The Islamorada Murders: A Joey Mancuso, Father O'Brian Crime Mystery Book 10 by Owen Parr

Author:Owen Parr [Parr, Owen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Owen Parr Novels
Published: 2022-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

32

Tuesday, 6:30 a.m.

“Do we have eyes in the sky?” Arturo asked, referring to the Navy AWACS that had guided us in.

“They’re with us. All clear for now, headed to Key West,” Diego replied, with one ear removed from the headset.

“Arturo,” I said, “I’m concerned about my jeans floating out there. You think that’s a problem?”

“That’s a big coastline. But let me ask you, where is your Italian passport?”

I frowned. “That’s the problem. I left it in one pocket.”

“Well, if they find it, all they know it belongs to a tourist. Maybe they’ll think the tourist was getting laid on the beach and lost his pants,” Arturo said with a smile.

“I . . . I kinda told Miguel I was Italian,” I said sheepishly.

“Too late to worry about that. If they find it, all they’ll know is our point of departure. I’m sure they know we’re headed to the US.”

“How many miles to US territorial waters?” I asked.

Diego replied, “If we go in a straight line, we have one hundred five miles to traverse. US claims twelve miles surrounding our borders.”

“So, is it the same for Cuba, twelve miles out?” I inquired, hoping the answer was yes. Our boat with five engines could cover twelve miles in no time.

“Cuban authorities don’t abide by the rules. They could easily make our lives hell all the way to US waters,” Diego replied.

“That doesn’t make me feel better. But we can outrun their gunboats, right?” I asked.

“Like I said before, Mancuso,” Diego began saying, “we can outrun them if we have enough gas. But we can’t outrun their fifty-calibers. Plus, if they bring in their air force—” Diego paused, and added, “no telling what can happen.”

I looked up at the sky, said a brief prayer, and shut my eyes. Father Dom would be very proud of me if he knew I had prayed more on this trip than in many years combined.

Reinhard said, “Fellows, if it comes to that, I’d rather give myself up than have you all killed. Too many have already died because of me. I’ll be fine.”

“Sorry, Mr. Reinhard,” Arturo said. “Our orders don’t include turning ourselves in. We’ll be fine and get you home.”

China had probably ordered Cuba to bring Reinhard in. If the Chinese couldn’t have him, I’m sure orders were to eliminate him. The Chinese didn’t want the US to have access to his freaking computer program. Either they got it, or no one would.

The coastline of Cuba was looking smaller and smaller while our fast boat cut through the small waves of the Atlantic. The smaller Cuba got, the better I felt. I retrieved my phone, which I had left onboard in a storage cabinet by the console. I wanted to call Marcy. She had called and texted me four times?

She answered on the fourth ring, sounding as if I woke her up. “Hello.”

“Hey, sleepyhead, good morning.”

“Are you back?”

“On our way. How are you?”

“I’m fine. Is Reinhard with you?”

“In one piece, yes,” I replied, glancing at Reinhard.

“I called and texted.

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