Tales of Old Brigands Key by Ken Pelham Page A

beer's on me."
    "Obliged,"
Lou said. "Name's Lou."
    "Pleasure,
Lou. Call me Ernest."
    Lou
studied him for a moment. "I seen you two pull a pretty nice boat into the
harbor and tie up on the dock this afternoon. What you doin '
in Brigands Key? Got business here?"
    "Oh
heavens no," Max said.
    "We're
tooling up the Gulf coast," Ernest said. "Up from Key West, just
fishing and sightseeing. We might make it to New Orleans. Haven't quite decided
yet."
    Lou
nodded towards the beer glasses. " Ain't you
heard alcohol ain't legal in this country?"
    "We
heard a rumor to that effect." He raised his glass in a toast. "To
rumors."
    "So
you ain't a goody-goody. That's a start. Listen. You
want to make thirty dollars each tonight?"
    Max
smirked. "Oh my. Thirty dollars. I don't think—"
    "Shut
up, Max," Ernest said. His eyes glinted. "That's a lot of money.
What's a man have to do to make thirty bucks in one night?"
    "Steal
a boat back that's been stole from me."
    "Why
don't you just call the cops?"
    "'Cause
it's the cops that stole it. I'm gone to steal it back from them Coast Guard
sons of bitches."
    "Oh
my," Max said. His smirk evaporated. "I don't think—"
    "Shut
up, Max," Ernest said. "This is becoming a good story. Why don't you
go back to the room?"
    Max
pushed his chair away from the table. "Gladly. I need to arrange enough
money cabled to pay your bail tomorrow. Or begin the funeral
arrangements." He dropped a dollar on the table and hurried away.
    Lou
watched him go. "He ain't gone to blow the
whistle on us, is he?"
    "Max?
Hell no. I'm his meal ticket. He's just not particularly fond of
adventure."
    "Adventure?
This ain't no game, mister. Like he said, you might
get shot before the night's through."
    Ernest
leaned back, and seemed to consider that. "Tell me the story so I can see
if this is worth sticking my neck out."
    "What
story? You drink booze, and that's against the law. I reckon damn near
everybody is a lawbreaker now. Anyway, you drink it, and I haul it in, mostly
from Cuba. I didn't have no trouble with the old Coast Guard Six-Bitters. They
was too slow. Now they got them CG-400s, and them sons of bitches haul ass. So my boat, the Pilar , got caught this morning out on the Gulf. I
wasn't on her this trip, but my first mate was."
    " Pilar . I like that. Your first mate, what's his
name?"
    "Anna."
    Ernest
nodded. "Your first mate, you say?"
    "It ain't like that. She's my dimwitted sister. Anyhow,
they was gone skipper or tow Pilar all the way
to Mobile. I know what happens next; they either gone sell her, re-commission
her into one of their own, or scuttle her. I aim to not let any of them things
happen. It's my goddamn boat."
    "I
assume you had contraband aboard."
    "Don't
get fancy, boy. She was full-loaded with whiskey and rum. There ain't nothing can be done about that now. That's a loss,
and a big one. I aim to get on board and get my sister out. She ain't going to prison on account of me. You uncomfortable
with that?"
    "Not
unreasonably so. In fact, it smacks of chivalry."
    "After
they hijacked Pilar and arrested Anna, they'd
a gone straight off to Mobile. They figured Pilar was based here out of Brigands Key, and the last thing they wanted was to have
to bring her in here, amongst the riffraff. But I had a bit of luck today,
maybe first time ever. The CG gunboat had some engine trouble and needed work,
and the Pilar wouldn't have held up towing
something that big all the way to Alabama. Their mechanic up and got too sick
to stand, much less fix an engine. So they was stuck puttin '
in here for the night. They already rustled up a new mechanic, Bobby Watson, to
fix her in the morning. I got until daybreak. I been watching ' em . They still got Anna down in the hold of Pilar , and one guy keeping an eye on her, and God
knows what else. The rest of their crew is on the CG. I count six, all
told."
    "Lou,
this has disaster written all over it. I think I'm in. What's the plan?"
    *
* *
    Lou
held back in the shadows, watching