'Then as I see it, we need to keep the narcotics under surveillance for the duration of the voyage. It's no good just waving goodbye to the yacht transport when they exit Port Everglades.' Kate pointed out the window. 'That boat should never leave our sight. Which means we have to book a boat of our own aboard the same transport. Crewed by two FBI agents, in radio contact with a US Navy submarine and, when we cross the Atlantic, the British and the French navies too. While we're aboard the transport it will give us a chance to get a closer look at Rocky's boat, which, so far, we've been unable to do. Moreover, we can keep a close eye on things just in case they try to unload the dope while they're still at sea. Maybe even transfer it to another boat on the same transport, just to put us off the scent.'
Bowen, who hadn't thought of that, swallowed the icy shards and pulled a face.
'This idea of yours. It sounds expensive. Number one, where are you going to get a suitable boat? And number two, who's going to pay the costs of transportation? You heard how much it costs. Ninety thousand dollars. I can't see the SAC authorizing that level of expenditure.'
Kate smiled and said, 'As a matter of fact, I've found a boat. Or rather Sam Brockman's found me one. Seems like the Coast Guard boarded an abandoned boat off Key West the other day and found it full of dope. Eventually, of course, it will go into government auction, but right now it's moored in Miami and available for a covert operation. The Coast Guard were planning something themselves, only it fell through and now they're offering it to us. It's ideal for our purposes, sir. Eighty-four feet long, twenty-two knot cruising, and all state-of-the-art facilities. I'm talking about a really luxurious yacht, here. As for the money, well I've an idea where we can get that too.'
Bowen said, 'You're going to suggest that latest tranche of Gulf Stream money, aren't you?'
Operation Gulf Stream had been another undercover Miami Bureau op in the early 1990s, mounted against one of the biggest money-laundering machines in Florida. A Miami gold and jewelry business run by one of the larger Colombian cartels had laundered millions of dollars through the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, shut down by the Bank of England in 1991. Weeks before BCCI's collapse, the jewelry business had withdrawn large sums of cash and placed them in safety deposit boxes throughout the state. Even now, several years afterward, boxes full of cash were being discovered by Bowen's own department -- the latest, just a few days ago in a Liberty City bank, containing 200,000 British pounds sterling.
Kate shrugged and said, 'Why not? It's not as if it's even been entered in the report yet.'
'It'll have to be accounted for.'
Kate said, 'Sure. Eventually.'
'What's a British pound worth these days?'
'About a dollar fifty.' Kate pursed her lips and looked thoughtful. '$100,000 worth of that versus the European street value of a 1,000 keys of coke? I'd say that was money well spent.'
'And I suppose you're going to tell me that you're the best person to handle this little operation?'
'Sure. Why not?'
'Well for one thing, you've never worked undercover before.'
'I was a pretty good actress in high school.'
'I don't doubt it.'
Kate said, 'Undercover's just about being a good liar. How difficult can that be? Men do it all the time.'
'And for another, you're a woman.'
'Is that an objection, or merely an informed guess, sir?'
'Now don't go bristling like a hairbrush, Kate. It's just my impression that it's mostly men who crew and captain these motor yachts.'
Kate took a long drag of her cigarette with eyes narrowed against the smoke and the sexual prejudice. Since when did the captain of a boat have to be a man? Women had sailed solo around the world. There had been female pirates. These days there were even a couple of female admirals in the US Navy. Kent Bowen, on the other hand, didn't look like he could have captained a chair around his own desk.
'As a matter of fact,' she said acidly. 'It so happens that one of the other vessels booked onto the SYT transport this March is captained and crewed entirely by women.'
Bowen grinned. 'What are they, Amazons, or something?'
'Boat's owned by Jade Films.'
'Jade Films? The porno people?'
Kate made a performance out of looking surprised. She said, 'You've heard of them?'
Bowen shook his head casually. 'There was something in Newsweek about them, I think. To do with the guys who work in the sex industry.'
'I read that article,' she said. 'It was a good piece. But I don't think I remember anything about Jade Films in there.'
'Oh come on, Kate,' said Bowen, uncomfortably. 'I'm not that kind of guy.'
She thought, none of them were. Not until you got a look at the cable company account, and then it was just a bit of harmless fun.
Bowen said, 'What takes them across the Atlantic, anyway?'
'The Cannes Film Festival.'
'Cannes?'
