Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 02 - Peeking Duck (15 page)

“
Right o’ boy, just hit the water!” Pete was clearly too excited and racked the wheel to the left.

“
You’re what?” I began to exclaim, but before I could get out another word, Pete had swung the boat hard toward the docks, almost throwing me over the side.

“
Roger, I’ll get the car.  There is a landing about a mile from here at Del Ray Lagoon Park.  Pete, you got that?” Galveston said forcefully.

“
Yup,” Pete announced confidently, “I’ll be there in two shakes of a rattlesnake’s tail.”

“
Those guys won’t have time to negotiate their way over there,” Galveston added.

Galveston
moved to the back of the boat and waited for a large cabin cruiser to block the view from shore.

As the sailboat neared dangerously
close to the larger vessel, Pete swung us back to the right, yelling to Galveston, “get ready, go, go!”

Galveston
immediately launched himself off the backside of the boat and into the murky water.  I saw his head bob to the surface as he began a quick swim to the nearby dock.

Sailor Pete looked back
quickly and then maneuvered the boat into the middle of the channel.  “Hold on you two, time to put this sucker into full power.”  Pete pushed the throttle forward and gave the boat max power, which pulled the bow of the ship up and threw Maddie and me onto our backs.

“
Good Lord, Pete, what kind of engine did you put in this thing?” I exclaimed.

“
Four hundred horsepower, reclaimed speedboat inboard engine.  Had to modify the hull so it wouldn’t sink,” Pete said proudly. “Hold on to your shirt.”

We got out into the main channel
, and I lost sight of our followers.  They had made an unfortunate mistake of following us to the end of the harbor where the road ended.  They probably hadn’t counted on us having a boat with this amount of speed.

Galveston
, in the meantime, was dragging himself from the water, wet and heavy.  He raced back to our car through a crowd of gawking onlookers and drove to our extraction point.  Luckily he had spent some time in this area and knew the exact roads to take to get there as fast as possible.

Back on the boat, Maddie and I clung for dear life as Pete maneuvered
down the channel and around a sea break before heading back to shore.  Del Ray Lagoon Park lay just on the other side.  As we motored toward the shore, Pete skillfully pulled alongside some rocks along the shore next to a parking lot near the beach.

“
You’re going to have to slide off into the water and onto shore.  I can’t get any closer than that,” Pete instructed.

“
Thanks Pete, you’ve helped us more than you know.  I’ll send you some reward,” I told him.

“
Make it a case of whiskey and you got a deal.”

“
Agreed.  Thanks again, Pete.”

“
Anytime.  Make sure you make it the good stuff now, none of that rotgut.  As you can see I don’t want to upset my mansion here with inferior stuff,” Pete yelled as he pulled the still cooking fish off the grill and took a bite.  I nodded and smiled uncomfortably. 

Maddie and I slipped into the water and gasped at the frigid temperature.  The current was flowing toward the ocean and pushed us violently on top of the rocks, allowing us enough of a grip to scramble on to the shore.  Maddie handled the swim expertly without flinching.  There was definitely more to her than met than eye. 

Galveston was just pulling into the parking lot and saw us emerge from the water.  Of course he went to Maddie first, and helped her to her feet, while I flopped around like a beached fish. 

“
Time to get the hell out of here,” Galveston told us as we ran wet and cold to the awaiting car.

We gave a wave to Pete as he sped out of the channel, and despite the drawback of having to watch him eat that fish,
Sailor Pete had just given us an incredible lead.

-Chapter 29-

Dimitri awoke to the sound of the opening of a heavy padlock that secured his door.  He reacted quickly and pushed the film that had covered the porthole back into place.  Dimitri prayed they wouldn’t notice what he had done.

The door swung open, and two men were standing side by side in the doorway.  The first man had a
submachine gun up in the ready position, pointed directly at Dimitri’s chest.  The second man moved past him and motioned for his colleague to lower his gun.

Dimitri painfully pushed himself up to a sitting position in bed and swung his legs over the edge with
a little effort.  He had been working his legs constantly, but they were far from up to scratch.

“
Petsoro,” the man said gruffly.  “Are jou finding things comfortable?”

“
As comfortable as possible.  Where is my crew?”

“
Secure, safe, and fed,” the pirate answered nonchalantly.

“
Why did you hijack this ship?”  Dimitri asked, not expecting an answer.

“
Too many questions.  Zhat is not something jou need to worry about, but zhere is information I need to know.”

Dimitri cringed.  He knew what that meant.

The pirate walked slowly toward Dimitri and sat down next to him on the bed.  Dimitri noticed he carried no weapon and his size was imposing.  The man’s accent was French, or possibly German, definitely Western European, he thought.

“
I notice jue took charge of a certain item being loaded on zhis vessel in Hong Kong without jour Captain’s notice.  I need to know where zhis item is.”  The man stated in a calm, calculating voice.

“
I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.  You have the bill of lading.  It has all the things we are carrying,” Dimitri stated emphatically.

The man shook his head,
quickly becoming angered.  “No, no.  I don’t have time for zhe games.  Tell me vhere zhis item is located on zhe ship.” 

“
I don’t know which ones you are talking about.  I just don’t know,” Dimitri said, looking the man in the eyes.

The pirate peered forward
, and without warning, grabbed Dimitri’s leg with one hand and struck a hard blow with the other.  Dimitri yelled in pain and saw stars flash before his eyes as the pain shot through his body.

“
Let me try zhis again.  Vhere iz zhe item you loaded!”  The man stood up and towered over Dimitri, who was writhing in pain.

“
I don’t know what you’re talking about!”  Dimitri yelled as he grabbed his leg.

The pirate latched on to the leg again and twisted, causing Dimitri to lose his breath and fall backward on the bed.  The man stepped back as blood began to seep from the
Dimitri’s wound.

“
Ve can do zhis all day if jou like, but I have a better idea.  I vill give jou one hour and if in zhat time jou do not tell me vhat I vant I vill execute one of jour crew.  I vill follow with one every hour until jou tell me zhis information.  It is jour choice Petsoro.”  The pirate backed out the door without a change in his demeanor.

Dimitri pulled himself up from the bed
, and using a torn piece of sheet from his bed, applied a tourniquet to stop the new bleeding.  The pain was intense and the room swirled around him.  He would have no choice in the matter.  The chief mate could only hope that giving in to the pirates would spare his men, at least for a little while longer.  His new mission was to keep the crew safe.

-Chapter 30-

Maddie, Galveston, and I were unable to discuss the leads Sailor Pete had given us, our coherency a step above seaweed.  We decided it would be best to regroup in the late morning after a good night’s rest.

Galveston
had finally wound down somewhat on the way home, but as he grew more tired his hyperactivity worsened, and he became intolerable.  I tried to guide him in a direction away from alienating and annoying Maddie further.  Although I wasn’t having much luck, he was, and his advances were coming off on her as charming.

The sleep I got that night, after our long journey and meeting with
Sailor Pete, was glorious.  My head had felt like it weighed a hundred pounds, and I fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.  Jane had left me some welcome home food, but my weariness preceded the need to eat, and I managed to get it in the refrigerator before I went to bed.

The morning came, and I scraped myself from the bed, attempting to loosen my muscles in the
process.  The work ahead of us was daunting, and we had no time to waste.  I realized there would be many sleepless nights to come.

Jane and Alex were
already in the office of Icarus Investigatory Services, busily poring over the work Alex had completed the day before.  Jane looked as lovely as ever, and the short time I had been away made me miss her more than I could have known.

“
Hi, Roger.  You look like hell,” Jane greeted me as she looked up from her work.

“
Thanks for reassuring me on my appearance.  I feel like I swallowed some socks,” I managed to respond.

“
I have to agree with Jane, but maybe worse than hell,” Alex jabbed, smiling.  “The homeless guy on the corner looks better than you.”

“
Are you two done?  I appreciate the lovely sentiments, I really do.  It’s nice to know you care.”

Jane walked over and gave me a long kiss. 
“Sorry, hun,” she said with a glint in her eye, “but you really look like you’ve been run through the muck.”  She then gave me a hug and patted me on the bottom.  “It’s time to get to work.”

“
Uh-huh,” I muttered.  “Of course Galveston isn’t here yet, right?”

“
Shockingly, and hold on to your hat, but he’s been here for over an hour,” Alex announced while continuing to peck at his computer.  “There’s a bee in his bonnet.”

I walked into our small office and found
Galveston hunched down in front of his computer.  My shock was noticeable.

“
Why, aren’t we an eager beaver,” I said to him.

“
Yeah, someone has to be, you slacker.  This whole case is just getting good.  I had trouble getting sleep last night.  Just too much on my mind about this damn ship.  This is huge you know.  I think beyond what we could comprehend.”

“
I think you’re right, and it scares the heck out of me.  We could be in over our heads.  And is it the best idea we’re here at the office? I mean, those guys looking for us, they have to know we’re here,” I said with concern.

“
They probably just have us on sight and not name quite yet.  We shouldn’t hang around here too long, I agree with you on that.  I have to show you what I’ve found.”

“
Before you do that, I think I need to talk to you about Maddie.”

Galveston
nodded his head as if he knew what I was about to say, and he was right.  “I know I’m trying too hard.  This isn’t a dating service, and we need to be professional, just like she is.”

I stumbled for a response since he literally took the words right out of my mouth. 
“Uh, yeah, that’s right.  Maybe just let it go.”

“
Way ahead of you, Roger, my friend.  No more women for me, from now on, just the case.”

“
Good, I think it’s for the best.”  I believed his words, but it wasn’t a hard decision for him.  Galveston knew how to take a hint.

“
So, what you got?”  I asked as I pulled up a chair next to him.

“
Well, I was thinking about everything Sailor Pete told us and attempting to arrange it together.  I asked Alex to pull up all the ships across the Pacific Rim that left ports around the time of the
Trusian
.  Here, check this out.” 

Galveston
pushed a National Geographic map of the world toward me.  It had red, blue, and black lines running across it from different port cities in Asia and Australia, as well as the east coast of Africa across the Pacific toward ports in North and South America.

“
I did a few calculations on the time the ships left and what route they would take.  The black lines are the ships that have the least possibility in passing where the
Trusian
would be.  The blue lines have a marginal chance of passing our ship, and the red lines have the highest probability that they passed near where the
Trusian
could be.  I have a list of the names of the ships that were going in a general southeasterly direction.  I think that’s the direction they took, as far away from the U.S. coast as possible.  It only makes sense.”

I stared at
Galveston in disbelief as he showed me the highly intricate chart, amazed that he even sat down long enough to do it.

“
When did you do this?” I inquired with massive surprise.

“
This morning.  So I got here a little earlier than I told you.  I had to figure this out.”

“
I’m just amazed you made straight lines with different colored ink.  And a chart?  Now I’ve seen everything.”

“
I’ll have you know, I’m capable of some pretty extraordinary things and full of surprises.  Just don’t expect this too often.”

“
No worries there.  Now what is your conclusion?”

“
Well, I haven’t gotten that far yet.  I was too busy finding the different colored ink pens,” Galveston laughed.

“
Great.  Let’s figure this out then,” I sighed. 

“
I do have a theory,” Galveston interjected.

“
Do tell.”

“
Sailor Pete was on to something when he said the pirates could change the name.  I think they changed the name to another ship of the same name that met them somewhere along one of these red lines.”  Galveston ran his fingers down the many lines crossing the paper.

“
Okay, but Sailor Pete doesn’t seem like he’s playing with a full deck, and he sure is a greasy gentleman.”

“
No arguments there, but it really does make sense.  Hear me out.  A ship leaves a port at a similar time as the
Trusian
on a path south of their position.  The pirates have a standard point to meet and cross paths, but when they do they have the same name.  The real ship runs to a different port while the pirated ship with the same name goes to another separate port.  Any sightings of these ships would match up with where the ship was ultimately going.  The difference is the
Trusian
would go to the final port of call.”

“
I think I follow.  One ship goes, to say, Acapulco, which is on its schedule, but its next port would be, say, Lisbon.  You’re saying the
Trusian
now goes to Lisbon but under the name of the ship that went to Acapulco.  Is that about right?” 

My head swirled at the thought
process and the confusion, but I had just explained it exactly as Galveston theorized.  I had to admit that if it was the pirate’s plan, it was brilliant.  And unfortunately, we owed it all to Sailor Pete.

“
I think that’s right.  They’re going to take the
Trusian
to a final port while the ship of the same name sits in another port.  By the time anyone figures this out the pirates will have made off with the cargo.”

“
My only problem with your theory is they can’t just waltz into a port and unload.”  I thought for a second.  “What if they try to offload at a site that isn’t a port, maybe an island, or at sea?  Is that possible?”

“
Well, they stole this ship right out from under the noses of everybody, so I would assume they could do either one of those things.”

“
Let’s see if we can whittle down the possibilities of which ships could be moving in the pirate’s direction.”

Galveston
nodded, and we pored over the map he had made.  Alex had acquired the times of departure of the ships out of Asia, and using a bit of math, we deduced the timing of when a ship might cross paths with the
Trusian
.  We were able to scratch a few of the red marks of the list.  They were too far ahead or behind the path of the
Trusian
when it was known to be hijacked. 

Jane and Alex both joined us on our search because the number of ships in the Pacific
about that time was staggering.  We were going on the hunch that the
Trusian
was steaming to the south, toward South America.  They could have gone back toward Asia, but it didn’t seem plausible, and there was nowhere to go to the north.  The chances of being spotted going in that direction would have increased, plus all the ships coming from the U.S. had been accounted for and none had reported a sighting.  I instructed Alex to call Maddie and find out if there were reports of any suspicious activity in the South Pacific.

I looked up the coordinates where the
Trusian
had disappeared and on a pad of paper scribbled some rough calculations.  Then, using a ruler, I made a circle that represented the greatest distance the
Trusian
could have traveled at maximum speed.

The four of us sat in front of the map for over an hour, doing rough calculations in our heads and on the pad of paper. 
Slowly, we eliminated each ship beyond the
Trusian
‘s maximum possible position.  The map around the South Pacific began to open up, revealing a large swath of ocean with very little shipping traffic.  It was becoming apparent that the ship must have gone south.

Maddie arrived to the office as we continued to po
re over the multitude of lines.  Galveston didn’t look up, or even say hello.  I began to think that he was serious about not pursuing her further. 

“
Hi Maddie,” I said as Galveston continued to study the map.  “Did you get some sleep?”

“
Barely.  I can’t believe you guys are so calm after all we just went through.”

“
Just another day at the office,” Galveston retorted, still not looking up from his work.

“
Do you have any new information?”  I inquired, hoping she had something that would help our search.

“
A few interesting things; the Navy and Coast Guard are both involved in searching for the ship, and the FBI is also investigating.  I haven’t told anyone about what we found in Hong Kong or Singapore,” she said confidently, and we believed her statement.

“
Good,” I answered.  “It’s better that we keep some of this quiet for a while, until we have a better handle on it.”

“
Okay.  I also have some information on the captain and first mate.”  Maddie pulled out a notepad and prepared herself before Galveston suddenly interrupted.

“
I think I have a good match,” he announced proudly.  Galveston pointed to a red line from Tokyo leading all the way to Lima, Peru.

Galveston
picked up a black marker and drew a solid line from the circle I had made of the
Trusian’s
maximum distance to the red line representing the ship from Tokyo.  The black line met up with one red line almost perfectly.

We
all huddled around it and stared.  It looked like a great match and an excellent possibility that this was our ship. 

“
Hold it,” Jane announced.  “I’ve got one too.”  She took the black marker and drew another black line to an adjacent red line.  This particular ship was going to Cartagena, Columbia.

“
What are the names of these ships?”  I asked.

Galveston
looked on his legend and ran his finger down the page to the names of the ships that corresponded with those particular red lines.

“
One is the
Magnus II
, the other is the
Alterra
.  Do either have any reports?”  Galveston asked Alex who perused his materials.

“
Interesting,” he started, holding us to our seats.  “I have no report from the
Alterra
, but I do have a report from the
Magnus II
.”  Alex paused for effect again.

“
Well?” I prodded.

“
The
Magnus
reported that it spotted the
Alterra
.”  Alex ran his fingers across the map, pointed to a spot, and looked up.  “About here.”