Geek Mafia: Mile Zero by Rick Dakan (reading tree txt) 📖

“Never claimed I could,” said Paul. “But please, remember to be careful.”

“As long as you stop telling me to, I will,” Sandee insisted.

Chloe’s phone buzzed in her hand, and she looked down to see another pic from Bee. “Raff is on the move. Headed toward Mallory Square, it looks.”

“That’s my cue,” said Sandee, blowing Chloe a kiss as he strode off toward Duval Street.

“I hope he’s careful,” said Paul.

“He will be. And even if he’s not, there’s no way Raff can take him in a fight.”

“Not in a fair fight, no,” said Paul. “But Raff doesn’t fight fair.”

“And neither do I,” she said, patting the small of her back where her stun gun was hidden beneath her shirt.

“Come on,” said Paul. “Let’s shadow them up Simonton.”

As they headed west along Simonton parallel to Duval, Chloe listened to minute-by-minute reports from Sandee, who was staying about a block behind Raff. The street was crowded with tourists, but Raff ‘s height made him easy to pick out in the crowd.

“He’s heading left toward the wreckers monument,” Sandee reported. “And now he’s looking at the tourist crap by the conch train,” he said a few minutes later. “He’s the perfect tourist.” Chloe and Paul moved over across Duval and up toward Mallory Square, not wanting to be too far from Sandee if trouble started. “Ok, now he’s buying a ticket to go into that dreadful wreckers museum place. God, I hope he’s not going in.”

“Why the fuck would he do that?” Chloe wondered aloud. The Key West Shipwreck Historeum was a tourist attraction that featured an animatronic sea captain putting the best spin possible on the fact that Key West became one of the wealthiest cities in the world in the 19th century purely based on salvaging ships that wrecked on the reefs. The show lasted about twenty minutes and offered access to an observation deck some sixty-five feet above the square, providing one of the better views in Key West. It wasn’t nearly as interesting as Paul’s favorite attraction, the much newer Pirate Experience, which was sort of the same thing, only no view and better animatronics. Chloe couldn’t imagine what Raff would need from the place.

“No, wait,” said Sandee over the phone. “He’s just going and sitting down on some of those crates now. You know, the fake ones they have out front?”

“Yeah,” said Chloe. “I know them.”

“Hey, wait a sec…” Sandee said. “He just stuck something behind one of the crates. Next to a fake barrel.”

“Could you see what it was?” asked Chloe.

“No. Might’ve been just his hand for all I can tell. Do you want me to check it out?”

“No, we’ll do it once he leaves,” she said.

“Well come on over then, sweetie, because we’re apparently on our way. He’s heading toward the Hyatt.”

“That’s where Eddie was staying,” said Paul, who was listening in on his own phone.

Chloe wasn’t sure if there was a connection there or not. It didn’t make much sense, but they didn’t really know anything yet, so it was impossible to draw any conclusions. They moved closer to the square, moving slow to make sure Raff and Sandee had plenty of time to clear the area.

The whole area around the Historeum was crowded with tourists. She scanned the crowd looking for familiar faces, but didn’t see anyone she shouldn’t have. She called Bee. “Can you check all the cameras in the area around the Historeum?”

“I already am,” said Bee. “I got nothing. I did see Raff and Sandee walk into the Hyatt complex, but you know I don’t…”

“I know,” said Chloe, cutting her off. “Keep watching.”

She turned to Paul. “Do you want to hang back and keep watch?”

“Ok,” he said, but he was distracted, looking down at his phone. “Is your phone working?” he asked.

She put hers to her ear and heard nothing. No signal. “What the fuck?” she said. Looking around she saw three or four tourists looking at their phones in frustration.

“Transmitter down?” asked Paul.

“Maybe,” she said. “Bad timing though.”

“Let’s go see what Raff left over there,” said Paul. Before Chloe could object that he’d agreed to stand watch a few seconds earlier, he was already jogging toward the Historeum. No way was she going to stay behind. She ran after him.

Paul knelt down on the fake crate and started feeling around behind it. Chloe swiveled her head back and forth, scanning the crowd as she put her phone to her ear again. Still dead.

“There’s something back here,” said Paul. “A little black box, but it’s super glued to the barrel.”

“Here,” said Chloe, pulling out her Leatherman multipurpose tool from her pocket and handing it to Paul. “Pry it off.”

“What if it’s a bomb?” asked Paul.

“It’s not a bomb.”

“What if it is a bomb?”

“Do you think it’s a bomb?”

“No,” he admitted.

“Then pry it off.”

“Ok,” he said, as he swung open the tool’s knife blade.

She heard a snap and then Paul said, “Got it. It’s heavy.” He turned toward her and held out the small black box in his hand, about the size of an original iPod. “What do you think?”

Chloe took the box. It was indeed heavy in her hand, maybe as much as half a pound. There was a slight vibration, and she suspected that there was something electronic running inside. But there were no buttons or hinges. Just a line around the edge where it had been sealed shut. “Probably a cell phone jammer. We should get this to Bee.”

“So Bee’s here too?” said an all-too-familiar voice. Chloe and Paul both looked up to see Raff standing there, not five feet away, smiling that awful, smug smile of his. Standing over six foot five, he was lanky and lithe. He’d let his hair grow out, and it was tucked under a San Francisco Giants baseball cap. Both hands were in the pockets of his baggy beach shorts, which could easily have been concealing some kind of weapon. Chloe swung her hand behind her and pulled the stun gun from its holster at her back. She felt Paul stiffen beside her and then sink into a defensive stance that Sandee had taught him.

“Hey, Raff,” said Chloe, fighting with every fiber of her being to sound cool and calm.

“Chloe, Paul. How’re you guys?” he said. His hands were still in his pockets, non-threatening.

“I thought we had a deal,” she said. “We don’t leave you for the cops, and you don’t ever come near us again.”

“I told you a ditch was too good for him,” said Paul. “We should have…”

“Hey, hey, listen guys,” said Raff. “I had no idea you were here, ok? Honestly. No idea. I’m just here on vacation, you know?”

“Bullshit,” spat Paul. “There’s no way.”

“Why not? It’s a great town. Bars open ‘til four. Great weather…”

“Raff, I know it’s been a year, but you can’t believe we’re that dumb,” said Chloe.

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Raff. “You’d be surprised what…”

Chloe cut him of, saying, “Cut it. Just cut it. This is our island, and you can’t be here.”

“I’m telling you guys, this has nothing to do with you, ok? Calm down and we can sort all this out, I’m sure. It’s a big island and I’m only here for a…”

“For about thirty more minutes,” said Paul. “Go get on a bus or in your car or on a plane. Go to Miami. Get yourself gone from this place.” Chloe hadn’t heard that much anger and intensity in his voice since they’d left California.

Raff seemed to be considering their words, taking his right hand out of his pocket to rub his chin in a gesture of mock thoughtfulness. Then he took off his hat and wiped his brow. “You see, that really doesn’t work for me,” he said. The hand with the hat in it moved down to his side. Was there a weapon in there? “I’m right in the middle of my vacation, and I’m meeting friends, so I can’t just leave them like that.”

“We both know you’re quite good at screwing over friends without any explanation,” said Chloe.

“Cheap shot, Chloe. You know I wasn’t ever really your friend.”

“No more of this bullshit,” shouted Paul. “No more!” Chloe was surprised to see Paul lose his cool like that and shout, but then out of the corner of her eye she saw why. He was providing cover.

“Calm down, Paul,” said Raff pointing with his hat at Paul. “Jesus Christ, man. I would’ve thought life in paradise here would’ve mellowed you…”

And then Sandee was on him, leaping up onto Raff ‘s back and wrapping his legs around the tall man’s waist while pinning his arms to his side in a bear hug. “Raff sweetie!” Sandee shouted. “You came!” As far as the tourists could tell, this was merely an over-enthusiastic reunion of two old friends, but as Sandee’s heels dug into his inner thighs and Raff fell to his knees, the expression on his face said something else.

Chloe closed the gap between her and Raff and grabbed hold of his face with both hands, like she was going to kiss him. She didn’t. Instead she said, “Go away, now. My island. My rules. You leave or we take you apart.” She spat in his face.

Sandee emphasized Chloe’s point for her by digging one of his heels into Raff ‘s balls before letting him go and slipping off his back to the ground. Raff wretched onto the cement in front of him.

Chloe spun away and walked at a fast pace toward Duval Street. She thought she heard Paul kick Raff before he joined her at her side.

“Toodles,” she heard Sandee say. “Nice to meet you.”