Page 18 of On the Line

Just then, Waylan appeared with two bottles of Budweiser. “Are you lecturing Slick, Pops?”

“I was giving him some friendly advice,” he said, snatching a bottle from his son. “Not that you yahoos listen to anything anyway.”

“Thanks, Mr. Bennett,” I said. “I do appreciate your advice.”

Waylan held out the other bottle of beer. “Want this? You look like you need it.”

“Nah. I was just stopping by to see if you wanted to ride up to the hardware store with me. I need to get some tackle, thought you might wanna tag along.”

Waylan eyed me for a second. “Yeah, I’ll ride along.”

“Pick me up a can of starter fluid while you’re at it,” his dad said before swigging his beer.

Once we were in the truck, I had a hard time keeping myself together. Less than a mile up the road, I was babbling. “What the hell kind of life is this, Waylan? Always looking over our shoulder. I feel like I”m losing my mind.”

“Yeah, it’s getting pretty intense,” he agreed in an even tone.

“Did you hear what your dad was lecturing me?” I asked, my voice rising. “About the choices we make now?”

“Don’t pay him much mind,” Waylan waved his hand. “He’s full of hot air.”

“He’s right, dude!” I said, more than a little exasperated. “But what do you do when you don’t have a choice? I mean, we don’t really have a choice here, do we? Even after the bust, and all the heat, George isn’t backing down.”

“Calm down, Slick. I think George has it under control.”

The increased risk was one thing, but losing Ellie raised the stakes. I was ready to fold my hand and cash in my chips. “Ellie knows. She found my stash of money.”

“Oh fuck,” he said, eyes wide. “Did she tell anyone?”

“Of course not. She hates my guts, but she doesn’t want to send me to prison.”

“Maybe you can talk some sense into her after she cools off a bit,” he said, trying to encourage me. But I knew that Ellie had more sense than both of us put together.

“I don’t know. I think she’s done with me.” And I didn’t blame her. I didn’t deserve her. “She made it pretty clear she wanted no part of any of it.”

“Ellie’s a nice girl, Slick. But we’re young and there’s other fish in the sea. I don’t need to point out that you are quite the fisherman, so I doubt you’ll have any trouble catching one.”

“Ellie isthe one,” I said, my voice shaking a little. Waylan and I didn’t talk about feelings much, but I could see the concern in his eyes as I struggled to continue without breaking down. “I don’t want another fish. I want Ellie.”

“Well, why don’t you quit?” Waylan asked. “It’s not like this is a career path for either of us.”

Could it possibly be that simple? Waylan was quitting in a few months when he heads off to FSU. Could I just quit now?

I asked Waylan how George took it when he told him he was quitting.

“Well, I haven’t exactly told him myself,” Waylan answered a little sarcastically, which was fair since we never talked to George personally. “I just assumed Mateo told him.”

“But knowing what we know,” I said slowly, “do you think he’s okay with us just walking away?”

“What do you think, he’s going to have us murdered for quitting a job and moving on with our lives?” Waylan laughed, like it was a truly ridiculous notion. “Most of Smugglers Cove knows what George is up to, not just us,” he scoffed. “You’re letting the Cocaine Cartel stories get to you, Slick. This is Keys reefer, dude. Not Miami snow. Of course you can quit,” he said, as sure as could be. “Get Mateo to put you in touch with George.”

For the first time in days, I had a glimmer of hope.

“Hey, Mateo,” I said as I settled into an aluminum folding chair next to him. “I thought I might find you here.”

“Pretty easy guess,” he answered sluggishly. “What’s up?” He was fully installed at the water’s edge at Rusty’s Fish Camp, his tackle box open at his feet, tools and line and bits of feathers and bait spread out. He was tying flies, and judging by the pile of finished ones, he’d been at it awhile.

“I need to talk to George,” I said as confidently as I could.

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