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The following morning, Jana received a text from her friend telling her she did not know where the girls from the frat cruise worked. Using the same means she contacted them the first time, her friend sent a message asking them to contact Jana. Two of the girls were missing; presumably, they had run off with the frat boys. One of the girls had been badly beaten. The chances of any of them contacting Jana were slim.
“That’s okay. It would have been nice to talk to them, find out what they know about Rafael, but we do have a plan B,” Reymundo said after Jana told him about her friend’s message. “We need to get going.”
“Can’t we stay here in bed a little longer?” Jana cuddled close to Reymundo, wrapping her arms around him. “Like maybe a year?”
“I wish we could. Soon, babe, soon. We need to go. We don’t want to wait until another one of Rafael’s guys is close enough to catch up and follow us.”
“True that. I’ll get ready.”
Reymundo wore his usual attire – shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. Jana wore white cut-off jean shorts and an off-shoulder top with stars across the front. The couple walked slowly across the parking lot to their cars.
“You ready?” Reymundo asked.
“Yeah, no problem. I don’t think we have anything to worry about. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”
“It shouldn’t, but you never know what these morons will do. They make me nervous.” He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. “Talk to you in a minute.”
Reymundo climbed into the old Toyota. He’d just started the car when the phone rang. He pressed the button on his Bluetooth earbud. “Hi.”
“Hi, sweetie. Can you hear me okay?” Jana asked through the hands-free feature of the audio system in her 4C.
“Loud and clear. Let’s go.”
The couple backed their cars out of the parking spots and drove slowly through the marina parking lot. The newer Alfa Romeo was followed by the older Toyota.
“Is he following?” Reymundo asked.
“Sure is. He isn’t far behind.”
“Okay. I’m going left, you go right. Let’s see who he follows.”
Reymundo waited until traffic was clear. He’d had a few opportunities to turn left but waited so Rafael’s man could follow him if he wanted. He made the turn and drove slowly, keeping an eye in his rear-view mirror. Jana turned right. The thug didn’t hesitate; he turned right.
“Did you see that?” Jana asked.
“I did. He followed you. It didn’t look like he spent much time thinking about it either.”
“I was watching. He didn’t even look your way. I think he was planning to follow me.”
“Now that I think about it, that makes sense. You’re the insurance policy. Without you, I could take off with the boat.”
“We could do that, you know. I could easily lose this clown. You could go get the boat and pick me up somewhere. I’d ditch the Alfa. We could disappear in the Caribbean together.”
“We could, but we’d be looking over our shoulder for a long time. Whenever we came back to the states, we’d wonder if Rafael was looking for us. No, let’s stick to the plan. You know what to do?”
“Yeah, it’s just a normal day for me. I’ll take my time. See you back at the boat.”
“Cool. See you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Jana hung up. On the car’s infotainment screen, a message saying she had a new voice mail appeared. Jana hit the Play button.
“You have one new voicemail. First new voice mail.” A woman’s voice came on. “Hi Miss Wilson. This is Josie Keener. I’m calling on behalf of the attorney handling your husband’s estate. I need to talk to you as soon as possible. Please call me back at this number. Thank you. Goodbye.”
“Fuck you!” Jana shouted and disconnected. “I bet that motherfucker didn’t transfer the car into my name. They want my car, I know it. Well, you’re going to have to find it, pricks.”
Jana was still fuming over the voicemail when she turned into the Publix parking lot. She parked in the far end of the parking lot, away from any cars. The car following her parked a few lanes over. Although aware it was not a wise move, Jana needed to let off a little steam. She walked straight to the car that had followed her and tapped on the window. The man inside rolled the window down. It was not the man who’d followed them the night before. It was the other man who’d been with Rafael when they took her back to the boat. He didn’t look happy.
Jana leaned over the open window. Her top drooped enough for the man inside the car to glimpse her breasts. Although Jana’s breasts were small, her firm nipple rested atop a lovely pink areola. Rafael’s thug could not resist staring.
“Hey, douche-bag, eyes up here.”
The man glanced up at Jana then right back down to her drooping top. He worked with strippers daily. Ogling their breasts was not a big deal.
“Thanks for the preview. I’ll get the whole show soon enough.” He flashed a shit-eating grin at Jana and tugged at his zipper. “You want a preview? A sample of what you’re going to get soon?”
“Fuck you,” Jana said and walked off.
“That’s the idea, bitch.”
Inside the Publix, Jana called Reymundo.
“Hello,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. I confronted the asshole who was following me.”
“You did what?”
“I know. I shouldn’t have, but I was pissed about a call from the lawyer, and I wanted to have a little fun with him. I was going to ask him if he wanted to come push my cart, but he was looking down my top. Yeah, I let it fall open so he could get a peek. I’m sorry. Anyway, he didn’t flinch like most men would. He just stared. Then he said something that really bothered me. I didn’t show it, but it scared me. He said he was getting a preview. He said he’d see it all later. I think Rafael may have told them they could fuck me. If he did, they aren’t going to let me go. I don’t think they want you to return either. Honey, I’m scared now.”
“Jana, sweetheart, try to stay calm. You’re going to be okay. I promise. I don’t think they’ll mess with you. Not until I return anyway. Don’t go near any of Rafael’s guys again. Go ahead and do the shopping. Take your time. Let that guy sit in the car and stew. Hopefully, he doesn’t have enough gas to run the car’s air-conditioning the whole time. It’ll get hot in the car quickly.”
“I hope so. He needs to sweat.”
“Take your time. Try to get everything on the list. And don’t go near him again.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t. See you back on the boat. Love you.”
“Love you. Bye.”
Reymundo was pulling into the electronics store when he hung up the phone. He took a deep breath. “This has to work,” he said, then sat in the car a few minutes, contemplating his options.
The options were few, and none were good. He could go to the police and confess, have his boat confiscated and go to jail for human trafficking. Rafael and his crew would go free. He could kill Rafael and his guys, wherever they are, starting with the one sitting in the Publix parking lot waiting for Jana. The third option was his current plan, which could get himself, Jana, or both of them killed.
He had gone over the plan hundreds of times in his head. Although no plan was foolproof, especially when dealing with idiots like Rafael, it was a good plan. As good as he could come up with anyway.
He parked in front of the giant electronics store. Convinced his plan would work, he walked inside. The store sold everything from computers to dishwashers.
A nerdy-looking teenager approached Reymundo. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah, I’m looking for GPS trackers.”
“That’d be in the car electronics section. Near the back of the store, aisle nineteen. Would you like me to show you?”
“No, thanks. I can find it.”
Reymundo walked through the store, looking at all the gadgets. He had never gotten into video games and his cellphone was the basic model. He could talk, text, and take pictures and that was all he needed.
Another nerdy-looking guy, this one skinnier than the first, was behind the counter looking at his phone when Reymundo approached. “Hi,” he said. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah. I placed an order. Name’s Reymundo Cruz.”
The kid slid and tapped his fingers across the tablet. “Got it,” he said. “Your order has been pulled and is waiting for you at the check-out. You can pay for it and pick it up there.”
A long aisle filled with impulse items had to be navigated to get to the registers. Nothing tempted Reymundo, except maybe the Twizzlers, but he resisted the urge to pick up a bag.
A cute, young Asian girl behind the counter waved at him. “How can I help you?” she asked.
“I placed an online order. Reymundo Cruz.”
The clerk looked up the order. “Hang on,” she said and disappeared into a locked area. She quickly reappeared, carrying three small identical boxes. “Can I put this on your rewards card today?”
“Uh, no. I’ll pay cash.”
The young girl looked at Reymundo like he was a freak. Most transactions were debit or credit, but she took his cash, completed the transaction, and handed his bag over the counter.
“Thank you. Have a great day!” she said.
It was mid-June and South Florida was under the siege of an early heatwave. Normal highs in Miami in June were mid-eighties. The ninety-degree plus temperatures had been hanging around since May. The inside of the Toyota was roughly thirty degrees warmer than outside.
“Damn,” Reymundo said realizing he had forgotten to crack the windows. He started the car, rolled down the windows, turned the A/C on full, and backed out.
Parking in front of the liquor store, Reymundo remembered to crack the windows. He placed the bag from the electronics store on the floorboard out of sight. Good enough. He walked into the store. Again, the cool air was a welcome relief. In the short distance from one store to the other, the old Corolla barely had time to cool. He grabbed a shopping cart and strolled the aisles looking for a treat for Jana. Maybe a nice bottle of wine. She drank beer on the boat and wine at dinner. He had not seen her drink liquor. He decided on a good quality rum, a tequila, and a couple of wine bottles with unique labels that weren’t too expensive, then pushed the cart to the coolers. He added a case of Bud Light and a case of Corona to the grocery basket. He felt he had enough alcohol for the next few days with Jana and the trip. He didn’t drink much, if any, when the boat was underway, maybe an occasional beer or two after a long watch. Nestor and Gorgonio were on their own.
The man working the register totaled the bill. Reymundo paid cash and loaded the booze in the back of the Toyota. He started the car, adjusted the A/C vents, and backed out. Glancing down at the bag from the electronics store, he muttered what had become his new mantra.
“This has to work.”