Smugglers 1: Nikki (13 page)

“Thanks for telling me,” Nikki said.  “Just so you know, days ago I evicted him from the dock. He’s always drunk and goes into the water nude, swimming around the other boats and annoying everyone. The Chief of Police has been here to talk to him, too, and come the end of thirty days, he’ll be gone. That’s in about twenty days. So don’t worry about James. He’ll be gone soon”

On the way back to her office Nikki decided she’d better carry some kind of weapon with her at all times, because that crazy asshole was unpredictable. She locked the door to her office door behind her, then proceeded to search for something to defend herself with. The claw hammer fit in her hand, but was too heavy to carry around. Any knife she found was too hard to carry around.

Then she remembered what Bill used to do in situations like this. He’d use a bandana; both ends were tied to a padlock. The padlock was stuffed into his pocket, and it was legal as all hell. So Nikki made her padlock weapon and hit the sofa with it a few times to see how it worked. As good as a nun chuck, it would knock your teeth out or knock you out, for sure. She put the padlock in her back pocket with the bandana hanging out.

Nikki went down the dock and talked to people there. Mark came down to join in and asked Nikki if she was OK. She said she was so he took a beer and started to drink because the work day was over. Brett and Brian and the two couples from New York came down to join in, too. Before long there were ten or twelve people on the dock. Somebody put on some CD’s like “Margarita Ville,” and they had a dock party.

After dark, the party started to break up and each went their own way or made dinner on their boats. Nikki and Brett went to Nikki’s apartment for dinner. They heard James leave his boat and start an old car he had bought. There was a knock on the door so Brett opened it. It was Mark.

“Well, I think your troubles are almost over,” Mark said. “James just told me he’s going to town to get supplies for a trip to Miami tomorrow. So I think he’ll be pulling out tomorrow.”

The color drained from Nikki’s face. She hadn’t gotten the money yet. She had to get rid of Brett for the night so she could go get the money before James came back. She asked Brett if he would mind if they got together tomorrow night because she didn’t feel very good and wanted to lie down. Brett said okay and he would call in a few hours to see how she was and he left with Mark.

Nikki ran through the apartment, got a suitcase and filled it full with Bill’s old clothes and newspapers. She changed to dark clothes and got the keys to Glenn’s work car.  After looking up and down the dock, she left and went to James’ boat. It was locked, so she had to go back to her office to get the extra key to the Sea Ray. She returned to his boat and once inside opened the hatch where the two nylon bags were stashed.

She quickly pulled them out and put them on the floor next to the suitcase. She opened the suitcase and transferred the money to it, then stiffed the clothes and newspaper into the two black bags. When she was about done she noticed a small leather pouch laying in the vee. It had been concealed by the bags. Nikki opened the pouch; it was full of emeralds! She thought for a minute, then put the emeralds in the suitcase, too. She put the bags back where she had found them, left the boat, and locked everything back up the way she’s found it.

When she got to Glenn’s old car she stashed the works in the trunk and went back to her office. Nikki called Brett from her office and told him she felt better, to give her ten minutes and come back. She quickly took a shower, dressed and made a drink for Brett. She also got out his 9-mm and put it on the coffee table for him. There was a knock at the door so she grabbed the 9 and opened it, holding her breath, and cocking the gun. It was Brett. First he saw Nikki, and then he saw the cocked gun, and said, “Okay, lady. I’ll take my clothes off and do whatever you want.”

They both laughed as Brett took the gun from her hand as they kissed. She handed him his drink. They ate, drank, and made love. They kept the hatch open so they could look into it when they wanted to.

In the morning, after some kitchen kidding, they went out on the dock. Brett went to the Cat, and Nikki went to work. Her first stop was Tina and Randy’s fifty-foot Gulfstar. They were going out for the day to do some snorkeling at the reef. She waved them off, saw Mark down the dock and went to see what he was doing.

Mark was one of those people that you didn’t have to worry about. He always had a full plate of things to do.

“Was your night uneventful?”

“If you are referring to Captain James and water in my house boat, it was uneventful. But if you are talking about me, it was eventful. And now I’m hoping James will leave as soon as he gets up.”

She went to look at the four-plex, which seemed to lean to the south.

“What do you think, Mark?” she called out.

“It looks okay to me, but I’ll check it out.” Mark went to the house boat, opened the hatch and entered the crawl space of the boat. When he came up. he said, “I have to get my tools. There are several holes in the bottom, and they’ve all been drilled. That asshole James went under the boat last night because he’s leaving today!”

Mark went over to James’ boat and knocked on the side of the Sea Ray until James opened the door.

“I’m calling the cops,” Mark said, “cause you drilled holes in the bottom of the four-plex. Nobody has a beef with Nikki but you, and it sure as hell isn’t the people that live here. Anyhow you’re an asshole, and I’m calling the cops.”

“I had nothing to do with that!” James and shut the door. Mark went to get his tools and the bucket and went back down  into the crawl space in the four-plex to see to the holes and put a white coat hanger through one.

Nikki watched the conversation between James and Mark and put her hand on the bandana with the padlock on it, but James went back inside. While Mark was down fixing the holes in the four-plex, James went to his fly bridge and started his boat, and then he untied it. He pulled the boat out, leaving before the cops got here. Nikki told them that she suspected James, but had no proof he had drilled the holes in the four-plex, and he was gone. The cops left.

When Mark came up she told him what had happened.

“Call the diver ASAP so the hull doesn’t get full of water. I’ll set up the fans and pumps and float switches so the four-plex won’t get any worse until he gets here. Don’t worry about this house boat, it’ll be okay. You know, James leaving is the best thing for you because he’s crazy, and if he stayed until next month he would be in the water drilling holes every other night. You’d never get any sleep until he left and the cops wouldn’t catch him either.”

That night Nikki felt a sense of relief. She had a drink with eight or ten people on the dock, including Brett. Someone got out a CD player again and let it go. They all danced and drank until dark. Then they went into town for dinner where they pushed three tables together and ate and drank some more. After dinner they went back to Nikki’s place and continued drinking and dancing. They were in a celebratory mood, mainly because James was gone. The party lasted until two, then everyone went to their boats except Brett who stayed the night with Nikki.

In the morning, after coffee, Brett went to the Cat because he and Brian had work to do on their boat. Nikki decided to have coffee with Ray and Judy on the forty foot Regal. They were all hung over from last night.

The diver showed up to patch the bottom of the four-plex. Nikki left Mark and the diver working on that and went down to talk to Jay and Sally in Dave’s old apartment. They were getting settled and Sally was enjoying her new job.

There were a lot of people on the dock cleaning and working on their boats. Cynthia was on the dock, too. This was early for her! Then Nikki saw Brian come up from below on Cynthia’s boat. That explained why she was up and about so early! Brian left and went to the Cat to work on the boat with Brett.

Nikki got on board Cynthia’s boat. They talked about Bill, her attorney and the trial. Nikki asked Cynthia if she could remember anything about Bill or the gun battle.

“Just bits and pieces,” Cynthia said. “I can remember Bill drinking heavily that night and getting in a loud fight that lasted for hours. I remember Bill getting the 38 and me going to the main salon to get the other gun that was kept in the coffee table down there.” Cynthia sat on the steps. “That’s about all I can remember.

What a crock, Nikki thought. She didn’t know what psychiatrist’s call it when a person replaces the truth with a memory that is more pleasant. But Cynthia was doing it well. Nikki wondered if her attorney told her to do this or just planted the idea. She couldn’t remember shit — not really. After an hour of talking Nikki had gotten what she came for, said good bye and left.

On her way to the office, she heard the external speaker announcing, “Harbor Marina, do you copy? This is the sixty-foot Sea Ray, the McWho.” Nikki ran to her office to answer the call. “McWho, this is Harbor Marina. Can I help you?”

“Harbor Marina, this is McWho. Do you have a space for us for about two weeks?” they said.

“McWho. Not until Monday of next week. We are full now.” Nikki replied.

“Okay, Harbor Marina. I’ll try you next week. Put me down for Monday,” they confirmed.

Nikki went out on the dock and saw Rita, who had taken Mercedes’ old apartment. “What happened to Captain James?” Rita asked.

“He was always nude and swimming around the other boats at two or three in the morning, so I had him evicted. I also think he drilled holes in my two boats, plus he threatened me all the time,” replied Nikki.

“There’s one thing I’ve learned working at the bars and that’s that talkers who threaten you, don’t do anything. To put it like Dick always says, ‘empty wagons rattle the most.’ Anyhow, I think you are safe now that he is gone.”

Rita was drinking coffee, and she and Nikki made small talk about her work and the dock and boats and people for the better part of a half an hour. Then Rita went in, leaving Nikki to ponder on how pretty Rita was, she was tan and had the body of a dancer.

Mark was working on the chain tie-downs in the middle of the dock. They were all attached with turnbuckles to the thousand pound anchors. She stayed for a few minutes then went back to her office. All in all it was a normal day on the dock, sunny, the water very blue and clear and lots of friends on the dock working on their boats. Some were on vacation and starting to drink. There was a knock at the door, and she yelled, “Come in.”

It was the Chief of Police.

“Hi, Nikki. I was in the area so I thought I’d stop by and make sure you were okay. Don’t look so scared. Nobody has seen him since he left. I’m sure he’s gone to Key West or up north. So calm down. I just stopped ‘cause I was in the neighborhood. Are you okay?” he asked.

“Better now that he’s gone,” Nikki replied.

“Good. If you do see him call me anytime,” he responded, then left.

Nikki spent two hours ordering stuff and doing the books. Then she went back on the dock to see how everything was going. All must be well. Lots of people were on the dock drinking and having a good time. Her work behind her, she joined in the fun.

Ray and Judy from the forty-foot Regal got her the first drink and they all partied and ate on the dock. The pedestal tower lights came on at dusk, turning night into day, so they kept on partying until late into the night. Nikki and Brett retired around one to Nikki’s apartment.

In the morning, Nikki got up first, made some coffee, and took a cup to Brett. He got up and they both went upstairs to Glenn’s old apartment and out onto the deck facing the dock to finish their coffee. They could see Don and Mark having Cuban coffee on the back of Don’s fifty-seven foot Pacemaker. There were four or five people up and about on the dock just talking and having their morning coffee. Nikki and Brett waved from their perch on high.

It was Monday and the work day would start soon. Brett and Nikki stayed on the deck and had two or three more cups of coffee. Then they kissed, and Brett went to his Cat.

Nikki showered and dressed for her day of work. She went out on the dock to see what was going on this Monday. She stopped and said hello to Don and Mark. By this time Gregg from the Bayliner had joined them on the back of Don’s boat.

Nikki asked Mark if he’d found all the leaks in the four-plex. He said that he had to get four gallons of milk so that he and the diver could find the last two small holes. It takes two people to find very small leaks in the boats. The diver goes under the boat about where the leaks are. Then he opens the milk, and it goes up through the holes and inside the boat. The man inside the boat drills a hole big enough to put a hanger through so the diver can see it. Then it gets patched. The diver gets one hundred and fifty dollars for the trip against one hundred and fifty dollars per patch, no matter if they are one inch apart or not, the price for friends who call him twelve to fifteen times a year.

It cost around forty thousand dollars to move a forty by forty four-plex house boat from Miami to Seven Mile Bridge with two 36” tugs and three 600” spools of one inch nylon, plus the chain docks and pilings costs, and there was no guarantee it wouldn’t sink on the trip. Not only were you out what you paid for the houseboat, but what you had paid the tugs. The American Corps of Engineers gave you seventy-two hours to get the remains out of the water or you owed the Feds thirty grand per boat. So owning and moving a boat was not for the faint of heart. Everybody wanted their money in cash and up front because the tugs and The American Corps of Engineers came first.