Phantoms Don’t Kill - chapter 5
“It sounds like you jumped into the middle of the story, how about going back to the beginning?” I asked.
Kate explained that she had a regular milk run picking up Cuban cigars offshore and bringing them in off the grid. A couple of times a month, she would meet up with a cruiser anchored somewhere among the islands off the Keys. The would receive the location from a scrambled radio transmission. The transmission came from Cuba most likely, and was detected by the grid but outside their control. With the right equipment it is possible to receive such transmissions without being detected.
A couple of weeks ago, she met a new client Roberto. Roberto also wanted some Cuban cigars and half of the next run was to go to him. Kate continued “So I got the location from the scrambled radio message and pulled into a small cut up to the supply boat. No one was topsides, which was unusual. I became very nervous. Pulling the boat alongside, I quickly tied a line to a railing and hopped aboard. Down below I saw two bodies. Without hesitation I cast off and noticed a boat entering the cut, so I nailed the throttles and headed deeper into the cut.”
“Was there another way out?” I asked.
“Sort of. The charts showed just a couple feet of water and a shallow sandbar blocking an escape route. Drifter had outdrives, so I was able to raise them up and as long as I kept the speed up over 20 knots I could clear the shallow water. I was doing 50 knots when I hit the sandbar. The boat made it over with some broken framing, but she wasn’t leaking more than the bilge pump could handle. I was able to limp to a hiding place weigh anchor.” she paused and looked at me to see if I believed her.
“So you just decided to hide forever?” I asked, trying to figure out why she had dropped out of sight for two weeks.
“I was hoping to hide long enough for the Cubans to figure out who really killed their men. I figured I had been set up by Roberto. I dialed in the scrambled radio channel and heard the report than I had fled the seen in Drifter. I knew they were looking for me. I keep hair color with me so I can change my appearance if I need to avoid live eyes. Men especially will be fooled by a hair color change and I needed to risk at least one quick trip ashore for groceries.” Kate stared out the window for while.
“What do you know about this Roberto guy?” I asked.
“Not much. He had the air of money and power. Expensive suit. Early fifties. He was tall, over six feet four I’d guess. Dark hair, gray sideburns, thick mustache. I didn’t ask many questions. He spoke with a bit of a Spanish accent, so I figured he had Cuban roots and wanted some Cuban cigars.” Kate was becoming calmer and more analytical now.
“OK.” I said, checking to see if I understood the situation. “Basically, these Cuban folks are going to be looking to hunt you down unless we can convince them you didn’t do it. That about it?”
Kate nodded. “Yeah. How do we do that?”
“How can we contact the Cubans?” I asked.
“There is a local fellow, Diego. But you can only meet with him in person. No phone calls. I wouldn’t be able to get close to him.” Kate replied.
“But I could.” Damn. My mouth spoke before my brain had time to censor.
“Why would you do that for me?” Kate asked, warily.
After a bit of thought, I realized that it wasn’t entirely for Kate that I should do it. Now I might be associated with her, and I needed to clear Kate to clear myself. “Now that I’m in this deep, I need to clear you to protect myself.” I tell her.
“Aren’t you at least a little concerned that maybe I did kill them?” Kate asked.
“No. Phantoms don’t kill.” I said flatly. Of course, I had also been comparing everything Kate told me with what few details I’d learned from Pauline. So far there were no contradictions.
Kate kept her eyes on my face as we pulled into a campground and located an open site to settle in for the night. The cap on my pickup wasn’t exactly roomy, but it beat sleeping on the ground.
- the MuseTags: phantom
