James Swain - The King Tides

The caffeine hit his system hard. There was always the chance that Janey was dead, but his gut told him that wasn’t the case. Janey’s abductor had done a good job of making his victim disappear, and that wasn’t easy. If you were going to spend the time planning an abduction, you wanted a reward. Keeping Janey alive was that reward.

The red dots moved across his screen like a video game. Jimmy Buffett singing the virtues of drinking and screwing filled the air, and he answered the call.

“Hello, Jon. This is Nolan Pearl,” his caller said.

He turned away from his laptop. “Is everything all right?”

“We’re okay. I spoke to the police, and they wrote up a report and said they’d get back to me. I left your name out of it.”

“I appreciate that.”

“I know you’re working another case, but could you come back to the house for a few minutes? I explained to my wife that I planned to hire you, and she got angry with me for not consulting her first.”

“Your wife wants to talk with me?”

“Yes. Melanie’s very protective of our daughter, as I’m sure you can understand. She was on the end of the dock and saw you shoot the man steering the boat. It scared the daylights out of her.”

He frowned into the phone. “Then tell her to hire someone else.”

“Please. It’ll just take a few minutes.”

“What do you want me to do, crack some jokes, make your wife feel better? That’s not who I am, and quite frankly, that isn’t what you need here.”

“She just wants to talk with you and set her mind at ease.”

He nearly told Pearl to take a hike, but he restrained himself. His business was word-of-mouth; every time he blew off a client, it cost him down the road. If he didn’t go see Pearl, he’d just stay here, and get wired on more coffee.

“I’ll come, but I want you to tell your wife something,” he said.

“What’s that?” Pearl said.

“I’m not your friend.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m your weapon. See you soon.”

He’d worked undercover for the Broward Sheriff’s Office for a decade and developed a sixth sense for sniffing out bad guys. Leaving the Starbucks, he spied a black BMW M3 with tinted windows parked in the corner of the lot. His instinct told him the bearded guy had returned and was itching to get back inside and steal the personal information of the next unsuspecting customer who booted up his laptop. That was the problem with people who stole for a living. They’d figured out that crime really did pay. To stop them, you had to punish them, and you had to do it in a way that they’d never forget it. As a cop, he’d been restricted from doing that. Not anymore.

He circled the block and a minute later was back in the Starbucks lot. Through the front window he spied the bearded guy sitting at a table by himself and went inside. Coming up from behind, he boxed the bearded one’s ears with the palms of his hands, causing him to pitch forward and smash his face against the keyboard. Boxing didn’t leave any bruises, but it would make a person’s ears ring for a while.

Going outside, he ran over the bearded one’s laptop with his car, the crunching sound bringing a smile to his lips. He spied the miscreant standing in the window, holding a bloodied napkin to his face.

He waved as he drove away.

Pearl met him at the front door wearing the sheepish expression of a man who’d just lost an argument with his wife. “Thank you for coming back. Melanie is anxious to meet you. This situation has made her a nervous wreck.”

Lancaster grunted under his breath. He didn’t like kissing ass, but on rare occasions he made exceptions. He followed Pearl through the house.

“May I offer you something to drink?” his host asked.

“No, thanks. Look, I can’t stay long. We’ve started our search in Melbourne and I need to focus my energy on that.”

Pearl stopped and spun around. “You must think we’re being very insensitive.”

“No, you’re being parents. I get that. I just happen to have another priority right now. Once it’s over, which hopefully will be soon, I can give you my full attention.”

“You seem confident you’re going to find this woman in Melbourne.”

“I am.”

He didn’t try to explain. He knew when his hunches were going to pay off, even when the rest of the world thought he was wrong.

Melanie Pearl awaited them on the lanai. She was an attractive woman with a short haircut and a trim figure, and he guessed she’d once been a nurse. It was only a guess, based upon the fact that nearly every male doctor he knew was married to a nurse, the profession producing a lot of couples. She looked her guest up and down and could not hide her displeasure.

“Thank you for saving my daughter’s life,” she said stiffly.

“Thank your husband. He called me.”

“Very well. Please have a seat.”

“No, thanks. I’m not staying for long. Your husband says you have a problem with his decision to hire me. Why is that?”

“How should I put this? You seem rather coarse. My daughter has been traumatized, and I don’t want to make things worse for her. Do you understand?”

“Not really.”

She chewed her lower lip, unsure of how to proceed. Her dilemma was written all over her face. Her vision of what her daughter’s protector should look like didn’t resemble the man standing before her.

“If I clean myself up and wear a nice shirt, will that work?” he asked.

“Is that an attempt to be sarcastic?”

“Look, Melanie, I won’t pretend to be something that I’m not. What you see is what you get, warts and all. Take it or leave it.”

She shot her husband a look. Pearl struggled to find the words that would convince her this was the right decision. Lancaster decided to help him out.

“Let’s cut to the chase. The two men in the cigarette boat were not normal kidnappers. Kidnappers want ransom money, and if they sense a problem, they switch targets. These men have another reason for wanting Nicki. Once I understand what their motive is, I’ll figure out a way to stop them.”

“You’ve dealt with men like this before.”

“Many times.”

She hesitated. “Can I think about this?”

“Take your time. It’s only your daughter’s life.”

“You’re not making this any easier.”

He’d muted his cell phone before coming into the house, and it now vibrated in his pocket. He excused himself and stepped off the lanai into the house to stare at the screen. Shorty had texted him. The bloodhounds had picked up Janey’s scent five blocks away from Slip Slide in a quiet residential street, only to have the trail go cold.

A Traccar app resided on his cell phone. With it, he’d be able to see for himself where the red dots had converged. A blank screen stared back at him. No Wi-Fi service. He went back onto the lanai to find Pearl and his wife having a heated debate.

“Do you have a house Wi-Fi that I can connect to?” he asked. “My case in Melbourne is about to break open, and I need to see what’s going on.”

Pearl gave him the password. Lancaster went into settings on his cell phone and entered it. No luck. His phone had a mind all its own, while his laptop tended to obey its master. He went outside to his car and got on his laptop while sitting behind the wheel. He entered the password and this time had better luck.

Pearl appeared at his window. “Are you working your other case?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Would you mind coming back inside? I want my wife to see you in action.”

“She doesn’t like me. I can’t change that.”

“But I can. Please.”

Pearl had a pleading look in his eyes. Lancaster had only one soft spot, and it was for people in trouble. He caved and followed Pearl back inside to the study. Melanie stood by a window, staring out at the crowded paradise that was South Florida.