A Long Reach Back by Noel Carrol

Author:Noel Carrol [CARROLL, NOEL]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781468907452
Publisher: Booktango
Published: 2012-06-21T00:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

“A few days?!

“Hey, you didn’t expect this little bit of cash to last forever did you?” Both my voice and my expression carried accusations of naiveté.

It was mid morning, and we were sitting at the galley table, sipping coffee and discussing our next move. I had just given Tan my opinion on how far the ill-gotten gains of yesterday would go.

He stared at me for a few seconds, then put down his cup. “I had expected more than a few days.”

“Hey, that’s the way it works on this planet, pal. We have to have money to live and we have to work to get money. Unless, of course, we come up with … ah some other way of getting it.”

Tan was getting faster at catching on. His face hardened and his voice oozed contempt as he said, “Niki, I am not going into the drug business.”

“Oh come on, Tan, we only have to do it once more. If you’re afraid of the law, I can protect you. I’ll just tell them you’re nuts.”

I had expected him to roll his eyes at my poor attempt at humor, but all he did was say, “I am not going to do it, and that is final!”

“Well if you have any better ideas I’d sure like to hear them. We’re still in trouble with the drug guys, and you need money to call home.”

After a moment of heavy thought that made me think I’d scored a point, Tan said, “I am going back to town. I wish to see for myself what this money will bring.”

“What, you don’t trust me?” (Not a good question to ask, and his eyes said as much.) “Okay, you need proof, fine; you know where the dinghy is!” Inferring that he would have to go alone was partly a bluff, even as I knew I could not go in any event. Sooner or later Chuckles and crew would get the word that we’d doubled back to George Town, and we were not yet ready to take them on. I still had an engine that wouldn’t start, and that could put us at a serious disadvantage if they popped in without an appointment.

The other half of Tan’s going into town alone I liked. He would get to see how far our new-found cash would go, which is to say not very. Certainly not so far as to cover whatever electronics he had in mind.

Hanging around these parts, however, had its dangers. “Listen to me, Tan, I guarantee that if Charles’s people are not already here they soon will be. The longer we stay, the easier we make it for them.”

Tan shook his head. “I understand the danger, but by your own admission we need food and beverage, and this seems to be the most logical way to achieve two birds with one rock.”

“The term is ‘stone’ not ‘rock.’ And you could do the same thing in Nassau. Where, by the way, there are more libraries.”

That got his attention.

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