Green-Eyed Monster (17 page)

Leaping to her feet, she grabbed the Glock and took a stance on the cabin roof, where she glared defiantly down into the cockpit at her companions. They all froze.

Victoria was the first to speak. “Careful, Ginette, point it in the air, in the air.”

“Yeah,” said BJ with an anxious frown. “It’s a hair trigger, and the safety catch is—”

“Don’t tell me what to do with a gun,” Ginette seethed. She was sick and tired of all this danger, and drama, and no money.

“You forget I’ve had private lessons at an
exclusive
Boston gun club. I know
exactly
what to do with a firearm like this.” And she hurled the thing overboard.

BJ’s jaw dropped faster than the gun on its way to Davy Jones’s locker.

“My gun. My beautiful Glock. It was a Christmas present from my brother.”

“Way to go, Ginette. Now we can keep the bad guys at bay with bad language and rude hand gestures,” yelled Mickey, giving an example of the latter.

Victoria turned immediately to BJ, who stood transfixed watching the ripples spiral away from her Glock’s watery grave.

“Okay, BJ, the tide has turned. You’re either with us or against us. Are you onboard, or do you follow the gun?” she asked coolly while BJ stood stunned, blinking at the water, obviously in turmoil.

Victoria plowed on, knowing her quarry was off balance.

“What was your cut for the kidnap and extortion? Oh, and let’s not forget my grisly murder.”

Without waiting for an answer, she immediately began to sweeten the deal while BJ was still reeling. “Because I can guarantee I can better it.”

BJ turned dazed eyes to Victoria. “I was to get the boat,” she said.“The boat?” Victoria and Mickey asked in unison.

“Yeah,
Green Eyed Monster
. Rudy was gonna give her to me for minding you overnight. She was to be ‘sold’ to me just after her owner’s unfortunate disappearance overboard. Seemed like good pay at the time. I mean, she’s a beauty. And I
was
to be off sight for the actual murder part.” BJ sounded eerily sincere.

“That way it would hold no bad memories for me.”

“
My boat
?” Mickey howled in anger. Totally overlooking the murder and memories part. “No way. Absolutely. No. Fucking.  Way.”

“Actually, she’s
my
boat,” said Victoria. “My money bought her, so in effect, I own her.”

“Okay,” Mickey huffed. “You can get tortured on her, then.”

“About that.” Ginette joined them in the cockpit now that she had successfully disarmed the wrong team. “Why don’t we just pile into the powerboat and run away? Cuba is over there.” She pointed to a distant horizon.

“I’m staying and fighting for
my
…
my
goddamn boat.”

“If Rudy finds you all escaped, I’ll be sleeping with my Glock.”

“Cuba is in the opposite direction, you ditz.”

“Hey! I’m only trying to be helpful,” Ginette snapped back at the chorus of put-downs.

“Helpful. You just threw our only freaking weapon overboard.  It’s a pity none of us are on insulin, you could toss that, too,” Mickey yelled.

“Stop being such a sarcastic twat,” Ginette hissed.

“Maybe if I had a crutch you could bend it around the mast.”

“Mickey, you’re hysterical. Stop it now.” Victoria spoke sharply.

“I’ll get you a crutch, all right,” Ginette muttered under her breath.

“Ginette, I heard that. Either you two shut up or I’ll lock you both down below,” Victoria said before sitting down, head in hands. “Quiet, all of you. I need to think this through.” She turned to BJ. “An old tub like this is pretty poor payback for aiding and abetting in a kidnap and murder.”

“Hey. She’s not an old tub. She’s a 1958 classic sloo—”

“Shut it, Mickey.” Attention back on BJ, Victoria continued,

“I’ll give you half a million…when I get my money back, that is.” 

“Half a million?” BJ blinked at her with astonishment. “To do what?”

“Whatever I say, of course.”

Victoria and BJ faced off. The night sky was fading away as a new day dawned. Decisions had to be made; lines had to be drawn.

“And her,” BJ said and indicated Ginette, “I want her.” Bravado had returned tenfold to her voice and mannerisms. After the shock of her Glock’s unceremonious burial at sea, BJ was now compensating for the temporary loss of her machismo. The slightest flicker of hesitation passed through Victoria.

“Done.”

She and BJ shook hands.

“What?” Ginette squeaked, while Mickey just snorted derisively.

“You owe me one very expensive Glock. Not to mention its sentimental value.” BJ scowled at her. “This needs to be settled.”

“You’re getting half a million bucks. Go out and buy a gun shop,” Ginette shrieked.

“It’s a matter of honor. I would not be a pirate if I let you just disarm me like that without retribution. I got a code to keep.”

“What code? You’re a silversmith doing a favor for her uncle. This is fucking ridiculous. Victoria, I need a word.” Ginette pulled Victoria to one side and whispered heatedly, “Since when did I become your chattel?”

“Oh I don’t know, since you tried to abduct me, fry me, embezzle me, double-cross me, throw our only gun overboard, slap people—”

“Will you stop listing every little thing? Have you never heard of letting go?” Ginette sighed. “Okay, so I’m a shit. But I’m
not
yours to be brokered in a deal as some sexual plaything.” She sneaked an appraising peek over at BJ, who was patiently waiting for the outcome of this tête-à-tête. “At least, not for any longer than a week.”

Taking advantage of their one-on-one, Victoria reached for Ginette’s forearm. “I know what we need to do,” she murmured quietly. “I have a plan, but one of us will have to set it up. I can’t tell Mickey, at least not yet. I’m still unsure how much of BJ’s loyalty I’ve bought. So that leaves you and me, Ginette.” She looked deep into the eyes of her former partner, wondering how strong their newfound friendship actually was. “I need to know you’re in this with me, right to the end.” Ginette looked back at her, her gaze serious and unswerving.

“But this is the end, Vic. Sink or swim. There’s nowhere else for us to go, now is there?”

“So, what’s the plan?” Mickey’s soft gaze turned to Victoria.

It was filled with hope, expectation, and something unquantifiable that caused a jolt of raw emotion to slam through Victoria’s body.

My God, we’re hours away from becoming plankton, and with one look she has my knees turning to pudding. I’ve got to keep her away from me, at least until this is all over.

Victoria took a deep breath as her pulse rate finally settled.

“I need you to go to the bow of the boat and just stand there.”

“Okay.” Mickey stood to obey unquestioningly. “Why am I doing that?”

“You’re keeping a lookout for pirates!”

“I’m on it.” Mickey made toward the bow with determined purpose. Victoria blew out a long puff of relief before BJ’s quizzical gaze caught her eye.

“Ain’t no pirates here until I give out our position.”

“I don’t want her to know the plan just yet.”

“And what plan is that?” BJ asked.

“That we may have to sink
Green Eyed Monster
.”

“Oh, please, can I be the one to tell her?” Ginette asked, delighted.

“Ginette, if Mickey finds out, you know she’ll not go along with it and we’ll all end up feeding the fish. What means more to you, pissing her off or saving your shiny white ass, as you so eloquently put it?”

Ginette sat down and silently sulked. Victoria turned to BJ  and continued, “We need a safe port, a fast PC, and a lot of luck.  What can you deliver?”

“Port and PC.”

“Let’s get going. Rudy will be wondering why you haven’t reported in by now. They’ll start searching the area soon.” BJ nodded, releasing the lines that lashed the powerboat to the side of the yacht and then securing the smaller vessel astern for towing. Next, she started up the engine and shouted forward,  “Raise the hook, Mickey.”

She looked across the wind-whipped deck to Victoria.

“We’re heading for Little Cayman. The wind’s behind us, and we’ll make good time. I live near Grape Tree Bay. We can moor offshore.”

“What about a computer?” Victoria stood beside BJ as the wooden hull began to cut water.

“Use mine. Can’t think what else to do. Home will be the last place Rudy will look.” At that, the cell phone on her hip vibrated. She unclipped it and read the caller ID, then casually hurled it in a high arc into the passing waves.

“The search is on.” Her fingers tightened on the wheel.

“That damn boat’s slowing us down.” Mickey grimaced at the small speedboat bouncing and yawling behind them on its short towline. “Cut her loose.”

“No, we’ll need it later,” Victoria protested.

“Then I’m hoisting the main to get some extra speed.”

Mickey unwound the halyard on the main and began to haul canvas.

“There’s something on the horizon,” Ginette called from her lookout.

“Where? Is it Little Cayman?” Victoria asked anxiously, trying to ascertain where Ginette was actually looking.

“No. If that were the case, I’d say there’s an
island
on the horizon. What I mean is there’s
something
on the horizon. That’s what I say when I don’t want to alarm everybody by saying there’s bloodthirsty pirates off the port quarter.” Mickey grabbed the binoculars from her and looked.

Shrugging, she handed them over to BJ. “Don’t recognize them, do you?”

BJ raised the glasses. “Yeah. We got bloodthirsty pirates off the port quarter.”

“Let’s try to haul the powerboat alongside. I know we’re moving, but we have to do this before they’re close enough to notice or care that we have an auxiliary vessel,” Mickey said.

BJ wrapped the line around a winch for more purchase, and with her and Mickey’s muscle power, they managed to drag the bouncing craft alongside starboard.

“Victoria, jump in and start her up. Be careful, hon. Aim to land on the seats.”

Uncertain of where this was going, Victoria made the leap onto the awkwardly bouncing smaller craft and immediately fired up the outboard.

Mickey nodded at Ginette. “You next. Hurry.” But Ginette pulled back, hesitating and looking over to Victoria in question.

Before Mickey could rush Ginette along, BJ interrupted her.

“No. You go. It’s Victoria they’re looking for, and they think you’re her. They’ll torture you both till they find the real one.  You two know where the money’s at and how to get to it. Ginette and I are useless to them, and as Rudy is my uncle, I might have a little sway yet.”

“As long as it’s not from the yardarm.” Mickey gave a grim smile.

“It’s the best odds we got.” BJ shrugged. “Stay to starboard.  Hide behind us as long as possible. The later they see you, the better your chances.”

Mickey nodded grimly and jumped several feet to tumble in beside Victoria, tilting dangerously until a hand reached out to steady her.

“Here, catch.” Ginette passed Mickey’s diving gear over the rail into waiting arms. “Take it, just in case.” She reached down and untied the final line connecting the two craft and tossed it into the black speedboat. Ginette stood by the guardrail looking down at Victoria. They exchanged one long look that held their good-byes.

❖

“Will Rudy be with the pirates?” Ginette asked as she watched the powerful motor cruiser slowly gain on them. Even at full sail, full throttle, and with a strong lead, it was only a matter of time before the faster craft caught up.

Shielded from the oncoming vessel’s view, Victoria and Mickey had gradually peeled away, merging into a small fishing flotilla that had fortunately crossed their course. It was easy for the two white women to look like nosy tourists on a day’s outing.

“No,” BJ snorted, keeping an eye on the pirates’ heading.

“He gets seasick. He’s safely tucked behind a desk counting his grams and dollars.”

“Grams? He runs drugs, too?”

BJ shrugged. “Small time. This motor cruiser gaining on us is one of his ponies. The Gresham money was to put him in with the big boys.”

“Do you do any drug running for him, BJ?” BJ’s answer was to spit into the wind. “No damn way. Keep that shit away from me. I even hate I had to grab the Gresham lady. But I owe Rudy my college fees. My debt was big.” She bit her lower lip then looked directly at Ginette. “I made a mistake.  I see it now. I’m sorry I got your friend in danger, and I promise to do all I can to help change things.” Sighing, Ginette turned seaward. Their pursuers were even closer. It seemed they were gaining at every passing second. It was nearly time to put Victoria’s plan into action, and she could feel fear clawing at her belly already, making her limbs heavy and her head woozy.
I don’t think I’ll ever be brave enough for this life. All I seem to do is hover around the periphery of courage and success, hanging on to better people like some gawping onlooker.
“And I’m sorry about your gun,” she said.

“Best thing you could have done for me. No weapon, no target, as they say.” BJ smiled at her and caught the seed of fear buried in Ginette’s eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll never let them hurt you.”

“That’s not going to happen, babe.” Ginette smiled back as bravely as she could, understanding BJ’s intention. She moved forward and dropped a soft kiss on BJ’s lips. “Let’s see what we can do to even the odds a little. Are you a gambler, BJ? Because I am.” As she spoke she opened a locker and pulled out several of Mickey’s emergency fuel cans, stringing a long line through the handles and tying them at regular intervals.

“What the hell you doing, girl?”

“Party prepping. I like to mix things up a little.” She attached one end of her line to the bow, the other to a cleat at the stern, and gently lowered the whole string of fuel cans to just above the water line on the starboard side, away from the view of the oncoming vessel. “Can we head for shallower waters?” BJ nodded. Sailing on toward Little Cayman was bringing them into a series of shallows. She changed course slightly to accommodate whatever crazy scheme Ginette had going on.

Ginette noted that the faster motor cruiser changed direction and followed, slowly closing in. And behind it scooted a little black powerboat, the kind rented by holiday makers. With Victoria in a scarlet bikini and Mickey in a cut-off wetsuit, they looked like vacationers out for a day of fun.