The Venetian and the Rum Runner - L.A. Witt Page 0,133
one, had survived.
And out here, miles from shore aboard a stolen yacht, Salvatore il Sacchi wasn’t going to find him.
The Coast Guard, however, did find them.
On their way back from picking up the liquor at the merchant ship, a cutter intercepted them and signaled for them to stop.
“Bloody hell,” Bernard muttered.
“Let me handle this.” Danny walked to the rail and glared across at the Coasties. “Something wrong?”
“Don’t know.” A blond-haired man leaned on the railing and glared back. “How about you let us come aboard and—”
“I think not,” Danny replied with exaggerated indignation. He thought he heard Bernard choke behind him.
The Coastie’s expression darkened. “I’m not asking, sir. We need to board your vessel and—”
“The hell you will,” Danny snapped in his testiest voice. “You put one boot on this boat, and Big Bill will have every one of your jobs.”
The blond man froze, and so did two of the other men on the deck. They exchanged wary glances.
“You know who that is, don’t you?” Danny demanded. “You want me to tell him you boys are—”
“Sorry for the misunderstanding, sir.” The Coastie gestured at someone else on his boat. As the engines fired up, he called down, “Give our regards to Bill.”
And with that, the cutter cruised away while three of the crewmen talked animatedly on the deck, shaking their heads and waving their arms as if they didn’t agree with their boatmate’s decision.
“I’ll be damned,” Mathew breathed. “It does work.”
Danny chuckled. “So it does.” He turned to his friends. “About time Dwyer was good for something.”
Bernard actually laughed, shaking his head. “Let’s get back to shore.”
Mathew saluted playfully, and he continued driving toward the shore.
Danny smiled to himself as he watched the cutter fade into the distance. It was good to be back out on the water.
Walking into the butcher shop, Danny wasn’t nervous the way he’d been before, but he was jittery. He hadn’t seen Carmine since they’d been here after the ordeal with il Sacchi. Not since Carmine had told him to take some time for him and the crew, and for them to let him know if they were still going to work for him. Long enough that Danny’s bruises had mostly faded. The cuts and scrapes were nearly gone. Between his nightmares and James’s, it was a wonder either of them slept at all, but he was better than he’d been the last time he’d faced Carmine.
And as he walked unescorted down the short hall—he didn’t have to wear the blindfold or be led all over the place anymore—Danny’s heart raced because the smoke had cleared, the dust had settled, and now he was going to see Carmine again. Ostensibly to get paid for last night’s run off Long Island, but somehow he was sure he’d have been here sooner or later even if there hadn’t been money to exchange.
The usual wise guy waited beside the door and gave him a nod. Danny returned it. Sal tapped on the door, waited a moment, then pushed it open and gestured for Danny to go ahead. With his heart in his throat, Danny went inside.
The door closed behind him, and Danny gulped, and, on the other side of the desk, so did Carmine. As Carmine rose, Danny’s heartbeat did too, and before he knew it, they were standing in front of the desk, in front of each other, and how in the world had he stayed away this long? Healing and nightmares were what they were, but he hadn’t realized until this moment how much he’d missed near-black eyes and full lips and the way Carmine sometimes seemed as off-balance and confused as he was.
Without the shroud of fear and horror suffocating Danny like the night he saw Carmine last, the air between the pair of them crackled in a familiar way. No, more than that.
Danny shivered.
Why did I stay gone for so long?
And what does it mean that I don’t want to be away from you this long again?
Clearing his throat, Carmine shifted his weight. “So, have you and your crew made a decision? About continuing to run?”
“Aye. Yeah. We have.” Danny held up the chits. “We’re in.”
Carmine looked at the chits, and his lips parted. “You…” He met Danny’s eyes again as he took the chits. “You already went out?”
Danny nodded. “We thought we’d give it a run before we made a decision. Now that we have…” He managed a smile. “I think we’ll be all right.”