Page 38 of Takedown in Savannah

It finished passing by, and Carlita and Rambo continued walking, stopping when they reached The Flying Gunner, Pete’s popular pirate ship tourist attraction.

“Let’s pop in and say hello.” She and her pup made their way to the other end of Gunner’s Landing. With Rambo taking the lead, they climbed the gangway and stepped onto the main deck.

“Anybody home?” she hollered.

Brad, the ship’s general manager, emerged from the office. He greeted Carlita and patted Rambo’s head. “Hey, Rambo.”

“We were taking a walk and noticed the gangway was down, so we thought we would stop by and say ‘hi.’” Carlita craned her neck. “Is Pete around?”

“You just missed him. He left about half an hour ago.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Carlita glimpsed Gunner, the ship’s namesake, sitting on his roost, watching them. “Hello, Gunner.”

“Pete left him behind,” Brad explained. “Gunner is staying on board because we have a group of kids sailing with us today.”

“Gunner is handsome,” he squawked. “Pirate Gunner.”

“You are handsome…a handsome pirate,” Carlita agreed. “Have fun with the kiddos later.”

“Walk the plank.”

“But only for pretend.” She playfully wagged her finger at the parrot.

“We taught him a new trick.”

“A new trick?” she repeated.

Lifting his thumb and pointing his index finger at Gunner, Brad yelled, “Bang!”

Gunner stumbled along his perch, his eyes fluttering. “Gunner going down.”

The parrot flapped his wings, melodramatically swaying back and forth before falling over, face up. His legs shot straight up in the air and twitched.

“Gunner gets a treat,” Brad said.

He flipped over and sprang to his feet.

“Bravo.” Carlita clapped loudly. “Good job, Gunner.”

“He’s been practicing it without me even pretending to shoot him.”

“Hoping he’ll get more treats,” she laughed.

“Gunner is no dummy.” Brad fed him a chilled grape from the fridge. “I saw your pawn shop and apartment building on the news last night.”

“I’m sure you also saw the part about Luigi Baruzzo, my tenant.”

“Yeah. I know Luigi. He’s a good guy. I don’t think he’s working with the San Maris Gang.”

“Neither do I. Unfortunately, the investigators seem to think differently.”

“I have a buddy who works at the downtown PD.”

Carlita perked up. “What does he say about it?”

“He didn’t go into detail, only that they might have a solid lead in linking the gang to the recent crimes.”

“Crud. Do you have any idea what the link might be?”