Leon flashes the friendly black guy a smile and comes over to assist helping me to get all the skis closed again. The water is busy, boats crisscrossing constantly, but Chaka’s catamaran is concealing us from the open water while we move the goods. I can’t lie, my heart is going crazy in my chest, my eyes constantly scanning the space, both water and land.
“Are we done?” Leon asks as the final catch on the final ski at the end of the rope attached to his clicks into place.
“Done.” I face the five guys on the small speed boat. “Thanks.” I inwardly frown, wondering how I went from upcoming FBI agent to gun smuggler. The Enigma. That’s how. Him and a whole heap of corruption.
Mr. Friendly moves his shades back over his eyes. “Tell Black the next shipment will be ready next week.”
Great. We don’t have enough guns? “Aye, aye, captain,” I say quietly, retying my hair as I head back to my jet ski and Leon gets on his.
“Take it easy, okay?” he says, squeezing the throttle in demonstration. “Don’t jerk. We have a bit more weight going back.”
I nod and follow his instructions, my heartbeats starting to gain momentum as we chug farther out onto the water. “Have you had a joint today?” I ask.
“Yes, I’ve had a fucking joint today.” He reaches for his bandana and pushes it back into his wild hair. “Not just because I’m nervous as fucking shit, man.”
“Why else?” I ask. Keep talking. We look more casual if we’re chatting.
“Because, Beau, babe, if we get pulled by the Coast Guard, they’re smelling my weed before they’re seeing the guns.”
“Are you saying you’d go to prison to save Danny and James?”
He laughs hysterically, looking back at me. “I wouldn’t be saving the bosses. I’d be saving myself, because I’m a dead man if we don’t make it back to the boatyard with these guns.” He takes one hand off the handlebars, relaxed. Good for him. I should have asked him for a puff of his joint. “It’s all right for you,” he says. “They won’t kill you, will they?”
Don’t be so sure. “They won’t kill you either. They like you.”
“They do?”
“They only have people they like work for them.” We stick to the coastline, moving at a reasonable speed. I can see the curve in the cove that’ll take us back into the bay. As soon as we’re around it, we’ll be able to see the boatyard. My heart slows for the first time, my muscles softening, and I sink into the padded seat of James’s ski. The water twinkles at me, the sun seeping through the rubber of my suit, warming me. It’s peaceful out here, despite the busy water today. But the Coast Guard seems to be keeping their distance, getting on with their training, because no one in their right mind would smuggle a small arsenal into the country in plain sight.
Not for the first time, I wonder why I’m doing this. And not for the first time, I can’t say with my hand on my heart that I’m not trying to prove to James that I’m not made of glass.
Beep, beep!
I startle and look back, seeing a boat tailing us. A Coast Guard boat. “Fuck,” Leon hisses, reaching into his suit and pulling out a small bag.
“What are you doing?” My galloping heart is back.
“I told you.” He pulls out a joint and a lighter.
“Leon, no!” I look back at the boat, waving an arm in the air, acknowledging them. “Hey!” I call, easy-breezy, my mind racing, trying to think of another way out of this. I will not let him go down for possession. “Can I help you?”
“You mind telling me what you’re doing, ma’am?”
I look at Leon. “I’m warning you,” I say through gritted teeth. “I’ll kill you myself if you light that joint.”
“What the hell else do you suggest?” He looks back, worried.
“Just give me a minute.” I stand in the seat, shading my eyes with my hand as I turn my shoulders and look back. “Just towing the new skis from storage for the boss, sir.”
He rests his palms on the metal railing along the side of the boat, looking up and down the skis. “Were you aware we’re training out on the water today? If people want to use the water, they’ve been asked to keep within the boundaries.”
“Oh?” I frown, playing dumb. It physically hurts. “I’m sorry, sir, we’re just doing what our boss asked.” And now I’m going to give him some crocodile tears and pray for the fucking best. I look at Leon, hoping he realizes this isn’t only for Danny and James. “Are we in trouble, sir?” I ask, forcing tears into my eyes.
His lips straighten, but I can see he’s thinking he hasn’t got time for this. “Make it back around the cove quickly before someone else stops you.” He takes off his cap and waves it, likerun along now.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Leon whispers, eyes wide as he returns them forward, tucking his stock away. “Beau, babe, you just saved my life.”
“Stop calling me babe.” I start moving, slowly but surely, my heart not relenting. I make sure I keep my stare forward, not looking back, because I was always suspicious of anyone who looked back at me after I’d let them walk when I was a cop. Always.