3.
"I'm telling you, something must've happened to McCormick. He's been gone all day!" Hardcastle yelled at the purser, the lights on the ship breaking up the darkness falling on the pier.
"Sir, you're within your rights to report your friend as missing to the local police, but there isn't much we or they can do about it. The missing person rule here is the same as the States, your friend must be gone for at least 24 hours before he's officially missing. And with a cruise ship, they don't really start looking until the ship has sailed, figuring that person may have taken up with a local girl. I'm sorry, Mr. Hardcastle, but that's the way things are run in the islands. If you'll excuse me asking, could Mr. McCormick be with a girl here, or possibly dealing a little weed? Lots of people his age do that sort of business in Nassau. It's a little more expensive than in Jamaica, but cheaper than the States."
His face stormy, Hardcastle's voice rose even louder than it already was. "McCormick doesn't have anything to do with drugs."
"I'm sorry, sir, but there have been other cases in the past. In fact, about five years ago, there was a killing of a few tourists who stumbled into a drug buy. It was never solved, even though the dead man's wife managed to take a video of the killing. Horrible business, that."
"I expect so. The local cops won't do anything about McCormick's disappearance/"
"I really am sorry, sir. We don't sail until tomorrow morning for Freeport. He'll probably show up before then. And even if he misses the boat, he can catch a shuttle plane that goes to Freeport from here."
A ruckus outside near the gangplank drew Hardcastle's attention. He went to the portal and saw some crewmen arguing with a little girl. She was struggling with one of the men while he tried to keep a tight hold on her.
"Let me go! I have to see Judge Hardcastle, please!" The girl screamed, kicking the crewman in the shins, running straight into Hardcastle who steadied her with a sure hand.
"Let me go!" The girl struck out, the Judge barely catching her fist before it hit his face.
"Hey! Stop it! You wanted to see Judge Hardcastle. Well, that's me."
The girl stopped, looking up at the Judge with tears brimming over the ends of her lashes. "You're Hardcastle? You gotta help. Mark's in trouble."
Hardcastle gripped her by the arms, rushing her into the lounge. "What's happened with McCormick? Where is he?"
"They've got him. Judge, they'll kill him. We heard everything." She gasped, shaking in Hardcastle's grip.
"Slow down. First off, who are you?" Hardcastle asked, trying to make sense of the girl's tale.
"I'm Mandy. I was showing Mark around and we went to the old Fort to eat lunch, and then we…"
"How was that?" Mandy asked, wiping her mouth off of mustard and a stray piece of chopped onion.
"Not bad, sweetheart, not bad at all." Mark sat back on the bench, his stomach filled with three hotdogs, a large order of fries and a Jamocha shake. "What now, Mandy?"
"Well, if you feel like it, we can take the tour through the lower levels or we could go see the old lighthouse. Oh, and there's the caverns on the opposite end of the island. Would you like to see that? They're really pretty, glow in the dark type stuff."
"Sounds nice. I won't have to scuba or swim, will I?" Mark asked dubiously.
"Nope. Just wade a little through some ankle-deep water."
"I can handle that. Okay, kiddo…" Mark bit his lip, the endearment reminding him of the Judge. "Mandy, if I wanted to stay here, would I need a passport or a green card to get a job?"
"You wanna live here? That'd be terrific, Mark! Gee, I don't know. I think you have to get some sort of visa from the government. Dad has a resident visa to work and live here. I don't know if you need anything else, but my Dad could tell you. Come back to the house with me tonight and you can see him."
"I'll have to slip back on the ship, get my things. I don't have much with me but it's better than just having the clothes on my back."
"Are you sure? I mean, what about your friend, won't he miss you?" Mandy asked.
McCormick nodded sadly. "Maybe a little. But I think he was ready to give me my pink slip anyway. Most people do that after they know me a while."
Mandy touched Mark's hand. "I wouldn't."
"Give it some time, Mandy, you will. Don't fret, it comes with the territory. I'm getting used to it." Mark relented when he saw the sad look in his young friend's eyes. "Don't sweat it, honey. I'll make out. Do you think I could get a job here, if the government approves of my staying?"
"What can you do?" Mandy asked, her sense of the practicality coming to the fore.
Mark shrugged. "Well, I've gardened and cleaned house. I can race cars or fix them." Mark laughed. "I can pick a lock or hotwire a car in seconds flat, but I don't think that would be a good thing to put on a job application, do you?"
"You're a thief?" Mandy asked with awe in her voice.
"Don't romanticize it, Mandy. I did two years in prison for car theft. Prison is someplace I don't ever want to go back to. It's not romantic or very nice. It's a horrible place to be and I wouldn't repeat it for all the money in the world." Mark's voice shook as he tried to impress upon the twelve year old the stupidity of crime.
"I'm sorry, Mark. I guess I never thought about it like that. Crooks are always the heroes on TV and in books, in the movies, too. I guess I never wondered about what they did after they were caught, where they went."
"Doesn't matter. C'mon on, let's se these caves of yours, then we'll go toalk to your dad. Hope he doesn't mind an uninvited visitor."
They took the bike and motored a few more miles up the coast, driving off the paved road onto a sandy path that led to some above ground caves a few feet off the coastline. Mark helped Mandy off the bike, laying it on the dry sand. They walked to the nearest cave and, wading through the shallow water, entered the darkness. Mark stood there in the opening, letting his eyes adjust to the dark. Soon he could make out vague shapes in the cave's interior and he tagged along after Mandy's surefooted traipsing.
As they moved father and farther away from the entrance, Mark saw the phosphorus glow in the walls, an eerie blue and white haze.
"Wow."
Mandy grinned, her teeth flashing in the shadows. "Thought you'd like it. Come on." Mandy took Mark's hand, leading him deeper into the cave, slowing when the footing got treacherous.
Mark thought he heard speaking from a side tunnel in the cave and put his hand over Mandy's mouth. He whispered in her ear, "shh, somebody else is in here."
Motioning her to stay against the wall, Mark moved closer to the low rumble and strained to listen.
A male voice echoed from the hidden chamber. "That's too much money, Jack. I need to make some money, not lose it. Your price means I either have to raise my price on the street higher than anybody else, or cut my profits down to almost nothing."
Another voice, apparently belonging to the man called Jack, replied. "I can't help your problems, my friend. You could always try to find another seller."
"Jack, you know I can't find anyone at such short notice. Christ, man, my last two contacts down here turned up dead. I need the coke, and I need it now!"
Mark backed away, motioning Mandy to start for the entrance of the cave. So intent on Mandy, Mark didn't see the rift in the floor of the cave and stumbled into it. The sound of his fall rang out like a shot and Mark knew they would be caught if they didn't hurry.
"Run, Mandy, run!" Mark pulled at his right foot, but it was wedged in the crack too tightly to pull out. "Run! Get Judge Hardcastle, back at the Aldoria."
"What about you?" Mandy cried out, backpedaling to the cave's entrance.
"I'm stuck! You've gotta get help. Mandy, for God's sake, run!" Mark heard the clatter of feet and reached for a nearby rock. "Go now. I'll hang on till you get back, I promise."
Mandy looked at McCormick, smiled weakly, then turned and ran, her young legs pumping as fast as they could.
McCormick waited until he could see a shadow approaching the turn of the tunnel, hefting the two-pound hunk of coral in his hand. It was large, almost too large to throw, but it was all he had.