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The two big Caterpillar diesel engines on the Cheoy Lee had been well maintained. Though running virtually non-stop for over 250 hours, they’d performed flawlessly, but without scheduled service, another run to Galveston would be risky.
As a deckhand on fishing charters, Reymundo did everything from repairing machinery to baiting hooks for squeamish guests. On his boat, he made sure all the required maintenance was done and done right. He changed the engine oil and filter, replaced the air cleaner element and fuel filters. The remaining cleaning, inspecting, and adjusting took him the better part of two days to complete.
When he’d checked off the final item on the maintenance list, including maintenance on the two twenty kilowatt generators, Reymundo was satisfied. Miss Jana was ready. She would take him anywhere in the world he wanted to go. He just wished his next trip would not be to Cuba.
Reymundo showered and shaved. The shower felt good after a day in the engine room. Wearing a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts, he joined Jana on the aft deck. “Hey. Is Rafael’s guy still there?”
She turned in her seat and looked at him. “Hi. Yeah, he’s still watching.”
“Who is it?”
“I can’t tell for sure. I didn’t want to stare. I don’t know if he’s aware that we know he’s watching us or not. I don’t know if it even matters. I figure if we pretend we don’t know he’s there and we don’t do anything suspicious, maybe he’ll stop watching, or at least get lazy, and maybe we can slip away.”
“Any idea how long he’s been there? I mean, has it been just him all day, or have they been rotating in and out?”
“Not sure. I can’t see him from any place on the boat except for right here. That means he can’t see us either. I doubt he cares. I think his job is to make sure we don’t cast off any of those stern lines.”
“Maybe we should. Just to see what happens.”
“And what if what happens is he comes running up here shooting at us? Not a great idea.”
“How ‘bout this? I just finished the maintenance on the engines. I need to crank them up and let them run a bit. When I do, there’ll be a puff of smoke out of the exhaust port. Even though it’s below the dock, he should be able to see it. Let’s see if he does anything. You stay here. If he comes running up, keep calm. Act like nothing is happening. Wave, say hello, and act surprised to see him.”
Reymundo walked to the main bridge. He considered climbing up to the flybridge to start the engines, but it would take him longer to get back to Jana if all hell broke loose. The main bridge was closer, plus he would be less of a target.
After making sure both engines were in neutral, Reymundo started them up. First the starboard engine then the port. Because diesel fuel had become clean-burning, barely a puff of smoke was exhausted – but plenty for the person watching. It took less than a minute for the man to appear on the dock.
“Y’all goin’ somewhere?” the man yelled up. He stood with his feet apart, like he was ready for action. His right hand was in the pocket of his cargo shorts.
“Just firing up the engines,” Jana said, flashing him her best artificial smile. “You know those big diesels, you have to start them and let them run a while every few days. Rey changed the oil in them too. They needed to be run.”
The man removed his hand from his pocket, nodded as though he knew the requirements of marine engines, and started to walk back to his car.
“You must work for Rafael,” Jana yelled to him. “Suck his dick lately?”
The man spun, his face filled with anger. He made a step toward the boat and Jana as Reymundo stepped onto the aft deck. The man’s hand twitched nervously next to his pocket as he sized up Reymundo. “Bitch,” he said, then turned from the boat and walked down the dock.
“What was that all about?” Reymundo asked. “You trying to get yourself killed?”
Jana retrieved the Ruger 9mm semi-automatic from between her legs. “I can take care of myself. I wanted to see what he’d do. He had a gun in his pocket and could’ve used it. I think his orders are to watch us, not shoot us. At least not unless we untie the boat. Yeah, had you not shown up, I think he would’ve come on board and maybe tried to slap me around, but he wouldn’t have killed me. Right now, we’re too valuable to Rafael alive. He needs those girls delivered.”
“That’s good to know. What do you think will happen if we leave the boat?”
“I think he’ll follow us.”
“Why don’t we find out? I still owe you a nice dinner. How long will it take you to get ready?”
“Not long,” Jana said as she bounded down the steps to the owner’s cabin.
Assuming “not long” meant he had plenty of time for a beer, Reymundo pulled a Corona from the bar fridge and sat back down on the aft deck. A slight breeze from the southeast cooled the shaded deck.
“Ready,” Jana said, now standing behind him. “You started without me?”
“I expected you to be longer. I’ve just had a few sips.”
Jana scooted in next to him on the couch. “Finish it. I’m in no hurry.”
“You look stunning.”
“Awe, thank you.”
Reymundo took several large gulps from the beer. “I’m ready. Let me hit the head.”
“I’ll drive,” Jana said, reaching for her purse and keys.
When Reymundo returned, they walked hand-in-hand to her little Alfa. His Corolla was a nice car, but Reymundo was glad Jana had volunteered to drive. Her near-new Alfa Romeo 4C was much more fun than his ancient Toyota.
“What’s he doing?” Jana asked once they’d made it to the car.
“He’s watching. It looked like he perked up some when he saw us.”
“Good.”
“Remember, don’t drive too fast and don’t run any yellow lights. We don’t want him to lose us.”
“I got this. Where are we going?”
“What are you in the mood for? How ‘bout steak? Or maybe seafood?”
“How does both sound? A little surf and turf?”
“Perfect! Any place in mind?”
“Yeah, I know a place off Harding Avenue. The food is awesome, and it’s reasonable.”
“My kind of place,” Reymundo said, looking in the passenger-side mirror. “Our friend is still behind us.”
“Yep. It looked like he was talking on the phone. Kind of hard to tell, but I think he was.”
“He must’ve been checking in, asking what he should do. You’d think they would have discussed what to do if we left. I think these guys are about as smart as bait.”
Jana glanced at her boyfriend. “Yet, they’re telling us what to do.”
“Not for long,” Reymundo said. “Not for long, I guarantee it.”
“There’s the place. Look, a parking spot.”
Jana zipped into the spot effortlessly and they sat in the car as Rafael’s man slowly drove past them. After a glance, he drove on. When Reymundo and Jana walked across the street to the restaurant, they could see him, parked and with his phone to his ear.
The restaurant was not full, and the couple was promptly seated. A proud Reymundo watched the male servers and patrons admire his date – several of them not subtly. He realized it was the first time they’d been out to a nice place together.
Reymundo ordered a beer, Jana, a red Zinfandel. They looked over the menu in silence. The server, an attractive girl in her early twenties with dark hair and a bright smile, brought the drinks. “Are you ready to order?”
“Go ahead, if you’re ready,” Reymundo said.
“I am.” Jana looked up at the server. “I’ll have the small filet and the lobster tail. Is the lobster Maine or Florida lobster?”
“It’s cold-water lobster. I think Maine.”
“Perfect,” Jana said. “That’s what I’ll have. And a steak, medium rare, rice pilaf, and broccoli.”
“I’m going to make it easy,” Reymundo said. “I’ll have exactly the same but make my steak medium.”
“Warm pink?” the server asked.
“Perfect.”
The bubbly server asked if they needed anything else before leaving to enter the order.
“Here’s to our first real date,” Reymundo said, raising his glass of beer.
Jana clinked her glass with his. “That’s right. This is like our first date. I usually don’t put out on the first date, but I have a feeling you’re going to get lucky tonight.”
“I know I am. Warm pink.”
Jana groaned. “How much beer have you had? Sheesh. That was awful.”
Reymundo laughed. “I thought it was pretty good.”
“How would you feel if the steak is the only thing you get tonight that’s warm pink?”
Reymundo caressed Jana’s hand. “And who’d be the loser in that deal?”
“Okay. Good point. Let’s change the subject.”
“Honestly, I’d rather make crappy jokes. You know where we’ll go if we change the subject.”
“Yeah, but it’s better than your classless pussy jokes. Ugh. I’m sorry. You know, I’m trying to watch my language.”
“I noticed when you heard your ex died.”
“Oh, yeah, I might have lost it a bit. That motherfucker.” Jana laughed. “I couldn’t resist. You don’t cuss much, do you?”
“I try not to. It’s okay. I mean, it’s not a big deal. I will cuss when appropriate. If you hear me cuss, you’ll know I’m mad. Probably extremely pissed. If I cussed all the time, what would I say when I was really mad? You, from what I’ve heard, only cuss when you’re mad. It seems like you’ve been mad a lot since we met.”
The server approached the table with their meals, interrupting their banter. “Can I get you anything else?” she asked.
“No, this looks great. Thanks,” Jana said. Once the server left, Jana turned to Reymundo. “I think it’s cool. So many people swear too much. It does get old.” She took a sip of wine. “So I haven’t seen you angry yet?”
“Actually, you have – a couple of times. I’ve been trained to control my emotions.”
“You’ve been trained to control your emotions? Really? When was that?”
“After high school, my brother got a job at a martial arts studio. He let me work a few hours a week to pay for training. Later, he opened his own place and let me train for free. I’ve got black belts in Karate and Taekwondo.”
“Seriously? Wow, that’s cool,”
“People think martial arts are all about fighting. You learn discipline as well. Taekwondo, for example, has five tenets – courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit. I have exercised extreme self-control in dealing with these guys. I’m waiting for the right time. The right time and the right place.”
Reymundo had a look in his eyes Jana hadn’t seen before, but it didn’t scare her. She hoped when Rafael saw Reymundo’s steely-eyed glare it would scare the shit out of him and it would be the last thing Rafael would ever see.
Their dinner progressed with small talk. Reymundo and Jana were able to forget about Rafael and his hooligans for a while. For the first time, they were able to talk about each other. Dessert was refused, a final round of drinks was not. The check was brought, and Jana paid it.
“This has been great,” Reymundo said. “I hate to bring it up, but I was wondering, how did you find those girls we had on the boat for the frat cruise?”
“That’s an odd question. I called a friend who still dances some. I told her what we were looking for. I was hoping she might want to do it, but she just dances. No sex. She said she’d make some calls but didn’t think she’d have any trouble finding girls. It’s easy money for girls who don’t mind fucking. Shit, I mean, um, going all the way.”
“You know, babe, I think it’s worse when you try to fix it. Don’t worry about dropping an F-bomb. I’m a big boy.”
“But I do want to stop using the word. It makes a person sound ignorant or stupid.”
“I can’t argue that. Please go on.”
“Like I was saying, it’s easy money for those who don’t mind doing it. She made a few phone calls and found them. It was only a matter of hours, so yeah, it didn’t take long.”
“Any idea where the girls work? You know, what club?”
“No, my friend didn’t say.”
“Think you could find out?”
“Probably. Why”
“I thought I’d drop by the club. If we could find one of the girls, maybe she could tell us more about Rafael. Like where he lives. She might be able to tell us if that’s where he kept you. I’d like to know how many guys work for him. We know there are four – Gorgonio, Nestor, and the two who were with him when y’all met the boat. Plus the guy following us.”
“I think he was one of the two when we met the boat.”
“So maybe only Rafael and four others. That’s good. Eight or ten would be a problem.”
“You want to go tonight?”
“No. Maybe tomorrow. We have the other errands to do tomorrow too. If you can find out where the girls work, that’d be good.”
“I’m sure I can. I’ll text my friend later.”
“You ready to go?”
“Yes. This was the best night. Thank you.”
Reymundo took Jana’s hand. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. We needed a night out. If you’ll excuse me, I need to water my horse before we leave.”
“Water your horse? Is that a dick joke?”