“Maybe it’s so that someone who knew the combination could come aboard, leave something in the stern locker, then relock it and leave.”
“We’re going to need something more substantial than an aluminum boat hook to break into that,” Tommy said.
“There’s a tool kit below,” Stone said. He went down and came back with a large screwdriver. It took a couple of minutes to break into the locker. Stone opened the locker and stood back. It was packed with plastic bags, taped shut.
They were about to open one when there was a sudden blast from a boat’s horn. They looked up to find a small Coast Guard cutter standing a few yards off the port side.
“Ahoy, there,” a woman’s voice said on a loud hailer. “We’re boarding you.”
Stone looked at Tommy. “We’re not dressed for the occasion,” he called back.
“There are some towels below,” Tommy said, ducking into the cabin and returning with two skimpy bath towels. The cutter’s crew deployed fenders, and the female captain, who was petite and attractive, stepped aboard, wearing a handgun and a name tag that read “Tabor.” A crewman stood on the boat’s upper deck with an assault rifle at port arms.
“Is this your boat?” Tabor asked them.
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“No, Captain Tabor,” Tommy said. “I’m Lieutenant Tommy Sculley, Key West PD.”
“I don’t see a badge,” she said, suppressing a smile.
“Right,” Tommy said. “It’s on our airplane.”
“What’s going on here?” she asked.
“We’re looking for the boat’s occupants,” Tommy said. “We got a report that the boat had been abandoned here, so we flew out for a look.”
She nodded toward the broken lock on the cabin door. “I suppose you have a search warrant?”
“No, we were concerned for the safety of the crew,” Tommy said,
“so we had a look around.” He opened the stern locker. “All we found was this.”
Tabor looked into the locker and whistled. “Tell you what, lieutenant: why don’t you swim back to your airplane and bring me some I.D. And if you try to take off, that seaman over there with the M16 will shoot you down.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tommy said, dropping his towel. 19 6
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TOM M Y S WA M B A C K , holding his I.D. wallet out of the water, and handed it to the Coast Guard captain.
She looked at it suspiciously, then turned to Stone. “And who would you be?” she asked.
“My name is Stone Barrington,” he replied. “If you want to see me without the towel, I’ll swim back and get my I.D., too.”
Tabor blushed. “Okay,” she said, “don’t bother.”
“We’d like to leave now,” Stone said.
“We’re going to tow this boat back to our base in Key West and impound it,” she said. “How do I get in touch with you?”
“Call Lieutenant Sculley and Key West PD,” Stone said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He dropped the towel, hopped over the side and swam back to the airplane, followed by Tommy.
“Well,” Tommy said, “that was interesting. I guess she just wanted to see me naked.”