DESTINY TAKES A HAND

  I couldn’t afford to get into another confrontation with Heinman just yet, and getting Jill out of there to see a physician was presenting a problem. I knew it had to be done, no matter what, and immediately. That is, if we were going to have additional evidence. I finally came up with a cloak and dagger scheme, that might work. A meeting with Jerry and Bill would confirm the plan and they would join in, to give me the help I needed. I had also found out that the girls weren’t leaving for another four days. At least that part of the plan was working to delay things. Heinman and Mead had the pressure now on them and no more bodies could wash up on shore. They’re plans had to be changed and they had to come up with another way of doing them in.

  The three of us met at Bill’s boat at 10:30 the next night, and got underway toward Mead’s Resort. The running lights on the boat were not used at all during the last fifteen minutes or so of the bouncy ride. He also cut off one of the engines, keeping the noise to a minimum. Inflating a life raft with the C02 cartridge, made fast work of what normally would have taken several minutes to do, by using the hand air pump. Holding onto the ropes, Jerry and I let the raft slide easily down the stern, while Bill let the anchor slip into the water without making a sound. Climbing down the ladder, we entered the raft and started paddling for shore. We were dressed for the part, by wearing dark clothes and had darkened our faces with a special compound to avoid any glare. Jerry’s Commando training with the British Intelligence Service was paying off, as he directed us to the beach. We came to a small jetty of rocks which would give us good cover as we pulled the raft up past the sand, and into a clump of bushes. It was out of sight, as I hoped we were.

  Bill was to be the sentry in case anyone got close to the cottage, and for anything else unusual. He’d signal us with a vibrating beeper, that didn’t make any noise, that each of us had fastened to our belt. Jerry and I cautiously made our way along the dunes and across a short open space to the first cottage. The lights from the fenced-in area were glowing out of the darkness, but were directed at the fence and the buildings. As we moved toward the ocean side of the cottage, and were within ten feet of the second one, Jerry stepped on a piece of half rotted wood, that snapped in two. The noise could be heard very clearly in the silence of the night. One of the guards at the gate stood up abruptly from his seat, looking in the direction from where the sound came. We had both laid face down along side the wooden walkway, which broke our silhouette. The guard started toward us, flashlight in hand, moving the light in a sweeping motion along the ground and sides of the building. Both of us were getting ready to pounce on him if needed, as his footsteps were getting closer. The beeper signal on my belt was vibrating as much as I was, as I cautiously moved my hand to the switch silencing the vibs. I could see the blade of a knife that Jerry held tight in his hand, should he have to use if. I had drawn my revolver from its shoulder holster. The footsteps stopped a short distance away, and through the boards, I could see the guard straining his eyes in the dim light around his face. Coming around the next building were a man and woman, with their arms around each others waist, talking and giggling softly. They approached the guard and asked him what was going on. He told them he thought he heard something at the other building, but they said they were making all kinds of noise so it was probably them. The guard accepted their explanation and went back to his post, sat down again, picked up a newspaper and continued reading. Jerry motioned for me to enter the cottage, and get Jill out of there. Opening the door quietly and slipping past one of the other models asleep on the couch, I entered the bedroom where Jill was lying on the bed. Cupping my hand over her mouth to avoid any screaming, I shook her shoulder in an attempt to awaken her. She moved a little and gave out a soft moan, but her eyes never opened. She must have been heavily drugged, because that was the only sound to come out of her. I picked her up, walked to the door of the cottage, where Jerry was waiting to close the door. Between the two of us, we made a cradle with our arms, and carried Jill to the beach. Bill saw us coming and pushed the raft to the water’s edge. Getting to the boat, we pulled up the anchor, started one of the engines and slowly eased our way out of range from the resort. As we cleared the inlet and headed for the open water, Bill started the other engine and poured the coals to the throttles moving us quickly back to his marina. Picking up the mike to the radio, Bill contacted his headquarters, asking that a couple of the men make sure no one was around his car in the parking lot.

  The night before, Jerry had made arrangements with a physician to examine Jill and as he drove around the back of the dispensary, the Doctor was waiting. This particular dispensary was chosen because it was fully equipped, including a laboratory. Jill was still out of it and hadn’t opened her eyes at all. This physician had been flown in from San Francisco and was on our payroll along with two nurses to assist him. I thought to myself, Mead wasn’t the only one who had Doctors and nurses. I put Jill in a wheel chair and rolled her into the examination room, closed the door behind me while Jerry and Bill were keeping an eye outside. An hour later, the doctor opened the door, and walked to the empty chair beside us and sat down.

  “Your suspicions were correct,” he said.

  “You’re absolutely sure?” Jerry asked.

  “It’s conclusive,” he answered.

  The doctor continued,“The blood tests show that she was given the same type drug as indicated in the autopsy report for the other two. She isn’t in any immediate danger, but if given any larger dosage, it could cause a prolonged amnesia effect. At this moment, her vital signs are fairly normal, considering. If I were you, I’d make it a point to see that she doesn’t get anymore.”

  “The other girls must be in the same condition,” I said.

  “Well......I can only guess at that, but I’d say from your observations, if they looked in a similar way on the surface, then I would assume so.” the doctor reiterated.

  “Now, what about the incisions under her breasts?” I questioned.

  “The samples I extracted were precise and traces of a capsule type container were present. But the person who did the operation took the proper precautions to prevent infection. I guess, no matter what kind of a son-of-a-bitch he is, he’s still a Doctor. Even the incisions won’t show in a few months. Usually, any foreign object placed in the body will cause infection, but these capsules were treated before being used.”

  “Tell me more about the drug she is under now,” I asked. “Does it effect the brain cells or nerve system for any long period of time.”

  “Like I said, only if overdosed. It can block memory temporarily and perhaps even can be used to interject thoughts, without the person even knowing it.”

  “What about Jill’s situation?”

  “I took a brain scan and everything is normal. I can’t promise you anything more than that right now.”

  “I want to thank you, Doctor,” Jerry said. “I know it was a long trip for you and your nurses, but we had to be sure of the findings.”

  “Anytime, Jerry. It’s all part of the job for......you and me.”

  We took Jill back to the resort the same way we got her earlier. It was tough to leave her there, all of us griping at ourselves for doing it. But, we had to and were pleased with the information we received.

  At three AM, we departed the marina in separate cars. An hour later, I fell into the bed at my apartment, exhausted, and all I wanted to do was sleep late.

  There was a ringing in my ears that kept getting louder and louder as I struggled with my body to move toward it’s sound. Lifting the receiver without saying anything into it, I heard the voice at the other end.

  “Harry......Harry. Are you there?”

  “Yeah,” I answered sleepily.

  “This is Jerry,” the voice said.

  “I know who it is,” Don’t you ever sleep.”

  “I feel great this morning. Besides it’s nine o’clock already and half the day is gone.” he said cheerfully.

  “What are you doing up this early, Jerry?”

  “I had five good hours of sleep. That’s enough for anyone.”

  “I must be getting old or something,” I replied.

  “You’re just out of training, Old Boy. What you need to do is exercise every morning like I do.”

  “Did you call me, just to tell me that?”

  “No, of course not. But I did want you to know that Bill is planning his little surprise for Heinman tomorrow evening. I talked to him this morning and he is all set. You and I can watch this one, since he has a two way mirror in his office.”

  “Sounds great to me,” I said.

  “See you tomorrow evening then.”

  “Yeah. You don’t mind if I go back to bed for a little longer, do you?”

  “Nah......see you, Harry.”

  Putting down the phone, I walked to the bed and. in a few motionless minutes was in dreamland again.

  The hands on the clock above the cashier’s counter at the restaurant pointed straight up, twelve o’clock, as Jerry came through the door. He looked around for a brief moment, then came over to my table and sat down.

  “Did you get enough sleep.”

  “I feel a lot better than I did at nine yesterday morning.”

  “Sorry about that, Old Boy, but I thought you’d be up and ready to go.”

  The waitress took our order and brought us a cup of coffee. We talked about run-of-the-mill things and just conversation in general. When we finished eating, we dropped a tip on the table, paid the check and left. Walking down a less busy street, Jerry filled me in on what was to happen that evening.

  “Bill called Heinman and told him to be at his headquarters at six o’clock. He didn’t tell him why the meeting was called, just that it concerned the yachts of the Mead Corporation. To say the least, it should be very interesting to see his reaction to finding Barbara’s body.

  “I think it’ll get some real good results.” I said.

  “Me too. That should be enough to do it and I’m thinking that he’ll run straight to Mead. Want to bet on it?”

  “No thanks. I’d loose.”

  “I’ll meet you there at five-thirty.”

  “I’ll be there.” I said.

  Jerry and I made our way to the back entrance of Bill’s Headquarters and to the room next to his office. We sat down and waited for Heinman to be brought in and didn’t have long to wait. It was interesting from the very start, watching him being seated at a table, for questioning. He looked very displeased, to say the least. Bill entered the room and Heinman stood up.

  “What’s this all about.” he asked.

  “First of all, Mr. Heinman, my name is Bill Maxwell,” holding his hand out and shaking Heinman’s.

  “Why was I brought here, I’d like to know.”

  “Let me ask you a few questions first, if you don’t mind. He hesitated for a few moments, looking at some papers.

  “Mr. Heinman......you are part owner of the Tidewater Resort, are you not.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “And you also own a share of the yachts that go along with the resort, right.”

  “Yes, again.”

  “Well......Mr. Heinman, it seems that a few of your yachts violated some maritime rules. At least, that’s what the Coast Guard report states. By the way, Mr. Howard Mead is your partner, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is. Now what’s all this about breaking rules? What violations?” he said in a louder voice. “I’ll have my lawyer take care of this sort of thing. You don’t need me here.”

  “We do, Mr. Heinman. We need you here since they’re your boats. But, if you want to call your lawyer and he can show us where the yachts was located at the times written on the report, maybe we can clear all this up.”

  Heinman called his lawyer, explaining what he needed and then sat down to wait. One of Bill’s men entered the room and spilled the beans about Barbara. I wouldn’t have missed seeing the expression on his face for anything in the world. He started moving about in his chair, not being able to sit still, and finally got up and started to pace the floor.

  Irritably he said,“Where is that lawyer of mine.”

  A little while later, the lawyer came in the office with his briefcase in hand. He talked with Heinman off in a corner for a few minutes, then directed his attention to Bill.

  “Mr. Maxwell, I’m Jim York. Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Well......Mr. York. It seems there has been some violations with Mr. Heinman’s Yachts, and we’re just checking it out. The Coast Guard sent the report to us and it’s our responsibility to get the answers. What I need, to see at the moment, are the ships logs. Do you have them with you?”

  “Right here. I have copies, not the originals. At the end of each excursion, a copy is faxed to me.”

  “Can I have a look at what you have there?”

  “Of course. What sort of violations were you speaking of?”

  “Mostly coming back in past the twelve mile limit without reporting to the Guard. It’s been noticed several times in the last three months.”

  “That’s a pretty minor thing to be bringing Mr. Heinman all the way down here for, isn’t it.”

  “Not at all. We can’t let these things continue or everyone would be disregarding the laws of the sea, and we are obligated to investigate.”

  Bill studied the logs with only one thing in mind, and that was to find out if they recorded any stops along the way, and where they were.

  “From what I can see, Bill continued, “You did violate the re-entry regulations. Since that is the only violation, we can take care of it without any court action. There’s a fine involved for each one. Are you prepared to take care of them now?” Bill asked.

  York looked over at Heinman, “Do you want me to take care of this now, Mr. Heinman?”

  “Of course. Get it over with so I can get out of here.”

  York wrote out a check and handed it to Bill, “Thank you for coming in, Mr. Heinman. In the future, just call the Guard and that’ll save us both a lot of time and money.”

  Heinman and his lawyer walked out the door in a fast pace and headed for their car. Two agents were downstairs waiting to follow Heinman wherever he went. Jerry and myself hurried down the back stairs, to my car and were ready to join in the pursuit.

  It was dark as we pulled away from the building. The surveillance had been planned and it was decided to use, what is called in all agencies, the A, B, C, method. Three cars would be needed to do the job effectively, and each would be in constant radio contact with the others. One car started it by following the suspect for a few miles, then turned off at a designated street. The second car would take over and then the third. The person being followed wouldn’t see the same car behind him all the time. We could keep that up indefinitely, by calling more vehicles in as necessary. In this particular situation, we wanted Heinman to go to Mead and tell him all about the run in with the Coast Guard.

  Heinman ended up at his apartment building, but only for a few minutes, as all of us waited impatiently. He returned to his car, and then headed straight for the resort. A small fishing boat, just off shore from the resort with two agents peering through binoculars, watched as Heinman drove through the gate and to one of the cottages where Mead’s car was parked. Knowing that Mead usually stayed at that particular cottage, I had placed a listening device on two of the windows when we went there to pick up Jill for the doctors examination. We parked the car outside the fence on a small knoll, not far from the buildings and switched on the receiver. Listening intently he noisily opened the door and closed it again.

  “We may have a problem, Howard,” Heinman said in a nervous voice.

  “What kind of problem? I thought everything was running pretty smooth.”

  “I think the Coast Guard located the body of Barbara.”

  “Barbara? Who’s Barbara?”

  ‘‘You know.....one of the models.”

  “What do you mean, they located her body? How could they possibly do that?”

  “She washed up on shore and she had some type of identification on a bracelet she was wearing.”

  “Who told you they found her body?” Mead barked.

  “The Coast Guard. I was at the West Coast Maritime Office and this detective or whoever he was came in the office and told the inspector while I was sitting there.”

  “Make sense. What are you saying?”

  “I received a call to come to their headquarters about a violation with yachts, and they had this report from the Coast Guard saying so. Something about returning through the twelve mile limit without contacting the Guard.

  “You fool......that was just a way to get you down there. They probably already know that Barbara, whoever she is, worked here”

  “But I......”

  “But nothing. They probably followed you here and now they know that you came straight here to me. They’ll know now that I’m involved in this goddamned thing.”

  “We didn’t start having trouble until we hired that new photographer, Harry Silver,” Heinman interjected.

  There was a complete silence for a few seconds. We both started checking the receiver, thinking that something was wrong with the set. Then Mead continued.

  “O.K., here’s what I want you to do. Check out this Harry Silver, and find out what his game is. Use some of our contacts in Washington to help you and don’t come back without a complete report on him. We have to work fast on this thing and I want the answers by noon tomorrow. If he is some sort of agent, he’ll have to be taken care of and very soon, Follow what I’m saying?”

  “Yeah. I know. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Then get going.”

  It was clear to see that Mead was the General, and Heinman, just a Sergeant. The door opened and closed again and in a few minutes, his car came past us traveling at a pretty good clip.

  Glancing at Jerry, “I think that by noon tomorrow, I’m going to be out of a job with Future Models, Inc,”

  “That seems like a reasonable assumption to me.” Jerry added. “Now that we have them on the run, let’s keep the pressure on their butts.”