Kathryn broke the mood. “We’re not far from Bay-front Park. Let’s go grab a coffee and sit by the fountain. It’s only ten minutes from here.”
“Sounds good to me.” Alexis pulled out the road atlas she had brought and handed it to Kathryn.
It was late in the afternoon when Nikki finally notified Alexis that she was ready to go. Kathryn sighed. “It was kinda nice just to sit and zone out for a bit, eh?”
“Yes, it was. And to think we’ve barely started!” Alexis laughed as she retraced their steps to the car, and went to pick up Nikki and Liam.
Liam looked a bit shook but not a total hot mess. “That was rough,” he said as he opened the door for Nikki.
“I can only imagine,” Kathryn replied.
“Funny thing. Right now I feel a sense of relief,” Liam mused. “I guess I was always wrestling with reality. Like waiting for the other shoe to drop, as they say.”
“You have good instincts,” Nikki said kindly.
“Acting on those instincts is obviously something I need to work on.” Liam relaxed for the first time that day. Maybe that decade. Without warning, he started to sob. Nikki put her hand on his back and let him weep. She handed him a pack of tissues.
“I’m sorry,” he blubbered. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“Reality!” Kathryn howled, followed by laughter from everyone, including Liam.
Alexis interrupted the chuckles. “Where to?”
“Good question.” Liam looked at Nikki and shrugged. “I suppose I should stay away from The Haven, correct?”
Nikki thought of the empty rooms at the hotel. “You can stay with us until we can get that sorted out. Actually, we’ll be leaving for a couple of days, so you’ll have the suite to yourself.”
“Suite?” Liam asked.
“We’re staying at the Biltmore but have an errand to run tomorrow,” Nikki said slyly. “We should be back in two or three days.”
“What should I be doing while you’re running your errand?” Liam asked.
“Play a round of golf? Go for a swim? Read a book?” Alexis suggested. “You could probably use a few days to unpack all of this, and I don’t mean your luggage.” Everyone chuckled.
“Speaking of luggage, what did you do when you were in Tibet?” Alexis asked.
“Mostly meetings with spiritual leaders trying to come up with plans to save the planet.” Liam snickered. “I guess I should figure out a way to save myself!”
“You’ll be fine,” Nikki said reassuringly. “Have you considered teaching at a college?”
“That was my first idea when I got back from my first spiritual quest. I actually taught as an adjunct for a while. But then I got wrapped up in weekly meetings with local folks, then came The Haven. I should have stuck to my original plan.” He sighed.
“Maybe we can help make that happen,” Nikki offered. “We’ll put it on our ‘to-do’ list. Find Liam gainful employment!” Cheers and hoots rang from the front of the vehicle.
Nikki elbowed Liam. “You’ll get used to it.”
Chapter Thirty-four
Sunday Evening
The Straits of Florida
After approximately fifteen hours of cruising from Miami, the Bella Grande docked within two miles of Varadero. From there it would be feasible to launch a drone for surveillance. If not, Charles and Fergus could take the dinghy, but they were confident their electronic devices would do the job.
It was past midnight. Time to do a run-through. The drone would broadcast live photos of the exterior of the estate as well as locate people, using thermal imaging. Even though they could identify the Pledges by their rings, it was imperative they know how many other people were on the premises. The first thing was to figure out what kind of security was there.
Nikki, Alexis, and Kathryn dialed in through their private server. Nikki spoke first. “We’re heading out there at six o’clock in the morning. We should get to you guys by eight this evening at the latest.”
“Super.” Myra was stroking her pearls while the others logged in to see what Fergus was seeing.
Everyone watched as the first image appeared on Fergus’s laptop. “Two armed guards—beachfront—one east and one west.” Fergus manipulated the drone around the perimeter of the property. “Fence.” He eased the drone down to enable him to read a sign. EL PELIGRO—ALTO VOLTAJE. “That’s an electrified fence, mates.”
“What can we do?” Yoko asked.
“We can do nothing if you can take out the guards on the beach.”
“Talk to me,” Yoko prodded.
“As soon as I get ’er back to the beach, I will show you.”
The estate wasn’t as large as some, but big enough to entertain a half dozen weekend guests. The building was U-shaped, with the middle opening to the pool area and a wing on each side. From the GPS signals they were getting from the rings, they could see that the women were in the east wing. The thermal imaging confirmed it; but it also confirmed there were four other people. Eight in all. Charles spoke first. “Who do you suppose those others are?”
“Maybe they came from somewhere else?” Myra suggested.
“Or they could be guards?” Kathryn added.
“I doubt he’d have guards staying in the same area of the house. Clearly there is no way out for them. Unless they can swim,” Annie responded.
“We’re going to have to assume they are also sex slaves. If not, we’ll have to go to Plan B,” Charles said.
Everyone looked at him and asked in unison, “What’s Plan B?”
Charles gave a bit of a chuckle. “Not sure yet. But if we must come up with one, I’m certain we will.” Nervous giggles filled the air.
Fergus moved the drone to the west wing. There was one image in the far-left corner on the second floor. They surmised that was where Ruffing slept. Below him, on the first floor, there appeared to be two more people. Fergus surmised they were in the staff quarters. No sign of others.
Fergus shifted the drone back to the beach area. There were mostly rocks, with a very small beach. The fence ended at the jagged shoreline. The only way one could enter the property from the beach would be to get past the two guards.
Fergus looked at Yoko. “This is what I suggest. We take both dinghies in. There will be one on the boat coming tonight. We’ll tie one dinghy up on the beach by the fence, the other on the other side. Far enough so the guards won’t see you or Kathryn sneak up on them. You will knock one guard out, then signal Kathryn to take on the other one. I know you can provide a good choke hold. Once they’re both unconscious, we’ll bind and gag them.”
“And add a little chloroform so they can take a nice nappy,” Annie suggested. “Or something of that nature.” She winked at Myra.
Kathryn snorted. “I could take that little weasel with one hand.”
Everyone laughed. They knew she was right.
“We also need to make sure we disable any communications capability they have with the main house or each other.”
“Roger that,” Kathryn replied.
“What’s the rest of the plan?” Isabelle asked.
Charles began, “We’re going to have to disable the entire security system in the house. Isabelle, do you think you can figure out a way to jam their system?”