Blood Cruise: A Deep Sea Thriller (15 page)

29.

The tenuous alliance held for exactly ten minutes.

Everyone left the game room as allies, but it only took a couple passageways for it to all go to shit.

“That’s one of Giraldi’s men,” Nick said as they came across the corpses in the passageway. “They must have shot each other.”

“He shot Ashley while he was face down?” Manny snapped. “Then his ghost shot her point blank?”

“No?” Nick replied.

“Niya,” Ben said. “She’s the variable.”

“Why’d she shoot Ashley?” Nick asked. “Because she was INTERPOL? That’s a huge risk even with Niya’s reputation.”

“I need to get Maggie to our cabin,” Ben said. “I’m doing that first so she is locked in and safe. You all head up to the bridge.”

“I’m going with you,” Jessica said.

“Why?” Ben asked.

“Because you are out of your depth, Clow,” Jessica said. “You want Maggie safe?”

“Yeah,” Ben replied.

“Then one of us should be with her,” Jessica said. “And no offense to Lane and Carlos, but I wouldn’t trust them with my eighty-year-old grandma. And that woman doesn’t go anywhere without a Buck knife sharp enough to cut atoms.”

“What the bloody hell, Jessie?” Lane exclaimed. “I’m not the rapey type.”

“You are the hold someone hostage and use them as insurance type,” Jessica said. “Or do I have you pegged wrong?”

“No, that’s me,” Lane said. “But you owe Carlos an apology. He’s shite at holding hostages.”

“Am not,” Carlos said.

“San Diego,” Lane smirked.

“Oh, yes, well, that was unfortunate,” Carlos admitted.

“I’ll take you to your cabin and then you can catch up with the others,” Jessica said. “Which way is the bridge?”

“Up this passageway, two turns then the stairs all the way up,” Nick said. “No, wait. Three turns, two sets of stairs. Hold on, no. Two turns is right, but three sets of stairs because of the deck we are on.”

“I’ll find it,” Jessica said.

“I’m not splitting up until I know Manny has called in to his man to save my daughter,” Ben said.

“I already did,” Manny said. “She’s being moved right now.”

“Good,” Ben replied. “Thank you.”

“Move ass,” Nick said to Ben. “I’m not thrilled being alone with these assholes. You I trust. Them not so much.”

“Your words hurt, Nicky,” Lane said. “They hurt deep.”

“Whatever,” Nick said, looking to Ben again. “Hurry.”

“I will,” Ben replied. “See you on the bridge.”

He held Maggie to his side and helped her walk around the dead bodies until they came to their turn in the passageway. Jessica walked close behind him, her hand on the small of Maggie’s back to help with support. Maggie showed no signs of noticing the corpses or Jessica’s hand as her head lulled against Ben’s shoulder.

“How much did she drink tonight?” Ben asked.

“Why are you asking me?” Jessica replied as they walked down the next passageway. “I was at the table with you.”

“You two seemed to get along,” Ben said. “Thought maybe you were watching.”

“She’s your girlfriend,” Jessica said. “Yeah, I think she’s a nice woman, but we’re not besties or anything. She’s your responsibility, Clow.”

“It’s Ben,” Ben said.

“I prefer Clow,” Jessica said. “Keeps things in perspective.”

“In case you have to shoot me?” Ben asked.

“I leave all options open,” Jessica said. She stopped at a door. “Hold on.”

“For what?” Ben asked. “My cabin is after the next turn.”

“This is mine,” Jessica said. “Just wait.”

Ben started to argue, but there was no point as Jessica entered her code on the keypad outside her cabin and was inside and out of sight in seconds.

Ben leaned Maggie against the wall and pushed her hair out of her face. The woman stirred some and her eyelids fluttered, but she made no show of actual consciousness. For a split second, Ben regretted inviting her along, but then he pushed that guilt away since it was Nick that held all the blame. Ben had thought it was going to be an easy weekend on a nice boat, not a set up to play poker with some serious players involved in international crime.

“What are you doing down here?” a voice asked from the far end of the passageway. “You should be in the game room.”

“Uh, yeah, taking a break,” Ben said, his voiced raised. “My girlfriend had a little too much to drink so I’m walking her back to our cabin.”

“That so?” the man asked as he walked forward, his .45 up and aimed at Ben. “We’ve been trying to get a hold of Frank and he’s not answering.”

“Don’t know a Frank,” Ben said. “I know Manny the bartender.”

“Frank wouldn’t have let you out without instructions from Mr. Giraldi,” the man said. “How about we turn around and go see what’s really going on?”

“Can we drop her off first?” Ben asked, nodding at Maggie. “She’s a puker and I’d rather she didn’t embarrass herself in front of the others.”

“Do you really think I’m that stupid?” the man asked, moving closer.

Three thwips and the man collapsed against the wall, blood trailing on the paneling as his body slid to the floor. Jessica stepped all the way out of her cabin and placed the suppressor against his temple and squeezed the trigger again, putting a fourth bullet in the man. She glanced over at Ben and smiled.

“I don’t care what Nicky’s instructions were,” Jessica said, holding up the pistol with the long suppressor on the end. “I never go anywhere without Teddie.”

“Teddie? You named your gun?” Ben asked.

“Some have stuffed animals, I have a Sig Sauer Enhanced Elite,” Jessica said and grinned. “You like guns?”

“Not really,” Ben said. “I know too much about them.”

“I love guns,” Jessica said. “Probably how I ended up in this line of work. Smoked too much pot to go into law enforcement. And I hate rules.”

“But you love your gun,” Ben said. “I guess Giraldi’s men didn’t search your bags well enough.”

“No one finds Teddie unless I want them to find Teddie,” Jessica said. “Not even the TSA. This baby has more frequent flyer miles than a mid-level corporate manager.”

“That’s a good one,” Ben said.

“Let’s get her to bed,” Jessica said, nodding at Maggie. “Come on. I’ll lead in case we meet more muscle.”

They took the last few turns and then found Ben and Maggie’s cabin.

Ben keyed in the code and the door clicked open. Ben and Jessica helped Maggie to the bed and she groaned.

“Too many clothes,” she muttered and started to pull her dress over her head.

“Hold on, hold on,” Ben said and helped her get undressed.

She swatted at him and then tried to grab for his crotch, but he gently pushed her hand away. Maggie tucked her knees up under her, her face pushed into the bed and her underwear clad butt in the air.

“Sorry,” Ben said to Jessica. “She, uh, can be a handful when she drinks.”

“We’ve all been there,” Jessica said. She nodded at the cabin door. “You better get back to the others. I’ll keep her safe.”

“Back to the others?” Ben asked. “Do I need to?”

“It’ll make them feel more at ease,” Jessica said. “If you’re gone too long, they’ll think we’re colluding and then things could go bad for both of us.”

“Jesus,” Ben said. “How do you live like this? Being a rounder was hard enough, but your life is beyond complicated.”

“We all live the lives we’re given, Sheeran,” Jessica said. “Now go make sure Lane and Carlos don’t get any ideas.”

Ben hurried from the cabin and Jessica shut the door behind him, her pistol at the ready in case any of the rest of Tony’s men came calling.

30.

Before Nick could step one foot through the door, he was grabbed and thrown halfway across the bridge, his head slamming into the very expensive brass railing bolted to the teak and mahogany wall.

“What the hell?” he cried out as he rubbed at his head. “Your guys said you wanted to… Oh…”

“Yes, Mr. Sheeran, oh,” Niya said, her .45s aimed at Nick. “Who’s outside the door?”

“What? No one,” Nick said. “Just me. Giraldi’s guy’s radio was all weird so he sent me out to meet with some guy named Lou, I think and—”

“Just stop,” Tony said as he moved to stand over Nick and leaned down, his hand gripping the brass railing, squeezing it, working at it like he wanted to tear it off and give Nick a good, hard whack with it. “Lou’s dead. Ms. Romanski admitted as much, unfortunately. I’m guessing so is Frank. Be honest, Sheeran.”

“Yeah,” Nick replied in a very quiet voice. “Frank’s dead.”

“Who’s outside the door?” Tony asked.

“The others,” Nick said, still keeping his voice down.

“That include the rogue INTERPOL agent slash bartender?” Niya asked.

“Rogue what?” Nick replied. “What are you talking about?”

He cried out and grabbed his nose as Tony gave him a hard shot to the face.

“Shit, man!” Nick yelled. “What was that for?”

The bridge door started to open and Niya put four bullets through it. There was a cry and several shouts then silence.

“You were right,” Tony said, crouching next to Nick and looking over his shoulder at Niya. “They all caved fast and followed like little ducklings.”

“I knew they would,” Niya said. “Simply because they believe the INTERPOL guy is legit. But I know he’s not.”

“He’s not?” Nick asked. “Oh, shit…”

“Your entire world just came crashing down, didn’t it?” Tony asked then laughed. He patted Nick on the cheek. “Only one way you’re getting out of this, Sheeran, and that is to do exactly what I say.”

“Great,” Nick said. “But they aren’t going to. Sounds like you hit one of them, but the rest are still out there. You can ask me to do whatever you want me to, but they’re going to still come for you.”

“No, they aren’t,” Tony replied. He fished out his phone and started flicking through pictures. “See that? Whittier’s niece. See this one? Garfield’s sister. Here’s Holstein’s nephew and sister-in-law. Clow’s daughter and her dyke girlfriend are in this one. I’m being sent these every five minutes.”

“Bullshit,” Nick said. “Ben’s daughter is safe. The Guillotine won’t get her.”

“The Guillotine? He’s not my guy,” Tony said. “Last I heard he turned and is working for whatever agency needs him.”

Nick’s stomach lurched and he burped up rancid crab cakes and bourbon.

“Pardon you,” Tony said as he stood up, waving his hand in front of his face. “Warn a person when you’re going to do that.”

“You have someone watching my family?” Niya asked.

“You don’t have family,” Tony replied. “And I didn’t know you would be here. That bit of intel snuck by.”

“Lucky me,” Niya said. She fired through the door again and there was more shouting, but obviously from further away. “Can we get on with this?”

“You are going to take one of the speedboats over with my guys to that ship,” Tony said to Nick. “You do that, they find what I want them to find, everyone gets back here alive, and I don’t cut your dick off and feed it to you.”

“Wha
t
wil
l
you do to me?” Nick asked. “Because I know you aren’t just gonna give me a hug and a pat on the ass and send me on my way.”

“That’s entirely up to you, Sheeran,” Tony said. “I honestly may do nothing. I know the connections your family has. It could make my legitimate business dealings uncomfortable if I harm you significantly.”

“But you might still harm me insignificantly?” Nick asked.

“Again, entirely up to you,” Tony said. “You can drive one of the speedboats, right?”

“Yeah,” Nick said.

“Good,” Tony said. “Then Niya here will escort you down to the hold where you’ll meet two of my men since I think that’s all that’s left alive after your little poker party decided to hunt them down.”

“Manny killed one, we aren’t sure what happened to the others,” Nick said. “Honestly, Mr. Giraldi, I have no idea what happened to the others.”

“I did,” Niya said to Nick. “I happened to them. So do not mess with me, alright? You even smell like you’re going to screw around and I’ll put two in your head and figure out how to drive the boat myself.”

Nick looked from one gangster to the other and swallowed hard. He slowly stood up and faced Captain Staggs. “You aren’t going to do anything, are you?”

“There is nothing I can do, Mr. Sheeran,” Captain Staggs said. “I am keeping this ship from succumbing to the growing waves. Right now that is my one and only job.”

“Which he gets to keep doing,” Tony said. “I got nothing against Cap here. I got nothing against you either, Sheeran, except you’re a spoiled piece of shit. Despite that, if you do what you’re told, you get to live. That’s going to be a hard deal to pass up.”

“Fine,” Nick said. “I’ll drive the boat. But where the hell are we going?”

“There’s a special ship just off our port side right now,” Tony said. “You take the speedboat over there and let my men handle the rest. You get them back here and your job is done.”

“That’s it?” Nick asked. “Nothing else?”

“For now,” Tony said. “I do reserve the right to change my mind.”

“Of course you do,” Nick said. “One problem.”

“What’s that?” Tony asked.

“It’s not going to be easy to get past the others,” Nick said.

Tony tossed him the phone.

“Show them those and I think they’ll fall in line,” Tony responded. He looked at Niya. “You ready, beautiful?”

“I’m ready, ugly,” she replied. “Come on, Mr. Sheeran. Let’s get this over with.”