Tommy laughed. “It looks that way, but she’s well ballasted.”
He edged out of the boat’s berth and began running along the east side of Garrison Bight, not far off the Roosevelt Boulevard sidewalk.
“There’s a little channel here with six feet or so,” Tommy said. “All 43
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that open water to starboard is not navigable by anything more boisterous than a kayak; too shallow.”
They picked up some channel markers and headed out of the bight, then under the bridge and into more open water. Five minutes later they were running at 25 knots, and Tommy pointed to their destination on his electronic chart plotter. “Keating’s phone was right about there,” he said.
They ran on for another twenty minutes, then Tommy began to slow down. “See those boats out there?” he asked, pointing.
“Yep,” Stone replied.
“That’s roughly where we got the location of the phone.” He slowed down further as they approached the moored boats. There were a dozen or so, all but one powerboats.
“Let’s get a close look,” Stone said.
“Okay, we’ll check every boat.”
Tommy’s cell phone rang. “Yeah? You’re sure? Where? Thanks, keep me posted.” He hung up. “We’re wasting our time out here.”
Tommy turned back toward Key West and pushed the throttle forward.
“Why?” Stone asked.
“Because they just got another beep about a minute long from back behind us. Looks like Keating’s boat is heading back to Key West. It also looks like Keating is using his cell phone only to make calls. When he finishes, he turns it off.”
“Shit,” Stone said. “You think he’s on to us?”
“Nah, but he’s sure being careful. If he was on to us he’d just buy a throwaway phone at the supermarket.”
“Okay.”
“I’d sure like to know what kind of boat that is,” Tommy said. “It’s very odd for a boat to be spending the night out at the reef. I mean, I suppose a guy might go out there to have a few drinks and get laid, then feel too drunk to drive home, but it’s not a usual thing to have a boat out there at two in the morning.”
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“Maybe he’s meeting somebody out there,” Dino said.
“A drug delivery? That’s possible, I suppose, but the Coast Guard might notice two boats out together and take a look. Halfway up the Keys there are two balloons moored to cables that are fi fteen thousand feet long. They run them up and use down-facing radar to catch smugglers who are flying low in airplanes or doing odd stuff in boats. I think two boats out at the reef in the middle of the night might draw their attention, but probably not one boat.”
“Let’s make a pass at Key West Bight,” Stone said. “Maybe we’ll see the boat.”
“Okay.” Tommy ran past the cruise ship docks and the waterfront hotels and slowed as he passed the breakwater.
“Nothing but boats,” Dino said. “I think it’s too much to expect to get lucky doing this.”
&nbs
p; “You’re right, Dino,” Stone said, looking around. “We’re just wasting Tommy’s fuel. Why don’t you let me fill up your boat on my expense account, Tommy?”
“Okay,” Tommy said, aiming at the fuel dock. They spent twenty minutes there filling the tanks, then headed back toward Garrison Bight and the yacht club.
Once Rosie was secured in her berth, they went into the club to get a sandwich and a beer.