Redemption Key (A Dani Britton Thriller) (16 page)

“Shit.”

Agent Crawford had his arm around Choo-Choo.

8:45am, 91° F

“I’ve got to keep Dani out of this meeting.” Oren pushed his empty glass between his fingers. “She’s got a good head on her shoulders but I think these guys are just too unpredictable.” Caldwell made a strange humming sound. “I know that sound. That’s your bullshit-on-the-horizon warning.”

“I’m not saying bullshit, Oren.” The agent kept his voice as low as Oren’s so they wouldn’t be overheard by Dani’s blond friend sitting several seats away. “I’m just saying I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that there’s something not one hundred percent aboveboard with your girl.”

“What did you find? I know you ran a background check. What is it?”

“Nothing.” Caldwell looked Oren in the face. “Nothing.”

“And? The absence of evidence proves what?”

The agent sighed. “If I do a check on you with the Bureau, I’ll find your arrest records. I know because I’ve checked. There’s also all
the other stuff—employment history, contact info, driver’s license stuff. The usual, but your file gets a special little flag because of your checkered history. We have tons of files like that.”

“And Dani?”

“Danielle Kathleen Britton, twenty-eight, of Flat Road, Oklahoma. No arrests, no convictions, no felonious associations.”

“Sounds treacherous.”

Caldwell seemed to measure his words. “Sounds perfectly harmless. I’m just thinking about a good girl like that finding this impossible-to-find place and working so hard for so little. I know how much you pay, you cheap bastard, yet here she is. Loyal and good. And well-established when a new bad guy decides to move in on Vincente.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Bermingham, the new big gun coming down from the north. Nobody knows him. He seems to get into places nobody gets into and leaves untouched. Your girl shows up and so does Bermingham.”

“Six months later.”

“After you’ve exposed Dani to most of your usual business associates.” He nodded at Oren. “I know about you using her to work your meetings. I’ve heard some stories. It seems like she has some other skills besides bartending. All I’m saying is be careful. Watch for things that don’t add up. Like the deal being moved down here instead of going down in Miami.”

“Vincente changed the plans, not the Canadian.”

“And you know this how?” Caldwell asked. “Because you overheard Juan Wheeler say so? How informed do you think the Wheelers really are? And just out of curiosity, was Dani around during that phone call? When Juan passed you money?”

“No.” Oren shook his head. “I mean, she brought us drinks. It’s her job.”

“Uh-huh. Okay. Then you have nothing to worry about. But watch for signs. Don’t let your guard down because she’s little and
cute. Little and cute can still pull a great big trigger, or get one pulled, and I can’t always protect you.”

Oren wanted to throw Caldwell out. He wanted to yell at him that he was a suspicious old prick who didn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. He wanted to say that Dani was becoming like a daughter to him.

Instead he said, “What signs?”

“A willingness to stick around a situation any sane person would avoid.”

“Like a meeting with the Wheelers.”

Caldwell nodded. “I was thinking more about living in that shitty shack, but yeah.”

“What else?”

“New people hanging around because of her.”

“This is a tourist bar on a tourist island in the biggest tourism state in the country.”

Caldwell’s gaze rested on the sullen blond nursing his drink in the middle of the bar. “People who are here because of her. People you don’t know but that she vouches for.”

Oren put his head in his hands. “Shit.”

“Let me see what I can do, Oren. Let’s see what this kid’s made of.” Caldwell downed his drink and grinned. “A little friendly bar chat. This is a friendly bar, after all. Let’s be friendly.”

Oren watched. When Caldwell rose and headed his way, the expression on the kid’s face didn’t exactly change; it sort of solidified. Whoever Dani’s friend was, he knew how to keep his guard up.

“Hey pal, how you doing?” Caldwell asked.

“Terrific.
Pal.
” The words slid out cold as glaciers from the kid’s lips. “How are you?”

The agent stood aggressively close.

“Oren tells me your name is Choo-Choo. What kind of name is Choo-Choo?”

“A fun one.”

The agent’s smile widened and sharpened. “It is a fun one. This is a fun place.” A rough slap to the back, rougher than could be called chummy, and the kid didn’t flinch. “What are you drinking?”

The kid sighed, obviously having enough sense to know that wherever this conversation was headed, it was inevitable. “Tanqueray and tonic. Lots of lime. Want one?”

“That looks good.” Caldwell took the drink from the kid’s fingers, smelling it and putting it back on the bar. “Did Dani make it for you? She makes a good drink, doesn’t she?” He leaned on his elbows, smiling at the kid. “I bet she knows just how you like your drink, doesn’t she?”

“Indeed.” The blond’s smile wasn’t much of an improvement in the warmth department. “Rumor has it that you can order your drink any way you like it, and she’ll make it that way. It’s just like Christmas every day of the week.”

Oren watched the body language of the two men, Caldwell forcibly cheerful, the blond politely sullen. The agent narrowed his eyes and Oren flashed back to a dozen unpleasant encounters of his own with the law. He was glad he didn’t have to endure these kinds of head games anymore. Before Caldwell could decide just how far he wanted to take this, Casper van Dosen strolled in off the deck, waving his hands in time to his off-tune humming of “Lady of Spain.”

“Don’t get up! Don’t rise for me!” he shouted toward the bar, holding up his hands, although nobody had made a move to rise for him. “This is not a business visit. I am here strictly for social reasons.”

Oren smiled at the wind-burned little man, taking in his bandy legs sticking out from frayed cotton shorts, his loud Hawaiian shirt showing tufts of white chest hair against his too tan skin. Casper launched himself onto his regular stool.

“What’s the matter, Casper?” Oren asked, glad for a distraction from wherever Caldwell was headed. “Nobody taking you up on your sunrise cruises today?”

“Taking me up? Are you mad?” Casper slammed his palm on the bar. “I’ve got them lined up three deep on the edge of Big Pine but I was forced to sneak off without them this morning. Forced to sneak off like a thief in the night. Or the dawn, as the case may be.” He glanced down the bar where Dani stood talking with the tall fellow from yesterday. “Dani, my dear, is that a gin and tonic I spy in our young friend’s hand?”

“It is, Casper,” Dani said with a smile. “Do you think I might be able to talk you into one? Tonic water is a powerful curative on a day like this.”

“Dani, my dear, I believe you could talk me into just about anything. And I appreciate your concerns for my health.” He pointed to the blond kid. “And how about another one for our young friend here. Will you have a drink with me?”

Oren watched the kid turn his back on Caldwell, draping himself on an elbow. From what Oren could see of his face, that was probably the closest thing to a real smile the kid could muster. “I believe I will.”

“Well now that’s just fantastic. Fantastic.” He watched Dani pour the drinks. When she slid the second down the bar to the blond, he held up his glass for a toast. “And what is it they call you, my friend?”

Before the kid could speak, Caldwell clamped a hand on his shoulder and shouted him down. “They call him Choo-Choo. Choo-Choo! You ever heard such a name? He’s a friend of Dani’s, just showed up today, and wants us all to call him Choo-Choo.”

The captain seemed to consider the question. Oren knew the rummy act wasn’t entirely a front, but the old captain was a lot brighter than he let on. And Oren knew what Caldwell didn’t—if there was one thing Casper van Dosen couldn’t stand, it was a bully. Caldwell had just given Dani’s friend another ally.

“Any friend of Dani’s is a friend of mine and I think Choo-Choo is an outstanding name!” The old man raised his drink and the kid
followed suit. “It speaks of the magnificent tradition of the rails that made this country great. It speaks of travel and voyages—and speaking of voyages,” he leaned toward the kid and lowered his voice. “Do you have any love of the water?”

The kid leaned toward him in turn. “I could sail before I could drive.”

“Well then, this is an auspicious encounter. I’ve been forced to postpone my sunrise cruise because my first mate is having a tiff with his very unpleasant and very pregnant girlfriend, leaving me without a crew for the day, if not for the foreseeable future. I can’t legally conduct my business without a first mate, and I would sorely hate to miss the sunset on a hot day like this. Could I interest you in a position on the world-famous
Lady of Spain
Party Pontoon?”

The kid raised his glass. “Auspicious indeed. Just tell me where and when.”

“I’ll admit I had come by here today to lure the always dependable Dani into service but it seems destiny has intervened,” he said to the blond. “I can’t guarantee full-time employment and the only benefits you get are the open water and all the sweet flesh the complimentary margaritas open up for you, but a man could do a lot worse in terms of gainful employment.”

The boy smiled at Dani and then nodded. “I’ve had worse jobs. Trust me.”

Casper toasted and drained his drink. “You’re a good man, Choo-Choo, and that’s a fine name. Come on over to Big Pine and follow the signs for the
Lady of Spain
this afternoon.” He got to his feet and patted Choo-Choo on the cheek. “Oh the ladies are gonna love you, boy. Almost as much as they love the margaritas and the captain. First Mate Choo-Choo, welcome aboard the
Lady of Spain
.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

Casper laughed, clapping the kid on the shoulder with a much kinder touch than Caldwell’s. The little captain eyed the agent with
a look of triumph and a little bit of warning. Casper might seem to be just a mouthy little drunk, but he was a local legend; he loved his Keys and he loved his bars and he loved the people who filled both. Caldwell’s tough-guy tactics hadn’t won him any friends today.

The kid smirked into his drink as Casper strolled out of the bar whistling the same tune he’d entered on. Caldwell stared into the bar mirror, watching Casper disappear and the kid finish his drink.

“Well that worked out pretty well for you, didn’t it, Choo-Choo?” He drew out the name, separating the words to sarcastic effect. “Just hours here and you’ve got a job. A title, even.”

Oren watched the kid smile into his glass before turning that smile up at Caldwell. Oren had seen colder smiles in his life but not many.

“I do have a title now and everyone in this bar knows it.” He leaned in toward Caldwell as if going for a kiss. Instead he whispered loud enough for Oren to overhear. “I wonder if you can say the same,
agent
.”

Caldwell made a sound of disbelief, shaking his head as if he’d never heard anything so ridiculous, but if Oren could see the flush of heat rising on the agent’s face, the kid certainly could. Caldwell picked up his drink and headed back toward his stool. As he stepped behind him, Oren could hear one word escape on a breath.

“Shit.”