Caribbean Hustle (A Nick Teffinger Thriller / Read in Any Order) (18 page)

52

Day Seven

June 10

Tuesday Afternoon

In Port-au-Prince, Modeste was gone when Teffinger checked on her. There was no sign of a struggle. The guy at the register confirmed she’d left of her own volition, “more than two hours ago, in a hurry, man, in a big old hurry.” The words were a punch to Teffinger’s gut. After all he went through to save her, when she probably didn’t even deserve it to start with, now she was out there somewhere throwing it all away, probably chasing down some stupid plan to kill Janjak.

So be it.

Ten minutes down the street he found a place that sold cell phones, bought two, and called Sydney as he walked towards the ocean side of the city.

“What’s the status on your end?”

“Teffinger?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve had three homicides in the last 24 hours,” she said. “Your being AWOL was the breaking point for the chief. He wanted me to tell you if you called that there’s no need to rush back.”

“I’m coming back tomorrow. I have one more thing to wrap up tonight and then I’m done here.”

“Teff, listen to what I’m saying. We’re all reporting to Richardson now. The email went out to everyone yesterday. Have you checked your messages?”

“No.”

“Well, do it, because it’s there.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll check. Have you had any luck finding Kovi-Ke?”

“No. The earth swallowed her.”

“Figures. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“I have your personal things in my office,” she said.

“Robertson’s already moved into mine?”

“Yes.”

“He sure didn’t waste any time, did he?”

“Nick, you need to take this seriously. You’re not going to walk back into the chief’s office and smooth it all out like you’ve done before. This time is different. It’s real this time.”

“Well, maybe I won’t come back, then. Maybe I’ll just stay down here.”

The woman sighed.

“I tried to warn you ten different times.”

“I got to go.”

He hung up, dialed Kovi-Ke’s dive shop in Jamaica and got greeted by a deep, male voice.

“Is Kovi-Ke there?”

“No.”

“Do you know when she’ll be back?”

“Not really. Can I take a message?”

“Tell her Teffinger called,” he said.

“Teffinger?”

“Right, Teffinger. Nick Teffinger.”

“I’ll tell her.”

“Wait, let me give you my number. Have her call me as soon as she shows up. You got a pencil?”

“Yeah, give it to me.”

Five minutes down the street something happened he didn’t expect—Rail’s lawyer was across the street talking to a flirty woman in a short red dress, obviously for sale. They looked like they were negotiating price. By her smile and constant touch, she was convincing him she’d be worth it.

What was the guy’s name?

Stephen something.

Blake,
that was it;
Stephen Blake
, out of New York.

Teffinger headed over and pulled the man to the side.

“Your client Johnnie Rail is planning on killing someone.”

“Who?”

“A voodoo woman. Her name’s Janjak.”

“How do you know?”

“He told me.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

“Talk him out of it.”

“You’re kidding, right? You don’t talk Johnnie out of anything.”

Teffinger frowned.

“What are you still doing in town?”

The man nodded towards the woman.

“What’s it look like?”

“Well, have fun.”

“I intend to.”

Teffinger left.

Two steps later he turned and said, “Do you have a pencil?”

“A pen.”

“Write down my number,” he said. “Give it to Rail when you talk to him. Tell him to call me.”

He rented a 30-foot Baja go-fast with twin big-blocks and made a beeline for the islands. The money was insane but the vessel was twice as fast as the Whaler, should that ever become an issue.

The engines spit rumble for two miles so it wasn’t a surprise to spot Janjak waiting for him on the beach as he motored up and let the bow kiss the sand.

The sun was loosing its heat.

The shadows were long.

The woman was the same as when he’d left her, topless up above and barefoot down below, with a wrap-around skirt separating the two.

“You’re early,” she said.

“Johnnie Rail’s coming to kill you,” he said. “I came to get you out of here.”

“I thought you and Rail were working together.”

“We parted ways,” Teffinger said. “Those diamonds you dug up, Rail stole them from some guy in Hong Kong. The guy’s closing in on him and he needs to be in a position to give them back. Getting them back starts with killing you.”

The woman put her arms around Teffinger’s neck and pressed her stomach to his.

“So, why don’t you just let him?”

“Because I want you to leave Modeste alone,” he said. “Whatever you owe me for getting you out of here, I want you to pay it to Modeste by leaving her alone. Whatever you and Rail end up doing to each other, I just don’t want Modeste dragged into it.”

The woman kissed him.

“Modeste wants to kill me too,” she said.

Teffinger shifted his feet, not knowing how the woman knew that but convinced that somehow she did.

“She just wants to be alive and not have to worry about being pulled into some nether world,” he said. “It’s a self-defense thing. Once she knows you’re going to leave her alone, it’ll all be over. Rail wants to kill her too for stealing his stuff in the first place, so she’ll be leaving Haiti, she’ll have no choice. You’ll never hear from her again.”

“Are you in love with her?”

He shook his head.

“Anything but,” he said. “In fact she played me from the start.”

“So why do you want to help her?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Look, this Hong Kong guy is eventually going to hone in on Rail. From there it won’t be too hard to figure out where the diamonds went next, to you. So even if you kill Rail, you’ll still have the Hong Kong guy to worry about. This thing is never going to end. You got the coins. Keep them and cut your losses.”

“Give the diamonds back to Rail?”

“Yes, either him or directly back to the Hong Kong guy. I’ll help you find out who he is if you want to go in that direction. Maybe Rail can convince Angel to hand her coins over to you as a gesture of good will. Whether that happens or not, you’ll still be in a position where you won’t have to look over your shoulder for the rest of your life.”

A seagull swept low over the water, silently hunting for unsuspecting prey.

Two more followed.

“Let’s get out of here,” Teffinger said. “Rail could be showing up at any minute.”

The woman raised her arms above her head and twirled in an erotic dance.

Then she suddenly stopped and looked hard at Teffinger.

“Modeste’s destiny lies in her own hands,” she said. “I want that final diamond. I want it by tonight. She can get it. That’s how she gets away from me. That’s the
only
way she gets away from me. So, either kill me yourself, right here right now, or go tell her.”

“I don’t know where she is. She took off.”

“Then she dies at midnight.”

She ripped her skirt off, threw it to the side and waded into the water. Waist deep she turned and said, “The clock’s ticking.”

Then she dived in and went into an overhand stroke in the direction of the other island.

Teffinger watched her for a minute, then fired up the Baja and got the hell out of there.

53

Day Seven

June 10

Tuesday Evening

Back in the city, Teffinger’s initial plan was to step aside from all the craziness, go to a bar, get drunk, pick up a woman and screw her all the way to morning. The specter of Station’s murder, though, wouldn’t leave him alone. She’d died because Teffinger hadn’t been smart enough to stay in town.

He’d made a promise to himself to not let the same thing happen to Modeste.

Station had deserved his help.

Modeste didn’t, not really, at least not more than Teffinger had already given her. Technically, he’d fulfilled any promise he’d made to her, or to himself.

But, still.

He dialed the
Like a Virgin
pretty, Constance.

“It’s me, Teffinger,” he said. “Are you in Haiti?”

“No, New York.”

“Where’s the diamond?”

A pause, then, “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because Modeste told me not to.”

“When?”

“An hour ago,” she said.

“Modeste isn’t thinking clearly,” he said. “I need that diamond and I need it now. Tomorrow’s too late.”

“Sorry, she gave me instructions.”

“If you don’t tell me, she’s going to be dead by midnight.”

“I’m sorry.”

The line died.

He dialed back.

She didn’t answer.

He stomped off blindly, not caring where he was going, simply feeding the need to be in motion.

The street buzzed with traffic.

Buildings passed.

“Where’s the diamond?”

A pause, then, “I can’t tell you.”

The words kept playing in his head.

“Where’s the diamond?”

A pause, then, “I can’t tell you.”

There was something wrong with them. Two blocks passed before he figured out what it was. If the diamond was with Constance she would have said, “I have it,” or “It’s with me,” or words to that effect.

She didn’t say she had it though. She said, “I can’t tell you.”

She didn’t have it, not with her, anyway.

She must have stashed it somewhere before she left Haiti.

Where? Her apartment?

Teffinger called her again, this time from his other phone. “Don’t hang up, don’t hang up,” he said. “Just listen. Give me one minute. Don’t hang up.”

“There’s nothing you can say.”

“Consider this,” he said. “Do you remember when you gave me all the other diamonds but held onto Marilyn? Do you remember what you told me about why you wanted to hang onto her?”

“No.”

“You said, “
She’s a final bargaining chip, in case you get killed or taken
. Do you remember that?”

A pause, then, “Yes, but that’s not valid anymore. You got Modeste. She’s free. You don’t need anything as a bargaining chip.”

“Listen to what I say and listen carefully,” he said. “Modeste is going to die tonight. She doesn’t know it yet, because I haven’t been able to find her and tell here, but that’s what’s going to happen. I need that diamond to keep her alive. If she knew she was going to die, she’d tell you to tell me where it is. If you don’t believe me, call her and then call me back.”

An hour later he was in the Baja with the diamond in his pocket, storming through choppy waters with the throttle at redline and the go-fast’s bow jarring up and down to a demonic beat.

His gut churned.

This could all be a setup.

Janjak might kill everyone as soon as she had the diamond, first Teffinger, right then and there, and then Modeste.

He had to keep his guard up.

He had to do this right.

He had to watch her every move.

She was a she-devil, one with hypnotic moments, but a she-devil nonetheless, and that was true based only on the things she’d admitted to—Kovi-Ke, Station, and all the rest.

She was evil.

He couldn’t forget that, not for a second.

He couldn’t let her get her spell on him, not again.

54

Day Seven

June 10

Tuesday Evening

An evil twilight thickened quickly over the Haitian waters. The Baja was a wild beast, deafening in its roar and frantic in its motions. It didn’t slow until the islands appeared up ahead as black silhouettes against an almost-black sky. Teffinger motored into the thick of it to find something he didn’t expect. Three boats were at the beach. One was the Whaler. The others were similar in size.

Teffinger hung back in neutral, eyeing the situation.

No one shot at him.

He killed the engines so he could hear.

No sounds came from shore.

No lights flashed.

No signs of life emerged.

He brought the vessel in and hopped off the bow into knee-deep water. A lifeless, dark silhouette appeared in the sand up ahead. An inspection showed it to be a body, a very dead body with a large bloody wound to the side of the head. Teffinger nudged it with his foot and got no response. Next to the body was a rifle. He picked it up, checked the action and looked around.

There was enough light to show a vertical person if one was there to see.

There wasn’t.

He walked down the beach. A light breeze blew. The moon was high already throwing enough light down to create shadows. Teffinger’s shadow moved ahead him like some kind of eerie attachment.

He came across another body, very similar to the first except this one had massive wounds to the forearms in addition to the face.

Teffinger nudged it, not expecting a response and not getting one.

He kept moving.

In the next four minutes he found four more bodies, all the same, all hacked to death. He recognized three of them as Rail’s men. One was the guy who drove Teffinger to town this afternoon.

A motion caught his peripheral vision. It was Janjak, forty or fifty yards away, walking towards him with a large knife or machete in her right hand.

She didn’t call out.

Teffinger swallowed and then walked towards her.

Two steps later he stumbled upon another body in the sand.

The man’s face was sliced in two.