“Sam, we’re going to have to pass on Half Moon Bay [California] for now,” a nervous, fidgeting, bright-blonde-haired, former cocaine-running, mid-forty-something, now-pot-bellied, already-thrice-divorced Caucasian male said while seated at the helm. “It’s just too precarious at the moment. We saw the running lights of a vessel behind us that seemed to be following us. It may be the [United States] Coast Guard. We can’t risk them searching this Skater 36. [an extremely fast, twin-hull speedboat] We’re going to head northwest and get at least a dozen miles [19.3 km] offshore.” Why does he want to get out of territorial waters? I just knew that Pete would flake out on us. Never should have picked him and Ernie for such a high-stakes gambit. A massive mistake. / Bet I got him all worried. “Are you sure that you’re not just paranoid, Pete?” the slender, thirty-nine-year-old Chinese American asked with an opening sigh from his white 2016 Mercedes c300 sedan in the Pillar Point Harbor parking lot at twilight – a very serene-appearing 7:17 PM – on Saturday, September 23rd, 2017.