Back Waters, page 8
“She’s not drunk!”
“She definitely set up Johnie!” exclaimed Rick.
“Amigo, we need a surveillance DVR that can play all the cameras on this DVD. Do you by any chance remember the brand and model?” asked Possum.
“As a matter of fact, I do. I remember the little tiger’s face on the front. It was one of the ones I was seriously considering for the boat, but I ended up getting a different one. It’s actually still in my Amazon history.”
Rick pulled out his MacBook and opened Amazon. He scrolled through his Saved for Later items. On the third page, there it was: TIGERSECU.
“I ended up ordering a different brand when I found out that they were made in China, even though they had a California headquarters address. I had a hard time finding one that wasn’t made in China.”
“Order it. We have to have it,” said Possum sternly.
Rick placed the order. It would arrive in two days. He had no intention of keeping it but knew it could be the key to saving Johnie’s ass. By now it was three in the afternoon. They both took showers and got ready for happy hour. When Rick came out, Jules had laid some items on the bed. She had picked up a few things for Rick to try on.
“Hi, baby. Did you have a fun day shopping?”
“I did, Rick. I kinda went nuts buying you stuff, though. I love shopping for you.”
Rick looked at all the clothes on the bed and just shook his head and laughed.
“Can I try these on later? I wanna gorge myself on some sushi!”
“Hell yeah! Let’s do it,” she replied.
They all walked down the HarborWalk then up to the sidewalk beside US 98, aka Harbor Boulevard, toward Marina Cafe. They sat at a high-top table near the bar and ordered some spicy tuna rolls to start. Jules got a martini, and Rick and Possum both ordered Riptides on draft. They were about to order their second round when Dave walked up to the table.
“I’ve got good news and bad news,” said Dave.
“Let’s hear it,” replied Rick.
“Well, the bad news is, you are buying happy hour. And the good news is, well, turn around.”
They all turned around to see Johnie behind them sneaking up on them. They started hooting and hollering as they jumped up from their seats and hugged Johnie. Tears welled up in his eyes from all the love he was getting. He wiped them away and pulled up a seat for Dave before sitting down.
“Y’all have no idea how glad I am to see you! And to be out of that godforsaken hellhole jail they call the Crestview Hilton.”
“So, what do you miss about it the most?” asked Rick.
“The food, I’d have to say. The chef there is amazing and the dining is exquisite,” replied Johnie in a very sarcastic tone.
“Whatcha want? A beer? Sushi?” asked Rick.
“D—all of the above.”
Rick waved his finger in a circle to the waitress, and she brought everyone another round and took their orders for more sushi.
“Now, don’t you be running off, Johnie. That’ll cost me more money than you can imagine.”
“Yeah, Dave told me. I can’t even begin to thank you. I ain’t going nowhere.”
They all devoured the sushi and drank until their eyes were floating. Rick paid the bill, shook Dave’s hand, and the crew headed back to the boat. On the way there, Rick got Johnie up to speed on what they had discovered on the surveillance DVR. He was excited to hear and better yet, see it. When they got back to the boat, Rick showed it to Jules and Johnie.
Johnie let out a sigh of relief. “Hopefully this’ll be enough to clear my name.”
“Now, you realize that we are only seeing one camera view. I’ve ordered the DVR brand that these cameras use, and we will be able to see all the different views,” said Rick.
“When will that get here?” asked Johnie.
“The day after tomorrow. Until then, I think we should focus on what Mrs. Killian is up to and see if I can dig up any dirt on her. When is the funeral?”
“It’s on Sunday at Beal Memorial.”
“Okay, we need to be there. Everyone but Johnie. I want us all to scout any unusual people at the funeral who might be acting strange. Possum and I will have to go in disguise since she’s already seen us. Jules, you can just wear black. I’ll set up my GoPro hidden in a hat for you,” said Rick.
“What can I do to help?” asked Johnie.
“I have the perfect job for you. Do you think you can access the roof of the old Families First building? The one beside the Mitsubishi dealership.”
Rick opened up Google Earth and zoomed in on the building. It was right beside the Beal Memorial Cemetery.
“It looks like there are some undeveloped woods behind the rear parking lot,” said Johnie. “I can drive there tomorrow and scout it out. I’m not sure how old this photo is. They may have developed it since these were taken. I’ll find out.”
“Possum, you up for a little recon? I need to be able to access her computer and phone. Do you have a way we can do that without her knowing?”
“The computer will be easy,” said Possum. “All I gotta do is tap into her cable modem. When I repaired the cable coming into her house, I put a sleeve with a t-connector on it. All I have to do is hook up a GSM listening device to the connector. Her backyard is overgrown where the cable comes in. She’ll never know it’s there. I can hide a hard drive with a receiver in range, and everything she types, sends, or receives will get stored on the hard drive. We can swap out hard drives every few days. They are 4TB drives, so they should get everything. The cell phone is a bit harder. We need a bug and it will have to be planted inside the phone. That’s FBI/CIA stuff. Can you call in a favor from our FBI profiler buddy?”
“I’ll give Carson a call in the morning, replied Rick. How long will it take for you to get your GSM stuff?”
“I have it in Houston, but it’ll be faster just to order one and have it FedExed here. I’ll do it now,” replied Possum.
Possum pulled out his own computer and went to his favorite spy shop online. He ordered a few things he thought would help. A few GSM listening devices, two hard drives with receivers, and a couple of motion-activated video cameras he would plant in the tree on her property.
“I just thought of something,” said Johnie.
“What is it?” asked Rick.
“I remember when I met Pamela that night at Harry T’s and asked if she was a regular there, she told me that she loved their happy hour, but the one place she never missed was ladies’ night at McGuire’s. Every Thursday from ten to two is ladies’ night there, and tonight is Thursday.”
Rick looked over at Jules with a little devilish grin.
“Jules, you wanna make a friend tonight?”
“Yay, I get to help.” Jules clapped her hands. “Yes, please. I’m so excited.”
“Okay, I need you to get close to her and see if you can win her over and get to know her. Think you can pull it off?”
“Did it work on you the first night, Mr. Waters?” She waggled her eyebrows at him.
“Touché!”
Jules went to the master cabin to get all spruced up for ladies’ night. Rick gave her a tiny lapel mic she could hide under her shirt that he hooked up to a credit card-size recording device. All she had to do was hit record and speak normally.
They arrived at McGuire’s around 10:15. The place was packed. Jules went ahead of Rick, who had put on a reverse baseball cap and a huge Fu Manchu mustache. It took everything Jules had not to burst out laughing every time she looked over at him. She grabbed a chair at the bar and ordered a Cosmo. Rick was in her peripheral and would cue her whenever Pamela entered the bar.
At 10:30 p.m., she walked in and took a seat at the bar a few seats down from Jules. Rick rubbed his eyebrow, and Jules knew it was her. Two girls got up and moved to a table, so Jules hit record on the recording device tucked inside her bra, moved over, and got the bartender’s attention. She was about to order another Cosmo when he delivered a lemon drop martini to Pamela.
“What’s that?” asked Jules as she pointed to the drink.
Pamela looked up at Jules with an ugly look.
“It’s a lemon drop martini.”
Jules gave her the biggest smile, blowing off her stank eyes.
“That looks delicious. I’ll have what she’s having,” Jules told the bartender.
He whipped one up for her and set it down in front of her.
She picked it up and said, “Cheers!” and moved her glass toward Pamela’s. She reluctantly clinked her glass against Jules’s.
“Hi, I’m Valentina,” said Jules, making up the name on the spot because of the hot sauce on the bar with the same name.
“Okay,” responded Pamela, as if Jules was bothering her.
“And your name?” asked Jules.
“Pamela.”
She took a sip of her drink, and Jules noticed the pendant she had on her necklace. It was a deep blue dolphin surrounded in yellow gold.
“Oh my God, I love your pendant. I love dolphins, and that color perfectly matches your eyes. I wish I had beautiful blue eyes like you. And your blonde hair is so lovely as well.”
Pamela seemed to let down her guard a bit and smiled for the first time. She looked over at Jules.
“I love dolphins too. Valentina, is it?” She stuck out her hand to shake Jules’s.
“Yes, Valentina. Very nice to meet you. Do you live here or are you on vacation?” asked Jules.
“I live here. Hopefully not for too much longer, though. I’m planning to move.”
“Oh, okay. I moved here a few months ago. I’m probably gonna head back to Colombia this fall, though. I clean houses for a living and while there’s plenty of work here, it’s very expensive to live in Destin.”
“You clean houses?”
“Yes, I also do commercial cleaning. I just finished a job at Destin Commons.” “We should get together again sometime,” said Pamela.
Pamela pulled out her phone, and Jules took notice that it was an iPhone 11 with a dolphin case on it.
“What’s your number, Valentina?”
“I’ll call you so that way we’ll both have it. What’s yours?”
Pamela gave Jules her number and saved it. Jules excused herself and asked her to watch her drink while she went to powder her face. When she got into the bathroom, she pulled out her phone and quickly changed her voicemail message.
Hi, this is Valentina. You have reached A1 House Cleaners. Leave your name and number and someone will get right back to you.
She felt pretty proud of herself for thinking on her feet. If Pamela called her, it would solidify her story. She was starting to feel like a real spy. She returned to the bar as two more martinis arrived.
“I hope you didn’t mind. I ordered two more for us,” said Pamela.
It was obvious she was warming up to Jules. They made small talk for a while, and after splitting an appetizer and paying the bill, they hugged goodbye and promised to meet again for the next ladies’ night, if not sooner. Jules walked out right past Rick and winked at him. He followed her a few seconds later and they met back at his truck.
“Mission accomplished. My name is Bond, Valentina Bond.”
Chapter Nine
Back at Nine-Tenths, Rick transferred the audio Jules had recorded to his MacBook. He would listen to it later. He could tell Jules was chomping at the bit to tell him what had happened. She was jumping around like a rabbit. He couldn’t help but laugh at her excitement.
“Okay, 007, spill the beans.”
“You’ll never guess what my new job is.”
“Spy?” asked Rick.
“Nope, well yeah, but also a house cleaner. She wants me to clean her house. I just made it up on the spot. This way I can get even closer to her.”
“That is perfect, Jules!”
“Call me Valentina. I need to stay in character.”
Rick laughed. “Okay, Valentina. What else transpired?”
“She did mention that she would be moving soon. She didn’t say where and I didn’t wanna sound too suspicious, so I didn’t ask her. I’ll find out, though. I even changed my voicemail, so when she calls, she’ll think it’s a business.”
“Wow, Jules—ahem, Valentina. I am impressed.”
She was strutting around like she’d just won the lotto or figured out the cure for cancer. Rick thought it was so cute. What she had done was in fact going to be a huge help to them. The one thing that couldn’t happen was for Pamela to see Jules on the boat or near Johnie. Rick decided to rent a month-to-month condo over at The Palms of Destin. He and Jules could stay there, away from the boat, and more importantly away from Johnie. It wasn’t too far from HarborWalk and it was even closer to where Pamela lived. Things would go back to normal. Johnie would continue to run the charters with a hired captain, while Rick, Jules, and Possum would turn The Palms of Destin into home base.
Rick made up some cleaner business cards with Jules’s number on it, and emailed the design to Office Depot. They would stop at Dollar Tree in the morning and get her some supplies to round out the farce. It was 2:00 a.m. before they settled off to bed and both fell asleep.
Everyone was moving slow the next morning.
“Morning, hombre. Still trying to wake up?” asked Possum.
“Yeah, man, long night. We got in about one in the morning and crashed somewhere around two, I guess.”
“What’s the plan this morning?”
“We are moving. I’m gonna rent a place over at The Palms and we are all, except for Johnie, gonna head over there for a while. Jules can’t be seen on the boat or near Johnie. She got some killer intel last night from Pamela and she’s gonna start cleaning her house. It’s a great cover.”
“Smart!” replied Possum.
Rick got on the phone and called his favorite real estate agent, Jessica, and told her he was having some work done on the boat and wanted to get a place for a month or so. She called back within fifteen minutes and told him there were three units available, including a furnished two-bedroom on the top floor. He chose that one and planned to meet her later to sign the papers. Johnie and Chief would stay on the boat and keep business running as usual.
After breakfast, Jules and Rick drove over to Dollar Tree to get her some cleaning supplies. He called Office Depot and learned the cards would be ready around two in the afternoon. They decided to kill some time and go to Grayton Beach and Seaside. Jules had never been and Rick still wanted to show her how beautiful the beaches were in the area. He had no intention of working her to death as a double agent spy, although she really enjoyed it.
They stopped at Grayton Beach, and Rick took her into the Red Bar. It had burned down a few years ago and been rebuilt. He hadn’t even seen it since then. It looked similar to before, only cleaner. It didn’t have quite the same charm but was still inviting. Knowing how good their fish dip was, he thought he’d give it a shot.
They sat down at the bar, and Rick ordered the fish dip and a Grayton Beer 30A Beach Blonde for Jules and Fish Whistle IPA for himself. The fish dip was just as good as he remembered. After their quick snack, he drove down past Watercolor to Seaside. He showed Jules a quick clip from the movie The Truman Show, which was filmed there, then drove around the town square, showing her all the cool landmarks. He parked on the street in front of Bud and Alley’s, and they strolled over the boardwalk to the beach.
“It’s so beautiful, Rick! Just like you described it. The sand looks like sugar. Look how rough the water is, though!”
“I know, right? It’s pretty rough today. The beaches from here to Orange Beach are all really nice. Wait until we have a day off and I can take you fishing on the bay. Johnie has a flats boat and I think I’ve used it more than him. I can show you how to fly fish. There’s a ton of reds and specks out in the bay.”
“Reds and specks?”
“Sorry, redfish and speckled trout. Good-eating fish and so fun to catch, especially if you hook up to a big ol’ bull red. The fight of your life.”
“I can’t wait, Rick. Let’s go today.”
Rick just laughed and gave her a hug. “We will, hun, I promise, as soon as we get a jump-start on Johnie’s deal.”
She nodded in agreement.
“You see those double red flags? That means there’s a risk of a riptide and people are supposed to stay out of the water.”
“Riptide. Like the beer.”
“Very good, Jules. What a memory.”
She laughed. They decided to walk down the beach toward the west for a while, out of view of most tourists.
“Why are the waves so big, Rick? It’s so different from the other night out on the boat.”
“There’s a storm kicking up in the Gulf causing the waves to build.”
Seagulls fought the wind as killdeer and sandpipers ran up and down the beach, eating snails and whatever they could get as the water rose and fell on the sand.
“Did you hear that, Rick?”
“Listen.”
They both stopped and listened. Suddenly, they heard it. It was faint but it was certain.
“Help!”
Rick scanned the water, looking for someone. All he could see were white foam and waves at first, then about twenty-five yards farther west, he saw something dark bob up for a second, then disappear. He put his palm up to his forehead to block the sun and kept looking.
“Help!”
He saw it again. An arm was waving out in the water.
“Jules, someone’s in trouble. Go to the lifeguard station back by Bud and Alley’s and tell them to hurry. I’ll keep an eye on the person.”
Jules started running, and Rick hurried down to the water’s edge to try and spot the person again. Whoever it was had been pulled out past the second sandbar, and they were struggling to stay above the water. Jules was beyond his sight and the lifeguard was too far away; he was afraid they wouldn’t make it in time.
He kicked off his shoes and took off his shirt. He knew he was taking a huge risk and could end up in the same boat as whoever was out there. He looked both ways down the beach and there was no one close. He had to go in. He let the riptide do most of the work and got to the first sandbar fairly quickly. The tide was pulling hard parallel to the shore. Swimming against it was impossible. Rick swam as hard as he could toward the person flailing in the water. When he got close enough, he realized it was a teenager. He yelled to get the boy’s attention. His arms were thrashing around on the water, and Rick knew better than to swim up on him, as the kid might pull him down with him.
