Obsidian (26 page)

It was impossible to hear anything over howl of the wind and the rustling of trees. The sky was a marbled gray and white, as the storm raged against the shore.

Jamie motioned to Case, and he nodded in response. Without a word, they moved into the stand of trees and removed their tanks and diving gear. Case pulled a tarp out of his dry sack and unfolded it. They stashed the gear under a tarp with a cover of dead brush and leaves, before moving together through the trees toward the house.

The short journey felt like hours, but it was only minutes before Jamie could see the deck of the house.

He’d forgotten about the rush. He’d forgotten the flying feeling he got when he was walking into something dangerous. It used to be heady feeling, flirting with the unknown, but right now he just wanted to get it over with.

For a moment, his last memory of David flashed through his mind. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? He was doing this for David. It was why he’d come to Maine. But then, he hadn’t counted on the case being quite so complicated.

He looked over at Case who was hunched in the brush, not ten feet from him.

“Do you see anyone?” Case’s voice was a soft hush that could have easily been mistaken for the sound of the wind.

Jamie peered through his cover, straining his eyes to see into the darkened interior beyond the bank of windows. But he could see nothing.

“You go left, and I’ll go right. Meet me on the side opposite the landing.”

Jamie nodded and then started picking his way through the cover toward the side of the house.

The house wasn’t large, just a single story cottage with two or three bedrooms. A piece of property this size on an island was worth at least a half a million. No small price for an ultimate playhouse.

Jamie came around the deck and pulled back a piece of lattice sheathing around the bottom. He eased himself under the wooden decking and quickly pulled the latticework back in place behind him. The smell of damp earth rose up to greet him. His fingers dug into the decomposed leaves that had been swept in by the wind as he crawled beneath the deck.

He was aiming for the space on the back of the deck where the deck connected to the side of the house. When footsteps sounded on the planking above his head he stopped. One person moving across the length of the deck—moving toward the stairs down to the ground level.

He edged closer to the side and peered through the breaks in the wood. A man walked toward the landing, a couple of boxes in his arms. Jamie couldn’t see the face, but he knew from the size that it had to be one of the men who’d surprised him outside the bar. The question was . . . where was the other guy?

With guy number one on his way to the dock, Jamie began making his way back toward the other side of the deck. He let himself back through the lattice and edged along the house and into the bushes, out of sight. There was a movement at the back corner of the house. He froze in place until he realized that it was Case motioning to him.

The man did have a knack for disappearing. Someday, he was going have to get the whole story out of him. But right now they needed to get into that house and see if Josh was in there. Case slid toward him, down the length of the house until he was next to the window that faced out over their location.

Together, they crouched under the window, waiting for the best time to take a chance and look into the window without being seen.

Suddenly, a piercing noise sounded from the direction of the boat. Case froze, then dropped to the ground as Jamie pulled back farther into the brush cover, waiting for the signal to move forward. But Case stayed where he was. Something had spooked him.

They sat there for a moment, listening and waiting. Patience had never been his strongest virtue, but right now it was his best hope. When Case finally signaled, they moved back along to where they had a clear view of the boat.

Two men came out of the cottage; their arms piled high with boxes. They bounded down off the deck and headed for the dock.

Above him, Jamie heard the ringing of a cell phone and a muffled voice as someone answered it. There was just enough wind to carry the man’s words to where he was hidden. Jamie listened, hoping to hear something that would help, but he couldn’t make out a single definite word.

From where they were hiding they had a clear view of the boat and the entry to the cottage. One of the men starting moving the boxes around to make room near the front as they began checking the gauges on the control panel.

They were getting ready to pull out and that meant that they didn’t have much time.

Shelby landed the skiff on the far side of the island. She’d taken care to go way out around, hoping it’d look like she had no intention of getting close, then she’d cut the engine and drifted to shore. The last thing she needed was the sound of the outboard motor alerting anyone.

She pulled the skiff up onto a pebbled beach that was hidden from the house by a stand of trees. With shaking hands, she tied to boat off to a nearby tree, stopping short of kissing the ground for a safe arrival.

Her feet slid on the wet rocks as she made her way up the embankment towards the house. Under the cover of trees, the scent of decaying wood was overpowering and the soft bed of pine needles on the ground masked the sound of her steps.

She stayed off of the worn path, choosing to stick to the brush and trees that would hide her approach. She’d just reached the line of trees, surrounding the cottage when she heard voices coming from the shore. Picking her way through the trees, she looked out over a beach. A red and white Bayliner was tied to the dock and there were two men on board.

These had to be the two men they’d talked about. She watched as they started moving boxes onto the boat. If they were both in the boat, then that meant that her brother could still be inside alone.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Caruso was piling the last of the boxes onto the back of the boat when his phone rang. “Damn,” he muttered, reaching into his pocket for his phone. He’d been hoping to avoid the inevitable.

“Yeah?” he said into the phone.

“I’ve been trying to get hold of you. What the hell is going on out there?”

Caruso ran a hand over his eyes. He was getting tired of having to explain himself. First, he’d had to deal with Taimon. The idiot was complaining about having to get rid of the boat. But, they couldn’t leave anything behind to point a finger at them. The authorities would catch up with them fast enough as it was.

Now, he had to deal with the old man.

“We have everything under control,” Caruso lied. He wasn’t about to tell him they hadn’t managed to find rest of the last shipment. As near as he could figure, the guns were at the bottom of the ocean. The trap line that the shipment had been connected to had been cut clean. The only thing he could figure was that it had been cut with a boat motor.

“What does that mean?”

“That means everything is under control. We’ve taken care of everything.”

“I’m assuming that this also includes that little matter of Rivard we discussed?”

Caruso was silent for a moment. He could tell him they’d botched the job and Rivard was still on the loose or he could lie and tell him it was taken care of, which it wasn’t. He wasn’t particularly worried about having botched the job. After today, his connection with his partner would be severed and Rivard would be the old man's problem. If things went the way they'd planned, both Rivard and the old man would be left behind to deal with the consequences.

He chose to take the vague route. “I told you that I always take care of things.”

“Okay, whatever.” There was an impatient edge to his voice. “I want an update on where we stand with the shipment dispatch. Is the courier ready?”

Caruso walked to the back of the boat, away from where Taimon was busy straightening out the boxes. It was best for everyone concerned that he keeps his change of plans to himself.

“I got the call a little while ago. They’re having a problem with their entry papers coming into Portland Harbor. Homeland security has things pretty tight, so they're being held outside the harbor until their paperwork clears.”

“Any problems?”

“No, just a routine check from the looks of it. The
Céad Míle Fáilte
should clear customs soon and then we can transport the shipment to them.” With a little luck, they would time it right so that they were on their way out at the same time as the Irish Freighter.

He wasn’t worried about the change of plans. It was a foolproof. Once the money exchanged hands and the guns were on their way to Northern Ireland, he and Taimon could also be on their way, leaving their so-called partner behind. They were heading for a decidedly warmer climate, somewhere south of the equator. Preferably, where there were people who didn’t ask too many questions.

“Good. Good. Everything sounds as though its going as planned.” The tone of the old man's voice leveled off, reassured by Caruso’s report. “I expect to hear from you with a full report once the last transaction has been made.”

“Will, do.” Not likely, he thought to himself. He planned on being long gone by the time the old man discovered they had disappeared, along with the money.

“Fine. Once you deliver, I’ll meet you on the island. We can decide the final cut and finish off any loose ends.” The line went dead as the connection was cut.

Oh, he planned on tying up loose ends, all right. And one of them just happened to be his so-called silent partner. He reached into the compartment under the seat of the boat and grabbed a black box.

Taimon eyed it. “What’s that?” 

“Just a little insurance.” Caruso patted the box, before taking it with him as he got off the boat and headed back to the cottage.

Case moved closer to him, keeping his back to the house. They were okay where they were for the moment. With the first goon inside and the second one on his way down the beach, they were just waiting for the right moment.

Case’s voice was low next to him. “It’s a might weird that he brought a box back in with him, don’t you think?”

Jamie motioned in the direction of the house. “What do you think they’re up to?”

“Damned, if I know, but from the looks of it, they’re getting ready to clear out. If that’s the case, then we haven’t got much time until they pull out.” Case reached into the waterproof bag he’d attached to a harness and took out his gun. Jamie did the same.

“Should we wait around for them to pull out to investigate or take a risk and go on in?”

Case rested his head back against the shingled side of the house. “I think we should split up.” He motioned with his head towards the dock. “Besides, I want to get a good look at just what it is they are moving in those boxes out there.” He patted the small, watertight pack that held his gun. “I’m going to take care of the boat. It’ll be up to you to get in there and find Josh.”

“Okay. Don’t worry, I’ll get him out.” He checked his gun one last time. “I’ll go around to the far side where the brush is thicker around those windows. With a little luck, I can pry one of them open and boost myself inside.”

“Yeah, well make sure you cover your butt before you head in there. These guys aren’t here for fun. And if my suspicions are right about what is in those boxes, then they have more than enough firepower to blow us out of the water.”

Despite the tenseness of the situation and the adrenaline rushing through him, Jamie couldn’t resist a little chuckle. “When this is over with, you’re going to tell me how you got into all of this.”

It was Case’s turn to laugh. “If we get out of this,” He pointed a finger in Jamie’s direction. “And you live up to your promises, then you’re going to have your hands full with my niece. You’d better take care of her or I’ll be back.”

Jamie had every intention of making sure Shelby was safe for the rest of her life. But first, he had to finish this thing. “It’s a deal.”

Both men sat in silence for a moment looking up at the activity going on around the cottage. The men left the cottage again and headed for the boat. This time, the box wasn’t with them. They both knew that if Josh were in there, they’d have one chance to get him out.

“Looks like this is our chance.” Jamie reached out to shake Case’s hand. “It’s been good working with you. Someday, we’re going to have to get together and talk about things.”
Things,
being the unspoken past and more than few skeletons in both men’s closets.

Case nodded. “Aye, someday we’ll talk. It’s a promise.”

Caruso carefully tucked the contents back into the black box and slid the lid into place.

It was just a little present for his partner. Something to help him celebrate—with a bang. He chuckled to himself. It was a morbid sense of humor, but it was the only one he had.

He set the box on the shelf in the pantry where the color of the box helped it blend in with the stock of supplies on the shelf.

He looked down at the kid who lay on the floor in the corner of the pantry. He was young, couldn’t be more than twenty and he was scared to death.

“I guess you’ve figured out that it doesn’t pay to be too nosy.” He couldn’t resist a little smile. This was perfect. Not only would his little surprise take care of his partner problem, but it would also solve the challenge of what to do with their intruder.