Emerald Moon

by Rick Murcer

  “You were right. There was something there. Chloe and Sophie found a sweater with an insignia that could have only come from Inisheer, the smallest of the Aran Islands. On the back was an ouroboros like the one Argyle and Haley Rose had tattooed on their ankles.”

  “So they figure that’s where he’s headed.”

  “Right. But it could be bullshit, and even if it wasn’t, he’d have plenty of time to set up his final little show if we didn’t know where on the island he’d go. That is . . . until they located the ship in the bottle in his room.”

  “Damn, Corner, get to it.”

  “Chloe and Meav said they’d never seen it before, so it has to be another one of his ‘I’m smarter than you’ messages, which is getting real old, real fast, by the way. Anyway, the ship in the bottle’s name is The Plassey. It wrecked during a hurricane in the 1960s. Care to guess where?”

  “I know where. It’s on the East shore of Inisheer Island . . . right where Argyle’s headed.”

  Chapter-65

  She walked to one of the rental-car counters at Lansing Capital City Airport with a strange confidence. Her eyes were clear, her heart was calm, and her smile more than compelling. She suspected the smile was . . . well, perfect. Apparently, the young man behind the counter thought so too because he glanced at her continually, like people do when they’re star-struck, trying not to be obvious, but failing miserably at it.

  “Do I have something on my face?” she purred.

  “Excuse me? Oh, um, sorry. I was . . . just checking out . . . your ID.”

  His face flashed red, then he smiled. “I bet you get that all of the time,” he said.

  “Once in a while, but thanks for being honest. It does make a girl feel good.” Her accompanying smile would have melted the most experienced male heart. She could see him catch his breath and shake his head like he could hardly believe what he was experiencing.

  Leaning closer so that he could catch the scent of her expensive, subtle perfume, she touched his hand. “I’d like something sporty, if you have it. It would be fun just to let my hair down and not think of the consequences. Do you know what I mean?”

  The young man swallowed hard and nodded too fast. She laughed out loud. “You’re an extremely helpful man; I find that very sexy.”

  He cleared his throat, trying to gain composure that had gone the way of the dodo bird.

  “We, ah, have a brand new Mustang convertible that was supposed to go out this morning, but the reservation was cancelled. Can you drive a stick?”

  “Oh, I can drive a stick, any stick, as good as any man. Maybe you’ll get to see.”

  She watched as he typed in her information and then handed her keys. “It’s the red one in slot number one, just out that door.”

  “Thank you, David. That’s my favorite slot.” She took the keys from his hand, letting the touch linger, then walked with that intentional walk that women seem to instinctively know how to do, feeling his eyes watching her every inch of the way to the exit.

  I guess I know who’ll be thinking of me tonight.

  Five minutes later, she turned right on Grand River Avenue, speeding toward I-496 and her South Lansing destination. She wanted to scout out the house, and then she had a few hours to kill before she returned to it. She’d get a nice lunch, do a little shopping because she needed a few things for tonight’s little get-together, and then await the Good Doctor’s phone call.

  His face came back to her, and the chill ran up her body. She really did love him, despite what he’d been accused of. And she’d fallen hard, hadn’t she? Almost from the moment they’d met in that night club in South Beach. He was so charismatic, so decisive, so . . . free . . . from the concerns of the rest of the world. It was liberating to meet someone like him. But all wasn’t perfect in his world, and that’s why she was here. This Detective Manny Williams was the harassing, egotistical cop that wanted to put her lover away for things her doctor hadn’t done, threatening her happiness in the process. He needed to be taught a lesson.

  Glancing at the picture of Jennifer Williams lying on the seat, she nodded confirmation to herself.

  She was just the woman to teach that lesson.

  Her long fingers squeezed the leather steering wheel.

  Just the woman indeed.

  Chapter-66

  Sophie stood next to Manny on the tarmac at Galway Airport, waiting for the Irish Coast Guard’s AW139 helicopter. She was shaking, and he knew it wasn’t from the stiffening, early-evening Irish breeze.

  “Why are you vibrating like an electric toothbrush? I thought you loved helicopters,” he said.

  “You’re such a funny boy. I’d rather have a heart attack than fly in one of those freaking things. In fact, the way I’m feeling, I just might.”

  “Damn. What a pansy-ass. I guess I’ll have to hold your hand.”

  “My hand, my ass! I’ll be sitting on your lap. And don’t be thinking you can get any free feels, or God forbid, you get . . . excited. That’d be just too weird.”

  “Weird for whom? I always thought you had a thing for me, no?”

  She rolled her eyes and moved closer to him. “You wish. I just hang around to watch over your butt. You’re too pretty to get hurt. But now it’s your turn. You need to make sure I don’t fall out of that damned thing. If you let me die, you know I’ll be back to haunt your ass, and it won’t be pretty.” She glanced over her shoulder as Josh, Alex, Detective Clark, and Chloe headed their way from the other side of the strip. “And don’t tell Josh or Dough Boy that I’m ready to pee my pants. I will beat the hell out of you.”

  Manny reached for her hand, squeezed it. “I’ll do my best, and it’s a deal.”

  “You better—and your best is good enough for me.”

  The others arrived, and Josh took little time shifting into all-business mode.

  “Manny, are you sure about this?”

  He shrugged. “Pretty sure, but Argyle seems to have altered his thought process, at least some, so that makes him more unpredictable than ever. But the ouroboros symbol has followed us from the cruise ship employee killings to here and that’s just hard to ignore. It’s been his symbol to us, and like I said before, he’s sure we’d put that part together and know that he hired the killers.”

  “Isn’t that a little extreme to get you all here?” asked Clark, a tinge of disbelief in his eyes.

  Alex snorted. “There’s nothing too extreme for him.”

  “Alex’s right. And even though he’s varied from the profile, I think we’re on the right path. I also think he didn’t believe we’d get the shipwreck thing as quickly as we did.”

  “You said that before. Why?” asked Chloe, her voice growing quiet.

  He felt his hand began to reach for her then continued on to run it through his hair. He was running out of self-control—and reasons for it.

  He was alone. Louise was gone. He knew it, but his heart didn’t.

  The pain at hearing the doubt in Chloe’s voice was almost unbearable. He dug deep.

  “I think he needed time to set up his plan, and given the probable time frame to get to the island undetected, using the cover of all of the other boats in the Bay, I don’t think he’s had time to bait the trap.”

  “You mean my Mum?”

  He nodded. “Partially that. But he knows no matter what’s going on with that part of the chase, we’d follow him wherever the trail leads.”

  “So she might be important or she might not,” stated Chloe.

  Manny knew that thinking of Haley Rose as being expendable did little to foster hope that she was still alive.

  This time, he couldn’t help himself. He reached for Chloe’s hand, and it disappeared in his. That old electric pulse came to visit again. Nothing was ever easy.

  “Chloe. You have to be a profiler here. Do you see what I see with this sick bitch? Do you feel the change?”

  “I’m not you, Manny, but I think you’re right. We have to ask the question: why
has he kept her alive this long?” Her voice grew quieter, and her grip stronger.

  “Exactly. Why? She must be slowing him down, and it would better serve him to move quickly. He’s never done this before.”

  “Another brain screw?” asked Sophie.

  Manny released Chloe’s hand and then wished he hadn’t. “I don’t think so. It’s like he’s going away from that. So keeping Haley Rose alive can only mean one thing I can think of.”

  “Insurance. Right?” said Josh.

  “That’s the only situation that makes sense to me. If things don’t work out, he’ll have her as leverage.”

  Alex frowned. “That doesn’t sound like the arrogant prick we’ve chased all over the world the last two years.”

  “Maybe not. But he’s never done anything the same way, so there could be more to it than that,” answered Manny.

  “I hope you’re right,” whispered Chloe.

  “So do I.”

  The faint chatter of the helicopter approaching from the south put Josh into full leadership gear. “Let’s go over this again, just so we have our act together,” he urged. Manny noticed that little-boy excitement in his eyes again. The man seemed to thrive in these situations, maybe even lived for them. He found himself thinking about how good it would be to work with someone like Josh, then brushed it aside. They’d all probably die within a few hours anyway.

  “The AW139 will take us to the west side of the Plassey wreck, maybe a half-mile, then drop us off. By then, it’ll be almost dark. There’s not much cover, but if we’re right, we’ll beat Argyle to the island.”

  He pulled out a modified map with two small red “Xs” placed at each end around the wreck, and one near a small rock formation, just to the south. “As always, we work in teams.” Pointing to the rock formation, he looked at Alex and Clark. “I want you two right here. You’ll be able to see any boats coming in the inlet toward the Plassey, and you can let us know when you do. Sophie, you and I will be at this end,” he said, pointing to the stern of the ship. “Manny and Chloe will be at the bow. The ship is rickety, so we’ll have to be careful, but we’ll have it covered.”

  “As much as I’d love to be at a semi-dark beach with you—and believe me, this is killing me to say—but wouldn’t it be better to have Manny and I together? We’ve worked with each other for nine years, and you and Chloe have spent time working with each other.”

  “Most of the time you’d be right, but not this time. I think, and Manny agrees, that Argyle wants to see the look on Chloe’s face, no matter what’s going on with Haley Rose. And maybe more importantly, he’s going to end the game. In his mind, Manny is the main prize, and those two factors—Manny and Chloe together—just might give him an emotional overload, at least a narcissistic episode, and throw him off for a moment, and give us an edge. Besides, we’re both better shots than these two,” he grinned.

  “Translated, we’re the bait,” said Chloe.

  “That’s it,” said Josh.

  The long-nosed AW139, trimmed in bright red and white with the Irish flag painted on the hull, began to circle. Clark waved, and the airship landed some hundred yards away.

  Just before the six cops climbed aboard the fifteen-seat machine, Clark stopped and rubbed the dark stubble on his chin.

  “I still don’t like the idea of just the six of us, you know,” said Clark. “I still think we’d be better served with twenty to forty constables and detectives ready to act as a welcoming committee for this murdering lunatic. But I understand what kind of danger that could be to Ms. Franson, so I’m going along with this. I do have one more question, however.”

  “Fire away,” said Josh.

  “Won’t he hear and see the helicopter?”

  Manny shook his head. “Good question. We’re going to travel on the north side of the bay and then circle in from the northwest side of the island and land as far away from the wreck as we can; we should be fine. Especially if we’re actually beating him to the island, and I like our chances of that.”

  “If you’re wrong?”

  “We can’t afford to be.”

  They finished boarding the idling copter and buckled up. Manny helped Sophie get situated, and she pulled her arm through his.

  She whispered in his ear. “This doesn’t feel so good, boss.”

  He nodded and said nothing. They both knew that the grim reaper waited for them on Inisheer Island. Worst than that, he felt it.

  Chapter-67

  The chopper rose above the rolling, green hills that epitomized Manny’s preconceived notions of Irish landscape, but this was different. It was real and even more beautiful than he could’ve imagined. None of the pictures or movies did it justice. As they swung farther north, deep-blue waters came into view and contrasted with the landscape, mesmerizing him, regardless of their circumstance.

  A moment later, they buzzed Dunguaire Castle at the southern tip of Galway Bay, heading northwest, and he immediately thought of the first photo that Argyle had sent to Chloe. It was a message, a sick joke that only Argyle could appreciate, no doubt about that. He could only imagine what kind of pill that had been for Chloe to swallow. He glanced her way. She was staring out the other window, not really seeing anything. The expression on her face said so. Manny knew that look and the feelings behind it, intimately.

  For much of the last year, it was the same look that had stared back at him from the mirror, from the reflection of any window, and worse, from Jen’s eyes. But there was no controlling it, at least at first . . . and maybe, somewhere in a part of the mind that no one had the ability to explore, he hadn’t wanted to control it.

  When a piece of your soul is torn away like so many loose leaves in the wind, how do you find the strength to even take the next breath, let alone heal from it?

  Louise had been more than part of his soul. No words could be found in any language to express their relationship adequately; there never would be. He suspected that only God knew. He hoped Chloe wouldn’t discover that eternal truth the way he had.

  He glanced at her again, and this time her emerald eyes sought him. The pain, the uncertainty, and a special adoration alternated in her gaze. He recognized that carousel, too. Loving Jen, missing Louise, trying to make sense of the future, and not being able to get Chloe out of his mind—just like she couldn’t get him out her mind right now. All the while, fearing the loss of the one consistent rock in her life, the one she could always count on: her mother.

  Chloe gave him the faintest of smiles, and he returned it. There was always hope, even though this felt different than all of the other times he’d been through this kind of thing. This one was different. He couldn’t put a finger on why, but it’d come to him. He hoped it wouldn’t be too late before it did.

  The lights from the castle began to fade, and in the dusk, he noticed that many of the dozens of ships and boats in the Bay had their brilliant running lights on, although they were plainly visible without them, at least from the air. That was a good thing; they’d have no trouble seeing any boat approaching the island, none at all. Argyle had to know that. In fact, the man was too smart and organized to not count on that actuality. Manny frowned.

  What the hell are you up to?

  His mind raced to the way that Eli Jenkins had cornered himself on the Ocean Duchess over two years ago and how that hadn’t made sense. Only later did he find out how Argyle had set the whole thing up, not caring who died in the wake.

  Suddenly, a scripture from Proverbs popped into his mind. “A dog goes back to its vomit, and a sow that has been washed, goes back to roll around in the mud.”

  “We’ve got about five minutes until we land, so prepare yourselves,” warned the pilot.

  Manny hardly felt Sophie clench tighter as the elusive truth strolled to the front of his mind, bells and whistles ringing at an obnoxious level.

  Gotcha, asshole.

  Unbuckling his seatbelt, he moved to the pilot. “We’re not landing here; we have to go back th
e way we came.”

  Josh grabbed his arm. “What the hell are you doing? I thought this was where Argyle was coming. You were sure of it.”

  “I said pretty sure, but I was wrong. He’s not coming here at all.”

  The helicopter rose and swung back toward the North Sound, over Inishmaan Island, and headed for the coastline.

  Chloe, Detective Clark, and Alex leaned closer, wearing blank expressions.

  “Where are we going?’ asked Josh.

  “He’s not in trance mode, so I think this is legit,” moaned Sophie.

  “No, not in trance mode. You remember how Argyle set Jenkins up? Well, Chloe and Detective Clark wouldn’t, but they’ll get the drift. Anyway, he’s been turning us around in circles since then. Nothing is ever, and I mean ever, the same with him. Nothing. His methods, his messages, his damned system of killing. All giving us the illusion that he’s changing, evolving into whatever his nature dictates.”

  Manny ran his fingers through his hair. “What would be the most unlikely thing he’d do, or wants us to think he’d do?”

  “I don’t know, you tell us,” said Chloe.

  “I know we’ve talked about all of this before, all of the possibilities, but we’ve ignored one.”

  “Damn, get to it man,” urged Alex.

  “Chloe told us that the ouroboros could represent a new beginning, a transformation. But it also represents cunning, and even a certain amount of wisdom. In some cultures, it also represents a cycle, a full circle.”

  “Man, I couldn’t be more confused,” complained Sophie.

  Manny shook his head. “Not confusing at all. He made a huge point in the first picture he sent to Chloe to make sure the ouroboros tats were plainly visible; it was the most important part of the photo. Not the fact that he was with Chloe’s mother, but the symbols. I thought he just wanted us to know that he set up the shootings in Miami, but that’s not it.”

  “I see what you’re saying, but are you sure?” Josh asked.