“Nick,” I said, “this is Elizabeth Monroe. I told you she’d be staying on Jupiter for a few days. I appreciate you keeping a close eye out.”
Nick smiled. “No worries on L dock with me, Dave and about twenty other live-aboards. We’re close as a big, fat Greek family. Now you join our family.”
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said.
He wiped his hands on a green towel, looked across the marina for a second, his eyes falling back to Elizabeth. “Sean told us about what happened… I say a prayer to God. The man who did this will be punished.”
Elizabeth nodded. I said, “Nick, maybe you can take Elizabeth around and introduce her to some of the residents.”
“I’d like that,” Elizabeth said. “Can we take Max along?”
Nick grinned. “Hot dog will take us. She’s got a lot of friends here.”
As they walked down the pier, I found Dave on his boat and said, “After I picked up Elizabeth from the hospital, I spotted a tail. Two guys in a Ford van. Couldn’t get a good look at their faces before I lost them. Thank you for making her feel at home and agreeing to help watch her.”
“We’ll watch her like a hawk. Which begs the question, where will you be?”
“Do you still have that .12 gauge shotgun on your boat?”
“Yes, Nick has a couple of pistols, too.”
“I’m going to trail Luke Palmer.”
“What?”
“But he won’t know it. And he’ll lead me to Frank Soto, or Izzy Gonzales or both. He’ll do it because I’m betting they’ll come for him.”
Dave looked at me, his left eyebrow rising, his eyes trapping the afternoon light off the bay. “You said earlier that you were betting on the Gonzales family making Palmer’s bond. Is this why you interrupted that live televised news conference? You wanted to play the Gonzales family hand?”
“I didn’t know about the Gonzales clan then.”
“Yes, but you suspected something much deeper than Palmer. When you were holding that composite sketch, like a matador waving his cape, you were enticing the bull to come from somewhere. And now you know the big bull is Izzy Gonzales’ uncle, Pablo.”
“Amazing how the pieces start to fall together.” I smiled.
“I know you’re not being cavalier. But now that the genie is out of the bottle, in this case, Pablo Gonzales, he might become the raging bull. You’re no longer waving your cape with the backup of a police squad behind you. Sean, you could be grasping an empty bottle to throw at him.”
“If I get close enough, a bottle will work fine.”
Dave scratched his three-day growth of whiskers. He shook his head. “I try not to ever underestimate you. I’m assuming you planned this because the local constables had reached a dead-end, and you saw no other path. However, I’m thinking that you knew, if you could get an ID on the composite, it would result in a lower bond for Luke Palmer. And if Palmer made bond, he’d be a moving target for someone.”
“He’s a target in or out of jail. On the outside is his best option because it can lead directly to the source.”
Dave watched Nick and Elizabeth at a distance, Nick introducing her to Martha and Bill Orbison, retired teachers living aboard a houseboat. “Elizabeth’s affable, or she’s trying very hard to be in spite of the death of Molly. Your relationship with her is catapulting you into an area where your own personal danger level will be off the charts. These drug cartels buy and sell people like cattle. Frank Soto’s a good example. If you rock their boat, they have ways of finding you.”
“Not unless I find them first.”
“So, I was right. All along you did think they’d make Palmer’s bond.”
“I thought someone connected to the murders would. And when it happens, we’ll see, the money will come from an anonymous source. It’s late. Bond will probably be made in the morning, but I’m calling the jail.” I put my cell on speakerphone, called information and asked to be connected to the Marion County Jail.
“Booking, Marion County,” said a woman through background noise.
“I’m checking on the status of a man being held in custody, Luke Palmer.”
She said, “He bonded out before my shift started.”
I thanked her and disconnected.
Dave said, “Somebody made it happen very fast. Maybe he caught a bus to California.”
“Or maybe he’s gone back into the forest.”
SEVENTY-FOUR
Later that night, after Elizabeth and I ate a dinner of broiled flounder and shrimp with Dave and Nick, we said good night and came back to Jupiter, Max leading the way. “I went to the master berth to grab a few of my things. She followed me in. You’ll be comfortable sleeping in here.”
“It’s amazing how large the bedroom is,” she said, smiling. “You’d never know this room is down here just by standing up on the dock and looking at your boat.”
“You’ll have privacy and some small degree of spaciousness.”
“Where will you sleep? I don’t want to take your bed.”
“Jupiter has two staterooms, and she sleeps six people comfortably. When I’m on the boat, sometimes I fall asleep on the couch in the salon, and sometimes Max and I have been known to climb topside and catch a breeze sleeping under the stars.” I stepped to a small chest near the bed, opened the top and took out a .38 Smith and Wesson.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a loaded .38 caliber. It holds six shots.” I took the pistol out of the holster and showed her where to find the safety. “If you need it, hold it with both hands, then aim at the chest and squeeze the trigger.”
“Why are you showing me this?”
“Someone with the Gonzales family, probably Soto, tried to kill you with arsenic, thinking it’d be ruled a suicide. Should there be a next time, they’ll be quicker and deadlier. I want to make sure there is no next time.”
She was quiet, stepping to the porthole and watching the lights across the water. “At dinner, you said Luke Palmer is out on bond. Dave said that since Palmer supposedly saw the shooting of Molly and Mark, maybe they’d go after him before me. Do you really believe that?”
“I do.”
“Do you think they’ll kill Palmer?”
“If they can find him, yes.”
“Maybe they’ll never find him.”
I touched her shoulder. “You’re going to be fine. Do you believe me?”
She nodded.
“Good. Put your things away and join Max and me on the bridge for a nightcap and a great view of the bay.”
Topside, I shut off the overhead lamp. In the darkness, I leaned back in the captain’s chair and watched a shrimp boat slide out of the marina and chug into the Halifax River. The shrimper’s running lights pulsed in the dark wake as the boat headed south a half mile before it would take a left into the inlet and emerge into the Atlantic Ocean. I caught the scent of blooming mangroves and wet barnacles hugging the air while the tide pulled and eased the ropes holding Jupiter.
A few minutes later, Elizabeth climbed the steps to the bridge. She’d changed into jeans and a light blue sweater. She sat next to Max, who had drifted off to sleep on the bench seat. I asked, “Would you like a drink? I have scotch, vodka and Irish whiskey up here. Wine and beer are down below.”
“Vodka’s fine. Water, ice and some lime, if you have it.”
I opened the small liquor cabinet and fixed the drinks, wrapping Elizabeth’s glass with a napkin. She sipped once and looked out across the marina to the Ponce Lighthouse. “It’s beautiful up here at night. You can see from the river to the ocean.”
“After the Tiki Bar closes, and the marina becomes quiet, you can hear the breakers crashing when the wind is not blowing.”