Chapter 54 - CHASE

Monk kept his gun trained on Sonny as he backed SUZY-Q out from between the ledges. The skipper's head was still ringing from the blow Bobo had given him, and he was having a little trouble focusing. Nothing had gone as planned.

When SUZY came thundering into the Hole the last mist was blowing away, and BALI was gone. So was the buoy marking the drum. Sonny was so focused on spotting for it he never saw the white hull of Sum's whaler high on the ledges up the channel. It was Jumbo who pointed it out. Sonny threw SUZY into a hard turn, and raced between the islands.

When the fishboat came opposite the nearest gap in the ledges she could slip into, Sonny backed down, and slowly nosed toward the stranded boat. The two gunmen put the boat between themselves and SUZY, not knowing what to expect.

As they came into pistol range Sonny shouted, "We got your boss here. You can come out and deal with us."

Jumbo was still holding a gun on Chinetti, and Sonny said to the mobster, "OK. Call off your dogs, and tellum we've made a deal."

Sonny was going in dead slow. It was almost high tide, but he still didn't intend to get caught in this rockpile, or ding his prop. He and Jumbo were both watching the water alongside carefully.

"I don't think so," Chinetti said. Startled, the fishermen looked at him. The gangster had a shiny little pistol trained on Jumbo. Sumner had never frisked Chinetti for another gun, and the armed gangster had calmly gone along for the ride.

"Drop the revolver," he said to Jumbo. The big fisherman was too surprised to react quickly, and Rizzo fired a slug into Jumbo's right shoulder. He dropped the revolver.

Jumbo only grunted, but turned white as a sheet, clutching the wound. Janet screamed, but quickly regained control, her nursing instincts clicked into gear. Before she could do anything Chinetti told her to kick the gun his way. She did as ordered, then pulled off Jumbo's jacket to examine the wound. He was wobbling on his feet, and she eased him down so he was sitting on the rail.

Sonny had forgotten what he was doing, and SUZY clunked on the ledges underneath. He quickly threw her in reverse, and goosed the engine so she pulled free.

"Not so fast," Chinetti said, now pointing the pistol at the skipper. Rizzo squatted down and scooped up the revolver, putting the little pistol back in a pocket, and replacing it with the big revolver. Caldwell had been standing near the stern of the boat, and Chinetti waved him over by Jumbo, where he could watch everyone.

"Just put the boat where they can get in," Rizzo instructed. Sonny goosed SUZY forward so she nudged against the rockweek, her rail just below the top of the ledge, and held her there at idle.

"OK, Monk," Chinetti called. "I gottem covered. You got the drugs?"

"Must be," Monk shouted back. "We can't open it."

While Bobo and Monk rolled the drum down the ledge, Janet hastily tore away Jumbo's shirt, ripping a section of his T-shirt to use as a bandage. Sonny was watching her closely, and when she thought about disinfectant her eyes turned toward the closed cabin hatchway. She'd seen a bottle of rum below. Just as she was about to say something, Sonny shook his head, staring her in the eye.

"Of course," Janet thought. "Buster. The mobster doesn't even know he's there." She nodded her understanding, and turned back to stanching the flow of blood, her hopes rising.

It looked like the bullet had passed clean through Jumbo's shoulder, maybe just glancing off the bone. She stopped the bleeding by applying pressure to both wounds. He'd probably be OK, if the bullet hadn't carried something infectious from his clothing into the wound. She asked Caldwell to hold the two makeshift bandages while she used the rest of Jumbo's shirt to tie them down tightly .

Janet was slipping Jumbo's jacket over his shoulders to keep him warm when they all heard the outboard in the channel. Bobo jumped up onto SUZY's rail, and came aboard, levering a shell into his shotgun. Monk had pulled his revolver again, and was watching the newcomers from beside the drum.

"Fuckin Sidearm and da bitch dat hit me," Bobo growled, lifting the gun.

"Wait'll they get close," Rizzo warned, trying to watch his captives and the runabout at the same time. Another figure jumped up in the runabout and started waving her arms wildly.

"Da girl wid da kid," Bobo said. "What da fuck's she doin?"

But it was Monk who saw where Marianne was waving. He spun around, and snapped a shot at Dunk. Dunk ducked and disappeared. The runabout roared into life, cutting a sharp circle away, and both Monk and Chinetti took two quick shots, before giving it up as hopeless. The runabout buzzed around the Rogue Island ledges, headed toward the Hole.

"Hustle that aboard," Rizzo ordered. "We'll catch 'em."

But Bobo was done heavy lifting for the day. "You geddit, asshole," he said, shoving Caldwell. Then he turned to Sonny, "and you."

Sonny started to say something, and Bobo smashed him in the face with his meaty fist. "Don't backtalk me, fuckface," the huge thug ordered.

"He's gonna use the winch," Jumbo said loudly. His head was clearing, but the pain was beginning to cut through the shock. Bobo took a step his way, and Janet moved as if to block him.

"He's right," Chinetti said, before Bobo could strike anyone else.

"Watch your ass, sister," Bobo warned Janet, smiling nastily. "Or mebbe I'll eat it."

Caldwell and Monk now had the barrel up against SUZY's side, and Caldwell passed a bight of the trailing buoyline to Sonny. He ran it over the block on the davit by the hauler, and took a turn. Then he engaged the hauler and hit the throttle at the same time, giving them a shot with his palm. The boat shifted and the drum lifted up to the level of the rail. He'd managed to shove SUZY higher on the sloping ledge without the gangsters noticing.

Monk and Caldwell swung the drum round and onto the rail, then clambered over the side, and rolled the barrel down onto the deck.

"Now les geddouta here," Chinetti jerked a thumb over his shoulder.

Sonny hit the throttle again, hard, with the SUZY still in forward gear, running the boat even higher onto the ledge, and making everyone grab for a handhold.

"Fuckin shithead," Bobo said, and he punched Sonny again, in the side of the head.

"The other way, smartass," Rizzo said. "And don't try that again. Or I'll turn my dogs loose," he grinned.

It took half a dozen tries in reverse to get SUZY back off the ledge. The tide was still coming, anyhow, and there'd never been much chance of stranding her for long. Sonny hoped Nicky had had a long enough start. He gingerly ran up the revs in the channel, keeping Suzy below full speed, but Chinetti had been with them in the race, and he wasn't likely to be fooled long.

As the Hole opened out they could see the runabout just streaking into the outer passage. Chinetti pointed after them, then stepped over behind Sonny, and reached around him to shove the throttle wide open. SUZY roared in response and thundered through the hole, her echoes spooking all the birds. Once through the passage they all could see the whaler slam-bouncing across the chop, headed for the Eastern Bay. But the big fishboat was eating up the distance between them. Nicky didn't have a chance to get over into the shoals.

Then Sonny saw BALI, coasting along the outer shore of Big Spruce, headed back toward them, maybe half a mile off. "There's the sailboat," Sonny pointed.

Caldwell pushed forward to the wind screen. "She must be under power," he thought, "with only the mizzen set. But she looks OK.. or maybe she's a little low in the water?" What they were coming back for, he couldn't guess, but Caldwell smiled despite himself.

Bobo grabbed Caldwell by the collar, and yanked him back out of the way.

"Too bad, huh, sailorboy?" Rizzo said. "That Coonass Cowboy is a total fuckup, but he's always got someone to save his bacon. Til now."

"You could still use him," Sonny said.

"What? An cut you outa da deal?" Rizzo laughed. "Or you offerin anudder deal, smartmouth?"

"Be hard to sneak the drugs ashore now it's clear," Sonny pointed out. He hoped to distract Chinetti from chasing the runabout, at least long enough to let Nicky get into the Eastern Bay. "You could go back to the original plan."

"Yeah? An help dat fastpitch pigfucker ged away?" Chinetti laughed again. "Shaddup."

Sonny shrugged. It had been worth a try. But now Sonny saw another boat, way across the open passage, coming out from between two islands in the Eastern Bay. It looked a lot like HONEYDEW, but what Slaughter would be doing out here in the middle of race day, Sonny couldn't... then he looked over his shoulder at Janet.

"Bet he heard us on the CB during the race," Sonny thought, "and he's come to check on Honey's sister." Sonny kept from grinning, but his eyes sparkled.

Slaughter was too far away to be handy when they closed on Sidearm, but maybe he could even the odds after. Already Sonny could see the crew in the runabout clearly, and he now knew why Nicky hadn't made a better head start. They'd stopped for Dunk. The tall lanky redhead was standing with his back to the windscreen, his arms around the blackhaired girl.