Final Sail (16 page)

“Oh, hell, Phil, I can’t bullshit you,” Max said. “You knew what we were doing. I never understood why you didn’t turn me in.”

“Didn’t like the twerp who hired me,” Phil said. “The investor. He wanted to make sure you weren’t running drugs. I tried to say I thought you were jewel smuggling, but he interrupted and said, ‘I’m not paying you to think. Is he smuggling drugs?’ I told him you weren’t.”

“You told the God’s honest truth,” Max said. “Thanks to you, he invested in our salvage operation and we found Spanish gold. He was happy and I owe you big-time. Still do.”

“Forget it,” Phil said, and sipped his beer.

“I have friends on both sides of the law,” Max said. He turned to Helen. “You’ve got a tough job. Emeralds are easy to hide aboard a yacht.” He took a ketchup-slathered bite of burger.

“That’s what the captain said. Isn’t Colombia where emeralds come from?” Helen asked. She speared a scallop in her stir-fry.

“It’s a major source,” Max said. “Brazil is another. So are Egypt and other parts of Africa. Cleopatra’s mines in the deserts near the Red Sea produced some of the first emeralds. Egyptian stones are small and dark. They say Cleopatra loved her emeralds more than all her other jewels.

“The Romans believed that emeralds did not fatigue the eyes like other gems. Did you know the emperor Nero wore emerald sunglasses to watch the gladiators die? Wonder how red blood looked through green glasses? Blood and emeralds. They go together.”

Max abandoned the wreckage of his dinner to continue his lecture. “Mel Fisher, the greatest treasure hunter of all, discovered emeralds in the shipwreck
Nuestra Señora de Atocha
. Colombian emeralds. Mel found more than half a billion dollars in treasure in that salvage operation. When that Spanish ship was wrecked in the Florida Keys, two hundred sixty-four people died. More blood and emeralds.”

Helen tried not to look at her watch. They had to leave soon. How could she steer Max back to the subject? She tried to signal Phil, but he was finishing his beer.

“Does your captain know if he found Colombian emeralds?” Max asked.

Good, Helen thought. Max was back on track.

“He didn’t know,” Helen said. “He’s not an expert. The captain thought they looked like the emeralds he saw in the jewelry shops at Atlantis. The colors ranged from blue-green to deep green.”

“Could be Colombian,” Max said. “An expert would know for sure. You said they were in a box. What kind?”

“A plastic tackle box. The captain said it was filled with stones.”

Max whistled. “That’s worth hundreds of thousands. Maybe more, depending on the quality. Your smuggler is smart, but not smart enough. He knows enough to smuggle in cut emeralds, but not how to treat them right. Loose stones should be stored in individual velvet compartments, not dumped in a box where they could get chipped or scratched.”

“What happens to those emeralds once they reach the U.S.?” Helen asked.

“The smuggler may try to fly with them to a dealer,” Max said. “The stones are not detectable during electronic screening procedures, so someone could have a suitcase full of gems and it would go unnoticed. Unless it was hand searched.

“The smugglers are probably connected to a sleazy but legitimate dealer in gemstones. Believe me, in my brief experience with—uh, friends—they knew a few of those in Manhattan and Miami. Found them to be very unpleasant. Smart but real pricks. Pardon my language.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Helen said. “If the smugglers sell to a sleazy dealer, what’s their cut?”

“I suspect it’s like using a fence,” Max said. “The smugglers will get a fraction of the real value.”

The waiter reappeared. “All finished?” he asked. “How about dessert or coffee?”

“No, thanks,” Helen said.

The waiter put the check on the table and Phil reached for it. Max grabbed it first. “It’s good for my reputation to be seen with such a classy lady, even if she is married to this gray-haired geezer. Good luck catching your smuggler.

“Be careful, Helen. Remember what I said about blood and emeralds. That kind of money makes people crazy.”

CHAPTER 18

H
elen caught a ripple of excitement aboard the
Belted Earl
. White-uniformed staff were hurrying through their chores. She saw the edge of a box being carried into the crew mess and the flash of a feather duster. She heard feet pounding up the spiral staircase to the main deck.

Finally, the cruise felt real. She was an undercover operative. This was more exciting than standing in a shop until she ached from boredom.

Helen followed Mira through the secret passage to the crew quarters. The head stewardess wore her dress uniform and her hair was caught in a twist by her two-toned silver barrette. Her fresh-scrubbed face and bright smile made her look like a teenager.

Mira slid open the second door in the passage. “Stow your bag in your cabin,” she said. “You can unpack later. Louise has the top bunk. She outranks you as second stewardess.”

Helen followed Mira down the passage. White plastic caddies bristling with brushes, dusters and cleaning supplies were stowed in racks along the wall near the far entrance.

“This is yours,” Mira said, pointing to the lowest caddy. She pushed
open the door and they were through the looking glass into the carpeted guest quarters.

“Always use the passage,” Mira said. “A stewardess is never seen while cleaning. This will be an easy trip. We have only two couples and they’re staying in the two closest staterooms.”

The names
PARADISE
and
BIMINI
were on carved door plaques.

“Ralph and Rosette have Bimini with the peacock blue accents,” Mira said. “Pepper and Scotty will sleep in Paradise. It’s azure blue.” Both were paneled with that honey-colored oak.

“Gorgeous silk spread,” Helen said.

“It’s custom-made,” Mira said. “So are the sheets and pillowcases. You’re looking at about four thousand dollars’ worth of bedding.”

“What’s the routine when the guests arrive?” she asked.

“The staff lines up when the guests come aboard,” Mira said. “Louise and I will serve drinks and the chef will have a buffet ready in the dining room. The boys will carry in the luggage and you’ll unpack it.”

“By myself?” Helen asked. She tried to hide her panic. What if the guests complained and she was thrown off before the cruise started?

“Don’t worry,” Mira said. “These wives usually go down with you when you unpack. Each room has a safe. They’ll put their jewelry away and you won’t have to touch it.”

“Good,” Helen said. The panic was starting to fade.

Mira opened the closet door and they were enveloped by the sweet smell of cedar. “If the wives decide to eat while you unpack, the jewelry goes in the underwear drawer here. When you clean, if money or jewelry is left lying around, you never touch it.”

“We had those same instructions when I worked at the hotel,” Helen said. “Not that our guests had valuable jewelry.”

“We had one incident where a girl was accused of stealing a sapphire necklace,” Mira said. “Turned out the wife never brought it on board. But the captain had to search our cabins and warn us that
stealing was a firing offense. The wife finally called home and her maid found it in the bedroom. The wife was mortified. She tipped the girl three hundred dollars, but it was still uncomfortable.”

“Do we get tips?” Helen asked.

“It’s up to the guests,” Mira said. “Sometimes a guest will slip us each a hundred dollars or give the captain money for the crew. But Earl gives us a generous yearly bonus.”

I won’t be working here for a year, Helen thought. At least, I hope not.

“The guests on this trip have been generous in the past,” Mira said. “They’ll be here in less than an hour. The guests’ clothes go on these hangers. Make sure the hangers face the same way. Later tonight, you’ll change out the silk spread for the sleeping duvet.

“Louise and I will serve the guests and watch the on-deck head. We’ll stay in touch with you by two-way radio.”

Mira showed Helen how the black radio worked and helped clip it to Helen’s belt. It felt awkward.

“You’ll also walk Mitzi, Beth’s miniature poodle.”

“On which deck?” Helen asked.

“Well, we call it walking, but Mitzi has the run of the guest area. We keep a flat of grass for her on the upper aft deck and Beth puts ‘puppy training pads’ in her stateroom bath, but Mitzi rarely uses them. If you’re lucky, she’ll use the marble in Beth’s bathroom. She prefers carpet. We have special cleaners for both.”

“Terrific,” Helen said, her heart sinking. She wasn’t even a seagoing Cinderella, condemned to kitchen drudgery. She had latrine duty.

“Is Mitzi a nice dog?” she asked.

“She never bites,” Mira said.

“That’s not an endorsement,” Helen said.

“Beth loves her,” Mira said, “but the dog is spoiled and yappy. The captain banned her from the bridge and the crew areas for safety reasons. He said Mitzi might get hurt if we stepped on her.
She is underfoot when she’s on board. Be careful you don’t trip over her.”

“What are the guests like?” Helen asked. “Do they bite?”

“Pretty undemanding,” Mira said. “Ralph and Rosette are Earl’s age. Ralph belongs to an old Chicago family. He doesn’t have Earl’s business success. Rosette and Ralph have been married thirty years. She can be snobbish but she’s not rude.

“Scotty and Pepper are newly married. She’s wife number four, I think. She used to be a cocktail waitress. Scotty is about seventy and gives Pepper anything she wants, as long as she does what he says. Scotty will probably get tipsy. Pepper is maybe twenty-five. She may say something ugly to you if she’s had a fight with Scotty. She’s pretty and Scotty is jealous. They fight a lot.”

“How will I know if they’ve been fighting?” Helen asked.

“You’ll hear them,” Mira said. “We hear everything on this ship. There is no privacy.”

We hear everything,
Helen thought. Will I hear the rattle of smuggled emeralds? The sound of the smuggler opening a bilge or the bosun’s locker late at night?

Mira glanced at her watch. “It’s seven twenty-eight,” she said. “You have an appointment with the captain at seven thirty. He’s a stickler for time. I’ll take you up to the bridge. You can meet the other staff later.”

Helen followed Mira up the crew mess stairs and through the galley, where the dark-haired chef was chopping a red pepper at a counter. “Hi, Suzanne,” Mira said.

Suzanne smiled a hello and waved.

Mira walked briskly along the narrow teak deck to the front of the yacht and knocked on the bridge door. “Captain?” she called. “Helen Hawthorne is here.” Mira told Helen, “I’ll leave you here. I have to go back to work.”

Helen thought the bridge looked beautifully useful. The walls and ceiling were paneled in that same honey-colored wood. Six
inward-slanting windows gave panoramic views of the muddy New River and the shining white yachts in the marina. The bridge windows had giant wipers, like car windshields. Over the windows were huge built-in monitors. Under the windows were radar screens, electronics and various controls.

Smack in the middle was the pilot’s wheel in sleek steel and wood.

Captain Josiah Swingle strode through a side door in his white dress uniform with four bars on the shoulder.

“Welcome aboard,” he said. Captain Swingle sat down on an upholstered bench that was taller than a regular couch. Helen stayed standing. “Mira has explained your duties?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” Helen said. “I’m hoping to catch the smuggler on this trip, but I wonder if the person has stopped.”

“Why would he?” the captain asked.

“I talked with a man who used to be an emerald smuggler. At least, I think he was. He was definitely familiar with the business. He told me a tackle box full of emeralds could be worth thousands—even hundreds of thousands—of dollars. I wonder if your smuggler made enough money and quit.”

“Smugglers never make enough money,” the captain said. “There’s no telling exactly how much he got for that box, but I doubt he made anywhere near its full value. Smugglers are fueled by greed and live for risk. This one won’t stop. I read where the price of emeralds has gone up. Even so-so stones are selling for twenty-five percent more this year.”

“Why the increase?” Helen asked.

“The rich are nervous,” he said. “The market is unstable and they’re putting their money in gold, diamonds and colored stones. If their securities tank, the stones are still worth something. If nothing else, their wives can wear them. You’ll see our guests wearing fortunes.

“We aren’t carrying a full complement of guests this time, so the
smuggler will have more free time. He may grow bolder. If you don’t discover him on this trip, you’ll work the next one.”

“I’ll get him this cruise,” Helen said. If she needed an incentive, she had it: Catch the smuggler or more hard labor on the
Belted Earl
.

“It’s about time for me to pick up the owners and their guests at the airport,” he said.

“Let me remind you: None of the other crew knows why you’re here. This is my ship. You answer to me. If you have any suspicions about my crew, you come to me. Don’t act on your own. Catching a smuggler can get you killed. Understood?”