Medusa's Lair Read online

  Medusa’s Lair

  A Chic Sparks—Fish House Gang Novel

  KENNETH L. FUNDERBURK

  Copyright © 2017 Kenneth L. Funderburk.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Archway Publishing

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  Bloomington, IN 47403

  www.archwaypublishing.com

  1 (888) 242-5904

  Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

  Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

  Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

  ISBN: 978-1-4808-5017-0 (sc)

  ISBN: 978-1-4808-5018-7 (e)

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2017911225

  Archway Publishing rev. date: 7/24/2017

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  About the Author

  Chapter

  1

  Chic Sparks is a practicing clinical psychologist in Pensacola, Florida, who also acts as a profiler for the sheriff and other law enforcement departments in the area. Chic and his love, Suzy, were on their way home after his performance at the River Center in Columbus, Georgia. Chic performed the tenor aria in Handel’s Messiah along with a combined choir of Schwob Conservatory’s Choral Union and Auburn University’s Chamber Choir. The choirs were accompanied by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra directed by George Del Gobbo. The cold weather and drizzle of rain forced them to close the top on Suzy’s red Mustang.

  “You did a wonderful job tonight, Chic. As usual, you were the crowd’s favorite. “ Suzy grabbed Chic’s hand and said, “You’re always my favorite.”

  Chic, looking a little self-conscious, smiled and said, “Thanks.” Chic reached over and gently took Suzy’s shoulders, pulling her to his body.

  “You know, this is one of my favorite places to perform. The combined choirs were marvelous. George Del Gobbo, the orchestra director, is great to work with. This place is really like home to me. My training days here at Fort Benning are still close to my heart.”

  “You can thank them, Chic, that you’re the tough guy you are. Thank God for that, or I might be a dead chick.” Suzy had a big grin.

  They both knew the truth. Chic had managed to help save Suzy’s life and repair her troubled heart. Suzy snuggled up a little closer to Chic as they traveled down 431 toward Pensacola in silence. Suzy looked up at Chic; he had a worried look on his face, and she could feel a little tenseness in his body.

  “Okay, Chic, when you get that look, something’s bothering you. What’s up?”

  “I’m just concentrating on my driving, that’s all.”

  “No, you’re pondering something, and I can tell it’s not making you happy. Now tell mama and get it off your chest.”

  “Well, I really wasn’t going to break the spell about the wonderful time I had performing tonight, as well as the pleasure of your company, but as soon as we got in the car, I had this foreboding come over me. Frankly, it takes me a little thought to focus on the problem myself. You know that before you and I met, I performed Foust here in Columbus at the same River Center. At more or less the same time, the Ninja gang killed that couple in Pensacola, which eventually led to my getting into the case, essentially to help you. You were personally being threatened because the murders thought you had information, which you didn’t have. If it had not been for that situation, I would probably have never met you. I hope you know that meeting you was the greatest day of my life.”

  Suzy leaned over and kissed Chic as carefully as she could without causing a wreck. This man had saved her life in many ways.

  Suzy knew that Chic was too much of a man to bring up what actually got her involved accidentally in a murder case. Suzy had made the mistake of getting involved in a sexual threesome, two of whom had a connection to the Ninja gang. At the time of the threesome, a couple of gangsters broke in and managed to kill the other two, but she escaped with her life. She turned to Chic for help, and he freely gave it.

  “I’m sorry that I sucked you into that mess, but I knew you were the only person who could save me,” Suzy said. “So, why do you have that foreboding feeling?

  “I can’t explain it other than I’m reminded that the entire story of that crime spree is essentially still open. While we were able to eliminate the local gang, we were not able to identify the larger crime lords behind the local criminals. Then there’s the issue with Ken Renfro, my good friend, who turned out to be the biggest crime boss in probably the Southeast. We don’t know if he’s alive. We only know he disappeared. So Ken or his gang represent a real threat to both of us.”

  “How was Ken able to hide his criminal connections from you, Chic? He had to be good to fool you, my love.”

  Chic chuckled. “Now, don’t rub it in. For me, that was a personal disaster. A real trauma. Ken was my friend, and I’m certain he looked at me the same way. I had no clue of his activity until the very end. When we found out, he was able to totally disappear into the air. I’m certain the crime bosses, whoever they are, killed him. Their pattern was to kill all the adverse witnesses. But let’s face it. It would be against logic to think that these criminals have simply forgotten about you and me.”

  Suzy turned a little pale at the thought of having to fight for her life once again. “If you’re worried, Chic, then I’m petrified.”

  Chic pulled Suzy a little closer. “Don’t worry. baby. I’ll take care of you.”

  “Right now, there’s nothing going on locally to give local law enforcement any reason to think Ken’s gang is back in town. But that doesn’t mean they have forgotten the misery I’ve caused them.”

  “So, my love, let us pray that your foreboding is simply an upset stomach.” As Suzy snuggled up to Chic, she was thankful that this man was her protector, but then she knew that Chic’s revelations were usually spot-on.

  Chapter

  2

  Campeche Bank is located along the north-northwest shore of the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico and is well known for nursing hurricanes. In the fall, three days is as long as it takes to form a named storm maintaining cyclonic winds and torrential rain. It is a legendary area where millions of years ago the dinosaurs met their end when a meteorite crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. The falling star cr
eated absolute darkness upon impact with the Earth. The surviving large mammals would never again see the light of day.

  Every careful sailor, versed in the history of the Gulf of Mexico, knows that September through November is that time of the year when hurricanes, forming off Cape Verde and the west coast of Africa, eventually deliver nature’s wrath to the gulf and the eastern seaboard of North America. Likewise, on what may have begun as a fair-weather sail, the tempests can form quickly and intensely off Campeche Bank, destroying a slow boat before it safely crosses the gulf.

  Nathan Corley, captain of Heaven, a reefer cargo ship, was eyeing the building storm as he paced back and forth on the bridge, barely able to control his rage. His plea to delay the shipment of shrimp and red snapper to a wholesale house in Key West, Florida, went unheeded. He did not want to be headed out into the Gulf of Mexico with a strong tropical depression surging right into him from the east. In fact, if he had anything to do with anything, he would have steamed straight for a safe anchorage instead of setting a course that would pin him down on the shallow Campeche Bank. Yet that’s exactly what his boss, Echeneis, the proud and boastful owner of Echeneis Shipping Lines, insisted that he do.

  Captain Corley glanced over at the VHF radio on the bridge, painfully aware of the poor guy screaming, “Mayday! Mayday!” over and over again. Then he gave his latitude/longitude.

  “Poor sucker,” Frank said. Corley’s first mate shot him a grim smile. “Better him than us, I guess.”

  Corley coughed and took a swig of bottled water. “I suppose so,” he said. “Just wish we could help. We’re only five nautical miles to the west of his position.”

  Frank nodded. “But you know we can’t stop to help.”

  “Yeah. I know. The poor bastard should have known better than to screw with the Campeche Bank in weather like this.”

  Just then, a brilliant fork of white-hot lightning ripped the sky off the starboard bow. “Looks like we’re going to take a hit,” Frank said.

  Corley sighed. “Yeah, looks like it, don’t it?”

  “Frank,” snarled Nathan, “I’m going to take one more shot at the home office. What possible excuse could they have for risking our lives and the ship in weather like this?”

  Frank simply shook his head in disgust. He looked at the captain and could see the blood rising in his normally calm face—the kind of man who kept steady at the helm even in a storm.

  The captain’s conversation with the home office was short. He managed to get out of his mouth, “What the hell are you thinking? You’re putting the boat and crew’s lives at risk here.” His face flashed another shade of red.

  The captain turned to Frank. “So much for my due diligence. Tonight we’ll find out the limits of our seamanship.”

  Captain Corley carried 185 pounds on his frame of five feet eleven inches. He looked like he came from English stock. Corley was a family man with two grown children and a wife who looked great for her age. You could tell he was an athlete by the way he handled himself. He kept his counsel within and was considered by his peers to be a man’s man. While some sea captains qualified for the title only in their mother’s eyes, Captain Corley was the real deal.

  The ship was headed almost directly into the swells building to the north-northeast. Spray occasionally rose white at the tip of the bow when the vessel dipped deep into a trough. Corley guessed that the seas were already running at over fifteen feet, and the ship’s anemometer registered wind gusts of over thirty knots. The robotic voice of NOAA Weather Radio cut in to issue a storm warning. The static on the VHF radio hissed and buzzed in the background. “Keep her steady, Frank,” he said to his first mate. “Steady as she goes at twenty-five degrees magnetic.” He smiled at his first mate, a gentle giant of a man who’d been a merchant mariner for more than thirty years.

  “Aye, aye, sir!” Frank said.

  Corley could see he was uneasy. “Somethin’ on your mind, Frank?” he asked.

  Frank shook his head and said, “Well, since you’re kind enough to ask … the men have reported that they heard that we might be attacked tonight by the Zeta cartel because we have drugs on board.”

  “If we do, Frank, you and I could end up in a drug war. This is Zeta territory, and they would not look kindly on us hauling drugs out of Veracruz. That probably explains why the home office insisted we leave now, hoping the bad guys wouldn’t attack us in bad weather in open seas.”

  Frank gave a little chuckle. “Well, Captain, if we’ve got drugs on board, then this is one crew of bad guys versus another crew of bad guys. This crew looks pretty tough to me, but I haven’t seen any weapons. If the cartels are involved, you can bet they have weapons on board.”

  “Frank, one reason I had us wear our sidearms this trip was because these extra men we’re carrying set me on edge. You do have your extra clips on you, I hope.”

  “Yes, Captain,” I do.

  Captain Corley grabbed the ship’s intercom and summoned the ship’s chief engineer to meet him in his stateroom immediately.

  The chief engineer didn’t like the idea of reporting to the captain like this, especially in bad weather and when he knew he had to remain on post to guard against any attacks. Begrudgingly, he fought his way up to the captain’s stateroom where Captain Corley was waiting.

  “Come on in, Chief.” Corley was looking the chief in the eyes, holding his stare. The captain didn’t like what he saw. “We have been hearing rumors about a pending attack by Zeta. What do you know about that?”

  “Well, Captain, we heard some loose talk around the dock that we were in trouble and that Zeta was going to clean our plow. But you know that’s a bunch of idle talk. Don’t you worry about that, Captain Corley. These boys know how to take care of themselves in a fight. If those drug heads come near us, we’ll blast them straight to hell.”

  “Chief, I can’t imagine they would try anything in this storm, but who knows? Keep a close lookout. Do you know why they’re after us? Do we have drugs on board or something else they might be after?”

  “I don’t know,” said the crew chief. “I guess the Zeta cartel is out to prove something to the Sinaloa cartel.”

  “Well, are you a part of Sinaloa?” the captain asked.

  “Hell no, Captain, but the rumor is that this ship is owned by the Sinaloa. I think Sinaloa wouldn’t be shipping a product out of Veracruz unless they wanted to stir up some shit.”

  “Chief, I hope you don’t take me for a fool. If Sinaloa put me and this ship in the lion’s den, then they would have to have their team on board and in charge here. That means you and the crew are here to do battle. Now I’ve got to assume there are drugs on board, and you’re in charge of security.”

  “If I were you, Captain, I would keep my opinions to myself,” said the chief.

  “You and I can settle this later, Chief. Right now, I need you to get your men in position to protect this cargo ship. Now get your ass out of here and get to work.”

  “Aye, aye, Captain,” the chief spat out with a disrespectful smirk as he exited the navigation station.

  As Heaven cleared the sea buoy out of Veracruz, Captain Jesús cursed under his breath and quickly loaded his five men into the RHIB. The boat was powered by two 250-horsepower Mercury engines blasting at maximum RPMs, headed directly in the direction of Heaven. This craft—a rigid, hard-bottom, inflated boat—was the favorite of all special ops teams the world over. It was a rotten day. The low-pressure system was rapidly intensifying into a hurricane. Their chance of success was low as far as capturing the cargo ship. They had a man on board Heaven who was going to throw them a boarding ladder once they neared the ship, but they were up against an experienced crew and bad weather.

  Jesús knew Heaven’s top speed was about thirteen knots. Taking into account the speed of the RHIB, he estimated he would catch Heaven about fifty to sixty miles out. Captain Jesús wa
s certain there was a traitor on board Heaven. The plan was to pull off this caper at night, at dock—not on the high seas. The captain of Heaven must have gotten word about the heist and decided to leave early. Jesús’s bosses were not only concerned with the $30 million in drugs in Heaven’s hull, but they were also pissed because the Sinaloa cartel was using their port to ship drugs right under their collective noses. Risking his life and the lives of his crew meant less than nothing to those bastards at Zeta!

  “Lock and load, boys. We’re coming in hot,” said Jesús. “Carlos, text our man on board to make ready with the ladder. He must release the ladder on two blinks from my flashlight.”

  The powerful RHIB, under the expertise of Jesús, behaved like a bucking bronco under the control of a master horseman. In the minds of these six mercenaries on board, they were in nirvana. The wind was blasting their bodies; they were riding at tremendous speed, tipping the tops of the angry waves. They were loaded for bear and pumped full of adrenalin, awaiting the impending bloodbath.

  On cue, Jesús swung the RHIB sideways into the aft port side of Heaven. The men, dressed all in black, with goggles in place, mounted the waiting ladder, precise as gymnasts and perfectly synchronized.

  By god, Jesús thought, this is one hell of a tough bunch. I would follow these guys into hell. Then it flashed into his mind. There’s a very real possibility that may happen this very day.

  Heaven’s chief engineer began to make a deployment of his men as soon as he left the captain’s quarters. By then it was dark. He retrieved the night goggles the men had brought along for such an occasion. He passed out the night goggles and then positioned his men fore and aft. They would be able to detect any approaching vessel and sound the alarm. Stationed on the starboard and port decks, the men were heavily armed and equipped with hands-free radios. They too were in black, enhanced with body armor and helmets. All ten were trained by US Army Special Forces. Chief knew the attacking force would also be well trained and well armed.