Steve diverted his eyes
from Connie to Heather. Smiling at her, he said, “Nice body, babe.”
Looking down at the light blue two-piece she wore and then back up at him
, she said, “Just keep your eyes focused where they belong and nowhere else.”
“I only have eyes for you,” he started to croon as he climbed down into the cockpit
.
Heather
had been the one to come up with their plan on how to draw the pirates in close. She told them about the Q-ships used during World War I, rust bucket tramp steamers used to lure German submarines to their death. Since these ships looked like sitting ducks, the U-boat captains didn’t want to waste their limited number of torpedoes and would surface so they could use the deck gun on them. When this happened, the bulkheads of the Q-ship dropped away to reveal their own guns, and the hunter quickly became the prey.
Decades later, the bait had changed
, but the principle remained the same.
Steve looked in the direction
of the boat coming toward them and saw that it was clearly visible now without binoculars. Crouching down below the gunwales, he motioned for Tick-Tock and Brain to do the same. If they could see the pirates, the pirates could see them. Sheila took the wheel and steered the sailboat away from the approaching craft so their stern was facing it.
Looking at her, Steve decided she didn’t look half bad in a bikini. She caught his eye and
smiled, mouthing the word, ‘pervert,’ at him. He laughed and decided that adding Sheila to the group had been one of the good things to come from going aboard the Dead Calm. He still wanted to strangle her sometimes, but overall she was an asset.
A whining voice came from the hatch leading below. “Why do I have to babysit? I look just as good in a swimsuit as anyone else. Probably better
.”
For every asset there had to be a debit
, Steve thought. In this case, that would be Mary.
Sheila called out, “You just stay down there where it’s safe
and look after Cindy, toots.”
Steve had seen
Sheila and Mary gravitating to each other, but whether or not they were a couple was anyone’s guess. Mary swung that way and Sheila swung every way, so it was likely.
Not that it’s any of my business
, he thought. Whatever floats your boat.
Turning his mind back to task,
he asked Heather, “What do you see?”
Without removing the binoculars from her eyes, she replied, “Looks like one of those cigarette boats like they had on Miami Vice. He’s really hauling ass
, and he’s right on our tail. I can see four people in the cockpit. I can’t make out if they have weapons though.”
Knowing the accuracy of the .50 would be hindered by the rocking of the sailboat, Steve said, “Let me know when they’re about
a hundred yards out. Draw them in as close as you can.”
Heather turned and made a show of motioning for Sheila to go faster. It wasn’t an Academy
Award performance but it would do. Turning back, she looked through the binoculars for a few seconds before saying, “I can see weapons now. They’re all armed with rifles.”
A small, nagging thought came to Steve. What if the cigarette boat
was some kind of coastal patrol set up by the survivors in Galveston? But then why are they chasing us? Maybe just chasing us off?
His worries were dispelled when the radio crackled to life and a voice said, “Hey little
chickies, I see you. Big daddy’s got something for you. If you stop the boat, I won’t put it where it hurts.”
This was followed by crude laughter
, so Sheila cut it short by reaching over and hitting the off switch. With a scowl she said, “But what I have for you will definitely hurt, no matter where I put it.”
“
They’re about five hundred yards out and still coming fast,” Heather called.
“Good deal,” Steve replied. “Even if they
see our guns right away, they’ll be moving so fast that they’ll have to make a wide turn or flip her.”
Tick-Tock gave an evil grin and said, “Just like the dumbass tourists who used to rent boats and go flying up and down the Intracoastal Waterway. They forget that boats don’t have brakes.”
Steve and Brain duck walked to position themselves on either side of the .50 while Tick-Tock readied the Hilti. Hefting it in his hand, he said, “I used to use one of these when I did construction. They’re nice.”
“You’ll love that one,” Brain told him. “Ten shots almost as fast as you can pull the trigger.” Gauging the
size of the boltholes in the mounting bracket at the base of the .50, he added, “Use two nails in each hole.”
“And then
duct tape it,” Heather put in.
All three men smiled at this.
The Hilti utilized a blank powder cartridge to drive a nail into wood or concrete. It would be more than enough to hold the .50 in place.
Seeing th
eir reaction, she added, “Laugh all you want, but duct tape will save the world.”
Holding
up his hands in surrender, Steve crawled back across the deck and retrieved the tape from the storage cubby under the steering station. While he was crouched beneath Sheila, she looked down at the back of his head only inches from her crotch and said in a voice just loud enough for him to hear, “While you’re down there…”
Steve could only smile and shake his head as he made his way back into position. He would have to say something to her later. While she
might be kidding, if Heather had heard her, it wouldn’t have been funny.
“
Kill the engine,” Tick-Tock told Sheila. “I want them coming at us as fast as possible.”
The little motor at the back of the
sailboat cut off. In the silence they could all hear the roar of the cigarette boat as it drew near. Steve wanted to risk taking a peek but restrained himself. If he were spotted, it would ruin the illusion of three females all alone and helpless at sea.
From below, Mary’s voice called out, “Are we there yet?”
Everyone replied at the same time, “Shut up, Mary.”
Tick-Tock found this hilarious.
“They’re just about in range,” Heather called out. “On the count of three, pop up and tear them a new one.”
She started counting, “One…Two…THREE!”
Steve and Brain hefted the .50 caliber and positioned it so its mounting bracket lay on the flat top of the transom. They had barely gotten it in place when Tick-Tock fired the first nail from the Hilti. The sharp crack of the .22 blank cartridge rang through the air as he cocked it to fire again. Setting the nails at an angle for maximum holding power, in seconds the heavy machine gun was secure. The ammo can was already attached, so Tick-Tock grabbed the slide handle, wrenched it backward and let it slam forward, chambering the first round.
“They know something’s up,” Heather called out.
“They’re turning.”
But it was too late for the pirates. Tick-Tock triggered off the first burst even as the words left her mouth.
The hammering noise of the .50 filled the air
, causing Sheila to let out a sharp scream. Except for her, Cindy and Mary, the others had all fired the weapon and were prepared for the noise of the heavy gun. They were all good shots with it too, having had plenty of time to practice while at the radio station, but Tick-Tock was its master. Despite the pitch of the sailboat, half of his rounds struck their target.
The men in the cigarette boat
knew they were walking into a trap when they saw the heavy machine gun and three men appear from nowhere. The pilot tried to turn to the left, but at such a high rate of speed, this caused the bottom of their boat to be exposed. Ten of the heavy .50 caliber rounds smashed all the way through the hull and out the other side, as the few rounds that missed sent geysers of water shooting into the air. Chunks of fiberglass and wood flew from the craft. It shuddered visibly as it came back on an even keel and slowed, its forward momentum causing water to pour into its hull.
Tick-Tock triggered the .50 again, this time sending
eight rounds into the engine compartment. He was rewarded with a sharp crack as flames burst from the rear of the stricken boat. Oily smoke poured out as he raked the hull from bow to stern. Two figures could be seen jumping overboard seconds before the boat exploded in a ball of fire.
His ears ringing from the noise
of the .50, Tick-Tock could barely hear Steve say, “Good shooting, Tex.”
Nodding grimly, he
traversed the machine gun back and forth as he searched for another target. Nothing was in sight except for scattered, burning wreckage and the sinking hull of the modern day pirate ship.
***
Brain steered The Usual Suspects through the remains of the cigarette boat. The waters of the Gulf had extinguished most of the flames, but a few pieces here and there still smoldered. A body, blackened and barely recognizable as human floated by on the right.
“There he is,” Heather said and pointed. “I
knew I saw someone jump overboard before it blew.”
Twenty feet away
, his back toward them, a man treaded water.
“I saw two of them,” Sheila added. “Maybe the other one was the crispy critter we just passed.”
Heather shook her head. “Whoever jumped got away before it blew. I know because I saw two people un-ass that boat. Where’s the other one so we can finish this and go?”
Steve laughed and
motioned toward a piece of hull bobbing in the water. “Or maybe it was a person and a dog.”
Everyone looked and saw
the distinct shape of a medium sized dog crouched on a large piece of floating wreckage near the man in the water. As they watched, he tried to climb up, but the dog snarled at him. Dropping back, he said, “Come on Pep. It’s me, Jimmy. There’s room for the both of us. What the hell’s gotten into you?”
Tick-Tock laughed and said
loudly, “Looks like you got a mutiny on your hands, Captain Bligh.”
The man spun around in the water. At first his face showed fear
, but it quickly turned to relief. “Thank God you came back. I wasn’t with those guys. They grabbed me off a boat a couple days ago and were using me as a deck hand. You’ve got to help me.”
Heather exchanged a glance with Sheila and Connie. Jimmy’s voice had a distinct
, reedy tone to it, one they’d recently heard before.
Sheila looked down at
him and said with contempt, “I want you to say something for me. Say, hey little chickies, I see you. Big daddy’s got something for you.”
The relief on Jimmy’s face turned back to fear.
“That’s what I thought,” Sheila said.
Caught in his lie
, Jimmy whined, “We were just having some fun. We weren’t gonna hurt you. I swear.”
“Like you didn’t hurt those people we found shot in the back?
” Steve asked. “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d say that hurt. Didn’t look like they had too much fun either.” Pointing to two dark torpedo shapes in the clear blue water and a dorsal fin that broke the surface a dozen feet away, he said to Brain, “Get us out of here. This piece of shit can swim, if he can make it.”
To punctuate this, Sheila flipped Jimmy the bird.
Brain reversed the engines and was starting to back up when Tick-Tock called out, “What the hell are you doing? We can’t leave him here. Those are sharks.”
Everyone looked at him with astonishment.
“It’s not right,” he said as he took the wheel and steered toward Jimmy. Passing him as the man held up his hands to be rescued, Tick-Tock idled the boat next to the piece of wreckage the dog stood on and called out, “Come on, boy. Up.”
The dog scrunched his backside and wiggled it a couple times before leaping for the sail
boat. Its claws scrambled on the gunwale as Heather grabbed it by the collar and hauled it in. When it hit the deck, it found its feet and shook vigorously, spraying everyone with drops of water.
“Cindy’s going to love you to death,” Tick-Tock said as he pushed the throttle forward
.
Heading into the setting sun, no one paid attention as Jimmy’s
screams of pain and horror filled the air.
CHAPTER TWO
Galveston:
The wind shifted and they could smell Texas City and Galveston
from where they had anchored offshore for the night. A thick, oily, burned smell filled the air, along with the scent of things incinerated and left to rot. Within seconds, everyone had covered their mouth and nose with a bandana or a t-shirt, but nothing could keep the stink from gagging them. Closing up the cabin and turning on the air conditioning filtered out some of the stench, but sleep was impossible. The horrific odor got so bad that their only choice was to move forward and make their way upwind or head back out into the Gulf. It was still an hour before sunrise when Steve pulled up the anchor and Tick-Tock steered The Usual Suspects through the shipping channel.