Smugglers 1: Nikki (21 page)

“We never talked about the size of the loads,” the boss said. “All I said was get a boat that will hold four thousand pounds.”

“The bails were sticking out all over the boat,” Mike said, “and from now on we can only haul what we can hide.”

“You’ll take what I tell you to take,” Sam said, his eyes turning cold and black. “And you don’t tell me, I tell you the way things go down. If you don’t like the deal, we’ll part ways.” His eyes narrowed. “There’s just one problem; both of you will have to die.”  His demeanor went back to normal and, shrugging, he asked, “Anything else to talk about?”

“No,” Mike said quickly.

“I thought not. I’ll  call you in a week or so to pick up the next load.” He headed out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

Nikki turned to Mike. “With the Chief involved, we’re safe on land. It’s only when we’re on the water that we have to be concerned.”

“I guess he didn’t like my idea, anyhow. What do you think?”

“I think we’ve got a week or so before we go to work again,” Nikki said. “So let’s party.”

Mike and Nikki made a drink in a to-go glass and walked down to the Broward to see Rita, John, Cynthia, and Tim. They were sitting on the aft weather deck getting loaded and ready to party. Mike broke out a baggie full of toot, and the party got louder. Soon Jerry and Loretta joined them on board, and so did Mark. Someone put on several CD’s, and they kept drinking, dancing, and tooting. Then Captain Bruce and his new cook, Sherry, ambled down the dock with drinks in hand.

Half the people on the dock showed up to party on the Broward. The liquor, drugs, and music flowed like suntan oil, the scenario that took Nikki’s mind off her past and her future. She lived simply for the moment.

As the party got intense, Cynthia started kissing Tim and tried to take his clothes off. He kept pulling away but she would not give up and tried to get Rita or Nikki to help her. Soon Nikki joined in and started pulling on Tim’s clothes. Then Rita joined and started to shout, “Let’s see it! Come on, take your clothes off!”

With that Rita pushed past Nikki, then Loretta, and got Tim down on the floor, tearing his clothes off. The girls stood up and waved Tim’s clothes above their heads like a trophy.

To their surprise, Tim stood up, walked to the bar and made himself a drink. He was totally naked with his Johnson hanging out and down to his knees. The women could not take their eyes off his member because they wanted it inside them so badly. The men could not look away out of disbelief and envy.

The spell was broken when Cynthia said, “See girls, I told you it’s the biggest you ever seen!”

Before too long everyone was dancing and half naked. Nikki saw Mark at the bar with some other people and went to get more to drink.

“The stabbing must have done you good, Mark. You’ve never looked better,” she said, giving him an admiring look.

They exchanged a knowing look. She picked up her drink and walked off, but everybody at the bar knew Nikki and Mark’s desires. No words were spoken, but everybody knew.

Nikki walked up to Rita and gave her a lingering kiss. She then went over to Mike and gave him a kiss, too, as she pulled him out of his chair to dance. Rita joined in and the three of them continued to dance as John joined in. Soon the aft slalom was covered with people dancing in different stages of nudity.

It was getting late and somebody suggested they move some of the party to Nikki’s apartment.

Nikki found Mark and gave him a wet kiss. “You look good to me,” she whispered in his ear just before she left.

At Nikki’s apartment the music, drinks, and toot came out and flowed like water. They all danced, drank, and did lines until the difference between reality and fantasy was blurred, just as Nikki liked it, needed it.

All inhibitions faded and Nikki started to kiss John and Rita as the three of them danced. Soon she ended up dancing with John, and they all took off what little clothes were left. Mike and Rita started to toot and dance. As Mike kissed Rita, Nikki leaned over and kissed them both, and asked if either of them would mind if she showed John her room. When they said no, she gave them each another kiss.

“How about you, John, do you mind?” Nikki asked.

“Not at all!” John said as he freshened up their drinks before doing another line.

“I think it would be more fun if the two of us joined in,” Mike said.

Nikki laughed. “The more the merrier.” After another line, she led them to her bedroom where the three attacked her body like wild animals in heat. She was content to lay on her back, kissing them all in turn and taking the men in two at a time. She spent the next several hours not thinking at all.

CHAPTER 22

Mike woke up about eleven the next morning. He was hung over, and Nikki was asleep in bed next to him. She was totally nude and face down, with her butt showing for all in the world to see. Even though he liked the view, he threw a sheet over her.

Then the night’s events started to come back to him and what the four of them had done to themselves and to each other.

“Oh my God!” he said repeatedly as he took in the state of the bedroom and the apartment. It looked like a tornado had ravaged the content of Nikki’s place. John and Rita were gone, but they’d left the bedroom strewn with sex toys, mirrors and drink  glasses.

Nikki rolled over, opening her eyes. “Mike, what the hell happened last night? I’m still running on all eight cylinders and feel like I didn’t sleep all night.” She sat up. “My God, I hope we had fun because I feel like shit. By the way I saw your baggy and it was all rock. I’m still high.” She ran shaky hands through her tousled hair. “Did we do all the things I think we did, or was I just fantasizing? Never mind, don’t answer that. Where are John and Rita? Don’t tell me, we ate them? You know, ate them, like a hamburger, not ate them, ate them, but like a burger. Oh, shit, I’m still horny and hung over and can’t move.” She fell back onto her pillow. “Come here Mike, get under the covers and try to go to sleep.”

About four there was a knock at the door. Nikki opened it to John and Rita.

“Sorry about the way I look, but I didn’t get any sleep.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rita said. “You look better than I feel.”

They came in and Mike got up to join them. They had Hair of the Dog, beer, and they talked and laughed about the night before and what they had done. After an hour or so, and two or three beers each, Mike broke out the toot. John begged off, saying he had to get some sleep tonight, but the two girls were game, and so was Mike.

Nikki switched to Absolute, and the other two followed suit. Soon they started kissing and dancing.

“Oh, what the hell?” John said and did a line to get in the swing of things. It was a repeat of the night before. They partied more, did more lines, and the music got louder. As they danced and kidded and kissed, clothes slowly fell to the floor. John wanted Nikki again, and Rita wanted Mike, which seemed to be alright, or at least agreeable to everyone.

Nikki grabbed John by his hair and pulled him to her as she sat on the sofa with her legs open. They started the sex on the white leather sofa, but when Nikki opened her eyes, the sun was up and she was in bed. She rolled over and pulled Mike toward her, only to find out it was not Mike, but John.

“Wake up! Where are Rita and Mike?”

John blinked several times then said, “Good morning, Nikki, over at Rita’s, I guess.”

Nikki got up and went to the living room but they weren’t there, so she went back to bed with John. After a couple of hours of sex, the door buzzer went off. Nikki looked out the kitchen window. It was Cynthia and Tim.

Nikki opened the door in the nude and asked, “Do you two want me?”

“Love your outfit,” Cynthia said, laughing, and stepped into Nikki’s apartment pulling Tim with her. “God, you look like you haven’t gotten any sleep in two to three days.”

“We haven’t; we did it again last night.”

“And you didn’t invite us?” asked Cynthia, “Well, I guess they don’t want us in their way,” she told Tim.

John came in the living room and greeted everyone. After a bit, Cynthia asked, “So, I take it Mike and Rita are still busy in the bedroom?”

“No,” Nikki said, “they went to Rita’s last night or early this morning.”

“Now I am really sorry we missed the party last night,” replied Cynthia.

After a few drinks they left. John returned to Rita’s and Mike to Nikki’s.

Later in the morning, Nikki got up to go back to work on the dock. She had a lot to do before the next money trip. The dock was full and she only had Glenn’s old apartment to rent.

She thought about getting back on the water and then to her apartment and the safety of the Chief.

Soon the night came, and they left about eleven, so they had time to get to the coordinates. They sat quietly in the rocking boat.

Nikki finally broke the silence. “Where’d you get the bag of pure toot?”

He was quiet for a long moment, then said, “On their last trip, I took one bundle.

“You took a bundle from the shipment?” Nikki’s voice rose a notch.

“Yes, they’ll never miss it. They don’t know if there are forty-six or forty-seven.”

Nikki shifted to bring herself closer to Mike. “That’s not the point! You risked my life for something we could have bought, and you didn’t ask me or even tell me until now! I could be killed along with you because they’ll think I’m in on it.” She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Mike, don’t ever do that again. I like you, and maybe I even love you, but not enough to die for you.”

Mike didn’t answer, and then it was too late to talk. The service runner came into view, and they went to work.

A different man came up this time; he was just as ugly, sweaty, and dirty as the last guy. In fact, they could smell him from their boat, which gave them incentive to load the bundles in the boat even faster.

The South American went down the hatch and the boat left. “I can breathe again,” Nikki said as Mike put their vessel into motion.

Back at the marina, they unloaded the contraband, then made drinks and sat down to wait for their money.

At four, there was a knock at the door; it was the Chief. He gave them the money, and he and Mike started to load. When they didn’t come back, Nikki went outside to look, and there was nothing there, no cars, or trucks, and no Mike, or Chief.

Nikki went back in the house and called Mike’s cell phone. No answer, so she tried the Chief’s number.

When he answered, Nikki asked the Chief if he had seen Mike.

“Yes,” he said, “but he won’t be coming back.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nikki asked.

“I’ll be there in half an hour or so, then I’ll explain.” He hung up without a goodbye.

Nikki went to change out of her boat clothes and dove under the dock. Both the bags were still there and untouched. When she got inside her boat again, she got a flashlight and went down the hatch in the kitchen and crawled to the corner of the houseboat; the three million dollars was intact.

Back inside, she changed her clothes and wondered what was going on. What was the Chief  talking about?

When the Chief arrived, he and Nikki stared at one another in silence.

“Where’s Mike?” Nikki was the first to speak.

“He’s gone.”

“What does that mean, he’s gone? Gone where?” Nikki asked.

“Nikki, he’s gone fishing and will never come back.”

Nikki turned away to hide the tears welling up in her eyes; she knew exactly what the Chief meant.

“Did he really think he could steal a bundle from Sam,” the Chief said then, “and that Sam would overlook it? That’s three or four hundred thousand dollars at wholesale, Nikki. I like you, but you best forget this ever happened, or you may go out to sea, too. Nikki, just keep the money you two made and forget about all that’s happened. Just run your marina.” The Chief walked to the door where he paused, one hand on the door knob. “There’s one more thing, Nikki. Find the rest of the bundle and give it back, because if you don’t, I can’t protect you. I’ll be back later tonight to pick it up, so find it quick like!”

After the Chief left, Nikki sat at her dock and thought about Mike, and what he had done. If it wasn’t for the Chief and how he felt about her, she would have been with Mike at the bottom of the sea.

So where would Mike have stashed the rest of the bundle? She started a search, looking everywhere she thought Mike may have hidden the bundle. After several hours, John and Rita showed up at her door. Nikki studied John and realized she’d been looking in all the wrong places.

Nikki decided to tell them what had taken place, kind of.

“So, John, you’d better come clean,” Nikki said.

“Okay, okay. So I know where Mike stashed it. I’ll be back.”  He returned with most of the bundle.

“How much is gone?” Nikki asked

“Just what we did here. We were going to sell the rest in Key West after we cut it.”

“Were you two out of your mind?” Nikki practically yelled. “If we all don’t end up like Mike, it will be a stroke of luck. Now go with Rita, and I’ll call you after my contact leaves.”

Nikki made a drink and headed for the shower where she pondered the fact that Mike had made plans with John. In all probability, Mike had told John everything about their deal; John probably knew who was involved, from Sam to the Chief and of course, Nikki.

She dried off and dressed, finishing off her drink while she waited for the Chief. He was off duty and dressed in civvies. She handed him the bundle.

“It’s all there, except what he did. Joe, I want to keep making runs for you and Sam.”

“It’s out of the question. I was just barely able to keep you alive as it is, and it takes two.”

“Joe, I have to, and I know the route, and I have a perfect excuse to be here, and on the water.”

“Who’s your partner?”

“John. He knows the deal, and his girlfriend is my best friend, Rita. Plus the three of us have been to bed together.” Nikki threw that part in to see if the Chief had any tells, and he did. You could see his old, hairy face churning about her and Rita being together. Now, shit, he was having trouble breathing.

Nikki went over to sit next to him, and she went over her plan from top to bottom, threw Rita in here and there to see his reaction.

When she looked up to talk again, he was ever so close, and she knew he was about to kiss her. So she kept talking to him and looking him straight in the eyes.

It was simply too much for the Chief to bear. He kissed her, moving in on her, making small sounds in his throat that came out almost like a whimper. When he tried to be cool and sexy, she knew she had him, as he was hungry for sex and fell for her charms.

She unbuttoned her blouse and exposed her breasts. He was trying to push her on her back, when she got up.

“I have people coming here. We’re going to have to finish this some other time, Chief. You’d better go before someone sees you.”

She led him to the door and handed him the bundle. Before she pushed him out the door, she gave him a kiss he’d never forget.

“Soon, Nikki, soon,” he said and left.

Nikki made herself another drink and sat on the sofa to think. Soon there was a knock at the door.

It was John.

Nikki let him in and said, “You didn’t seem very torn up by Mike’s death.”

John took a moment before speaking. “Nikki, did Mike ever tell you how we met, and where, or what we do?”

“Never!” replied Nikki.

“Well, Mike and I were inmates at Stillwater prison. We were taught not to share any feelings. You know Mike as Mike Anderson; I knew him as Mike, Number 54. We were doing seven years each for armed robbery and getting out about the same time. Stillwater is the state pen in Minnesota. Anyhow, you don’t show any emotion in prison, and you don’t show emotions on the outside.”

“He didn’t tell me about that, but he did tell me about the banks with no alarms or electricity in New Orleans,” Nikki said.

“You know what Mike and I were doing, and who we worked with?”

“Not who you worked with, just a hint about where you got your money. John, I think we, me and you, can continue making trips at millions per trip. What do you think? Are you in? It goes without saying that we don’t help ourselves to any of the take.”

“I warned Mike, but he liked to live on the edge. And so do I, to a degree.” John pulled Nikki to him, kissing her on the cheek, then moving on to her mouth. “I’m in,” he agreed.

The next morning, Nikki got up early and headed to Don’s boat for coffee. Afterward, she checked on work around the dock. About ten or so the speaker went off, announcing the arrival of a fifty-foot Hattaras looking for a berth for two weeks. The owners were Rick and Criss. After she got the newcomers settled down and introduced them around the dock, she continued with her work. She told Mark to check the boat tie downs at the end of the dock. She also told him he should drop the price on his old boat and get rid of it.

Nikki went to her office and between phone calls, the Chief touched base with her, asking who her new partner was. When she said it was John, he agreed it was a deal—with one change. She would be dealing with him from now on. That suited Nikki just fine; the Chief rang off after saying he would call her next week for a meeting.

Nikki called John at Rita’s apartment and gave him the news. He said he and Rita would be down later to have a drink and finalize everything. Nikki went back on the dock to get more work done. When she got outside of Rick and Criss’ Hattaras, she saw they were getting along well with the others at the dock. They were good looking people in their fifties, she estimated. She also noticed that Criss had a handbag over her shoulder, and she clung to it as if it were life or death.