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CHAPTER 9
After going home for a quick shower and a change of clothes, and, of course, to say hi to my chameleons, I headed back to the police station in time to join Lolita, arriving at the front door.
"Why are you wearing all black?” I asked when I saw her. “And what's with that weird veil hanging over your face from your beret?"
"I'm in mourning, idiota, can't you tell?" she snapped at me. "Don’t you see that I'm dressed all in black?"
She normally wore mostly black anyway, although usually her shirt was a spotless white, but this time it was a silky black shirt.
"Why? What happened?" I asked her. I couldn't imagine what might have happened in the short time since I had seen her last.
"The cat ran away!" she yelled. "Not only have I lost Natasha, but the kitten as well!"
I thought she was going to break into tears again, but she pulled herself together, stiffened her back, pulled off her black beret with the veil, and marched into the police station. Back to the hard-as-nails Lolita.
Bob, Jim, and Camilla were already inside, gathered around Pharr-out’s computer station, so I followed Lolita as she made her way there and began firing questions at them.
"What have you found out? Any idea where she is? I need information!"
Maybe she hadn't pulled herself together like I'd thought, because she asked these questions with her jaw clamped tight and a vein on her temple bulging. Unusual for the unflappable Lolita.
Bob was the first to turn towards us with a surprised look on his face. After a few seconds, he said, "This young man, Mr. McPharr, is quite capable on the computer. He found out that Vladimir owns various holdings on the Bimini Islands through a shell corporation. He may have had her taken there on the submarine."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go to the Bimini Islands and rescue Natasha!" Lolita shouted.
"We can't just head to the Biminis without more proof than that," Jim said. "We need something to substantiate this theory."
"Well, what about your guys and their satellites? What have they been able to find?" Lolita countered.
"We are still waiting..." A shrill ringing from his cell phone cut off Bob’s answer. He put it on speakerphone so we could all hear.
"Talk to me," he said curtly to the person on the other end.
"We have a satellite whose coverage includes Miami, but only on the fringes of the image,” the woman said. “The area around the marina is rather murky, so we had a hard time following them through that area. But once it got out to the Gulf Stream, through Haulover inlet, we could view it more clearly. Assuming it's the same sub, since we weren't able to track it in the murky area. But if it is the same one, it's heading directly towards the Biminis,"
"See?” Lolita said. “That's what I'm talking about! So, what are we waiting for?"
Bob looked at Jim, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "We do have that go-fast boat that was seized from the smug druggler last month. I guess we could take that to Bimini."
"Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Let's go!" was Lolita's animated reply. "Wait, smug druggler? Oh, drug smuggler. I get it."
“Wait,” Camilla said to Bob with a stern look. "Before these two take off on a hare-brained scheme with you, remind me again what organization you’re with.”
"Like I said before, Officer Lopez, I can't tell you specifically which department we are with, but be assured that we are working under Homeland Security. And don't worry about these two," Bob continued, looking at me. "We'll keep an eye on them."
Turning to Pharr-out, Bob handed him a business card and said, "Mr. McPharr, as soon as you have any new intel to impart, please call me on this line. And thank you for your help. You are a great asset to this department." With that, Bob shook his hand, gave a quick half-salute to Camilla, and said, "Like the lady said, what are we waiting for? Let's hit the road!"
He headed for the door, with Jim and Lolita following. Camilla gave me a withering stare, and said under her breath, "Take care of yourself, and don't do anything to make me regret letting you go with them."
I wasn’t sure what to think when she said things like that. When I broke up with her two years ago, she wouldn’t even talk to me. She’s gotten better about it since we have to deal with each other occasionally at the station. But lately, she seemed… I don’t know. Different.
But Natasha was the one on my mind after that jolt that we both felt when we first met. I doubt I would have ever considered the possibility of dating an actual supermodel, but that immediate attraction from that handshake had me convinced it was at least worth pursuing.
I caught up with the others, and we all climbed into Bob's car before speeding down the road. Jim was on the phone, telling them to get the boat ready to leave as soon as we arrived at Miamarina at Bayside.
I'd been to that marina before with an old girlfriend who'd wanted to go on the Thriller Miami speedboat adventure. When I saw the boat and realized what she was talking about, I was so petrified that I simply turned around and walked away. She never called me back. Go figure.
With Bob driving as crazy as ever, we made it to the marina in record time. We got out of the car and made our way down the pier. A couple of guys were holding the lines securing a boat as it sat idling with a deep, throaty rumble.
I remembered why I didn't want to come back to this marina. Looking at the boat reminded me of the Thriller Miami speed boats that my old girlfriend had tried to get me to go on, and the only reason I was willing to go this time was because of Natasha.
Bob's boat contained three 400-horsepower behemoth engines. Over 1000 horsepower on one small boat? Were they nuts?
"Um, is that the boat we're supposed to take? Isn't there something a little more reasonably powered?" I asked Jim since Bob was busy talking to the two guys.
"This is what was available, and will get us there the quickest," he assured me. Although I was far from assured that I wouldn’t die on the trip.
"Don't be a pussy, joto," grumbled Lolita, as she climbed aboard the boat.
Well, I obviously couldn't let that pass, so I climbed in behind her. But, honestly, the whole time I had my teeth clenched, trying to keep them from chattering from fear. I've never been crazy about the ocean in the first place, and flying along the surface at ridiculous speeds just seemed outrageously crazy to me.
"Where are the seat belts?" I asked, frantically looking at each of the seats, but seeing no seat belts.
"If you are wearing a seat belt in a wreck, you would be unable to swim away from the boat and would surely drown. You have a better chance if you’re thrown out of the boat in a wreck," Lolita assured me. But once again, it did absolutely nothing to assure me. I was still sure that I was going to die that day.
Even sitting at idle, the big engines caused the whole boat to vibrate as if it were a bucking bronco ready to burst out into the rodeo ring. Not that I've ever ridden a bucking bronco myself, obviously, but I have been to a couple of rodeos. Those guys are crazy as well! Over half a ton of living flesh on four Pogo sticks bouncing around, all the while trying to throw you off! Who thought that would be a great pastime?
Once we were all settled in our seats, Jim idled us out of the marina. I was about to ask him why he wasn't in a bigger hurry to go after Natasha, when I saw a sign on a buoy that said NO WAKE ZONE. Then I remembered you're not supposed to create any large waves inside a marina that can cause damage to other boats.
Once we got past the limits of the marina, Jim hung a left, hitting the throttle levers. Belatedly, he yelled, "Hang on!" I felt like I had been shot out of a cannon, and the force held me snugly in my seat.
We quickly made it through a small channel out to the open ocean, but once we had gotten through, Jim yelled, "Here we go!" pushing the throttles even further! I couldn't believe how fast we were going! It was like the cannon had after-burners, and a giant hand was pressing me deeper into the seat cushion.
It wasn't bad enough that we were flying along the top of the ocean, but there were small waves that would cause the whole boat to jump out of the water. When it dropped back down, it would leave us all hanging suspended for a short time before bouncing back down into the seat.
I finally opened my eyes a little, having snapped them shut when Jim hit the throttles the second time. I glanced over at Lolita sitting next to me, and she was sitting there with her arms crossed. At first, I thought she was angry at something, but then I realized she was just keeping her large breasts from bouncing every time we hit a wave.
I smiled while thinking about that, but immediately resumed concentrating on keeping my eyes firmly shut and willing myself not to bounce out of the seat when we hit a large wave.
I'm not sure how long the trip took to get to the Bimini Islands. It probably took no more than an hour, but it seemed like forever.