Bonefish Blues (16 page)

“I can run in and swamp a couple, that’ll break up the party.”

“Now you’re talking,” Pagliano said. “Could even be some fun.”

Braken turned the boat toward the Key and pushed down on the throttle. It jumped up on plane and moved toward the group while he hunched over, trying to hide himself as he closed in on them. The boat slowed slightly as Braken turned to angle the boat’s wake for a direct hit. The first wave reached the group and lifted the small boats onto its crest before plummeting them into the two-foot trough. Several of the more experienced kayakers used their paddles to brace into the wave, stabilizing the craft. Most, with less training, tried to use their body weight to level off the craft. It was the second group that capsized. Paddles flashed in the sun as the other boaters raced to help the victims.

“That was excellent, again!” Pagliano yelled over the engine noise.

Braken turned the boat and broadsided another group with an even larger wave. He grinned as five or six more boats dumped their occupants into the water. Damn environmental assholes deserved this. Focused on the chaos, he forgot about Nicole and Matt, making run after run at the kayakers. Many were panicking, sitting in place waiting for someone to help, others were turning toward shore and paddling hard. He started after a pod of boats, sitting still, bickering with each other, but Pagliano stopped him.

“Hear that?” He yelled.

“What?” Braken strained to hear, eventually pulling the throttle back until it clicked in neutral. He heard it then: A helicopter flying fast and low, approaching from the East. He glanced up, squinting to try to find it. “Looks like a Miami TV chopper,” he said.

“We’ve done enough. Let’s blast on oughta here before they get close enough and start shooting footage of us. I don’t think we want to make the news.”

Braken pushed the throttle hard and turned the wheel, making a huge wave, which swamped a few more boats. Before the chopper could reach the Key, they were a mile away.

“Stick some rods out. Make it look like we’ve been here fishing in case they fly over.” He reached for the two rods stashed under the side of the boat. Pagliano gave him a questioning look. “Never fished huh? Sure made a lot of chum though,” Braken laughed, high on adrenaline, forgetting for the moment the danger he and his family were in.

The mobster quickly caught on and grabbed the rods. He fumbled with the bales trying to let line out, finally he succeeded and they sat under the shade of the Bimini top which kept them hidden from the helicopter. Both rods were cast out and set in rod holders when the chopper flew over, the blades pounding the air downward and disturbing the water. It quickly moved on and hovered over Flamingo Key. 

***

Will and Sheryl had been caught in the middle of the chaos. They were doing their best to help the more inexperienced kayakers back into their boats. Will reached over the low freeboard of the flats boat and righted the upside-down boats while Sheryl used the pole to bring the swimmers back to their craft. He knew it was Cody from the shape of the Grady White and wondered why he had ignored their boat in his frenzy leaving them in the middle of the fracas. Other, more experienced boaters were performing their own rescues. It looked like a giant self rescue clinic. He had tried to see who else was aboard the Grady White, but the screams and turmoil surrounding them distracted him. By the time he had a chance to look again the boat was gone, remnants of its wake showing its Eastern course. 

“That was the boat from the other night wasn’t it?” Sheryl asked as they moved toward another stranded boater. 

“Yeah, that’s Cody’s boat. This is going to kill their investment scam when word gets out.” He pointed to the helicopter. “That’s not in their best interest, either.” He kept the more gruesome thought to himself: that Matt and Nicole might have been aboard the boat. As things escalated there was no telling how Braken and scarface would react.

“I wonder where the sheriff is. I can’t believe they are not out here.” She put the pole back in its holders.

“I don’t know. I say we head back in and go find them and report this. We were eyewitnesses to this, and it was definitely Cody’s boat. If I were him, I’d be on my way to hole up in the backcountry and come in after dark. I don’t think he’ll be heading in soon. That pipe’s capped for now, and just in time. With that chum line running and all the kayakers flailing in the water, sharks would have zeroed in fast.” Finally he felt like he had actually accomplished something.

“I guess that was good timing, at least.” She went to him and squeezed his arm, and they looked toward the Key. Only a handful of kayaks remained; the rest were paddling back toward shore. They’d had enough, and their protest was effectively over already. He checked the boat, securing the dive gear, and pushed the throttle down. 

***

Cody was starting to get hungry. His hangover had faded into the past as he watched his father swamp all those kayaks. He had laughed out loud at the spectacle, moving from one side of the cabin to the other to check out all the action. Now, he wondered what was going on. He could tell they were anchored by the way the boat swung in the current, but no landmarks were visible from the windows. Searching throughout the drawers, he found some peanuts and drank some water from the hose by the head. It was quiet now, without the motor running, and he could hear voices on the deck. The same two men as before, one his father for sure. But now there were two others, and he was sure they were Nicole and Matt. What were they doing aboard with Joey Pagliano? he wondered. Their voices were muted, but he sensed the stress. 

He looked around for someway to find out what was happening and settled on the fresh air vent mounted in the ceiling. Slowly, he cranked the handle. Wishing he had done some maintenance on the unit, he cringed as it groaned with every turn but it was forward of the cabin so unless someone were looking directly at it, no one should notice. He started to hear voices they were still muddled. One turn at a time he cranked it and the square plastic lid raised an inch with each turn. The voices were clearer now, and he thought he heard Nicole crying, Matt trying to comfort her. Braken and Pagliano were fighting about whether to go back to the Key or dock, and when. Braken wanted to wait until nightfall — probably the right choice, Cody thought, given what they’d just done. Pagliano wanted to go back to the island and finish what they came for, whatever that was. 

Matt said something that he couldn’t make out, and then he heard Nicole scream. Without a second thought, he threw the slide bolt that locked the door from the inside and barged through the door, catching Pagliano in the back. He landed on top of him and started to slam his fists into the mobster’s head. Nicole came over and slammed the prone man with a billy club used to knock out fish on the back of his head, leaving him motionless on the deck. They looked at each other holding the gaze for a moment until the body moved. 

“Quick!” Cody yelled to Matt. “Get me something to tie him with! A dock line or leader, quick!” He needed to move fast - Pagliano was coming to.

Matt rummaged through the cluttered compartments, trying to find anything that might work, and finally handed two nylon cable ties to Cody.

One tie went around the wrists, the other around Pagliano’s feet. Once he was secured, Cody stood, went to Matt and hugged him. “Thought I was going to lose you.” He turned next to Nicole. “And you too,” he said as he embraced her.

Chapter 21

Will saw the remnants of the Grady-White’s wake as they headed in. In seconds the wake would disperse and there would be no way of knowing where they had gone. There were small Keys in the backcountry that had fishing camps. They could land at one of those, camouflage the boat and disappear until their supplies ran out. He evaluated his options. Looking back he saw the danger to the kayakers had passed and most were paddling back to shore. Matt probably being on the boat tipped the scales towards action. “We need to go after them. I’m pretty sure Matt is with them and the water’s too skinny for the sheriff to get their boat in there.”

“What about the sheriff and what are we going to do when we find them?” She looked panicked.

He tried to reassure her, “Just keep an eye on them - from a distance. Can you call the sheriff and tell them the kayakers are safe and that we are going to follow the Grady-White and get back to them with a location.” 

“Sure,” she reached for her phone and dialed. One hand on the phone and the other shielding it from the building wind Will couldn’t hear the conversation. She disconnected. “They were on the other side of the Key helping kayakers. They’re wanting to know what bearing off the Key - they’ll follow.”

Will was relieved the sheriff was on scene now. He looked at the compass and called out to Sheryl, “250 degrees. I’d bet he’s heading for the mangroves off East Bahia Honda or just past to Hardup Key. That’s where I’d go.”

“Run from the law much,” she prodded, then called the bearing in.

He ignored the remark as she sidled closer. As they followed the diffusing wake Will looked over his shoulder.

“What do you keep looking at?”

“Winds building and look back there. You can see the line of the cold front coming. Things are going to get nasty when that moves through.” He strained to see the wake now as the seas built. It looked like he was heading NW to stay clear of the Red Bay Bank and then he would cut through to the safety of the Elbow Banks and East Bahia Honda. 

“Where are you going? It looks like they went that way,” she pointed at the horizon.

“The chop is going to make it impossible to see their wake in a few minutes. I think I know where they’re going and with this boat,” he patted the wheel, “I can skirt some of the shallower water and come in from the North where he won’t be looking. 

***

The sun blinded Joey Pagliano as he tried to open his eyes. He quickly shut them and rolled his head to the side. Wrists and feet bound, he struggled to a sitting position. Getting out of the restraints would not be a problem. Cable ties, he knew, came in two grades. The hardware store variety — which he was sure these were — could be cut by friction. Law enforcement ties were another story. The braided fishing line spooled onto a reel near his head caught his eye. That would work, he’d just have to be patient and wait for an opportunity. Confident he could get out of his restraints when they were not looking he focussed on how to complete his plan - he needed to get back to the island. Once there, he could break free, subdue all of them, and toss them in the tank before he blew it. Then take the boat up to Key Largo and call Miami for a pickup. 

But the odds at four to one against him, even with his experience, were not optimal. Better to set them against each other. 

He observed their interactions. Truly a dysfunctional family, he watched the older man coddle Nicole and Matt. That wouldn’t last long, he thought. Braken and Cody were too narcissistic to pay anyone else attention for too long. His best bet was to let things go until they got bored with giving attention to someone else, and then go to work. His opening came sooner than he expected. Braken was already sitting to the side, looking at his phone.

“You know this is going to go bad for you,” he said. “Miami finds out about you guys tying me up and you’ll be in the tank for sure.”

Braken tried to ignore him, but Pagliano knew he had his attention. 

“You’re the one going in the tank,” Cody yelled at him. He was still hovering over Nicole. “How could you do this?”

“Do what? Bitch got in the way. Wait ‘till I get to you.”

Pagliano caught Matt looking to the North and followed his gaze toward the sound of an engine approaching. He could see the spray the bow put up as it chopped through the waves, but the hull remained invisible. “I think we ought to call the sheriff and turn him over.”

“Bad idea, son. Your dad and I are too deep in this. They’d never understand,” Braken said.

Pagliano saw his opening, “You know, Braken, I could forget the last hour or so if you untie me and we finish off the tank. I’ll give your family a pass too.” 

“No way, Grandpa, don’t trust him,” Matt sneered.

“Boy’s right,” Cody said. “Only way I see getting out of this is to do to him what he wanted to do to us. Then blow that thing and call it good.”

Pagliano was surprised by Cody’s reasoning. Maybe the boy had some potential after all. He watched the group as their heads nodded in ascent.
Not so bad, really,
he thought.
It’ll be way easier to take them if I can get off this boat.
His immediate concern was the restraints. Somehow he needed to get out of sight for a few minutes and fashion a cutting device. The braided fishing line he had seen would work well. Slowly he shimmied his body and made his way toward the cabin. 

“Where are you going?” Cody asked.

“Just trying to get out of the sun,” Pagliano replied. Another few feet and most of his body would be blocked by the cabin.

“Let him be,” Braken said. “He’s tied up.”