The Water Keeper(93)

I saw no sign of Summer or her date. Off to one side stood the outdoor kitchen. Complete with an eight-burner gas stove. Given that no one seemed focused on food, the kitchen was cold and dark. Gunner and I climbed down, and I began looking for a spare propane tank. I found one in the gas grill on the aft deck. I carried it back to the stove, clicked it on, and set the tank on the burner. I didn’t know how long it would take a propane tank to get too hot, but I wasn’t going to hang around to find out. I knew this wouldn’t sink the ship, but I didn’t need to sink it. I needed to make people want to get off it. My plan was about like sending a large rat or snake into a dance hall full of people. Wouldn’t take them long to file out.

Gunner and I made it around the port side of Pluto when I got my answer. The explosion cut the tank into pieces of razor-edged shrapnel and was followed by a loud boom and fireball that, although unintentional, lit the gas lines leading through the galley and down into the internal tank in the belly below. The second explosion sounded as if the fire hit the internal tank, which, given a vessel this size, could have been close to five hundred gallons.

The first explosion blew off a chunk of the second story, sending the DJ and all his equipment into the waters around the Tortugas. The five men smoking cigars were next to join him, and based on their vocal dissent, they weren’t too happy about it. The second explosion occurred about two seconds later and sounded more like a muted thud than boom as the resulting force shot down and out of the hull and into the noise-canceling water. Fire exploded from beneath the waterline, scattering debris and people. Immediately the ship began listing to one side. Given a depth of only ten to twelve feet, it couldn’t go far.

Chaos ensued. Flames rose out of the galley and began filling other parts of the ship with smoke. Screams sounded fore to aft. Half-dressed and undressed partygoers began exiting the boat in swan dives off the upper decks, swimming to one of the dozen boats anchored around us. The rising heat triggered the ship’s fire sprinkler system, which began dousing us in water. The owner of the Yellowfin climbed into the helm and attempted to lift the anchor. Doing so revealed his problem. The captain of Pluto simultaneously engaged the larger ship’s twin diesels and attempted to move the listing vessel to one of the larger docking sites next to the fort, but the sudden lurch suggested that while he was taking on water, he was also playing tug-o’-war with a Yellowfin. The wrestling match was forcing him to spin in a circle. The interaction between the two captains was almost comical as they yelled obscenities and revved their engines. The Yellowfin looked like a dog chained to a tree and pulling against its collar.

Gunner and I watched in the shadows as Summer’s date, the tattooed driver of the demon boat, came running out with a screaming and kicking body draped over his shoulder. I met him in stride and caught the body as it was falling to the deck. The man, who was faster than I’d given him credit for, sent his boot into my rib cage, pulled his Sig, held it a foot from my head, and pressed the trigger. His face changed just slightly when he heard a click. He cycled the slide and pressed the trigger again. I was regaining my ability to breathe when he kicked me again and smashed an iron fist into my face. By the time I stood, he was in the demon boat, gunning the engine so that he, too, found himself in a tug-of-war with Pluto. Now all three captains were screaming at each other.

Despite the fact that I’d dismantled his Sig, the captain of the demon boat reached below him and pointed something in my general direction that started spitting fire and bullets. I pulled both the girl and Gunner down beneath me and crawled below into what looked like a theater room connected to the galley. Outside, there was a momentary pause, followed by the revving of the powerful engines. I poked my head above the sill only to watch as the demon boat shot eastward. In eight seconds, he was gone from view.





Chapter 46


I shined my light on the screaming girl pounding me with her fists, but it was not Angel or Summer. I’d never seen her before. Above me, the sprinklers doused the fire but did little to lessen the smell of burning rubber or rid the cabins of the smoke. The boats anchored around us began disappearing, one by one, into the darkness.

I grabbed the girl’s hands. “Hey . . . hey . . . I’m not going to hurt you. How many girls are on this boat?”

Her face was swollen. Purple. Eyes little more than slits. Lips bloody. “Maybe fifteen.”

“Where?”

“Downstairs.”

“Can you swim?”

She shook her head, suggesting she was hurt more badly than I’d thought.

The captain of the Yellowfin recognized his problem and cut the line, freeing himself from Pluto. He, too, disappeared in an obscenity-laced roar of engines and frothy wake. I grabbed a life vest and fed her arms through it. She whimpered. “If anybody but me comes back through that door in the next five minutes, slide down in the water and make your way to the island. Park rangers live there.” I glanced at the dark island. “I’m hoping they just heard the boom and they’re headed this way.”

She nodded, crying.

I stood, realizing one of my ribs was causing a piercing pain in my lungs, and stepped into the clearing smoke.

Given that most bullets travel faster than sound, I felt the sledgehammer pick me up and slam me against the far wall before I heard the report of the gun. While the chest plate saved my life, it also knocked every ounce of air out of my chest. I sat there retching, attempting to fill my already-damaged lungs, while Gunner launched himself through the air and began chewing on the shooter. Through the smoke, I heard Gunner growling and snapping, and the man screaming.