Off Track: An Off Series Novella by Glen Robins

Author:Glen Robins [Robins, Glen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-04-11T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Three and a Half Years Before Meeting Collin Cook

En route from Cartagena, Colombia, to Jamaica

My emotions are running high. It’s time to move. I stand and turn toward the stern, collecting my fishing pole. I bait it and cast it, then start working on another pole.

Rob comes around the lounge clumsily. “Let me help you with that,” he says. It is apparent to me that he also needs something to do to burn off the collected tension.

“Look,” he says, “I’m sorry to make you relive all of this tragedy. I—uh, we—understand if you don’t want to continue.” He looks at Lukas for reassurance.

Lukas also stands but is not sure what to do or where to go. He’s not a fisherman, and with his bum leg, he’s not terribly adept at walking on a boat that is bobbing. “He’s right,” he says. “If it’s too much . . .”

I wave it off and switch gears, patting the gunwale as I start. “The Admiral Risty was my second sailboat. I was its second owner.

“The Rusty Pelican, a forty-eight feet schooner with a main mast that stood twenty-six feet above the main deck, was my first sailboat. It had two owners before me. For its size, it could really move. Before our fateful mission to Colombia, I loved that boat as much as I had ever loved any inanimate object.

“Shortly after completing our second mission, my men and I were fishing off the coast of Haiti. That is when those pirates took my boat from me. I presumed at the time that they had caught wind of our smuggling runs and wanted to stop us. I was fine with that. I had no plans to continue doing what we had done because the unnamed man had assured me that my involvement would be short-lived.

“To the pirates, I simply said, ‘Come aboard and see for yourselves. I have nothing to hide.’”

I reel in my line, talking as I do. My bait is gone, so I grab another sardine out of the bait tank and hook him in.

“Unfortunately,” I say as I whip my pole and cast that little sardine ten meters aft, “they took me up on the offer. They did not find evidence of any drugs or contraband, but they did find my cash stored in a compartment in my stateroom. Their leader yelped with glee, wagging the loot angrily for all to see. ‘Aha, I knew it,’ he said. Then he ordered me and my crew off my boat. He forced us into the dinghy at gunpoint. As we drove away, he torched my boat. We watched in stunned horror as our home and livelihood went up in flames. It was devastating.

“The good thing was those pirates didn’t kill us, and the Rusty Pelican was properly insured. The insurance company settled with me quickly and fairly. Very fairly. Unfortunately, that was the second strike against me for my crew members. Three days in a dinghy with no motor and no oars was more stress than most can handle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.