Sea Creature (15 page)

“I want to leave today,” she said. “Come with me.”

“Not yet. I have something I have to do.”

“You’re not talking about going after this thing are you?” Patrick didn’t say anything. “Patrick, you can’t be serious. These people are . . .” She looked around to make sure no one was out on any nearby balconies. “These people are dangerous. Taylor’s crazy.”

“He seems all right.”

“Something’s wrong with him. The way he talks; his thought process, I don’t know. Something’s not all there.”

“Chris works for him now. I don’t know if I’m ready to leave him.”

“You don’t know if you’re ready to leave him or your brother?”

He looked at her and then away, back out over the ocean.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you two were close. But he’s gone, Patrick. Killing a squid isn’t going to bring him back.”

“He’s paying me decent money for a few weeks work, Jane. And there’s a chance I could get some fame from this. No one’s ever seen a giant squid. Could you imagine if we caught one? They have no idea how big these things get. Chris was saying this could be the biggest animal in the world.”

“And you’re going to kill it because Taylor Hamilton has a hard-on for it?”

“They don’t want to kill it. They want to capture it.”

“Why?”

“Fame I guess. Maybe he’s just obsessed with these things and wants to be the first one to capture it, I don’t know.”

She stood up, closing her robe tightly. “This is stupid, Patrick. This is stupid and immature. I’m getting on a plane tonight, with or without you.”

Patrick sighed as she got into the shower and leaned against the balcony railing with his elbows and watched the early morning surfers on the beach. There were only five or six of them; all adrenaline junkies. Some of their friends or relatives had video recorders on the beach and were recording the surf in case one of them was attacked.

There was a knock at the door and Patrick went and opened it. Mitch stood there with a smile on his face and two ginger ale bottles in his hand.

“Mind if I come in?”

“Sure.”

Patrick went back to the balcony and Mitch joined him, giving him a ginger ale. “For your stomach,” he said.

“They don’t seem scared,” Patrick said, looking at a new carload of surfers that parked near the beach and began to unload their boards.

“Nah, something weird really. You say ‘shark’ and people get to running out of the water. You say ‘squid’ and people think it’s funny. But I tell you, mate, it isn’t funny.”

“You’ve seen these things up close?”

“Well nobody’s seen one. Not a live one. But I saw a dead one once off the coast’a Greenland. It had washed up on the shore and I flew out to get a glimpse of it before it rotted away.”

“What was it like?”

“It was a fifty-two footer. Beautiful white with hooks the size’a fingers in its rings. It had somethin’ tied up in its legs and me and another fella opened them up and there was a ten foot white tip shark wrapped in it, all scared up from the rings. But the eyes’a the squid, that’s what stuck with me. It had angry eyes. We think that’s why it died; it drown trying to kill the shark. It would’ve rather died than let go of its prey. Yeah, for me, I’ll take a good sized shark any day.”

Jane stepped out of the shower in her bra and panties and saw Mitch. She casually took her gown off the chair and went back into the bathroom to slip it on.

“Fun night?”

“None of your business,” Patrick said. “Why you here anyway?”

“Can’t I come and just chit chat with my fellow sailors?”

“No, you can’t. You want something.”

“Got me pegged. I need you to do something for me.”

“What?”

“One of our crew got picked up last night on some criminal charge. He had a gutful’a piss and havin’ a good time. I’d like you to see if you could get him out for me.”

“Out of jail? How would I do that?”

“Word is you got in with the mayor.”

“He’s had me arrested twice, I’m not sure
in
is the right word.”

“He also let you go twice. Everybody been telling me he’s a bit of a hardass, but for some reason he’s taking a shining to you.” He took a long drink of ginger ale and then said, “My bloke’s got a wife and two kids back home and she ain’t got no other income. I’d consider it a personal favor if you could talk to the mayor. And I never forget my favors.”

“All right, I’ll talk to him. What’s your friend’s name?”

“Roger Wilcraft. I appreciate this, mate. You need anything, from now on, you come to me.” He softly punched his arm and left the room, glancing into the bathroom on his way out and catching a glimpse of Jane putting on make-up.

Ignacio paced nervously outside the governor’s office. The governor, Nico Amadeo, was a difficult man to get to know and even more difficult to like. He was unpredictable and violent, and Ignacio was never sure exactly how a meeting with him would go.

It was rumored one of his many mistresses had informed him a few years ago that she had gotten pregnant. In response, he beat her so badly she miscarried. After the miscarriage he set her up in an apartment of her own with a salary from the government for document reviewing.

“He is ready for you, Mr. Silva.”

“Thank you.”

The office was massive and Ignacio had always thought that perhaps this office had been shared by three or four different people before the government bought the building in the 1980’s. Nico sat behind his desk with one boot up on the edge and the phone glued to his ear. He motioned for Ignacio to sit down.

Ignacio did so and looked around the office. There were photos of family and fishing trips and dedications. But it was all a sham. He knew Nico’s wife lived in a separate residence and was lucky if she saw her husband once or twice a year. His children were raised by nannies and his father had been placed in a care facility for the elderly long ago, before he was considered elderly.

Nico hung up the phone and leaned back in the chair. “This is not good, Ignacio.”

“I know.”

“What of the men who kidnapped the touristas?”

“I told everyone that many of them were shot and the rest escaped.”

“Do you have donkeys training them? How did they let one tourista cause so much trouble?”

“These are average men, Nico. If we used the military for these as I wanted—”

“No, if anyone knew we did that it would be my head. No military. Just find people in the prisons that have at least had some training. And tell them to find touristas that are easier targets, heh?”

“I will, Patrõn.”

“Good. Now what of this fish?”

“Everyone knows about it. I could not stop it.”

“It will bring some people to try and see it, but couples and families will not come if they think it is dangerous. Families are who spend their money here.”

“I know.”

“You know? Then what will you do about it? Will you fuck every tourist that comes in as a bonus? How, Ignacio, will you fix this?”

“I will capture it.”

“And then what?”

“Then we will build an aquarium around it. It will be the first giant squid ever captured by man. People will come from all over the world to see it. And our beaches will still have families.”

Nico thought about this a moment and then a small smile crept over his lips. He pressed a button on his phone and his assistant answered. “I am sending Ignacio to you. Get him whatever he needs. I have decided to capture it and put it in an aquarium. What do you think of my idea, Roberto?”

“I love it. It is a great idea, Patrõn.”

“Ignacio, I have accepted this idea. Capture it and put it in an aquarium. Yes, I like this idea. We can have el presidente dedicate it and have all the cameras there.”

“It is a great idea, Patrõn.”

“Yes, I believe it is.”

Patrick walked to the restaurant from his hotel. The day was hot but enjoyable and he watched the tourists shopping in the elegant stores or strolling along the streets snapping photos of old buildings and statues.

The restaurant was called the Parisian Bistro and it actually was reminiscent of the cafés in Paris. There was a veranda and people sat sipping cappuccino and surfing the internet on laptops or reading. One man was making a drawing of the waitress with pencil and charcoal on a white pad and Patrick glanced at the drawing as he walked by.

He scanned the interior of the restaurant and saw Ignacio sitting by himself. He sat next to a window and watched the tourists on the street as they looked into the restaurant and stopped by the entrance, scanning the menu hung near the door.

Patrick walked to him.

“Hello, Mayor.”

He took a sip of cappuccino leaving a bit of foam on his upper lip. He wiped it with a napkin and motioned with his head to the chair across from him. Patrick sat down and looked out the window as Ignacio took a bite of his egg white omelet.

“Do you want anything to eat?”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Your ship is sailing soon. Are you going to be on it?”

“Yes.”

“That is a mistake, blanquito. You should go back to America and leave that ship alone.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t. But you’re here so I will give you my advice.”

“I need to ask you a favor.”

Ignacio laughed. “What have you done to earn a favor? You Americans never stop amazing me. You come to my country, get thrown in jail twice, I let you go and you come with your hand out asking for a favor. What happened to the cowboys, blanquito? I thought Americans were independent and never asked anyone for help?”

“The cowboys died out. We’re into handouts as much as anyone else now.”

“Okay, at least you are honest. What is the favor?”

“There’s somebody being held at the jail named Roger Wilcraft. I would like him released.”

“Yes, I’ve seen this man. How do you know him?”

“He’s supposed to sail on the ship with us.”

“And he is a friend of yours?”

“Actually, no, I’ve never met him. But someone asked for help and they seemed to think that I may have some pull with you. The guy has a wife and kids back home.”

“Hm, a wife and kids, you say? And tell me, do you know why he is in jail? Did this person explain this to you?”

“No.”

“He raped a maid at the hotel, blanquito. How do you think his wife and kids would react to that?”

“I didn’t know that’s what it was.”

Ignacio took another bite of omelet and swallowed some water out of glass. “She is not coming forward. She has been paid I would think. I could hold the man if I wished. But there is no point. I was going to release him anyway.”

“Thank you. Is there anything I can do for you in return?”

“Actually there is. I need—”

His cell phone rang and he picked it up off the table and answered it. He spoke in Spanish for a few moments and then looked to Patrick, his eyes wide.

“Gracias,” he said as he hung up. “I think I will not be needing that favor.”

“Why?”

“The squid. Some fisherman have caught it.”

People were swarming on the stretch of beach in front of the upscale Ocean Pearl Resort in Viña. Camera crews were there from several stations and many of the locals were crowding in to see the catch, held back only by a handful of police and a few barricades.

Ignacio pulled his car to a stop in the parking lot of the resort, Patrick behind him. They got out and Patrick had to hold himself back from breaking into a run. He followed Ignacio who walked casually through the crowd and nodded hello to one of the police officers as he went past him. He turned and pointed to Patrick and said something and the officer let him through as well.

The stink was the first thing Patrick noticed. Even before he could see anything and at least fifty feet from the water, the smell of rotting flesh filled the air. It smelled like putrid fish and feces and though it made Patrick nearly gag, Ignacio seemed not to notice.

They got past the reporters and the officers standing around watching, and saw the animal laying on the sand.

Its tentacles seemed to stretch from one end of the beach to the other. Its suckers were the size of golf balls and Patrick could see the sharp hooks inside them, glistening in the sunlight.

Mitch was near the posterior surface of the animal taking samples.

“Who caught this?” Ignacio said.

Several men began shouting and yelling and laughing and telling the story of how they had conquered the monster. They had used the carcass of a goat and several buckets of cow blood and had lured the monster to the surface. Then they’d blown part of its brain away with dynamite, dragging it behind the boat back to the beach.

Patrick could see the large gash near the monster’s eye where the explosion had caught it. He looked into the eye and it was staring back at him, glossy and black.

Patrick heard Ignacio swear under his breath.

“What’s the matter?”

“I did not want it dead.”

Ignacio walked over to the cameras and began speaking about the wonderful job the fisherman had done and what a service it was to their city. Mitch handed a few jars of flesh scrapings he’d taken to an assistant and walked over to Patrick, pulling off the latex gloves from his hands and throwing them over the carcass.

“Guess that takes care of our little trip,” Patrick said.

“Not exactly.”

“Why?”

“This is a giant squid all right, one of the biggest ever recorded. But it’s not the one we’re looking for.”

“How do you know?”

“Look at the clubs; the ends of its tentacles. See those toothed suckers? Those teeth aren’t chipped or cracked and they’ve hardly a scratch on ‘em. They’re brand spanking new. And the body doesn’t have any scarring or evidence that this squid has ever gone up against a shark or a whale. This here’s a baby.”

“A baby?”

“Yeah, it’s a baby. No more than four or five months I would think. Which means mama is still out there. And she’s got to have one helluva appetite.”

The pod drifted lazily near the surface, the warmth of the sun on their backs. At nearly seventy feet and 125,000 pounds, they had almost no natural predators with the exception of man. Their spermaceti—the substance covering their outer dermis and giving them the name “sperm” whale—is used to make candles and soaps and cosmetics. Hunted nearly to extinction, the sperm whale was no longer a common sight and they chose to swim in the open sea rather than closer to shore.