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I grunted. “She’s still alive, I’m assuming.”
“Of course. Like I’d let anyone die under my watch. She’s a timid thing, isn’t she?”
Conejita. “I’ve already told you, it doesn’t matter what she’s like. She’s temporary.”
Helena rolled her eyes, and I dutifully ignored it. “My brother’s business associate contacted the compound this morning. They have a boat in need of repair and some crates that’ll need to be stored until they can be moved to the mainland.”
She barely batted an eye and started loading plates into the dishwasher. “Should I get lunch prepared for our guests?” Helena looked at me. “Or are these ‘not guests’ too?”
“These are VIPs,” I said. “We’ll wine and dine and do anything we can to avoid talking about anything happening on the mainland. Understand?”
“Of course,jefe.”
After Helena finished clearing up the breakfast mess, she had me take off my shirt so that she could reapply the dressing on my shoulder. She prodded at the wound and madehmm-ing noises. “Having fun?” I griped as her fingers dug at my tender flesh.
“Oodles,” she deadpanned.
“If Angel heard you talking like this…”
“What? You think I’m afraid of him?” She pinched the back of my arm and laughed when I cursed. “You and Angel think you’re so tough, but we all know that housekeepers hold the real keys to the kingdom.” She patted my uninjured arm. “It looks good. No redness or swelling, no discharge…youprobablywon’t lose your arm.”
“Gracias.”
I hurried out of the kitchen, and called Efrain and Pascal to the drydock to explain about our impending visitors. “Did they say if it was the engine giving them trouble?” Pascal asked.
“Lili didn’t say. The only thing Ademir relayed to her was that the boat wouldn’t make it to Miami in its current state.”
“What’s it carrying?” Efrain asked, the far more serious one of the pair.
“Armas,” I said. “Knowing Ademir, probably big ones.”
Both men tensed. Drugs weren’t necessarily easier to deal with, but a lot of weapons in one place could get really ugly really fast. “We’ll get their boat fixed as quickly as possible,” I said.
Around midday, a boat drifted into view. It was definitely struggling. Through a pair of binoculars, I could see that they were basically paddling along. “Get the dinghy,” I told Efrain. “We’ll tow them in.”
They ran to get the dinghy and lowered it into the water; then we all climbed aboard. It skipped across the waves, rough from the tearing wind. But it didn’t take long to reach the boat. “We’ll tow you in,” I called to the men. “You’re not taking on water, right?”
They confirmed that they weren’t sinking, and Pascal threw them the rope. Once everything was secure, we turned for shore.
When we reached the dock, Pascal helped a couple of the men unload their cargo while Efrain went to check the engine. “Can you fix it?” one man asked as he returned to the dock, obviously anxious.
Efrain made a humming sound. “Shouldn’t take more than a few hours,” he declared.
“No overnight?”
As if I would allow that. “No,” Efrain assured him, glancing at me.
The man also looked at me. “Ademir mentioned that we could store the load here? Our timeline is off for delivery.”
I nodded. “Yes, we can accommodate that.”
“It will be…safe here?”
“We regularly use this island for storage. We’re in international waters here, so the worry about the Coast Guard is next to nothing.”
“And will we be seeing Angel while we’re here? Ademir wishes for us to extend a greeting.”
Angel largely stayed out of the Syndicate’s arms business, but he wasn’t opposed to further business arrangements with the man. It would make sense if they were trying to get Angel into a meeting now that the Castillos were helping them.
