Crystal Blue (Buck Reilly Adventure Series Book 3) by John Cunningham (novels for beginners txt) 📕

“Noble motherfucka, aren’t you?” He smiled again. “And all I’m doing here is picking something up. Then you’re running me to St. Croix.”

I started to respond but bit my tongue.

The Beast settled into an open spot in front of the private aviation terminal. I shut down the power, turned off the batteries, and locked the windows.

“I won’t be long,” Boom-Boom said.

“This may take a while—”

“The lady can go by herself, you need to fly my ass to Christiansted.”

“Not happ—”

“I got somebody waiting.” He glared at me. “If I don’t show, he got his orders, brudda.”

I unbuckled and pushed past Boom-Boom. Crystal’s eyes were full of tears, but she was first out the hatch. Outside, I took both her shoulders in my hands.

“Are you going to be okay?” I said.

“You’re coming with me, right?” Her watery eyes were wide.

I swallowed. “Of course.”

We started toward the terminal.

“Reilly?” Boom-Boom’s voice came from behind me.

I asked Crystal to wait, then jogged the fifty feet back to the plane hoping against hope she could hold it together. I noticed a baggage handler pushing a large covered cart toward the Beast. There was no other plane nearby, so he had to be on the way to mine.

“Where the hell you going?” Boom-Boom said.

“I’m taking her to get a taxi, all right? Relax.” I nodded toward the rapidly approaching baggage cart. “What the hell’s in there?”

“My salvation.”

With that I hustled back to Crystal, who was staring toward the terminal, her face like chalk. I opened the door to the small building—

Special Agent T. Edward Booth jumped up from the couch and threw down a copy of People magazine.

What the hell?

“I’ve been waiting for you.” His blue blazer and khakis looked like he’d slept in them. He stepped forward and extended his hand. “I’m sorry, Ms. Thedford.”

“I tried to call you, but my phone’s dead,” I said. “Are you here to give us a ride?”

Booth’s mouth twisted into what passed for a smile at Crystal.

“I’ve got good news. The body the Royal Police found is not your husband.”

Crystal’s hand shot up to cover her mouth but the fast intake of breath was still audible.

The air froze in my lungs.

“The deceased was a black man. Gang-banger from St. John.”

Booth’s smile made it clear he was oblivious to the pain he’d caused with the false alarm.

“John’s still alive!” Crystal shouted. She jumped up and down, then lunged into my arms. “John’s still alive!”

“Well, Ms. Thedford, we’re really not sure where—”

“He’s still alive, Buck! We can still find him!”

My heart lifted at the tears of joy springing from her eyes.

“What do we do now, Buck?” Crystal said when she’d calmed down a smidge. “I need to get back to Jost Van Dyke! Everyone there’ll be worried sick—can you take me there now? Please?”

“Sure—”

“No water landings, Reilly.”

I glared. “Give me a minute with Agent Booth first.” I took him by the elbow and steered him back into the waiting area. “How the hell could you think a dead black guy was John Thedford?” I said.

“Take it up with the Royal VIPD, it’s their fault—”

“You said a gang-banger from St. John. Any ID?”

“Worried it’s a friend?” I just stared at him. “Guy named Derek “Spice” Jones, part of Diego Francis’s gang.”

I felt the blood rush from my face. Spice was Brass Knuckles’s friend. I thought of what Boom-Boom said about Russians—damn! What the hell was Boom-Boom loading into my plane? With Booth right here!

“Do you know this is a Russian cartel that’s moved in—”

“I told you to drop this.”

“—and John Thedford was grabbed from St. John by—”

“That’s enough, Reilly!” Booth glared at me, his eyes like black beads. “This is too big—I can’t have you free-lancing through the middle—”

“You have me do the dirty work with Crystal, then cut me out again?” I worked up my best glare. “Oh, I get it! The path to glory’s opened up and you don’t want anyone—”

“Cease and desist or you’ll be arrested, I’m not fucking around!”

“Unbelievable.” I pivoted on my heel and started toward the door.

“I’m serious, Reilly! We have an operation going—”

I stopped, dug into my pocket, and threw the dead cell phone at him.

“Go to hell, Booth!”

With that I pushed the tinted glass door opened and stomped toward Crystal on the tarmac. Then stopped cold.

BRAMBLE STOOD IN THE shade next to Crystal, and he looked anything but contrite. My stomach flopped as I looked past him toward the Beast. There was no sign of Boom-Boom, but the baggage cart was uncovered, empty and abandoned by the plane. They’d already loaded the contents?

I tried to swallow, but my mouth was stone dry.

“The hell’re you doing here?” I said.

Crystal’s eyebrows shot straight up and she slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Talking to the nice lady, King Charles. Bold of you to return here after those water landings.”

“I have permission—”

“Not any more you don’t. The FBI said you was no longer on their team.”

“FBI?” Crystal said.

“Go on out to the plane, Crystal. I need to speak with the good officer for a moment.”

She didn’t move for thirty seconds, staring me straight in the eye. Was it that I’d given her a brusque order, or was she afraid I’d do something foolish?

She stormed off, and I again wondered where Boom-Boom was and what he’d put in my plane.

“I been playing you like a yo-yo, Buck Reilly. Flying back and forth like a dog chasing his own fool tail.” The squint in Bramble’s eyes matched his sneer.

“Do your people go around misidentifying dead bodies for fun?”

“Shit’s going down, asshole. You want to help that pretty lady, best thing you could do is take her home before you both get hurt.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Then it hit me—Bramble must be on the inside with the Russians. Adrenalin exploded in my head.

“If I find out you’re a part of all this you’ll—”

“Shut your trap, boy. You say any more you’ll wish you were in jail.”

What the hell am