15
There are few things worse than waking up in an underground Bahamian jail cell, but one of them is waking up in an underground Bahamian jail cell to the sound of Rico Flores laughing. The lights clicked on in the tunnel. There was shuffling outside. Guards. Carrying something heavy.
Carrying bodies .
Dan and Mara stood, Dan feeling unbearably stiff. Had he slept in a puddle of water or superglue?
Rico flashed his twenty-four-karat smile and ran a baton along the bars of their cell. “Rise and shine, shitheads. How those ribs feel? Got something I wanna show ya.”
He stopped a couple of the guards as they passed, summoned them closer. Draped between them was a bloated body, a man with pale skin and swollen lips, clothes a tattered mess. It was one of the Brits who’d tried to escape by boat. Rico squished the dead man’s cheeks between his fingers, forcing his engorged mouth to move.
A puppet corpse. Quaint.
“ I tried to steal a boat and escape the island, but the boat broke and I drowwwwwned. Maybe I should have followed orders, and I wouldn’t have died like a dog! ” Rico laughed, slapped the dead man’s cheek. He waved the guards away.
“You’re sick,” Mara said.
“And you’re on my island,” Rico snarled, his eyes narrowing. “Sooner you realize that, less chance you got of ending up like Rodney King and his buddies over there.”
“Rodney King?” Dan asked.
“Rodney King,” Rico repeated.
Dan motioned in the direction the bodies were carried. “You said he drowned. Why would you call him Rodney King?”
“Rodney King drowned.”
“He did?” Dan looked to Mara, who shrugged. Dan’s face was still healing from the last time he’d teased Rico, but he couldn’t help himself. Teasing was the only power he had over the man. He raised his eyebrows at Mara. She grinned.
“I just know he was beat by the police,” Mara said.
“That’s what I thought too.”
Rico sheathed his baton. His face twitched. “Yeah, well, later he drowned.”
“Huh,” Dan said. “Same incident?”
“What? No. He drowned years later. In his pool. Don’t you watch the news?”
Dan’s nose wrinkled. “I thought I did.”
“But he’s famous for the police beating,” Mara said.
Steam shot from Rico’s nostrils. He spoke through gritted teeth. “I know he’s famous for the police beating. The reference was to his drowning . It was widely reported.”
Dan clicked his tongue. “Super weak reference, bro.”
“I agree,” Mara said.
“When you reference Rodney King,” Dan said, “the assumption is you’re referencing some sort of brutality by an authority figure. Like when you slapped me the other night. In that instance, someone could’ve called me Rodney King. See?”
Mara said, “But that guy drowned.”
Dan said, “Right.”
Mara said, “I would’ve gone with Whitney Houston.”
Dan considered that. “See, now, that’s interesting. I associate her death with drugs, not so much the actual drowning in the bathtub.”
“I could see that. But would you agree she’s a better drowning reference than Rodney King ?”
“Oh, without question. One hundred and ten percent.”
Rico slapped the bars with his hands, his rings reverberating against the metal. “It was a perfect reference, bitch. It’s not my fault you don’t read the fucking news. You want Rodney King?” He frantically fingered the keys on his belt. “I’ll show you Rodney King.”
Dan shielded Mara, but before Rico could get the cell open, a slender white hand draped over his shoulder. “Oh, leave it, Rico,” Lilyanna said. “They’re just fussing with you. You run hotter than a diesel engine, I swear. They’re tryin’ to get you to open the cell.”
Rico locked eyes with Dan, and his expression said, That true? Dan winked at him. Rico stepped away from the cell and nodded at his boss, grumbling.
“Now go make sure everyone gets safely to their morning work assignments,” Lilyanna said. “Go on. And be nice to ’em, like I told you. Whaddya use to catch flies if vinegar ain’t working, Rico?”
Rico’s chin found his chest, and he muttered something.
“Darling, I can’t hear you.”
“I couldn’t hear him either, actually,” Dan said.
“ Honey ,” Rico said.
“That’s right!” She slapped his butt. “Let’s get out there and use some honey, honey. And bury those British folks quietly, in the garden near that pool boy. No need to go upsetting everyone.” Her voice became quiet. “Terrible, ain’t it? One thing my daddy taught me growing up is don’t tempt the ocean. It’ll swallow you whole and spit out the bones.”
Rico walked out of sight. Dan yelled after him, “Keep up the great work, honey!” and then, more quietly to Mara and Lilyanna, “I think the poor thing’s a little burnt out with his line of work. We had a heart-to-heart the other night.”
Lilyanna let loose a cheerful chuckle. Well, she looked fresh as a daisy. Hair all done up, pink tracksuit. Zipper strategically placed so she had just the makings of some cleavage. Looked like she got a solid eight hours and a warm shower to boot. Were her nails a different color?
“We could use a toilet,” Mara said, getting right to the point.
“Darling, I imagine you could use a lot of things. I came down here to apologize for the cell. Make nice.”
“And for shooting my fiancé?” Mara asked. Fiancé! It was the first time she said it. Dan couldn’t wait to try it out too.
Lilyanna’s grin tightened. “Now, y’all didn’t give us much of a choice. Can’t be having folks all riled up like that. You’re lucky I radioed down. Made Rico switch to nonlethal rounds, thank the Lord above.”
“Shame you couldn’t do the same for Julio,” Dan said.
Mara lifted Dan’s shirt. His midsection was the color of an eggplant.
Lilyanna gasped. “Oof. Bless your heart. I’m sorry about that, Mr. Foster, truly I am. But you can’t be hostin’ riots on my pool deck. We lose order on this island, that garden’s gonna be gettin’ mighty crowded.”
“You put my fiancée on one-tenth rations,” Dan said. Wow, it did feel good.
“Now, that was Rico. Trying to get under your skin, as he’s known to do. Appears he was successful. I reviewed Mara’s output yesterday, and I don’t agree with it. You’re on three-fourth rations, darling, and visitants from Building A thank you for your hard work. Those coats are gonna save lives.”
Mara scoffed. “How long do you expect to maintain control while rationing people’s food?”
“How long do you expect us to have food if we don’t?” Lilyanna cocked her head, like, You poor, na?ve things. “Let me tell y’all something about business—”
Dan rolled his head. “If you’re going over the three D s again, Lilyanna, just have Rico come back and finish me off. I swear to God.”
She put up her hand. “Fine. We don’t have to agree on the way I run this island. But I need y’all’s cooperation. The folks in Buildings B and C look to you, for whatever reason. Lord! We slapped you with a little Beanie Baby, and this place almost burned to the ground. Still might if we don’t prove you’re alive and well.”
“Alive, anyway,” Mara said.
Lilyanna put her hands on her hips. “I need y’all to make nice. To quit it with this mutiny, call off the dogs. There ain’t no reason we can’t make this mutually beneficial.”
“We don’t work with fascists,” Mara said.
“You said mutually beneficial ,” Dan said, leaning against the bars.
Lilyanna smirked. “Uh oh, got someone’s attention! See, sales ain’t about what you can do for me, it’s about what I can do for you ! Tell you what. You cooperate with Building A, you make nice publicly, I’ll put you on full rations. Both of y’all. No strings attached.”
Mara crossed her arms and turned away. “Fuck off.”
“Turn our water back on,” Dan said. “Permanently.”
Mara hit him. Why did everyone keep hitting him?
“I can’t turn water back on just to your room, darling. Don’t work like that.”
“Then move us to Building A.”
Mara hit him again. “Dan!”
Lilyanna shook her head, her hoop earrings large enough for a gymnast to dangle from. “We’re all full up, hun. Can’t do it.”
Dan thought hard. “Seats on the plane. Guarantee us seats on that plane once Alan gets it running.”
Lilyanna was taken aback by the proposal. “It’s a six-seater. And that includes the pilot, son. I can’t make any kind of guarantee about two—”
“One, then,” Dan said, sticking his hand through the bars. “Guarantee me there will be a seat on that plane for my fiancée, Lilyanna, and we’ll play ball. We’ll become BeachBod boss babes, for Christ’s sake. Whatever you need.” He reset his hand to emphasize the point.
“Dan,” Mara said. “ No .” Dan turned to her. He mouthed, You promised.
Lilyanna looked through Dan, sized him up, tapped her foot. She took his hand. “Alright, Mr. Foster. That’s a deal. You have my guarantee.”
Dan kept hold. “Swear on your children.”
“I swear on my babies.”
“Okay,” Dan said. “Tell us what you want us to do.”
Lilyanna grinned.
“I had a nice chat with Mrs. Betty this morning. Did I hear y’all say fiancée ?”