Two blocks down the road, the street lights disappeared. “The streets are dark, but it feels like we’re headed in the right direction,” Sin said for Troy’s benefit. A block later, she spotted an ornate cottage decked out in Jamaican colors. “There’s a small building that looks like it would belong on the streets of Kingston. There are bikes parked out front and music blaring, we’re going in.”
“What’s the address?” she heard Troy say through her ear piece. She rattled it off as she continued towards the building.
Stepping onto the parking lot, she looked at Tiff, who nodded. Walking up to the door, she eyeballed the landscape and took mental snapshots of all she surveyed: doors, windows, external lighting, cars, bikes, sounds, smells, etcetera. Stepping inside, she repeated the process. The club, crowded with coeds and Jamaicans, was packed. She wondered how anyone could be taken from a place like this without being noticed by someone.
They stepped up to the bar and ordered drinks, blending in with the crowd. It didn’t take long before they were approached by a couple of guys. She noticed that one of them looked like one of the guys from the video, but since she never saw him from the front, she couldn’t be sure.
Tiffany struck up a conversation with them while Sin remained quiet, taking in the scene. It didn’t take Tiffany long before she got their names, D’andre and Jameos.
Sin overtly scanned the bar, making sure she was conspicuous. D’andre noticed and asked her what she was looking for. “A couple of our friends came down to Key West a day before we did, but I haven’t been able to find them. I was just looking to see if they were here.”
“We hang out here all the time. What do they look like?”
She shrugged. “Just a couple of girls. Becca is American, short with long blonde hair, and a little shy. Pia is Italian, a little taller and brunette. She has heavy accent and is very spunky. They’re always together. If you saw one, you would have seen the other.”
D’andre laughed. “There are a lot of girls down here on Spring Break, but their names don’t sound familiar.”
“I know,” she said. “It was a long shot, I was just hoping.”
Changing the subject, D’andre invited them to go out back and smoke some weed.
“We don’t smoke,” Tiff said, “but some fresh air sounds good. My friend and I’ll go with you while you do.”
The guys led them out back and walked down the boardwalk to a long pier. There, they stopped and lit up.
“Wow,” Sin said, “I never would have expected this place to be so close to the water.”
Jameos smiled. “Ya mon, this place is a hidden jewel. Just one of our many secrets.”
Tiffany looked out at the dock. “Those boats are awesome. It would be so cool to own one.”
“If you’d like, we could show you one,” Jameos smiled.
D’andre elbowed Jameos in the ribs. “I’m afraid the ganja has gone to my friend’s head. We don’t own any of these boats. The dockmaster wouldn’t be very happy if we just walked onto a yacht.”
Sin eyed the area noticing there was no dockmaster or security hut but stayed silent. Once the guys had finished smoking, she mentioned it was getting late and that their friends would be worried about them if they didn’t get back to their hotel.
After some more small talk, the four of them walked back inside where they said goodbye and left.
Walking back towards Duval, Sin made sure they weren’t being followed before she started speaking. “That was the place,” she said.
“How do you know?” Troy asked.
“The one guy, D’andre, his posture stiffened when I described Becca and Pia and he was quick to change the subject. He also panicked when his friend was dumb enough to invite us on a boat.”
“That’s pretty circumstantial. Anything else?”
“He has a fresh scrape down his right cheek. Becca is left-handed. If she fought back, she could have gouged his right cheek.”
“Did you see the boat Jameos was looking at when he mentioned he could show us one?” Tiffany said. “It was huge.”
Sin nodded. “It was the only yacht docked along the pier. D’andre made the mistake of saying yacht, not boat.”
“What’s your plan?” Troy asked.
“We need to meet with Spanky’s friends and find out what they know. We’ll go from there.”
15
Sin couldn’t wait until the next night to talk to the Key West business owners. She called Spanky and arranged to meet him and a close friend of his at the restaurant at six a.m., the next day.
It was a little before six when she, Troy and Tiffany sat down to meet with Spanky and Jim Dwyer, the owner of the Sea Shanty, a popular nightspot on the island.
Dwyer was tight-lipped until Sin showed him her shield. He studied her creds. “If I seem paranoid, it’s because I am,” he said, handing them back. “These bastards have made all our lives a living hell.”
“Why haven’t you reported them?” Troy asked
Dwyer snickered. “They might not look like much, but don’t let that fool you. Jimenez Escador, the owner of Big Island Dive and Snorkel, tried. He called the cops and told them he and a bunch of others were victims of extortion. He told the cops who took his statement that it was the Jamaicans riding the flashy bikes.
“The cops wanted him to come to the precinct that next day to make a formal complaint and try and pick out some of the Jamaicans from a lineup. That same night, three guys busted into his house. They grabbed his wife and put a knife to her throat and threatened to slice it. Then they beat the shit out of him
