Cuba blue

26

On the other roof, Alejandro Valdes remained shocked by the sudden outburst of violence, but his mind raced even more with what Ruiz had planned for those aboard the Sanabela.

His morning had begun with overhearing Humberto on the phone, the discussion obviously with Ruiz-a last minute reminder before some deadly action on Cavuto’s part, he guessed. Something to do with the Sanabela and detectives Aguilera and Latoya. Alejandro made it his business to be at the dock equipped with listening devices and non-reflective binoculars.

What he heard in the cell phone conversation confirmed his worst fears-he’d lost Humberto’s full trust. This was neither healthy nor auspicious for Valdes. In fact, if he weren’t careful, Humberto’s prized chair and fortune would slip from his grasp along with any hope of vengeance. He also knew that Cavuto had made a huge error in mistaking Zayas for Latoya-there was an American governmental official aboard the Sanabela, not a Havana cop. This information alone could be used to secure Alejandro’s tenuous position on the chessboard.

Still here on the rooftop he’d earlier selected, Alejandro felt dismayed by the recent turn of events. Now, it was imperative that he leave and not be seen by anyone. Far too much was at stake. Too many years of preparation for the sake of others as well as himself. He wasn’t the only one who’d dance on Humberto Arias’s grave.

Awakened early by commotion coming from Qui and Zayas, Arturo had dressed and left the B amp;B early, telling Maria Elena that he couldn’t possibly eat breakfast at such an hour. Besides, he was driven to return to his laboratory to see what results had come from the tests he’d ordered on the Qui’s case.

The tests had identified the drugs used in the murders were typical of those smuggled out of Cuba and into the United States. Nothing startling there; however, the sheer amount in their systems was surprising-enough to kill many times over. Denise, however, had far less. Officials would likely make it out a story of how Denise had administered the drugs.

This was when he had stopped all work, deciding to create the cure passed onto him by his father. Grimacing at the taste, Arturo Benilo swallowed his father’s ancient concoction for combating hangovers. Entirely natural from indigenous plants, it was a herbal godsend-the only good that had come out of his father’s addiction to alcohol. He sipped more coffee, its bitterness replacing that of his cure.

Jesus threw open the door, waving his arms and shouting, “Doctor, quick! Turn on your radio, now!”

Benilo threw his hands over his ears, pleading, “Softly, Jesus. What is it?”

“It’s the SP. Hurry, hurry.”

Benilo switched on his radio to hear the tail end of a news announcement…late last night it was officially determined by the medical examiner, Dr. Gomez Trebeca, that the foreigners deaths are due to massive cocaine overdose…

Benilo, hearing his name used in such an outrageous fabrication, exploded in fury, but his first curse hurt his head so badly, he had to stop. Calming himself, he muttered, “Insidious lies! It’s all lies? Why?”

It was at about this time that Arturo got a call from Jorge Pena, asking him to come to Tino Hilito’s to process a crime scene.

Staring at the fiery, charred remains scattered about the marina, Alfonso Gutierrez sat in his car on his cell phone speaking to Jorge Pena. “It’s a horrible mess here at the marina! Is it as bad at Tino’s as Aguilera said?”

“It’s worse than Montoya. His wife and son are missing, and Qui didn’t exaggerate.”

“Missing?

“Food on the table, clothing gone…left in a hurry.”

“ Disappeareds maybe? SP maybe?”

“Maybe. Either that or Tino got ’em out.”

“Then you don’t think it’s suicide, do you?”

Pena took a moment. “Benilo doesn’t think so. Looks like it, but real professional, boss.”

“Benilo’s there?”

“Tino was one of us.”

“True.”

“He deserves the best.”

“All right then…do a good job and keep me posted.”

“Don’t worry, Benilo’s leaving nothing unexamined.” Pena lied, as Benilo had not yet arrived.

Gutierrez hung up and again looked out his car window at the devastation around him, not just the marina but this case that had become like an octopus about his head. Now with an officer dead and one gone missing, he recalled something Luis Estrada had said early on in this morass, that everyone standing too near this case, will be burned to one degree or another.”

The last vestiges of fire and smoke outside Alfonso’s car window prompted him to mutter, “These flames are too damned close to me.”

Aboard Sanabela II

In the pilothouse, Qui and JZ found Estrada huddled with and talking to Giraldo, both men sipping coffee, the universal cure-all, maps spread before them. Trying to return to being simple fishermen, Qui guessed. For a moment, Quiana and JZ stood as outsiders, while the men discussed where best to troll for shrimp as if nothing had happened. Estrada cast an occasional glance at Adondo, new to handling the wheel.

“Ahhh, Qui, my hapless girl,” began Luis. “Have you recovered your nerves? Some excitement on the dock, heh? I, myself, find such an adventure to be-” he paused, catching his breath-“exhilarating, but somewhere in it all, there should be reward, pesos…perhaps a woman…if I must be scared to death!”

Adondo and Giraldo laughed in response, nervousness brought on by the chaos, filtering through.

Qui also laughed before replying, “A few gunshots…an explosion? What’s it to an old sea dog like you?”

“You forget my age…my heart.”

“Uncle, you’ll outlive us all!”

JZ added, “Quick thinking-getting us out of there so fast. Saved lives.”

“Seemed a good idea at the time. So why’re you here with Quiana?”

Qui introduced the men, Estrada’s eyes going wide on hearing Zayas’s title, repeating it under his breath and adding, “Yes, I suppose the American Interest Section would be part of your investigation of murdered American doctors.”

This told her that Estrada, like so many others now, had learned the victims had been doctors. “Then, I suppose you’ve heard-”

“Montoya, yes, makes four dead doctors, and Qui, I am sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, Uncle.”

“He was not what he seemed, you know.”

“You sound like Pena and the rest who want his memory smeared.”

“No, no. There was more to the man than he let you see.”

“What didn’t I see?” she asked, recalling her own misgivings of the night before when standing in Estaban’s living room.

“Best let sleeping dogs lay, Qui,” he said softly.

“If it has anything to do with my case…”

“No, nothing to do with your case.”

“Where do you get your information?”

“A word here…a word there…keep my ears open…”

“An informant, I know.”

“Then you know to whom I report.”

“My boss, yes. I surmised as much.”

“He keeps me informed, I keep him informed. It works out.”

“If you’ve spoken to him this morning, then you must know about Tino.”

“Tino? What about Hilito?”

Always a cop, Qui skirted the direct question for one of her own. “When’s last time you saw Tino, Uncle?”

JZ stood nearby, interested in their conversation but smart enough to let Qui lead this dance.

“Just last night.”

“Sunday night.”

“Came down here to the boat. Had one of those valises with him. Called it an evidence kit. Said he had to give the boat a final once over before it could be released.”

“Did he, really?”

“Joked about it.”

“Seemed a little nervous, but I didn’t take a lot of notice. Hell, I was half asleep.”

“He must’ve planted the lock on the boat then. But why? What was poor Tino involved in?”

Estrada raised his shoulders in response. “It is curious.”

“Even more curious now that Tino is dead.”

“ Dead? Impossible! I just saw him, I tell you! Only hours ago on this very boat!”

Qui began to pace. She then turned on Estrada and demanded, “How did those men firing at us know we’d be here? Did you keep your promise? You told no one about the lock?”

“No one.”

“Not even Gutierrez? He’d pay handsomely for such-”

“I honor my promises, Qui.” He didn’t hesitate, although he’d attempted to reach Gutierrez first, she didn’t need to know this, he rationalized. “How…how did Tino…you know…die?”

“Made to look like a suicide,” she replied.

“Where?”

“In his home.”

“Bullet through the mouth,” said JZ. “Lotta cops end it that way, and we’re thinking this is why they set it up as they did. Make him look like just another statistic.” JZ then asked if he might help himself to a cup of coffee. Estrada assured him there was plenty. “And you, Qui?” added JZ, now holding up the half empty pot.

“Yes-please! With sugar.”

“Mugs here and sugar in the canister,” grunted Estrada uneasily. The news of Hilito’s death atop Montoya’s hadn’t set well. “What’s gonna happen to my crew when they hear about Tino?” he mused aloud. “They’re gonna disappear.”

“Yeah,” agreed Giraldo, “who wants to work a cursed ship?”

“Boss, you can count on me,” Adondo piped in. “If our Sanabela is so cursed, how is it still afloat?”

Giraldo raised his shoulders and replied, “That’s a good point.”

Estrada said, “You two, not a single word of any of this to the crew, understood?”

Both crewmen nodded.

Silence settled over the pilothouse. Following a run on the coffeepot, Estrada busied himself making a fresh pot, and soon there wafted about them the enticing scent of fresh coffee in sharp contrast to the sense of tension hanging unspoken in the air.

“Uncle Estrada, I am sorry to tell you this, but I am commandeering your trawler.”

“What? What?” Estrada’s face bled white. “No-no-no! You can’t do this! I forbid it! Does Gutierrez know this? I can’t-we can’t-lose another day of fishing!”

“The state will make recompense.”

“So now you treat me like some insignificant peasant on my own boat- again?”

“Uncle, I need your cooperation.”

“You’re police now, PNR. You can demand my cooperation, so why’re you asking?”

She gritted her teeth. “I’d rather have your help come voluntarily than against your will.”

He frowned, considering this.

“Your help may get us the answers we need to solve this string of murders.”

That seemed to sum it up entirely-he’d recognized the lock and guessed that Quiana’d need more answers than the best of detectives could possibly uncover in Havana. Sighing heavily, Estrada replied, “I know, Lieutenant, I know. The Sanabela, she is yours.”

Always one to take action when under pressure, Qui asked Giraldo, an ex-diving instructor whom she’d known for some years, about his latest dives. Soon she had him pinpoint his favorite dive sites around Cuba. As they talked over the nautical charts, she asked, “What is the distance and fastest sea route to the dive sites at Santiago de Cuba?”

Quick to note the tension in her voice, Giraldo paused and pointedly stared at her, “There is good diving off the coast near Santiago,” Giraldo said as he worked, “but there’re also treacherous waters there.”

It sounded like a forewarning to Qui. She shuddered inwardly. Take an old shrimper all the way to Santiago de Cuba? What am I thinking?

Giraldo turned back to the chart and pointed out the two nautical paths, mentioning the pros and cons of each route, one on the northeast Cuban coast, the other on the southwest side, windward as opposed to leeward.

As Qui and Giraldo discussed routes, Estrada turned to JZ and quietly asked, “No one wants to discuss the lock yet, eh?”

“No, I think not yet,” replied JZ. “You have it in a safe place?”

Estrada pointed to his coffee mug at the coffee cabinet. “Back of the coffee can.”

JZ saluted with his cup, “For safekeeping.”

“How much danger are we in, Senor Zayas, any idea?” asked Estrada.

“Call me JZ Captain. May I call you Luis?”

“Yes. Especially since we’re all in this together now.” Estrada sighed as he lifted his mug.

JZ nodded. “I’m not sure how much danger we’re in. But, someone wanted us here on the Sanabela.”

“The SP maybe?”

“Yes, if Qui is right.”

“Damn, she thinks so, too? We are cursed then! Those three dead foreigners will be the death of us all.” Luis rubbed his face, looking even more tired and agitated.

“Do you have weapons aboard?”

Estrada hesitated.

Noting Luis’s reluctance, JZ encouraged with, “Look whether legal or not, we might need those weapons. Qui and I only have our handguns, not much use at a distance. So please, if you carry arms, show me where they are.”

Turning to Giraldo, he continued, “Show JZ where they’re stowed.” Shaking his head at Qui, Zayas turned and followed the two men out of the pilothouse.

Well out at sea now and having overheard the conversations, Adondo had headed the Sanabela southwest in the direction of Pinar del Rio. He smiled in satisfaction that he’d guessed correctly what was going to happen next. “Lieutenant, I’ve turned our heading for Santiago, the southern route.”

“Adondo, thank you,” Qui commented, deciding she needed as many friends among the crew as possible, given the situation.

Meanwhile, Estrada stood before his crew, who were as angry as they were confused by the events of the day. Between the Captain’s long stay in the pilothouse and the Sanabela’s unusual course, the crew had become increasingly restless and now demanded answers. Scattered about the boat only moments before, the men had magically assembled en masse when the pilothouse door finally opened. One man who displayed grit, Alfredo, Giraldo’s younger brother, shouted, “Captain, where are we going?” The rest remained silent, wanting to hear the Captain’s reply.

Estrada addressed them. “We are, as of this moment, a PNR boat, and unofficially, you are now all deputies of Detective Quiana Aguilera.”

A collective groan welled up from the crew. “Ahhh…shit,” someone added.

Estrada pushed on. “Today, all that happened at the marina, and all that lies before us, gentlemen, will be written in song, and-”

Another groan rose up.

“-and you will all be heroes.”

Having joined Estrada, Qui secretively squeezed his hand where they stood. “Thank you, Uncle.”

The crew gave no sign they’d agreed with Estrada, nor to their mandatory participation in this ill-defined quest, but then they’d not overtly protested either. As men used to taking orders, they nonetheless returned to work, some checking the nets and mending holes, others preparing the block and tackle, still others oiling the mechanical works aboard. A general grumbling resumed on the deck.

Estrada turned to Qui and whispered, “I fear we’ve not seen the last of the devils chasing you.”