Fallen Pride (Jesse McDermitt Series) (25 page)

“Yeah, he’s an old friend,” I replied.

“Heavy hitter for an old friend, Gunny,” Simpson chimed in with a chuckle. “The only active duty Medal of Honor recipient in the Corps.”

“
Smith was transferred to Djibouti,” I continued. “In the last 24 hours we learned that he’d hired two assassins to kill his wife to get her inheritance three years ago. He hired them again to kill me and Deuce yesterday and this morning. The one that tried yesterday is dead and the one that tried this morning is in Gitmo. Smith disappeared in Djibouti about eight hours ago.”

Jared looked around at the group of warriors around him
and came to the obvious conclusion. “You think he’s coming here?”

“He might. Or he might hire another assassin. When he disappeared, he managed to get over two million dollars from his numbered account in Switzerland.”

“Think we should set up a watch?” Hinkle asked.

“No, not tonight. He won’t know his second assassin failed yet and it’ll take him at least 24 hours to get here if he decides to make it personal.”

“Why’s he want you and the Commander dead?” Jared asked.

A couple of the guys laughed. Grayson said, “The Gunny and Mister Smith were like oil and water from day one.”

“Last winter I was captured by a Hezbollah cell on an op in Cuba,” Tony said. “If it wasn’t for these guys here, especially Deuce and Jesse, Smith would have left me there. He wasn’t very happy about their coming back for me, against his orders.” Then he chuckled and held up his right hand, where he was missing the first digit of his index and middle fingers. “Well, they came back for most of me anyway. Hezbollah kept these.”

Just then, the generator started up
, startling the four new arrivals and Jared. “Relax guys,” Tony said. “Just the generator charging the battery packs.”

“You have electricity here?” Hinkle asked.

“Newly installed,” I replied. “Charges a bank of 30 deep cycle batteries.”

“What do you guys do for fun out here?” Jared asked.

“Mostly work,” I said. “And train. But there’s scuba, snorkeling, and fishing gear. With this many people here, everyone will have to pitch in to bring in enough to eat.”

We talked late into the night, telling sea stories. Hinkle and Mitchel seemed to be opening up more. When I’d first met them they were aloof and didn’t fraternize much with the other members of the team. Jared seemed to relax more as the night wore on. After midnight, Tony and Jeremy said they were going to turn in. The lights from Chyrel’s part of the bunkhouse were out. Jared said he was tired and asked where he’d be bunking.

“Come on,” Tony said. “I’ll show you. There’s six bunks left to choose from.”

After they turned in Grayson said, “He’s having some problems, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Nightmares sometimes. He had a friend in Key West, a Nam Vet that he could talk to. The guy killed himself a couple of days ago.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him Gunny,” Simpson said.

“Yeah,” added Hinkle. “Bloke needs to have mates he can talk to that understand his fears.”

“Thanks, guys,” I said. “
I think just being out here, away from Key Weird will be a help. Especially having a bunch of snake eaters around him.”

“Let’s turn in, G,” Hinkle said to Mitchel. “I think I might want to try some fishing in the morning.” Hinkle and Mitchel headed to the bunkhouse.

“You can crash too, Jesse,” Grayson said. “Me and Germ will stand your watch. What time did Deuce tell you to wake him.”

I grinned at the big, black man. “
I said we didn’t need a watch tonight.” Grayson was usually a very quiet man, slow to anger. At just under six feet and 240 pounds of solid muscle, he didn’t need to get angry to get his point across. Like most Marine Staff NCO’s he led by example.

“Yeah, we heard ya,” grinned
Simpson. “But, we know how Deuce operates and you’re cut from the same cloth.” Simpson was taller than Grayson but a good 40 pounds lighter. His coffee colored skin and light colored eyes bespoke of mixed ancestry. “Besides, you came out here with three cases of beer and a thermos of coffee. We slept in this morning, Gunny. Go get some rest.”

“Are you carrying?”

“Any time we leave Homestead,” Grayson replied. “Portal to portal. Deuce’s orders.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Wake Deuce at 0200, he’s in the main house. Won’t take more than a light tap on the door. I’ll be up at 0500.”

Since there was the chance of rain, I figured I’d forego sleeping on the ground. So I picked up my bedroll and headed for the bunkhouse. A single 12 volt light mounted to the ceiling was on, when I entered. I dropped my bedroll on the first bunk by the door, unrolled it, removed the blanket and rolled the mat back up.

“Crashing with the troops, Jesse?”
Hinkle asked from his bunk at the far end of the squadbay.

“Might rain tonight,” I said by way of reply. “I gave Deuce and Julie the house and Cindy has the boat.”

“Seems like a nice lady,” Dawson said. “What’s her story?”

“She was close to my late wife, back when she lived in Oregon. They started a sort of halfway house for troubled kids there. Taught ‘em to fish and camp and stuff. She wants to start one here, too. So I told her I’d bankroll it.”

“You got the coin to do something like that and you sleep on the ground?” Jared asked as he stretched out on the bunk across from Tony.

“Probably slept more nights on the ground or in a boat, than in a house. You guys want me to douse this light?”

“Scott and Jeremiah are taking your watch, huh?” Tony said. “Yeah, kill the light.”

I switched off the light and lay down on the bunk.
I made a mental note to buy a couple more coffee makers in the morning when we went into town. I was asleep within seconds.

My subconscious registered the sound of Grayson and Simpson quietly entering the bunkhouse, but I remained asleep.
The snores of the seven men had no effect on my sleep, either.

I woke up completely aware. I quietly pulled back the blanket and slipped on my tee-shirt and
worn topsiders then headed outside. The sun was just starting to tinge the eastern sky a dark purple.

“Coffee?” Deuce asked from the nearest table. I walked over and he poured a mug from a thermos. “I put on another pot.”

“I’ll pick up a commercial sized coffee maker when we go into town today.” Pescador came trotting up to us from the direction of the main house. “Hey boy, where’ve you been?”

He sat down and looked from me to Deuce who said, “He stayed in the house last night. Guess he heard the weather report, but nothing came.”

We sat and enjoyed our coffee, but all three of us were vigilant. The early morning hours are the best time to attack and both Deuce and I knew it. As the sky to the east lightened, our tension eased. A few minutes later, Jared and Tony came out of the bunkhouse, followed quickly by Hinkle and Mitchel.

“I’ll go get some more mugs and refill the thermos,” Deuce said then headed toward the house.

The four men sat down at the table, Jared looking around, seeing the island in the light for the first time. “I don’t suppose you have a shower on this island?” he asked.

I grinned and said, “Two, in fact. There’s one up on the deck, fed by the cistern and another that Carl just installed out on the end of the north dock. Neither is heated, but this time of year the water in the cistern is warm. We bathe in the sea and rinse the salt water off in the shower.”

Jared noticed Pescador for the first time, who was now curled up next to the stone barbeque. “Where’d he come from? I don’t remember seeing a dog last night.”

“That’s Pescador,” Tony said. The dog lifted his head at the mention of his name. “Jesse found him last fall, after Hurricane Wilma, stranded on an island out here.”

“Strange name,” Hinkle said. “What’s it mean, mate?”

“It’s Spanish for fisherman,” I said.

Jared looked puzzled and asked, “Why would you call him fisherman?”

I stood up and said, “Follow us and we’ll show you.” I headed toward the pier, jutting out behind the bunkhouses
. Pescador trotted beside me, his tail wagging. The four men followed closely behind us.

When we got to the end of the dock, I looked down at Pescador and
asked him, “Fish for breakfast?” He barked once and waited expectantly. “Go get it,” I said and he ran back and forth along the tee at the end of the pier, then leaded into the water. Carl had built a small ramp down to the water for him and a moment later he surfaced with a small snapper firmly in his mouth. He swam over to the ramp and then trotted up it, dropping the snapper at my feet.

“Crikey!” Hinkle exclaimed. “The bloody dog catches fish
!”

“Unbelievable,” Jared said.

“That’s a word I used a lot when we first found him. We tried to find his owner, he’s obviously well trained. Never found anyone that claimed him.”

Charlie and the kids walked out onto the dock, all wearing bathing suits.
The kids quickly went to Pescador and gave him a hug. “Breakfast will be ready in about 30 minutes, Jesse. We’re just gonna get cleaned up real quick.”

“No hurry, Charlie. You’ve met most of these guys. This is Dave’s son, Jared.”

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Jared said.

She
shook hands with him then she and the kids grabbed small bars of soap out of a closed box mounted on the end of the pier and jumped into the water. The kids squealed and yelled for Pescador, who was still sitting in front of the snapper, waiting.

“Eat first, then you can play,” I said and he tore into the small fish, eating bones and all in just a few bites. When he finished h
e ran and leaped into the water. We heard the chopper start up and a few minutes later it lifted above the trees and headed northeast.

“Come on,” Tony said peeling off his tee-shirt and kicking off his sneakers. He removed a holstered Sig P226 and placed it on the shirt and shoes. As he grabbed a bar of soap from the box and jumped into the water, the others started peeling off shirts, shoes and side
arms. In seconds all seven men were in the water, splashing and carrying on like the kids.

Cindy walked out onto the pier and asked what everyone was doing. “Bathing before breakfast,” I said. “I was waiting for you to finish so I could grab a shower and some clean clothes from the boat.”

I left her there to watch the action in the water and headed to the
Revenge
for a quick shower. Twenty minutes later, clean and wearing clean shorts and a
Rusty Anchor
tee-shirt, I went back down to the tables. The others were filing into the bunkhouse to change into dry clothes after rinsing off. Charlie and the kids must already have gone in the other bunkhouse.

Julie and Deuce joined me at the table. “What’s the plan for the day,” Julie asked.

“Me, Tony, and Carl are going to the Home Depot to pick up the appliances for their house. Dawson said he was going to do some more planting and Hinkle will probably take the others out fishing.”

Chyrel joined us and said, “
The Colonel’s on video for you, Deuce.”

Chyrel sat down with Julie and Cindy while Deuce and I headed into the bunkhouse. Deuce sat down at the desk facing the open laptop and said, “Good morning, Colonel.”

“Are you ever gonna just call me Travis, Deuce,” he asked.

“What’s up, Travis?” I asked.

“Hi Jesse. Look, I’m sending Brent over to Miami’s ICE office. Smith used to give instruction on disguise in his early years with CIA and Brent was in one of his classes. He has some ideas to give ICE, should Smith try to reenter the States.”

“Anything you can share?” Deuce asked. Brent Shepherd is part of Deuce’s team and came from CIA. He speaks several languages and is the teams resident disguise specialist.

“He said Smith put a lot of stock in prosthetics.”

“You mean like fake legs?” I asked.

“No, like fake scars, moles, or other deformities. Anything that draws your attention away from the face. Brent said that Smith always taught that if you could draw people’s attention to something else, they rarely remembered the face.”

“Anything else?” Deuce asked.

“Yeah,” Stockwell replied. “I think it’d be a good idea if the two of you split up. Just in case.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” I said. “Deuce and Julie have things to do in Marathon to get ready for Sunday, anyway.”

Deuce looked up and asked, “What things?”

“Trust me, Deuce,” Stockwell said. “She’ll have a whole lot for you to do.” I just grinned and nodded
my agreement.

“Alright,” Deuce said.

“And take a couple men with you,” Stockwell added.

“I don’t think that’s really necessary, Colonel.”

“Then consider it an order, Commander,” Stockwell said with a sideways grin as the screen went blank.

I laughed and said, “I’m really starting to like that guy.”

“Stuff it, Jesse.”

“Besides, I know Tony wants to visit with Rufus and enjoy some more of his cooking. Take him and Grayson.”