The Last Operation (The Remnants of War Series, Book 1) (16 page)

"Uh, he was, uhm, asking about Deeno. He don't have a right, I don't think he's got a right..."

"Of course he's got a right. He's the kid's legal guardian."

Shaking his head, Hentley motioned Daniels into his tiny office.

"You're going to have to do something about that man Hent. Someday he's going to cause you a serious problem," said Daniels.

The constable grunted, still shaking his head.

"So what's with Deeno, Hent. What do you know about that?"

The constable frowned, scratched his forehead and seemed to focus on a spot on his desk before looking up at Daniels.

"Strangest goddamned thing I ever seen Richard. I don't know what's going on or what to make of it. Everybody knows the kid's not capable of committing any crimes."

"Who arrested him and what's he accused of?"

"Three federal agents came in Tuesday with Deeno. They had arrested him on charges of carrying firearms across state lines. The kid doesn't understand what's going on. He can't figure out why he ain't going back home in his boat. Oh they treat him nice enough, no handcuffs or anything, but he's under federal arrest nonetheless. They asked me to hold him overnight which is very goddamn strange all by itself since there's a federal detention facility about two hours away outside of Naples. Why would you bring him overnight in a backwater little holding cell like this? It's almost as if they wanted to parade him around here, you know, like let every body know they got him."

"You mean let
me
know in particular."

"Probably. You and that Indian, that Spirit Wolf guy, are the closest things he's got to a guardian or parent. First thing you ought to do is get a goddamned good lawyer to cut through this bullshit and get the kid off the hook."

"I've already got one Hent. The best there is."

Trouble is thought Daniels, she hasn't been exactly right since she killed her husband. Or at least since she thought she killed her husband, which amounted to the same thing as far as she was concerned.

Chapter 22

It took the rest of the day for Daniels to drive to Naples and locate his lawyer. On the way over he couldn't help thinking about the circumstances that had brought her to her current state of mind.

A few years ago Kate's law firm had hired Daniels to guard one of their clients under indictment and fly him to Miami. It was believed he might turn witness against the drug crew he had worked for. Information was put out that he would stay the night with Kate and her husband at their house on Marcos Island. In the morning Kate was supposed to drive him to Everglades City where Daniels would fly him to Miami. Instead, shortly after dark, Daniels rowed an inflatable Avon to the canal behind the house, picked up their guest, rowed back to the seaplane anchored outside the canal and delivered him to Miami before daybreak.

At eight thirty that morning, Kate's husband decided to use her car. The explosion destroyed the garage and half the house. Kate was unhurt, physically, but she never got over the guilt. Her life consisted of bursts of intense legal work punctuated by morose bouts of drinking.

He found her in a rundown waterfront gin mill, sitting at a cracked plastic table facing the beach. She had dark circles under her eyes and strands of blonde hair fell across her forehead. Crushed potato chips, empty wrappers and seagull droppings littered the surface of the table. Two empty martini glasses stood on either end like sentries.

He sat next to her.

"Hey," he said.

She looked straight out at the Gulf and didn't respond. He waited. Finally she turned her head and looked at him. Her eyes glistened with a reddish tinge that didn't come from the alcohol alone.

"Kate, I need your help."

"You got a death wish, or something?" she said, swigging down the last few drops of a Bud Light.

"C'mon, Kate. There's no better lawyer around than you, everybody knows that."

She shrugged and didn't reply. He paid the tab and led her out. Neither said a word until they got into Daniels' car heading toward downtown Naples.

"You look like ten pounds of shit, Kate."

"Up yours, Richard, you really know how to flatter a girl, you know that?"

Even as she was now, Daniels found her one of the most attractive women he knew. In her early thirties, Daniels thought she resembled a tough Jamie Lee Curtis, attitude and all.

Daniels stopped for Chinese take out and drove to her condo overlooking the beach in Naples's exclusive oceanfront. She showered and changed into a blue Nikes warm-up suit. Daniels thought she looked good with light make up and her hair still wet like corn silk and morning dew.

They ate in silence, out of the containers, watching the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. When they were done, she brought out two Coronas with slivers of lime in the necks and iced mugs.

"I'm sorry Richard. I was a bitch. I should have thanked you."

"Never too late you know."

She gave Daniels one of her sudden and rare smile, her face bright before the shadows returned.

Daniels told her everything he knew about Deeno's arrest. Frowning, she filled a yellow legal pad with notes. She spent the next hour and a half calling people she knew, DA's, Federal Prosecutors, clerks at Federal and County lock ups, she knew them all. Only Kate could get away with calling these people in the late evening Daniels thought.

"There's something thoroughly screwed up here," Kate said. "First, I know this kid, I'd just as soon believe the Pope sodomized a camel then that boy did any of the things they accused him of. Funny thing is none of the people I talked to believe it either. Second none of the procedures were followed. It's like something very high is pulling strings to get this boy under a Federal indictment. Third, and this is the strangest, they don't have a chance of winning. It's like they don't give a shit. They just want to put him away for a few days. It doesn't add up, but I'll guarantee you one thing: I'll have Deeno out in forty eight hours."

Daniels had been trying for hours to get Carlos but his cell phone went unanswered. It was just before midnight when he gave up and sat next to Kate on her balcony. A soft breeze was blowing in from the Gulf, rich with the tang of the sea and the flowering Bougainvillea.

Daniels put his hand on her shoulder, feeling her warmth through the nylon jacket.

"Kate, you've got to let it go. It's time. It was never your fault."

She stood so still Daniels could barely see her lips move. Her eyes glittered in the shadows of her face.

"It's sweet of you to say that Richard, but you know it's not true. Bob had been begging me for years to give up the practice, the defense of these dangerous people. God knows we had enough money. In the end, he paid and I'm still here."

* * *

Daniels slept on the couch and left before sunrise after trying to call Carlos once more. He took Highway Four, heading toward Route 29. It was just a few moments after sunrise when a Ford sedan passed him. Dark blue with small hubcaps and twin antennas, it had the smell of government about it. It cut in front of him and slowed so Daniels was forced to downshift. Behind him, a duplicate of the first sedan rapidly closed in until it was no more than three yards from Daniel's rear bumper. In his rear view mirror Daniels saw the driver and recognized the fat man from the Blue Heron parking lot and his bandaged right hand.

The sedan in front had now slowed to thirty-five. The passenger waved to the side of the road. No red flashers, no ID. Screw you thought Daniels.

Like any good businessman, Richard Daniels plowed back a lot of the money made in his various enterprises toward new and improved equipment. The Camry was no ordinary off-the-rack car. The engine had been reworked by a top NASCAR mechanic, the suspension customized so it could be dropped from a bridge and drive away straight as an arrow. The coachwork had bullet proof and blast resistant panels and glass, and tires specially designed by an anti-kidnapping security firm. They would keep rolling after numerous hits.

Daniels pulled into the right lane, slowing as if he was going to stop. He was parallel to an entrance ramp, separated by a few feet of grass strip until it merged into Daniels' lane. He flipped the steering wheel to the right in a sudden violent movement while jamming the gas pedal to the floor. The ferocious acceleration combined with the special tires and suspension barely kept the car from flipping as it rocketed the wrong way into the on ramp. Half off the lane on the left side, he barely squeezed by a Peterbilt eighteen-wheeler, its horn blowing a continuous angry blast. The leading Ford had been unable to react quickly enough and missed the ramp. The second Ford barely followed Daniels but could not get out of the way of the eighteen-wheeler. The big truck hit the Ford in the rear quarter sending it spinning into the grass divider, half on the median half on the divider, Daniels shot by a couple of startled retirees in a Buick, finally getting off the on ramp.

He took a series of local side roads all the way up to Route 29. Morning had given way to the pounding heat of midday when Daniels reached Everglades City. He turned into the road paralleling the canal to Billy's Marina. Billy was waiting in his old pick up on the side of the road, just out of sight of the Marina.

Billy was a long retired Boston cop with white hair and a face like a brown prune reflecting many years under the South Florida sun. Daniels had floated him a couple of loans, enabling Billy to keep the Marina in spite of his drinking habits.

"You got some problems Richard. I don't know what to make of it," said Billy, leaning into the open window of the Camry with a wispy hint of bourbon.

"What's going on Billy?"

"Some Government types impounded your plane, man. Ain't nothing I could do. If they was local I could have gotten a handle on what's going on. They got a Federal court order from some judge up in Baltimore, but I don't think its
Albatross
they want, I think it's you."

"What they'd tell you?"

"Not a goddamn thing. Usually I can talk to them, you know, one retired cop to one on the job, these sumbitches don't say a thing. They just want to know where you are. They stuck some piece of paper on the plane saying its Government impound property and left four of these goons at the marina, waiting for you."

"All right, thanks Billy. I'll remember that."

For an angry moment he debated with himself over getting
Albatross
back. He was sure he could handle the agents guarding the plane, but then what? He would just become a wanted man, unable to effectively help Deeno. Best thing to do was to avoid them until he could get the kid released. He'd deal with them and the other goons when the boy was secure.

"Hey Richard, there ain't any shit going on with the Marina is there? Because... you know..."

Daniels smiled. Billy had a basketful of environmental violations that he couldn't afford to fix. Both Constable Hent and Daniels had used local influence at various times to keep the marina from being shut down. Billy's main bogeyman in life was the EPA with the IRS a close second.

"No Billy, it's not about you."

Daniels spent the next few hours visiting the local watering spots, looking for information on Deeno and Carlos. No one knew anything and it was as if the Mexican had vanished from the face of the earth. He was nursing a lemon seltzer at the Platypus Bar on the South Canal, just across from the tourist airboat rides, when Kate called on the cell phone.

"I saw Deeno, he's fine. He's getting special treatment at the Naples lockup. I know the Captain there. I got his son off a pot charge a few years back. They're all looking out for him, they got such a half-ass case they have no chance of conviction probably blow the indictment too. I haven't been able to find out why. I get up to a certain level then everything shuts down. No one knows anything except that it comes from high up. It makes no sense."

The cell phone crackled with interference. Daniels waited for it to die down as a Pelican landed on the canal by the bar patio.

"How about you Richard. How are you doing? Any new information?"

"I'm doing just great Kate. Carlos is gone, vanished since yesterday, four goons tried to kidnap me just outside of Naples, when I ask around no one knows anything. Some Federal agents are looking for me and they impounded
Albatross
. Looks like I'm going to be your next client."