Dark Paradise (A Ryan Weller Thriller Book 5) by Evan Graver

Author:Evan Graver [Graver, Evan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Third Reef Publishing, LLC
Published: 2019-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Early the following morning, Ryan found Ramesh in his office. The boatyard owner offered him a cup of coffee, which he gratefully accepted.

“Those are local beans,” Ramesh said before drinking from his own cup.

Ryan sipped his and nodded in approval. Strong and black, just the way he liked it.

“Ah have bad news,” Ramesh said.

Ryan raised his eyebrows.

“My men won’t work on your murder boat. They think it’s a bad sign.”

“Not even to do the hull painting?”

“Maybe.” Ramesh waggled his hand. “But not de inside.”

Ryan groaned. This meant he’d have to do the job himself or wait until Mango arrived and let him do it, which at this point sounded like a better choice. “I came to ask you about the Sailboat Slasher.”

“Dat monkey?” Ramesh slapped the desk. “What’d ya wanna know?

Ryan was getting used to the wild arm gestures the Trinis used while talking. “I’m looking for the woman he sold.”

Ramesh shook his head. “No good come of dat, boy.”

“You said they captured him here. Who was the arresting officer?”

Ramesh smiled now. “Winston Carlo.”

“You know him?”

“He come eat in my kitchen. Ah call him.” He dialed his ancient rotary phone and spoke to Winston. When he set down the receiver, he said, “He come to talk to you.”

“Thanks. Now, about the work on the boat.”

“I can get da workers, but it’ll cost double what I told you.”

Ryan snorted. Of course, it would—what else had he expected? “I’ll let you know.”

“They do best work on de island. Rell bess ting, boy,” Ramesh assured him.

“I’m not paying your people to lime.”

The yard owner gave him a look of annoyance.

“Thanks for the coffee.” Ryan set the half-empty cup on the desk and left the office. He crossed to where Alamo sat, not wanting to return to the cabin and see the blood and breathe the stench. He would have liked to leave the cabin doors and windows open, but there were too many valuable items still stored inside, and this area was rife with thieves and opportunists.

Ryan opened the forward hatch in the V-berth and left the cabin door open to allow the breeze to remove the heat and stink from the cabin. He planned a stop at the market to pick up more lemons and cloves.

Before Mango had left for Martinique, he’d given Ryan a checklist of items to prepare the boat for sale. Ryan sat on the cockpit bench and smoked a cigarette while he read through it. Most of it was manual labor: polishing the brightwork and cleaning the fiberglass deck; staining the teak; checking the bearing box, packing, shaft, and prop; changing the engine oil and sanitizing the interior. Ryan tossed the list on the seat and climbed down to the ground. He strolled to the bar, got a large cup of coffee, then went back to the boat.

When he arrived, Superintendent Carlo was waiting for him. Carlo went up the ladder to study the murder scene while Ryan examined the prop shaft. There was corrosion on the bearing box, and it needed to be repacked.

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