“I love everything we do,” Cala said. “Training to do so many different deadly and exciting things makes every day a new adventure.”
Gus sighed. “Yep. That’s what happened to me when Nick brought me in on the cross-country jaunt to save Rachel and Jean. When we settled down in Pacific Grove after it was over, Nick was right all along, I couldn’t let it go. I talked him into the hit in the sand we nearly died a half dozen times finishing with the whole mess following us back here. Muerto enjoys the missions and always prepares for the worst, but he turns feral when someone crosses him. Rachel hates the Salvatores. That’s a given. Because of how he feels about Sonny, he won’t ever harm them, but he’ll make them wish they were never born. If it weren’t for Sonny though, the Salvatores would have been fish food long ago.”
“Yes. They are very lucky to have Sonny. He has already saved their lives numerous times. I doubt Rachel’s joking when she claims they would adopt Sonny after making him an orphan.”
“You have that right,” Gus agreed.
“I am like you, Payaso. I am an adrenaline freak. Johnny knows and he likes having me with him all the time.”
“You and Issac are very important to us. Both of you have faced certain death with us. Trust is a huge factor. Neither of you have shied away from anything that we’ve needed done.”
Nick joined them on the bridge. “Johnny and I are done with cleanup. How long before we sail into sight of the bad guys?”
“I’m thinking about fifteen minutes,” Gus answered. “Did you ever get a chance to talk with John?”
“I called him while delivering the Camaro. Lucas was with him. They loved the idea. They left the planning phase to me. I told them we’d be looking over the Tempest today. We already have the plans for the ship and the most likely spots to find Fernando. We’re not taking prisoners unless something unexpected happens. It would be a bad idea to leave behind witnesses.”
“Agreed,” Gus said, as Johnny slipped next to Cala, kissing her neck.
“Muerto has a great idea for pirating the Tempest,” Johnny said.
“I thought if John and I could get aboard where they take the Panga boats inside, we could secure the area for our boarding party. Once we have control of the lower hold, we could make an all or nothing assault on the bridge, especially if they aren’t aware they have been boarded. The main part to scope out today is the Panga boat hold, where they can actually bring them inside the Tempest. Lucas said if we can get the Tempest in one piece, he’ll put together a professional crew for transfer to ‘Monster Island’.”
“What about the docking facilities?”
“Already done, Payaso. They envisioned one day having a fleet there. Best of all, it’s a deep water pier facility. We have got to go see this island,” Nick stated. “I think we should all sail to the island. It has over twenty-nine acres off the coast of Washington. John told me they have a new compound built in addition to the already beautiful mansions that originally came with the island. Strobert bought a fortress of weapons and early warning radar gear. They already have a landing zone. I want to tour the place. That’s for sure. It sounded like a great home for the Tempest.”
“Washington’s even colder than down here. Why didn’t they get an island in the Caribbean? There’s lot of them.”
“Leave it to you, Payaso, to start whining about a place you don’t own, or are even a part of yet,” Johnny kidded him.
Nick smiled through Johnny’s critique of Gus’s complaint. “John can lock down the island tight. In addition, it’s close to the United States coast and reachable with a strike force by helicopter if someone decides to invade it. California doesn’t have any good private islands for sale. Alcatraz and Angel island are about the only ones around and they weren’t for sale. Besides it’s cold on them too.”
“I was just curious,” Gus said. “After hearing about the pirate action Harding’s crew engaged in overseas, I considered asking Issac to look around near St. Lucia for a place where we could sail to and own. We have a fortune. We can buy in to ‘Monster Island’ and own our own Caribbean retreat too. There have been more than a few attacks by pirates in the Caribbean.”