Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Lace snuggled up as close to Vince as possible, nearly naked under her warming blankets and especially happy for his body heat.
She was distracted, however, listening to him speak; no longer even concentrating on any of what she considered her “minor health issues”, as she marveled at Vince’s command.
He was barking orders, and everyone was obeying them. Which blew her mind.
The Vince she’d gotten to know up to this point, was certainly no slouch, but he normally stepped back from assuming control of anything, happy to let others call the shots.
Not today.
Today, he was clearly the one in charge of this mission, which was apparent in the way everyone deferred to him.
Her attention switched to the still open doorway, where Trask was currently being hoisted aboard with the captain in tow. And what do you know. Captain Asshat seemed to be in some kind of…discomfort?
Lace suppressed a giggle. Chances are that those buckles Jett had whispered to her about were coming into play.
Lace felt a certain sense of justice fill her chest. It served the man right. Even though he’d apologized, sort of, he was still a dishonest prick, and she’d already gone above and beyond for him, keeping his head above water by giving him that life ring.
She certainly wasn’t obligated to waste another second worrying about him, nor would she ever trust him again.
“Give him a towel and put him in zip-ties,” Vince ordered his brothers, issuing the command without moving from her side.
He then snarled at Macleen as the man was being secured. “Give us the code for your helm lock,” he demanded.
“I…I…” the captain prevaricated.
“Don’t even think about saying you forget,” Vince barked. “Because if that’s the case, I’ll have the Coast Guard pick up your crew, after which we’ll scuttle the Water Wrestler and send her to the bottom of the ocean.”
“You wouldn’t,” the captain spluttered.
“Try me.” Vince’s voice came out cold, authoritative, and Lace knew he meant every word of what he threatened.
Apparently, the captain did, too.
“Six, five, seven, nine,” the defeated man grumbled.
“Spence,” Vince hailed. “This is Belle.” Vince spoke over the invisible comms she now knew he wore. “We have confirmation of the helm lock release code.”
He repeated to his brother what the captain had said.
“Cutter Bunyan,” he followed up. “Tail that boat back into port. I’ll be notifying the local police, and we’ll let them take charge from there.
They can sort out who was complicit and who wasn’t, then decide what they want to do with all involved.
Stand by for any more information I’ll be getting from their captain. ”
“I’m not saying anything until I have a lawyer,” Captain Macleen whined upon hearing that.
Vince barely afforded him a glance as he signed off with Spence and the cutter before turning his attention to the captain.
“Would you like to wait for your lawyer, back in the water?” Vince responded conversationally, but Lace could hear the steel undertones in his voice. “Because we can put you back where we found you, and see how long it takes for him to get to you.”
“You wouldn’t,” the captain raged, his face contorting.
“Try me,” Vince returned icily. “You have no leeway here. You attempted to kill the woman I love.”
The captain’s gaze darted to Lace, then shifted to note the chill in Vince’s eyes.
He must have seen the truth in what Vince said, because he shivered as Vince went on.
“You should be relieved I didn’t order Trask to take that life ring away and leave you to drown,” Vince reproved fiercely.
“If only,” Trask mumbled.
“Now spill, Captain Macleen,” Vince continued. “We already know you’ve been dealing in black-market tuna. I need to know what time were you meeting your buyers today, and where?” Vince questioned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the captain sniveled.
“You do. And you’ll tell me, or…”
Lace just knew there was a gleam in Vince’s eyes.
“Did I mention that two of my brothers work for the local police department? And that I have an uncle who’s a judge on the district court?
They can make sure that every charge possible is thrown at you.
But if you cooperate with us, I’ll let them know, and maybe they’ll go easier on your punishment. ”
Lace wasn’t sure Vince could really make that promise, but he sounded very convincing, even to her.
“I’m not saying anything,” Captain Macleen whined.
Lace turned and whispered to Vince. “Do you need to get up, to look…intimidating?”
“Nope,” he gave back softly. “My team can do that.”
Vince gave the order. “Gentlemen…and Jett, please be so kind as to show the captain what a lovely view of the vast ocean we have from up here.”
Right. Lace grimaced. They hadn’t taken the man out of his harness, nor unhooked him from the winch. Which meant…
This could get interesting.
Jett got a wicked grin on her face.
“Me. Me.”
She was practically bouncing up and down on her toes. “I’ve always wanted to dangle someone out of a helicopter.” She took a few steps in the captain’s direction.
“You wouldn’t,” the man wailed for the second time.
“Just watch,” Jett snarled, her eyes narrowing.
“No,” he screamed, backing up. “You can’t do this. It’s illegal. Intimidation.”
Vince raised a brow. “Huh. Does anyone see any undue coercion here?” he asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
“Right. I don’t either,” he continued. “I only see a man we’ve rescued, struggling to get away. And his haste, he took a wrong step, then…”
Vince left that hanging. As Otis might soon be.
Trask took that opportunity to grab the captain by the back of his neck and sent him stumbling toward Jett. “He’s all yours, sweetie. Feel free to take all your anger issues out on him, so you don’t bust my balls later tonight,” he teased.
“Oh, I’ll bust your balls anyway, sweetie,” Jett sent back sassily, easily catching the captain around one bicep. “But I’ll make sure this asshole gets the brunt of my violent tendencies.”
She winked over the captain’s head, but if Lace wasn’t mistaken, there was a bit of saucy intent there.
Damn. The guys were eating this up.
Well, it was kind of fun seeing them all in action.
Jett dragged the captain a few steps toward the still open hatch, and…
“Okay. Okay. I’ll tell you,” he sobbed.
If his clothes weren’t already wet…
Nope. Lace was still pretty sure the captain had just pissed himself.
He spewed his plans, fast, and concisely.
“I have a standing meet-up time of seven PM on Fridays.” He gave the coordinates which were a few miles east of Tillie’s Bank.
“I told my buyer last week that I might have hit a snag with NOAA, so If I’m not there today, not to be surprised.
We already arranged to reconnect next Friday. ”
“That’s good news,” Vince nodded, clearly satisfied. “You can let him go now, Jett.”
The woman pouted. “Do I have to?” she sniffed.
Julian took pity, walking up to the ballsy woman with his arms outstretched. “Jett, you can do me,” he offered. “I’m always up for some fun.”
Trask growled and yanked Julian bodily away from the open door where he was flirting with danger, finally pulling it closed. “Don’t tempt her,” Trask groaned.
Julian simply chuckled.
“Okay. Show’s over,” Vincent declared.
Lace felt the tension slowly leaving his body as he gave a final order.
“Let’s get Lace home.”
Obi-Wan, with clearance from the Bangor PD, put the helo down in a parking lot they’d specifically cleared so there’d be no looky-loos.
Vince’s brothers Mason and Kyle were on scene with their SWAT team to bring Captain Macleen into custody.
Lace thought the use of SWAT was probably overkill, but all the brothers looked like they were having so much fun, who was she to say? This might be the biggest thing to hit the Penobscot in months, or maybe even years.
Lace wasn’t part of what Vince called the debrief, but instead, per his insistence, she was being checked over by paramedics.
They took her temperature, which was a little low but not concerning, cared for a few minor scrapes and bruises, then administered a dose of antibiotics through her port.
That was just in case she’d come in contact with any marine bacteria like Vibrio, which would be more dangerous for her because of her compromised immune system.
While she was being treated, she couldn’t help but catch a few words that were being bandied about between all the Sothard men. Terms like, “undercover” and “sting”.
When Vince finally came back to join her as the medics were finishing up, she shook her head at him. “I know you’re up to something.”
He tried to look innocent, but she wasn’t having any of that.
Jumping down from the ambulance, she took him aside, speaking softly.
“You’re going after the black-market buyers, aren’t you?” she asked.
Vince looked around to make sure no one was listening.
“Uh, huh. Next Friday. With the help of SWAT. They’ll be hidden down below as we approach, while Trask, Julian, Spence, Buck, and I will act like captain and crew. We’ll keep our faces hidden from the black-marketeers until the last minute. Then we’ll spring our trap.”
He ended with a satisfied look on his face. “This could be a big deal, Lace,” he told her. “Catching this guy could lead to shutting down a whole lot of illegal fishing.”
“For which NOAA and I, thank you,” she said sincerely. “Just… I can still worry until it’s all over, right?” Lace questioned.
“You can.” He tapped her nose. “But I promise this is an easy operation. Things I’ve been involved in in the past have been…” He trailed off, looking pained.
She cut him some slack.
“Come on. Let’s go home. You can tell me what’s eating you when we get there,” Lace soothed. It was clear that Vince needed to get something off his chest, and she was more than ready to listen. This was her man, after all.
And right now, her man needed some happy thoughts to replace whatever demons were trying to invade his head.