Doc Ford 19 - Chasing Midnight
Read Doc Ford 19 - Chasing Midnight Online
Authors: Randy Wayne White
CHASING
MIDNIGHT
ALSO BY RANDY WAYNE WHITE
Sanibel Flats
The Heat Islands
The Man Who Invented Florida
Captiva
North of Havana
The Mangrove Coast
Ten Thousand Islands
Shark River
Twelve Mile Limit
Everglades
Tampa Burn
Dead of Night
Dark Light
Hunter’s Moon
Black Widow
Dead Silence
Deep Shadow
Night Vision
NONFICTION
Randy Wayne White’s Ultimate Tarpon Book
Batfishing in the Rainforest
The Sharks of Lake Nicaragua
Last Flight Out
An American Traveler
Randy Wayne White’s Gulf Coast Cookbook
(with Carlene Fredericka Brennen)
Tarpon Fishing in Mexico and Florida
(An Introduction)
FICTION AS RANDY STRIKER
Key West Connection
The Deep Six
Cuban Death-Lift
The Deadlier Sex
Assassin’s Shadow
Grand Cayman Slam
Everglades Assault
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
Publishers Since 1838
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Copyright © 2012 by Randy Wayne White
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in
any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or
encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
Purchase only authorized editions.
Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
White, Randy Wayne.
Chasing midnight / Randy Wayne White.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-101-56066-2
1. Ford, Doc (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Marine biologists—
Fiction. 3. Florida—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3573.H47473C47 2012 2011047133
813.54—dc23
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
BOOK DESIGN BY AMANDA DEWEY
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of
the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and
Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author
assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication.
Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume
any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
There is no room for moral baggage on a small island. Anything bigger than a bikini is better left at home.
—S. M. Tomlinson,
One Fathom Above Sea Level
If religion is opium to the masses, the Internet is a crack, crank, pixel-huffing orgy that deafens the brain, numbs the senses, and scrambles our peer list to include every anonymous loser, twisted deviant and freak, as well as people we normally wouldn’t give the time of day.
—S. M. Tomlinson,
Sudden Internet Isolation Response
In an Unprepared Society
(Excerpted from
Zen Me the Pillow You Dream On
)
This book is for two respected travel companions, on the road and off:
Allan W. Eckert and Peter Matthiessen
S
anibel and Captiva Islands are real places, faithfully described, but used fictitiously in this novel. The same is true of certain businesses, marinas, bars and other places frequented by Doc Ford, Tomlinson and pals.
In all other respects, however, this novel is a work of fiction. Names (unless used by permission), characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is unintentional and coincidental.
Contact Mr. White at
WWW.DOCFORD.COM
I
learned long ago, whether writing fiction or nonfiction, an author loses credibility if he’s caught in a factual error. Because of this, I do extensive research before starting a new Doc Ford novel, and
Chasing Midnight
required more research than most. Before recognizing those who provided assistance, I would first like to remind the reader that all errors, exaggerations and/or misinterpretations of fact, if any, are entirely the fault of the author.
Much thanks goes to the dedicated professionals of Mote Marine Laboratories, most particularly Jim Michaels, for his patient advice and attention regarding sturgeon and caviar. A visit to Mote’s Sarasota, Florida, facility is highly recommended, as is the superb Siberian caviar produced and processed there in the most well-thought-out Earth-friendly facility the author has visited.
Without the extensive use and testing of an extraordinary piece of tactical equipment, the TAM-14, a thermal acquisition monocular, this would have been a very different book, indeed. The author owes
much thanks to Bob Alexander and Nivisys Industries of Tempe, Arizona. Nivisys is a low-profile company that, consistently, takes an innovative lead in engineering and producing some of the world’s finest tactical optics systems, and the author would like to thank all involved for allowing him to use the TAM-14 in a very public way.
Others providing expert advice on equipage were Kevin Parsons, founder of Armament Systems and Procedures (ASP, Inc.), Chuck Bunstock of Golight, Inc., Nebraska, and Dr. John Patterson of Bathys Hawaii Watches.
Sports psychologist Don Carman, once again, contributed unerring insights into human behavior, aberrant and otherwise, and his advice regarding Marion Ford’s fitness routine is much appreciated. Dr. Brian Hummel, Dr. Denis Kuehner, of Sanibel Island, and Dr. Timothy S. Sigman provided expert medical advice.
Bill Lee, and his orbiting star, Diana, as always, have guided the author, safely—for the most part—into the strange but fun and enlightened world of our mutual friend, the Rev. Sighurdhr M. Tomlinson. Equal thanks go to Gary and Donna Terwilliger for helping the author to escape, undamaged. Steven Dougherty of New York and California has also provided useful insights into the mind-set of hipsterdom and various modes of übercoolness.
The author’s black ops advisers, Hon. Cdr. Tony Johnson, Capt. Galen Hanselman and Capt. Dan O’Shea, were of especial help, as were international intelligence correspondents T. B. Thomas Pattison, Capt. Bobby Dollar, Capt. James Hull of Costa Rica, Jay Blues Sielman and Harlow Montague—wherever they may be.
Others who provided help or insights, information or advice include: Dr. Pearl D. Miller of Tampa, Dr. Dave Melzer, Darryl Pottorf, Mark Pace, Kirsten Martin of VersaClimber, and friend and attorney Steve Carta.
Special thanks goes to Wendy Webb, my life companion, adviser
and trusted friend, as well as Stephen Grendon, the author’s devoted SOB, Mrs. Iris Tanner, guardian angel, and my partners and pals Mark Marinello, Marty and Brenda Harrity and my surfing buddy, Gus Landl.
Much of this novel was written at corner tables before and after hours at Doc Ford’s Rum Bar and Grille on Sanibel Island and San Carlos Island, where staff were tolerant beyond the call of duty. Thanks go to Raynauld Bentley, Dan Howes, Brian Cunningham, Mojito Greg Barker, Liz Harris, Capt. Bryce Randall Harris, Milita Kennedy, Sam Khussan Ismatullaev, Olga Jearrard, Rachel Songalewski of Michigan, Jean Crenshaw, Amanda Gardana Rodriguez, Bette Roberts, Brian Cunningham, Amazing Cindy Porter, Ethan Salley, Fernando Garrido, Greg Barker, Jessica Shell, Jim Rainville, Kevin Filowich, Kimberly McGonnell, Laurie Yakubov, Lisa Reynolds, Michelle Boninsegna, Sarah DeGeorge, Shawn Scott and Dale Hempseed and master chef Chris Zook.
At the Rum Bar on San Carlos Island, Fort Myers Beach, thanks go to Wade Craft, Kandice Salvador, Herberto Ramos, Brian Obrien, lovelies Latoya Trotta, Magen Wooley, Meghan Miller, Meredith Mullins, Nicole Hinchcliffe, Nora Billheimer, Ali Pereira, Andrea Aguayo, Brian Sarfati, Catherine Mawyer, Corey Allen, Crissy McCain, Deon Schoeman, Dusty Rickards, Erin Montgomery, Jacqi Schultz, Justin Dorfman, Keil Fuller, Kerra Pike, Kevin Boyce, Kevin Tully, Kim Aylesworth, Kylie Pryll, Patrick John, Robert Deiss, Sally Couillard, Steve Johnson, Sue Mora and Tiffany Forehand.
At Timber’s Sanibel Grille, my pals Matt Asen, Mary Jo, Audrey, Becky, Bart and Bobby were, once again, stalwarts.
Finally, I would like to thank my two sons, Rogan and Lee White, for helping me finish, yet again, another book.
— Randy Wayne White, Casa de Chico’s
Sanibel Island, Florida