Fallen Hunter (Jesse McDermitt Series) (25 page)

As we rounded
Upper Harbor Key I chanced a look behind us and saw that three swimmers had broken away from the pack and were closing. The rest of the way back was much harder as the current was flowing at its fullest, over a knot. I was pushing as hard as I could now, breathing every other stroke. Tina was still at every third stroke. The three divers ahead of us started to slow and we soon were alongside and pulling away. Halfway back, the three behind us were nearly on top of us. Tina and Charity must have seen or sensed them. Tina changed her breathing to every other stroke and soon caught and passed Charity, who started swimming harder and stayed right with her, both of them leaving me behind.

That’s how we finished.
With the Trent’s, Nikki, Williams, and Rusty on the pier cheering, Tina and Charity pretty much arrived at a dead heat, with me a couple seconds behind. The three that were gaining turned out to be Deuce, Julie and one of the Coasties, Bourke. Behind them was Grayson, Simpson and the other Coastie, Goodman. The dive supervisor, Bond, was part of the larger group the whole time. I glanced at my dive watch and noticed that I’d just swam my best ever time by a good ten seconds, meaning the two women had just trounced the hell out of me.

Tina and Charity were high fiving each other, as I got to the pier. Together the three of us cheered on the rest of the group.
As they arrived, I heard Tina say to Charity, “Now I remember why your name sounded familiar.”

“Same here,” Charity said. “You made the final cut didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Tina said, “And you won the bronze in the 400 individual medley.”

I looked at the two women and said, “What are y’all talking about?”

Tina turned to me and smiled. “We’ve been had, Jesse. Charity was on the 2000 Olympic swim team.”

“And you’re not a ringer?” Charity said. “Tina nearly made the team,
would have if she hadn’t pulled a muscle in the finals. She was the NCAA freestyle champion in ’98.”

I looked from one to the other
, surprised. Deuce and Julie had joined us on the pier and Deuce said, “Okay, so you got your ringer and I got mine.” He slapped me on the back and added, “Call it a draw?”

The others were climbing out of the water and word spread that their ringer didn’t crush us as expected. The
men all gathered around, shook Tina’s hand and slapped her on the shoulder. I could tell it meant a lot to her that these warriors seemed to accept her as one of their own.

I told everyone that lunch would be in an hour and reminded them to go easy on the fresh water. Everyone broke up into groups, some to grab a quick rinse under the cistern and
others to explore the island. The two Marines asked Junior and Patty if they’d show them where the clams were. The two kids grinned then ran off with buckets to the cove on the west side of the island with the two Marines following along.

“Want to grab a shower aboard?” I asked Tina.

“You wash my back and I’ll wash yours?”

“Deal,” I said.

We passed Williams as he was headed to his plane to put away his tools. “Outboards are all tuned up. Whoever rebuilt the carb on the 150 did a pretty good job.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“You did it?” he asked. “What the hell you need me around for?”

I laughed, clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Carbs I know, computers are a whole different thing. We’re gonna grab a shower, lunch will be in about an hour.”

We went to the
Revenge
and I locked the salon door. We took a quick shower together, but it was more of a rinse, because of the cramped space. It was impossible to be in the shower without being in full contact with one another and my excitement was very evident.

“Do we have time?” Tina asked.

Thirty minutes later we were drying off in the stateroom and putting on clean clothes. We walked up to the house, went inside and it looked like Chyrel had turned the main room into a high tech communications center.

“Sorry for the mess,” she said. “But all this is necessary. I’m just glad you have a south facing window
for my satellite link. Everything’s all set, we’ll have constant communication, both voice and video, from the boat and the insertion team. A satellite will be available if we need it for eyes in the sky.”

“Did you get anything from the bug?” Deuce asked as he and Julie walked in.

“Sure did,” Chyrel said. “He and the woman talked at length about getting you to carry an arms shipment down to Cuba next week. He mentioned he thought relying on one boat would be better than the three he was currently using. That means there’s two other boats out there. He told her to seduce you, Jesse. Oh, and she speaks perfect English.”

“Seduce you?” Tina asked.

“Not gonna happen,” I said.

“Let’s take a look at the transcript on the way over,” Deuce said. “And email the recording to Jesse on the boat.”

“The transcript will have to be emailed too,” Chyrel said. “With all the background noise, they’re still working on it up in DC. Those three things were clear enough, though.”

“Then let’s go get some lunch,” Deuce said. “And afterwards maybe get a nap in. It’s going to be a long night. Tina, have you ever piloted a boat? We can use the help on shifts tonight.”

“Only Jesse’s a few times,” she said, “But only in daylight.”

“You’ll do fine,” I said. “We’ll be on autopilot almost all the way. Whoever’s on duty will just be watching the radar and even that has an alarm.”

We walked over to where the tables were. Trent had a hot fire going in the grill and was already steaming the clams and stone crab claws in a big pot. Charlie had the tables nearly set and most of the crew were already sitting, some drinking beer and some water. I noticed that Hinkle and Mitchel were tending their small fire and walked over to them. I squatted down next to Hinkle and gazed into the fire. Neither man said anything. I just stayed hunched like that staring into the flames.

Finally Hinkle said, “You’ll burn out your retina’s staring into the flame like that, mate.”

I continued looking intently at the fire.

“He’s right, you know,” said Mitchel
after another minute.

“Urban legend,” I said, still looking into the fire. “Told to boots by old salts. Mostly to keep them from wanting to have a fire at night.”

“Who you calling a boot?” Mitchel asked, somewhat pissed.

“You two,” I said still watching the fire.

Mitchel was the more volatile of the two. I’d already picked up on that much. He shifted slightly, turning a few degrees toward me.

“We
were SEAL’s for eight years, man,” Mitchel said. “Not exactly what…”

I cut him off mid-sentence saying, “Exactly. Two boots still wet behind the ears.”

His right fist came around quickly as he pivoted further toward me, aiming straight for the side of my head. I was not only ready, but expecting it. I caught his fist in my left hand, while still gazing into the fire. I slowly turned my head towards him and quietly growled, “Think long and hard about your next move, swab.”

I could see the fire die in his eyes. I released his fist and said, “
You distance yourself from your teammates and they start to think you’re a little weird. Yeah, what we do is a whole lot different than the type of warfare they engage in and it takes a whole different mindset. But, if you can’t turn it on and off at will, you’re completely useless. The more distant you become, the less trust they have in you. They start to think you don’t like them. A team like this without complete trust in each other, especially toward the guys with the long guns, is doomed to failure. Nobody trusts the guy they don’t know.”

I stood up and walked back over to the group. Trent was loading lobster
onto a large tray and Williams was loading clams and crab claws onto it. A large platter of assorted fish filets was warming beside the fire. Everything looked delicious.

I took a seat next to Tina and leaned over and kissed her. “What was that for?” she asked.

“No reason,” I said. “I just feel happy.”

Doc and Nikki sat down across from us and Doc said, “We both talked to Deuce, then I sat with him alone while he described in more detail what the team does. I shared what I could with Nikki and we both agree, I’m a good fit. I went back and told him I’m in.”

“Knew you would be,” I said. “When not training or on a mission, you’ll be my First Mate, too. Pay will be 20% of what the boat brings in. That’s usually about $200 a day, when I work and that’s not often. The government stipend will keep you from having to find full time work so you can be available. Sound fair to you?”

“Sounds great,” he said. “Even if it’s only once a month, to get out on the blue.”

“You’re gonna have a lot of free time,” I said.

“I’ll keep him busy,” Nikki said. “We put a down payment on a house on Cudjoe Key. It’s a real fixer upper.”

Charlie came out of the west bunkhouse with a big tray of sliced fruit and a bowl in the middle with a huge salad and placed it on the table. “Hey Charlie,” I said. “Where’d all these utensils come from?”

“Dave brought it out,” she said. “He has a lot of stuff always on board the plane.”

Just then Mitchel sat down next to me and Hinkle across from him, next to Doc. I looked from one to the other and Mitchel said, “I want to apologize, Gunny.”

“Consider it done brother,”
I said. “Grab a banana leaf and pass me one of those lobster tails would ya?”

He passed one of the biggest tails to me, then took one for himself. Hinkle stood up and said, “Can
I ’ave your attention, mates?”

Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. He raised his beer and said, “I ain’t much of a speaker. So ’ere’s an old
Orstralian toast. Ere's to the U.S., the land of the push. Where a bird in the ’and’s worth two in the bush. ’Ere’s to Orstralia, me own native land. Where a push in the bush, is worth two in the ’and.”

The whole table erupted in laughter and Hinkle raised his hands to get everyone to quiet down. Then he continued, “Seriously mates, I just want to thank the Gunny ’ere, for his generous ’ospitality. And for yankin a coupla boots straight.”

We all ate our fill and surprisingly there was nothing left over. I only had one beer, as did Deuce, Tony, and Art. The rest of the team had a few more, but none got drunk. Hinkle and Mitchel opened up a bit more. Hinkle make it look easy, but by midday Mitchel was cracking jokes with the rest of the team.

I pulled Deuce aside and said, “I converted the crew quarters to a double berth. The four of us should get a little rest, maybe an hour or two.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be a long night. Everyone’s staying over, to wait until Tony and Art are inserted at least. Odds are, they’ll all be here when we get back in four days. Hey, what did you say to those two to get them out of their shells?”

“Just a little advice from
someone that’s been where they are,” I said. “You’re good with a long gun, but you’re not a sniper. Those two are. Totally different mindset.”

“Well, whatever it was, thanks.”

He turned to the team and said, “It’s time to get started. I want all six of us that are leaving to get a little rest. The rest of you try to hold it down to a dull roar, okay. Tony, you and Art bunk in the salon. You won’t be pulling watch on the trip over. I want you completely rested when we arrive at the insertion point.”

Williams stood up and said, “Would it be alright if I hang out here tonight? I got a hammock strung up in the
Beaver.”

“Us too?” asked Doc.

“Sure,” I said. “Make yourself at home. Don’t know where you’ll be able to bunk, Doc.”

“More than enough room in the bunkhouse,” Trent said. “They’ve spent the night with us plenty of times before tonight.”

The six of us walked to the
Revenge
and tried to get some rest. It wasn’t easy, I never was one that could force myself to sleep. I dozed off for about an hour, then got up and went into the galley and started the coffee maker. Tony and Art must not have my problem. Both men were snoring away on the settee and couch in the salon. When the coffee was done, I poured a cup then heard the latch on the crew quarters hatch softly close and reached into the cupboard for another cup. I poured coffee for Deuce and we took it up to the bridge and sat down. I used the key fob and released the catch on the big door, which slowly started opening on its big tension spring.

“You think we’ll have any problems?” Deuce asked.

“No,” I said. “Not on the trip over. I just hope those two guys don’t run into any trouble.”

“I picked them because they’re the absolute best at infiltration, concealment and intelligence gathering,” he said. “Hell, Tony could sneak right into their camp and post himself in the rafters o
f one of their huts.”

We sat and looked through the windshield out over the water. In a few minutes, Tina joined us with a cup of coffee and a thermos. She silently refilled our cups and sat down in the second seat.

“I’m nervous,” she said. “We didn’t train for anything like this at the academy.”

“
It’s a cake walk,” I said. “We’re just going diving.”