Page 70 of Building Courage

Fuck! He felt for the kid. But what did he expect him to do about this?

Tucker remained silent a moment. “What makes you think it’s drugs?”

“The blue fishing boat shows up every time we dock in Mexican waters. Then it leaves just before or at the same time we do.”

Brynn glanced his way again.

Why would the blue cabin cruiser be following the yacht? Unless they were providing a service for the people who were on the yacht or they wanted it to appear that they were part of the yachting party.

Were they transporting drugs or something else?

And it was the same blue fishing vessel that had been hanging around the dock when Brynn had been taking photos. That thought had the hairs on the back of his neck rising.

“Have you seen the fishing boat following the yacht locally?”

“Yes. It followed us up the coast the other day when Ms. Barrington and the models were on board. Most of the time, it only follows when we go south.”

“Why do you think Tim is involved?” Tucker asked.

“I heard him call someone and say, ‘We are leaving for Cabo San Lucas. Meet me there tonight. My guy will have the cargo ready.’ The blue boat docked close by that night. Tim left the vessel that evening, and I followed him. He met with a local man and gave him money. They spoke for a short time, then he left and went back to the Aurora.”

There was a possibility he was into something illegal, but there was no way of proving it.

“Have you ever seen Tim on the cabin cruiser?”

“No.”

“If you don’t have any proof that he has contact with anyone on the boat or that he’s been on the boat, you can’t tie him to it. The cargo he’s talking about could be anything. It could even be something innocent.”

“It isn’t, Petty Officer Giles. Tim is very sneaky. He is…” He seemed to be searching for the word.

“A player,” Brynn supplied for him. “Calculating, manipulative, uses his charm to disarm people, and the whole time he’s trying to get something for himself.”

“Yes,” Ahmad nodded. “That is him.”

Brynn would know. She was always on alert. “Are you certain they didn’t bring whatever cargo he was talking about onto the yacht?”

“Nothing was brought aboard. I checked the security cameras when I got back aboard. I believe the fishing boat is transporting whatever he is paying for to San Diego.”

“Do you know where the fishing boat docks? Is it close to the yacht?” Tucker asked.

“No.”

“If they’re loading and unloading cargo, it would have to dock at a private place somewhere along the coast,” Tucker said, frowning.

“Probably so,” Ahmad agreed.

“What do you know about the owner of the yacht, Brynn?”

“His name is Liam Bryant. He’s between thirty-five and forty. He owns the Aurora. He sent me some information to add to his website, but I haven’t had time to do that yet. Let me look it up on my computer.”

She went to her desk and opened her computer. “He went to school at Yale, worked as a commodities broker for ten years then bought the Aurora and a cabin cruiser. The name of the cruiser is the Galatea. I’ve never caught the name of the one that I photographed, so I don’t know if he owns it.”

Ahmad’s disappointment was obvious. “The one that follows Aurora is Titan, not Galatea.”

“The cruiser may follow in case any of the people on board want to fish,” she said. “Fishing off a yacht isn’t really that entertaining. Or it could be they collect supplies to bring back from Mexico. How many people do you usually see on board?”

“Two. There are always two.”

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