Valentino Pier (Rapid Reads) Page 5

  He began looking through the files. One by one. What he noticed was that then-Patrol Officer Samuel Patrick’s name came up a lot. Not in a bad way. Almost ever+. ed he saidy cop in their precinct had said that Sam Patrick and Keisha were friends. That they were close. Even the psycho in Alaska had mentioned that Keisha and Sam were close.

  Gulliver hadn’t paid any attention to that before. It made sense. In the past, he hadn’t been looking for cops Keisha liked. Not her friends. Not the ones she got along with. No. He had been looking for the ones she didn’t like. The ones who gave her a hard time about being black. About being a woman. About being too heavy. About being too tough. About not being tough enough. Yes. When this case was done, he would have to sit down with Detective Patrick. If for no other reason than to be reminded of what was so cool about his sister.

  Lost in the files, Gulliver let time slip away. He barely had time to shower and dress before Mia arrived. Only she didn’t get there. Tick…tick…tick. All of his clocks were digital, but he swore he could hear the seconds ticking into long minutes. Again he went through a bunch of feelings. Let-down. Anger. Worry. He began to beat himself up for having hope. It never failed. Why did he let himself hope? It always ended badly. Then, at 8:12, his house phone rang.

  It was Mia. But something was wrong. He felt it even before he heard her voice. And when he heard her voice, there was no doubt.

  “Gulliver, listen,” she whispered. Her voice was tense. She sounded out of breath.

  “Mia! What’s wrong?” he shouted into the phone.

  “What were you and Dr. Prentice talking about before? About the Department of Agriculture?”

  “What’s that got to do—”

  She cut him off. “Please, just answer.”

  “Remember the other day when you called? When you told me Dr. Prentice needed to see me as soon as I could get there?”

  “Sure I do,” she said.

  “Well, he wanted to talk to me about some dead bugs he found on Ugly. He said they were rare and that they only came from India. He said he would have to report it to the Department of Agriculture.”

  There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Then, “Something’s not right, Gulliver. I do all the paperwork for those kinds of reports and—”

  “Maybe he just called them,” Gulliver said.

  “If he called, I would still have to do a report. He never asked me to do it. And I’m pretty sure he didn’t call them.”

  “Listen to me carefully, Mia. Has anything been going on lately that’s weird or different in your office?”

  Again there was quiet on the other end of the phone for a moment. “Dr. Prentice has been very tense since his divorce.”

  “When was that?”

  “A few months ago,” Mia said. “He lost a lot of money in the divorce. He even told us he might have to close the office down and join someone else’s practice.”

  “But he didn’t close the office. Do you know how he’s been able to keep it open?” Gulliver asked.

  “All I know is that my paycheck doesn’t bounce,” she said.+ir t88as

  “Okay. Anything else weird? I mean in the last few days.”

  “He has been really jumpy. Very quick to shout. Maybe that’s because of the accident.”

  “Accident!” Gulliver had raised his voice. “What accident?”

  “The other night, Dr. Prentice screwed up his car. He said he was swerving to miss a dog. He hopped up onto the sidewalk and scraped the entire side of his car. It’s in the shop.”

  “But what’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you here? Why do you sound—”

  “After I heard what you and Dr. Prentice were talking about, I knew something was wrong. I decided to come back to the office and look around. I have keys. I knew if I told you what I was doing, you would have told me not to.”

  “You’re damn right. Get out of—”

  “I found something,” she said. She was breathless again.

  “What is it?”

  “Cash. An entire f ile drawer full of bundles of—”

  Mia stopped talking, but she didn’t hang up. Gulliver heard a file drawer slamming shut. Heard footsteps on a tile floor. Then, “Mia, what are you doing here after hours?” It was Dr. Prentice, and he didn’t sound happy.

  “I had a date tonight.”

  “Yes, I heard you and Mr. Dowd talking.” Gulliver could hear them. The sound was muted. Maybe Mia had dropped the phone into her bag. Maybe she was holding the phone behind her. “But that doesn’t answer my question, Mia. What are you doing here?”

  “I was having second thoughts,” she said. “I decided I didn’t want to go out with him. But I left his card here. I wanted to call to tell him. I’m not the kind of person to just ncared the pupp

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  G+ouiother directionulliver left his house phone off the hook. He knew that as long as Prentice didn’t find Mia’s phone, there was a chance to save her. Once he was in his van, it took him less than three minutes to get to the vet clinic. Too late. They were gone. Gulliver knew what his next move was. He would call Detective Patrick. Patrick could use Mia’s phone to track her. But just as he was about to use the van’s cell-phone hookup, he got an incoming call. It was from Mia’s phone.

  “Dowd. I think you know who this is.” Dr. Prentice’s voice echoed in the van.

  “Yeah. I know.”

  “Okay then. I think you know I have something you want.”

  “Don’t hurt her. You hurt her and I’ll—”

  “You’re in no position to threaten me, Dowd. Just do as I say and maybe we will all come out of this in good shape. Maybe.”

  That was a lie and Gulliver knew it. But he didn’t have much choice other than to play along. To stall for time. One way to do that was to be silent. So he sat there, waiting for Prentice to get antsy. As he waited, he quietly flipped up the lid of the van’s console. He reached in and got out one of the spare cell phones he kept on hand. There were times he gave phones to informants. Or to runaway kids to call their parents. He had never thought he would need one for something like this.

  Prentice got tired of the silence. “Dowd! What are you up to?”

  “Nothing. Waiting for you say something.” Gulliver spoke as he texted. He sent the text. And said a silent prayer that the person he’d sent it to was there to receive it.

  “You’re being watched. So don’t do anything stupid.”

  Gulliver didn’t know whether Prentice was telling the truth. It didn’t matter. The van’s windows were tinted darker than was legal. When you’re a PI, you have to be able to watch people without being seen. The windows on his van let Gulliver see out. Seeing in was not so easy.

  “I’m short. Not stupid.”

  “Mia will stay alive as long as that stays true. Keep the phone line open, and I’ll give you directions,” Prentice said.

  “Put her on the phone. I want to know she’s alive.”

  “Don’t give me orders, Dowd. She’s alive.” As if on cue, Mia moaned. “You’re going to have to take my word for it,” Prentice said.

  “Where are we going?” Gulliver asked.

  “I’m not stupid either, Dowd. The directions will be step by step. You’ll know where you are going when you get there. Get on the Gowanus Expressway and head to the Belt Parkway East. Remember. You break this phone connection, and Mia is dead.”

  “I got it.”

  As Gulliver drove he looked out to his right. He saw a container ship passing under the Verrazano Bridge. As he continued east, he saw a line of ships waiting to enter New York Harbor. Something clicked for him, seeing those ships. All at once things began to come together. To make sense.

  He thought about Mary Shea’s shrieking banshees. He thought about [ar t88asEllis Torres saying that screaming had woken him from sleep. In his head he heard the macaw squawking. He recalled how the area at the back of the warehouse smelled like giant kitty litter. How Ahmed had said that the dock behi
nd the warehouse had been used.

  “The cops think this is about smuggling drugs,” Gulliver said to Dr. Prentice. “But it isn’t about drugs at all. It’s about exotic animals.”

  There was silence from Prentice. Then, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Just shut up and keep driving. Get off at the Flatbush Avenue exit that leads into Brooklyn, not to Rockaway.”

  Gulliver had no intention of shutting up. “Mia told me you’re an expert on exotic animals. It all makes sense now. I spoke to a witness who said she heard a truck rumble down Ferris Street. She also said she heard shrieking late at night. Like banshees, she said. I dismissed her too quickly. But when Ellis Torres told me the same thing…”

  “Shut up, Dowd. You’re coming to the exit.”

  Gulliver got off the exit. “Sure, it was animals. That’s why class="tx" ai

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Five minutes later Gulliver was driving through the gates of the Kings County Yacht Club. The club was in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn. Mill Basin, where the cops had found the car the big man used to escape. It was a well-to-do area that had access to Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. In another month the club would be busy. People would be getting their boats ready for warm weather. But now the club was deserted. Only two other cars were in the parking lot.

  Prentice told Gulliver to park his van. To get out and walk to dock number 112. Gulliver did as he was told. He didn’t like walking into a spot like this. A strange place. In the dark. He was dealing with a man who had a lot to lose. Gulliver didn’t know if Prentice was armed. And Prentice had Mia.

  Gulliver didn’t know much about boats. He didn’t have to. But it was clear that the boat at dock 112 cost a lot of money. It was at +. That anurzleast forty feet long. The name painted on her was El Condor. It figured. He could hear the low purr of the boat’s motor.

  Gulliver’s stomach knotted up as he got closer to El Condor. It wasn’t Dr. Prentice waiting for him on the deck. It wasn’t Mia. It was the big man. The one with the light blue eyes. The one who had tried to smother Ellis Torres. And the look on the big man’s face wasn’t friendly. Why would it be? Gulliver had thrown a knife deep into the man’s back. And there was something else. The big man was holding a MP5 machine pistol.

  Gulliver stopped in his tracks. He was at the end of the dock. Thirty feet behind the aft end of the boat. He took a few steps back. This put a smaller boat and a tall post between himself and the big man.

  “Why do you stop?” The big man had a German accent. “You will come here.”

  “I will not come anywhere,” Gulliver shouted back. “I want to see Mia and Prentice on the deck.”

  “Little insect. You do not give orders.”

  Gulliver now wished he had thrown the knife through the big man’s left shoulder. Right into his heart. If he had one. Gulliver doubted Prentice would have been so bold if this big guy were dead. He thought about taking a shot at the man. He decided against it. Both the MP5 and his Sig were 9mms. The problem was that the MP5 could shoot hundreds of rounds a minute. As good as the Sig was, it could not compete with that.

  “How’s your shoulder feeling, Franz?” Gulliver called to him.

  “I am not Franz, insect. I should have made you dead in the room of the hospital for what you did.”

  “And I should have thrown the knife through your neck. So we’re even, Franz.”

  “I am not Franz! I am Hugo!” the German was shouting when Prentice came on deck.

  “Hugo. Idiot! What are you screaming about?” Prentice was seething.

  “Let me kill this insect now,” Hugo said to Prentice. “Better to kill him now.”

  Prentice whispered something in Hugo’s ear. Not good, Gulliver thought. Not good. He didn’t wait for Hugo to start shooting. He reached for his Sig. Hit the ground. And not a second too soon. There was a stream of fire spitting from the barrel of the MP5. Wood splintered above Gulliver’s head. Bullets shattered the fiberglass hull of the boat he had taken cover behind.

  Gulliver moved to his right. Lined up a shot. Squeezed the trigger. The shot missed. But it was close enough to the big man’s head to make him take notice. Hugo and Prentice got down and flattened themselves to the deck of El Condor. Prentice crawled away and disappeared below deck. Gulliver looked around for his help to arrive. But he saw no one. Heard nothing.

  “Time to make you dead, insect,” Hugo shouted as he got to his feet. He put a new clip in the MP5. He hopped down from the boat and onto the dock. He walked toward Dowd. As he did, he aimed short bursts of fire at Gulliver. More wood splinters. More fiberglass shards.

  Being stuck flat on the ground wasn’t such a great place for Gulliver to be now. He shot back a few rounds at a time. Not so much to try and hit the big man but to buy himself+, Dowd. u kas some time. To give himself a chance to get up. To retreat. It was no good. There was really no place for Gulliver to hide. And his running was woeful. The big man was closing in. Gulliver wheeled around to squeeze off his last few bullets. But when he spun, Hugo’s gun had already gone silent.

  The big man was on the ground. He was twitching. Grunting. Flailing his arms and legs. He had been Tasered. Gulliver breathed a sigh of relief. His help had arrived at last. A figure dressed in matte black clothing stepped out of the shadows. Ahmed Foster.

  Ahmed bent over the big man. Gulliver couldn’t see what Ahmed was doing. But when Ahmed stood up, Hugo was no longer twitching. He was no longer doing much of anything.

  “Is he dead?” Gulliver asked.

  Ahmed shook his head no and whispered, “Let’s just say he’s asleep and he’s gonna be that way for a while.”

  “Remind me to thank the navy for your SEAL training.”

  “Where’s the girl at?”

  Gulliver pointed at El Condor. “My guess is she’s below decks.”

  Ahmed picked up Hugo’s MP5. Ejected the old clip. Put in a fresh one. He handed it to Gulliver. “You know how to use this?”

  “I’ll figure it out.”

  “Get the other guy up on deck. Whatever you got to do. Just get him on deck,” Ahmed said. Then he slipped back into the shadows. A few seconds later, Gulliver heard a quiet splash in the water.

  He walked back to El Condor. “Prentice! Get out here,” he yelled. “Hugo’s not in any shape to help you. Get out here. We need to talk. All I want is Mia. Give Mia to me and you can get gone.”

  He felt panic rising in him when there was no answer. In spite of the chill, sweat was soaking through his shirt. The only sound was the slapping of water against the dock. The purr of El Condor’s engines. Then there were footsteps. Two sets of them.

  Prentice and Mia were on deck. Mia’s face was swollen. One of her eyes was bruised. Her lip was cut and bleeding. Her hands were tied together with tape. She was shaking. She was scared. She had reason to be. Prentice held a shotgun under her chin. He looked scared too. His eyes were wide. He was breathing fast.

  “Where’s Hugo?” Prentice asked.

  “He’s dead,” Gulliver lied. “You’re alone now, Doc.”

  “I have her.” The vet tilted his head at Mia.

  “Give her to me. Take your boat and go.”

  “Drop the gun, Dowd. Drop it.”

  “No, Doc, I don’t think I will.”

  Prentice shoved the shotgun hard into Mia’s neck. She almost fell over. “I’ll kill her.”

  “And then I’ll kill you,” Gulliver said. “And I’ll do it very slowly. You dug my knife out of Hugo’s back. I threw that one. With one in my hand…I am very good with a knife, Doc.”

  “You little bastard,+sc t88as” Prentice shouted. “You screwed this all up. You and that stupid kid.”

  “Let’s forget all that. Let’s deal with what we’ve got to deal with now. I’m giving you an out. Just push Mia onto the dock. Then get out of here. It’s the best deal you’re gonna get. At least you get to live. Who knows, maybe you’ll get away. You’ve got plenty of cash.”

  G
ulliver had painted Prentice into a corner. And Prentice’s fear was turning into panic. The vet was finding out that real life wasn’t like tv.

  “Put your gun down, Dowd. I’m going to kill her! I am!” He used his free hand to shove Mia onto her knees.

  Prentice was about to find out that that was a very big mistake. At that second Ahmed thumped the hull of El Condor. The vet swung his shotgun around. Already on her knees, Mia leaned forward. She crashed to the dock shoulder first. Before Prentice could swing the shotgun back around, Gulliver pulled the MP5’s trigger. Prentice’s knees shattered. He screamed in pain. The shotgun fell out of his hands and into the water. He crumpled to the boat deck. Then headfirst, with a thud, onto thn right onto A

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Two weeks later, Detective Sam Patrick and Gulliver Dowd were at an outdoor café in Red Hook. Ugly slept by Dowd’s feet. It was warm. The sun strong. The skies clear, as they were the day Ellis Torres had run into Gulliver on Valentino Pier. But almost everything else had changed. Mia’s bruises had faded. She had a new job. Gulliver and Mia had eaten dinner together every evening since that night at the yacht club.

  “The kid gets out of the hospital today,” Patrick said. “He’s got to go into foster care until his mom gets out. I hope he doesn’t run again.”

  Gulliver shielded his eyes from the sun. “He won’t. We talked about it. Last time, he ran because of the dog. I’m taking care of Ugly until he and his mom can get back to being a family. You know that old lady I told you about. She[enhohat happened’s got an empty apartment they can live in. There’ll be someone around to keep an eye on the mom and the kid.”

  “Your pal Dr. Prentice won’t be getting out of the hospital anytime soon. You shot up his knees pretty bad.”

  “I’ll send him a get-well card,” Gulliver joked. “Is he still not talking?”

  “No. That’s why I asked to meet you here. I wanted to tell you. His lawyer cut a deal with the Brooklyn DA and the Feds. He confessed to it all. You were right, Dowd. He and Hugo were smuggling rare animals into the States. Some were for private zoos. Some were for rich-men hunting clubs. How sick is that?”