Tampa Burn

TWENTY-SEVEN

I listened to Kong say into the phone, “Uh-huh. I can give them the message. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. You’ve sent the e-mail, so then I follow up by phone. Hey, hold on a sec. Let me get something so I can write this down.”

It felt weird hurrying across the bar to find paper so the tattooed giant could take a message from my son’s kidnapper that was intended for me.

A minute later, Kong shut off his phone, cleared it, and said, “The guy’s a fucking weirdo, man. That’s the only bad thing about being a mediator-some of the scum I’ve got to deal with. People think carnies are bad? In sideshows, all we do is stick a spotlight on things that you rubes, the townies, dream about doin’ in the dark. It’s people outside of the gates that’re the scary ones.”

I said, “The person you just spoke with burns people because he enjoys it. Kills them by setting them on fire. He’s a serial killer from Central America.”

That got Kong’s attention. “You’re shitting me. For real?”

I nodded. “And he’s got my son.”

Kong said, “There was a freak act a while back. Sideshow geek stuff. A guy would shoot fire out of his butt, his tallywhacker, then blow himself up. But this dude really sets people on fire?”

“Yeah. He really does. What’s the message you’re supposed to give me?”

Kong had written on the back of a lunch menu. He looked at the menu as he said, “The big bridge that crosses over from the mainland to St. Petersburg, the Sunshine Skyway. On the St. Pete end, there’s a little place called Maximo Park. Do you know it? He wants you and your pals there by seven-thirty tonight with the money and-this is him talking-‘with the money and the other stuff.’ That’s a little before sunset.”

Sunset, I knew, was a few minutes after eight.

Kong spun the menu across the table toward me. “As long as you’re fucking up my mediator business, you might as well tell me the rest. How much money, and what’s he mean, ‘other stuff’?”

I told him about the money and the medicine, adding, “I’ve got both with me, but Pilar and Tomlinson can’t make it. They’re under sail, on their way here by boat. I can’t let Lourdes know that, of course. But why should he care who makes the delivery?”

Kong said, “That’s a good point.” Back in his role as mediator again.

“Do you have a way to contact him?”

“Yeah, I call a number that has a Nicaraguan country code. But he’s not going to like it. He sounded very hyper. Pissed off; almost like someone sounds when they’ve got a hell of a headache. Know what I mean?”

Yes, I knew what he meant.

Checking my watch, I said, “He was supposed to give us until Sunday to get the medicine together. Now all of a sudden, he’s in a rush. It’s twenty till five now. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Sanibel to St. Pete, yet he expects you to get his message to us, then for us to pack and get on the road in time to be at the Skyway by sunset? That’s cutting it damn close.”

Kong had a huge, dumb-looking face, but he had perceptive amber eyes that didn’t miss much. “You think he knows that you’re here? That we’re together?”

“Maybe. Shoving the deadline up like this, he’s acting like something’s spooked him. I came up Bullfrog Creek by boat. I have a strong suspicion that Lourdes and my son have been staying somewhere on or near the creek. Are you absolutely certain you don’t know where he is? Not even a guess?”

Kong got an ugly look on his face. “I ain’t tellin’ you again, buster. I don’t have a clue. Far as I know, I’ve never seen him, and don’t know where he is.”

I said, “Then maybe he got a look at me when I was coming up the creek. Or maybe he’s got neighbors helping as lookouts. There are a couple of old trailer parks I came past. How easy would it be for him to get other carnies to help him out?”

Kong said, “If they knew he was a kidnapper? Zero. But if he convinced them he was in the business, and if he gave them some bullshit story-his asshole ex-wife wants his car repossessed-there’s a kind of carney code. We don’t help outsiders get inside, and we protect our own from the outside.”

“Then maybe that’s it. Someone saw me, got suspicious. Now he’s panicky.”

“That doesn’t sound good for your son.”

“No. Not good.” I had my billfold out. From it, I took the plastic key to my room at the Vinoy and slid it to him. “You’re working for me now. O.K.?”

The huge man shrugged. “The idea of some kid getting burned alive don’t exactly appeal to me. So, yeah, I guess I don’t have much choice.”

“Good. Then here’s what I want you to do. Call Lourdes right now and tell him that you made contact with me. Tell him that we’ve got everything, and we can deliver it tonight. But it’s just me and you making the drop. Also, tell him I want to know how we’re doing the exchange. I’m supposed to get something in return. I’m supposed to get my son-which you know nothing about, of course. Tell him I want to know how it’s going to work.”

Kong said, “I can ask him, but I think he’ll do it like before. Tell us what to do step by step, over the phone, while we’re driving.”

I said, “Call and ask anyway. After that, I want you to drive back to my hotel, get the money, pick up the medicine. You’re going alone. You’re going to pretend like I’m with you, because I’m staying in Gibsonton…” I paused, thinking it through. “Hold it, that won’t work-”

Boats and cars. The logistics were always difficult. Plus, there was an additional problem.

After another moment, I said, “That won’t work because the hotel isn’t going to give you anything from the safe, even if I call and tell them it’s O.K.”

Kong had a bitter sense of humor. “You’re kiddin’. They’re not gonna hand over a suitcase full a money to a nice-lookin’ guy like me?”

I stood, now in a hurry to leave. “Which means that you’re going to have to drive me to the Vinoy. Fast. Then drop me at my boat. You take the money and the medicine. You let Lourdes drive you all over town, jump through all his hoops. You’re still going to be consulting me-every time you make a move, call me on my cell phone. But don’t let him know I’m not with you. You keep him busy. That’ll give me a chance to take a close look around those trailer parks.”

“But what if the guy really plans on swapping you the kid for the money? He’ll have your son with him. Or somewhere staked close by.”

I said, “I hope he does. If that’s the way it goes, take good care of my boy till I get there. But I don’t see it happening that way. Not this early in the game.”

Twenty minutes later, as we crossed the Howard Frankland Bridge in Kong’s black pickup truck with the silver-tinted windows and monster tires, country music blaring, he said after fifteen minutes of silence, “You gonna go off and trust me with a half-million dollars cash. Just like that?”

I’d been thinking about that, too. “I’ve got a friend in town named Harris. I might ask him to ride along with you, just for the hell of it. But if he’s busy? Well, Kong, I found you once. I can find you again.”

AT the Vinoy, Kong waited outside in his truck while I signed for the two gray photographer’s briefcases made of shockproof miracle resin and carried them upstairs to my room. I opened the smaller of the two just to make certain: looked at the neatly packed stacks of U.S. fifties and hundreds, each bound in paper sleeves that read Banco Nacional de Masagua.

Early that morning, Pilar had bristled when I’d asked if she’d done even a rough count. Her friend Kahlil, she said, had already counted it, and that was good enough.

With my son’s life potentially on the line, it wasn’t good enough for me, but I couldn’t take the time to count it now. So I snapped the case closed and began to strip off my clothes, while at the same time, I walked to the desk and used Tomlinson’s laptop to sign on to the Internet.

Wearing only undershorts, I sat at the desk when I saw that I had a new e-mail from an address that was a random series of letters at Nicarado. org.

I opened it to find a note from Lourdes. It had been sent less than an hour earlier.

He’d written in English for the first time: Our Florida people want you to be at the north side of the Sunshine Skyway, St. Petersburg, at 7:30. Have everything. A person you will recognize will meet you. He’ll be in a black pickup truck. You’ll get your brat back in a week or so. After you deliver another half-million cash. How’s it feel to be the fuckee for a change! Here’s a couple of words from your brat.

After a series of spaces was a very short note from Lake. It read: Dear Doc, The Cubs have been hitting like they have an extra eye, so maybe another World Series run? So you know this is really me, I was thinking about our talk concerning Charles Darwin when he discussed why only certain primates can talk and why other mammals can’t. Hope to see you very soon, Laken

I reread the note several times, trying to control my breathing, trying to stay calm. It wasn’t easy.

Lourdes’ note, I took mostly at face value. The exception was his threat to continue the extortion for another week. It was possible that he meant it, but my instincts told me it was a red herring. He was planning on moving. Planning to take off. Tonight, probably, after he got the money and the medicine.

My son’s note was more subtle, but contained far more interesting information.

If I thought about my trip up the river into Gibsonton, Lake’s words and references took on exceptional meaning. There was a key word and a key reference in those few sentences that were too telling to be coincidental.

“Cub” was one of those words. That he referenced mammals that cannot talk was another.

My brilliant son had done it again.

I dug through my overnight bag and pulled on dark blue twill slacks and a black T-shirt. I jammed my old navy blue watch cap into a pocket as I grabbed the money and the medicine, and headed toward the door.

I knew where my son was being held captive.

But then I stopped. I made one more phone call.

The World’s Strongest Tattooed Giant dropped me at the Tampa Yacht and Country Club on Interbay Boulevard, just north of Ballast Point Park, at 6:45 P.M. Harris Lilly was there waiting. He told me where my skiff was moored, then got in the truck with Kong. I watched them drive away toward the rendezvous in St. Petersburg.

From the phone in my hotel room, I’d given my naval intelligence pal the short version of what was going on. By telling him, I’d broken my word to Pilar, but that meant nothing now. Rescuing Lake was all that mattered.

Harris listened in silence, asked a couple of good questions, accepting what I had to say without much emotion or comment. There’s a strong sense of brotherhood among the international intelligence community. Nothing he heard seemed to surprise him.

I finished, saying, “When Lourdes was bouncing us around Miami, he did it by boat. It’s an easy way to orchestrate things and make sure your target’s not being tailed. I think he’ll do the same thing tonight. If I don’t find my son in Gibsonton, I think I’ll find him somewhere on Tampa Bay. I want to be on the water, waiting for him. That’s why I need you taking care of things on land.”

Harris said he was not only willing to help, he was eager.

“It doesn’t sound like I have to do anything illegal,” he said. “Just ride around in a vehicle and pretend like I’m you. That can’t be too hard. What about the guy I’ll be with, though. Do you trust him? Should I be carrying?”

By that, he meant should he carry a concealed firearm.

I told Harris, “I don’t really know him. He’s a huge guy, a muscle freak. And kind of a redneck jerk. But in a weird way, yeah, I think I do trust him. I think he’ll play by the rules.”

I told him that I’d carry the gun anyway, though.

So now I watched my naval intelligence buddy ride away with Kong before I walked toward the club’s modern marina, past a complex of tennis courts-which reminded me of Dewey. She’d almost certainly played here many times during her years at the tennis academy in nearby Bradenton.

I felt a genuine longing for the girl. I missed hearing her voice. Missed being able to tell her what was going on in my life.

I wished I could now take the little rental cell phone that was in my pocket, dial her number, and say, “I think I finally know where he is.”