Darkest Instinct

TWENTY-FIVE

Hovering above the boat now were two helicopters. Jim Parry had had Henri contact Lansing, telling him who they were. Lansing recognized Okinleye’s voice, Okinleye saying something to the effect that they were well within Cayman’s waters at this point and that the prisoner below was his prisoner now. Parry was simply yelling at Lansing for having allowed Jessica Coran to take the dangerous step of climbing down onto the boat from the moving chopper. Everyone above had then seen the sudden standoff below.

Parry had had an instinctual feeling that Tauman was not secured. He saw no handcuffs or anything else restraining the man, and earlier, he, Ja and Henri had seen the two flares sent up from the boat at the helicopter. Parry had prepared the flare he’d earlier seen, and he had had it poised and ready to signal those on the boat of their arrival the moment they came over. Instead, he’d used it to disrupt the Night Crawler’s plan when Parry saw him grab Jessica and take hold of her as his hostage. The distraction had worked, but only up to a point. Now it appeared Jessica was in the water with the now armed madman.

Parry shouted for Henri to get them in closer, over the water, and as Henri worked to do so, he tore at the rope ladder below the seat in front of him, and shoved open the door, which came immediately back at him, closing on him as if to deny him his plan. Ja Okinleye, too, meant to deny him, grasping him by the arm and shouting, “Don’t be a fool! We already have two people in the water. Don’t add to the problem!”

Parry snatched his arm away and pushed the door against the wind a second time, continuing with his plan, tossing the rope ladder out over the side.

“ You will only add to the casualties if-” But Ja saw that he was talking to an insane man. He threw his hands up and ordered Henri to give him the radio.

Parry shouted through his headphones at Henri the same instant, “Locate her in the water! Bring us over Dr. Coran, Henri, until this ladder is within her grasp! Do you understand?”

“ I will do my best, sir!”

Ja radioed Lansing, ordering him to pick up the prisoner using his chopper and rope ladder. Meanwhile, Parry tore off his headphones and his suit coat and climbed out onto the ladder, his body in the vortex of wind below the rotor blades now as rope and man swayed madly below the belly of the rattling old machine. He got a face full of exhaust and fuel from something that seemed abnormal, a leaking valve or fuel pump. Ignoring this, Parry worked his way down toward the surf as Henri and Ja searched the waters for any sign of Jessica.

When Jessica surfaced, she didn’t know where Tauman was or where the boat was. Twisting about in the water, she located first the chopper and next the boat, both trying desperately to turn around and retrieve her and Tauman. She glanced around now for Tauman, fearful he might’ve held tight to her weapon. Even wet, it could do a hell of a lot of damage. But Tauman hadn’t surfaced. Was he a non- swimmer?

The waves here were not terribly high, but Tauman, she knew, could easily be just beyond the next wave, just out of her extremely limited perspective and sight. Or he might at any moment pop up beside her and place a bullet in her head. She reached down to her ankle for her second gun, a. 38 Police Special. Thus armed, she felt a bit safer, until she saw the huge, gray-blue fin streaking along the surface some seventy or eighty yards off.

Shark, she thought, her pulse racing, knowing Tauman’s blood had baited the shark for some time now. She saw a second fin break the surface, a third and a fourth. Then she made out Tauman’s head bobbing about in the sea some fifty yards from where she’d spied the first of the sharks, which for the moment seemed content with the morsel before them.

Jessica held more tightly to the gun than ever. She wondered if she’d use it to fire at the sharks as they neared or if she’d use it on herself before being eaten alive by the beasts. She recalled Islamorada, imagined herself-or part of herself-returning there through no fault of her own, found in the belly of a great white. She thought how mad her life had been, how much she had given up over the years to become who she was; she questioned who she was, what she was, and wondered if it had all been worth it…

Lansing and the chopper got to her much more quickly than she had thought possible, and far more quickly than Eriq possibly could with the boat. She waved and shouted, but Lansing went by her, going for Tauman, who was in far graver circumstances. Still, she cursed Lansing his choice.

Then she saw the second-and from this distance nearly identical-chopper and realized it must be Ja Okinleye. He’d come through for her after all. A rope ladder trailed below his chopper, too, and amazingly enough, someone was dangling on the ladder. Okinleye?

No, it was not Ja. The clothes were not island uniform or wear; rather, it was a man in a gray flannel suit. She could not make out who the man was, but she thanked God he was coming for her.

The second chopper and rope ladder were now her only hope, her lifeline. She grabbed out at the ladder once, twice, missing as the helicopter hovered above. She missed a third pass, then finally snagged the ladder and held firm with one hand until she could safely put the. 38 into her shoulder holster. The man above her had descended almost to where he could reach down and help her up, but not quite. He was wearing expensive dress shoes-totally wrong footwear for this work-and having some difficulty holding on, and she began to fear for him. She was in no position to see his features, only his size and predicament. If he should fall over into the water, she knew, the sharks could easily feed on him, too. She had not dared watch the sharks, but she still didn’t feel completely safe so long as any part of her remained in the water.

Quickly now, Jessica tugged and pulled and powered her wet weight and the weight of her wet clothing onto the ladder. It was an exhausting struggle to do so, and when she slipped and fell back a rung, she felt a hand grasp her by the wrist, and then heard Jim Parry’s voice repeatedly calling her name.

“ Jim? Jim, it’s you!”

He wasn’t satisfied with her heels dangling in the sea, and so he dragged himself up, tugging her along with him until she was firmly on the bottom rung. The chopper was having trouble with the weight, first rising, then dipping, her ankles teasing the surf as it did so.

Parry remained calm, although he saw two sharks heading straight for them, responding no doubt to the slap and fray in the surf here. “Higher, Jess. Pull yourself up alongside me! Come on… come on… “ he said, managing to keep the sheer terror from his voice. “Hell of a party you’re throwing here.”

Jessica fought against the weight of her own cloying clothing, which seemed in a conspiracy to keep her in the water, but with Jim’s strong hand and help, she managed to pull her way to come alongside him on the ladder, panting wildly, finally able to breathe. Face-to-face with Jim Parry for the first time since she’d last left Hawaii, she said to him, “Hell of a way to surprise a girl.”

Again the chopper jarred them downward, dipping their legs into the spray, and for the first time Jessica saw how close the pair of sharks were. They had come within ten feet. She involuntarily screamed while Jim shouted to God and waved madly at the chopper pilot, screaming, “Get us the hell out of here!”

Henri gained control of the air and the weight tugging at his machine, lifting them all ahead of the hungry sharks, then speeding off.

Jessica heard gunshots. Tauman still had hold of her gun after all. Was he firing at Jim and her? At Lansing’s chopper as Don tried to save him? Or was he firing at the feeding sharks? Lansing was in no position to know, but Ja or Henri must have radioed him that the shots were being directed, for the moment, at the sharks and not the chopper.

Jessica glancing over her shoulder as she and Jim were hauled off, wondered if Don Lansing might not simply leave Tauman to the sharks. And why not? He had nervously moved a little off after the first shots had rung out. But now Lansing lowered in on the fugitive again.

Henri’s chopper having risen sufficiently, Jessica had a better view of what was happening with the snake amid the sharks to the north of their position. Tauman was pumping his bullets into the sharks. With each near approach, he would fire into one of the animals, the water now thick with blood, so that the number of sharks only increased. Tauman would soon run out of bullets. Jessica wondered if he planned saving one slug for himself, as she had intended to do. Ja’s cousin Henri, seeming to have gotten the hang of this thing now, almost gently deposited first Jessica and next James Parry into Eriq Santiva’s waiting arms aboard the killer’s boat. Jim then took over from Eriq the duty of draping a blanket over Jessica. Parry and Jessica stood at the stern of the boat as it closed in now on the shark party and Tauman, who was finally responding to Lansing’s rescue effort, reaching out and grabbing on to the rope ladder dangled before him.

James Parry had draped his arms about Jessica as they watched the unfolding drama before them. It looked as if Tauman would be rescued, but Jessica recalled how difficult it had been to pull her weight and drenched clothing up along the rungs.

The boat was closing in on the scene, and now Eriq maneuvered the boat closer and closer in hopes of dispersing the sharks and possibly coming to Tauman’s aid, but it was dicey, extremely so since their fugitive was armed with a lethal weapon. But then came the hollow click-click of the empty chamber.

“ He’s run himself out of bullets,” Jessica said aloud.

“ Move in faster!” shouted Jim to Eriq, who revved the boat.

Lansing’s lifeline looked like Tauman’s only hope, but Tauman had refused to let go of the gun and now slipped from the ladder, falling back into the waiting sea. Tauman had foolishly continued searching for a bullet in the chamber, obviously in a state of shock or knowing nothing about the type of firearm he’d grabbed hold of. They could hear the useless click-click-click of repeated attempts to bring a bullet into the chamber as if by some magic.

Eriq brought the sailing vessel ever closer and they watched as Lansing, using the rope ladder, tried his level best to place this lifeline over the now trapped Tauman, the sharks having circled and circled and tightened their circle as they’d done so. One of the sharks took a run at Tauman, who slammed the gun into its snout, deflecting the brute. A second creature took a run at him, tearing a chunk from his body somewhere below the surface, sending Tauman’s scream to the brilliant blue heavens.

Warren Tauman’s shouts could be heard across the water. But he was now shouting with a giddy happiness, for he’d latched hold of the rope ladder a second time, and now the chopper began to rise, tugging at his wet body, lifting him from the water. It appeared the snake would live to face charges after all, and would become the contention of three countries, the subject of extradition orders, mass interest and countless newspaper articles. It appeared the Night Crawler would stand trial before a judge and jury and a fascinated public.

Jessica and Jim looked into one another’s eyes. “It’s over,” he said, trying to soothe her, feeling her tremble and shiver beneath the blanket and his embrace. He held her tighter still when suddenly the tone of Tauman’s voice went from that of a cheer to that of a scream of horror and pain. This sent Eriq forward, and along with Jessica and Jim, he looked out over the bow to see Tauman’s torso lifted from the water by Lansing’s upward pull. But both his legs dangled loosely there, and were suddenly amputated by a duo of sharks who leapt from the water and took them off at the hip.

Lifted from the water, Tauman’s torso and arms seemed wrapped up in the rope ladder, twisted and twisting like a frantic eel, clinging to life, his bottom half leaking blood like a busted oil can. Lansing continued to carry what was left of Tauman higher and farther away from the shark pool. Tauman’s arms had become so twisted up in the netting of the rope ladder that his weight held there. Jessica had to turn her eyes away, as did Jim Parry, while Eriq, captivated by the sight before him, stared in amazement, for Tauman was still alive and in great suffering and pain.

Warren Tauman’s final anguished, unholy wail, and his wide eyes, reached out across the water for a mercy that was not forthcoming. Then there was silence.

“ The snake’s head and his heart are gone,” Jessica said. “What’s that?” Eriq asked. “It’s over…”

“ It certainly is.”

“ But we need what’s left of the body, Eriq,” she told the others. “It will help tremendously to prove it’s Tauman, that this guy is the Night Crawler, without the slightest doubt.”

“ God, he’d better be at this point,” Eriq moaned.

Parry instantly got on the radio and got to Lansing, telling him to be as gentle as possible, that he was still carrying Tauman’s body below on the rope ladder and that it was needed for examination and identification.

“ God, mister… what do you want me to do with it?”

Jessica was beside Jim, having torn away the blanket, and she snatched the radio from Jim. “Don, try your best to lower it over the boat. We… we’ll take it in from here.”

“ Aye, aye. I’ll do my best.”

Eriq shouted from the stern, “Damnit, we’re losing him!”

Jessica and Jim looked up to see that Tauman’s torso now dangled by one knotted arm and that with each second, even this connection was loosening. Below the twirling ladder, a stream of blood had baited sharks to follow. The remains were ugly and contorted in the Caribbean sun, which beat down relentlessly and in stark juxtaposition to the moment, as if God’s awful, inscrutable reality had finally turned on Warren Tauman, the Night Crawler, and had decreed all of him to be consumed by the sea.

Like a drunken, disabled diver, Tauman’s remains awkwardly came loose, dangled, loosened further and sailed heavily downward to the waiting sharks, who then fed voraciously on them.

“ Damn… damn,” muttered Jessica.

Lansing came over the radio saying, “I’d like to say I’m sorry, but I can’t quite work myself up to sorry.”

“ It’s all right,” Eriq assured Jessica. “We know it was him.”

“ But can you prove it?” contested Parry.

“ Yeah, we can prove it, can’t we, Jess?”

“ There’ve got to be papers about. You can show it’s his handwriting, Eriq.”

“ That’s hardly enough in a court of law,” countered Jim.

“ It’s one nail in the coffin, then,” she contested.

Jim nodded and asked Eriq, “Did you see any papers lying about below?”

“ Nothing lying out, no, but there’re papers inside the cabin somewhere, and possibly far more incriminating evidence aboard. The ropes, the taxidermy stuff, chemicals maybe.”

“ Have you seen any of this?” Parry asked, continuing to play Devil’s advocate.

“ No… but who’s had time to search?”

“ We’ll need to search the boat from top to bottom.”

Jessica said. “We’ve got to show, beyond any doubt, that it was Tauman who was killed here, that it was the Night Crawler.”

“ We’ll have the boat returned to Miami, get the witnesses to ID the boat,” suggested Eriq as if he’d just closed the matter.

“ If we can get the boat out of Ja Okinleye’s hands,” hinted Parry.

“ What’re you talking about?” asked Eriq. “This is evidentiary property of the United States government now.”

“ Tell that to the Cayman Island government.” Jim turned to Jessica and explained, “I’m pretty sure your friend Okinleye is interested in parlaying something out of all this. He’s going to want assurances.”

“ Yeah, I sensed it earlier on,” agreed Jessica.

Eriq asked, “What kind of assurances?”

“ The kind the U.S. makes to all its allies all the time.”

Eriq set his teeth. “That weaseling, black-”

“- national… He’s looking out for the interests of his own. Can’t say as I blame him-not too much,” said Parry, who’d had a great amount of dealings with native Hawai- ians over the years.

“ We’ll deal with Okinleye and the Cayman government fairly,” Jessica said. “Meanwhile, they’re in no position to do a complete DNA search. If we find any DNA evidence on the ropes, on the deck, anywhere, matching any single victim, including the murdered Marine Patrol officer in Tampa, we’ll have incontestable proof.”

Santiva was nodding during her entire speech, and now he added, “Well, at least we will have no doubt.”

“ Yeah, the SOB tried to kill us,” Jessica said, chorusing Lansing’s point.

“ Whatever is decided and however it goes, Jessica here needs to be off the case,” Parry said to Santiva, their eyes meeting. “What are you talking about, Jim?” she replied. “No, no, Jess, Mr. Parry is absolutely right,” said Chief Santiva.

“ Eriq! This is my case; has been my case from day one. and now that it’s over, that you’d even consider such a… such a… proposal is-”

“ It’s time, Jess, you got a little R and R, and I think Mr. Parry here is just the fellow to see to it you get all the R and R you need.”

“ What about blood splotches, fingerprinting, the evidence search?”

“ I have some authority, Dr. Coran!” Eriq returned. “I’ll have a team sent down from Florida or Quantico if necessary. Meanwhile, you two can enjoy the Caymans. Go do that ‘Wall’ thing you all do here.”

“ Try Rome and Athens,” countered Parry. “I have two tickets, Jess. Will you go with me to Rome and Athens? No work, just play?”

She looked stunned. She looked from Jim to Eriq and back again, finally turning to Eriq and asking, “Are you absolutely sure?”

“ Just do me one favor.”

“ And that is?”

“ Talk to Okinleye. Get us the best deal you can.”

“ That pirate. Sure, I’ll do what I can, of course, and by the way, he likes it if you can pronounce his name correctly.”

“ I thought I had been… Okinlee, right?”

“ No, Okinlee-ye; a bit of emphasis on the ye at the end, please. It might help in all the negotiations when it comes to them…”

“ He knows you best; maybe friendship still counts for something in this world?”

Jessica smiled, Eriq laughed and soon the three of them were nearly hysterical. She hugged Eriq, kissed him on the cheek and hugged him again.

“ I was so worried for you,” she told him. “That was the bravest thing I ever saw anyone do, climbing out on that ladder and jumping onto this deck at the speed this boat was going.”

“ You did it yourself.”

“ No, not at the same speed.”

“ Let’s get turned around for the island. I’m burning up out here and sweating like a pig,” complained Eriq, pretending he was uncomfortable with the flattering compliments. Looking back over his shoulder as he went for the controls, he added, “Hell of a schooner, wouldn’t you say, Parry?”

“ She is beautiful; yes.” Parry again had his arm around Jessica, who had dried in the sun and wind now, her hair hanging in stringy ringlets about her brow. Overhead both helicopters had taken up a hovering position, and now both radioed down that they were running for George Town.

Eriq, using the radio, thanked the two pilots and Okinleye for their excellent assistance in what had turned out to be a treacherous raid on Tauman’s killing ground. He then alerted George Town port authorities that they were coming in with the boat and to be prepared to place the boat under quarantine in order to keep any prying eyes and hands off. No one was to go near it. If there were any incriminating evidence aboard, he certainly didn’t want it to be contaminated any further than it already had been. He then turned back to Jessica and Parry, calling up to them from the well of the cabin, saying, “Listen, you two, while I’m getting us back to shore, I think it safe to begin searching the boat for anything incriminating to help our case once we get back to the U.S. God, I sure hope Tauman didn’t swap boats somewhere between here and the States.”

“ We’ll start a search,” agreed Jessica. “Meantime, everyone is to try as hard as possible to avoid the blood spatters. We’ll take some of Tauman’s blood in evidence, but unless I miss my guess, we’ll find evidence of other blood spatters aboard this death ship. Look there.” She pointed at a section near the starboard side center-rear. “Notice the pinkish hue where blood has soaked into the deck?”

“ That could as well be fish blood,” suggested Parry. “I’ve seen like stains on a thousand boats.”

“ Just the same, our boy didn’t appear to do a great deal of fishing. I want that panel cut and raised for lab inspection, Eriq. It’s a place to start. The material is porous enough that, even after cleaning-and it obviously has been cleaned-trace DNA evidence could quite possibly be lifted for the electron microscope.”

“ Leave a list of instructions. We’ll get a team down here,” Eriq assured her. “We’ll get the best.”

“ That’s impossible, Santiva,” replied Jim, “because the best is leaving with me.”

“ Get J.T., John Thorpe,” she suggested. “He and his team will do an excellent job. And you’re right. I’ll make a list.”

Together, Jessica and Parry began to carefully canvass the boat from the inside out as Eriq brought it in toward Grand Cayman.