Ocean Prey (A Prey Novel #31) - John Sandford Page 0,49
rolls off the back in the dark, gets picked up two hours later by the second boat. The second boat has its sails up, but we’re also running on the engine. We rig a trailing hook off a heavy line, we drag the line past her, she slides down the line to the hook, hooks up the lift bag, and then rides the lift bag into the boat. That’s gonna slow the boat, pull it off course. As soon as it slows, we hit the engine, keep it going straight. With a little practice down in the Keys, we should be able to work out a smooth pickup with nobody even noticing a hitch, even if they’re looking.”
Behan thought about it, then said, “Could work. How much for the boats?”
“Old boats, maybe from the nineties, decent shape . . . thirty grand each.”
“And if we get jumped by the Coast Guard again? Can’t run.”
“We never take the pipes out of the lift bag,” Cattaneo said. “When the bag comes over the side, we put in some more weight. Anchor, whatever. We watch the radar, if we see anything coming at us, we drop the bag back over the side. We get the exact GPS coordinates, down to the foot, come back and pick it up later. Wouldn’t be so hard to find the second time, if we’ve got a lift bag and five pipes inside of it.”
“Huh. All right. That’s the best idea I’ve heard,” Behan said.
“If Jaquell goes for it. She was skizzed out about the Coast Guard guys. If she’s decided to get lost in the Bahamas, we won’t be able to dig her out. I’ve tried calling her, but her phone’s been turned off.”
“Well, we’ll see. You look for a boat, maybe do a dry run. No big hurry. A month or two is fine. Let things quiet down. And maybe . . . Do you even know how to sail?”
“Sure. I mean, some, but Jaquell’s good at it,” Cattaneo said. “I can take some lessons if I need to. How hard can it be, some of the assholes you see on sailboats? Otherwise, we use the engines, then it’s just a powerboat.”
Behan slapped Cattaneo on the knee, stood up, stretched, yawned, and said, “I’ll talk to Dougie about it. If he green-lights it, you handle it. I’ll call when something happens with the marshals. Sorry about that last piece of ass. Plenty of choice girls hanging around at the Angelus, though. Stop up, I’ll introduce you.”
“Yeah. All I need is a good brisk case of the clap.”
“Not with these girls.” Behan was insulted by the idea. “These girls are certified. Go to the doctor all the time.”
“I’ll check them out. When are you going up there again?”
“Dougie’s coming down in a couple of days, he’s staying there, we can hook up then. Tell Belinda it’s purely business. And you know, she doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Dougie. She thinks he’s a criminal.”
“That’s true. Okay. I’ll take a look. Something . . . brunette, maybe. Brown eyes. Gotta have an ass on her.”
“We can do that.” Behan chuckled and looked up at the sky. “Great night, huh? This is the best time of year down here. Maybe we ought to ditch the condos and buy houses. Golf course somewhere.”
“I was thinking along the same lines—give Belinda a real studio.”
Behan laughed again: “Fuckin’ Belinda. If I had her talent, I never would have started killing people.”
Cattaneo said, “It mystifies me, man, the whole art thing. But she does good. I’ll take the cash.”
“Hey: check you later.”
They slapped hands and ambled off in their separate directions. Cattaneo glanced back once, shook his head. The whole white-on-white outfit, ruined by the sandals worn over the white athletic socks. Pathetic.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Bob and Lucas got off the Ronald Reagan Turnpike at a Barnes & Noble bookstore and spent a hundred and nineteen dollars on books and magazines. They’d refused to share rooms, which annoyed Weaver until Lucas said, “Hey, the Marshals Service will cover it.” They got side-by-sides with a connecting door and Bob knocked on his side until Lucas opened his side, and Bob said, “I don’t even know why we’re here. Why do we need seven guys to watch one building?”
“We’re here out of politeness,” Lucas said. “Weaver will let us watch for a couple of days, then if nothing comes up, we’ll make something up and the SWAT team kicks the door down.”