Unlawful Chase, C.J. Schnier [best book clubs TXT] 📗

all on the boat. I can pay him when I get to her, but that's going to leave me pretty close to broke. Try to see if you can get him to come down in price." I said, my feeling of relief disappearing rapidly.

Miles thought about it for a moment, nodded, and turned back to the fisherman. The two went back and forth again for a minute and I looked over to Jaye, who shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

"Don't look at me, I only had a couple hundred bucks on me, and it was all in the plane. I'm sure it's all gone now," she said.

"Chase," Miles said, grabbing my attention. "He says he'll take five hundred dollars and the Jeep for the boat. I'm not sure he'll go much lower."

"Five hundred, huh?" I asked, thinking about my already depleted funds.

"And the Jeep," Blatt added.

I thought for a moment but couldn't see any other choice. The wiry old angler had me over a barrel and he knew it.

"Alright," I said, "Tell Santiago there that he has a deal for five hundred bucks and the Jeep. But my boat better still be in working condition."

"Santiago?" Miles asked, confused. "That isn't his name. It's Carlos."

I sighed, "It's a Hemingway reference, Doc. The Old Man and the Sea? Don't tell me you haven't read it."

"You Americans and your 'literature.' Hemingway was a hack," he stated.

"I'm going to ignore that you said that. I never expected a Scot to prefer English literature," I retorted.

"Whatever, we'll agree to disagree. The deal for Paramour is settled. We can give Carlos here a ride down to the marina with us. Maybe then we can put an end to this crazy treasure hunt. Unless of course you want to stay here until morning."

"Hell no. I've had about enough of Cuba. I don't want to spend any more time here than I have to. Bardales might be gone, but we never saw a body. I don't want to chance it. What about you, Jaye? What do you say?"

"I say that we bounce, ASAP," she replied.

"Let's go, then. I want to get on the water and get out to sea before the sun is up and something else happens."

Miles said a few words to the old man who climbed into the backseat, displaying broken teeth in a crooked smile.

"Chase, would you mind stopping at the airfield? I want to look through my plane and see if those goons left anything behind," Jaye said.

"It's the least I could do," I replied.

"You're right, since it is your fault that I'm going to have to leave it behind."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said, putting the Jeep in first gear. "Just remember, you tried to kill me."

"You're never going to let that go are you?" She asked.

"Nope, probably not."

◆◆◆

Jaye's little green and white Cessna was almost exactly as we had left it. The engine cover was up, and the doors were open. The wings over the doors had kept most of the rain out of the interior, but there were so many bullet holes in it some water must have gotten in.

Miles and I watched Jaye from the Jeep, lighting up the plane as best as we could with the headlights. Occasionally we would see random items tossed from the cabin only to land in the tall grass several feet away. Frustrated growls erupted from inside the plane with each makeshift projectile.

"Why don't you go give her a hand?" I suggested to Miles.

"Oh, no!" he replied instantly. "There is no way I'm going anywhere near that woman when she's angry. If you want to go, have at it, mate. Carlos and I will watch."

Blatt was right. Jaye Mercury was a force of nature and not to be taken lightly, especially when she was angry. Incurring her wrath was not exactly on my punch-out list.

"I think she'll be fine," I stated flatly. "It looks like she has it under control."

Blatt snickered, as Jaye hurtled another item from the cabin of the plane, "If that's under control, I'd hate to see her going berserk."

We did our best to occupy our time while she ransacked her own plane. Finally, she exited the plane holding a handful of paperwork and a backpack. She slammed the door shut behind her and stalked through the grass towards us. With her curly dark hair bouncing with each step, she looked both incredibly beautiful and terrifyingly frightful. She was the embodiment of confidence and power coupled with the subtle but noticeable sensualness of a woman; a warrior queen heading for battle.

She didn't say a word, she just tossed her bag on the floorboard of the Jeep and plopped forcibly into the passenger seat. Her normally olive skin had a decidedly red hue to it. She looked straight ahead, her eyes smoldering, unable to contain her irritation. I opened my mouth the say something, thought better of it, and instead silently turned on the ignition. Even Carlos the Cuban fisherman sat completely still, knowing better than to say anything.

Miles Blatt, however, had not been so prudent. "Did you get everything you needed?" he asked in his irritatingly chipper Scottish accent.

"You just had to poke the bear, didn't you, Miles?" I said, shaking my head in disbelief that such a smart man could be that stupid.

Jaye turned in her seat and looked him straight in the eye, "What do you think? Those assholes took nearly everything. I almost wish Bardales was here so I could shoot him again," she said in a low threatening tone that bordered on that of a hiss. "Let's just get to the boat and get the hell out of here."

We all rode in perfect silence. Blatt sat back in his seat, looking out to the jungle alongside the road, making a show of pouting like a scolded child. He didn't say a word until we reached the gate of the marina a few minutes later.

The guard at the gate wiped sleep from his eyes as we pulled up. He blinked painfully