Mel Fischer found, some years back. Had a huge fortune of treasure on board. They made a lot of them into necklaces. Can I have a closer look?”

Lester held it up so Aaron could look at it. Aaron turned it over and noticed the initials RL neatly engraved in the top of the mount. Thinking quickly and counting on the man not knowing anything about treasure ships since he’d never heard of the Atocha, he said, “No, yours must be from the Rio Lagos. They put that RL on the back of some of them. That and the chains are a little different.”

“Know how much your wife paid for yours?” Lester asked.

“No, not married to her anymore,” Aaron lied. In fact, he’d never been married. “But I had it appraised after we split up. It’s worth about three grand.” He knew this because he’d seen them for sale at the Mel Fischer museum.

“Three grand!” Lester said. “Son of a bitch!”

“Don’t tell me you got ripped off,” Aaron said, nervously.

“Um, yeah,” Lester said. “I paid over four for it, three years ago.”

“That’s too bad,” Aaron said. “It might be worth that today, been a while since I had mine appraised.”

“Thanks, man,” Lester said, walking out of the office. Damn, he thought, if Sonny lied about what this is worth, he probably lied about all of it. Son of a bitch ripped me off. He walked back to the boat, dejected. Sonny had given him the seventy thousand for everything, saying it was only gonna bring a hundred grand. Lester was thinking, if he was off by a third on the necklace, that means he ripped me off by about a hundred grand. That damn weasel.

When he got back to the boat, Walt was on the phone with Sonny. He ended the call and said, “Boss wants us to rent a car and split up. If we can’t find out where the dude parks his boat by tomorrow afternoon, we snatch him at the party. But, either way, Tomas has to have the boat over to Brown’s Cay by early Tuesday morning, preferably Monday night and it’s an all day trip there.”

“How the hell we s’posed to split up if we only rent one car?” Lester asked.

“One of us stays here with the boat on the off chance the guy shows up here. The rest of us go in the car, find him, and grab him. Then we come back here and beat it back to Miami.”

“I’ll stay here,” Tomas said. “I been up since midnight.”

“No,” Lester said. “You need to go. Your Spanish might be needed at some of these backwater marinas. I’ll stay here. If he does show back up here, I’m probably the only one that can take him, one-on-one, without shooting him. Boss said he’s pretty big, six three and two thirty.”

The other three men looked at one another then Walt decided, “Yeah, you stay with the boat Lester. Stay sharp. I got a cab coming to take us to the airport to rent a car. I’ll go out front and wait for it. You guys dock the boat over in slip ten, then Tomas, you and Benny get out front.”

Walt headed around the bar, which was now in full swing on a Saturday night. The other three men finished gassing up the boat, which took twenty minutes, as it took almost two hundred gallons. Tomas put the bill on a credit card the boss had given him for just that and they backed the boat away from the fuel dock and motored over to slip ten. As Tomas backed the boat into the slip, Lester noticed a man boarding a houseboat two docks down. “Must be nice to live on a houseboat like that,” he said.

“Livin pon a boat sucks, mon,” Benny said.

Art boarded the houseboat, unlocked the door and turned on the back deck light. He found an empty beer can in the trash, rinsed it well and filled it with bottled water from the fridge. Then he went up to the sundeck watch the men that had just docked in slip ten. They sure didn’t look or act like any boat people he’d known and growing up in a coastal town, he‘d known a lot. He texted Deuce to check in and let him know that the boat had just tied up in the slip two down, just as Aaron had said. After he disconnected, he watched as two of the men, on Hispanic and one black, walked around the bar, where the pale bald guy had gone, leaving the body builder alone on the bridge of the boat.

Art’s phone chirped and he had an email from Deuce, forwarded from Mister Smith. It was a list of known associates of one Sonny Beech, who’d met earlier with the suspected al Qaeda sympathizer. The list was complete with pictures and a short history of arrests on each man. Three of the four men he saw matched three on the list, but the body builder wasn’t on it. He emailed Deuce back and said that the three men on the boat were indeed Walter O’Hara, who appeared to be in charge, Tomas Rodriguez, who was the only one aboard that seemed to know anything about boats, and Benjamin Simms, who he caught a few words from and was obviously from a Caribbean island. He looked toward the front of the bar and saw a taxi pull up. The three men from the boat got in the taxi and left. He texted this to Deuce.

Sunday morning, October 30, 2005

The City Clerk’s office was usually closed on Sunday’s, but in a small town, on a small island, all it took was a quick phone call. The Clerk, who was a client of both Alex and Jesse, was beside himself to get to the office and issue them a marriage license. “I knew I’d see you two in here one day,” he said. “Welcome home, Alex. When will you be back to guiding?”

“Thanks, Felix,” Alex said. “Just got a new boat the other day. I should be ready to go back to work in a few days. I’ve heard the tarpon are really hitting hard this month. Want to give it a try?”

“I’ve never caught anything that big on a fly rod, that’d be a lot of fun,” he replied. “So, you two are gonna combine forces, huh?”

“Yes, we are,” I said, smiling. Felix was a real busybody and I knew within an hour or two, every fisherman and fisherwoman on the island would know. “In fact, Rusty’s gonna do the ceremony in about an hour. That is, if we can get the license.”

“Well, normally, there’s a three day wait, just like buying a handgun. Unless you’ve both attended a state sanctioned marriage prep class. But I’m also licensed by the state to give that course. I can postdate it to show that you took it three days ago. That would allow you to go through with the ceremony this morning.”

“Thanks, Felix,” I said. “You won’t get into trouble doing that will you?”

“Oh, Lord no. I do it all the time for people I know should be together and you two should have been together a long time ago.”

“That’s so sweet,” Alex said. “Please come early to the party at Rusty Anchor today. We’re going to do the ceremony at ten o’clock and the party starts at noon.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Can I bring Kevin?”

“We’d love to have you both, wouldn’t we, Jesse.”

“Absolutely,” I said.

With that, Felix went to work on his computer and within minutes handed us a form to sign, for the preparatory class. We both signed it and handed it back, then he handed us the marriage license, which we also both signed and handed back. He peeled off the top copy of both and handed them to me and said, “You’re all set, you two. Best of luck and Kevin and I will see you in a few hours. We both just love weddings.”

After leaving the Clerk’s office, Alex said, “Is it okay with you that I asked them? They’re both very good clients and always tip me well.”

“Of course,” I said. “They’re both really nice guys.”

We drove back to the Anchor with our marriage license, all set. When we got there, Jimmy was already positioned at the front of the driveway. Alex rolled down her window and I said, “You’re out here a little early, aren’t you Jimmy?”

He just grinned and said, “Seemed like the thing to do, considering.”

“Considering what?” I asked suspiciously.

“Well, dude, you know how the coconut telegraph works. The parking lot’s half-full already. Everyone’s waiting for y’all. I got a chain here, that I’m gonna put up about 1000. That be alright?”

“Shit,” I mumbled. “Sorry, Alex. Looks like you’re gonna have a big wedding, whether you want it or not. Yeah, Jimmy, 1000 is fine.”

She smiled and said, “It’s all good, as long as you’re here.”

We drove on into the parking lot and Jimmy wasn’t kidding. Though I recognized many of the cars and pickups, there were a number that I didn’t. There were tables set up outside, with chairs arranged on both sides, even a make do alter at the far end of the yard, with all the tables lined up toward it. But, there were no people in the yard.

We got out of the Jeep and walked into the bar, which erupted in cheers. Julie and Angie came over and took Alex away, Julie saying, “Time to get you ready.” They disappeared out the door behind the bar, headed toward the house.

I walked over to the bar and gave Rusty the license. He looked it over and said, “Guess you’re all set. You have rings and a best man?”

“No,” I replied. “This came up pretty sudden.” Deuce was standing at the bar, drinking a cup of coffee. “Deuce, if I’d had time to plan this better and your dad was still around, he would have been the one to stand up with me. Would you take his place?”

“Jesse,” he said, “I’d be honored.”

Rusty reached under the bar and pulled out a small box, saying, “That just leaves the matter of the rings. These were Karen’s and mine. I’d be proud, if you and Alex would accept them as my wedding gift.”

“You gotta be kidding, Rusty,” I said, completely taken aback. “We couldn’t possibly accept those.”

“You been like a brother to me, ever since we was in boot camp. I insist.”

I thought about it and knew how much Alex would be touched by the gesture. “For Alex’s sake, I’ll accept. Thanks, man.”

“You better get on over to your boat and get changed,” he said. “Unless you wanna get married in fishing shorts and boat shoes.”

I picked up the little box and walked out to my boat. The dog was curled up on the deck of the cockpit, sleeping. He lifted his head as I stepped aboard and I said, “Pescador, go get on the skiff.” To my surprise, he bounded off the deck and trotted down the dock to my Maverick, where he sat down on the casting deck. I yelled at him, “Stay there for a while.” I wanted him with me when I, hopefully, left with Lester. I unlocked the door to the salon and walked through to the stateroom. I opened the hanging closet and surveyed my options. Then, I sat down on the bunk and called Alex.

When the connection was made, she said, “A bit overwhelmed, Captain Courageous?”

That made me laugh. “Rusty gave us his and Karen’s wedding rings as a gift. Can you believe that?”

“Yeah,” she said, “Julie told me he was going to. I just love that guy.”

“What are you wearing? I’m sitting in the stateroom, staring into my hanging closet and my options are severely limited.”

“Julie wants me to wear this little white dress she has. It fits well and looks nice, but it’s not me, Jesse. Can we keep it simple, before things get too out of hand?”

“God, I love you,” I said. “Jeans okay?”

“Perfect, I have a nice pair of designer jeans that look great. I can wear a white blouse with it.”

“Okay, jeans I have an abundance of. Hang on,” I said, standing and sorting through the hanging locker. “Yeah, I have a decent white, long sleeve shirt.”

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s do this.”

I ended the connection, stripped and got in the shower. Five minutes later, I stepped out, toweled off and shaved. I could use a haircut, but, what the hell. Another five minutes and I was sitting on the bench by the dock, slipping on my black loafers. I don’t like black soled shoes on the boat. They leave scuff marks.

Jimmy was walking down the driveway when I got back to the bar. He said, “Everyone’s here that’s coming. You ready, Skipper?

“Yeah, Jimmy,” I replied. “This’ll be the third time for me, but it’ll be the only time I’ve done it for the right reasons.”

Together, we walked into the bar, where everyone was still congregated. Rusty waved me over to the bar and sat two shot glasses down, then poured us both a shot of Pusser’s Navy rum. Lifting his glass, he said in a loud voice, “Here’s to the wind that blows, the ship that goes, and the lass that loves a sailor.” We both tossed back the rum and Rusty added, “Let’s get on with this, before I get cold feet.”

Everyone followed us out of the bar. All mine and Alex’s friends were here. Aaron and Art came through the woods and walked up to Deuce and me. Aaron handed me Rusty’s necklace and said, “Those guys on the boat? They left just after sunrise. All but the Hispanic guy. They must have rented a car last night, it’s a silver Toyota four door.”

“Thanks, Aaron,” I said.

“Lester must be really tired,” Art said. “The other three left soon after sunset in a taxi, but didn’t get back until past midnight, in a rental car. He was sitting on the bridge, making passes at every woman that walked by. It was pathetic. The Hispanic guy is on the bridge now, but it looks like he’s even more tired. He’s snoring away.”

“Odds are they’ll show up here in a few hours,” Deuce said. “Jesse, I’m not real crazy about doing this, with those guys looking for you.”

“No problemo, man,” Jimmy said, walking up behind me. “I put up a chain across the driveway, with a sign on it saying ‘Open party at noon’. We have two hours.”

Angie came around the corner of the bar, carrying her guitar. “We’re ready, Jesse,” she said. Then she walked back to the corner and sat down.

“Let’s do it,” Rusty said. “Saturday night, rock and roll.” Rusty led the way, with Deuce and I following. We walked up to the alter and took our places. Then Angie started playing softly on the guitar and Julie came around the corner of the bar and walked down the row between the tables. She came to stand on the opposite side of the alter, across from Deuce and I. Angie started playing the Wedding March and everyone stood up. Alex walked around the corner and came down the same aisle. She was wearing a ruffled, white blouse and tight jeans, low on her hips. She looked beautiful. She came to stand next to me.

Rusty said, “Everyone sit down, please.” When they had taken their seats, he said, “We’re all here today, to see two friends marry. This day has been a long time coming. Who gives this woman?”

Jimmy stood and said, “Myself and all her friends.”

Alex smiled and nodded at Jimmy, then looked into my eyes. She whispered, “Last chance, Captain Jesse.”

I smiled back at her and nodded at Rusty. He said, “Do you have the rings?”

I handed the rings to Rusty and he continued with the service. “By exchanging these here rings, which have no end, you two are promising to love one another to no end. Jesse, place this ring on her finger. Do you take this woman to be your mate, to love, honor, and cherish her, as long as you both live?”

“I do,” I said.

“Alex,” Rusty said. “Place this ring on his finger. Do you take this man to be your Skipper, to love, honor, and cherish him, as long as you both live?”

“I do,” she said.

Rusty continued, “By the power given to me, by the great state of Florida, I now say y’all are man and wife. Brother, you can kiss your bride.”

I took my new wife in my arms and kissed her, as Rusty said, “Folks, allow me to introduce Jesse and Alex McDermitt.”

Everyone got to their feet and cheered, as we walked between the tables. Once we got to the last one, Rusty yelled out, “Now let’s celebrate! Jimmy, go open that gate. No damn hurricane can overcome the Conch spirit!”

The reception continued until noon, and then Jimmy went out and took the chain down. It was fun celebrating with all our friends, but now it was time for me to be Stretch. Everyone there had already been informed and as more celebrators arrived, Jimmy made sure they knew too. Rusty was down at the docks, helping people tie up and clueing them in, too. I told Alex that until the bad guys arrived and were out of the way, we had to pretend we weren’t together. Just before 1400, when the celebration was really getting under way, my phone rang. When I looked at it, it was Jimmy.

“Three non-locals in a silver Toyota coming in, man,” he said.

“That’s probably them,” I said. “Thanks Jimmy.”

“No problemo, man,” he said. “I even charged ’em forty bucks to get in. Can I keep it?”

“Sure Jimmy,” I said. “You earned it and more.” I closed the phone, got Deuce’s attention, and gave him the go sign. Deuce had said he was going to play me, and see how things pan out.

I turned to Alex and before I could say anything, she said, “So how’s the fishing been, Stretch?”

I laughed, gave her a peck on the cheek and said, “Thanks, babe. I’ll make this up to you.”

“You bet you will,” she said with a leer.

The Toyota rental car parked in the lot and three men got out. They were obvious outsiders. Lester and Walter O’Hara, we already knew. The other one, from the email Deuce’s boss sent, we knew to be Tomas Rodriguez. Benjamin Simms was still on the boat.

Deuce was walking towards the parking lot, as the three men were coming toward the yard. They walked right past one another and Deuce turned and walked around the turning basin and headed towards Rusty’s skiff. I moved toward the middle of the yard and was laughing it up with two flats guides. I made sure that I was facing the three men, as they came into the yard looking around. Tomas saw the
Revenge
and pointed it out to the other three and they started heading that way. Perfect, I thought, they‘d have to walk right past me.

“Hey guys,” I said. “Did you find McDermitt?”

They stopped, and then Walt recognized me from Aaron’s office. Lester did a double take and stared at the doubloon hanging around my neck. I’d changed into fishing pants and a work shirt. Walter said, “Hey, man. We were just going over to his boat, to say hi. Big party here, huh.”

“Yeah,” I said, “good time. But hey, you just walked past him. Guess you missed him in the crowd. There he is over there, getting in his skiff.”

The three men looked across the canal and watched as Deuce tossed the lines and looked straight at them, before cranking the engine and heading down the canal.

“Damn,” Lester said. “He’s getting’ away. I mean, um, he’s leavin’.”

The two guides took the hint when I nodded at them and walked away. The three men watched as Deuce disappeared around the end of the canal, headed west.