The scene was like something out of a postcard. Sugary sand beach lined with palms, one of them leaning way out over the turquoise, sun-dappled water. No tourist crowds. But just out of sight beyond the natural beauty lay a colder reality to the island, a poor community, many of whom struggled to get by on a daily basis. Amidst this contradiction in terms sat the Sea Foam, lying at anchor not far off the beach.
Maddock, Bones and Willis rode the Sea Foam’s dinghy to the beach in order to meet Fabi Baptiste. They found her waiting for them, as promised, at a small outdoor cafe on the side of the road fronting the beach. It was a local place, not a tourist establishment, not that there was a whole lot of tourism in Haiti compared to other Caribbean islands.
African and French on her father's side, Italian on her mother's side, Fabi had warm beige skin, hazel eyes, and full lips. She wore her hair in loose, shoulder length coils that bounced when she turned her head at the sound of Maddock’s voice.
Bones greeted her first, giving her a big hug while Wills and Maddock exchanged knowing glances. When Bones released her, she eyed his companions. “Dane Maddock and Willis Sanders! Good to see you two alive and in one piece after all the crazy stunts you guys pulled in the SEALs.”
Maddock and Willis also gave Fabi a hug, though not as long or close as the one from Bones.
“Damn, girl,” Willis said. “You still working out?”
Fabi punched him in the shoulder, hard enough to make him wince. “What do you think?” She led them to a table in the “inside” area of the cafe, which was really just a shady nook under a section of corrugated sheet metal and surrounding banana palms. Plastic chairs were pulled up to a wooden picnic table on a dirt floor.
The three of them took seats and a Haitian woman took their orders, speaking in Creole. Maddock picked out several words in French, but that was all. She deposited a cold bottle of Prestige beer in front of each of them, and then left them alone. Fabi took a pull of her beer and then smiled at Maddock and Bones in turn.
“So, how’s life on the outside treating you so far?”
None of the three men said anything, each waiting for one of the others to speak.
“That good, huh?” Fabi said.
“Well, we’re here, so that’s pretty cool,” Bones said, looking around at the simple shack and the wall of jungle across the road.
“We just got our new treasure hunting venture off the ground.” Maddock looked around and lowered his voice. He didn’t see anyone else except for the woman who took their orders, but as a former SEAL, operational caution was bred into him. “And Bones put us on the trail of the 1715 fleet, the San Miguel in particular.”
“What about you? What’ve you been up to?” Bones asked before taking a swig from his beverage.
“I’ve been volunteering at a health clinic here in Petit-Trou-de-Nippes.”
“Sorry, there's no way I can get on board with petite nips.” Bones grinned while Maddock looked around, hoping no one had overheard that, of all things they had to discuss.
Fabi rolled her eyes. “It translates to ‘little hole of Nippes’ and refers to the fact that the community grew up around a small harbor near the Nippes River that was deep enough for ships to anchor.”
Bones grimaced. “Turns out petite nips was more interesting after all.”
Fabi slapped Bones on the arm before continuing. “But listen. This is about my cousin, David. He’s the reason I reached out to you, and unfortunately for me the news is not good.” She hung her head in a moment of silence, then went on.
“He was a priest?” Maddock prompted.
Fabi nodded. “Someone found his body in the jungle not far from his church. It had been mutilated by animals, making it hard to tell what exactly happened to him.”
“I’m sorry, Fabi.” Bones held her while Maddock also expressed his condolences.
Fabi wiped her eyes and then continued. “David was a priest, yes, but he was a treasure hunter at heart.”
She could read the looks in the men’s eyes, looks that said, How serious was he? Lots of people daydreamed about finding lost treasure, maybe even read books or pored over maps and charts, armchair salvors. But those who actually ventured out into the ocean to look for it were few and far between. And what’s more, both ex-SEALs realized, those who successfully recovered treasure in the ocean were even fewer still. The research needed to be solid, the execution highly competent, and then of course, that fickle mistress, Lady Luck, needed to make an appearance at least once.
But Fabi remained unfazed. “Take a look at this. He sent me a package shortly before he died.” She set a simple bag on the table, looked up toward the entrance of the cafe once, and then removed from it a wooden cigar box.
Bones’ face lit up. “Hey, all right. I hear they make fantastic cigars down here. Maybe not quite as good as the Cubans, but damn good, right? Can we light up in here?”
Fabi pulled some papers out of the box and smoothed them out on the table. “Sorry, Bones. Maybe if you’re a good boy I’ll see if I can find you a cigar later.” She winked at him and Bones raised his eyebrows at Maddock, who leaned in closer to the papers.
“What do you have here?”
Her brow creased with concern. “This one here is a recent note from David saying he thinks someone is after the contents of the box and that they are dangerous. Looks like he was right. And he says what's in the box is very valuable.”
Maddock stared at the old papers on the table, the weathered box. “Why did your cousin send the box to you?”
Fabi sighed before looking up from the note. “David is… was… a gentle soul. Not much of a fighter. He knows I’m ex-Navy, knows I can take of myself, that I have a reputation for being a tough kid back in the day. And besides that, he trusts me. I’m family, I’m blood.”
“So what’s so valuable about what’s in the box?” Maddock pressed.
Fabi glanced down at the yellowed papers. “I don’t know the whole story, but I’m positive there’s something in these documents that will lead us to treasure.”
The gleam in Maddock’s eyes was undeniable, but he forced himself to stay focused on the details at hand. But it was Bones who Fabi turned to next.
“You used to tell me about your experiences hunting for underwater treasures with Maddock, so when I thought about who to call, you were at the top of my list.”
Maddock gave Bones a glance. “You do realize those were classified missions, right?”
The big Indian eyed Fabi. “All bets are off when trying to impress a beautiful girl.”
Maddock shrugged, also looking to Fabi. “So did that work?”
It was her turn to smile. “Once or twice.”
Maddock eyed the papers on the table. “I think we can help you with this.”
Chapter 7
Odelin swore as he paced within the narrow confines of the office at the back of the church. He and his men had torn the place apart, top to bottom. His hopes had risen when they discovered a secret compartment in the floor chancel area behind the pulpit, but inside were only a pistol and some general survival items. He thought it likely that what he sought was once in that hiding place, but for now his hopes had been dashed.
Making matters worse, he had just received word from one of his men that the search of Abbe’s home had been completed and that effort, too, had produced no fruit. Odelin now had the most unenviable task indeed of reporting these developments to his boss. He dialed the desk phone in the church office and waited with the receiver to his ear. His superior came on the line and Odelin relayed the bad news.