Long Way Down (17 page)

“How about locals?”

Candi shook her head. “A few people lived here in primitive homes but La Salle had them relocated to the next island. He gave them some money and they were happy.”

“Okay, they’ll be coming down soon, so we need to get out of here.”

“We could go to one of the bedrooms.”

Candi opened the door and they went out. They made their way down the hall to the stairwell and up one flight of stairs. Sam opened the door on the second floor and peered around it to make sure no one waited there.

“The locks haven’t been activated yet, so they’re all open,” Candi said.

They went to the last door down the hall and entered an unfurnished room with a view of the sea.

Sam closed the door behind them. “How many men are in the building?”

“Only a couple more besides Gino and Jimmy. Also, the construction men and some maintenance guys who are working on the electrical system. I heard La Salle talking to them this morning about how the people who put in the generator messed it up.”

The karate guy might still be around, and Grimes, too, unless they left with Frankie. Sam glanced at Candi and held her stare for a couple of seconds.

“What are you looking at?” Candi said.

“I think you know something about that gold you’re not saying.”

Candi sidled to the window, crossed her arms in front of her, and looked out at the water. A gull landed on the balcony, peered inside and flew away.

“I know they brought it in last night.”

“Who brought it?”

J.T. stood with his hands in his back pockets, listening.

“One of La Salle’s men, I don’t know his name, and a guy named Danilov. He spoke with an accent. I think maybe he’s Russian. He flew the airplane, and he told La Salle the weather was rough coming in.”

Sam nodded. “What else?”

“That’s about all, except he said he’s going back tonight for another load.”

J.T. looked at Sam and smiled.

“What kind of plane does he fly?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know anything about airplanes.”

“You’ve seen it, though?”

“Well, yeah, I’ve seen it.”

“How big is it and what does it look like?”

“It’s pretty big, probably with enough room for eight or ten people, and it makes a lot of noise. Oh, yeah, and it floats in the water.”

“A seaplane?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Sam raised an eyebrow and he and J.T. exchanged glances. The computer system in the facility on Grand Cayman monitored something in the sea between Grand Cayman and Cuba. Sunken treasure.

“Anything else?”

“No.”

“There’s something you’re not telling.”

Candi looked at Sam and smiled. “Danilov said the most valuable items are still out there.”

Chapter 17

S
AM FOUND Candi a pair of coveralls in a maintenance room down the hall. She dressed in the bathroom and came out and modeled the too-large coveralls for them. She had rolled up the sleeves and cuffed the pant legs.

“Not bad,” Sam said.

“Well, it’ll have to do, at least until I get off this island.”

Sam nodded and raised an eyebrow. “Since we’re on the subject, how did you happen to end up here? You were safe and sound when I left you at the Palma Hotel.”

Candi’s face turned red. “I knew you would bring that up.”

“Well, it is the reason the gang is all here.”

“Yeah, I know. You made me pretty mad the other night when you said you wouldn’t be back for awhile. I called Marcus, thinking he wouldn’t tell La Salle after what La Salle did to him. He said he would come get me.”

“Did Marcus pick you up?”

Her face dropped. “No. I went to the lobby an hour or so later to meet him, but I saw Gino and Jimmy instead. I guess Marcus sold me out. Probably trying to ingratiate himself with the boss after letting you get away with the car and money.”

She said it in such a way as to toss the blame for calling Marcus back into Sam’s lap. He glanced out the window. The sun had scalded its way under the horizon, turning the blue of the sea into black marble with veins of pewter. A ribbon of gold rimmed the edge of the world at that faraway place where it bends and disappears. Sam wondered how many ancient people had chased the golden ribbon looking for treasure, only to end up lost in the darkness.

“I felt like a fool,” Candi said.” A tear broke loose from her eye and ran down her cheek. She dried it with her rolled-up sleeve.

She probably told La Salle where to find the Jaguar, too, but Sam thought it might not be the best time to bring that up.

J.T. ambled over and put his arm around her shoulders. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Happens to the best of us. Right, Sam?” He gave Sam a look that said
, If you don’t tell her, I will.

Sam sighed and said, “Yeah, okay, I called Marcus too, looking for you.”

“You did?”

Sam nodded. “He told me to go to the air strip and talk to the pilot, but Gino and Jimmy showed up after I arrived, and then Grimes ambushed me. I guess I feel a little foolish myself.”

Candi sniffed. “You do? Really?”

“Afraid so.”

Candi kissed J.T. on the cheek, pulled out of the embrace and wiped another tear with the back of her hand.

J.T. said, “Hey, you two need to lighten up. This place looks like it’s going to be pretty wild.”

“Oh, yeah, New Miami.” Candi rolled her eyes. “That’s the plan, if the money lasts. I got the big spiel about how this is going to be the next Monte Carlo. Over two thousand rooms in a couple of years and he expects to draw a million visitors by the end of the third year. He plans to have flights coming here from all over by next month, and a Hovercraft out of Miami.” Candi glanced at Sam and grinned, tears still damp on her face. “Can you believe that?”

“Yeah. Sounds pretty ambitious.”

“So, where’s Danilov’s seaplane?” J.T. asked Candi.

“It’s on the other side of the airport in the lagoon. A dirt road goes out there.”

“I wonder what time they’ll leave?”

Candi shrugged. “He said they would go at nightfall.”

J.T. looked out the window. “It’s getting dark now. We probably missed them.”

“Doesn’t matter as long as we’re there when they get back,” Sam said.

J.T. nodded. “Yeah, I guess. I just wish we knew where they’re going.”

Sam had to admit that he wanted to know their destination, too. He wondered how La Salle might be using the facility on Grand Cayman in his scheme.

“I wish we’d had more time to check on that web site.”

“Yeah, me too,” J.T. said.

Sam turned to Candi. “Do you know where we can get access to a computer?”

“They have them in Security. But somebody might be in the office.”

“That’s okay, let’s go take a look. After that, we’ll head over to the lagoon.”

They went back down the stairwell, exited, and sneaked to the security office which lay a few doors past the money room. The door stood open. Sam leaned against the wall and peeked inside. A bank of video monitors occupied one side of the room, and a man sat in the corner, his head against the wall, eyes closed. He looked like the same man who had driven them to the hotel. There didn’t seem to be much going on yet in the security department of the Cyclops.

Sam stepped inside, his gun leading the way, and the sleeping man opened his eyes. He pitched forward in the chair and fumbled with his shoulder holster. Sam pointed the gun at his face and thumbed the hammer.

“Don’t do it.”

The man froze and glanced at Candi and J.T., then at the monitors. One screen showed La Salle still on the floor with his hands tied. Another displayed the foyer where Gino lay unconscious.

“What happened to them?”

“Just a little misunderstanding,” Sam said. “Be good and you won’t get hurt. At least not by us.”

J.T. went to work on the computer while Sam took the gun from the security man’s fingers and made him get on the floor.

Sam said to Candi, “Unplug that phone cord and hand it to me."

After tying the man’s hands behind him with the cord, Sam found a roll of packaging tape in the desk and taped his mouth and ankles. He pulled a set of car keys from the man’s pocket. Hopefully the car still sat out front. Opening a closet next to the desk, Sam dragged the man inside, leaving the door ajar so he could wiggle his way out in an hour or so.

J.T. punched the computer keys, while Candi watched the monitors.

Sam peered over J.T.’s shoulder. “You find what you need?”

“Yeah, I think so. I’m on the Internet now. There were several transmissions since I looked at my web site, but the information looks about the same each time. I just need to download this one last file.”

Sam joined Candi at the monitors. Most of the screens displayed views of empty rooms. He went to the one where La Salle lay on the floor and watched as the dojo door opened. Jimmy the Spike stepped into the room rubbing the side of his head. He spotted La Salle on the floor and hurried over to him. Sam turned up the volume on the speaker until he could hear their voices and zoomed in with the camera.

La Salle gurgled and jerked at his bindings. His eyes bulged. Jimmy knelt to his side and untied the belt around his gagged mouth.

La Salle gasped and said, “Where’s Gino?”

“Out cold.” Jimmy untied the knot that bound La Salle’s hands. “Somebody hit him pretty hard. His head is all swollen up, like twice as big as it’s supposed to be.”

“Help me up. I think Mackenzie fractured my leg.”

Jimmy got to his feet and looked down at him.

“He what?” Jimmy stood gazing at his great leader, as if paralyzed by this revelation that he might not be invincible after all.

La Salle glanced up and narrowed his eyes. The look said he would kill Jimmy if he could.

“Just pull me up.”

Jimmy hesitated another second and then reached for his arm. La Salle got his good leg under him, stood and reached for the rail against the wall. He started to hop toward the back door, but stopped and turned around.

“I heard an airplane take off a few minutes ago. Who left on it?”

Jimmy shrugged and rubbed the side of his head. “I don’t know, somebody hit me, too.”

“Well, find out.” He started hopping again and said over his shoulder, “And tell the pilot to get the other plane ready. I need to go to Miami and get this leg fixed.”

Jimmy left the dojo while La Salle still worked his way toward the back door, one hop at a time, moaning, his face contorted with pain.

“WE BETTER get going,” Candi said.

Sam stepped over to J.T. and said, “Let’s go. La Salle’s leaving for the airport in a few minutes, and I want to be long gone by then.”

“I almost got it...okay, take a look at this.” He turned the monitor so Sam could see. A red dot blinked in the center of the screen with several blinking white dots scattered around it. “I found this program on the computer. It uses the data file I received on the web site. The dots are the coordinates I mentioned in the Caribbean. That red dot in the center is what they’re watching, maybe where the gold is located. I’m guessing the other dots are boats. These guys are watching to make sure no one gets too close.” J.T. gave Sam a nervous grin. “That’s what the missiles are for.”

Sam remembered the rocket launcher they had used on Tommy Shoes’ limo, and the destruction it had caused. According to J.T.’s description, the missiles were larger than a rocket launcher, and probably would turn a fifty-foot boat into small pieces. He remembered the radio report of the fishing boat that had washed up in pieces on Grand Cayman. Poor guys never knew what hit them.

“Did you write down the coordinates of the red dot?”

J.T. gave Sam a sidelong glance, grinned and said, “Yeah, first thing I did.”

“Okay, let’s get out of here.”

They made it almost to the lobby when the elevator beeped. Sam led them into an alcove and peered around the corner. Jimmy came out of the elevator and sprinted toward the security room. When he went in the door, they hurried through the lobby and crossed the big eye in the floor, not bothering to step around the uncured cement.

The car still sat in the covered limousine area not far from the door. They got inside, Sam and Candi in front, J.T. in back, and Sam started the engine. They rode away from the hotel, quiet until they passed between the giant feet. Sam glanced at Candi in the glow of the dash lights. Her face reminded him of a movie star he had seen on the cover of a recent magazine. She had the looks to be an actress or model herself, instead of tying up with a bunch of criminals.

J.T. broke the silence. “How do you think Danilov figures into this?”

“Maybe he found a shipwreck back in his Cuba days,” Sam said.

“And he got Miro to appraise something he found and sell it for him?”

“Yeah, that would explain Miro’s bank account. But what doesn’t add up is the link with La Salle. The only information you found about him was in the last few months, like he didn’t exist prior to that time.”

Sam glanced at Candi again and caught her eyes. She looked away.

“Maybe Candi knows,” Sam said.

Candi waited a few seconds and said, “Back before Philly died, La Salle mentioned something about working in Central America. I asked what he did there and he got this real funny look on his face. He mumbled something about being a consultant, and never mentioned it again.”

Sam drove past the New Miami sign and onto the road that led to the airport. The road was dark except for the car’s headlights, but after a couple of minutes Sam could see lights from the airport in the distance.

“Do we have to go through the airport to get to the lagoon?”

“No,” Candi said. “You can take a left at the edge of the airport onto an access road and it goes all the way around one side.”

Sam turned off the headlights before reaching the airport and turned left as Candi instructed. He could see the runway lit up next to an airplane similar to the one he had flown in on. Two men stood talking inside the construction trailer. Sam couldn’t recognize them at that distance. A car started up next to the trailer and raced toward the road to the hotel. Sam eased the car into a clump of trees and put on the brakes. The approaching car’s headlights shone through the trees, and when it passed he saw Marcus behind the wheel. Probably going to get La Salle. A moment later the two men in the construction trailer came out and down the steps. One of them, wearing flight coveralls, hurried toward the plane.
Maybe the pilot?
The other man, dressed in a business suit, stepped to the corner of the trailer and a flood light illuminated his face. A chill ran up Sam’s back. He eased the car back on the road and drove toward the lagoon, wondering what Jackson Craft might have to do with La Salle, New Miami and sunken gold.