Fallen Palm (Jesse McDermitt Series) (7 page)

“Deuce,” I said, “I’ve been retired for over five years now. I like what I do and where I do it. Alex has just came back into my life after being gone for over a year and I’m going to take her up to my island, where I built a house over this past year. I’m not really interested in a nine to five job.”

“Just call the guy,” he said. “Doesn’t have to be right away. Maybe I can tell you more tomorrow.”

Just then, Alex and Rufus opened the back door and a gust of wind blew in, carrying with it the smell of some of Rufus’ finest concoctions. “No promises, man,” I said. “Let’s eat.”

The wind was getting stronger as we chowed down on some fine grouper, shrimp and crab claws. Rufus had thrown over a dozen ears of corn in a steamer, too. It was nearly midnight and we were having a good time, but still checking the updates on the storm every fifteen or twenty minutes. At 0130, Rusty finally called it a night by saying, “I gotta switch the power over to the house soon, or I’ll lose everything in the fridge there. That’s our breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. I think it’s time we all turned in.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Alex said, smiling at me. “I’m getting pretty tired anyway. It’s been a long day. What’s the latest on the storm?”

Julie had changed the TV from the Weather Channel to a PBS channel that only showed the most recent update, scrolling across the screen. “Says its seventy miles west northwest of Key West and still heading northwest. It probably won’t get any closer than eighty or a hundred miles of us to the north, maybe just before dawn.” Then she faked a yawn and said, “Deuce, walk a girl home?”

Deuce got quickly to his feet and together they headed for the door. Again, I looked at Rusty, behind the bar. “They’re adults,” he said. “And Deuce seems like a nice enough guy.”

“Alright everyone,” I said, “party’s over.” Lefty and Diego had left quite a bit earlier, as soon as the food was gone. Rufus had gone to his little cabin, shortly after that.

“Lock up, will ya, Jesse?” Rusty asked. “I’m gonna turn in and clean up in the morning.”

Jimmy headed for the door and said, “Come on dudes, I’ll show you where you’re gonna bunk. I think there’s still a few beers in the fish cooler.” Together the three of them headed out the door into the howling wind.

“Here’s your chance, ‘friend’,” Alex said. “You can run out that door and sleep under the bridge.”

I grinned and took her in my arms. “No,” I said, “I’ve been thinking about this for two years. Damn shame it’s not a little better night. Gentle breeze, bottle of wine, stars all across the sky, you and me back at my little house….”

“I never pictured you as the romantic type,” she said. “Let’s go, Captain, before you change your mind,” she added, reaching up to kiss me again.

Just then, the lights went out and it was pitch dark inside the bar. “Guess Rusty’s trying to hurry us along,” I said holding her and enjoying the scent of her hair. Lightning flashed far to the south, briefly illuminating the inside of the bar, just enough to get my bearings. I took her hand and we made it to the door, without tripping over anything.

“Wait,” Alex said. “My overnight bag is behind the bar, with my purse.”

“I’ll get it,” I said and went behind the bar. Getting to the bar in total darkness was easy since I’d done it so many times. I knew where Julie kept her purse stashed and that’s where I found Alex’s small bag and purse. I walked back to the door again and opened it. The wind was howling, but for the moment, the rain had stopped. I locked the door and we walked to the
Revenge
, hand in hand, with the wind whipping at us. The overhead light from the cockpit illuminated the gangplank and I could hear the burbling sound of the generator and the hum of the air conditioning unit. I crossed over the gangplank, with Alex behind me. I jumped down to the deck, turned and lifted her down lightly beside me. Opening the hatch to the salon, I saw that Jimmy, Art and Tony were sitting around the settee, checking out the storm on the laptop. Jimmy was a computer guru and installed a satellite wireless system, so when I was far offshore, or when local cell phone towers were out like now, I’d still have internet.

Looking up, Art said, “It’s moving faster now, still in the same direction, but at thirty miles per hour. Your First Mate here thinks it’ll make landfall south of Fort Myers about 0500.”

“Jimmy’s probably right,” I said. “He’s lived here all his life. Any beer left?”

“I’m going forward,” Alex said. “Don’t be long, ‘friend’.”

She disappeared down the steps to the forward berth, as I grinned and said, “Be right there.”

Art opened the cooler and handed me a cold Hatuey and two bottles of water. “What’s with this ‘friend’ thing?” he asked.

“Long story, Art. About two years,” I replied. I was wondering about it myself. “If Jimmy’s right, it should be fairly calm by morning. There’s gonna be a lot of work to do around here when we get up. Good night guys.”

I headed down the steps and opened the hatch to the forward berth. Alex’s purse and bag were sitting on top of the combination washer and dryer on the port side and the door to the private head was closed. I moved them to the long shelf on the starboard side and kicked off my Topsiders. I put the beer and water bottles in a small cooler built into the port side shelf. Pulling off my tee shirt and shorts, I tossed them both in the washer, then pulled down the covers and sheets on the large bed and climbed in wearing only my skivvies. I turned the lights down to very low and waited, listening to the wind howl outside.

The door to the head opened, and Alex stepped out, wearing a light blue, very sheer nightgown. The light from inside the head silhouetted her firm body through the flimsy material. She turned off the light and climbed into the large bed beside me. The warmth of her body next to mine was like a furnace. “I’m so glad to be home,” she said and curled up into my embracing arms. Within minutes, I was glad there was a hurricane blowing outside, with the howling wind, driving rain and rocking waves. Or was there?

Monday morning, October 24, 2005

Sunlight was streaming in through the hatch in the overhead, when I woke up. My skivvies were laying on the shelf to my right and a satin blue nightgown was lying on the floor. Alex was curled up next to me, with her head on my shoulder. I wanted nothing more than to just lie there like that for a month. Well, maybe wake her up for round three, I thought. She stirred and opened her eyes. “Are we still alive?” she asked.

I laughed softly and kissed her cheek. “Yeah, the storm’s passed. I’m guessing it’s after 0900.”

“Do you always do that?” she asked laughing.

“Do what?”

“You’re not in the Marines anymore. It’s after nine o’clock, or even nineish.” She jabbed me in the ribs and said, “We better get out there. There’s probably a huge mess.”

She got up from the bed and went to her bag lying on the shelf. Damn Jesse, I thought while admiring her body, it sure took you long enough. When she turned around, pulling a denim work shirt on, she caught me looking at her backside, smiling. “Don’t even think about it, Captain Horny,” she laughed. “I’m already going to be walking bow legged for a week.”

“You know, I’ve really missed your laugh,” I said, climbing off the bunk. I reached below the foot of the bunk and pulled the release that allows the spring-loaded bed to lift up. I grabbed a clean pair of skivvies, a tee shirt and a pair of denim shorts from the locker and started to close it back.

“What’s in that huge box under there?” she asked.

“Just some tools and things,” I lied. Truth was, you can take the man out of the Marines, but you can’t take the Marines out of the man. Inside that box was a small arsenal.

She was pulling on a pair of jeans, wiggling them up over her hips, when I grabbed her from behind and held her tight. “Where are you staying?” I asked.

“I hadn’t even thought about it,” she said. “I only got here yesterday morning and spent the day with Julie catching up on the coconut telegraph, until she left to get you. Is there some place you recommend?”

“I know of a little house, not to far away. It’s sort of remote but the fishing is supposed to be pretty good.”

“Of course I’ll have to inspect it first,” she said, turning inside my embrace. She reached up and kissed me, then said, “Let’s get some work done, first.” She was headed out the door, while I was still struggling to get dressed.

Stepping down from the salon to the cockpit, I looked around the anchorage. The lines were all secure and the water was calm. There was a lot of flotsam in the water near the barge and the palm trees on the west side of the basin were frayed, as were those on the east side. A large lignum vitae tree had uprooted and fallen, narrowly missing the bar. Alex was just walking into the bar and I saw that Tony and Art had a chain saw and were just about to start cutting the tree up, to remove it.

“Tony,” I yelled, as I crossed the gangplank onto the barge, “Hold up a second.” I walked over to where they were. “That’s a lignum vitae tree, it’s super hard wood. There’s no way that little chainsaw will last through two cuts. Notice that none of the branches are broken?”

Art replied, “Yeah, we noticed that. Thought maybe it fell over softly in the wind.”

“No, this wood is so hard, no wind on earth could ever break the larger branches. A ten foot long two-by-four made of this stuff would support all three of us. Rufus has the right kind of saw for this project. Have you seen him?”

“He’s out back, cooking,” Tony replied. I’d noticed something about these two Sailors. Ask one of them a question and the other would answer.

“That guy sure can cook,” Art added.

“Yeah,” I said, “he was the head chef at a five star resort in Jamaica, up until about thirty years ago. He retired and came here in the seventies. If you go out to the shed next to his cabin, you’ll find the big brother to this little thing. If you would, make the cuts at the ends of any straight branches and leave the trunk whole. Rusty can have it hauled to a mill up in Homestead. It’s worth a lot of money to some people, namely me.”

“Sure thing, Jesse,” Tony said. “Doesn’t seem to be any other damage here, except for some scattered debris. Jimmy got up at 0530 and checked the storm. Never got any closer than eighty miles, it looks like, but your wind gauge was showing ninety mph gusts. He said he had to go check on his mom and would be back later.”

“We dodged the worst of it. Your first hurricane?” I asked.

“No, we’ve been through a couple,” Tony replied without further explanation. Looking around the property, he said, “The Commander talked to you about our change of duty?”

“All three of you?” I asked and both men nodded. “Well, from what he said, it sounds like it’ll be a benefit to the country as a whole, but I can’t help thinking it’ll be a great loss to the Navy.”

“Thank you, sir,” Tony said and they both headed off to the back of the property where Rufus’ cabin was located. Now my curiosity was piqued. An agency that didn’t bind its men with ridiculous rules and was able to recruit from the best of the best? Other than rules, what would be the incentive? I headed into the bar to find Rusty and Deuce.

“Bout time you rousted yourself, Devil Dog,” Rusty said, as I walked through the door. “Julie and me done cleaned up the whole damn island all by ourselves,” he added, smiling at Alex.

“Sorry about your tree, Rusty,” I said as I sat down next to Alex, who leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Tony and Art are gonna cut it up into board length. Where’s Deuce?”

Julie looked up and replied, “He said he had to make some phone calls when he got up this morning. He left just after sunrise. Don’t know how he’s gonna make a call, all the phone lines are down and there’s no cell service.”

Deuce stepped inside and motioned for me. I followed him back outside and he said, “Our training’s been moved up. We have to leave at noon to make a flight out of Miami. I’ve been authorized to tell you a bit more.” He was all business now.

“Deuce,” I said, “I told you last night, I love it here and I love what I do. I doubt anything could tempt me away.”

“That’s just it, Jesse,” he said. “Nothing much will change. If you accept what my boss is offering, you’ll just keep doing what you’ve been doing. Occasionally, you might be called on to do something a little different, but you’re free to say no at any time. My boss is meeting us at the plane and he’ll come back down here in the rental. He really wants to meet you in person and explain things in more detail. Just hear him out, that’s all I ask. I think you’ll like what he has to say. I’ll have to wait a few weeks until I can get back down here to take care of dad’s ashes.”

The roar of Rusty’s big Stihl 40 inch, 8.5 horsepower chainsaw suddenly split the air, like an over revving outboard engine. “What the hell is that?” Deuce asked, astonished.

“I think Tony and Art found Rusty’s big saw,” I replied. “I’ll listen to what he says, Deuce, but no promises. Let’s go give your guys a hand.”

Art was on the saw. His large arms taught, wrestling with the twenty-pound saw, as Tony was trying to manhandle the branches that he’d cut from the tree. I knew from experience they were more than the wiry man could handle. Hell, they’d be more than I could handle alone, but he was giving it all he had. Art shut the saw off as we approached and said, “You weren’t kidding about the big brother or this wood, man.”

I just laughed and said, “Yeah, we’ll need to sharpen that blade at least twice before we get this done.”

Struggling with a small branch, Tony asked, “Is this damn tree made of steel, or what?”

There was a small knot from one of the branches sitting on the ground, that wasn
’t useful for anything. I picked it up and said, “Watch this.” I carried it over to the dock, with all three men following me. When I got to the edge, I tossed it out in the basin and it sank straight away to the bottom and never came back up. “Damn,” Deuce said. “A wood that doesn’t float?”

“Lignum Vitae is the densest wood on the planet,” I replied. “My house is made of this stuff.”

“Some day I’d like to see that house,” Deuce said.

“Be glad to show it to you. The island’s small and surrounded with mangroves. I cleared part of the interior, a circle about 150 feet around, intending to plant some vegetables. Except the ground’s too rocky and the water too salty. Now, there’s just a single coconut tree in the middle of the huge clearing.”

Deuce looked at me and said, “You know, if you cut down that tree, a clearing that big would make a great LZ.”

LZ is military speak for a helicopter landing zone. “I’ll have to keep that in mind,” I said, “if I ever decide to buy a chopper.”

“Or if friends want to come and visit,” Tony said, with a grin.

“You too?” I said. “Already told Deuce I wasn’t interested.”

We went back to work and had the rest of the tree cut up in just over an hour, even stopping to sharpen the blade twice. Everything that was usable we stacked neatly behind the bar. The trunk we left where it had fallen, once it was cut away from the roots. Rusty would have to use the backhoe to load it on a flatbed, it was so heavy. The small stuff we put in the back of Rusty’s pickup. Alex came out, just as we were finishing up, with four tall glasses of suntea and said, “We got everything cleaned up inside. Rufus has lunch ready.”

It was already getting hot, so we drank down the tea and Deuce said, “We’ll have to eat and run, ma’am. I mean, Alex. We have a plane to catch up in Miami at 1400.”

Alex looked at her watch and said, “It’s over a hundred miles, you’ll never get there in time to get through security.”

“It’s a private plane we’re taking out of Miami,” he said. Hmmm, I thought, a chopper and a company plane? Just what the hell kind of outfit were these men working for?

We headed inside and sat at the bar, eating jerked chicken and potatoes and talking about the storm. Afterwards, Deuce and Julie walked outside, while Tony and Art went to the
Revenge
to grab their sea bags. When they came back inside minutes later, Deuce said, “Thanks for the hospitality, Rusty. We really appreciate it.”

“No sir, thank you for all your help,” Rusty said, shaking hands with all three men. “Y’all come on back down here any time.”

Tony went to the back and talked to Rufus for a minute. Then he shook his hand and came back. “I got a recipe,” he said.

Everyone laughed and we all walked with the three Sailors out to their car. Tony and Art carried the sea bags to the trunk and Julie gave Deuce a bear hug, much like her dad did, when they’d first met. She kissed him and told him he’d better be back soon. The three men then got into the sedan and drove down the shell driveway.

“Think he knows Rule Six,” Rusty asked, as we walked back toward the bar.

We both laughed and Julie just rolled her eyes. “Rule Six?” Alex asked.

“It’s a bunch of dumb rules Jarheads have for men who want to date their daughters,” Julie replied, rolling her eyes.

“Really?” Alex asked. “Do you guys have rules for everything?”

Without missing a step, Rusty and I said in unison, “Yep, Semper Fi.”

“Rusty?” I asked. “Mind if Alex and I borrow your skiff to go out to the house and get mine. I’ll have it back tomorrow.”

“No need to even ask,” he replied. “Julie can trailer it down to Dockside, while I finish up here.”

“I’d also like to borrow your barge and loader. Jimmy used to operate one just like it and he’s agreed to come up to the house later this week and help me enlarge the channel. My permit’s still good until the end of the year and I’d really like to not have to pay Dockside to dock there.”

“Sure, you wanna borrow my skivvies, too,” he laughed.

“I’ll get the skiff hooked up to the truck, dad,” Julie said. “Give me a hand, Alex?”

The two women headed around the side of the bar, where the skiff had been secured the night before. Rusty turned to me and asked, “What’s your take on those three men?”

I knew exactly what he really wanted to know. Julie had never shown much interest in men and he was worried. Yeah, I had some experience at being the guy that was always away and he didn’t want Julie to be hurt.

“I could be totally wrong, Rusty,” I said. “But I think Deuce is a straight up guy. I haven’t seen either of my daughters in years. If I could choose a man for them, I’d pick someone cut from Deuce’s cloth.” My daughters from my first marriage lived in North Carolina, with their mom. She’d filled their heads from childhood on what a terrible person I was and other than sending them a card on their birthdays with a check inside, I hadn’t really had any contact with them in fifteen years. The checks were never cashed. Guess that said something, in and of itself. “Truth is,” I said to my old friend, “I look at Julie like she was my own kid. I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Besides, how much of a romance can bloom in just two days?”

The pickup pulled up on the side of the bar just then and Alex said, “Let’s get a move on, Captain Carpenter. I want to see that house.”

“We’ll be back tomorrow,” I told Rusty.

“Yeah, right,” he said. “I won’t hold my breath.”

I climbed in next to Alex and Julie drove down the long shell driveway and turned left on A-1-A, then left on Sombrero, toward Dockside. “So, what do you think of Russell?” Julie asked.