“Hello?”
“Mr. Garcia?”
“Yes?”
Decker explained who he was and why he was calling.
“Yes, Kasi told me you might be phoning. How can I help you?”
“You can tell me what you know about Kanak Roe heading out that day.”
“If I knew he wasn’t coming back I would never have let him go.”
“I understand that. Do you know what his illness was?”
“Pancreatic cancer. Nasty shit. They almost never catch it until it’s too late. You got about a year to live after a stage-four diagnosis. Kanak had about three months left. He was on all sorts of meds and painkillers.”
“Was he in any shape to take the boat out by himself?”
“I mean, the crap he was on, he could function. Yeah, he was in pain, but if you saw him you wouldn’t know he was dying. Look at the Jeopardy! guy, Alex Trebek. He was working pretty much right up to the end. One tough dude. Same with Kanak.”
“But did you really think he was going deep-sea fishing? I mean, that’s not easy to do even when you’re healthy and strong.”
“Look, if I really thought he was going fishing on that boat I would have gone with him. That’s at least a two-person job. No, he just wanted to take the Kasi out maybe one more time.”
Decker had learned from the file that Kanak Roe had named his boat after the nickname he used for his daughter.
“I see.”
“The Kasi was a great boat. A thirty-eight-foot Scout with a twelve-foot beam. Triple Yamaha engines. Had a beautiful cabin, where most deep-sea fishing boats are bowriders. Sleeping berth, stove cooktop, flat-screen TV, shower, sink, and toilet, even an AC unit. And with the tri-engines that baby could really go. I’ve been out on it a bunch ’a times with him.”
“And when he didn’t come back?”
“I had to head out of town that day. I didn’t get back until later the next day. Went down to the marina. The Kasi is two slips over from my bucket. Saw the slip empty and then started raising the alarm.”
“Surprised no one did it before then.”
“People come and go at all hours from that marina. And they don’t have folks there twenty-four seven monitoring who comes and goes. But I called Kasi. She jumped on a chopper and flew down straightaway. Along the way she tried but couldn’t reach her father. I went over to his house in Key West, but the place was empty. His SUV was in the garage. He must have taken a cab or Uber to the marina.”
“Did he usually do that?” asked Decker.
“Sometimes, when he didn’t feel like driving.”
“So, his daughter didn’t talk to him every day, then?”
“She usually did. But she had just gotten back from a business trip. In fact, she had just returned to her place in Miami when I phoned.”
“She said there were smugglers out there,” said Decker.
“There are, but they don’t do their thing during the day. And why would they bother another boat? Just make trouble for themselves.”
“He might have seen something he shouldn’t have out there.”
“Maybe,” Garcia said in a doubtful tone. “But then what happened to the Kasi? Hard to hide a fifteen-thousand-pound boat. And they never found any sign that it sank, blew up, or was scuttled. And it’s hard not to have something hit the surface. Oil slick, debris. You can’t pick up every piece.”
And a human body, Decker thought.
“When was the last time you spoke with Kanak?”
“Two days before he went out. He talked to me about the trip. That’s when I knew he wasn’t going fishing. He knew better than that. I mean, you really got to have somebody at the wheel while you’re fishing for the big boys. You use all sorts of different equipment, an array of poles and lines all over the place. And different baits, including surface, weighted and kite, downwind, upwind, teasers, dredges. Lot of stuff going on.”
“How far out would you go?”
“Well, the marlins, sailfish, and yellowfin are usually at least fifteen miles out, that’s been my experience anyway. That’s why they call it deep-sea fishing. We would go out about twenty to twenty-five miles. Water gets really choppy and bad weather can spring up, but Kanak was an old hand. We’ve ridden out many a storm together. Hell, we almost got blown to Cuba once. That was an experience. But the day Kanak went out there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.”
“But with his physical condition, weren’t you worried about him?”
“To tell the truth, I didn’t believe he was going out any more than three or four miles. Just to see the ocean up close one more time.”
“What do you think happened to him, then?”
“Damned if I know. It’s like he rode that boat all the way to heaven.”
Chapter 40
The next morning Decker met White for a quick breakfast and told her about his late-night meetings with Kline and Perlman, and his call with Danny Garcia.
“Surprised Kline didn’t mention Langley when we spoke with her the first time.”
“In her defense, we really didn’t ask her.”
“So we need to talk to this guy.”
“We do. I got his address.”
“You want to roll Andrew into this?”
“Do we have a choice?”
“You really don’t like him, do you?”
“He’s not really my kind of guy.”
“Am I not your kind of guy?”
Decker let out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t pull my chain. I didn’t get much sleep.”
“This Langley might be interesting.”
“He might be. Or he might be a dud. I’ll give you the address. Call Andrews and have him meet us there.”
Dennis Langley’s firm operated out of an elegant brick townhome. The space was outfitted with costly furnishings and refined taste. Decker and White were escorted to Langley by a tall, lovely young woman named Rose, who described herself as “Mr. Langley’s personal assistant, paralegal, office manager, and accountant all rolled into one.” She had also told them, in answer to a question from Decker, that Langley had two young associates working with him.
Langley was, as Kline had described him, tall, handsome, fit, and dressed in an elegant fashion. His dark hair had a few gray strands that lent not a sense of age but of elegant gravitas. He welcomed them cordially and motioned them to chairs in his large office space. Decker noted the adoring look that Rose gave her boss as she slowly left the room, taking care to swivel her hips just so and run a hand through her long hair probably just in case her boss was watching.
Andrews sat next to Decker and looked fidgety and upset. Decker kept his gaze on Langley, while White put her hands in her lap and took in the entire room, which was as luxuriously appointed as the rest of the space. There was a wall of photos and certificates and shelves full of what looked to be awards from local bar associations.
“I was wondering when you were going to get around to me,” said Langley. His voice, deep and baritone, was as far from Duncan Trotter’s trembling falsetto as it was possible to be.
“You could have voluntarily come forward,” said Decker.
Langley smiled. “Not in my DNA. But here I am now to answer your questions.”
“You don’t seem too upset about Judge Cummins’s death,” said Andrews suspiciously.
“We broke up a while ago. I’m actually seeing someone else. But don’t get me wrong, Julia was a wonderful person and I hope you catch whoever did it.”