By four o’clock Sunday afternoon, Nick and I were going stir-crazy waiting around on Buck’s yacht. We had called Harry and Cleo to report on our questioning of Francisco. Neither of them had new developments in Timbergate to share. We had heard nothing from Kass since he issued his direct order telling us to stay away from Seashell.
We were torn about whether to heed that warning. We’d spent countless hours over the last three weeks with one goal in mind: find Liliana. Now, when she was almost within shouting distance, we were told to stand down. Neither of us was taking it well.
“There must be something we can do, Nick. Should we head over to San Francisco?”
“I’m still not cleared to attend the auction. Let’s wait to hear from Buck—and from Kass.” Nick sat in the main saloon, watching me pace back and forth.
“So we sit around and do nothing? We don’t even know if Kass is down here yet.”
“If he is, he’s bound to be busy. It might not be easy to convince the San Francisco County DA to petition a judge for a search warrant with so little evidence.”
“You mean he might not get the warrant?” The thought made me physically ill. “If he doesn’t, we’ll have to do something ourselves.”
Nick reached for my hand. “Come, sit. You’re going to wear a hole in the floor and fall into the engine room if you don’t stop pacing.”
I dropped next to Nick on the settee. “If Kass and the SFPD can’t get a warrant, we have to go aboard that yacht.”
“That would be impossible for you. Prine would recognize you, so don’t even think about it. Parkington has met me, but he already suspects I’m a buyer, so that’s not a problem.” Nick rolled his shoulders, a sure sign of tension. “We have six hours. Kass could still pull it together by ten o’clock tonight.”
“I know, but shouldn’t we come up with an alternate plan … just in case?”
“Kass is right, Aimee. We should stay out of this.” His words were saying one thing, his face another.
“We can at least brainstorm. It’ll keep us from going crazy waiting to hear—”
I was interrupted by Nick’s ringing cell. Finally, someone calling. I hoped it was Kass. Nick answered and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. He got up and walked to the hatch ladder, stepping up until he could look outside while he talked. I walked over, trying to hear his end of the conversation. He went up another couple of steps. I got the message. Wait until he finished the call. I guessed he had his reasons.
He came back down, looking at me with a resolute expression.
“What? Who was that?”
“It was Buck. I’ve been approved,” Nick said, “and we were right about the location. The auction is taking place on Seashell. They even gave Buck directions to the pier.”
“What about the time? Is it still set for ten o'clock?”
“Yes. That’s confirmed.”
“Six hours from now.” I shook off a chill. “Then let’s get back to brainstorming. I have a couple of thoughts I’ve been trying to sort out. Pieces that don’t quite seem to fit.”
“Run them by me.” Nick was starting a fresh pot of coffee.
I sat at the table where he had been jotting and doodling on a notepad. “The most obvious is how Miguel, who lured Liliana onto that yacht in the Azores, could have turned up in Marin County two weeks before Seashell arrived in San Francisco.”
“That crossed my mind,” Nick said. “I did the math. Even if he left Seashell when it docked in Florida, which we know it did, Miguel wouldn’t have been back in California in time to be the shooter who tracked Paulo to Timbergate.”
“That’s what’s bothering me. The earliest he could have left the yacht was when it docked in Florida, but the timing isn’t right. According to my research on cruising speed for that type of yacht, Seashell couldn’t have arrived in Florida in time for Miguel to disembark, catch a flight to California, and chase Paulo all the way to Timbergate.”
Nick stood up. His turn to pace. “If he’s the man who shot Paulo, he was back in California in time to run interference when Paulo showed up down here looking for his sister.”
“Where does that lead us? Are you suggesting someone else shot Paulo and we’re wrong about Miguel?”
“Not if the bullets match, and Kass told you he was almost convinced they do.”
“It doesn’t seem likely there are two different Miguels in this slimy outfit.”
“We’re missing something.” Nick gazed around the cabin as if it held the answer. “What if he was never on the superyacht?”
I was stumped for a moment; then I caught his meaning. “Of course! He wasn’t on the yacht. He stayed behind on the island when Seashell left.”
“It’s the best explanation. The parents said Paulo spent a week organizing searches for Liliana on Faial and on Pico.”
“That would explain it. If Miguel was still in the Azores, he would have been tracking Paulo’s attempts to discover what happened to Liliana.”
Nick nodded. “And when Paulo arranged to fly to California—”
“Miguel was probably on that same flight,” I finished for him.
“It’s likely Paulo linked Liliana’s disappearance to your Dr. Carver. Why else would he travel all the way to Timbergate and show up near Carver’s office building?”
“You’re thinking Miguel followed Paulo there, determined to silence him?”
“It looks that way. What we don’t know is who gave the orders. Was it Carver?”
“That’s the most obvious answer,” I said. “But let’s put that aside for a moment and take Miguel in another direction. Last weekend a man on God’s Gift handed Kiri D’Costa an overnight bag. If that was Miguel, what does it tell us about Kiri?”
“Nothing good.” Nick shook his head. “Either she’s involved in this messy business, or she was two-timing Gus and doesn’t have a clue about Miguel’s criminal links.”
“I hope she’s just clueless and playing the field. Lots of women date more than one guy at a time. Doesn't mean she’s twisted enough to be involved in human trafficking.”
“You know, if she is involved, we can bet she’s going to be on that yacht tonight. Didn’t you say she told you she speaks Portuguese?”
I sucked in a breath. “Oh, you think she’s going to be there to keep Liliana from suspecting what’s really going on? A woman who Liliana thinks she can trust?”
“Hate to say it,” Nick frowned, “but yes.”
“That poor kid. They must have her convinced she’s going to be modeling all the items that are up for auction. What better way to keep her compliant? She’ll be having the time of her life until the truth hits.”
“I imagine she’ll be the last item of the evening.” Nick slapped his palm on the tabletop. “I sure as hell hope Kass and the SFPD have this under control.”
I looked at the time. Another two hours had slipped by and still we had not heard from Detective Kass. Where was he? My nerves were shot, and I couldn’t wait any longer to speak my mind.
“Nick, we have to face facts. We’ve heard nothing from Kass and we’re almost out of time. You’ll have to go to that auction, but I’m coming with you. You’ll bid on that girl, take her off that yacht, and I’ll be waiting in the car to try to explain to her what’s going on.”
Nick shot up from where he’d been sitting. “Jesus, Aimee, even if I outbid everyone else, your being there is a crappy idea on so many levels. First, you don’t speak Liliana’s language. And second, there are so many ways that could go wrong, it could get all three of us killed. It’s too risky.”
“So we let Liliana go to the highest bidder? And how do we live with ourselves, wondering what her fate is going to be?” I pulled out my phone and brought up her photo. “Look at her, Nick. Barely fifteen. Are we going to tell her parents that we simply gave up?”
“Of course not,” Nick said, “but we still have three hours. We could hear from Kass any minute.”
“Then let’s use the time to work out our own plan.”