Captain Mark Evens navigated his converted fishing schooner,[i] The Caribbean Star[/i], from the hidden cove just a mile or two south of the small Cuban town of Gibara, once out into the open waters, he turned the wheel over and pointed the bow of the boat in the direction of the Florida Keys. In the wake of a storm that had blown through the area just a few days before, the sea was now relatively calm, which he was thankful for, since his holds and every other available space were near to overloaded with contraband and would of made for a rough voyage home had the sea been anything other then calm. Captain Evens took a final bearing check from the compass, looked out the windows of the wheelhouse to make sure his crew had lashed and tied down what needed to be, then sat back and lit a smoke, now that they were underway, he was now able to return his attention to the stranger who had entered his wheelhouse prior to the last of the contraband being brought aboard. Antonino purposely waited for the last of the crates to be dropped down into the belly of the Schooner before opening the door to the wheelhouse and walking in, the look on the Captains face as he turned to see who had walked in without permission was one of annoyance, Antonino raised a hand and with a stern look stopped the uttering of expletives that was on the tip of the Captains tongue, with a solemn and simple pronouncement,[i]" I work for Vincent DeMarco",[/i]. Though the lights of the wheelhouse were dim, Antonino could almost see the Captains face turn a pasty white but at least he had sense enough to keep his mouth shut and return to his work, as Antonino moved to a chair and sat down, remaining silent the whole time the Captain was getting his boat underway. Antonino reached into the inside breastpocket of his jacket and pulled out a pack of Lucky Strikes and lit a cigarette shortly after the Captain sat back and lit up one of his own. He could see by the continued silence, now that the Captain had a chance to sit back and relax and return his attention to his unannounced guest, Antonino could see the Captain was slowly becoming increasingly unnerved and fitchity by his presence and lack of sound as they both sat and smoked in silence. Antonino put out his cigarette then cleared his throat and watched with a slight smirk as the Boat Captain nearly jump out of his skin, now hat he had the mans attention, Antonio's tone of voice was low and matter-of-fact, [i]"Captain Evens, call your second in charge up here if you would please, I'll explain everything once he arrives"[/i], though the Captain gave him a puzzled look, Antonino was content to sit back without further explanation and watched as the Captain stuck his head out the door and called for one of the deckhands to go fetch Diego, after a few moments the man called Diego walked in and stood near his Captain, looking between the both of them with curiosity. Antonino unbuttoned his jacket then crossed his legs, then reached up and tilted his hat up on his forehead giving off the appearance that this was going to be a casual conversation, [i]"Captain Evens...",[/i], Antonino began, his voice mimicking his casual appearance, [i]"Don DeMarco has been looking over last months books and compared them to your last months manifest...there seems to have be a slight discrepancy between what was shipped from our suppliers in Cuba and what was received by our people in Key West, it goes without saying Don DeMarco was'int happy..."[/i], as the color again drained from the Captains face, his features contorted in a growing look of panic and Antonio's tone of voice slowly deepened with menace as he continued to layout the Captains stupidity, [i]"By Don DeMarco's account, he figures you stole roughly one crate for every five crates of rum shipped, one crate of cigars stolen for every eight crates shipped and there's also three fresh young ladies not accounted for from the last shipment, tell me Captain, if I were to look down in the crews quarters, would I find them, or have they done had their way with the girls and tossed them overboard?"[/i] Antonino calmly held the Captains gaze and watched as the man did his best to muster up some bravado,[i]"So what if you got proof, I bring in more money per shipment then any other boat out here on DeMarco's payroll, so I took a few crates, so what, its not like the other Captains don't do it, what you gonna do?,fire me?, I put the word out and there wont be a Captain one that will sail for DeMarco"[/i], replied the Captain with a growing tone of arrogance and swagger. Antonino noted the disrespect in the Captains tone of voice and not using the title of Don, and he about shot him there and then, but he forced himself to control his temper, but his tone and demeanor changed within a blink of an eye, his features turned ice cold and the tone of his voice dropped murderously deep and reverberated off the walls, even rattling a few of the loose window panes,[i]"You signed an agreement with [b]DON[/b] DeMarco, and no where in that agreement did it state it was ok to help yourself to HIS property...your not going to be fired Captain Evens...your going to be retired, consider what you stole as severance pay, not that its going to be of any use to you"[/i], Antonio's lefthand moved like a flash of lightening and pulled the Colt.45 from the shoulder holster, the look of shock still registered on the Captains face as two .45 slugs slammed into his chest, knocking him backwards into the side windows of the wheelhouse then sliding down the wall to the floor in a shower of glass. Antonino turn his attention to Diego even before the light faded from the Captian's now saucer sized eyes, Diego looked on the verge of pissing his pants, but sighed with relief as Antonino re-holstered the colt and spoke again, his voice once again casual,[i]"Congratulations on your promotion Captain Diego, Don DeMarco sends you his best regards and hopes this becomes a prosperous arrangement for you as well as himself....fuck up like evens did, and I'll be calling on you, understand?, now where's the guest quarters, I could use a nap"[/i], Antonino lit another cigarette and got to his feet, walked to the door, but stopped short of exiting, then turned back to the new Captain,[i]"Toss that piece of shit over the side, whatever he still has that was stolen is yours...keep it as a reminder DON DeMarco don't take kindly to being stolen from"[/i].