White Cargo Read Free Page A

line.
    Cat slipped the binoculars from around his neck, deposited them on a cockpit seat, and stepped onto the deck. “Get some clothes on, kid,” he said as he brushed past Jinx. “We’re in a strange place; there might be some strange people.” She rolled her eyes, sighed, and jumped back aboard. Cat climbed a rusty steel ladder and came onto an area containing some buildings that appeared to be warehouses. Nothing like any small-boat repair facility.A couple of hundred yards away, traffic bustled through downtown Santa Marta, an orderly collection of white stucco buildings dotted with palms and other tropical vegetation. He could see the spires of a small cathedral over the red-tiled roofs. He turned to see a soldier approaching, bearing an old American .30-caliber carbine, the sort he himself had carried as a Marine officer.
    â€œHasta la vista,” Cat said to the soldier, exhausting his Spanish.
    The soldier asked something in Spanish.
    â€œSpeak English?” Cat asked, hopefully. It was going to be tough if nobody spoke English.
    â€œNo, señor,” the soldier said, shrugging.
    Over the man’s shoulder, Cat saw somebody less Latin-looking coming toward them.
    â€œAmerican?” the fellow asked.
    Cat looked at him hopefully. Small, deeply tanned, tousled sun-bleached hair, a little on the long side—faded cutoff jeans, worn Topsiders, and a tennis shirt that had seen better days. Somewhere in his twenties. Cat knew in a moment he had found his man. The kid had Boat Bum written all over him. “Sure am,” Cat smiled.
    â€œWhere from?”
    â€œAtlanta.”
    The kid stuck out his hand. “My name’s Denny. San Diego.”
    Cat took the hand; it was rough and hard. The boy had hauled a few ropes in his time. “Cat Catledge, Denny. Glad to meet you. You don’t know how glad, in fact. My Spanish is nonexistent. Could you say to the soldier, here, that I just want to get my alternator fixed, then shove off?”
    Denny spoke in rapid Spanish to the soldier, whoreplied more briefly. “He says you’ll have to come to the port captain’s office and check in, then you’ll have to clear customs, but the port captain and the customs officer are both at lunch, so it might be awhile before you’re legal.”
    Jinx joined them. She had slipped a T-shirt over the bikini, but it wasn’t long enough. Her creamy buns protruded from the bottom. “What’s happening, Cat?”
    Cat raised a hand to quiet her. “Just getting some information from our friend, the soldier, here. This is Denny, he’s an American.”
    â€œHi, Denny, I’m Jinx.” She fixed him with a dazzling smile.
    Denny looked vaguely stunned. It wasn’t the first time Cat had seen this sort of reaction to Jinx. The young man looked around him. “Listen, you’re just here to fix your alternator, right?”
    â€œRight,” Cat replied.
    â€œWell, if you don’t want to hang around any longer than that takes, I can probably fix it with this guy for a few bucks, and you can avoid the formalities.”
    â€œHow much?”
    â€œTen bucks American, maybe twenty.”
    â€œYou’re on, Denny,” he said to the kid.
    Denny spoke to the soldier again and got a sly look and a nod. “Give him ten,” he said to Cat.
    Jinx spoke up. “Cat, are you bribing somebody? You want to get us all arrested?”
    â€œJinx, clam up,” Cat said. “We’re going to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
    Cat handed the money to the soldier, who turned away without another word.
    â€œThanks,” Cat said to the kid. “I really do just want toget our repairs done. I’m off a Swan 43 back there, name of Catbird. You know anybody around here can lay hands on a sick alternator?”
    â€œSure,” the boy replied. “There’s a guy up in the town. Let’s pull it off and I’ll