Barbara Silkstone - Wendy Darlin 01 - Wendy and the Lost Boys (16 page)

“You were a science experiment,” I answered. “Could two completely incompatible people get along?”

“It wasn’t that we were incompatible,” he said. “You were in love with Peter Payne.”

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

“See you at Nevis Island,” he said and disappeared into my dreamscape.

Pow! We hit that bump I worried about. The rifle went off. Stillpork was squealing and Milton was barking. I peeked out the back to be sure Granddad was okay. He was huddled in a fetal position shaking the floorboards.

Annie had a death grip on Chick who was clutching his chest and panting.

“You okay, Sister Mary?” Joseph asked.

“I should have unloaded before we left. Sorry.”

Jaxbee had pulled the van off to the right shoulder. We came alongside. No Hook.

Joseph called, “Brother where are you?”

“Pirates?” Hook stuck his head up from the seat.

“Sister Mary’s gun went off. Accident.”

Hook banged his head on the dashboard three times. I was pleased this wasn’t working for him.

The Mermaid

Chapter Thirty-Six

Tybee was a mash of buccaneers and their women and rum and free love. Joseph, Mary, Granddaddy Earl, Annie, Chick, and I, along with Milton and Stillpork were the image of festival enthusiasts as we followed Jaxbee on foot to a rickety dock on the deserted side of the island. Hook and Roger drove the van to meet us.

The
Mermaid
was Jaxbee’s creation. It had all the fixings of a pirate ship, including a pink skull
and crossbones flying from the top most sail. The old vessel was beautiful despite the garish bordello décor. It was made of dark wood with lots of brass trim, and tricked out with fake buccaneer equipment, including decorative, non-viable square sails. We would slip through security as our party boat, the
Mermaid
, carried us to our destination – the
Predator
.

I wondered how we were going to negotiate the van onto the old ship. If we were carrying artifacts worth the risk Hook was taking, then dropping them into the murky sea was a frightening thought. Once again I was about to witness Jaxbee’s ingenuity.

The old ship, dressed in drag, sat on the shore next to the dock just like a smaller version of an old military troop-landing vessel, but with tassels. Jaxbee stood outside the van holding what looked like a garage door opener. She aimed it at the
Mermaid
and, with a loud crunch, a huge door in the bow fell open and a ramp dropped into the mud.

Jax jumped back into the van and drove it onto the
Mermaid –
a perfect fit. I followed the van up the plank with Hook, Roger, Joseph, Granddaddy Earl, Chick, Mary, and Annie tagging after me. Stillpork and Milton trotted along bringing up the rear.

 The door pulled back into place with a loud slam. A few more techie clicks and the ship pulled itself off the beach with the help of a mechanical winch. We were underway, headed to the
Predator
and then one star to the right and Nevis Island. Our crew was useless, but enthusiastic. Even Stillpork and Milton cheered us on with squeals and howls as we moved the ship around the dark side of Tybee.

We’d been at sea for two hours. Hook was holed in the belly of the ship with his treasure truck. I imagined him counting gold coins, but remembered the van was full of his antique stuff. It would be more like ancient knives of death.

My desire to get him alone had become an obsession. I held him in such contempt and yet I needed to be with him to investigate the murders. I couldn’t let it rest.

Not knowing something for sure is the worst thing in the world. I could face Hook if I knew he was the murderer. I could plan around that. If Hook were innocent, then the killer might still be on the
Predator…
with Kit.

“Wendy, are you paying attention?” Jaxbee elbowed me. “Dale, the quartermaster will lock onto us. He’ll guide the boat toward the
Predator,
but we must be careful not to let anything scramble the tractor beam.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“In case something happens to me. We need a fallback person.”

“I
hate
when people say that. They end up dead.”

She smiled. “When we’re alongside the
Predator
Dale will raise the cloaking shield. You take the others on board. I’ll stay here to make sure the van gets lifted onto the yacht.”

Roger ambled over – way too casual. “Hook’s still down in the cargo bay with the van. I’m going to check on him.”

“I’m coming with you,” I said.

“Stay here with Jax in case she needs you.” He gave me a raised eyebrow. What did he mean?

“Have any of you seen Joseph?” he asked.

We shook our heads.

“Stay at the helm,” he repeated.

As he left, Jaxbee shot him a look of disdain. “Yes sir, boss man…”

She reached over and yanked me closer. “Wendy, stand next to me. I’ll show you how to captain the
Mermaid
.” She led me through the operations of the ship.

It was way too complicated and went right over my head. Tears of frustration welled in my eyes. “I can’t get my mind around it. All our lives depend on you being in control. Not me. I’m a real estate broker. The only water I know is the kind you mix with scotch.”

I could see her clenching her jaws. She looked like Hook when she did that. Puddles of tears appeared in her pale green eyes.

“What’s your real agenda, Jaxbee? You have to have a greater motive than just doing a good job. What do you get out of this?” I asked.

“Now that we have Hook’s treasure, I can tell you. But this is only for you. Not Doctor Roger or Kit. Promise.”

Another promise. I nodded.

“I’m going to return the treasure. To help right Hook’s wrong. It’s not much compared to what he stole, but it’s something.”

The missing answers to the puzzle began slipping into place. I felt them arrive before she said the words. Why would a megalomaniac, fodder for the paparazzi, trust his secret world to a twenty-two year old girl? Jaxbee was responsible for the heartbeat of Hook’s odyssey.

“Hook is my father,” she said.

I wanted to hear more but she was silent. She scrunched up her little nose and her lower lip quivered.

Time to prod her. “Tell me. Please.”

“He’s a piece of shit not entitled to the life he’s lived. There’s no way I can return everything he’s stolen. But I can take this last bit of treasure, the things that mean the most to him, I can return them all to their owners.”

I leaned my butt against the dashboard and studied her face. I could see touches of Hook in her features. “He knows you’re his daughter?”

“Of course. That’s why he trusts me.”

“What about your mother?”

“She died of a broken heart five years ago.”

The
Mermaid
was holding steady. “Please share the rest of your story.”

She shrugged. For the first time I noticed little stress lines around her eyes. “My mother was a young lawyer just out of Harvard. She worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

“That’s how they met?” I asked.

She nodded. “Hook pillow-talked her. She educated him about securities laws. He was a quick study. Here take the wheel.”

I grabbed it with both hands. “Did your mom divorce Hook?”

“They were never married. It broke her spirit to see the monster she had created. She raised me on her own. I got to see him once in awhile.”

“Wow… that pulls.” I fought with the ship’s wheel.

“Just watch the water and anticipate the currents, they’re marked on the chart. The wind is coming from the northwest. That’s not good. We may have to wait this out.”

I was more interested in her family. “You were telling me about your mother.”

“She was the smartest lady you could ever meet. I guess she was so over-worked she couldn’t see past his bullshit. He made her laugh. Mom fell in love with him.”

Tears pooled and ran down her cheeks.

“She thought he was the brightest man. A superstar with his custom-made clothes and monogrammed shirts. He was a con, and he used her to learn his way around the financial world.”

I gave her a quick one-armed hug as I held onto the wheel.

“My promise to my mom was to make restitution as best I could. She said to stay out of it, but I couldn’t. If a small part of what Hook… my father… stole can be returned, I’ll know my mom is smiling down on me.”

“So you’ve come this far just to give back a part of the fortune?”

“Naïve, right?” She took over the helm. “I trusted Henry. He promised to help me get the
Mermaid
to the Port in Savannah. He told me he made arrangements with the FBI to meet us. All I had to do was make sure the van got onto the
Mermaid.
”

“And the van wasn’t where Hook said it would be.”

“Henry was dead and the van was in hillbilly country. Then the
Mermaid’s
crew got themselves thrown in jail.”

“Now I get it.” I hugged her again.

“I’ve lost my chance to do this one thing for my mother.” I watched a tear creep down her cheek. She licked it off her lip.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Annie of the rapture stumbled onto the bridge. She was naked as a tuna fresh from the sea. Her legs were moving to music only she could hear. She was one fugly lady. Granddaddy Earl was so close behind her they looked like conjoined twins. “Annie’s in the rapture. Something big is coming.”

Sister Mary was two steps behind them packing her .22.

“Whatever happened to tweedy old-folks?” I said.

Jaxbee laughed.

“There’s an albatross on the yardarm!” Annie screamed.

Pop! “Got it!” said Mary as she lowered her rifle.

“No, no…” Annie moaned. “An albatross is a good omen. It carries the soul of a dead sailor and protects us. What did you do?”

Crack! The shot had severed the end of the fake mast. It fell bringing down chunks of decorative planks with it. The yardarm, though made of light wood, was heavy enough to knock Jaxbee to the deck, delivering a hard blow to her head. She was barely breathing.

My mind locked for a second. Then my CPR training kicked in. I bent down and started mouth to mouth and chest compressions on her. With each push I regretted beating up on her in the goat yard. “Don’t die. Don’t die.”

It seemed like a lifetime before she came around. Her eyes were like cartoon orbs with an x in each one.

I grabbed a pillow and put it under her head.

Annie and Earl were dancing joyously as the albatross dropped a huge yellowish glob on Mary and flew off. “It’s alive!” they shouted.

“Go below. Now,” I told them. The lunatics boogied off.

“Jaxbee, can you hear me?”

She blinked her eyes once and dropped into unconsciousness.

I stood up and looked at the control panel. My brain went into freeze mode. The knobs and gadgets weren’t labeled. The ship rocked to the right causing Jaxbee’s body to roll. I caught her just as Roger arrived on the bridge.

“Where have you been?” I snapped.

“Is she bleeding?” He knelt down next to her and put his ear to her chest. Then opening her eyelids he pronounced her stunned. “Let’s get her warm. She’s in mild shock.”

Joseph and Chick appeared on deck.

 “Carry her down below, carefully. Mary can stay with her.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Chick said.

I looked at Mr. Naval Experience. “Chick, I need you up here. I don’t know anything about boats.”

He looked like a lower primate as he faced off with me. “My Navy time was spent in the galley. I can whip up some dinner if there’s any food on board. That’s my contribution to this here adventure. Boats? Forget it.”

I wanted to choke him. All of sudden I was in charge of an ancient ship of fools and a van full of treasure. “Roger?”

Roger shrugged. “You’re the one who’s been taking the lessons from Jaxbee. I know nothing about boats. I’m needed down below to watch Hook. You can do it.”

“Speaking of him, where is he? Does he know she’s hurt?”

“He’s inside the van. I’ll tell him. Gotta get back to my surveillance.”

Joseph and Chick carried Jaxbee down the slippery steps. Roger followed with his arms extended to protect her from slipping over the side.

I took a deep breath and looked at the charts pinned to the control console.

Jaxbee had set the
Mermaid
on course to meet with the
Predator.
We were expected. She noted the time on the corner of the chart. The gauges seemed to match the coordinates on the chart. We weren’t far away.