Blood in the Marsh

by Ciana Stone

  “I can’t take this anymore! If I don’t get out of here for a while I’m going to explode! Let’s ride down to the village and get some lunch then take a walk on the beach.”

  Lyra smiled up at her. “That sounds great!” Then her smile faded. “But what about Michael? He said we should…”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. But what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Besides, who’s going to mess with us in broad daylight? More than likely those guys are halfway to Kalamazoo by now. Come on, it’ll do us both good. I’ll even go for a run with you.”

  Lyra laughed as she stood. “You’re going to run?”

  Chelsey tossed her hair and laughed. “Well, I’ll watch you run. Hey! Let’s stop by the mall and get some clothes. I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sick of wearing Michael’s old gym shorts and T-shirts.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  They got in Chelsey’s car and headed for the mall. Three stores and four huge bags later they left and drove back to the island. The village wasn’t very busy at that time of day so they had no trouble finding a table on the porch of one of the restaurants. Taking their time, they watched the few tourists wander up and down the street.

  After lunch, they wandered through the village on their way to the beach. As usual, Chelsey had to stop in every store they passed. “Honestly, Chels! You’ve lived here all your life and been in these shops a million times. Do you really think there’s going to be anything new here?”

  “You never know!”

  To Lyra’s surprise, she was the one to find something new. A set of Japanese hair pins. The shafts were of polished silver with carved onyx heads in the shape of a phoenix and a dragon. She fell in love with them on sight and wound her long hair up on top of her head as soon as they walked out of the store, securing it with the long pins.

  “It looks like your wearing knives in your hair,” Chelsey teased. “You want to go down to the beach?”

  “Actually, how about if we drive down to the lot and take the boat out?” Lyra suggested. “We can change into some shorts and sail around a couple of hours.”

  Chelsey grimaced. “I don’t know. You know how salt water makes my hair frizz. And…”

  “Come on, Chels. We haven’t been out sailing in a long time. Besides, who knows, Michael might be into it, so you’ll want to sharpen your skills in case the two of you decide to go out. You can take my boat out if you want. Pack a picnic and sail up to Little St. Simons or Egg Island.”

  The idea had its appeal and Chelsey smiled. “You know, I’ll bet Michael would be into that kind of thing. Just wind, the nature and us. Okay, let’s go.” They stopped and changed clothes in the restroom of one of the restaurants then went to the boat storage area. A few minutes later, they were pushing the Hobie out.

  “Which way?” Lyra yelled into the brisk breeze.

  “Let’s go up toward Little St. Simons and see if we can find a good place to beach.”

  Lyra nodded and turned the boat north. The wind was strong and they made good progress. As they neared Gould Inlet, Lyra pointed to a big motorboat cruising toward them. It was painted entirely black with a diagonal slash of silver across its bow. Chelsey nodded and scooted over. “Someone with more money than taste, obviously.”

  Lyra laughed and turned to catch more wind. The Hobie stood up on one pontoon, flying across the water. Lyra was paying attention to what was in front of them and didn’t realize the black motorboat had turned and was following them.

  Chelsey looked behind her and pointed. Lyra turned and saw the boat coming right at them. “They’ll veer off. Sailboats have the right of way.”

  But the boat made no move to change its course. It bore down on them, getting closer by the second. Lyra’s heart jumped and she turned the Hobie. The motorboat turned in a tight arc as it passed within feet of them. She looked over her shoulder and saw them coming again.

  “We’ve got to head in!”

  “Where?” Chelsey looked toward the shore. “There’s nothing but marsh!”

  Lyra thought about it and realized that going ashore was probably a bad idea. Then her eyes widened. “Well, we can at least get in shallow water. They can’t follow us in too far. The keel of the boat’s too deep. They’ll ground before we do.”

  “We’re not going to make very good time if we have to go into the breakers.”

  Lyra made no comment. She headed the boat toward the shore, watching the water as she tried to determine its depth. They were almost to the point where the waves were breaking before the black boat veered off and headed for deeper water.

  Lyra turned, heading back for the storage dock with the black boat paralleling their course. “Shit!” Chelsey suddenly screamed and pointed ahead.

  “Damn!” Lyra turned and headed for deeper water. Just ahead, there was a large group of people in the water, many of them children. Going deeper kept them from hitting any of the swimmers but it put them too close to the black boat. Lyra eyed it suspiciously. “Can you see anyone on board?”

  Chelsey stood up and looked then sat down. “With the roof on and those dark side windows I can’t see anything. Who are they and why’re they following us?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t want to.” Lyra adjusted the sails to get more speed.

  “Lyra!” Chelsey screamed at the top of her lungs as the motor boat moved closer, pulling alongside of them.

  Instinctively Lyra unclipped the harness and fell down on the trampoline. Chelsey was already scrambling under the boom for the other side. Standing up on one pontoon, the boat wobbled under the added weight of its low side, threatening to capsize.

  The black boat nudged the raised pontoon. Lyra felt one sudden jolt before the boat rocked up and over. She threw herself to the side, trying to land clear of the rudder. Her shin banged against the sharp paddle as she tumbled headfirst into the water.

  As soon as she broke the surface, a swell caused by the motion of the motor boat washed over her. Salt stung her eyes and she wiped at them quickly, trying to spot Chelsey. The waves had pushed the Hobie farther in and were between her and the shore. She cut a look back, seeing the black boat circling.

  “Chelsey!”

  “Under here!”

  “Get out!” Lyra screamed frantically as she saw the motor boat coming toward them again. This time a man was leaning over the side. He was dressed in black and wore a ski mask to cover his face.

  Lyra didn’t have time to think. She dove under the water and kicked toward the shore. She felt her back bump against the pontoon then ran into a tangle of arms and legs. Knowing it had to be Chelsey she grabbed her and shoved as hard as she could.

  A moment later, the motor boat hit the overturned Hobie. Trapped beneath the sail Lyra and Chelsey were pushed along by the violent impact. Lyra felt herself exhale sharply and frantically felt around, trying to find the edge of the sail, still gripping Chelsey’s wrist. They plowed along, their legs scraping through the sand.

  Her lungs burned and she felt her body tiring, but panic gave her an added boost of strength. She pushed up as hard as she could and managed to raise the sail just enough to get her face above water. Chelsey came up spitting and gasping.

  “Come on!” Lyra rasped. “We’ve got to get out of here!” They pushed their way from beneath the sail and crawled up out of the water. Lyra turned and saw the man in black pointing toward them. The boat shot forward, headed for the shore. She grabbed Chelsey’s hand and bounded forward.

  “Run!”

  Chelsey did not need encouragement. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Lyra heard the boat engine racing and looked back. It hit the sand and kept coming, the propeller roaring as it left the water. She and Chelsey splashed out of the water and scrambled up the breaker of stone at the edge of the beach then took off for the street.

  Neither of them looked to see if anyone was following. They cut through yards and dodged traffic in the neighborhood around East beach until Chelsey was breathing so hard she
could no longer run.

  Lyra took her arm and tugged her along. “Come on! You can’t stop! We have to get back to the car!”

  “It’s too far!” Chelsey was barely able to speak.

  Lyra knew that Chelsey would never be able to make the run, but she was afraid to stop, afraid that at any moment the men in black would be right behind them. Seeing a couple of teenage boys getting into a car, she waved and yelled.

  “Hey! Hey guys! Hold up!”

  The boys stopped as Lyra dragged Chelsey over to them. “We need a ride. Can you take us to the boat storage? I’ll give you twenty dollars.”

  “Sure!” The driver opened the door. “Hop in.”

  Lyra pushed Chelsey into the back seat and climbed in after her. “We’re kind of in a hurry!”

  The boy grinned and floored it. Smoke billowed from the tires as they took off. Lyra caught sight of her reflection in the rearview mirror and pulled the one remaining hairpin from her tangled hair, letting it fall in the floorboard. A few minutes later, they reached the parking area. Lyra told the boy to stop and pointed to Chelsey’s convertible Mercedes. “See that car? Keep your eyes on it while I go get our things from the man who runs the lot. If you see anyone else watching it or hanging around it I want you blow the horn three times then get out of here. You got it?”

  He nodded and she climbed out of the car. “If anything happens, get to Michael and tell him,” she whispered to Chelsey.

  She ran up to the owner’s shed and got their things. The man wanted to know where the boat was so she lied and told him a friend was using it for a couple of days. Then she dug the keys from Chelsey’s purse and ran to the car. She didn’t see anyone around as she drew near. Unlocking it, she threw their bags and purses in and jumped in.

  The boys were waiting on the side of the road when she stopped. The driver got out at the same time Chelsey did and Lyra pulled two twenties from her billfold. “Here I really appreciate it.”

  Before he had a chance to respond Chelsey got in the car and Lyra pulled away. She flew through the village, not stopping until she had turned off the causeway in Brunswick. Then she slowed down and looked over at Chelsey who was shaking and pale.

  After a few moments, Chelsey looked over at her. “You know, Lyra, I think I liked you better when you were plain and dull. It was a lot safer.”

  Lyra said nothing. She was still too shaken up to respond to Chelsey’s attempt at humor. Seeing the man in black made visions of what had happened in the marsh return.

  When they pulled up in front of Michael’s house, the yard was packed with police cars. They looked at one another and got out of the car. “I’m sorry, miss.” A uniformed officer stopped them. “You can’t go in there.”

  “But…” Chelsey looked from him to Lyra. “But we have to.”

  “I’m sorry, miss, I can’t allow that. This is a crime scene.”

  “Michael!” Chelsey suddenly screamed and pushed by the police officer, running toward the door. “Michael! Oh god, Michael!”

  Michael heard the screams from inside the house and ran out the door. “It’s okay!” He yelled at another office who grabbed Chelsey. “Let her go.”

  The police officer released her and she threw herself at Michael, crying and talking at the same time. “Oh, god! I thought something had happened to you! Michael, it was so awful! They were chasing us and the boat turned over and we were running and…”

  Michael pushed her back, holding her by the arms. “Slow down.”

  She wiped her eyes and sniffed and he looked at Lyra. She looked around at the police officers then at him. “What’s going on, Michael?”

  “Someone kicked the back door in and tore up the house. When I got here and saw you weren’t here, I thought you two had been grabbed. Where the hell were you and what’s this about a boat turning over and someone chasing you?”

  Lyra looked down at the ground, feeling a little like a child who has just been caught misbehaving. “Well…”

  Michael took her arm in one hand and Chelsey’s in the other and marched them to the house. “You can cancel that APB, Sarge. Seems like our little kidnap victims were out on a joy ride. The boys finished going over things?”

  The Sergeant nodded. “Yeah. We’ll let you know if anything turns up on the prints.”

  Michael nodded and led Chelsey and Lyra into the den, ordering them to sit down. He left the room and returned once all the police officers had left the house. “Okay, you want to tell me what the hell you were doing?”

  Chelsey looked over at Lyra and grimaced so Lyra spoke up and told him everything that had happened since they left his house earlier. He listened without comment then sat down and rubbed his hands over his face.

  “And you couldn’t see his face?”

  Lyra shook her head. “I told you, he was dressed all in black with a ski mask. Just like the other ones were.”

  “Where did you leave the boat?”

  She told him and he got up to call and have someone go check it out. Then he sat back down and looked at them. “It’s starting to look like what happened the other night was planned.”

  “What do you mean?” Chelsey asked in a trembling voice.

  “I mean, it looks like someone’s after one or both of you.”

  Lyra looked at Chelsey and saw the fear in her face, knowing that her own eyes carried the same expression. Then she turned to Michael. “So what do we do?”

  He leaned back and blew out his breath. “We try to figure out who it is and what they want.”

  “And just how do we do that?” Lyra asked with a shaky voice.

  Michael just shook his head. “I don’t know. Yet.”

  The Next Day

  Chelsey got up in a bad mood and it got steadily worse as the day progressed. Michael stopped by at lunchtime to check on them, and as soon as he walked in she started in on him about being a prisoner and not feeling safe.

  He tried to calm her down but only succeeded in making her mad. She stormed out of the den and locked herself in his bedroom. He turned and looked at Lyra who was sitting on the couch not saying a word.

  “What did I say?”

  “She’s just upset and that’s her way of getting it out of her system. It’s not you, Michael, it’s just the situation. Chelsey’s not the type to stay confined for more than a couple of hours. She gets stir crazy. Besides, it does make it hard to think of anything except what happened when you’re cooped up like this. Don’t take offence, though.”

  He took off his jacket and sat down across from her. “How about you? How’re you doing?”

  “Okay, I guess.”

  Michael leaned back and propped his legs on the coffee table. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  “Sure, what?”

  “I couldn’t help but notice the tension between you and the Count. And if you don’t mind me saying so, you and your mother don’t seem exactly close. She didn’t even seem to notice you when we took you home.”

  Lyra sighed and curled her feet up under her. “Lexi isn’t like a normal mother. She’s…well, she’s different—and she’s not really my mother. She’s my adoptive mother. See, she was sort of on her way up when my parents died. According to what I know, she adopted me out of…well, out of greed, I guess. Lexi’s family had more or less disinherited Lexi long before I was born. My mother, Lei, was the only surviving member of the family. When she died, she left everything to me. According to her will, since Lexi was her only living relative, if Lexi agreed to adopt and raise me, she would inherit quite a lot of money. If she refused, she got nothing. Apparently, she didn’t stand a chance of contesting the will, so she agreed.

  “But having a baby didn’t exactly fit into her lifestyle. She bought the house here and hired a staff and I grew up on the island. I didn’t really see much of her when I was growing up. Just occasional visits when she’d bring her new boyfriends. After her career started to fade she’d come around a little more, usually to entertain and I thi
nk to surround herself with local people who still thought she was some big deal. But mostly she just flitted from one place to another, living with one man then the next. It’s not that she’s a bad person or anything. She’s just too in love with herself to pay anyone else much attention.”

  “Must have been hard for you.”

  “It wasn’t really. The staff were kind and caring and I had my friends, and then there was Lucius.”

  “Lucius?”

  “I guess I should have said Abubakar.”

  “Oh yeah, I heard about him, he’s the magician? The Black Arab?”

  Lyra nodded and told him about being friends with Lucius and the time they spent together. “He made me feel good about things, like there really was magic in the world. I used to pretend he was my father and that was why he wanted to spend time with me, to be close to his secret daughter. It was a fantasy, but it was a nice one. He was the closest thing I ever really had to a family.”

  Michael got up and moved to sit down beside her. “Sounds like your life hasn’t been a bed of roses.”

  “Whose has? How about you, Michael? Do you have a family?”

  “Yeah. My parents live in Miami, where I grew up. My dad’s a retired police officer and my mother teaches part-time. I have two sisters and a brother who all live in Florida.”

  “How did you end up here?”

  “Seemed like a nice enough place—pretty quiet. I used to come here a lot in the summer when I was a kid. My uncle, my dad’s brother, Miguel, lives in Brunswick. I spent almost every summer with him, helping him on his farm. As much as I love my dad, there’ve been times when I felt more in touch with my uncle than my father.”

  “Is he still alive? Do you see him?”

  “Yeah, he’s still right here in Brunswick. He has a farm in the county. He’s a pretty cool old man. Still doing his thing and taking care of the farm. I don’t see him as much as I should.”

  “You really should visit him more, you know. No one lives forever, and once someone is gone, you never have a chance to tell them how much they meant to you. You should do it while you have the opportunity.”