“Skip, if that information, in whatever form it is in, still exists, we seriously might be the first people to find it. Think what that could mean.”
I felt his excitement. This property was vacant and maybe, just maybe, the foundation for that long-forgotten hotel still existed.
“Plan. We go buy a couple shovels, charge them to that dwindling debit card. Then we have dinner, we go over to Rumrunners-that bar at the Holiday Isle-have a few drinks.”
“I like the dinner and drinks part. And charging it all.”
“About three a.m. tomorrow morning we drive down to the vacant lot, scale the fence, and put our shovels in the ground.”
“It sounds like what we should do.”
“Then it’s a plan.”
“Good to go, James.”
“Dude, when is she getting here?”
I gave him a blank stare.
“Come on, man. I heard part of the conversation. I saw the look in your eye. Em’s coming down to give us a hand, am I right?”
“She got a note, James. Somebody wrote her and said if we didn’t drop this project, all three of us were going to get killed.”
“Jesus.”
“Em has good ideas. You know she does.”
He rolled his eyes. “Seriously? Someone wrote her and said they were going to kill us?”
“They did.”
“What about Mary?”
“
“Not this time, pally. I’m asking what you’re going to tell our employer?”
“She knows Em. They work out at the same gym. Em’s the reason we got this job.”
“It’s another mouth to feed, Skip. Are we going to have to share the wealth?”
“We’ll worry about it later. Right now, we could use the help.”
“Oh, it’s all right. I get along so well with your girlfriend.”
He didn’t. But I was anxious to see her, and with two separate rooms back at our resort, this could be a good time.
It’s just that I hadn’t seriously planned on someone really trying to kill us.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
We picked up two shovels and a big flashlight at the Overseas Ace Hardware on Highway 1. The plump female at the register kiddingly asked if we were digging for treasure. We just laughed.
We headed down U.S. 1, James saying he was surprising me for our evening meal. He’d found a special place. James worked for Cap’n Crab, a fast-food restaurant in Carol City, so his culinary tastes should have been suspect, but he was a culinary major in college. The guy knew good food. He’d picked a restaurant where we ended up having a very expensive dinner.
“Dude, she’s paying for it.”
The restaurant was a place called Ziggie and Mad Dog’s on the Overseas Highway. World famous by the way. Lots of things in the Keys were apparently world famous. Who knew?
“Why did you pick this place?” There were a lot of places cheaper than Ziggie and Mad Dog’s.
“Did a little Internet research back at the library, Skip. Way back, when this was a saloon, they had casino games here. Al Capone even played cards in the back room. Now, one of the owners is Jim Mandich. This guy played for Michigan, then for the Dolphins. He played in two Super Bowls, seventy-one and seventy-two. When he was with the Dolphins they had a perfect season in seventy-two.”
“This Mandich was Mad Dog?”
“Is.”
“The nickname says-”
“He’s a crazy man. On and off the field.”
That made sense. James Lessor is a crazy man. He tends to gravitate to people like that.
“So we’re eating here because?”
“We can tell people we did. It’s world famous.”
For James it was a magical evening. Apparently Jim Mandich occasionally came into his restaurant and pressed the flesh with the locals and tourists. We saw no signs of celebrity this evening.
I was not alive in seventy-one or seventy-two, and Mandich’s history had no relevance to me. James, on the other hand, wanted to immerse himself in the experience.
Upon arriving back at Pelican Cove, James walked over to Rumrunners, a multilevel, tiki-style building with the main bar on the second level.
I waited for Em. She showed up half an hour later in her new black Porsche Carrera. Em worked for her father, a very wealthy contractor, and she lived on a different plane than I did. She’d offered to get me a job with Dad, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to do it. And besides, who would look out for James?
“I missed you.” She kissed me in the parking lot. Then kissed me again.
“It’s only been two days.”
“I missed you.” She kissed me again, and I started to get interested. Em can be a very persuasive girl.
I hesitated to ask, but I did anyway. “What do you see in me? You’ve got so much going and-”
She threw her arms around my neck and pulled my mouth to hers. She kissed me again.
“Shut up and show me our suite. This could be fun.”
With the threat of my demise, I questioned that comment, but the next forty minutes were unbelievable.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Skip, Em, this is Amy.” He was shouting over the music.
We’d walked over to Rumrunners, hoping to run into James. It didn’t surprise me that he’d made the acquaintance of a young, attractive lady. She had a brief white knit top on and a tan skirt that came up mid- thigh.
Smiling, she nodded at both of us.
“James has told me so much about you two.” She smiled, like we were going to be best of friends.
It was as if James and Amy had a long-term relationship and Em and I were just catching up.
“He’s never said a word about you.” Em started on James immediately. The two of them just went for the throat.
He gave her that look that said: Don’t be a smart-ass.
The same look she usually gave him.
The song ended and the crowd applauded the guitar player who introduced a Jimmy Buffett tune while working a rhythm machine. When he started the next song, his voice was slightly off-key. He was loud, and the voices at the crowded bar went up a decibel.
I always wondered why an entertainment establishment hired a talent who couldn’t carry it off. They did it on a regular basis.
“Amy is from New York. She’s a designer.” James was practically shouting, a smug look on his face.
I nodded. Talking much louder I said, “Emily is from Miami. She manages a large construction firm.”
“Well, Amy is a diver. She’s taking a trip to the San Jose shipwreck tomorrow. She’s a historian as well.”
