Follow the Evidence (A Mac Everett Mystery Book 2) (29 page)

“Munoz…he’s here?” I asked.

“Yes, sir, he has the stateroom
next to Mr. Sebastian,” he said.

“What’s your name, kid,” I said as
I lowered my gun.

“Emile,” he replied.

“Well Emile, that girl is my
friend. I’m getting her out. You’re going to help.”

“Mr. Sebastian-he’ll kill me if I
help you,” he said.

I brought my gun up and tapped him
in the chest with the gun barrel.

“Do you want to die now or later,”
I said.

It was crazy to trust Emile, but I
didn’t have a choice. I followed him down the stairs and through an immense
lounge where we ducked into a companionway. We went down three levels in all.
We hadn’t seen a soul.

“There’s the engine room,” Emile
said, pointing to his right. “Your friend is in there. I have to get back
before I’m missed.”

“OK,” I said. “Get out of here and
keep your mouth shut.”

I was taking a gamble letting him
go. He was right. The others would miss him. Emile disappeared up the stairs
while I went to the door labeled ‘Engine Room’.

When I opened the metal door, the
oppressive din of the engines knocked me back. The place of was a maze pipes
and machinery. The floor hummed with the power of two gigantic diesel engines.
At the far end of the compartment, a big muscled up guy wearing overalls and
hearing protectors concentrated on panels of gauges. The room was wide open,
but was so loud the guy hadn’t noticed me. I could see the entire space. That
was good. The bad thing was there was no sign of Lia.
Emile double-crossed
me.
I slip out of the engine room before the engineer could spot me and as
I closed the door a voice behind me said, “Drop it.”

I dropped my Beretta and raised my
hands as I turned around.

Emile and the captain each clutched
small semi-auto handguns. The way they held their weapons, it was clear combat
wasn’t their chosen field.

“I’m Captain Marlet,” he said.
You’ve met Emile.”

The little prick, gave me a tense
smile and a finger wave.

“Even if Emile hadn’t reported
you,” the captain said, “I would have seen you on the engine room video.”

Emile had led me around to kill
time. I had egg all over on my face.
I bet it costs me more than
embarrassment.

“You broke the jaw of one of my
best men,” he continued.

I shrugged and smiled/ Wish I’d
clobbered the other one too.

“Mr. Sebastian wants to see you,”
he said. “Emile, pick up his gun and take him to the upper deck salon. Mr.
Sebastian will meet you there.”

“OK,” he said.

He turned to me and said, “Up the
steps, hotshot.”

As I trudged back up the steps, I
wondered if I’d get to see Lia before they killed me.

When we got to the upper deck
salon, a familiar man was sitting there but it wasn’t Sebastian.

“We meet again,” Munoz said. “This
time you won’t have anyone darting out of doorways to save your ass.”

“I missed you too,” I replied.
“How’s your chin, Munoz?”

He touched the jagged cut where I’d
kicked him.

“Keep moving-outside,” Emile said.

Munoz followed us to a covered
dining area. The teak dining table was set for six. I hoped they’d invite me
for a last meal.

Two ladies lounged around the
elegant table enjoying Mimosas and a light breakfast. Even though it was a mid
November morning, it was comfortable outside. Maria Summers wore a loose white
top, matching skirt. Her signature oversized dark glasses were perched on head.
The second woman was younger and better looking in person than in her pictures.
I was face to face with Jennifer Summers.

“Mr. Everett, this is a surprise.
May I present Jennifer,” Maria said.

“Hi Mr. Everett, thanks for looking
for me,” Jennifer said. She gave me a wave and a dazzling smile. Her eyes were
unreadable behind her dark glasses.

“Sit, have a drink,” Maria said.
“Emile, get a drink for Mr. Everett. He’s worked so hard and risked so much
thinking he was helping us.”

She didn’t speak to Munoz or offer
him a drink. There was tension between them. Maybe I could use it to my advantage.

“I usually drink brown liquor, but
any port in a storm,” I said.

“That’s the spirit,” Maria said.

“I assume I’m going scuba diving
without a tank soon so do you mind telling me what’s going on?” I said.

“Sergio will be here shortly,”
Maria said. “We’ll let him explain.”

“My receptionist, is she here?” I
asked.

“She’s here,” Maria said. “I’m
afraid that’s my fault,” she pouted. “Sergio has certain tastes and your
secretary met…”

Sergio breezed through the open
door.

“The redoubtable Mr. Everett, we
meet at last. You’re full of surprises,” Sergio Sebastian said. “You have one
of those for me, Emile?”

Emile handed Sergio a champagne
flute and disappeared inside.

“Lazlo, tell the captain to change
to our alternate destination.”

“Yes, sir,” he said. He disappeared
into the salon without another word.

“Did your friend Lazlo mention he
met with your father last night? I asked.

No, he didn’t,” he replied. “We’ll
have to talk about that.” Taking a sip of his mimosa, Sergio took a seat at the
head of the table.

“You’ve caused me a great deal of
trouble. The police raided my father’s home on Eleuthera early this morning.
I’m unable to reach my people in Orlando. You’re doing no doubt. What
are
we going to do with you?”

“I assumed that was a foregone
conclusion,” I replied.

He chuckled. “I think I’d like
getting to know you, Mr. Everett,” he said. “To bad we won’t have the time.”

“I was just asking the ladies to
give me the lowdown on this show.”

“The lowdown, as you put it, is
simple. My father has an effective organization, but he refuses to branch out,
to try new ventures. He shuts me out. He’s amassed an immense fortune, but he
holds on to it with an iron fist. Finally, it doesn’t seem he’ll ever die. I
used his organization to expand the family business.”

Diego had complained about his
spoiled privileged son. He wasn’t wrong. It seemed strange Sergio didn’t know
about his father’s cancer, but their family communication was a subject for
another day.

“And you have some fun too, don’t
forget that. You
do
sample the merchandise, don’t you? Not every spoiled
rich kid can turn his taste for rape into a money maker,” I said.

“That’s enough, Everett,” he
snarled. The shit-eating grin had disappeared.

“How many stupid good time girls did
you rape before you figured out kidnapping was more profitable?”

“Sergio!” Jennifer hissed. “You
said…”

“Shut up, Jenn,” he snarled.

His face had turned red, but
suddenly it was as if nothing had happened. He laughed and shook his head.

“You’re trying to provoke me,” he
said. He waggled his index finger at me. “It’s not going to work. I come from
good stock.”

“Mr. Everett, Sergio is
my
son,” Maria said. “You won’t trick him into losing his temper.”

“Your son?” I said.

“Diego and I were married for twelve
years. We divorced when Sergio was six.”

“And your daughter?”

“Jennifer is Parker’s daughter from
his first marriage, but I love her as though she were my own.”

“Thank you Maria,” Jennifer said.

“I couldn’t dissuade Parker from
this quest to find
his
daughter,” Maria said. “It caused a great deal of
difficulty.”

“Is that why you had Parker
killed?” I asked. It was a guess, but it proved right.

“Maria,” Jennifer protested as she
jumped to her feet “You promised.”

“How did you do it?” I asked
Sergio. “Lure him somewhere remote in hopes of finding Jennifer or did you drop
him over the side of your cigarette boat?”

“Tell me you didn’t know, Maria,”
she sobbed. “Tell me.” She was leaning on the table staring daggers at Maria.
“I thought you loved him too.”

“Jenn, shut up and sit down,”
Sergio said.

She took her seat, but continued to
give Maria and her son a look that could kill.

“It had to be done,” Maria said.
“Parker was careless and this quest looking for you…”

“He was my
father
for God’s
sake. I loved him,” Jennifer said. “I thought you loved him too. How could you
let him be killed?”

She twisted her napkin and as tears
rolled down her pretty face. Someone here had a heart it seemed.

“Why stage the elaborate
disappearance?” I asked. “You faked the video at the marina, right?”

Sergio nodded and to another sip of
his drink.

“Wouldn’t it have been easier for
you and your step-sister to…?”

“That was Hannah’s idea,” Jennifer
said sniffing back tears.

Both Maria and Sergio glared at
her.

“With the heat on in Florida it
seemed sensible to drop out of sight,” Sergio said. “My connection to Jennifer
would come out eventually and…”

“You asshole,” Jennifer shout. “You
said it was so we could keep it from your mother and be together. You were
sleeping with Hannah too, weren’t you? You swore you weren’t, but you lied
about that too. I’ve been such a fool believing you.”

“So you could be together? What
have you done, Sergio,” Maria shouted. “I told you to leave her alone.”

“Mother, stay out of this,” Sergio
shouted.

Perfect. The would-be crime boss
was a momma’s boy.
It’s nice to know even the rich and criminal have
dysfunctional dinner table conversations.

“Is sex between step-brother and
step-sister incest?” I asked. “I don’t think so. There’s no blood relation, but
it is creepy.”

All three of them glared at me.

“What?” I said as I shrugged. “I
was just asking? Say, can you make one of these with cranberry?”

“All right smart ass, it’s time,”
Sergio said.

He looked around and was about to
get up when I said, “Looking for Emile? Here use this.” I handed him the radio
I’d taken from Rick. Sergio snatched it out of my hand.

“Emile, get down here,” he said.

“Mr. Everett you’ve worn out your
welcome.”

Emile appeared and motioned for me
to get up with my Beretta.

“Nice meeting you, Mr. Everett,”
Sergio said. “I’ll see you again when we get outside the twelve mile limit. The
Gulf Stream is very warm this time of year. Now it’s time for you to see your
friends.”

Emile led me away. We went through
the salon and then down a circular staircase.

“Guess you won’t get to see the
staterooms,” Emile said. “Your berth is much smaller, but you won’t need it
long.”

We passed into a narrower corridor.
“This leads to the crew’s mess,” he said.

We walked on through a small break
area and then down another hall. We stopped at the first door.

“Open it,” he said.

The cramped space was perfect for a
takedown. I could use my .380 still snug on my ankle, but the shot would draw
to much attention. I eyed Emile, ready to spring until I opened the door and my
focus shifted. Lia. She was in a bunk, her hands tied behind her. Her eyes
opened wide when she saw me, but she could only grunt through the gag in her
mouth.

I turned to Emile and said,
“They’re going to drop us over the side in a while,” I said. “Give me a few
minutes to talk to my friend?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he
said. “You…”

My punch to his throat crushed his
trachea. His eyes bugged out as his hands grasped his neck and he dropped my
gun. My next blow drove him into the wall where he crumpled in a heap. He might
live, but I wasn’t going to hold his hand.

I grabbed him by the feet and
dragged him into the room, went back for my Beretta, and closed the door. I
removed Lia’s gag and untied her. She fell to the side.

“Hold on. I’ve got you,” I said as
I helped her to a sitting position.

“What kept you, boss?” she said.
She put her rubbery arms around me and held on as her tears began to flow.

“You’re always saying you’re a big
girl,” I said.

She pushed away, scowled, and then
hugged me again.

“I’m sorry it took so long,
sweetie,” I said. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“I knew you’d come,” she sobbed
into my chest. “When they were…I just knew you would.”

“We have to get out of here. Do you
think you can walk?” I asked.

She nodded. When she sat up her
ripped dress fell off her shoulders exposing her breasts.

“It’s wasn’t bad enough they
kidnapped me, they had to screw up my new dress too,” she said.

Her backbone made me smile.

“You look about this guy’s size.” I
said. “Let’s get you into his clothes.”

The few minute it took me to strip
Emile was all the time Lia needed to get the feeling back in her arms. Braless
and bare foot she looked surprisingly good in shorts and a polo shirt. Our next
challenge was going to be a bit more difficult.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“I’m a little shaky, but it’s a
damn sight better then ending up dead or in some harem,” she said. “Randi
Massey is here someplace. She tried to help me get away.”

“I bet,” I replied. “She’s one of
them.”

Her smile was forced, but the old
Lia was returning. “When we help her, we can get out of here.”

I just smiled.

We found Randi bound and gagged in
the next cabin. Lia cut her loose while I watched the hallway.

“Mac,” she said when she saw me.

I ignored her and took Lia by the
hand. We crept through the crew mess and up to what I hoped would be the bridge
where we would find the radio to call for help. I was only partially right.

“Hold it,” the captain shouted.

I ducked around a corner pushing
Lia behind me.

“Give it up. There’s no place to
go,” he shouted.