Shipwreck – Eric Ericsson

By: Ron Nelson
(© 2016 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...
 
 rnelson@tickiestories.us

 

 

Prologue: 

 

It had been a bad day for Eric Ericsson. As he was delivering a brand new Ericsson Marine Eagle sailboat to Sir Hugh Bentley, in the Bahamas, an unexpected hurricane hit him head on. After struggling mightily against the storm for over twelve hours, the storm finally began to abate. Exhausted and battered, he set the boat’s automatic guidance controls and went below to his bunk to try and get a few hours rest.

 

At twenty-three and a State swimming and wrestling finalist, he had a lot going for him and hoped he would need only a short while to pull himself back together again.

 

Maybe tomorrow would be better. 

 

 

Day One:

 

As a third generation member of the Ericsson Marine Corporation family, who had been making and sailing luxury yachts for the past seventy years and who had homes in Salem, Massachusetts, where the Ericsson Marine works were located, and the Bahamas, where they vacationed, he knew scores of friends and owners of Ericsson boats up and down the whole

coast. He had a lot to live for and get back to. And he was just a nice guy anyway who shouldn‘t simply end up shipwrecked and lost.

 

So what brought him now to his present shipwrecked state of exhaustion on some remote key, or “cay” as they call it in the Bahamas, in this southeastern sector of those beautiful tropical islands?

 

An order for a new Ericsson Marine “Eagle,” one of Ericsson’s newest and finest “personal” sail boats, designed for long distance and ocean sailing but able to be crewed by only one or two persons, had come in about three months ago from a Sir Hugh Bentley, who had a winter and year-round home on ‘Cuda Cay in the southeastern Bahamas. 

 

Eric was an expert sailor, having entered and won a good many sailing regattas off Cape Cod and elsewhere in the northeastern United States, and offered to sail the new “Eagle” down to Sir Hugh and deliver it in person to him at ‘Cuda Cay. Sir Hugh offered to then host him for a few days while the “Eagle” was transferred to him, and then would have him flown, from his own airstrip on the Cay, back to Nassau where he could fly to Miami and then back up to Boston.

 

Eric was closely involved in the design and construction of the “Eagle” and was more than completely familiar with it to make a safe delivery of the boat. The only concern was that the delivery was to be made in July, which was around the start of the usual Fall hurricane season. 

 

However, most of the voyage would be either on the Inland Waterway, or in the open waters not too far from the shore where he could find a safe harbor in case a storm began to brew. His only real exposure would be the crossing from the Fort Lauderdale area to Nassau, and then wending his way through the hundreds of large and small Bahamian islands until he would reach ’Cuda Cay.

 

Leaving the Cape Cod area in mid-July, a couple of weeks later than planned due to some last minute special GPS and radio installations on the Eagle, Eric had an uneventful trip down to Lauderdale.

 

But then, when he was approaching Fort Lauderdale, his marine radio reported that a tropical depression was building up in the South Atlantic, although its size, speed and direction were still uncertain. Eric picked up that concern, but felt he still had enough time to get first to Nassau, and then, if the weather still held, sail through and around the many and various islands of the Bahamas until he reached his destination.

 

There was another reason for some concern about that part of the voyage as well, although little was said about it. That is, that southeastern quadrant of the Bahamas was under a “Yellow Alert” as issued by the Maritime Authority of the Bahamas and the United States Coast Guard. The problem was that there were too many islands and cays for the Bahamian government and coast guard to monitor carefully, and the region, being close to the international shipping lanes between Cuba and South and Central America and the United States, was a haven for a major part of the illicit drug and contraband trade.

 

Drug shipments by high speed boats, slow trawlers and fishing boats, and even small submarines and aircraft, large and small and slow and fast, criss-crossed the area, mostly at night while they hid among the islands by day. As they met up with each other to deliver, pick up or trans-ship whatever they were handling from one party to another, it was difficult for the authorities to even monitor their activities, let alone actually intercept and seize them. 

 

Still, despite the hazards, there was no real reason for Eric to change his plans as his sailing skills, as well as the general protection of sailing among the islands, should let him get through without any undue problems.

 

What he didn’t figure on, however, was that the new high-tech weather radio monitor in the Eagle had not been re-calibrated for the Bahamas. As a result, he therefore didn’t pick up on the following sudden emergency weather reports that the anticipated tropical depression had turned into a major hurricane, and was now expected, following a path of almost forty-five miles an hour, to pass right over the area of the Bahamas where he was sailing!

 

Had he gotten the report, he would have been able to calculate when the hurricane would hit his area, which was then about one hundred miles out from ‘Cuda Cay, take shelter somewhere in the area, which was filled with a great many small and presumably uninhabited cays, but which could easily shelter him until the storm had passed. 

 

Fortunately, by design, the Eagle was equipped with not only a full array of sails for good weather, but also a set of storm sails for bad or stormy weather and heavy seas. It also had a small but powerful auxiliary marine diesel engine for close-to-shore maneuvering as well as to provide propulsion if the wind should ever die down to a complete calm.

As he now began to cross through the Bahamas, Eric noticed the wind was increasing, the waves rolling more, and the skies were growing progressively darker as he was on his SSE course. But that alone was not unusual on a July afternoon in the Bahamas when tropical storms and downpours suddenly materialized, exploded in a torrent of wind and rain for a very short while, and then soon the sun reappeared and all was calm again.

 

But this time was to be different.

 

Instead of abating, the intensity of the approaching hurricane increased, and then increased some more. It was now just shortly after noon. Eric trimmed his main fair weather sails and began to hoist his foul weather sail. This latter was an extremely sturdy sail, and when it was affixed to the very sturdy mast of the Eagle, that should be sufficient to keep the boat heading into the wind and waves in order to continue to make at least some headway until the storm abated and he could get back to normal sailing conditions.

 

Instead, this time, the storm worsened and the rain, which had begun with only a few scattered showers, was now turning into a steady rain and then soon turned into a torrential and blinding downpour, with the wind blowing it in almost horizontal sheets across the heaving and pitching Eagle.

 

That torrential rain in turn reduced his visibility to little more than a few yards around the Eagle so he was soon unable to see where he was headed or if any dangerous islands or shoals existed in his path.

 

Fortunately, his radar and GPS were working and in good shape, as might be expected of any Ericsson Marine vessel. However, they were still no substitute for just plain seeing with his own eyes where he was headed. In addition to the visibility problem, the mounting waves and seas were tossing the Eagle from the peak of one wave to the trough of the next. And, with the wind coming from the forward port side, it was difficult to keep the small vessel under any control at all, even with the use of the diesel engine to assist the storm sail, which itself was being battered almost to its limit.

 

Then came a giant wave straight at him from the port side which almost capsized the Eagle. Had the boat not been so well designed and built, that might have been the end of it. However, being an Ericsson Eagle, it finally righted itself for the next wave attack, and the next one after that.

 

It was now close to dusk and Eric, during the course of the afternoon and constantly worsening conditions and the battering he and the Eagle were suffering, was now himself coming close to exhaustion with the struggle against this mighty hurricane with which he had now been contending for hours and which was now just about on top of him.  

 

And, feeling a sudden wetness on his face, which wasn’t rain, he found that after that last big wave, in which he’d been thrown to the deck, he got a cut on his temple which bled for a while. However, he figured it wasn’t too bad when the rain began to wash away the blood and it stopped bleeding.

 

He now realized, however, in the darkness of the storm and nightfall coming on, and with his inability to see anything around him, his sole concern had to be with trying to find at least some shelter and simply surviving.

 

Fortunately, his excellent physical condition and intense training as both a swimmer and, even more so, as a wrestler, he had a considerable reservoir of power and strength to match himself against the hurricane, and he was determined not to be easily defeated.

 

Nor was he.

 

It was almost midnight when, and with Eric almost completely exhausted, the storm seemed to abate somewhat. So, to get at least a little rest, he decided to set the Eagle’s automatic controls for when the skipper, even in normal times, would need to get some sleep on a longer voyage.

 

Which controls Eric set, and then went below, had some rations to eat and drink, and then strapped himself into a bunk to get some rest. Even as he slept, he knew his sixth sense would wake him up in any further emergency, and the Eagle itself had an alarm system to warn of any danger while the skipper was resting.

 

 

Day Two:

 

Eric’s sixth sense suddenly woke him up around five in the morning, just as dawn was breaking, and just as the alarm bell of the Eagle also sounded loud and clear.

 

As he unstrapped himself from the bunk and quickly went up to the deck, he could both hear and feel the grounding of the Eagle on some coral reef or land. Then the Eagle tilted sharply to the starboard side and ground to a stop.

 

Coming up onto the deck, Eric looked up and saw that the clouds overhead were beginning to break up and the light in the east indicated the sun, or at least light, would be appearing soon. Ahead of him all he could see was a fairly calm lagoon and that he had run aground on an island, covered in palm trees and dense underbrush but with no immediate scene of any habitation in the dim light of the morning haze. Looking at his watch, and preparing to make an entry of his situation in his log, he saw that it was just shortly before 0600 hours.

 

After all was said and done, he had a pretty good night’s sleep anyway, and, with a good breakfast from the Eagle’s ample store of food and water, he’d be able to check on the condition of the Eagle for freeing it, if possible, from the reef on which it had grounded, and then take it from there.

 

A smile crossed his face. ‘Yeah,’ he thought, ‘looks like maybe it’s going to be a nice day anyway!’

 

Well, maybe not so nice in the way he thought, but maybe not too bad either!

 

 

After checking out the Eagle’s condition down below, and finding that there didn’t seem to be any damage to the ship’s hull on the interior as far as he could see, he returned to the deck to check the hull on the outside and see what he could do next.

 

He was surprised then to see a Dyrt ATV suddenly appear out of the underbrush coming down a dirt and coral path, It was headed straight for the Eagle and himself. In it Eric saw two sort of hunky men. One looked to be slightly older, maybe around thirty or so, and the other younger, maybe only nineteen or so. They were dressed in black muscle shirts and camo shorts, and Eric, as a wrestler and his other inclinations, and accustomed to checking out other guys, had to admit to himself they looked good. He himself was similarly dressed in tight blue jean cut-offs and a deep red muscle shirt which showed off his own muscular build.

 

That would have been okay if it had just been the two men. Except that Eric saw the older man was wearing a holstered .45 in his cartridge belt while a Browning semi-automatic A5 shotgun was mounted on the ATV housing within easy reach of either man.

 

As they got out of their ATV and approached him and the Eagle, Eric, in a very lithe leap jumped the six feet from the tilted deck rail to the coral below on which the Eagle was stranded and went up to meet the two newcomers.

 

Before Eric could say anything, the older of the two, with a grin on his face, held out his hand and said “Buenos dias, amigo, and welcome to our “Isla Diablo“! I’m not sure you want to be here, but we wish you a ’bienvenido’ anyway!”

 

“Thanks and ’Muchas Gracias’ to you too!” replied Eric, with a sense of relief in his voice. “Yeah, I’m sure glad to be back on dry land, wherever I am, at least for a little while!” was the rest of Eric’s grinning reply. That exchange used up more than half of Eric’s entire knowledge of Spanish, which the older man already figured, and so they’d converse from now on in English.

 

The older man then said, “I am Ramon, and this is my friend Rico - and you are?”  

 

“I’m Eric, and sure glad to see you!” Running through Eric’s mind as he looked at the hunky Ramon, was the thought ‘Ummmm yeah, and I wouldn’t mind wrestling around at all with you some time, anything goes, for however it comes out!’ As he had the thought, he felt his cock begin to grow long and hard in his brief cut-offs, and get highly aroused. This happened pretty frequently when he was wrestling around with another hunky guy, or even just looking at another such guy and thinking about what it might be like to wrestle around with him. Which was what was going through his mind, along with trying to work out his present situation right now. 

 

Meanwhile, as Eric was thinking his thoughts, Ramon was thinking along the same lines while eyeing out the younger and hunky Eric in front of him.

 

‘Oh si,’ thought Ramon, ‘this man looks like he might be very enjoyable to wrestle around with some time. We will see about that. Maybe even tonight! Who knows?’

 

But an important additional thought came to Ramon’s mind, looking not only at the obviously very healthy and cared for Eric, but the very fine new and obviously expensive Eagle sailboat he was captaining and which now lay on its side stranded on the coral rocks near the entrance of the small lagoon of his island. 

 

What Ramon was thinking, and which was closer to his business interests, was that ‘I think maybe we could take and sell this fine, and obviously new and well equipped, Eagle sailboat for perhaps well over a quarter million dollars on the Nassau market, no questions asked. It would be no trouble to arrange for a new title and certification.

 

‘And then perhaps we could get an even greater sum for the prompt and safe return of this man Eric, here, whose family and the Ericsson Marine company, whose brass name plate I see on the stern of the boat, would most likely be glad to pay an even greater sum for his safe return.’

 

What Eric didn’t know, but which was the basis of Ramon’s thinking, was that Eric had wrecked on what, on Bahamian maps, was legally named, in Bahamian records, Manchester Cay, but which was locally known as Isla Diablo. And that the Bahamian and US governments had long suspected the island was being used as a drug and contraband station and transfer point for the movement of drugs and contraband between Central and South America, and the US and Europe. 

 

However, every time the authorities wanted to take a closer look at the island, the official records in Nassau said the island was privately owned by a citizen of Mexico and that the permission of the owner and the Mexican government, where it was titled, were required. And neither had ever yet given their permission to gain access to the island.

 

Ramon didn’t know the details of the restrictions to the island as he only worked there for the owners of the operation. However, he did know that no one, the Bahamian authorities or anyone else, was permitted to set foot on the island. And, if they did, they were to be dispatched as quickly and quietly as possible, with no traces left of their presence. 

 

Nevertheless, Ramon thought, perhaps he could both resolve the problem of quietly removing Eric and the Eagle from the island, and make some money for himself doing it without the owners of his operation and the island ever being aware of it.

 

What Ramon didn’t know, however, was that the island was already under the constant, but quiet, surveillance of both the Bahamian and US authorities. Plus, certain of the owners of the other larger, and similarly private, islands also wondered, from time to time, what was going on at the island they called the “Isla Diablo.” 

 

“It seems you ran into a little trouble with the hurricane last night, I think,” said Ramon.

 

“Oh man, yeah,” was Eric’s grinning reply.

 

“That really hit me hard, and I didn’t even expect it! I was supposed to be bringing this Eagle here down to its new owner, a Sir Hugh Bentley, who I understand owns, and lives on, his own private island called ’Cuda Cay. Which I think, by the map, or the last time I looked at it anyway, which was late last night, should be about a hundred miles SE of here.

 

“Do you know where that might be, if I can get the Eagle re-floated again?” asked Eric, looking hopefully at Ramon and Rico, and sort of asking for their assistance to help him get on his way again if the Eagle wasn’t too badly damaged.

 

To which Ramon replied, grinning, “Oh si, everyone in this part of the islands knows Sir Hugh Bentley. He not only owns the island on which he lives, but two or three other nearby islands which he keeps for his guests, for his deep sea fishing adventures, his yacht and airplane, and certain other purposes too, I understand.”

 

What Ramon didn’t say, but thought, ’and if you know Sir Hugh Bentley, that will add another quarter million dollars to your ransom. Which would make your ransom high enough for me to be properly rewarded for returning you to them, but not so high as to make it a major newsworthy event and bring in the authorities to see what was going on! It would be termed just a small “recovery and return fee” for my services!’ 

 

“But first,” said Ramon, “I think we take you up to the hacienda where you will stay while you are with us. And maybe you like to rest a while, and have some breakfast too!” 

 

“Sounds real good to me, Ramon! Yeah, I’m doing great, but still sort of tired and bushed after last night. And I could sure use some breakfast too,” was Eric’s easy reply.

 

Eric got into the ATV next to Ramon, while Rico got into the jump seat fixed on the back, and they headed up to the hacienda - ’wherever and whatever that is’ thought Eric.

 

 

As they passed up the short dirt and coral road, Eric could see, as the daylight brightened and the morning haze dissipated, that “Isla Diablo” was probably no more than a mile in diameter, formed like a horseshoe, with a lagoon, now more clearly seen, extending into the middle of the small island.

 

At the head of the lagoon was what looked like an old, run-down one-story fort, built of coral, with a flat roof and just a few small windows. It looked like it might now be the residence, or hacienda, of whoever lived on the island. On the far side of the lagoon was a sort of short tower, built of coral, which looked like it might once have been a lighthouse or watchtower or both. On the near side, along which they were riding the ATV, were two long low buildings looking something like warehouses. These had only a line of small barred windows and a couple of heavy sliding wooden doors each. These buildings were also built of coral, but were maybe of a better and more recent construction. And a long dock which jutted out from the in-shore of the lagoon to its middle.

 

When they got to the end of the second warehouse building, the one closer to the hacienda, Ramon stopped the ATV and got out, as did Rico, so Eric did the same.

 

“Let me show you something interesting,” said Ramon, casually, as they walked up to the doorway of the warehouse and stepped inside. There, Eric saw they were in a large open area, dimly lit with only a few small barred windows in the thick walls. There were a number of semi-enclosed storage compartments, which looked almost like prison cells, running down along the side walls. The floor was just soft dirt.

 

Suddenly, while Eric’s eyes were adjusting to the light inside the dimly lit warehouse, Ramon grabbed his arm in a powerful grip. And then, before Eric could react to the unexpected attack on him, Ramon moved quickly to get behind him to get him in a tight bear hug, with Eric’s arms caught inside Ramon’s powerful arms. From there, Ramon then quickly half picked him up and half dragged him to shove him into one of the open air but wire-enclosed storage compartments. Eric quickly saw and realized where Ramon was trying to put him, which actually amounted to being put in a prison cell.

 

Eric’s reflexes reacted quickly, however, just as when another wrestler might have tried to grab him in a bear hug from the rear, pick him up, and drop him to the mat. But the total unexpectedness of Ramon’s attack on him was too sudden for him to react quite as fast.

 

Actually, Eric didn’t really mind too much the hunky Ramon‘s hold on him, with his muscular bare arms and big biceps wrapped tightly around him and his whole muscular and lightly clad body pressing tightly against his back and legs. Eric thought he could also feel the hard mass of Ramon’s big and

apparently at least partly aroused male equipment press hard against his butt.

 

In the next instant, although he knew he wanted to resist Ramon’s throwing him into the cell, but at the same time he didn’t mind the feel of Ramon’s hold on him, which was tight but not really crushing him, he therefore, at first, just instinctively froze for a couple of seconds while remaining tightly locked in Ramon’s hold on him. 

 

But then the rest of his instinct and wrestler’s training cut in. Eric’s first response was fast, and, at least for a moment, worked, While Ramon was dragging him into the nearby cell, Eric managed to bend forward a little to try to reach down between Ramon’s legs to grab one of his ankles to pull it forward and hopefully drop Ramon onto the dirt behind and underneath them.

 

Ramon didn’t expect such a fast reaction by Eric. However, he quickly reacted to Eric’s move on him, and straightened out to regain his balance while still holding Eric in his tight and close bear hug on him.

 

Which then gave Eric the opportunity to reach back behind him and grab the full load of all of Ramon’s heavy male equipment, being his total cock and balls, which, as Eric had already felt, were full, solid and highly aroused, in his fist. Ramon quickly realized that the hunky Eric probably was a real good ‘anything goes’ wrestler as well as a sailor. But he had no problem with that at all nor with Eric‘s cock and balls grab hold on him.

 

Before Ramon could react and pull away, Eric shifted his grip slightly to tighten his hold on Ramon’s full cock and balls and now began crushing them in his fist as hard as he could. As it happened, both Ramon and Eric liked to get into ‘anything goes’ wrestling matches with another guy, so grabbing another guy’s cock and balls, give or take, wasn’t anything new to either one of them.

 

Actually, Eric’s move on Ramon now felt sort of good to both of them. In fact, both of them, while struggling for the moment against each other, Ramon to get Eric into the cell and Eric pushing back to keep out of it, they both sensed that maybe another time, maybe real soon, they could get into it in a more leisurely manner, with who knows what else they might get into with each other?

 

But, for the moment, although Ramon was keeping his tight bear hug on him from the rear, with Eric also pushing back against Ramon and crushing his cock and balls in his fist as well, the next thing both knew Ramon was on his back in the dirt now holding Eric on top of him. As they went down, Ramon was able to keep his tight bear hug on Eric, and Eric also managed to keep his crushing hold on Ramon’s big load of long hard cock and thick balls. Neither wanted to be the first to let go of the other as they now struggled with the other on the soft dirt floor.

 

Finally, Ramon began to let go of his tight bear hug on Eric, passing both of his strong hands over Eric’s muscular pecs and squeezing them as he did, while Eric began to release his hold on Ramon’s big load of cock and balls in his almost equally strong fist.

 

Eric, now looser from Ramon, quickly turned over on top of him, and punched Ramon hard in one of his big, thick and solid muscular pecs in return for Ramon’s just squeezing his own pecs as he loosened his hold on him. Then from there Eric quickly shifted up Ramon’s prone and willing body until he could drop his own solid pec over Ramon’s face and jam it into Ramon’s mouth in an attempt give him a taste of his own pec which he’d just been squeezing, and to pin him into the dirt underneath them as well.

 

Ramon didn’t resist Eric’s moves in any of it. He liked what Eric was trying to do to him, and also wanted to give him sort of a “reward” for his fast response to his own original sudden move on Eric. And maybe “suggest” there might be more of it to come a little later on? 

 

But then Ramon, without too much trouble and wanting to get back to the main purpose of his action, with his big and muscular arms he slowly pushed Eric off him, got up, and then helped Eric up too, to end their sudden and unexpected, but not at all unpleasant, clash.

 

“Muy bien, amigo - you good man!” said Ramon, with a grin on his face.

 

“You are muy fuerte, very strong, too! And a real good luchador, wrestler, too, I think” said Ramon.

 

“Maybe we do some more later on?” he asked Eric.

 

To which Eric quickly replied, a wide grin on his face, “Any time you’re ready for more, Ramon, is good with me!”

 

“Okay, amigo, a little later, for sure,” was Ramon’s reply to that. “But for now, Rico and my other man, Luis, have work to do, and we must get on with that. So we must ask you to make yourself comfortable here in the warehouse until we finish our work.

 

“We ask that you therefore make yourself comfortable, and I will have the cook send you out some breakfast.

 

“I must warn you, however, do not try to escape. We not only have watchdogs which roam the grounds day and night, but they are also trained to attack and kill any strangers whom they don’t know.

 

“Also, we have a detachment of guards, who are under separate control, and under instructions to take care of any strangers they encounter. So please keep that in mind, while Rico and my men and I will get back to you later this afternoon.”

 

“Okay, Ramon, I understand,” said Eric. “But don’t forget me either, okay?

 

“You know I no forget you, amigo luchador!” was Ramon’s grinning reply as he and Rico headed out the door, which they locked behind them. Eric then heard the ATV start and up with the sound then disappearing as Ramon and Rico headed toward whatever they planned to do next.

 

For the next couple of hours Eric had a chance just to sort of catch up with himself, where he was, and what might happen next. While he thought about his situation, the cook, an older lady, came in to give him a good tray of food for his breakfast. Before she would open the locked door to give him the food, she indicated he should go to the far corner of the cell and sit down so that he wouldn’t try to escape while the door was open.

 

He was glad to comply with her request and remained in the corner, smiling at her, which she returned with a slight smile back to him as she put his food tray on the dirt floor.

 

As she re-locked the barred door behind her, Eric said to her “Muchas gracias, Señora!” to which she smilingly and quietly replied, “De nada, Señor!” 

 

 *        *        *        * 

 

After leaving Eric, Ramon had three things on his mind at the same time. First, he needed to radio the guards, who hung out at the watchtower on the opposite side of the lagoon, to tell them that he was holding a “guest” on the island, and they were not to molest him in any way.

 

The guards were a problem for Ramon. On one hand, he was in charge of the island for the owners and as head of its operations. However, the head guard, whom they called El Toro because he was both very strong and very stupid, and his key assistant, whom they called “El Borracho” because of his fondness for the bottle, sometimes took it into their minds to be rough on any strangers who came to the island. Which is why they were employed by the real owners of the island to be stationed there. But Ramon had to keep a close eye on them to keep them under control, and more than once he had to fight one or the other, or both, to keep them in line. 

 

Ramon’s second thing to work out, with all its considerations, was how to recover the Eagle from where it was presently stranded on the coral rocks and see if it was still sailable or even salvageable. If it was, or even if it was not, how to make a little profit for himself on disposing of it. Perhaps the on-going auction market for boats of all kinds and conditions up in Nassau might be the solution to this problem.

 

And then the third thing was how to arrange, hopefully, for some kind of “modest” reward for his contribution toward helping Eric return, with the Eagle, and get him back safely and soundly to his family and Ericsson Marine, his employer. Ramon might call it, not a ransom, but sort of a “recovery and return” fee.  

 

After radioing the guards in the watchtower about Eric, he and Rico picked up Luis, Reymundo and Tomas, his three other men assisting him in the regular work of the island, and all five headed down to the stranded Eagle.

 

It was still the way they had left it, stranded on some outcropping coral rocks where some particularly big wave of the hurricane had presumably picked it up and then dashed it down on top of the coral. When the wave then receded, it left the Eagle stranded half in and half out of the water.

 

Ramon and Rico proceeded to inspect it carefully. They were surprised to see that it showed no real signs of any damage.

 

The mahogany wood hull looked scraped, but apparently it was only a veneer on the hull. The hull itself looked intact. What Ramon and Rico didn’t know was that, using the latest boat building techniques which Ericsson Marine had perfected, the hull was made of an almost indestructible titanium and composite material which could take virtually any force of storm or even being dropped thirty or forty feet from a marine crane, to remain undamaged except for the easily repaired mahogany wood outer veneer.

 

Using the Jeep, which Luis, Reymundo and Tomas had arrived in, and the winches with which the Jeep was equipped, the five eased the Eagle off the coral rocks and got it back into the water. Then, with Ramon and Rico climbing on board, they started the engine, which started right up, and, slowly, eased the Eagle to the inner end of the long dock which jutted out into the lagoon.

 

Later on, Eric would notice that a thick grove of giant palm trees ran right up to the water’s edge, and that the Eagle, docked there, despite its tall mast and distinctive shape, would be almost invisible to anyone trying to see it from overhead or any distance away. 

 

With their chore of securing the Eagle done, Ramon and his four men returned to the hacienda to get on with the rest of their day‘s work, which Luis. Reymundo and Tomas then got back to. When they were gone, Ramon and Rico talked quietly off to one side and began to plot out how they could go about selling and ransoming off both the Eagle and Eric for the highest, but still reasonable, possible price without being caught in the process themselves.

 

In his planning, Ramon saw no need to mention that day’s activities to his superiors on the mainland, who were the owners of the island and its operations. Instead, he asked himself, why not keep the whole anticipated ransom money just between himself and his four men? That would make it just that many fewer people with whom he had to share any proceeds from the sale of the Eagle and the ransom of Eric. 

 

Before he could get his plans organized, however, on his and Rico’s way back to the hacienda, they passed the warehouse where Eric was being kept. As they passed it, they heard a low groan and the crack of a knotted rope cudgel hitting something.

 

Ramon immediately knew what was going on. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard and been involved in such a thing.

 

The foolish El Toro and his buddy, El Borracho, had gotten into the warehouse, despite Ramon’s telling them not to involve themselves with Ramon’s “guest,” and decided to treat him roughly, mostly just for their own sadistic pleasure.

 

El Toro was big and strong, despite having the brains of an ant, and El Borracho was no better.

 

As soon as Ramon and Rico entered the warehouse, they saw the two guards had Eric face down in the mud, his hands handcuffed behind his back. El Toro was squatting down on top of him to keep him down while El Borracho was hitting Eric on the back of his head, then on his back and then on his legs.

 

Most of the blows, while telling, were intended to make Eric cry for mercy rather than injure him. But Eric was not inclined to ask for mercy from the two thugs no matter what they did to him. So, for the present, it was a standoff between the suffering Eric was having to take and the thuggish actions of his attackers.

 

Ramon always carried his custom-made leather whip with him. In an instant, he pulled it out of his belt and, with the tip of the whip, in one swift move, flipped the knotted cudgel out of El Borracho’s hand so that it flew off to the side of the cell.

 

In the next instant Ramon flicked his whip a second time at the back of El Borracho’s neck, causing a sting and a big welt to form. And then two more quick lashes to the back of El Toro’s neck to be sure El Toro got the message. Despite the sting of the whip lashes on his neck, El Toro managed to get up and was about to attack Ramon in return. But then Ramon flicked his whip twice more, this time at El Toro’s chest just inches away from his face. El Toro just looked at him for a moment, and then decided he didn’t want any more of Ramon’s whip lashes. Slowly he and El Borracho backed themselves out of the door and headed back wordlessly to their watchtower quarters.

 

Ramon and Rico then bent down over the still prostrate Eric and Ramon said, “Hey man, I am very sorry about that. El Toro will be fired for this, and El Borracho too. Which is too bad for them as this was a very good job for them. Now they will have nothing. But that is their problem. How are you doing?”

 

“Okay, Ramon, you came just in time,” said Eric with a weak but grinning reply. “El Toro and El Borracho got here only a few minutes ago, and it took them a couple of minutes to get started and they hit me only a couple of times, so I’m okay.”

 

“That is a great relief, Eric, as we and you have other and better things to do than this!

 

Eric and Ramon looked at each other now with grins on their faces. They well remembered their impromptu wrestling match just an hour before, and both knew they’d sure like to get into it again. Also, Eric was hoping to continue on his journey to ‘Cuda Cay and Sir Hugh Bentley soon if his Eagle was still in good enough shape to sail there, while Ramon was thinking of the “fee” he was hoping to get for helping Eric along with the rest of his journey. 

 

“That’s very good,” said Ramon. “Now with El Toro and El Borracho back where they belong, they won’t return any time soon. Meanwhile, Rico and the other men still have some chores to attend to in the warehouses, as I do at the hacienda as well.

 

“So why don’t you come up to the hacienda with me? It’s almost noon, and you can go to the kitchen where the cook will prepare whatever you like by way of something to eat for lunch. She will then also show you to one of the spare bed rooms where you can rest up. And then, after that, maybe we see what happens!”

 

“Good deal, Ramon - and thanks!” was Eric’s grateful reply. 

 

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly. Luis, Reymundo and Tomas had disappeared into one of the warehouse sheds and were not to be further seen or heard of. Ramon had apparently gone to some part of the hacienda to do whatever he was doing, and Rico also was also apparently occupied elsewhere as neither was to be seen for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Eric made his way to the kitchen where the native cook, a heavy-set older women, but of a kindly nature and who had already brought him some food when he was in the warehouse prison cell, now cooked him up a thick steak and an island pasta, and gave him a couple of beers to wash them down. Then, after he finished his plate, she led him down a hall to a nearby bedroom where, within no more than a couple of minutes, he was finally able to sleep and rest up and regain all the energy he had used up in his adventures of the hurricane, his shipwreck with the Eagle, and his doings on the Isla Diablo so far. 

 

Ramon, meanwhile, back in the small porch room and he used as his “office,” had worked out a plan for selling off the Eagle or then ransoming both Eric and the Eagle back to his family and Ericsson Marine.

 

It was a simple plan and he figured it should work well. “The simplest plans are the best plans” someone had told him once, and he thought it was good advice. Plus, Ramon was no stranger to working out various deals and arrangements with different parties in his line of work on the islands and elsewhere. And he was also aware of the need to work out the details of how to do things privately and discreetly, and yet securely, for all the parties concerned in such affairs, particularly of himself.

 

But that was why he was where he was on the Isla Diablo, and doing what he did over the wide Caribbean, and for the owners and himself, of the business he was in. Which was, of course, as an inter-island contraband smuggler. 

 

The plan Ramon worked out was simple enough. He already knew Sir Hugh Bentley and his reputation as a speculator, broker and financial investor in London where he had made his fortune. And then at some point Sir Hugh, and perhaps some others, felt that it would be advisable for Sir Hugh to leave London, perhaps rather suddenly and with some urgency, and move permanently to his private island in the Bahamas where the authorities in London and New York might prefer to have him out of the way. Or he might prefer to get out of their way.

.

Ramon had met Sir Hugh a couple of times in Nassau and liked him. He felt Sir Hugh probably remembered him too as perhaps their lines of business and methods of operations were not dissimilar.

 

Ramon would therefore, first thing, get in touch with Sir Hugh by radio, and he could also visit him in person if Sir Hugh liked. Sir Hugh and ‘Cuda Cay were only about four hours away by fast speed boat, or somewhat longer by other watercraft.

 

Ramon would lay out to Sir Hugh that he was able to put his hands on Eric and the Eagle, with both now publicly reported as missing somewhere in the Bahamas, if it became desirable to do so. For which he would like to collect a certain “fee” for their safe and sound return. 

 

Sir Hugh’s part in the arrangement would simply be to act as a “broker” in the matter and communicate this proposal to the Ericsson Marine people, who would then get in touch with the Ericsson family, and perhaps their insurers as well, to get their views on the negotiated return of Eric. It was understood the US and Bahamian authorities would not need to be involved in the matter.

 

Ramon suggested the “fee” for the return of the Eagle be about a quarter of a million dollars, and the “fee” for returning Eric be about double that. Ramon knew these would be ample for his “services,” and yet reasonable under the circumstances. He was not naturally greedy, nor did he want to make the “fee” so high as to prompt the Ericsson people to call in the authorities to assist in the matter.

 

Sir Hugh agreed that Ramon’s reasoning was sound and that the “fee” he suggested was not excessive. And that he would be glad to communicate in the matter between the Ericsson Marine people and Ramon. If agreeable, the Ericsson people would pay the “fee” to Sir Hugh, who would ultimately deposit it in an unnamed account, specified by Ramon, in a Nassau bank where Ramon would arrange for its onward movement through various banking channels until all traces of its source and destination were lost.

 

Ramon’s plan was then that as soon as Sir Hugh advised Ramon that the “fee” had been paid to him, Eric and the Eagle would be allowed and assisted to set sail to continue their journey to ‘Cuda Cay, perhaps with a “shadow” escort for security purposes, until Eric and the Eagle reached Sir Hugh’s island, where he would then be safe and sound, as would be agreed.

 

When Eric arrived at ‘Cuda Cay, Sir Hugh would then authorize the release of the funds he’d received from the Ericsson people, which he’d already sent to the Nassau bank with instructions to hold them in his name until he authorized their release to be deposited into the accounts which Ramon had specified.

 

After Ramon laid out his plan to Sir Hugh, that gentleman said it was an excellent one and should work very nicely. He, of course, said he, as broker, would expect a modest fee of his own for his services as a “broker” in the matter, which was expected and agreeable to Ramon. Ramon knew that Sir Hugh would undoubtedly privately request a similar, and even greater, “fee” from the Ericsson group for his services in the matter. But that was only to be expected, and in any event, none of his business.

 

It was an excellent and simple plan, for sure but, alas, it didn’t work. Of which more later. 

 

*        *        *        * 

 

Ramon had radioed the plan to Sir Hugh around three in the afternoon. Sir Hugh remembered Ramon well. Having known, and, even more, known of him well, he was aware of Ramon’s business operations. And, where money and any potential profit were concerned, he never forgot a face or an experience or a possible opportunity. 

 

After concluding his call with Ramon, Sir Hugh contemplated the overall situation. Ramon’s plans seemed reasonable to him, and he instinctively felt Ramon could probably be trusted to be telling the truth in having Eric and the Eagle somewhere under his control, with the intent of carrying out what he promised. If he didn’t, Sir Hugh had his own ways of taking care of Ramon later on.

 

He also knew Eric’s father, Sven Ericsson, who was the president and CEO of Ericsson Marine. Sir Hugh had himself, in fact, just arranged with Sven for his purchase of the Eagle, which Eric was now to deliver to him. And he also knew that if Sven made a promise or agreed to something, it would be kept.

 

As for his own part, bringing the two very different parties together in an arrangement of this sort, for a fee or “consideration” for himself, that was only a normal business service anyway. The specific nature, appropriateness and the dollar amounts of the agreements made were not his affair.

 

Within fifteen minutes of ending his call with Ramon, therefore, Sir Hugh called Sven Ericsson, whom he knew would be standing by for any information anyone might have on the state of his son.

 

Sir Hugh laid out the terms of the proposed agreement which Ramon had suggested to him. Sven quickly agreed to the financial aspects of paying a “recovery and return fee” for the Eric’s safe return. And that he would faithfully abide by the contract, and not himself contact the authorities about the agreement.

 

“However,” said Sven, “I cannot vouch for what the US Coast Guard, the Bahamian authorities, nor anyone else, including the FBI and the DEA may do if they get involved in the matter. After all, we are dealing with a complex international and financial matter here, as well as what some people might call a case of piracy and ransom, and if other legal entities choose to get involved, which they may want to, under the circumstances, there’s nothing I can do about that.”

 

“Understood and agreed, Sven,” said Sir Hugh. “Even your and my influence goes just so far, doesn‘t it!” he said with a chuckle. He knew what Sven was saying, but that too was none of his business. 

 

It seems just about all the parties involved knew more than they were saying. But that’s the way it is with some “business” negotiations.

 

For one thing, Sven Ericsson knew, and had known all along, exactly where Eric was, or at least where the sailboat Eagle was. When it was being built, Ericsson Marine automatically and secretly installed a transponder, which, when activated by Ericsson Marine or any other responsible agency, would always show the exact location of the vessel within six feet.

 

So, although he didn’t know specifically where Eric was, he knew the Eagle was docked, and apparently in good condition, at the land end of an extended dock in the lagoon of Manchester Cay in the southeastern Bahamas.

 

Which information he had already forwarded immediately when the weather reports indicated a major hurricane was hitting the immediate area where Eric and the Eagle were sailing, to the US Coast Guard, US Navy and the Bahamian authorities. For a few hours earlier, during the period of the hurricane, the transponder indicated the Eagle was on an uncertain path. Then it came to a clear stop at the dock on Manchester Cay.

 

Sven already knew most of the key men and women in the USCG and US Navy as he was a Naval Reserve Officer himself, and, being the president of Ericsson Marine, was in close touch with most of them anyway.

 

When it became known that Eric, or at least the Eagle and presumably therefore Eric as well, were at Manchester Cay, the Navy recommended caution although no less speed in pursuing the matter of Eric‘s recovery and safe return.

 

Those officials told Sven there had been some problems with the Bahamian government in their administration of that area of the southeastern Bahamas and Manchester Cay in particular, and they would need to get in touch with that government and alert them to the situation.

 

What the Navy did not tell Sven Ericsson, nor the Bahamian government either, was that the Navy had had Manchester Cay under close observation for some time as possibly being a major drug and contraband trans-shipping point between Central and South America and the US and Europe, but were only holding back on any further action until they had more evidence before going in to resolve the problem, with or without the cooperation of the Bahamian government.

 

They knew the Bahamian government would not normally permit any “foreign” power to “invade” any of their territory, which the Navy would of course expect and understand. That way, if some unapproved “invasion” operation on the island were a failure, they could deny any participation in it and file a complaint with the international authorities. If it were a success, however, they could claim then that they knew about it and had given tacit permission to the US Navy to clean it up. 

 

Sir Hugh, whose specialty was financial affairs and the movement of money between London and New York and elsewhere around the world, meanwhile took steps to keep a close eye, at all times, on all the money involved, including his own fees, and the movement of the money from one party to another until the entire matter was successfully concluded.

 

After the conversation between Sir Hugh Bentley and Sven Ericsson, the wheels began to turn quickly. Sven Ericsson quickly arranged for the monies to be assembled, particularly as they weren’t that great in the greater scheme of things. And, once assembled, he would then be able to send them to Sir Hugh to hold until the rest of the arrangements, being the safe and sound return of Eric and the Eagle, were carried out.

 

Sir Hugh, in turn, as soon as Sven Ericsson had agreed to the deal and was bringing the cash together, radioed back to Ramon that the deal was on and that he should plan to proceed with his end of the deal of delivering Eric and the Eagle to him.

 

Ramon, in turn, would send Eric and the Eagle safely off Isla Diablo the next morning, as the weather report was good, which should see him arrive at ‘Cuda Cay sometime in late afternoon.

 

It was now six o’clock in the evening on Isla Diablo. Nothing more could be done that night. That gave everyone involved a chance to review their respective situations and prepare to consummate the deal tomorrow.

 

Meanwhile, Sven had gotten in touch with the Navy, who had a considerable interest in the operation and exchange of Eric and the Eagle for the “fee” involved, to provide them with the general information of what was going on, although not asking for any involvement from them, in accordance with his agreement with Sir Hugh.

 

The Navy, however, always had at least one nuclear submarine in the Caribbean for the protection of the Panama Canal, and a number of other submarines and other vessels in the area as well to monitor all ship traffic in the area in general. In addition, it was accustomed to the assignment, for real or just practice purposes, to follow, unseen and unknown, various ships which traveled around the Caribbean and which might have some legal or illegal purposes in mind.

 

It was no trouble, therefore, for the Navy to assign one of its submarines, the Tigerfish, which was already in the southeastern Bahamas, to move quickly to Manchester Cay and await further orders. The Navy had its own means of activating the Eagle’s transponder, so they knew exactly where the Eagle was too.

 

It was anticipated that the submarine’s role would be to silently intercept the Eagle as it left Manchester Cay, and then track it, undersea and out of sight, until Eric and the Eagle would reach ‘Cuda Cay and Sir Hugh Bentley in good order.

 

And so, the wheels were set in motion to resolve the matter of Eric and the Eagle’s safe return entirely the next day if all went well. 

 

*        *        *        *

 

On Isla Diablo, in the meantime, things were quiet as the sun began to set over the western Caribbean, while the soft tropical breezes of the Caribbean and the sparkling lights of the millions of stars overhead began to come up in the east.

 

Eric had rested fully during the afternoon and now returned to the kitchen for want of something to do. Sitting in the kitchen, he was reading some of the old magazines which various people had left there. He noticed that the cook had prepared a number of meals for others, presumably Ramon and his crew, but they were nowhere to be seen yet. He wondered what would happen next with all of them, and particularly himself?

 

The cook then set out one plate of food for Eric, and took the other plates of food, on a tray, to some other part of the hacienda where, presumably, Ramon and the others were going to eat. Eric finished off his plate in good order and then settled back to finish reading one of the magazines he’d been looking at. As he looked at it, he continued to wonder what was going to happen next?

 

He didn’t have long to wait to find out. Shortly after eight, Ramon came into the kitchen. He was barefoot and dressed in only a pair of brief white shorts, which contrasted with and showed his naturally dark and tanned thickly muscular legs and thighs. Above the shorts, he was wearing only a thin tight muscle shirt which showed two naked wrestlers on their knees, locked together. Each had one hand wrapped around the back of the neck of the other, and his other hand stretched out to look at what looked like a full and tight fist grip on the other’s fully hard and stiff cock sticking straight out like a solid brass hose nozzle from his body.

 

“Oh yeah,” said Eric to Ramon, a big grin on his face, ”I like your shirt, for sure!” As he looked at the hunky Ramon and the shirt he was wearing, he felt his own cock grow long and hard in the brief cut-offs he himself was wearing.

 

“You like the shirt and want some of it, man?” asked Ramon, an inviting grin on his face.

 

“Any time you‘re ready, big boy,” was Eric’s easy reply as he got up to join Ramon - wherever it was they would be going.

 

Ramon led the way down the now darkening, in the evening dusk, hall to the rear porch of the hacienda. Then they crossed over a path of crushed coral that led through a grove of old and towering palm trees, to the further warehouse. Entering it, they walked to the far end of it where Eric saw that the last cell in the row of cells was actually more of an open cage which might at one time have held a couple of watch dogs which could be let out at night to roam the grounds.

 

For now, the cage was illuminated only by the soft glow of the tropical moon and stars overhead and reflecting off the nearby lagoon. The floor of the cell, Eric could see, was covered by a black vinyl mat over a base of dried seaweed to give it a some additional softness over the earth floor.

 

‘Oh yeah,’ though Eric, nodding his head, ‘I sure do like this!’

 

Ramon, followed by Eric, silently opened the rough wooden door to the cell cage and stepped inside. Ramon then took off his muscle shirt, brief shorts and boots until he was completely naked. Eric did the same.

 

It was obvious, by their rapidly engorging balls and already stiffening cocks jutting out from their muscular bodies, that both were thinking the same thing - to wrestle each other, “anything goes” for as long as possible, to the climax, no matter how it went!

 

Ramon reached over to a shelf, picked up a bottle half-filled with olive oil, turned around, and began to pour some of the oil over Eric’s muscular chest and back and then began to rub it over and into Eric’s tanned and tight skin.

 

With the feel of Ramon‘s strong hands rubbing over his body, Eric thought ‘Oh yeah, this is getting better all the time. And, man, he’s really turning me on, for sure!’

 

Which feeling only increased as Ramon then poured some more oil over, in, and around Eric’s crotch and private parts. At first he did it only gently, but then did it more roughly, pulling on his balls and wrapping his fist around Eric’s now hard and extended cock, crushing it as he did and stimulating it even further. Then from there, Ramon went down Eric’s muscular and lithe legs to end the oil rub at his feet.

 

When he was finished, he handed the bottle to Eric for him to do the same in return.

 

Eric liked that just as much. Now he could finally get his strong hands on Ramon’s own powerfully muscular body. First he poured a load of oil over and around Ramon’s big arms and biceps, and then over and around his back, massive pecs and tight abs. Then he went down to work over Ramon’s crotch and his big load of male equipment, which, like his own, had also now grown even bigger and heavier. Ramon‘s big rod, Eric saw and felt, was almost eight inches long and was now hard as a hammer handle. And his big balls, almost as full and hard as his big rod, were almost as big and hard as a couple of Valencia oranges. After Eric finished with Ramon’s big load of male equipment, which he also tried to manipulate and crush while he was oiling them, he then went down Ramon’s massively thick and muscular legs to his feet, where the oiling job on Ramon was completed.

 

Eric knew that when it really came down to it, Ramon, although he was maybe a couple of inches shorter than the taller and leaner Eric, was one solidly built and experienced body-builder, and probably an experienced wrestler too. Wrestling him would really be a challenge.

 

But he liked that idea as it would let him go at Ramon as hard as he liked, with Ramon probably liking to take all the punishment that Eric could give him too. He just hoped Ramon would take it a little easier on him. Not but what he also liked to be on the end of some punishment to his own considerably muscular body. In any event, he knew he was surely looking forward to wrestling around with this muscular hunk Ramon for however it came out.  

 

After Eric put the bottle of olive oil back on the shelf, he grinned at Ramon to say he was ready whenever Ramon was, and then approached him slowly with whatever they had in mind to start it with each other. Eric was less sure of himself and waited for Ramon to make the first move, but not without planning an early move of his own on Ramon too. 

 

Ramon started it by reaching out and getting a loose headlock on Eric while both were in their first standing position. The headlock was just tight enough to hold Eric, but still loose enough for Eric to pull out if he didn’t like it. However, Eric always liked to get caught in another guy’s headlock on him just so long as the other guy didn’t twist his neck around too far or to choke him with it. He also always liked the feel of the other man’s bicep wrapped around his head, and maybe the other guy also pulling his head and face into his body and pec to give him a pre-taste of the other man’s hot, oily and muscled body.

 

‘Oh yeah,’ thought Eric, letting himself be caught in Ramon‘s headlock on him ‘I’m liking this for sure.’ Nevertheless he also struggled to get out of the headlock on him and get back at Ramon some way on his own too.

 

While keeping his more or less loose headlock on Eric, Ramon then dropped both of them down to the mat, landing on his back on the mat, still holding Eric in his headlock, so that now Eric was on top of him. With Ramon’s headlock on him and pulling his head and face into his massive chest and pec, but not particularly twisting it or crushing Eric’s neck, it wasn’t any real strain for Eric to continue to be caught in it.

 

Their new position, however, with Eric on top of Ramon, gave him the chance now to get back at Ramon - in two ways. First, with his right hand, he reached out to push his strong hand, open-palmed, flat against Ramon’s face to distract him and also give him something to try to resist against at one end. Then, with his other hand, Eric reached down to Ramon’s hot and oily wet crotch to seize Ramon’s big and stiff cock-rod and began to squeeze it and pull it around as if almost to rip it right of Ramon’s big and muscular body.

 

‘Oh yeah,’ thought Eric, ‘I can take getting caught in Ramon’s headlock on me just as long as Ramon can take me trying to rip his face off with one hand and his big man-tool off at the other end, both at the same time!’

 

Ramon figured that was what Eric had in mind to do to him and liked Eric’s move on him. So he continued his not-too-tight headlock on the hunky Eric, while Eric continued to try to re-arrange Ramon’s face and the big man’s rod as well. It was a deadlock which neither had any problem with. In fact, both wrestlers were used to their holds on each other, give or take, in other “anything goes” wrestling matches before.

 

Ramon, however, who had been holding Eric in the headlock just a little longer, although liking the pressure Eric was putting him, was the first to release his hold on Eric, and which Eric then followed up on by releasing his pressure on Ramon’s face and big rod as well.

 

Eric remained on top of Ramon, however, and now decided take the offensive and use that advantage and keep his position on top of Ramon as long as he could. And then he thought it might even be poetic justice to get Ramon in a headlock of his own in return. And to signal Ramon that he was fully into the fight with him.

 

Eric therefore quickly slid up on top of the still prone Ramon until he was able to get a full head-to-head body press on him. Then he slid up even closer toward Ramon’s head until he was able to wrap his own strong arm around Ramon’s neck while, at the same time, he positioned his own big and muscular pec over Ramon’s face, positioning his hard nipple directly over Ramon’s mouth to next force it into Ramon’s mouth, or at least interfere with his easy breathing.

 

Ramon resisted the move at first, but then, with Eric’s tight hold on him, he was forced to go with it. And maybe it didn’t really bother him too much at that as he felt Eric’s muscled pec press tightly against his face and mouth. And then, having to open his mouth to breathe, feeling and tasting Eric’s stiff and hard nipple and hot wet muscled pec pushed into his mouth as well.

 

At the same time, Ramon felt Eric’s strong leg move between his legs and start to press down hard into his crotch against his very much now fully aroused big and engorged cock and balls, almost crushing them as well. Maybe he could have broken away sooner, but he didn’t seem to mind at all the punishment Eric was dishing up for him right now. Nor did he want to want to free himself from Eric’s punishment on him too soon.

 

He did reach up and grab the back of Eric’s head to keep him from getting away, however. But maybe that’s just what he had in mind to do to keep Eric on top of him. 

 

For a full couple of minutes Eric kept up his punishment on Ramon. And then he decided, as Ramon didn’t seem to be having any trouble with it, to maybe increase it some more. So now he slid back down and part way off Ramon, stretching his legs out to the side for leverage, and then went to get a good half nelson and crotch hold on Ramon instead. With that, he could keep his headlock on Ramon, keep his muscled pec right over Ramon’s face and mouth, and further crush his cock and balls by squeezing him from both ends at once.

 

Ramon took it for at least a couple of minutes, and liked what Eric was doing to him. However, he then began to think maybe it was time for Eric to get a little more action back from in return. Which Eric knew would be on Ramon’s mind sooner or later. And that Ramon would therefore soon make a next move of his own.

 

Which Ramon soon did. As soon as Eric slid partly off him and to the side, Ramon proceeded to roll out and escape from under Eric the rest of the way and got to his hands and knees next to him, both of them setting up for whatever would come next.

 

As soon as Ramon went to his hands and knees, however, Eric jumped on his heavily muscled back and begin to ride him. First he tried to get a full nelson against the big Ramon’s thick and powerful neck to force his head down to the mat, and then, when that didn’t seem to have much effect, he reached around Ramon’s big chest and seized and squeezed both of his massive pecs in his fists to both punish Ramon that way and also tighten his hold on Ramon to avoid being thrown off him if Ramon would soon try to move in that direction.

 

At the same time that Eric was working over Ramon’s powerful upper body, he also moved to wrap his somewhat longer and more muscular legs around Ramon’s lower waist. Then, crossing his ankles underneath Ramon’s lower body, he began to kick his feet and heels back hard into Ramon’s big load of male equipment, which was now fully aroused and hanging down heavily toward the vinyl mat and soft dirt floor underneath them. 

 

Ramon took all of Eric’s new punishment for a couple of long minutes. Not because he couldn’t escape it if he really wanted to, but because he was liking the punishment Eric was giving him and didn’t really want to escape it. Ramon was the sort of big and muscular body-builder type of guy who liked to have his body and muscles worked on and punished as hard as the other guy could give it to him, and he was in no hurry to have Eric stop any time soon.

 

Nevertheless, after a couple of minutes of Eric working him over, and not wanting to tire Eric out either, he knew it was time to move on and maybe, now that Eric had most likely figured out that Ramon wasn’t just going to do some big squash job on him and end the whole thing too soon, he figured it was time to get back at Eric just to keep him challenged too. And maybe, he thought, Eric didn’t mind taking some punishment on himself either. 

 

In his next move, therefore, Ramon began to shift back and forth to signal to Eric that he was planning something else. Then he reared up, like a stallion, and slid Eric off his back and down to the mat on his back. Where, before Eric could recover, Ramon spun around and wrapped his thickly powerful and muscular legs around Eric’s waist to get him in a tight body scissors from the side.

 

Fortunately, Ramon didn’t exert the full crushing power of his massive legs and thighs, which were almost powerful enough to crush a horse. Instead, he held his scissors on Eric just tight enough so that while Eric was able to try to twist and turn around inside the massive scissors he was caught in, he was also unable to escape the solid hold Ramon had on him.

 

Turning first this way and then that, either facing into or away from Ramon, Ramon held him tight. With Ramon eventually easing his big leg and body scissors on Eric somewhat so as not to tire him from trying to escape out too much. Finally, Eric did manage, with the oiled slipperiness of their bodies, to slip down and partly out of Ramon’s powerful body scissors on him, and get his arms and hands free as well, until now all but his head was free so that now Ramon had only, but a real good, massive head scissors on him.

 

‘Oh yeah,’ thought Eric, with his head caught tightly between Ramon‘s massive naked and oiled thighs, ’I like this!’ Eric always did like to get caught in another hunky guy’s head scissors on him, with his face then almost inevitably turned into the other man’s hot wet musky crotch until he was almost suffocated in it. And then maybe pulled him even harder until he was able to shove his big stiff rod, and maybe his big hot and wet balls as well, into his mouth and made him suck the whole thing as long as the other man forced him into it.

 

Which Ramon began to do. Desperately, despite his liking the predicament he was in, Eric nevertheless tried to twist and bridge and flip out, like a caught fish on land. But without success as Ramon continued to hold him in the tight and powerful head scissors hold he had on him.

 

And then, to no surprise or much distress on Eric’s part, Ramon soon did reach out and pull Eric’s face the rest of the way into his hot wet crotch until Eric’s face was soon pressed tightly against Ramon’s big stiff rod and balls to try to suffocate him even more.

 

All Eric could do to resist the move was to reach out blindly and, with his fists, beat against Ramon’s solid abs and big pecs. But that was having little effect on Ramon. However, Ramon soon, not wanting to get Eric too exhausted with his predicament, slowly released his powerful head scissors on Eric and let him slide out to be free again.

 

It took Eric just a moment or two to catch his breath after that punishment on him which, except for almost getting suffocated, he didn‘t really mind at all. Nor did Ramon plan to start up again on his next move, unless Eric moved first, until Eric himself came back, fully recovered, on his own again, which he very soon did. 

 

While Ramon was lying on his side next to Eric waiting for him to recover, and while Eric was on his knees, he saw his chance to get back in the same way as Ramon had just been working him over. 

 

Both Eric and Ramon had already realized that one of the things they most liked in wrestling each other or another man, was for one to take some hold on the other, work him over with it some, and then, sooner or later reverse it to see how it felt both ways, give and take.

 

Being some ten-years-older and maybe at least fifteen pounds heavier, and a part-time body-builder as well, Ramon was maybe taking it just a little easier on Eric than Eric on him, to keep things balanced, and also so neither would get more tired than they had to until it all finally ended.

 

As they were totally focused on each other, they were neither aware of the soft night breezes flowing in from the nearby lagoon and Caribbean sea, nor the path of the bright moon and stars flowing by outside, nor the changing shadows the giant palm trees made on the coral sand outside. Their focus was solely on the pleasure they were getting wrestling around with each other, naked and oiled, in the dim light of their open warehouse cell. 

 

Coming back at Ramon now, Eric positioned himself next to Ramon’s head and then, suddenly flipping up, wrapped his own lithe and powerfully muscular legs around Ramon’s head to get him in a head scissors of his own. Then, to complete the move, he shoved Ramon down with his back to the mat so that he could then get a full and tight head-to-toe body press on Ramon to improve on the head scissors he already had on him.

 

With that accomplished, he was able to shift slightly around so that he could position his own big and fully aroused stiff cock-rod directly over Ramon’s face and mouth. To follow that up, with Ramon now gasping for air buried with Eric’s tight leg scissors around his head, Eric succeeded in stabbing his big rod deep down into Ramon’s mouth and throat.

 

Well, maybe Ramon knew that’s probably what Eric had in mind to do, and didn’t mind cooperating with it either. He liked the feel and taste of another man’s stiff cockrod, and his balls too, shoved deep down into his mouth and throat.

 

Ramon wasn’t too surprised either, as he tried to bridge out of his predicament underneath Eric, but knowing that at the same time that his own big and highly aroused eight-inch rod was also sticking straight out of his body, right into Eric’s face, where Eric could easily grab it and try to both crush it in his fist while also torturing it further by trying to push it down to the mat between Ramon’s massive thighs as well.

 

Which Eric, of course, knowing that particular torture well, give or take, figured that maybe Ramon was very much asking for it too. He was right.

 

The move of Eric’s stabbing his big rod deep down into Ramon’s mouth and throat also maybe set the stage of how their match might eventually end up too. But that was not to come for a while yet. 

 

Meanwhile, Sir Hugh Bentley, Sven Ericsson, the US Navy and the Bahamian officials and authorities were all working hard on figuring out how Eric could be safely rescued from his apparent captors, meaning Ramon and his associates.

 

While Eric and Ramon, the presumed captive and captor, were focused solely on wrestling it out, naked and oiled and getting more and more sensually and sexually aroused all the time, completely unaware of their surroundings or anything else.

 

For the next hour, Ramon and Eric got into, and out of, all sorts of other holds, deadlocks and predicaments. Sitting opposite each other a couple of times, they both, at the same time, jammed one of their feet into the other’s crotch, almost crushing the other’s big cock and balls under the sole of their foot, while the opposite one seized the other’s free ankle and was pulling him in to make the punishment even greater. Generally, Eric, with the slightly longer legs, got the best of this punishment.

 

Then at other times one managed to get on top of the other and sit on his face as if almost to crush his head and totally cut off his air and sight as he dropped his butt over the other’s face. And when he felt the other’s nose, eyes and mouth get almost lost deep down into the dark wet canyon his butt, Ramon, with his heavier and stockier build, generally got the better of this punishment, but Eric never minded that at all.

 

Both, particularly Ramon, being the heavier and stronger of the two, tended to avoid most back-breaking and arm twisting holds, or any other submission holds, as they could all too soon lead to some real injuries, and also use up too much energy too quickly by either one, and thereby end their match too soon.

 

Eric knew it was probably useless for him to use up too much of his energy in trying, some way, to force the bigger and stronger Ramon to submit to him, while Ramon never forgot that, in order for him to eventually collect his “fee” for returning Eric to Sir Hugh and Ericsson Marine in good order, he needed to return him in good condition too. 

 

Eventually, however, both knew it would have to end some time. And now, almost two hours since they started wrestling each other, even though they were sometimes deadlocked and motionless for a moment or two, or rested another moment or two along the way to regain their breath, that they were now, wrestling oiled and naked and cockfighting much of the time, had gotten themselves aroused almost to the limit and be forced to shoot their full loads, and that their match would soon have to end.

 

They had already sort of found that while Ramon liked to get into anal sex, give or take, Eric wasn’t into it all that much. So of course Ramon didn’t push it. However, it was clear both liked to give or get a full load of the other’s big cock-rod stabbed down into his mouth and throat. And so the end seemed to be coming to that.

 

Eric had indicated more than once that he had no problem with it when the bigger Ramon, with his long, thick and hard rod, tried to stab all of his big load of male equipment into his mouth. Nor did Ramon like it any less when Eric did the same to him.  

 

Ramon got another solid body press on Eric, with a tight head scissors on him as well, knowing that Eric liked the feel of getting his head caught between his massive thighs - and whatever would come from there. With Eric liking the feel of the big Ramon’s naked, oiled muscled body lying fully on top of him, he wasn’t surprised when, once again, Ramon therefore shifted slightly and stabbed his big, long and thick man-rod deep into his waiting mouth and throat.

 

Nevertheless, knowing Ramon’s intention, Eric tried to struggle out and escape his predicament for one final time. But he knew, and didn’t mind at all, that if he wouldn’t be successful and make his escape, that would be the end of it - much to his final pleasure.

 

It was just a few seconds after Ramon stabbed and pumped his big rod deeper and deeper and harder and harder into Eric’s waiting mouth when he sort of froze, motionlessly, that Eric felt and tasted all of Ramon’s hot white cum cream cum as it suddenly exploded into his mouth and pour down his throat.

 

Eric took in all of it that he could, and what he couldn’t take in flooded out over the side of his mouth and down to the already wet and slippery mat they were wrestling on.

 

So focused was he on taking in all of Ramon’s hot creamy cum, he was hardly aware that Ramon had also been squeezing and almost crushing Eric’s own big man-rod, which was just as ready to shoot its full load, in his fist.

 

Suddenly Eric felt his own big load of hot creamy cum race through his own body and explode out of his own big, red heart-shaped cock-end into the air. For which Ramon then leaned over to take in as much as he could in his own mouth while he had to let the rest of it flood out over his hand to the mat below them as well. 

 

Finally, with that double and simultaneous action, both were completely exhausted and lay back on the wet and oily mat underneath them. For the first time in a couple of hours, they noticed the quiet stillness of the Caribbean night and the warm air of the sea as it softly and silently floated around them. 

 

‘Yeah, that sure was good!’ both thought to themselves. And then, as they slowly began to recover and looked at each other, they said it to each other with wide grins on their faces.

 

After they had rested for a couple of minutes, they slowly got up and went to shower and clean up in the warehouse washroom. Then they put on their clothes again and walked quietly up the crushed coral path back to the hacienda.

 

“Oh man, Ramon,” said Eric as they regained themselves and were walking back up the coral path, “that sure was good!” To which he added, with a grin on his face, “and thanks for not beating me up too badly!” He knew that Ramon, while challenging him, never actually did try to beat or overpower him, which let him enjoy their match just as much as Ramon did and made it last as long as possible.

 

To which Ramon replied, “Same here, man, and you didn’t do too badly working me over either. I like to get beat up and, man, you gave it to me just the way I most like it!”

 

But then Ramon said, as they entered the back door of the hacienda to head to their respective bedrooms, “I’m not sure I mentioned it ….” (he knew he hadn’t, but didn’t want to mention it until now, after they’d had their chance to wrestle around that night with each other until both were completely exhausted and pleased with themselves and each other)…” that we’ve worked it out that you’ll be able to continue sailing your Eagle to reach Sir Hugh Bentley by tomorrow evening.

 

“While you were resting up from your storm and wreck experience last night and this morning, Rico and I and a couple of our men were able to go down to check on the Eagle. It turned out to be hardly damaged at all and had just a few hull scratches. So we hauled it off the coral rocks and brought it around to our dock and got it cleaned up so it’s just like new again.

 

“And so we’ve arranged it with Sir Hugh that if you leave soon after dawn tomorrow morning, which is actually today as it’s already after midnight, you should be at ‘Cuda Cay and with Sir Hugh by late afternoon. The weather report looks very good, with light to moderate winds and mostly smooth seas. We figure it’s about a ten-hour sail from here, so if you leave around seven, you should get to Sir Hugh about five in the afternoon, or about three hours before dark.

 

“I hope that’s okay with you, as we’ve already notified Sir Hugh and Ericsson Marine of the plan, and they are in complete agreement with it.”

 

“Oh, man, Ramon, that’s great!” was Eric’s heartfelt reply. “I know I’m going to miss you and Isla Diablo here, particularly after tonight, but maybe I’d better be on my way to finish up my journey in good order too.”

 

What Ramon didn’t mention was the somewhat more complicated involvement of the substantial “fee” Ramon would collect for “freeing” Eric, nor Sir Hugh’s services as broker between Ramon and the Ericsson Marine group, nor the fee he expected to collect for his services from them as well, nor the possibly considerable involvement of the US Navy and Coast Guard and the Bahamian authorities if they decided to intervene in the matter at some point, in order to bring the whole thing, hopefully, if everyone did their part, to a successful conclusion.

 

With that, they separated, went to their separate quarters, and prepared to sleep soundly for the next day ahead of them. 

 

 

Day Three: 

 

The next morning dawned to no more than a few morning clouds which soon dissipated with the day’s rising heat. The wind and waves were just as predicted. Both Ramon and Eric were up by six o’clock, and together headed down to the dock to check out the condition of the Eagle before they had breakfast.

 

The Eagle was just as Ramon had said. No more than a couple of superficial scratches down around the waterline, but no damage at all to the titanium and composite hull. Nor any damage to the mast, sails or any equipment either. Eric noticed that Ramon had also replenished the supply of food and water completely for his anticipated day’s voyage sufficiently to last a full week, so that was taken care of too. Great!

 

They breakfasted quietly and said little as the cook prepared their breakfast meal. She knew that they had gotten sort of attached to each other, although she didn’t know why. But that wasn’t important - it just was.

 

When the time came for Eric to leave, needing to start promptly after breakfast, not only Ramon, but Rico, Luis, Tomas and Reymundo were also on the dock to see him off. 

 

He shook hands with each one of them, his eyes maybe growing just a little moist with the experience he’d just been through over the past forty-eight hours, and his appreciation for all that they had done for him. Their feelings for him were no less as he started up the boat’s small engine to get him out of the lagoon into the open sea, where he’d raise the sails, cut the engine, and then sail smoothly and at a pretty good rate on a direct course for ’Cuda Cay and finally meeting up with Sir Hugh. 

 

Things, however, while quiet, were not quite as quiet as they might seem.

 

As soon as Eric was out of sight, Ramon went to his radio room and reported to Sir Hugh that he had done his part of their agreement, and that Eric was now once again on the high seas of the Caribbean, headed toward him, and that the Eagle was in excellent condition except for the couple of inconsequential scratches.

 

Which news Sir Hugh then radioed immediately to Sven Ericsson and Ericsson Marine up in Massachusetts, which then enabled them to forward the contracted “fees” to Sir Hugh for the release of Eric as their part of the agreement.

 

The fees were received, by instantaneous computerized transmission, by Sir Hugh in less than ten minutes, and within ten minutes more he had them deposited in his own holding account until Eric arrived safely at ‘Cuda Cay.

 

The rest of the day would then pass quietly while waiting until Eric had completed his journey and arrived safely at ’Cuda Cay and came into Sir Hugh’s care.

 

However, immediately after the “fee” money was sent to Sir Hugh, Ericsson Marine notified the US Navy that Eric had departed Isla Diablo on the Eagle, as planned, and the “fee” had been paid over to, and received by, Sir Hugh, also as planned.

 

Which in turn prompted the US Navy to immediately radio their submarine, the Tigerfish, already standing by on location just outside the Isla Diablo lagoon, to silently follow Eric and the Eagle, under water and unseen, but nevertheless staying close by and keeping him under constant surveillance until he had safely arrived and docked at ’Cuda Cay.

 

For the sailors on the Tigerfish it was a welcome change to pursue an actual tracking operation rather than just a practice one, and they followed him closely, while Eric was completely unaware of what was going on around, and underneath, him. 

 

According to the plan and agreement amongst all the parties, it was only when Eric had safely arrived at Sir Hugh’s that the money would actually be forwarded, by Sir Hugh, to the Nassau bank Ramon had specified for his and his partners freeing Eric in return for their “fee.”

 

However, unbeknownst to Eric, Sir Hugh, Sven Ericsson, Ericsson Marine, Ramon or anyone else, the US Navy and Coast Guard also had their own plans for how the rest of the day would go. 

 

The day itself passed quietly and uneventfully for Eric as he sailed easily, with an almost perfect wind, and was unaware of the actions or involvement of anyone else. The Eagle sailed easily through the warm Bahamian islands, just as it was designed to do, all the way to ‘Cuda Cay, just as Eric had charted it out on his map.

 

It was only 1350 hours when he came sight of ‘Cuda Cay, and, in another hour, he found himself furling his sails and starting up the boat’s engine to maneuver the Eagle into Sir Hugh’s protective lagoon and tie up at the dock. As he cast his line to the dock, it was Sir Hugh himself who caught it and pulled him in the last couple of feet to secure the Eagle to the dock and welcome him, finally, to ‘Cuda Cay. 

 

It was a warm greeting, for sure. It represented the end of a long, and for a time, harrowing, journey. But now, here he finally was at ‘Cuda Cay with Sir Hugh Bentley, and with the Eagle in excellent condition too.

 

And, for Sir Hugh, in addition to his very sincere welcome of Eric, it also marked the successful conclusion of a very multi-sided agreement among many concerned and different parties to be sure that the welcome finally and safely took place. 

 

Just moments after Sir Hugh had welcomed Eric to ‘Cuda Cay and then placed him in the very capable hands of his mansion and yacht staff to get himself organized and settled in, Sir Hugh went to his radio room to inform his good friend, Sven Ericsson and Ericsson Marine, of Eric’s safe and sound arrival, and the arrival of the Eagle as well, to ease their great concern about that.

 

Which also set, in turn, the wheels in motion to now release the “fees” which Sir Hugh had already received and deposited in his own account, and forward them now to the bank in Nassau which Ramon had specified he do earlier. Less, of course, his “fee“ for his services in the matter, from Ramon, and the even larger fee he had negotiated with Ericsson Marine for those same services, all via instantaneous computerized processing.

 

And when that transfer had been made, to immediately radio Ramon that the money had now been deposited into his specified account in Nassau.

 

Sir Hugh assumed Ramon had already arranged for the monies to be immediately withdrawn from that specified account into various other unidentified accounts so that very soon all traces of the origin of the money, and where it went, were lost.

 

Sir Hugh, however, as he and Ramon had discussed and agreed earlier in their previous conversation, that not all of Ramon’s money should be forwarded to the Bahamian bank in Nassau. Sir Hugh had earlier suggested to Ramon that, as his financial plans were perhaps not the most solid in the world, nor could he really be sure the Bahamian bank would be competent enough to follow his instructions, perhaps Ramon would like to leave some of his “fee” money, say about half of it, with him, Sir Hugh, to hold, manage and invest for him?

 

Ramon agreed that might be a good idea. As a result, only half of Ramon’s “earnings” went to the Nassau bank. The other half remained with Sir Hugh.

 

*        *        *        *

 

All of which radio and financial exchanges took place in only the couple of hours between Eric’s arrival at Sir Hugh’s around 1600 hours, and the present time of 1800 hours, or six o’clock in the evening.

 

Meanwhile, back on Isla Diablo, after Eric sailed away it had been a quiet morning of waiting for Ramon, during which time he, Rico and the other men quietly worked in their warehouses. El Toro and El Borracho were nowhere to be seen, having nothing to occupy themselves with, so they were mostly sleeping and having a few drinks in their watchtower quarters.

 

Around noon, however, Ramon, having heard nothing to the contrary, figured Eric was probably in very good shape and probably now approaching ‘Cuda Cay, estimating that Eric would probably arrive there at around 1600 hours. As a result, he then told his men as they ate their lunch that they were finished with their chores for now and they could take the rest of the afternoon off for themselves.

 

He also casually told them he and Rico would be taking their small speedboat, which they kept docked in the lagoon, over to the nearby Mantilla Cay, That island also had a lagoon, bigger than the Isla Diablo lagoon, but which island was suitable to accommodate living quarters or a warehouse.  

 

However, it was over at Mantilla Cay where the three big, high-speed, diesel powered, cabin cruisers, which had been converted to carry full cargo loads of inter-island freight, were docked It was these larger boats which carried the cargo and other goods which were kept in the warehouses on Isla Diablo after they were unloaded there, and then reloaded for trans-shipment elsewhere around the Caribbean.

 

Ramon told the men he and Rico needed to install some new radio equipment in one of the cruisers. The men didn’t really care one way or another why Ramon and Rico were leaving them for a few hours. All they cared about was that Ramon and Rico would be away for a while and wouldn’t be back until maybe around ten o’clock that evening. That would leave them completely free to relax for the next few hours, have supper and then relax some more until Ramon and Rico returned late that evening.

 

Or at least that’s the way the men thought the rest of their day would go. The US Navy and Coast Guard, along with a contingent of the Bahamian authorities, however, were making some other plans which had them in mind.

 

Nevertheless, that day ended quietly for all of them. 

 

 

Day Four:

 

It was at precisely 0700 hours, or seven in the morning, just as the dawn was beginning to lighten, and as Luis, Tomas and Reymundo, along with the cook, were having their breakfast, that they heard, and then felt, the shock wave of an enormous explosion almost right outside their hacienda door.

 

As soon as the four had recovered from the shock of the explosion, which shook the hacienda right down to its foundation, they looked out the window to see what could be seen. What they didn’t see was the watchtower. It had completely disappeared. And presumably, therefore, El Toro and El Borracho, would have disappeared along with it.

 

And then, when Luis crossed the room to look out the opposite window to see if anything was to be seen on that side, he quickly saw three high speed black rubber landing boats pulling up to the shore, not a hundred yards away, on that side of the island. In the boats were about a half dozen men in each. Every one of the men appeared to be fully armed and in full body attack armor. They appeared to be a Navy Seal team and were already leaping out of the boats and running directly toward the hacienda and them.

 

Luis, the first to react and making the only sensible decision, instantly told all of his compatriots to sit down at their breakfast table, put their hands on the table, and wait for the arrival of the Seal team who surely would burst through the door in the next ten seconds.

 

Hopefully, the invaders would enter the hacienda on the run before shooting their way in. However, there wasn’t much Luis and the others could do if the Navy Seals did shoot first and then enter. Fortunately, it turned out Luis guessed correctly in his hopes and directions to the others. In the next moment the invaders had them all lined up, found they were completely unarmed, and were only the local workers on the island.

 

They seemed momentarily to be searching for someone else, but were satisfied that the four of them were the only ones present at the moment. Which then relaxed things a little for the four while the invaders went about the rest of their operation.

 

It turned out that the “invaders” were a combination of highly trained Navy Seals, trained Customs members of the US Coast Guard whose duties it was to intercept, board and take over any vessels they were reasonably sure carried contraband materials, primarily drugs, and a couple of members of the Bahamian naval forces who had similar Customs duties. 

 

A Lt. Chris Cottonwood, who was in charge of the Navy Seal team, questioned Luis and the others closely to determine if there were anyone else on the island? To which Luis said that two men, El Toro and El Borracho had probably been over at the watchtower, but presumably they were dead with the destruction of the tower just moments ago.

 

“Any one else?” asked Chris. He was apparently looking for the man in charge of the Isla Diablo and its operations.

 

“No one else right now,” said Luis. He had already decided that it would probably be in his own and the others’ best interest just to be cooperative and tell the truth of what little he knew, and that there was no point in trying to be clever or evasive with the lieutenant or his men.

 

“Around noon yesterday, however,” said Luis, “our boss, Ramon, and his main assistant, Rico, took the speedboat over to Mantilla Cay to work on one of the boats there. They were not expected back until late last evening, I think, however, and I have not yet seen them this morning.”

 

He saw Chris turn to one of the other men in his group and say a few words to him. Then, while some of the others in the group of invaders were quickly fanning out to check the rest of the small island and the two warehouses, the lieutenant and about ten of his other men raced back to two of their landing boats, jumped in them, and then, at the highest speed possible, raced over to Mantilla Cay.

 

When they got there, they saw the three big cruisers, but, even after a detailed search of the boats and the whole island, there was no sign of Ramon or Rico.

 

‘Damn,’ thought Lt. Cottonwood, ‘this Ramon guy sure is a slick one!” 

 

Meanwhile, back on Isla Diablo, the Coast Guard cutter “Gadwell,” which had been laying just off the island below the horizon, came up at high speed just as the rubber boats were hitting the island, and then slowed and dropped anchor just a hundred yards or so off shore.

 

The next thing Luis and the others saw was two or three additional boatloads of sailors coming ashore in the “Gadwell” boats to take over from the Seal Team which did the original invasion. Then the new team started to make a systematic and more detailed search of the island, and then head to the warehouses to make, apparently, a detailed inspection and record of everything that was in the warehouses.

 

Later on, anyone reading a full report of the whole operation would read, in an abbreviated form, that “….. Operation Isla Diablo was completed successfully and without incident although without capturing the presumed ring leader, Ramon, and his chief assistant, Rico, the only two men of importance in the organization. The other persons found on the island were only routine employees of the operation and, after questioning, were all released without any charges being made against them.

 

“Two men, referred to as El Toro and El Borracho, who were employed as guards for the island, were killed instantly with the destruction of the building referred to as the “watchtower.”

 

“The destruction of the watchtower was executed just as planned. The new “Mosquito” drone, developed by Lt. Chris Cottonwood’s group at their research base in Arizona, worked even better than expected. It was totally silent in its operation so its arrival would not be noted except by visual chance. And, as it is generally to be used only at night or at unexpected locations, it is unlikely to be detected in future operations either.

 

“It placed its 500 lb. H.E. bomb exactly as intended, on the roof of the watchtower, and was then detonated by remote control at the exact moment the invasion of the US Navy Seals was taking place on the opposite side of the island.

 

“After landing and securing the island, the naval and coast guard operating teams did a full inventory of the contents of both of the two warehouses on the island. Their inventory turned up about two thousand cartons of various consumer products. About half were primarily fancy Cuban cigars and fine Cuban rum, while the other half were primarily of various electronic instruments and personal communications devices, all of it presumably intended for the ordinary consumer markets in the US and Europe, and Cuba.

 

“No drugs of any kind were found.”

 

“It was finally decided by the authorities that the value of the buildings and installations on the two islands invaded was nominal, and of no particular consequence. The value of the three modified high speed cabin cruisers, which had been modified to carry inter-island commerce, were of some value each. However, they were turned over to the Bahamian government as belonging to the country in which they were seized.

 

The report then went on to say, by way of doing the accounting of the entire operation, “The total value of the contents of the 2000 cartons of merchandise located in the warehouses, was estimated at approximately $300/carton, or about $ 600,000, or approximately the cost of the whole Operation Isla Diablo. The proceeds from the probable auction sale of the three modified cabin cruisers would not be included as it that would go to the Bahamian government.” 

 

A copy of the full and unclassified parts of the report, which was virtually all of it, was sent to both Sven Ericsson and Sir Hugh Bentley for their information and as they were entitled to it as part of their participation in the overall operation.

 

Sven Ericsson read the report but had no comment on it as his only real interest in it was that his son Eric had been safely returned to him and Ericsson Marine.

 

Sir Hugh Bentley, on the other hand, read it with great interest. Not only because of his proximity to the action, but his curiosity and interest in the operation as a whole, with the complexity and all that was involved in it and his knowing all of the key people involved in it. And, of course, his not inconsiderable interest in it for the services he rendered to it and the fees he collected from it. 

 

*        *        *        * 

 

And so it was that the whole thing came to a very successful end. Eric finally completed his journey safely to deliver the new and specially built Eagle sailboat to Sir Hugh Bentley at his Bahamian island home on ’Cuda Cay. After the unexpected hurricane hit and Eric and the Eagle were shipwrecked and were found by Ramon, the acceptable “rescue and recovery” fee, or ransom as it were, was paid by Sven Ericsson to Sir Hugh, which he then in turn forwarded, or as much as was agreed upon with Ramon after his “fee” was deducted, to Ramon’s Bahamian bank. 

 

But whatever happened, the reader might ask, to Ramon and Rico and the “fee“ Ramon collected for his part in first finding, and then returning, Eric to proceed safely and happily on his journey? So then to proceed to the answer to this question: 

 

 

The Following Week: 

 

After Eric delivered the Eagle to Sir Hugh Bentley, Sir Hugh invited him to spend a few days with him at “Cuda Cay.” Eric, glad to take a few days off after his long journey and ordeal of the storm, his wreck and then his time on the Isla Diablo, including, but not mentioned, his great late night-long and highly sensual and pleasurable wrestling match, with its great ending, with the hunky body-builder Ramon, very quickly accepted Sir Hugh’s invitation.

 

For the next few days, he was able to show Sir Hugh and the key members of his yachting crew the special newest and latest features of their new Eagle. And, in doing so, he was able to sail the Eagle to two of the neighboring keys, also owned by Sir Hugh, for his pleasure and those of his guests as well.

 

Of the two other islands, the first was Longo Cay, a somewhat larger but less interesting island on which Sir Hugh kept his Citation jet plane and docked his yacht, as well as kept an office for his extensive financial interests. The third but smaller island, SeaGrape Cay, had a very attractive and private villa for his guests, with two pleasure boats maintained there as well for scuba diving, snorkeling and some deep sea fishing for the use and pleasures of his guests.

 

In addition, Sir Hugh entertained his guests, when they were not on ‘Cuda Cay, at SeaGrape Cay with its soft evening breezes and almost nightly picnics and evening entertainment, maybe sometimes no more than a Bahamian pianist playing some native songs which the pianist then softly sang the lyrics to. For anyone staying at the SeaGrape villa, the days and nights would go by all too quickly. 

 

But finally, after almost a week with Sir Hugh on all three of his islands, it was time for Eric to head back home and up to Massachusetts. Sir Hugh’s pilot flew him up from the airstrip on Longo Cay in the Citation jet to Nassau, where Eric then caught his flights back home again. 

 

 

Four Months Later: 

 

Four quiet months then followed as Eric continued his work in the development and construction of the latest Ericsson Marine boats, where he learned all he could about the construction and the operations of Ericsson Marine before ascending the management ladder at some future date.

 

At the end of four months, he was informed that it was time for the usual complimentary four-month checkup on all new boats delivered by Ericsson Marine, including the Eagle which he had sailed down to Sir Hugh earlier. He was asked if he would like to return to ‘Cuda Cay to perform this service? Eric’s answer was an instant “Yes!” 

 

This time, Eric flew commercial down to Nassau, and was then once again picked up by Sir Hugh’s Citation jet and flown to ‘Cuda Cay, where Sir Hugh and his staff greeted him again like the old and good friend he now was.

 

After greeting everyone again and giving his small bag to Sir Hugh‘s own personal valet, he asked if he could check out the Eagle right then to take an initial look at her and begin to figure how he could make a more complete examination of the boat, and any repairs it might need, in the next few days.

 

Sir Hugh assured him the Eagle was working perfectly, but he understood that Eric wanted to take an earlier closer look at it anyway. Particularly after the adventure he’d had in it just four months ago. 

 

Eric then asked if he might sail it out to the nearby Longo Cay, the largest and most built up of Sir Hugh’s three islands, the next day to which request Sir Hugh of course instantly agreed. Eric knew Sir Hugh had not only his private airstrip on that key, but also the extensive facilities where the Citation jet, and a helicopter he owned as well, were kept. The cay also held the living quarters he maintained for his extensive staff, and where he had his offices for his world-wide financial and other interests as well. It was, in fact, the major base and installation for everything Sir Hugh did and was interested in.

 

Eric was interested in seeing more of it than he had had a chance to see on his first visit. When Eric asked Sir Hugh if he might see the Longo Cay operation in detail, Sir Hugh, knowing that Eric was probably someday to head up an even bigger operation, was glad to agree to Eric’s request. For that, he told Eric to see his head manager of the entire island, who would be glad to spend as much time with him as he liked and show him everything that was to be seen.

 

Eric sailed the Eagle over to the island shortly after dawn the next day and brought the boat in smartly to the main dock of Longo Cay opposite Sir Hugh’s fine and expensive yacht. In doing so, he brought the Eagle in right behind a beautiful red and obviously high powered speedboat which was docked right in front of the Eagle.

 

Stepping ashore, Eric asked one of the men working on the dock where he could find the head manager of the island? The man pointed to a small but obviously well designed office building, constructed of driftwood and coral to blend in well with the overall theme of the beautiful island. 

 

Walking up to the office, he saw the door was open and walked in.

 

As soon as he walked in, he was totally surprised and almost speechless as he rushed to embrace the man standing right in front of him and who had seen him pull the Eagle up to the dock. The man had already been notified by Sir Hugh the previous evening that Eric had returned to the island, his mission for coming back, and his desire, with Sir Hugh’s full approval, to see and do everything that was to be seen and done on all three cays.

 

The man standing right in front of him was Ramon. And he was as glad to see Eric again as Eric was to see him. And standing nearby readying some chilled tropical Bahamian fruit drinks for all three of them was Rico!

 

After their fullest greetings and crushingly tight embraces of each other, Eric couldn’t help but express his surprise and great pleasure at seeing Ramon and Rico again.

 

“But,” said Eric after they’d settled down just a little, “whatever happened to you after, as I understand it, you left the Isla Diablo around noon that day when all hell broke loose early that next morning. I heard you went around noon to that the other island you had nearby? And than disappeared from there too? And now you are here? And managing all of Sir Hugh‘s Longo Cay operations too!

 

“Oh si,” said Ramon, joined by Rico, wide grins covering their faces. “It is a long story, but maybe not too long at that.”

 

“Well, tell me about it - I’d sure like to know!” said Eric, taking the sparkling chilled drink Rico handed him and all three then moving outside to sit in the comfortable rattan porch chairs on the terrace of the Caribbean-style office building.

 

Ramon then proceeded to tell Eric the story of his and Rico‘s journey from Isla Diablo that fateful day before it was raided by the US Navy Seals, to his present situation at Longo Cay working for Sir Hugh.  

 

This is the story he told:

 

First, after he first discovered the supposed wreck of he Eagle, and found the exhausted but unhurt Eric on the deck of the stranded Eagle, Ramon’s instinct, in addition to helping Eric recover and save the Eagle, was that perhaps here was an opportunity to make a few dollars for himself too. After all, that was the reason he was in the business he was in.

 

He found Eric’s identification in the Eagle’s cabin and suspected that Eric was very closely connected to Ericsson Marine, possibly even related to the owners, and might be good for a substantial ransom. Or, as he preferred to call it, a “fee” for his “recovery and return” to Ericsson Marine. The Eagle alone was obviously a new and expensive sailboat, and for Eric to be delivering it to Sir Hugh Bentley, were more reasons for thinking there might be a very substantial fee in it for the safe return of both Eric and the Eagle.

 

However, that could also present some considerable dangers for Ramon as well if he wasn‘t very careful about how to carry it out. Most likely Ericsson Marine would have some considerable resources to track him down should anything go amiss in any exchange of Eric and the Eagle for the substantial “fee” they might agree on. The details of a good plan to accomplish that would require some time to consider. And yet he knew he had to act fast to develop a sound plan before Ericsson Marine found him, and, if they did, any chance of collecting a “fee” for Eric’s return would be lost.

 

The plan he developed, therefore, would be that Ramon would first, and quickly, get in touch with Sir Hugh Bentley, who he knew would not be unfamiliar with complex plans and financial arrangements which had to be done quickly and discreetly.

 

The second part of the plan was to get Eric off his hands to begin his return as promptly as possible. But not before making the necessary arrangements to be sure to collect his “fee” for doing so. 

 

The third part was to get away from Isla Diablo as soon as possible as he suspected the authorities had already identified it as a suspicious island for contraband activities, and quite possibly Ericsson Marine might also already have a general idea, from Eric’s most recent probable radio conversations with Ericsson Marine as to where he was and where he was headed. And, with that information, he, Ramon, could expect the authorities to pay him a visit very soon.

 

And then the fourth and final part was how to safely and definitely collect his “fee,” and then deposit it to a bank account so that it could not be traced back to him, wherever he was, so that he could afterwards pick it up at his leisure.

 

Ramon was not, by nature, a greedy man, nor did he want as much money as he might try to get. Too high a price would only stimulate too many people to chase after him to get Eric back. All Ramon wanted was enough to give him a nice financial reserve for the rest of his life, and maybe buy a few things he had always wanted but had never yet been able to afford.

 

So, after making sure, that first day, that Eric was safe and sound in his care, and making the arrangements with Sir Hugh to be the middle man or “broker” in the exchange of Eric for the “fee” he would be paid, his next step was to get Eric safely back on his way to ‘Cuda Cay to keep his part of the agreement on the whole matter. Which he did, by hearing from Sir Hugh that the arrangements he proposed were acceptable to Ericsson Marine, and then by seeing Eric off early the following morning to get on with it.

 

At the same time, he made his arrangements with the bank in Nassau to be ready to receive some substantial funds from Sir Hugh for him in the very near future, and then to quickly forward them on into secret accounts where they could not be traced. The bank officials told them they would be able to take care of that with no trouble at all.

 

Then it would be time for him to quickly move to the third step, which was to leave Isla Diablo before the authorities might suddenly arrive and mess up and ruin his plans.

 

To get away from Isla Diablo, Ramon and Rico went first to the other island, Mantilla Cay, they owned nearby, where the three cabin cruisers were kept. They took their radio with them to keep in touch with Sir Hugh and also listen for any maritime reports of what was going on, or suspected.

 

But they would not stay at Mantilla Cay any longer than they absolutely needed to, as that would be second place any authorities looking for them would search after they weren’t found on Isla Diablo.

 

So, immediately upon arriving at Mantilla Cay, they went to the storage shed on the island where the cabin cruiser supplies were kept and pulled out a black ocean-going rubber life raft with a reasonably fast and very dependable outboard motor. Normally it was equipped with three days’ rations for four men, but Ramon and Rico added some rations, taken from the cabin cruisers, sufficient to last a month or more.

 

And then, keeping their radio with them and finishing their whole stay on Mantilla Cay in less than fifteen minutes they set off for yet another island, which they knew to be uninhabited. It was only about thirty miles away, but in a totally different group of islands from the Isla Diablo group. Ramon had already scouted that island out a long time ago in case he ever needed to make a quick departure from Isla Diablo. Such as he needed to do right now.

 

He and Rico, in fact, reached that new island about two o’clock on that same afternoon, after having hurriedly left Isla Diablo less than two hours before. They saw no other watercraft anywhere along the way to either island, and knew the low rubber raft would not be easily seen on anyone’s radar screen or by anyone else who might just be looking their way.

 

On reaching that uninhabited island, quickly and quietly Ramon and Rico pulled the rubber boat up on to the shore and concealed it in the low underbrush of the island so that it could not be seen by anyone. They then went to a small hut Ramon knew was on the otherwise deserted island, bringing all their rations and the radio with them, and settled in for however long it might take before things settled down again and they might be able to move on again with a reasonable degree of safety.

 

As it turned out, as they left Isla Diablo on one side, they had seen the US Coast Guard cutter “Gadwell” approaching the island on the other side. It was approaching the island slowly and carefully and they guessed what might come next. Nothing more happened that night. But then the next morning, even from as far away from it as they were, they heard the explosion of the drone-delivered H.E. bomb which demolished the watchtower and which confirmed their suspicions.

 

After that, they waited silently for a few days to see if the authorities and naval teams which had taken over Isla Diablo, and then Mantilla Cay as well, would come any closer to them. They didn’t. But then they waited another full week anyway just to be sure the coast was clear and that everything had ended over at Isla Diablo.

 

After a few days of radio silence on their uninhabited island, Ramon radioed Sir Hugh to tell him where he and Rico were, and to be reassured that Eric had reached ‘Cuda Cay safely and that his “fee“ had been collected and had been deposited in the Nassau bank he had specified, and asked Sir Hugh if he had any suggestions as to what they might do next.

 

As Ramon was now describing the adventures he and Rico had been having since leaving Isla Diablo, he had still never yet mentioned to Eric just how close he was to Sir Hugh. Ramon and Sir Hugh knew each other somewhat more than might be expected. That is, Sir Hugh had very closely guessed that Ramon was in the contraband smuggling business, and that he was apparently quite successful at it. However, as Sir Hugh had no part in it the acquaintance between the two of them remained warm but just casual. 

 

Now, however, while working out the “contract” to return Eric, Sir Hugh suggested to Ramon, when Ramon mentioned to him that he intended to deposit his “fee” in a Bahamian bank, which would then be transferred to certain other accounts the bank recommended, that Sir Hugh made a suggestion to Ramon. Which was that instead of sending all of the money to the bank in Nassau, perhaps he, Sir Hugh, who had a little more experience in the discreet handling and movement of money, perhaps forward only half of the money to the Nassau bank Ramon had named. Instead, Sir Hugh suggested that he himself retain the other half and place it with certain banks and accounts he knew of which might be better and safer. 

 

Sir Hugh’s instincts and advice to Ramon, which Ramon agreed to, seemed sound to him. When, by radio, Sir Hugh confirmed to Ramon that half the money which Sir Hugh had received from Ericsson Marine was forwarded, as agreed, to his Bahamian bank, he also confirmed that he was retaining the other half.

 

As it turned out, less than six weeks later, the bank sent a radio message to Sir Hugh, for Ramon, to say that “…we regret to inform you that the funds you placed with us have been discovered by the US banking authorities and have been seized by them in recognition of the illegal means by which they were paid to you, and your forwarding them to us, and that therefore you must consider them unrecoverable in the future.”

 

Sir Hugh wondered if maybe someone at the bank put two and two together and would receive a “finder’s fee” for having reported the large and somewhat mysterious deposit of the “fee” in the bank to the US banking authorities?

 

For which the Nassau banker would receive a very nice “finder’s fee” from the authorities, which, as the owner of the bank, would go into his own pocket.

 

In one swoop, therefore, Ramon quickly had lost half of the total “fee” which he had counted on to make his life a lot easier for himself and Rico. 

 

Sir Hugh radioed this distressing news to inform Ramon of it. But at the same time he was glad to inform Ramon that the monies Ramon had left with him were not only safely and soundly invested, but they had already almost doubled in value from when Sir Hugh first took charge of them. And that those funds would be waiting for Ramon any time he wished to collect them.

 

With that good news, which was a great relief to Ramon, Sir Hugh also had another idea. He assumed that, sooner or later, Ramon would re-enter his usual “inter-island” cargo, meaning contraband, business just as he had been doing very successfully before all this present matter turned up.

 

However, Sir Hugh knew that, at least at present, Ramon had nothing else specifically to do for a while until everything died down for the longer run, and he might therefore be interested something else to do in the meantime.

 

As Sir Hugh had just recently lost his key manager of his Longo Cay operation, he needed another man who was a good organizer and manager of a multi-functional operation. He also now knew Ramon quite well, and trusted his basic honesty and integrity in his own personal dealings. He therefore wondered if perhaps Ramon might not like to join him at ‘Cuda Cay and take charge of his operations on Longo Cay where his airplanes and yacht were berthed?

 

After all, although the authorities knew that someone had to be in charge of the Isla Diablo operations and whatever contraband trading might be going on, they didn’t know the names of the people involved. And suspicions alone do not make for suspects and guilty findings.

 

In their conversations, Sir Hugh told Ramon that, as a practical matter, he felt his issue with the US Navy and Coast Guard and the Bahamian authorities, was dead. They had no proof of who or what he did or was. They were primarily interested only in the illegal flow of drugs to and from the United States and Europe from the Caribbean anyway. And proceeding on only vague evidence of the movement of miscellaneous contraband such as they had found on Isla Diablo, just wasn’t worth their effort to bother with unless something more important turned up. So, if Ramon and Rico were properly employed at ‘Cuda Cay, at least for a time until he might want to move on or return to his previous business affairs, they should be completely clear from now on. 

 

Ramon, and Rico too, quickly accepted Sir Hugh’s offer to join him. And so, two months ago, said Ramon, which is to say two months after the raid on Isla Diablo, one almost moonless but clear night, just to be sure they could make the voyage safely and without interference by anyone, Ramon and Rico pulled their sea-going rubber raft out from under the brush where they had hidden it and, navigating easily by the stars, they arrived at ‘Cuda Cay the next day shortly before dawn.

 

Two days after that Ramon, with Rico as his assistant, took over the management of Sir Hugh’s Longo Cay. And the expensive red speedboat docked just in front of the Eagle when Eric came in belonged to Ramon as his first purchase after he finally collected his “fee” for the rescue and return of Eric to Sir Hugh and the Ericsson interests.

 

And Ramon had been managing Longo Cay and Sir Hugh’s interests exceedingly well ever since he arrived.

 

“And so that, amigo, is where we are now!” said Ramon, a wide grin on his face. 

 

Eric grinned back at them. “Oh yeah,” he said, “you are two crazy guys, for sure, and I love you both for it!”

 

And the best part of it was that now Eric could be with them fully by day and night for the next week or so! 

 

Eric and Ramon knew what that might lead to and include, and couldn’t wait for it to happen. Which it did. Twice. Once in the back room of Ramon’s comfortable living quarters in the rear of the rambling coral and wood office building which served as the Longo Cay headquarters, and where he had set up a small gym with some weights and a vinyl wrestling mat. The second time was one night, after midnight, over on SeaGrape Cay on the wide lawn which stretched down to the Caribbean when they were completely alone.

 

But then, eventually, the week was up and Eric had to return to Ericsson Marine in Salem, Massachusetts. His parting with Sir Hugh, and Ramon and Rico left him down for just a little while, but he soon recovered and lost contact with Sir Hugh and ‘Cuda Cay for the present. 

 

 

Six Months Later:

 

About six months after Eric paid his second visit to ‘Cuda Cay, Sir Hugh sent a new message up to Ericsson Marine that he would like a new depth finder and GPS system installed on the Eagle, and wondered if Eric might be free to come down some time to install them himself?

 

“For sure,” was Eric’s instant reply, and the next evening found him once again at the Nassau airport boarding Sir Hugh’s Citation jet which would quickly whisk him to ’Cuda Cay. He was looking forward, privately, of course, to seeing Ramon and Rico, particularly now his good friend the hunky Ramon, again.

 

Soon after arriving and settling in, Eric inquired about his friends Ramon and Rico and asked how they were doing? Sir Hugh chuckled and said, “Well, they aren’t with me anymore. About three months after you left, Ramon was reading the ‘Nassau Times’ one day and saw a notice that a boat auction was to be held the following week The auction included ‘three recently seized power boats which had been partially converted to haul inter-island cargo within that Bahamas and the lower Florida Keys, and were to be sold to the highest bidder.’

 

“After seeing the notice Ramon asked me how much he had in his account with me, and would it be enough to cover the probable price of the three boats, plus the cost of overhauling and putting them back in shape, and still have enough left over for whatever purpose he might be able to make use of them after he acquired them?

 

“So I told him he had enough in his account, which I had by then managed to build up for him in the few months I had access to them, to buy nine boats and refurbish all of them. And so Ramon went to Nassau to attend the auction, at which he was almost the only bidder, and succeeded in buying the boats. At a rather reasonable price too, I thought. They were, of course, his own original three boats, which the authorities had seized at Mantilla Cay.

 

“And then, a week later, he told me that he regretted it, but he would probably have to leave my service in the next month or so as he wanted to head out on his own once more.

 

“Which was no surprise to me as I had a rather good idea of what he had been doing long before and ever since he got into that scrape with you and the US Navy and Coast Guard up at Isla Diablo, and then his move here. Also, that an organization such as ours does not provide perhaps quite the same lifestyle as the somewhat freer and more exciting one he likes to follow.

 

“So of course I agreed to his departure and wished him well, and told him if he ever got back to this area of the Bahamas, to please stop by here at ‘Cuda Cay, where he would, like you, always be very welcome again.”

 

Eric grinned but said little. Instead, the tune of “Thanks for the memories….” ran through his head and his grin widened. And maybe his eyes got a little moist too.

 

 

The End.

 

 

(Note: If the reader has enjoyed this story, he might also like to read “Pete Parsons at Pirate’s Key,” where we met Ramon earlier.)

 

Posted: 08/26/16