Moses Catura, captain of the Lumber Lord, strained his eyes through the misty windows that surrounded the pilothouse. They should have been in sight by now. The evening pickups were always the worst. And in choppy waters they were nearly impossible.

“Andrew. Where the heck are the buggers?” Moses yelled through an ancient-looking intercom mounted on the wall beside him.

For three years they had guided the massive Highland Lumber transporter across the Caribbean Sea to the southern ports of the United States—over a hundred trips in all. Andrew burst through the door of the pilothouse. “One mile to port, sir. It’s going to be a tough one. Wind’s picking up and the tide is heading back in. I’d say if we don’t get to her within half an hour, she’ll be pulled back.”

“Right. Twenty degrees to port.” Moses barked the command into the ear of the pilot beside him, then turned and yelled down the tube, “Full steam ahead.” He turned to Andrew. “Get the crane ready. How many are there?”

“Three, all grouped together so they look like one blip on the receiver.” Andrew smiled. “Nothin’ like a little lumber on the side, eh, sir?”

“Get going, Andrew, or you won’t see a dime.” Andrew slammed the door and dropped to the deck below.

The captain turned on the fog lights and gazed ahead as the huge ship slowly turned. The frequencies for the transmitters on each log had been received eight hours earlier and programmed into the homing screen that Andrew kept in his cabin. Only he and Andrew knew the stray logs contained shipments of cocaine. To the rest, the logs were just valuable lumber that they were paid handsomely to keep their mouths shut about. Most of the crew were old-timers who figured the captain deserved a few extra dollars from the smuggled lumber. Of course they didn’t mind taking their share either.

Moses spoke into the intercom. “How close?”

“Two hundred meters, sir. Five degrees should do it.”

“Five degrees port,” Moses yelled into the pipe.

“Seventy-five yards. Just a hair starboard,” Andrew barked.

“Full stop. Two degrees starboard.”

The large cargo vessel shuddered as its massive twin screws thrashed in reverse. Andrew plucked each log from the ocean with the large crane and swung them carefully to the aft hold where uncut logs were transported.

Fourteen minutes later the Lumber Lord steamed at full power north, leaving the gray coastline of South America in its wake. Moses smiled and turned toward the comfort of his cabin. Just a few more trips and he would retire.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CASIUS HAD left New York under the alias Jason Mckormic and arrived twenty-nine hours later in Georgetown, Guyana.