Chapter 3 - The Tattooed Man
By noon the following day, the sun was burning bright over Fort Lauderdale, but the mood inside the Vance estate was dark and claustrophobic.
Four armed security guards in dark suits patrolled the perimeter. Inside the glass-walled living room, Detective Miller was going through a series of mugshots displayed on a high-definition tablet screen.
Richard, Marina, and Luna sat on the leather sofa across from him. Peter was upstairs playing video games under the watchful eye of a female officer.
"We checked the airport logs," Detective Miller said, tapping the tablet. "David Vance did indeed take a private flight to the Bahamas last night at 2300 hours. Nassau police have been notified, but without a formal extradition warrant, we can't detain him yet."
"David was against the merger from day one," Richard said bitterly, gripping a cold cup of coffee. "He wanted to sell our shipping lanes to a private equity firm backed by European capital. I blocked him at the board meeting last Tuesday."
"It's not just corporate politics, Mr. Vance," Miller said grimly. "We tracked the white utility van Luna saw at the docks. It was found burned out in an abandoned citrus grove three miles west of I-95."
Luna leaned forward, staring at the tablet screen as Miller flipped through a digital photo array of known contract operatives in South Florida.
"Wait," Luna said suddenly, pointing her small finger at a image on the screen. "That's him."
Richard and Miller both froze.
The photo showed a man in his late thirties with sunken cheeks, a shaved head, and a thick, dark tattoo running from his collarbone up the right side of his neck. The tattoo was a stylized raven with striking red eyes.
"Are you certain, Luna?" Miller asked, his tone dropping into deadly seriousness. "Take your time. Look close."
"It's him," Luna said without a second of hesitation. "He was the one standing on the pier holding the radio bag. He had a gold tooth on the left side of his mouth when he smiled at me."
Miller closed the tablet with a sharp snap. "His name is Victor 'The Raven' Cruz. Ex-Navy demolition technician discharged for misconduct eight years ago. He runs a high-end enforcement crew out of Miami. He doesn't do anything unless someone pays him six figures in untraceable crypto."
"If David hired him..." Marina started, her voice shaking.
"If David hired him," Miller finished, "then Cruz knows his job isn't finished. When a contract killer fails to detonate a bomb, he doesn't get paid until the target is dead. Which means Cruz is still in South Florida."
Just then, the iron security gate at the front of the property buzzed.
Richard stood up, his jaw set. "Who is that?"
One of the private security guards checked a monitor mounted on the wall. "It's a black Mercedes sedan, Mr. Vance. It's your brother, Arthur."
Richard walked out to the driveway as the heavy iron gates slid open. Arthur Vance stepped out of the Mercedes, looking disheveled and frantic. His tie was undone, his expensive suit wrinkled, and his hands were shaking as he carried a thick leather briefcase.
"Richard!" Arthur called out, walking quickly up the brick path. "We have a massive problem. The board found out about the bomb squad incident."
"How?" Richard demanded, folding his arms. "Detective Miller kept this off the police scanner."
"Victor Sterling," Arthur blurted out, stopping two feet from Richard. "The CEO. He called an emergency board meeting for three o'clock today at the downtown tower. He wants to execute a key-person disability clause to strip you of your voting shares while the criminal investigation is ongoing!"
Richard stared at his brother, his mind racing.
Victor Sterling had been his mentor for ten years, but Sterling was also seventy-two years old and desperately protective of his legacy. If Sterling thought Richard was bringing violent cartel wars into the company's executive offices, he would cut Richard out without a second thought.
"Where is David's laptop?" Richard asked suddenly.
Arthur blinked. "What?"
"David was the head of maritime operations," Richard said, taking Arthur by the arm and leading him into the house. "If David hired Cruz to plant that bomb, the transaction record or the communication log has to be on his primary network drive at the downtown office."
"Richard, you can't go downtown!" Marina called out from the doorway, having overheard them. "The police said it's not safe!"
"If I don't go to that board meeting at three o'clock, Marina," Richard said, turning to face his wife, "Victor Sterling will sign over control of Horizon Energy to the very people who tried to kill us. I lose the company, I lose our security detail, and we become sitting ducks."
Luna stepped out from behind Marina, looking at the black Mercedes parked in the driveway.
"Mr. Vance?" Luna said softly.
Richard looked down at her. "Yes, Luna?"
"The man with the raven tattoo," she whispered, her eyes wide with sudden realization. "When he was talking on his cell phone near the ice shed... he said a name."
"What name, Luna?" Detective Miller asked, stepping out onto the porch.
"He said, 'Tell Mr. Sterling the package is under the keel.'"
The driveway fell into a suffocating, dead silence.
The ocean breeze rustled the fronds of the tall royal palms overhead, but nobody moved.
May you like
Richard turned his head very slowly to look at his brother Arthur.
"Sterling?" Richard whispered, the blood draining completely from his face. "It wasn't David..."
