had to. I’m glad we could do something to repay her.”
“Yeah, I heard she helped Alcina get up here.”
“Looks like you and I are gonna end up allies in this thing, whatever it is.”
“I hope so. I think you’re a good friend to have around here.”
“Yeah, I am. I know my way around the Everglades and the towns surrounding it. I know the people who live there. I know their secrets most times.”
“Don’t doubt it. Native Americans have lived out here forever, right?”
“For hundreds of years. Nobody could run us out of these swamps. They tried hard enough, but we just went in deeper. We know every inch of that swamp. That’s why this place does well, especially with sport fishermen.”
Novak didn’t ask him anything else. He had a feeling he’d get more details when Claire showed up. She was running this case, so Novak could wait. “This place open year-round, you said?”
“Yeah, but it gets slow. We hold native dances here, and craft shows. You’re welcome to stay out here as long as you like. We figured the three of you might end up dead if we left you at the condo. Those guys are out to put you down, trust me on that.”
“Yeah, I figured as much.”
Eldon shrugged and started covering the food with aluminum foil, and then he placed it in airtight plastic containers and stuck them down into a big cooler.
Novak watched a moment, but he needed to know a couple more things. He had walked straight into a bad situation, and he had to know where he could and could not step. “Last night, Alcina mentioned a dirty lawyer in Fort Myers by the name of Max Kellen. She indicated that he might be mobbed up. To be honest, she was pretty sketchy with the details. Now that we’re on the same team, how about filling me in on the particulars and who runs things over in Fort Myers?”
“Yeah, Kellen’s a bad character. My wife has had dealings with him in court. She says he’s dirtier than that riverbank over there. She says he might be the mob in his neck of the woods, but she thinks others, higher-ups, call the shots for him. Don’t know who yet. The Skulls act as enforcers and like to bully people for him, but as we’ve already ascertained, the lot of them are as dumb as cypress knots.”
“She said they steal babies out of Guatemala. That they took her little girl and murdered her husband. You know anything about that?”
“That’s what she and Eloise both say. We’ve seen children taken around here, too, and more than seems reasonable for it to be coincidences. One kid was a tribe member who lived over in Chokoloskee. There was a pregnant woman who up and disappeared in Naples last winter, not one of us that time, though. I tend to believe there’s some kind of human trafficking going on. Maybe illegal adoptions, too.”
Novak frowned. “Is ICE involved?”
“They’re hereabouts, but they’ve got their hands full.”
“Did they find those women who went missing?”
“No, they never found any of them or any of the missing children. It’s a terrible thing.”
“You think this Kellen guy is behind whoever took Alcina’s baby?”
“Sounds like it. At least, it’s a starting place.”
Novak nodded. “Illegal adoption sounds like what’s going on. I’ve spent a lot of time down in Central America, and it’s prevalent. Kids disappear from villages, just like Alcina described. Usually they just vanish off the street. I think they’ve got people down there watching for the right moment to snatch kids when nobody’s looking. Going into the house after Rosa and killing her daddy doesn’t fit. I figure something more is going on in this case.”
“You think Rosa’s still alive, Novak?”
“They’ve got no reason to kill the kids they take. They’re commodities to those people. They’d be more apt to kill the mothers and fathers. Maybe Alcina and Pedro should be moved out of state until we find Rosa.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking. Well, good luck convincing that young woman to leave. I tried, and she will not budge.”
“You think they’re really safe out here?”
“Safe as anywhere, I guess. You have a better place in mind?”
“Not yet. Your condominium is out.” He paused. “Mind if I ask you a question, Osceola?”
“Nope. Call me Eldon, now that we’re sharing food.”
“Okay. What did your boys do with those men they took down last night?”
“Well, they didn’t kill them, if that’s what you’re worried about. We aren’t murderers. They left them out on a median on the busiest intersection in Fort Myers, naked and bound and gagged. They’ll be found soon enough, I’ll wager, if they haven’t been already. They’ll never see their Harleys again, either. My brother and his boys loaded them on a semi and hauled them down to Miami to a chop shop. Don’t worry, you can trust him, too.”
Novak laughed. “I’m beginning to like your family.”
“We have our good points. All right, enough talk. I’ve got to go now and get out to my main job.”
“What’s that?”
“Professional bass fisherman is my day job when a tournament’s going on.”
Novak was impressed. “That’s a tough gig, man. You must be damn good with a rod and reel.”
“My grandpa taught me to fish these swamps when I was a bare five years old. I know every good hole and every fish and every trick in the book out there in the grasses. I’ll show you my trophies someday if either of us lives long enough to be buddies.”
“Hope it happens. Thank you again for the breakfast. So where do we go from here?”
“Well, you wait right here and do nothing until we figure out what comes next. My boys are gonna have your back. Jake’ll take care of your needs if he ever drags his butt out of that tent. That pretty young wife of his keeps him in bed way too long every damn day, but can’t say that I blame him. I’d still be in bed with my darlin’ wife if I didn’t have to check in at the tournament by six a.m.”
With that, he gathered his gear and strode off toward the airboats. Novak glanced at his watch. It seemed he better get used to waiting around and doing nothing. He should have slept in like everybody else. He poured himself a third cup of coffee and took a turn around the camp. Several people heard him walk past their chickees and peered out from under tent flaps but ducked quickly back inside when they saw him. Nobody came out.
There was another field of mowed grass near the booths, and he figured that’s where they had those native dance festivals. Another area looked like it was a small zoo or alligator house. It smelled like it. That’s where he encountered the Guatemalan boy. Pedro was sitting cross-legged on the ground and gazing at a fenced-in pond with about thirty gators lying unmoving in the mud. Novak walked over to him.
The kid spun
