Buzzard Bay (22 page)

FIFTEEN

J
ULY SAT AND
listened as Horatio Norton described the events as they evolved that night. She and Maggie had spent two days at the new APCO hotel in Miami before they returned home. The second day had gone smoothly; the fresh produce had arrived on time, and the hotel personnel were now familiar with all the handling procedures. She had sat and dozed on the dock most of the next day until the evening when Captain Norton showed up with Bob. She’d heard nothing about the hidden cocaine until Norton and Bob started talking about it. She was amazed at what she heard.

Bob was especially interested in the events that happened at Buzzard Bay. Norton told him the Americans had waited till both boats were at sea, and then with the use of flares to illuminate the boats, had managed to sink both of them. Norton’s men had been in place in time to ambush the vehicle from the farm.

“They either saw us or someone warned them, because they stopped and turned around just before they got to us.” Norton said. “We shot at the car, and they fired back, but I don’t think we hit anyone before they got away. Dale told me that four men got on the plane. That’s the same number that got off, so I think they all made their escape, Bob.”

“The Americans want to give me a medal,” Norton told them. “But I said no. The less people know I was involved, the better. From now on, I must live with the fear of a bullet in the back. These people don’t like to have someone mess with their business. It’s up to them to decide whether I’m worth killing,” replied Norton. “I think I’ll take my family on a long vacation.”

July noticed the look of shock on Bob’s face. He was never one to hurt anybody. He would rather hurt himself than someone else. Norton saw the look too. He went over to Bob and shook his hand.

“We did the right thing, Bob. We could not have lived with ourselves if we had just let it go. I’ve seen what the white powder does to people, maybe now they’ll leave this island alone.”

Bob had not really talked to July since she got back. She had been exhausted. Now he turned to her and asked, “Have you seen anything of Tom?”

“Not since he left the plane in Miami,” July answered. “Why is he not here?”

“As far as I know, you were the last one to see him,” Bob told her.

“Well,” she said, “you know what he’s like, he’s all over the place. This isn’t the first time he’s been gone this long.”

“No,” Bob replied, “but he usually checks with his secretary. She hasn’t heard from him since he left.”

“I told you if he was smart, he would disappear,” Norton responded. “It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s what he’s done.”

“Do you really think it’s that bad?” July asked.

“Tom’s up to his eyeballs in this,” Norton told her. “He knows too much just to leave him running around. Besides, I don’t have much sympathy for him. In fact, what I hope is that they blame him and leave me alone,” Norton added..

July was having a hard time digesting all of this. Norton again shook hands with both of them and said goodbye. Bob and July sat far into the night discussing what had passed and what was about to come. What was about to come happened about a week later when Tom still hadn’t shown up and neither had their paychecks. Bill and Dale came to discuss the situation with Bob.

“Tom always disperses the funds for the paychecks on payday,” Dale told him. “We phoned the bank. There are some funds in one of our accounts, but we have no authorization to use it.”

“We’ll explain the situation to our people,” Bob told them. “If Tom doesn’t show up in a week, then we’ll be forced to do something. Meanwhile, keep in touch with the bank to see what can be done. We don’t want our suppliers to have our checks bounce.”

Dale had taken over the office while Tom was away. By the end of the following week, Dale told them he couldn’t hold off the suppliers much longer. “Someone’s put out the word we’re broke, and they want their money right now.”

The bank, realizing the seriousness of the situation and that Tom really was missing, released the money. But to their astonishment, it was barely enough to bring their accounts up to date, leaving nothing to cover day-to-day operating expenses.

July, Hania Shonavon, and Pearl Drinkwater all went to work in the office to help Dale sort out the books, so they had something to show the bank. At the end of the month, they arranged a meeting with the bank in Nassau. They were informed there would be a third party there. It was to be Manly Waddell.

Dale fired a fax back to the bank in Nassau asking what possible reason Manly Waddell would be invited to a meeting between themselves and the bank. Dale read the fax to the others as it was received, “Manly Waddell requested this meeting. He states, as representative of the Bahamian government, they have a vested interest in the Andros project. The bank feels it may in their best interest to hear what Mr. Waddell has to say at this meeting.”

“I don’t like this at all,” Bob said. “We’d damn well better be prepared when we get to this meeting.”

They worked feverishly in the office trying to tie up loose ends and get their books in order. They soon found a lot of unknowns; hopefully the bank could shed a light on some of them. July, Hania, and Pearl accompanied their husbands to Nassau. They now knew more about the company than their husbands and could certainly find any documents they needed faster than them.

July had seen Manly Waddell a few times over the past years but had not talked to him. His presence in the office affected her. There were not many men she had met in her lifetime that she couldn’t handle or at least hold her own. There was something about Manly Waddell that scared her yet attracted her.

What was it about him that intimidated her, made her catch her breath in anticipation? He was an animal: ruthless, primitive, totally without regret. There was no way of controlling this man. July sensed this and knew this was why he could have any woman he wanted, consume her, and then spit her out leaving her to the wolves. Her mind told her all this, yet her breath quickened and she felt a wetness between her legs.

Bob got the meeting started by explaining that since the disappearance of Tom Newton, the project in Andros had no access to money or moneys earned from past revenue. He asked the bank if they knew of any other accounts that Tom had access to.

The bank manager looked through his files, “Not that we know of. The project started out with two million in its account. The account has since been closed out, the money spent on the project in its first year of development.”

Bob looked at the others. “We were led to believe that there were funds in the neighborhood of $6 million allocated to the project,” Bob told the banker.

“No,” the banker handed some documents showing the account and the amount of money that had been drawn out.

“We’ll have to check these withdrawals against our books,” Bob stated. “I guess our main concern is keeping the project going. We’ve invested a great deal of our time toward it and feel it’s a viable operation with the right amount of capital available.”

“So this is what you would like to do is keep the project going,” the bank manager said while jotting down notes on a piece of paper.

They all nodded their heads in agreement. “We can show in our books that we can operate the project and produce enough profit to pay back a loan,” Bob spoke for everyone.

“What do you have to say about all this, Mr. Waddell?” the banker asked.

“I speak for the agricultural minister in saying that we do not think this project is viable under its present financial state or with its present management.” This stunned the group.

“We’ve had a different indication altogether,” Bob told him.

Manly paid no attention to him and went on, “We are also concerned that if the project did succeed under its present management, there’s no reason Tom couldn’t reappear and take control. He does still, in effect, own the project. We suspect Tom of using the project for illicit gain and taking funds for his own personal gain.”

“So what do you suggest we do with the project, Mr. Waddell?” the banker asked.

“We have a company interested in taking over the project and funding it,” Manly told them.

“That company wouldn’t happen to be APCO, would it?” Bob asked him.

“That’s really none of your business,” Manly told them.

“Well, it’s obviously our business,” the banker told him.

“The government feels they have the right to take over this project and put it in control of whomever we feel fit,” Manly told him. “This way, Tom would no longer have control. Since the bank was only responsible for dispersing funds and had no invested interest in the project, we see no reason why they should object to this proposal.”

“Yes, your proposal certainly does have merit,” the banker responded. “However, your facts are not totally accurate. Tom came to us, and we lent him $2 million against the $2 million he had invested in the project. In order for the bank to accept your proposal, that loan would have to be paid off.”

Waddell began to fidget a bit; that fucking Tom had done this, and it threw a real screw into his plans. The government sure as hell wasn’t going to put money into the project without having control. He could get the money elsewhere, but the bank wouldn’t accept the money unless it was clean. His mind raced; APCO might come up with the money, but they’d be pretty pissed with him.

“I’d have to confer with the company,” Manly finally said.

“Okay,” the banker said. “However, as first mortgagers on this property, we have the right to hear all proposals. For the time being, we will keep the present management in place. I think the project is viable as it now stands. However, we are open to any buyout proposal submitted.”

The knowledge of the loan was a definite surprise to the project people too. Bob and the others had hoped to get a loan, not to have to pay an existing one off. The banker handed Bob a document explaining the terms of the loan and interest payments due.

“Actually, this may not be too bad,” Bob said to the banker. “We can find no record of interest due on the original money, so this may be partly already factored in.”

“We are not prepared to put any more money into the project, however, it is in our best interest to keep it in business until we can find a buyer or you people can prove your able to keep it viable.” the banker told the group. “We will pay your wages for the first two months. We consider you our employees. Hopefully you can come up with a solution to eventually buy the project or we can find a suitable owner.”

Waddell came over and shook hands with all of them. “Hopefully we can work something out,” he said. The banker then shook hands and wished them luck. He turned to confer some more with Waddell as the group left the room.

“Well, thank God for one thing,” Bob told the others. “I thought Waddell was going to tell us APCO had lent us the money, which would have really finished us.

“I think Waddell was just as surprised as the rest of us to learn about the loan,” July said. “He thought he had us out of there.”

“We’ve got a two-month reprieve to prove ourselves,” Bill stated as they left the bank and walked into the hot Bahamas sun knowing they had a tough row to hoe.

Manly Waddell hated getting that call, but he’d been expecting it. This was the third time he’d met with El Presidente off the coast of Cuba, and he now understood why. El Presidente was scared if he took his yacht out in open water, the Americans would make him disappear. He now traveled in secret to his yacht and felt safe as long as he was along the Cuban coast. This was a far cry from the days when he would sail right under the Americans’ noses and meet with Bahamian government officials in Nassau. Now even Waddell had to be careful who he was seen with, above all, El Presidente. The boat was waiting at the dock when he arrived. A bikinied blonde met him at the boat lift and escorted him to where El Presidente was having breakfast. He invited Waddell to join him. He gave his order to the bikinied blonde and then turned his attention to El Presidente.

Waddell knew the man preferred to be called El Presidente or Excellency by the people who worked for him, but he personally called him the Colombian when he wasn’t around. They sat enjoying their breakfast as they headed farther out to sea. As the morning wore on, three more girls showed up to kiss El Presidente good morning. He must have seen the interest in Waddell’s eyes.

“I am sorry,” he told Waddell, “these are my own private girls. One cannot be too careful with the diseases of today.”

Manly was disappointed; the girls were beautiful and he had thought would make a pleasant break in the day. After heading out to sea for about an hour, they dropped anchor. Manly and the Colombian sat chatting under the shade of his table umbrella, pleasantly watching as the girls took off what little clothing they did have on and dove over the edge of the boat for a swim. Manly also noticed a man on top of the captain’s cabin with a rifle.

The Colombian followed his gaze. “One can never be too careful of sharks,” he explained.

Or of other predators that might be around, Manly thought.

Just then another girl appeared beside the Colombian. “Ah, Zeze, how’s my little girl this morning?” She wore nothing above her waist, and it was very plain to Manly that she was very pregnant. The Colombian rubbed her swollen stomach and then kissed each of the rose-colored nipples on her large breasts.

“We had an accident,” the Colombian said. “My wife was very angry, so I told her it was an accident. I didn’t know a girl could get pregnant standing on her head.” The Colombian shrugged and smiled. “So I gave my wife US$100,000 and sent her to New York on a shopping trip. Women never stay angry if they are shopping,” he laughed. “Zeze will give me a nice bambino. My wife only gave me spoiled brats. Now my man, let’s get down to business,” he said.

Manly watched as the pregnant girl cleaned up the breakfast dishes and waddled off.

“I want to know what you suggest we do about the Andros situation,” Manly stated.

“It seems to be sorting itself out nicely,” El Presidente answered.