Dead in the Water (20 page)

Stone continued toward the Shipwright's Arms, and when he was nearly there, he stopped and looked back. The skipper of the yacht, which was called Race, was sitting in the cockpit, going over documents with the customs officer. A thought occurred to him; a bad thought. No, he said to himself, Allison wouldn't do that. He picked up some Federal Express materials at the bar, stuffed the death certificate into the envelope, addressed it, and left it on the bar, then went up to his room and dialed the law offices of Potter & Potter. An elderly sounding secretary put him through. "This is Harley Potter." "It's Stone Barrington, Mr. Potter." "Ah, yes, Mr. Barrington; do you have some news for me?" "Nothing very earthshaking, I'm afraid. The inquest was held this afternoon, and a verdict of death by misadventure was reached." "I see." "I obtained a death certificate from the coroner, and it will go out to you by Federal Express." "Well, that's a relief," Potter said. "An employee of the man who owned the airplane gave testimony that the airplane and a house were the man's only possessions, and that he had let his insurance lapse last year. I'm afraid there won't be anything to go after." "I see. You're certain about this?" "As certain as I can be without conducting a thorough investigation, and I'm afraid I don't have time to do that." "That will be very bad news for Mrs. Peters," he said.

"I know it will; I'm sorry." "Have you had an opportunity to speak with the tecond Mrs. Manning about..." He let the sentence

"Briefly. She won't be giving the matter any thought until her return to Greenwich next week. I expect she want to consult her attorney there. Perhaps you'll hear something then; I'll give her your number."

"Won't you be representing her?" Ri "No, my work will be finished when I leave here next week."

"I see."

"I - will, be in touch if any further information comes,". my way."

"Thank you, Mr. Barrington, for your kindness,"

Potter said. "Goodbye."

"Good-bye, Mr. Potter," Stone replied, then hung up.

He felt sick his stomach, but there was nothing to else he could do in the circumstances. But yes, there was

I'

he could he reflected. He telephoned his something do, bank in New York, spoke to an officer he knew. "I've got a CD maturing about now, haven't I?" "Yes, Stone, it matured earlier this week. I sent you a notice, and your secretary called to say you were out of town. You want me to roll it over?"

"No, cash it and deposit it in my trust account."

I'll take care of it right away."

Stone thanked the man, then hung up and called his secretary at home. "Hi." "Hello there." "Anything happening?"

"Nothing I can't handle." "Something I'd like you to do." "Shoot." "Tomorrow, I want you to write a check for twenty-five thousand dollars on my trust account, made payable to the estate of Elizabeth Allison Manning, and send it to a law firm in Palm Beach." He gave her the address. "Cover it with a letter saying that the money was sent at the direction of Mrs. Allison Manning." "Pursuant to what?" Stone thought for a minute. "Just say what I told you; nothing else." "Okay, but we don't have a lot more than that in the trust account." "I made a twenty-five-thousand-dollar deposit." "That CD of yours that came due this week?" "Right." "We're going to need to pay some bills the first of the month." "Woodman and Weld owes us some money; call Bill Eggers and rattle his cage. Tell him we need it right away." "I'll do it." "Take care, then." "When you coming home?" "Next week; I'll let you know when." "You going to get that lady off?" "Jesus, I hope so. If I don't we can kiss that twenty-five grand goodbye." He hung up feeling both better and worse.

CHAPTER

Stone finished up his work thirsty, and he headed down to the bar for some-cold. A young man in whites and shoulder boards having a drink, looking bored. Stone sat down a away and ordered a rum and tonic, then he turned young man.

"You the skipper of the yacht that just came in?" "Yep," he replied, "she's called Race."

"There must be a reason," Stone said. "What sort of will she do?"

"Sixty knots in reasonable seas; seventy in a raging

"Whew! Who builds them?"

"She's a one-off, designed by a guy out of Miami who does racing boats and built at the Huisman yard in Holland."

"What brings you into St. Marks?"

"Picking up a charterer."

"Anybody I know?"

"Beats me; name of Mr. and Mrs. Chapman; they haven't shown up yet. We're supposed to be out of here by midnight. She's being refueled now."

"Where you bound for?"

"Way up the chain of islands; St. Thomas is our first call after we leave here."

"The first U.S. port, huh? That's a long passage.

Can

I buy you a drink?"

"Thanks, yes."

"Thomas, bring another round to..."

"Sam's my name," the young man said, sticking out a hand.

"I'm Stone."

"First name, or last?"

"First." Stone clinked glasses with the skipper, and they both drank. "Where's this charterer coming from?"

"Beats me. They're supposed to fly in this evening, and we leave as soon as they get here."

"A night passage, huh? They must be in a hurry."

"That's why we're refueling; the boat eats up gas at any kind of speed."

"Can you make it to St. Thomas at speed without refueling?"

"It's at the outer limits of our range, but we can do it with no headwind, and down here the trades will be on our beam. We'll be in the lee of the island chain, so it will only be rough once in a while."

"Where is the boat based?"

"Fort Lauderdale."

"I've got a client wants to sell a yacht up there soon; can you recommend a good broker?" I "Sure," Sam said, taking a card from his shirt pocket. and Smith; they handle all our charter work. good people." So if I wanted to charter Race, I'd get in touch with not you?" "That's right; we're in constant touch. You really in the

"Maybe next winter," Stone said. "How much red there in that sort of charter?" "Not much. You'd put down a fifty percent deposit, the rest thirty days in advance."

"That what this guy Chapman did?" . Sam shook his head. "This one was on short notice, he'd have to wire-transfer the money right away. The only got made a couple of days ago. We had just off a party in Guadeloupe, so we were nearby. works out really well for us, too, since it will us back to U.S. waters. My next charter is out of Juan, so it's perfect; we don't have to deadhead all way and burn up a lot of the owner's fuel." "What does she cost, by the week?" "Fifty-five grand, dry, sixty-five all in, booze and everything' , Stone laughed; "Forget my interest in chartering; ': that's out of my range." "Don't feel bad; it's out of just about everybody's

"Think I could get a look at her interior while you're here? I have a client or two who might be interested in chartering."

"Sure thing," Sam replied, tossing down the rest of his drink. "How about right now?"

"Great; let's go."

The two men walked out of the Shipwright's Arms and across the lawn toward the marina.

"What's her length?" Stone asked.

"Sixty-seven feet overall; draws six feet, so we can cruise the Bahamas."

"How many cabins?"

"Four; one big one for the owner, and three pretty good-sized ones. She has a little less volume than most boats her length; that's because of the speed designed into her."

They walked down the pontoon and went up the boarding ladder. Sam led the way, showing off the bridge and the navigational gear, then the saloon, complete with bar and entertainment center, featuring a big-screen television and video library. The owner's cabin was, indeed, luxurious, and the other cabins, although smaller, were equally plush.

"I'm impressed," Stone said as he descended to the pontoon again. He stuck out his hand. "Thanks for the tour, and good luck." He walked back up to the Shipwright's Arms and found Thomas.

"Thomas, I've never seen many airplanes out at the airport besides Chester's; do you get many outside aircraft in here?"

"Not many," Thomas replied. "Chester had the only license to land here any time he liked. Charter services from the other islands have to phone the airport office and get permission to land, usually twenty-four hours in advance. It's nothing but red tape, really."

"Do you think you could find out if any aircraft are expected in today or tonight?"

"I can call the guy who runs the airport," Thomas said. "Thanks."

Thomas used the phone and came back. "Nobody coming in today or tonight," he said.

"What would happen if an airplane landed without prior permission?"

"Big fine, for sure, and they might even confiscate the airplane if they got mad enough, but no airplane from the islands would try that. All the charter services know the score. What's up, anyway?"

"The skipper of the big motor yacht that came in this afternoon says he's meeting a charter client who's flying in today."

"Well, that's going to come as a big surprise to the folks out at the airport."

"Yeah," Stone said. "See you later." He walked back down to the marina and boarded Expansive. "Hello, below," he called out.

"Stone, is that you?" Allison's voice called back. "Sure is." He started down the companionway.

"I'm not feeling very well," she called out. "Would you mind coming back later this evening?"

Stone stopped halfway down the steps.

"Stone?"

"I have to talk to you right now," he said and started down again.

"Please don't!" she cried, but he was already in the saloon. There were half a dozen packed duffels piled near the steps, and Allison had a safe open behind the navigation station. "Dammit," she said, "are you deaf?"

"What time are you planning to leave?" he asked. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, closing the safe and putting some papers into her late husband's briefcase.

"What time?" he asked again.

She began going through the drawers next to the chart table, apparently looking for something.

Stone walked into the aft cabin and looked around. He opened a closet door and found only a few things hanging there, along with a lot of empty hangers. He walked back into the saloon. "What time are you leaving?" he asked a third time.

She looked at him for a long time without expression. "Sometime after midnight," she said finally.

CHAPTER

$9

tone sat down on the sofa opposite the chart table. "You can't do it," he said. "You know the penalty if you're caught running. You'll be judged guilty without even the formality of a trial, and they'll hang you." "They're going to hang me anyway," she said. "Not if I have anything to say about it." "Stone," she said. "Can't you see the way this is headed? They've stacked the deck against me in every possible way. The jury will probably be stacked against me, too. Sutherland wants my hide on his wall, and he's going to get his way." "Allison, listen to me. We've got a shot at an acquittal, really we have." "And if I'm not acquitted?" "Then we turn on the pressure on the prime minister. Sutherland has already heard from both Connecticut senators and God knows who else. If they try to hang an American citizen under these circumstances, the world will fall on them. The pressure on the prime minister will be unbearable; he'll have to cave in."

"These people can do whatever the hell they want," she said. "They're in this insular little world of theirs, and nobody has ever cared about what went on here."

"Until now. Do you know that you're already very nearly world famous? Every television station on the planet has run a story about you. On American television you're right up there with Princess Di for air time."

"I'm the flavor of the week, that's all," she sighed. "And probably half the people who heard about it think I'm guilty. Anyway, there would only be forty-eight hours between a conviction and an execution. That's not enough time to build outrage and get some sort of intervention. Don't you think I've thought about this? I've hardly thought of anything else."

"But if you run and are caught, you'll appear guilty and you'll lose all that support. People will say, "Well, she killed her husband and she got what she deserved." Is that what you want?"

"I'm not going to get caught. That boat over there is the fastest thing afloat between here and Miami. We'll be in international waters fifteen minutes after we leave the harbor. They don't have anything that can stop us."

"Sutherland will go after you and extradite you." "I can fight that in the American courts."

"And by the time the lawyers are finished with you, all the money will be gone. All of it, Allison, the house,

yacht, and the twelve million in insurance money have gone right down the legal drain. Then, even if win, you can never travel abroad. The minute you in another country, Sutherland can start extradi-proceedings all over again. You'd be hounded for rest of your life."

l: ;11 "I'm hounded now; what,s the difference? At least I have a life. They won't catch me, Stone; they'll have to find me first."

"So you're going to change your identity and hide out somewhere, give up who you are and worry every day about being caught. You don't want to live as a fugitive, Allison, believe me."

This seemed to have an effect. Tears welled up in her eyes, and when she reached for a tissue her hands

"It's better than dying on this godforsaken "she managed to say.

"They'll think I helped you," Stone said. "I'm an officer of the court, you know; I'm obliged to prevent you from committing another crime, and to attempt to :i.. escape is a crime."

"You'll talk your way out of it, Stone. After all, you didn't suspect anything until now."

"They won't know that. They'll know that I had a drink in the bar with the captain of that yacht and that we talked for quite a while, and that I went down and took a tour of the yacht."

"Come with me, then; we'll both get out of here." Stone shook his head. "I'm not going to become a party to a crime for you or anybody else, and I'm certainly not going to become a fugitive." He stood up.

"Where are you going?" she asked, alarmed.