Ghost River

by Jon Coon

  “When I got inside I felt sick. Like I was going to throw up in the Aga. I could taste the death in the water. I picked up a school bag and saw a name. I must have said it aloud because as soon as I did, a little girl screamed and reached for me. Then they all started screaming for me to help them. I passed out. The safety diver got me out, and I woke up at Tulane Medical Center.

  “The nurses kept me sedated for a few days because I was having violent hallucinations. They said it was severe PTSD. Then Alethea came in. At first she just sat and held my hand. Then she started talking and sometimes singing, very softly, in French, like my mom used to do. She pulled me back from the edge. When I could speak, she listened. She told me I wasn’t crazy, that sometimes spirits cry out and need our help.

  “She suggested perhaps I’d been given a gift, which I might use to help release those spirits and let them find a home. Whichever way home happened to be.”

  “Gabe, that’s—”

  “That’s not all. I stayed with Alethea for two months. I don’t think I’d have made it without her. But she had a daughter who had just started college. I told you about her. What I didn’t tell you was we had an affair. Her name is Casilda. I had lunch with her today. She wants me to move back to New Orleans with her.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you still in love with her?”

  “No, and she hates my guts for leaving.”

  “Why did you leave?”

  “I’m still not sure what we had was love. Passion, yes. Love, maybe. She was like a hurricane sucking up all the air. I was suffocating.”

  “So you broke up. You were young. That happens.”

  “It gets worse. Cas is the great-great granddaughter of Marie Laveau, the most powerful voodoo queen in the history of New Orleans. Cas thinks she has some of those powers.”

  “Gabe, you don’t believe—”

  “My mother was Alethea’s cousin. And you’ve seen what I can do. It’s real. I believe. Also, Cas uses voodoo spells to spin dreams. I’ve had them. Your dream about Emily might have been from her.”

  “That’s nonsense. No one has that kind of power.” She said, praying she was right.

  “Sure, and we don’t talk to spirits or see angels and hellhounds. Some of the stories I’ve heard, you wouldn’t believe the power some of them have.”

  “Oh.”

  “Right.”

  “The only question is do you still love her?”

  “I told you, no. She scares me to death.”

  “Then that’s over. We have our own future to look forward to. I want to build the house. We’re going to figure this out, and someday it will be our house. Can’t Alethea help us with Cas?”

  “Believe me; she’s trying. Now there’s one more thing.”

  “You weren’t kidding about needing to talk, were you?” She smiled and rubbed his hand between hers.

  Gabe looked away again, out across the river. “It’s possible my dad will be released from prison. He’s coming up for parole again.”

  “And that’s important because?”

  “I hate him for killing my mother. He’s pure evil. I don’t want him anywhere near us. If I’d been strong enough, I would have killed him then.”

  “That’s harsh.”

  “Old Testament? I thought you’d understand.”

  “Okay, he doesn’t get invited to the wedding. Now tell me more about the girl.”

  Dawn came early after their night in and on the river. Carol was wrapped in a blanket, sitting with the dogs, and drinking hot tea while watching the sunrise. Her heart was warmed by the memory of Nancy’s gratitude and the peace with which she had departed. Carol thought of Charlie and how much they had loved. She felt thankful and blessed to have had that time. She wondered if she would ever have that kind of love again. Gabe was wounded. Much more than she’d realized. But was he capable of giving the love she wanted, needed, to feel whole again?

  Emily, dressed in warm sweats, bounced down the folding steps and into the rocker beside her.

  “Morning, sweetheart,” Carol greeted her.

  “It’s cold out here. I’m going to get a blanket.”

  “Scoot over and we can share this one,” Carol offered. Carol opened the blanket to cover them both.

  “Better?”

  “Yeah, that’s better,” Emily said and snuggled. “What are you doing up so early?”

  “I had some things to think about, and I wanted to see the sunrise.”

  “Mom, does Gabe love you?”

  “I think so, yes, why?”

  “He doesn’t act like it.”

  “What do you mean, honey?”

  “He doesn’t touch you. When someone loves you aren’t they supposed to hug and kiss you and stuff? The way you and dad did when you thought we weren’t looking?”

  Carol laughed and hugged her. “Gabe is the most respectful man I’ve ever known. And I think he’s a little off balance because he was so close to your dad. I’m sure when the time comes everything will be fine.”

  “Has he ever really kissed you?”

  “That’s kind of private, but no, not really.”

  “I’d worry about that,” she said, sounding much older than her eleven short years.

  CHAPTER 33

  0800

  Tallahassee

  After leaving well before dawn, Bob and Gabe were at the courthouse in Tallahassee for a meeting with DA Jessica Carruthers.

  “I took a chance getting you the warrants for McFarland’s records based on Peterson’s deposition and what you got from that secretary” Carruthers began. “But we still don’t have the evidence for a solid case. So go get me some proof.”

  “We have a team going through the McFarland files,” Bob answered. “We’re looking for evidence of bribery, conspiracy, fraud, and more. We know of a briefcase, which we’ve been told contains everything we need to prove the bidding fraud. We haven’t found it yet, but we will.”

  Carruthers nodded and waited for more.

  “The security guard at the bridge reported seeing Bo Bodine throw a computer off the bridge,” Gabe added.

  “Bodine’s assistant Janna said he was building files on Conners and the company. Bodine was afraid of Conners, and when he realized Conners knew what he was doing, he pitched the computer rather than get caught with it. Janna helped Bo build those files. She believes he had enough on that computer to do a lot of damage.”

  “And,” Bob said, “we are bringing Wesley Rogers back from Mexico. He knows it all. If we can get him to talk, we could blow the whole thing wide open. And who knows what we’ll find in Peterson’s mansion?”

  “Okay, that all sounds good. But that’s still a load of abstracts, and what we need is a load of concrete. With the possible involvement of Congressman Conners, we can’t afford to mess this up. If we lose, you know what the retribution will be. So get out and bring me a case I can win.” She pointed toward the door and watched them leave.

  “I’ll go after Corbitt’s briefcase,” Gabe said, as they walked down the steps to the parking lot. “I can do that today, and we can get the team looking for Bodine’s computer. The guard said he had a good arm, and there’s a lot of bottom to cover. With the current at Mach three, finding it could take a good bit longer.”

  “Rogers will land this afternoon,” Bob said. “I’ll start on him first thing in the morning. If he cracks . . .”

  “Yeah, if,” Gabe answered.

  1600

  The Bridge

  Following the success of their previous dives Gabe decided to include Carol in the recovery of the Pelican case. While other divers searched for the computer, he and Carol would dredge through the mud-filled boat to the chain locker, full forward in the bow, and recover the case.

  When Gabe and Carol arrived at the bridge, a new security guard greeted them and the thirty-five-foot workboat was no longer basking in the sun.

  “It was gone when I got here. Sorry, Officer
, can’t help you,” the new guy reported.

  Gabe walked down to the dive barge and up the wooden planks, which made a makeshift gangway. He asked for a supervisor and was pointed toward an unusually fit, clean-cut man in a white hard hat. On his well-muscled left arm was an Army Ranger tattoo. The beret-wearing skull over wings and guns grinned menacingly.

  “Officer, if you don’t have a warrant I’m going to have to ask you to leave. This barge is private property.”

  “What did you do with the boat, which was marked as a crime scene, and was, by the way, not on private property?” Gabe asked with his best trooper stare.”

  “Can’t help you. Just don’t come back without a warrant.”

  “And your name would be?” Gabe asked.

  “Bodine, Wyatt Bodine. And yours?”

  “State Trooper Gabe Jones. You’re Bo’s son?”

  “Get a warrant. Then I’ll answer your questions. Until then you’re trespassing.”

  “Sorry about your sister and dad, Bodine. This river must hold bad memories for you.”

  “What do you mean?” Bodine asked, taken by surprise.

  “Sorry, I thought you knew. Your sister died in that workboat. The lift span fell on her and her fiancé Wilson Corbitt, or maybe it was dropped intentionally. We don’t know that for certain yet.”

  “How do you know that?” Bodine asked. His demeanor had rapidly changed.

  “I recovered her body from the boat yesterday. The coroner will identify her from dental records, but she was still wearing Corbitt’s engagement ring. Your dad’s secretary remembered it.”

  “Janna? I’ve been on active duty and just came back a couple months ago. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her. How is she?”

  “Pretty broken up about your dad’s death and your sister’s. You might want to call her. So you’ve not been involved in the company recently? What brought you back?”

  “My dad asked me to come back. I don’t know the details, but there were problems. But I do know this: no matter how serious things were, he never would have killed himself. And I intend to find out what really happened. I didn’t know what happened to my sister and neither did my dad. Can you tell me anything about either of them?”

  Gabe thought about how much he could trust Wyatt and then decided by sharing information he might gain a valuable ally. “Wilson Corbitt suspected McFarland was in collusion on this and other bridge contracts. I think he was right. I don’t know if your dad was involved or if someone needed a scapegoat. Maybe that’s what got him killed. What do you think?”

  “Conners,” Wyatt said his name as though it were profanity. “I think Conners killed my dad or had him killed. You could be right. Dad said Wilson came to him shortly before he and Nancy disappeared. Wilson said he had evidence that would prove Conners was buying work. Some scam he was running with the state guys. Have you found anything like that?”

  “I heard about a briefcase, but nothing has turned up yet,” Gabe answered. “You really think Conners is behind this? The fraud and the murders?”

  “Yeah, and he’s connected. His brother is the big bad congressman. Getting a conviction won’t be easy.”

  “It never is,” Gabe said.

  “Find me that briefcase, and I’ll save you the cost of a trial.”

  “We don’t have it, but if we did you know I couldn’t do that. Don’t even ask. I trusted you with that information, now trust me, help me, and let’s do this the right way.”

  “Gabe, you may be a good guy, but if we do this your way it will be tied up in court for years, and then Conners walks or at worst get his hand slapped. That’s not good enough. You’re going to help me, or life is going to get ugly.” Wyatt closed the distance between them.

  “Thin ice, Bodine. Don’t push your luck.” In spite of Wyatt being a head taller and ten years younger, Gabe held his ground.

  Wyatt stepped back. “Go get your warrant. Or better yet don’t come back at all. I’ll take it from here.”

  “Don’t do anything crazy. We can end this the right way.” Gabe waited. Bodine was done talking. He pushed past Gabe and walked back down the gangway to his truck.

  Gabe left the barge and went to the riverbank where the boat had been. Dark shadows were replacing the golden sunset. He got out his flashlight and began exploring. There were no tire tracks suggesting the boat had been trucked off the site. It’s back in the river, with Wilson’s body and the briefcase still on board. Time to go diving.

  CHAPTER 34

  1730

  Police Temporary Dock

  Clear and cold

  That cop, Jones, was back,” Wyatt Bodine said into his phone as he drove away. “He found Corbitt and Nancy on the boat, and he’s looking for a briefcase Corbitt had. Sounds like there might be enough evidence in it to hang your dad and shut down the company. Did you know anything about that?”

  The woman’s voice was firm and annoyed. “About the boat and your sister? No, nothing. I’m sure my dad had nothing to do with that. You know I would have told you.”

  “Then who?”

  “It had to be Peterson and Rogers. They had the most to lose. I heard they’re bringing Rogers back from Mexico. There are several charges against him including murder.”

  “See if you can find out when he arrives.”

  “I’ll ask our contact. What do you know about that briefcase?”

  “He didn’t say. My guess is it’s on the boat.”

  “If that’s true, it needs to stay at the bottom of the river,” she said. “It could ruin everything.”

  “Okay, I’ll take care of it. One other thing. They’ve been talking to Janna. Or rather listening to Janna. You need to deal with that.”

  “It’s time for her to retire. Consider it done. Sorry about your sister, at least now we know.”

  “Yeah, now we know.”

  The department’s dive boat waited across the river at the state’s temporary dock. Gabe called Jim, Nick, and Bob. He told them his plan and asked them to meet at the boat ASAP. Blue lights and sirens would light up the river.

  As they were loading the dive gear onto the new Boston Whaler Outrage dive boat, Gabe told his crew, “I don’t know what they know or don’t. They put Corbitt’s boat back in the river and hopefully what we’re looking for is still on board. Let’s go see.” He put a pair of steel dive tanks into the stern deck rack and continued talking. “It won’t take them long to pull the boat again with that big clam bucket, so this might be our only chance. It could get hairy; you sure you want to go?” he asked Carol. “Nick and I can do this.”

  “You need Nick to drive the boat and Bob to keep an eye on things. With my hot new underwear, we’ll be fine,” she said naively.

  It was dusk and past McFarland’s quitting time. With Nick at the helm and Jim’s help getting into the gear, Gabe and Carol got ready to dive. Bob had binoculars and a radio. He scanned the McFarland boat and the barge as they approached.

  “Only one guard that I can see,” Bob reported.

  Nick turned on the sonar and made the first pass. With the old bridge steel salvaged, the image of the boat came clearly into view sixty feet beneath them. Jim tossed a heavily weighted buoy anchor. The current, raging a few days ago, was still swift but not at storm surge. The buoy danced and bobbed on the surface. They made a second pass to confirm the location and then moved up current to set the first heavy anchor. When it held, Nick moved the boat to starboard, pushed forward, and Jim dropped the second large Danforth anchor with heavy chain. Now securely positioned, Jim dropped another heavily weighted line, this one topped with a truck inner tube inside an aluminum frame to serve as their down line.

  On the back deck was a gas-powered pump to power a dredge. Jim fired up the noisy little engine and then dropped the hose overboard. A blast of water came from the discharge hose, and they were ready. Jim shut off the pump, helped Gabe and Carol into the water, and handed down the hose, which at the diver end had a valve and pipe hea
d with handles to make it easier to control.

  On the down line Gabe paused for his pre-dive prayer, checked Carol’s gear for the third time, then waited while she checked his. They exchanged final okays and began the drop down the buoy line. At thirty-feet down, they stopped. Gabe hit the light button on his computer and held it up against the Aga faceplate. He could read the LEDs, which gave time, depth, and tank pressure. After doing the same to check Carol’s data, they continued to drop.

  Carol was startled when Gabe’s voice came clearly through the wireless com asking, “How you doing? Are you warm enough?”

  “Fine. Are we there yet?”

  “Almost. Another twenty feet or so.”

  “Jim, can you hear us?”

  “Not very well, this wireless com doesn’t work as well with both of you online,” Jim answered.

  Gabe hit bottom, dropped to his knees, and reached around him. Carol landed beside him. “Hang onto the line and take my hand,” he said. Using her to extend his reach, he circled until he hit the side of the boat.

  “Got it. Stay there.”

  Gabe dragged the anchor on the buoy line to the boat. Then he found the dredge hose and pulled it over also. Finally he hoisted himself up the line onto the deck and told Carol to hand him up the dredge head. Then he helped her up beside him.

  “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

  “Once I get inside, feed me the dredge hose. I’ve got to dredge out the mud in the cabin up to that little anchor line locker hatch. It may take a while. Watch your air. Time and air go fast when you have this much fun.”

  Gabe worked his way into the cabin, still full of waist-deep mud where Wilson’s skeleton was buried. He carefully stepped around the bones and crawled under the crushed roof, into the berth. It was full of mud almost to the overhead.

  “Jim, if you can hear me, start the pump.” When nothing happened he said, “Carol, give the hose several big tugs.”

  She did, and shortly the hose went stiff with vacuum suction. Gabe shoved the hose head into the mud, and the pump began clearing the cabin. Twenty minutes passed and then thirty. Gabe shut the suction valve and checked his computer. Fifteen minutes bottom time remaining on the Navy tables. It would be close for both bottom time and air.