Mercenary surgeon races with and against grifters and spies, underworld thugs, and white-collar crumbs to find a missing woman and the prize of a modern Marie Celeste. Malpractice? The courts called it, but whispers of murder spread like an airborne virus. Thomas Kurfew, a former combat surgeon with a mercenary past, is haunted. The ex-wives and a shuttered practice hang heavy in his head. Stuck in a bleak situation, he finds an escape through a shady fixer with ties to three-letter agencies, crime syndicates, and dirty politicians.
With strings attached, the fixer offers Kurfew a chance of a fat paycheck, a way to clear his name, and a shot at redemption. Embedded on Grand Cayman, Kurfew is ready to set things straight, cash in on an orchestrated grift, or die trying.
He assembles a crew of misfits and past associates, each equipped with their own special brand of idiosyncrasies, eccentricities, quirks, and skills. There's Eddy, a plastic surgeon fresh from white-collar prison. There is an ex-military ally, Chalk, a crafty pilot and elder statesman. There is a former lieutenant, and a mystery woman who might be from Interpol, her motives cloaked in accents, rags, silk and steel.
A flamboyant billionaire in a Stetson, Roy is onto Kurfew. He is playing him as a mark to lead him to a missing woman who may hold the key to the hidden stash. As Kurfew and his crew navigate a sea of treachery with charm, wit and guile, they uncover the dirt behind her disappearance, leaping ahead of the cowboy. It's earthquake weather; the vault may crack, the trench may open, and nobody knows who's screwing who.
THE STASH
Hidden within a canyon along the continental slope of the 25,000 foot deep Cayman Trench, also known as the Bartlett Deep, lies a retrofitted WWII Type XXI U-boat. Located between Jamaica and the tip of Cuba, this storage site is the ultimate prize.
The modified U-boat's hull is reinforced to withstand depths exceeding its location at four hundred feet. An anechoic coating cloaks its exterior, blending with the surrounding volcanic rock formations and deep-water coral. Strategically placed, it's close enough yet not too far from shipping lanes, hidden from prying eyes.
The U-boat operates with whispering electric motors, making detection beneath the thermocline layer nearly impossible. Recent seismic events jeopardize the submerged vessel, and for a den of brigands, time is running out.
