Harper's Submission [Golden Dolphin 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (10 page)

BOOK: Harper's Submission [Golden Dolphin 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)
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“You can’t do that. I’m a US citizen, but I don’t have a passport with me.”

“That, my friend, is not my problem. You had better start cooperating. I’m rapidly losing patience with you.”

After Harmon has disclosed his name and that he was a newspaper reporter on board to get pictures of Morgan Court and Harper Cameron, Con shook his head.
Could this get any worse?
Their high-profile passengers were supposed to be guaranteed absolute privacy aboard the
Golden Dolphin
. That was the purpose of the strict confidentiality agreements signed by all crew and passengers.

“The public has a right to know…”

“That’s bullshit. The passengers on this ship have an expectation of privacy. You have absolutely no right to be aboard this private vessel, nevermind to take pictures of the passengers.”

Harper struggled out of Morgan’s lap and walked over to Con. It was obvious she and Morgan had heard what the stowaway had said. “Captain, may I speak with you privately?”

“Of course.” He walked out into the passageway with her.

“Captain, what are you going to do?”

“I have no idea at the moment. I’ll contact the ship’s owner for directions before I do anything.”

“If you like, I can get on my computer and access my LexisNexis legal research account and see what I can come up with. It would be better to be armed with a little actual legal knowledge before making any decisions.”

“I would appreciate any input you can give me, Harper. I sincerely apologize for this invasion of your privacy. It’s unforgivable.”

 

* * * *

 

Harper and Morgan had been carefully watching the proceedings. This could end up being a nightmare for all of them. The invasion of her privacy at such a private moment was devastating, but she knew she had to buck up and put her attorney hat back on and right now. She and Morgan returned to her cabin. She quickly booted up her laptop and entered her account number and password.

She reviewed the existing case law regarding alien stowaways and the Immigration and Naturalization Service versus ship owners.

Harper and Morgan returned to the dungeon, where questioning of the stowaway was continuing. She motioned Con over, and they went back out into the passageway. She didn’t want to be overheard.

“Con, do you have a dollar in your pocket?” He looked confused. “I need a retainer. Anything we say after that carries attorney-client privilege.”

“Certainly.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled dollar bill and handed it over. “Now, what can you tell me?”

“Okay, this is just a quick overview. Section 1101 of Title 8 of the United States Code defines an ‘alien’ as ‘any person not a citizen or national of the United States.’ The Canadian government levies a fine of seven thousand dollars on ships found to be carrying stowaways. Apparently they want to encourage ship captains to discourage stowaways.”

“Shit. It’s not like I want to encourage them…”

“I understand. I think, given the circumstances, since this man is a US citizen, your best course of action would be to return to Bar Harbor or Boston and offload him there, where he will not be an illegal alien. The ship owner will not be responsible to pay repatriation and deportation costs under the immigration laws and won’t have to deal with the Canadian fine. He would be subject to criminal prosecution as a stowaway if you chose to press charges. I think you should detain him securely, feed him, and offer him medical treatment if necessary. You should confiscate the cell phone, which would unfortunately be lost overboard, and get him off the ship as quickly as possible. Did he manage to forward any of the pictures back to the paper?”

“I looked at his e-mail records, and as far as I can tell, he hasn’t yet had an opportunity to forward the pictures.”

“That’s good news. Perhaps, given that he is in a very precarious legal position, you can prevail upon him to sign the standard confidentiality agreement. We might want to contact his newspaper and have them sign one also and fax it back to you if they don’t want their reporter charged with criminal trespass. The newspaper is the party with the deep pockets if litigation becomes necessary. I would really not want to see that happen. It would be bad for everyone aboard. You shouldn’t volunteer any information that we might have already crossed into Canadian waters or that he might have taken any pictures on board. Do not mention any cell phone. I personally never saw one. I would be happy to put the fear of God into him and his editor regarding his legal position if you like.”

“I hate the thought of having to go back to Boston, but I think you’re right about that being the best solution for us as well as for the passengers. It really ticks me off that he is going to go scot-free after all the problems he’s caused.”

 

* * * *

 

Con and Greg approached Harmon Burke. Con put on his most intimidating expression. “You are going to be detained under armed guard in a cabin on the crew deck. One of our passengers, who is an attorney, as you well know, will speak with you about your legal situation tomorrow morning. In the meantime, don’t give me a reason to let any of these fine gentlemen have a private talk with you”—he gave a frightening chuckle—“or God help you, Natasha. You really don’t want to have a private conversation with her. You would not come out of it with a whole hide, I guarantee.”

Con turned to Greg and said, “Take him down to the cabin we used to detain Cartwright and Conklin in Manaus. Post an armed guard outside the door. Have the galley bring him some food, and see if he needs medical attention.”

Greg nodded. “Yes, Sir. I’ll secure him in the cabin and post a guard. I think we’re going to need to designate that cabin as our brig. Who would have thought you would need one aboard a ship like this.” He gestured to the ABs to bring the prisoner along.

 

* * * *

 

The next morning Harper visited Harmon Burke in the newly designated brig. The armed guard was on duty outside the door. Con had already turned the
Golden Dolphin
around, and they were making their way back toward Boston. She wasn’t going to share that fact with Harmon. She brought a clean copy of the confidentiality agreement she had prepared, and a copy of the e-mail she had received from his editor in New York after speaking with him on the phone. She had secured the newspaper’s signed confidentiality agreement after threatening not only a prison sentence for Harmon and bad publicity for the paper, but a mega lawsuit on behalf of the ship’s owner, as well as all of the passengers on the
Golden Dolphin.
A lawsuit of that magnitude would surely sink the paper for good. She was bluffing since she knew Devereau Shipping and the passengers would not want the publicity of a trial, but he didn’t need to know that. She had not disclosed the fact that a cell phone was involved, that any pictures had been taken, or what exactly went on aboard. She let him think Harmon had just been attempting to get pictures of the illusive Morgan Court.

Harmon was looking pretty chipper after having been fed a decent dinner and now breakfast for the first time in several days. “I don’t have to sign that agreement. I’m going to make a fortune with those pictures.”

“What pictures?” Harper raised her eyebrows as if in consternation.

“The ones on my cell phone. What a bunch of perverted…”

“What cell phone, Harmon? I didn’t see any cell phone. Do you have it? Let me see the pictures.”

“They took my cell phone, and I want it back.”

Harper just looked at him like he was the stupidest human ever since men started walking upright. “You’re kidding, right? Do you honestly think you’ll see that phone again? If, in fact, there ever was a phone, which I sincerely doubt. As I said, I never saw a phone. It could be anywhere. Maybe in several thousand feet of saltwater by now. Who knows, what with all the excitement last night.”

Harper thought Harmon looked crushed. She had no doubt he knew she spoke the truth. He was probably imagining his precious cell phone floating down through thousands of feet of water to settle on the bottom of the ocean. He probably also saw a shark nose it around a few times before the screen light went out forever. Then he probably imagined the same shark nose him around as well…She could only hope.

“You know, Harmon, it’s quite common for ship’s masters and crew to dispose of the problem of alien stowaways over the side, so to speak. It avoids a morass of bureaucratic paperwork and repatriation and deportation expenses, which are unfortunately born by the ship owners. They usually are not anxious to extend hospitality to stowaways.”

She saw his Adam’s apple bob a few times. “You wouldn’t let them do that, would you? You couldn’t…”

“Harmon, I don’t think I could stop them if they decided to do that. I would strongly suggest that you sign the same confidentiality agreement your editor and publisher signed, in order to avoid an international incident. I can show you a copy of the signed agreement if you doubt me. If you show some good faith, I might be able to convince the captain to release you in Boston and not press charges. If you get off this ship without your ass in a sling, you should consider yourself lucky indeed. You have no idea of the precariousness of your current position—physically as well as legally. You could spend a couple of years in jail. To put it in the vernacular, Harmon, your ass is grass.”

He looked around the small cabin as though he expected to see an answer to his dilemma written on the wall. “What’s it going to be, Harmon? The captain has to turn the ship around and make for Boston, or continue on to Canada, where he can turn you over to the Canadian authorities as an illegal alien.”

He looked sick. Apparently he was watching his big windfall float away in his mind. “I’ll sign and get off in Boston.”

“You need to be aware that the ship’s owners, as well as the passengers, some of whom have very long reaches, take the terms of the confidentiality agreement very seriously indeed. Should you or your paper breach the agreement, the consequences would be very severe. I would sincerely advise you never to speak of this to a living soul. Forget it ever happened. You wouldn’t want to cross these people.” She grinned to herself as she continued, “Some of them have bent noses if you know what I mean.” That was totally untrue, but Jamie Devereau would get a kick out of being thought to be “connected” so to speak. The billionaire investment banker certainly had a kinky side. She smiled to herself. That might turn out to be Jamie’s next role-playing adventure.

 

* * * *

 

When Harmon was ushered off the
Golden Dolphin
later that night in Boston Harbor, he was only slightly the worse for wear. A couple of Greg’s special security team helped him down the gangplank and gently reminded him of what could happen should he break his confidentiality agreement or try to come back aboard the
Golden Dolphin
.

“Get out of here before we decide to give you a real lesson. There are no officers around now to save your sorry ass.” The AB called Sam was built like a brick shithouse, with bulging muscles, and he looked really intimidating.

“I almost had it all…What a bunch of perverts. I never saw anything like it.” He shook his head. He just couldn’t believe he had been so close to his dream and then lost it.

“Hey, asshole! That’s no news flash. It’s what people do. They sleep together and have sex. What’s your problem with that? There’s nothing new under the sun.”

“You really don’t know when to shut up, do you? Open your mouth about anything you saw aboard the
Dolphin
, asshole, and you’ll regret it. Rest assured the consequences would not all be ‘legal,’” the one with “Tommy” on his uniform shirt added.

They had put him ashore without his cell phone or camera equipment. He realized he was lucky he still had his skin in almost whole condition. He did still have his wallet with his driver’s license and credit cards, and he made his way to a coffee shop near the wharf where the
Golden Dolphin
was currently berthed. He had to figure out what to do next. He needed a new cell phone, first of all, and he had to get back to the city. He wondered if he still had a job. Cullen wasn’t going to be too happy with him. He had caused the paper a lot of trouble, and he had failed to get the story, and more importantly, the pictures to prove it. He wondered if there was any way to salvage any of this situation. From where he sat now, it didn’t look too promising.
Son of a bitch. I was this fucking close, and now it’s all gone
.
If only I hadn’t waited to send some of the pictures to Cullen
.

Chapter Fifteen

 

International Waters, on board the Golden Dolphin, November 17, 2013—Sunday Morning, Day Eight of the Cruise

 

The
Golden Dolphin
had bypassed the ports of Halifax, Sidney, and Charlottestown in order to make up the time lost in backtracking to Boston to unload Harmon Burke. Captain Cortelis was glad to see the back of him. The ship had entered the St. Lawrence River estuary and picked up a river pilot to continue on to their next port of call, Saguenay, Canada, expected arrival eight o’clock Monday morning.

Con turned to Alex. “We’ll hit Charlottestown, Sidney, and Halifax on the trip back down river. Thank God we’ll be officially back on schedule when we reach Saguenay on Monday morning. Devereau has arranged an impromptu stop at Sugarloaf Island Sunday night for a formal dinner and a visit to their dungeon to make amends to the passengers for all of the upset caused by Burke.”

BOOK: Harper's Submission [Golden Dolphin 2] (Siren Publishing Classic)
5.14Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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