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Shiver on the Sky

Page 69

by David Haywood Young


  * * *

  Flashing lights and sirens saturated the world. The marina was a scene from a bad movie. Owen headed for the loading dock, which was long enough to make bringing up both boats easy. Uniformed police swarmed over the boats as soon as he could throw them a line. They took the girl away, and only Gordon’s yelling kept Owen out of handcuffs. Again. Yep—full circle.

  Owen was Mirandized and interviewed by a Detective Tanner, who seemed to be trying to find Gordon and Faulkner responsible for everything he could. Owen was careful not to say much about his interaction with them. He couldn’t come up with any clever lies, so he ended up shrugging a lot. Tanner had a sour look on his face and threatened to find Owen later with more questions, but eventually turned him loose. Owen figured he’d let Gordon—who’d brought the girl in, after all, and ought to be a hero to the press—tell the story however he wanted.

  He found Martina by an ambulance. The girl—Kate, she had insisted back on the boat, not Katie anymore—sat cross-legged on a stretcher, being poked and prodded by medics. She didn’t look happy about it.

  Martina intercepted him before he could push his way in. “Her parents are coming,” she said. Owen nodded. Kate seemed okay, just irritated. She glanced up, spotted him, and waved briefly. She raised her eyebrows and gestured around herself. Grownups liked to make a fuss, he understood. But she was tired.

  Owen smiled at her and stayed nearby until her parents showed up. Her mother grabbed her from the stretcher and enveloped her in a hug that almost completely hid her from view. Her father seemed torn between a desire to do the same and an urge to scream at everybody else to go away.

  Owen faded back. Maybe he’d see Kate again sometime. If her parents let him.

  He drew Martina away from the crowd. “How are the others?” he asked. “And where’s Shadow?”

  “Um, Johnny and Faulkner are in the hospital by now. We can go see them, I guess. But they were both joking with the medics, so I think they’re okay. Aaron packed Shadow into his car, then disappeared. He said he knew a really good vet.”

  Well, he might. But Owen wanted to know where. Maybe he’d buy another cell phone for the kid, if he ever got one for himself. Sort of a leash. Might go well with the trained-porpoise act for Aaron to get used to a leash. He’d be sure to point that out. Damnit, where had the kid taken his dog?

  Never mind, there was another question to ask. “Probably a good idea for him to clear out. How about the Hermit?”

  She looked confused. “I thought he was with you in the boat. He ran down the dock after you and Gordon . . .?”

  “No.” So he wasn’t here. Owen studied the heaving black water beyond the harbor’s lights. He supposed he’d known ever since he’d seen Serno’s body. Old man, indeed. “He wasn’t with us. On the boat. You haven’t seen him since?”

  “No. Do you think something might have happened to him? Would he be on one of these other boats? None of them have left, though.” She turned back to the swarm of lights and uniforms in the marina. “He has to be here somewhere.”

  Not all sharks swam in schools. Most hunted alone. There had always been stories of a gigantic Great White living in the Laguna Madre. Owen had heard them since he was a kid. Since he and his father had moved here, since even before they’d met the Hermit on a fishing trip. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember the Hermit commenting one way or the other on the stories. He grinned suddenly. That should have been a clue in itself.

  He was disoriented, almost giddy. Damnit, Aaron had to have known. Owen was definitely going to have a discussion with that kid. “I’m sure he’ll turn up sooner or later. Do you mind if I crash at your place after we go by the hospital?” He nodded toward the marina. “My boat’s a crime scene again, and I couldn’t even get close enough to see how it looks.”

  “Oh.” She met his eyes. “Sure. I mean, I don’t mind.” She reached out and took his hand. “I’d kind of like you to be around tonight anyway,” she said. “You know, just in case.”

  “Just in case,” Owen repeated. He felt a grin twitching at the corners of his mouth, in spite of everything.

  The crease in her forehead reappeared. He was pleased to see she was blushing, too. “Don’t be so damn smug,” she warned him.

  “Okay,” he agreed, still grinning. “Shall we go?”

  Gordon spied them on the way to her car. He gave a small smile, with a chin jerk Owen interpreted to mean they’d talk later.

  Ramirez, his head down, nearly ran into Gordon. Owen and Martina ducked away, laughing, as Gordon caught the kid’s shoulders.

  Something about Ramirez didn’t seem right, though. Owen glanced back at them. Ramirez was wiping the corner of his left eye with the back of his hand as he leaned closer to Gordon, speaking urgently.

  Owen let go of Martina’s hand, ignoring her startled questions as he drifted nearer to Gordon. Before he got close enough to hear what Ramirez was saying, Gordon snapped upright and stalked off toward the parking lot, his eyes strangely unfocused. Owen sensed a subtle tide of uniforms following him away from the marina.

  He grabbed Ramirez’s elbow. “What happened?”

  Ramirez’s face was bloodless. He didn’t seem to recognize Owen. “It’s his partner. Faulkner. At the hospital. They don’t think he’ll make it.”

  ***

 

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