Key Manatee by Robert Tacoma

Author:Robert Tacoma
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789085241522
Publisher: For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Published: 2006-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

We dropped Lydia at the hotel so we could use the car. Not that a big, rusty convertible with a sunrise painted on the hood and sunset on the trunk was all that anonymous, but it was a little less conspicuous than my truck with the homemade camper on back.

I explained why I should stay in the car on our way to check on Julie. I didn’t want any conversations with the police as to why I was back. But still no sign of Julie, and I wasn’t sorry to see the house across the street had a moving van parked out front. Consuelo drove.

“Taco, I’m worried about her. You told the cop she was missing?”

“Yep, not that he seemed too receptive to anything I had to say. Maybe when we get back to my place we’ll try calling in a missing person. Can’t hurt.”

Smathers Beach was just around the corner. A section on the west end fenced off a large gazebo, landscaping, colorful signs, and a fair throng of people that I didn’t remember being there before.

“I’ll drop you guys here and find a place to park this beast.”

We jumped out and eased up on the throng. Workers were finishing up a last section of paving bricks, but the rest of the area seemed to be done. A small park had sprung up overnight, complete with someone in the gazebo holding a microphone wrapping up a speech about environmental centers and bringing affordable housing to Key West. The barges and equipment out on the water were a backdrop seen through numerous freshly planted palms.

We merged with the crowd, checking out the signs depicting happy street scenes of the coming development. There were several of the big, full-color signs along the paver walkways surrounded by lush plants and palms. Each sign had a different idyllic scene with the words Affordable Housing and Environmentally Friendly at the bottom with a picture of a blue manatee.

“Taco, this is mighty nice.”

“Yeah, these people are good at this. Got themselves some world-class propaganda going on here.” The crowd was eating it up. At least the tourists were, some of the locals didn’t look too happy. I saw a couple of people I vaguely knew having words with the man who’d been making the speech and a few others in the gazebo. One of those noticed me about the same time I realized who he was.

“Slip, look who we got rubbing elbows with these people.”

“Well, look at that. You ever ask him about those calls to the police?”

“Tried to. Saw him heading down the dock and ran over to talk but he told me he didn’t have time to talk to hippie cowboy lowlifes.” Slip looked genuinely surprised.

“He said that?”

“His very words. I tried again, but he went on aboard his fancy boat ignoring me. I reckon some people are just assholes.” Slip was staring towards the gazebo.

“I’ll say. Man’s got the social graces of a sea slug.”

Grizzel kept glancing over toward a big goon standing in the shade of a palm.

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