Bluewater Voodoo: Mystery and Adventure in the Caribbean (Bluewater Thrillers Book 3) Read online

  "Wherever I wake up, these days. I grew up in Southern California, and I lived in Savannah, Georgia, for a few years. I’ve been hanging out down here for the last three years. I’m ready to move on. I like living here, but the islands are almost like the desert; it’s not what I expected from the tropics. How about you? Where are you from? You sound American, but I can’t pick up a regional accent."

  Dani smiled. "I’m French, mostly, but my mother’s American. When it suits me, I can be American, like flagging Vengeance in the States. My father lives in Paris, but our roots are in the islands -- mainly the French islands."

  "And you’re Belgian?" Connie asked, turning to Liz. "How did you two end up owning Vengeance?"

  "That’s a story we’ll tell you over the next few days," Liz said. "Dani has to finish repairing our furler, and we need to get you settled. I should figure out how much grocery shopping I have to do, especially if you want to leave Nassau tomorrow. Do you have an itinerary in mind?"

  Dani smiled and nodded at the two women. She picked up her tool bag on her way forward and resumed her work on the roller-furling headstay, leaving Liz to make Connie welcome.

  "Well, I’ve seen enough of the Bahamas. I want to get to the eastern Caribbean as quickly as we can, and then you two can show me the islands," Connie said, watching Dani.

  "Then we’re in good shape for provisions," Liz said. "I’ll step over to Potter’s Cay and see what kind of fresh fruit I can find once you’re squared away in your stateroom. You’re welcome to come, if you like. I was worried that you might want to stop off in the Exumas or the Turks and Caicos. I don’t have enough in the fridge for that, but we’ll be back in civilization in a few days if you want to go straight to the Virgins."

  "That sounds fine to me; I’ve seen all I care to see of the southern Bahamas," Connie said. "How far is it to St. Thomas? That’s in the Virgins, right?"

  "Right. It’s a little under a thousand miles, depending on the wind. Let’s say five days of good sailing."

  "Will we be out of sight of land?"

  "Oh, yeah. It’ll take us a day to get clear of the Bahamas, but then we’ll head out around Eleuthera and ride this northwest wind as far to the east as we can. We’ll hope that it stays north of east for most of the trip. It should, this time of year."

  "What if the wind doesn’t cooperate?"

  "Then we’ll have an extra day or two at sea; no big deal. Maybe we’ll catch some fresh tuna along the way to keep us occupied."

  "I think I could get used to this," Connie said.

  ****

  "When was he here?" Wallace Rolle asked.

  The dockmaster at the Chub Cay Club shrugged. "Well, le’s see, Wallace. It was some days ago. The blond gals were still here, and they came in and filled up with water and diesel before they left. Le’s look at the receipt book."

  "What blond gals?" Wallace asked as they walked into the office.

  "Two pretty gals on a little sailboat. Like to have drove all the single men crazy. And the married women, too." The man smiled and shook his head. "Named their boat Nautigal. Not too original, but it fit that boat better than most, I t’ink. Joseph, he spent him plenty of time wit’ those gals. Plenty. Two, mebbe three days." He licked his callused index finger and paged through the spiral bound notebook by the cash register.

  "Here we go. Nautigal. 30 gallons of diesel; 55 gallons of water. $200, they spent. That was seven days ago. Now Joseph left before that -- probably a day. I think mebbe he said he was going to Andros, see the wife."

  "Joseph’s wife is in Bimini," Wallace said.

  "Well, you know that Joseph. If one wife is good, two is better. Or mebbe he was visiting some friend’s wife." The dockmaster chuckled. "He did say he was going to meet them gals in Nassau, though. Joseph does like the ladies."

  "The two blondes on Nautigal?" Wallace asked.

  "Mm-hmm."

  "Thanks, my friend," Wallace said as he left the office.

  ****

  "You’re headed to Andros, then?" Sam Alfieri was on the telephone with Wallace, who had just ordered lunch in the marina restaurant.

  "Soon as I eat; wish I knew who he was going to see there."

  "Yeah. That may not matter, though, if those gals are still in Nassau. What did you say their boat was named?"

  "Nautigal. White boat, blue sail covers, maybe 30 to 35 feet long."

  "That’s helpful," Sam groused. "Fits about 90 percent of the sailboats here."

  "You want to get somebody to look for them? Or you want me to make a call?" Wallace asked, ignoring Sam’s sarcastic tone.

  "I’ll get somebody on it. You see what you can find out in Andros. It’s a pretty safe bet that he got to Andros. It’s no distance from the Chub Cay Club. Probably wouldn’t have taken him but a few minutes."

  "Yeah. Then less than an hour to Nassau from there. The women in Nautigal would have made it from Chub to Nassau the same day that they left, and Joseph left the day before they did. Even if he spent a day in Morgan’s Bluff or somewhere else on Andros, he should have been in Nassau seven days ago," Wallace said.

  "Weather was settled then; just got nasty in the last day. Even if he had engine trouble, he could have done it in a few hours with one engine out of the three. Think he skipped on us?" Sam asked.

  "I don’t think so, Sam. Even if he knew what he was carrying, he wouldn’t have had a clue as to what to do with them. I figure he got in trouble of some kind – irate husband, maybe. Or got himself locked up for something, maybe in Andros, maybe Nassau. You check with your friend at the police station downtown?"

  "No way. This is way too close to home. I don’t want the cops to even know we know him. Somebody might decide he was worth watching, you know?" Sam frowned at the thought.

  "Okay. Here comes my food. I’ll call you from Andros. Let me know if you find the Nautigal."

  End of preview…

  Bluewater Ice is now available through Amazon or at my website.

  Note to the Reader

  Thank you for reading Bluewater Voodoo, the third book in my Bluewater Thriller series. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please leave a brief review on Amazon. A few sentences can help others find the pleasure that I hope you found, as well as keeping my spirits up as I work on the next book.

  If you enjoyed this book, then you’ll enjoy Bluewater Ice, the next book in the series. The first three chapters of Bluewater Ice are included above, immediately following the end of Bluewater Voodoo.

  If you haven't read Bluewater Killer and Bluewater Vengeance, take a look at them. Bluewater Killer is the first book in this series, and you can find out more about it at Bluewater Killer on my web page. It describes how Dani and Liz came to be in the islands. Bluewater Vengeance is the second book in the Bluewater Thriller series, and it tells the story of how Liz and Dani came to be partners in the yacht Vengeance. A list of my other books is on the last page; just click on a title or go to my website for more information.

  I write another series of sailing thrillers — the Connie Barrera Thrillers. Connie had a key role in Deception in Savannah, my first book. I enjoyed writing about her so much that I wrote her into the Bluewater Thrillers. She plays prominent parts in both Bluewater Ice and Bluewater Betrayal. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are a spin-off from the Bluewater Thrillers, and feature some of the same characters. Dani and Liz taught Connie to sail, and they introduced her to Paul Russo, her first mate and soon-to-be husband.

  In December of 2016, I released Bluewater Revolution, the twelfth in the series. Now I've turned my attention back to Connie and Paul for the seventh Connie Barrera Thrillers adventure. You'll find progress reports and more information on my web page at www.clrdougherty.com. Be sure to click on the link to my blog posts; it's in the column on the right side of the web page. Dani has begun to blog about what's on her mind, and Liz and Connie are demanding equal time, so you can see what they're up to while I'm writing.

  A list of my other books is on the last page; ju
st click on a title or go to my website for more information. If you’d like to know when my next book is released, visit my author’s page on Amazon and click the "Stay Up to Date" link near the upper left-hand corner. I welcome email correspondence about books, boats and sailing. My address is [email protected]. If you'd like personal updates, drop me a line at that address and let me know. Thanks again for your support.

  About C.L.R. Dougherty

  Charles Dougherty wrote quite a bit of fiction before publishing Deception in Savannah, his first novel. Most of his earlier fiction works took the form of business plans, written to secure funding for projects and startup ventures during his corporate and consulting work, but he put all that behind him when he wrote Deception in Savannah, a tongue-in-cheek crime novel.

  Since Deception in Savannah was published, he has written a number of other books. The Bluewater Thrillers are set in the yachting world of the Caribbean and chronicle the adventures of two young women running a luxury charter yacht in a rough-and-tumble environment. The Connie Barrera Thrillers are also set in the Caribbean and feature some of the same characters from a slightly more romantic perspective. Besides the Bluewater Thrillers and the Connie Barrera Thrillers, he wrote The Redemption of Becky Jones, a psycho-thriller, and The Lost Tourist Franchise, a short story about one of the characters from Deception in Savannah.

  He has also written two non-fiction books. Life's a Ditch is the story of how he and his wife moved aboard their sailboat, Play Actor, and their adventures along the east coast of the U.S. Dungda de Islan' relates their experiences while cruising the Caribbean.

  He resides with his wife aboard Play Actor, sailing wherever their fancy and the trade winds take them.

  Other Books by C.L.R. Dougherty

  Fiction:

  Bluewater Killer

  Bluewater Vengeance

  Bluewater Voodoo

  Bluewater Ice

  Bluewater Betrayal

  Bluewater Stalker

  Bluewater Bullion

  Bluewater Rendezvous

  Bluewater Ganja

  Bluewater Jailbird

  Bluewater Drone

  Bluewater Revolution

  Bluewater Thrillers Boxed Set; Books 1-3

  Love for Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller

  Sailor's Delight – a Connie Barrera Thriller

  A Blast to Sail – a Connie Barrera Thriller

  Storm Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller

  Running Under Sail - a Connie Barrera Thriller

  Sails Job - a Connie Barrera Thriller

  From Deception to Betrayal - an Introduction to Connie Barrera: a boxed set

  Deception in Savannah

  The Redemption of Becky Jones

  Short Story:

  The Lost Tourist Franchise

  Non-fiction:

  Dungda de Islan'

  Life’s a Ditch

  For more information, please visit:

  http://www.clrdougherty.com/

  or

  http://amazon.com/author/clrdougherty

  Table of Contents

  Bluewater Voodoo

  Table of Contents

  The Windward and Leeward Islands

  Guadeloupe to St. Lucia

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Read a preview of Bluewater Ice, the next book in the series.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Note to the Reader

  About C.L.R. Dougherty

  Other Books by C.L.R. Dougherty