Death By Blue Water (A Hayden Kent Mystery Book 1)

by Kait Carson

  Knowing this was somehow about her, Hayden struggled unsuccessfully to get to her feet. Great, she thought, this is how they’re going to arrest me. One small problem...I’m not sure why or what for. They can’t believe I killed a man I didn’t know.

  Landsdown held out a hand to help steady her. He held her as close to arm’s length as the tiny boat would allow and appeared to study her face. “Seasick?”

  “No.” Cappy’s ruddy cheeks grew even redder. “She just nearly died. She came up from the Humboldt sucking on the free-flow from her regulator when the o-ring on her valve exploded.” Cappy moved next to Hayden and threw a comforting arm over her shoulders. “I want to get her home. Is something wrong?”

  Landsdown and Cappy stared at each other.

  The tension and the silence grew with each passing second.

  After what seemed like an hour, Landsdown broke the stalemate. “An anonymous male caller said there’d been a fatality on the Humboldt again. The ‘again’ was his word, not mine.” Landsdown took a small step away from Hayden. In control of the situation, he dropped his arms to his side. “Said your boat was the one tied to the buoy.”

  “Did you get a name and location?” Mallory asked.

  “Caller disconnected before the locater software kicked in. Dispatch called back. Got a no such number intercept.” He cocked his head to the side and studied Hayden, his stare taking in her disheveled state. “Looks like they were nearly right though.”

  Cappy looked at Hayden. She read the question in his eyes and answered with a nearly imperceptible nod of her head. “Her tanks were tampered with. We’re trying to figure out when and by whom.”

  Landsdown motioned to his sergeant who handed him a pair of latex gloves. He pointed to a pair of tanks secured to the boat with bungee cords. “Those tanks?”

  Cappy nodded.

  “Do you mind if we take them?” he asked Hayden.

  Conflicting thoughts collided in her brain. She remembered that the last time she used these particular tanks, she found Richard. Could he know? Why did he really want them?

  “Maybe we can get some evidence off them.” His tone was soft.

  She studied his face. A quick flare of anger shot through her when she thought she saw pity in his eyes. Almost immediately, anger gave way to resignation. If she looked half as bad as she felt, she deserved pity. Besides, he could subpoena the tanks any time he wanted. She nodded her consent.

  Landsdown pulled on the gloves and handed the tanks, one at a time, to the waiting sergeant. He concentrated on stripping off the gloves, as he said, “Ms. Kent, we’d like you to come in again and answer a few more questions.”

  Hayden felt her resolve stiffen. She stood straighter and waited until he met her gaze. Mallory’s bare foot kicked out at her shin. Landsdown smiled as if he’d seen it too. Mallory made a show of grabbing on to the aluminum Bimini top support faking a near fall. Ignoring her friend’s warning, she took her courage in both hands and asked, “Questions, or are you planning an interrogation?”

  “Hayd,” Mallory broke in.

  Hayden waved her hand to silence her friend. “Well?”

  “Nothing like that. Word is you’ve been conducting your own investigation. You may have information we need.” He jabbed his finger in the direction of her tanks, now securely fastened in tank holders on his boat. “Considering what happened today, you may know more than you realize.”

  “Such as?”

  “Get checked out by a doctor.” He evaded the question. “Make sure you didn’t hurt yourself.”

  He moved to the Chris Craft’s starboard gunnel, unwound his line from the cleat, and leapt the gunnels again back to the patrol boat. Once the detective was safe on board, the sergeant returned Cappy’s line, freeing the two boats. Hayden’s eyes caught Landsdown’s speculative gaze.

  “What do you know about human smuggling?” he asked.

  Thirty-One

  Hayden handed Mallory the car keys when the boat docked. By tacit agreement, neither of the women spoke during the trip home.

  Mallory pulled up in front of Hayden’s house and parked in her driveway. “Let me get you inside and pour you a glass of wine.”

  Concern was apparent on her friend’s face.

  Looking through the windshield at her house, Hayden spied Tiger Cat in the front window.

  “Thanks Mallory, that would be great, but all I want is a hot bath and I see the man in my life is waiting.”

  “Tough, he’ll have to share you. I’m not letting you go in there alone. If you want a bath, fine. Take one. I’ll drink the wine. Do I want red or white?” She laughed and jumped down past the running board. “I love driving this thing. If I thought the world could handle both of us driving gas-guzzlers, I’d buy one in a heartbeat. ’Course I’d be hard pressed to find one with gate doors in this kind of condition.”

  Hayden smiled and felt the salt crack on her face. Her stomach was unsettled. She wasn’t sure if it was from the events of the day or the salt water she’d swallowed trying to breathe from the free flowing regulator. She knew Mallory meant well, but tonight she wanted to be alone with her thoughts. The passenger door swung open and Mallory put out her hand for Hayden to grasp.

  “What, you’re not going to sweep me off my feet and into my house? What if I can’t manage the stairs?”

  Mallory answered her with a roll of her eyes. In truth, Hayden wondered if she’d be able to make it much past her own front door.

  Mallory unlocked the door and deactivated the alarm. “Oh, you have a zone out. Looks like fourteen. Isn’t that the little bathroom?” Mallory walked over to Hayden’s kitchen cabinet and took out two wine glasses as she spoke. Moving to the area between the pantry cupboard and the refrigerator, she opened the wine cooler and withdrew a bottle of red wine. Hayden had remodeled the kitchen last year and put in a wine cooler as part of the decor.

  “Mallory, really, I don’t…”

  “Yes, you do, you just don’t know it yet. I’ll look after the alarm too. There’s no call on voicemail so the alarm company didn’t call. I’ll replace the battery. That’s all it is.” She handed Hayden a glass of wine. “Wait, let me cut up some cheese and get some crackers.”

  “Yes, Mommy.” Hayden said meekly. The wine tasted good. She scooped up Tiger Cat from his perch on the front window. Stroking the animal, she felt the tension leave her body and a deep tiredness take its place.

  “Mallory,” she called out, “I’m going to take that bath now, and then I think I’m going to—”

  The incessant beeping of the alarm interrupted her. Rising, she put her code in twice and pressed off. The alarm stopped beeping and the zone alarm cleared. “You’ve got it Mal, the zone cleared.” She left her wine glass on the end table and went to run a bath.

  Hayden felt relaxed after her soak. Dressed in cotton pajama shorts and a matching tank top decorated with cats, she decided to join Mallory and finish her wine.

  “Hey, if you can’t take the hint to go home, might as well get me happy,” Hayden joked.

  “Well, ain’t you just the cat’s pajamas.” Holding her glass to the light Mallory asked, “What do you think he meant about human smuggling?”

  “I have no idea. We need to call Janice. She needs to know about the sunken boat. Maybe she can get some identification off it, find out if it’s the same boat.” She tipped the glass to her lips, enjoying the taste of the wine as it ran down her throat. In her mind’s eye, she replayed the scene on the boat. The only experience she had with human smuggling was reading about it in the paper.

  She rolled the stem of the wine glass in her fingers. “Do you think he was talking about Richard? Maybe that’s why he was the black sheep. Maybe he was a smuggler.”

  Something was wrong. The scenario didn’t have the feeling of truth. What was
she missing? The boat’s hours. Of course. They were too low. Smuggling meant Cuba at worst or the Bahamas at best. The hours would have piled up. She put her wine glass on the end table and lay her head against the pillow back.

  “If he was, he wasn’t using his boat. Not with the kind of hours he was supposed to have on it. I wonder if you can fake that.” She leaned forward and looked at Mallory. “Besides, smugglers use go-fasts, boats like Donzis and Cigarettes and God knows what all else. Even with twin Varados, the Mako would be a sow in the water compared to the others. No, using the Mako would be an invitation to arrest.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. He could pick them up at sea from the go-fasts and bring them in closer to shore. It’s wet foot, dry foot.” Mallory referred to law that allowed Cuban refugees to stay in the United States if they reached dry land while Cubans intercepted at sea were returned to Cuba. “The Mako’s quieter than those diesel babies with the big engines. He could get closer to shore. Give the refugees a better shot. His wife is Cuban. Cuban born from what she said. Maybe she provided the contacts.”

  The two women looked at each other. “Nah,” they said in unison.

  “I can’t see Elena acting as a go between,” Hayden said. “She seemed innocent.”

  “You know what, Hayd?” Mallory stretched out on the recliner and turned on the massage feature. “The worst always do seem innocent.” Mallory’s voice vibrated with the chair.

  “Okay, girlfriend, go home, I’ve had my bath. Now I’m into hitting the rack with my honey boy here.” She held up Tiger Cat, who mewed his objections.

  Hayden thought sleep would overtake her as soon as she closed her eyes. Instead, she couldn’t turn off the events of the day. She tossed and turned so much that Tiger Cat abandoned her. She sighed deeply, rolled over and finally slept. She was underwater again, her valve had exploded and all of the nitrox flowed out of her tank while she watched. She saw the bubbles leaving the tank and her own face with her cheeks puffed out trying to hold her breath. Something no well-trained scuba diver would ever do. She felt herself floating in the crystal blue water. Watching goliath groupers swim past her. They waved their fins at her and she swam alongside, breathing oxygen from the water as easily as they did.

  Two other swimmers came at her, hand in hand and seemingly lovers. She waved and waited for them to catch up. As they got closer, she realized they had no features. Their eyes were blank and their noses gone. Their faces blurred from the loss of flesh. The woman had a bracelet on her wrist, the charm bracelet Hayden found on her dive. The man was Richard, and he was pulling the anchor he’d been wrapped in by the chain.

  Hayden sat bolt upright in bed. Her body was covered in a sheen of sweat. She got up, adjusted the air conditioner, double-checked the alarm and took a quick shower. By the time she got back to bed the clock showed three in the morning.

  Hayden punched up her pillows, preparing for a long, wakeful night. She fell asleep before her head hit the pillow.

  The sound of sirens and a ringing phone penetrated her sleep. She swam to consciousness from the depths of her dreams. Unwillingly she pried her eyes open. Bolting out of bed, she realized the sirens were her burglar alarm.

  Someone was breaking in.

  She picked up the bedside phone. It was dead. The electricity to the house must be off. She raced for the kitchen vowing she would have a jack put in the bedroom for a dedicated landline.

  A hand reached out and grabbed her arm.

  A second hand clamped over her nose and mouth, cutting off her scream.

  Thirty-Two

  She gagged against the hand pressed over her face. The pressure over her mouth and nose made breathing impossible. Bright spots danced in front of her eyes. In the distance, she vaguely heard the sound of sirens. She didn’t know if they were coming to her aide or going to an accident site on U.S. 1.

  A familiar scent filled her nostrils. She struggled to remember who she knew that wore it. Everything went black.

  An awful smell under her nose brought Hayden back to consciousness. She weakly waved the hand away and struggled to sit up. Capable hands held her down on the wood floor. Mallory’s voice spoke to someone out of her range of vision. Why was Mallory here? Hayden heard her recount that she’d replaced the battery in the alarm transistor that day. Her blood froze when Mallory pleaded with someone not to tell Hayden about the cat.

  Hayden’s thoughts raced in circles. She forced herself upright and slapped away the hands that tried to restrain her.

  “Tiger, Tiger Cat. Come to Mommy, Tiger Cat,” she tried to scream, but her voice sounded more like a croak. Her thoughts cleared. She lay on her own floor nearly face to face with the legs of her table.

  “Who are you people? Why are you in my house?”

  Mallory appeared, her face tear stained. At any other time her costume of a long blue t-shirt with slipper socks that came nearly to her knees would have elicited at least a chuckle. Not tonight.

  “Hayden, don’t get up. Stay where you are,” Mallory begged. “We’ll get Tiger Cat. He’ll come back, don’t worry.”

  “Come back, what do you mean, come back? He never leaves this house except to go to the vet. He never goes out the door. He knows nothing good happens to him outside. Where is my cat?” She separated each word for emphasis. Her world spun out of control.

  “Why are you worried about Tiger? Why are you here? How did you know he escaped?”

  “Someone came in the front door. They left it open.” Mallory drew a wobbly breath through her tears. “We can’t find Tiger Cat, but that doesn’t mean he’s not hiding somewhere. You know how he is. We’ll find him.”

  “Like hell you will, Mallory. You know that cat only comes to me. Given his start in life, I’m not surprised.” Hayden struggled to get to her feet fighting nausea and the wave of dizziness that threatened to engulf her. She felt like Alice in Wonderland falling through the looking glass. Why was she on her floor? Who were these people? Why was she having a discussion about her cat?

  The two paramedics, alarmed by her vehemence, tried to press her back to the floor. Failing that, they tried to lead her to the sofa. “None of this makes any sense. Get your hands off me.” She shook off the hands that restrained her. “I’m fine, this is my house. I have to be dreaming. Please.” She looked at one of the paramedics. “Wake me up.”

  One of the paramedics knelt next to her as she sat on the leather sofa. “What do you remember?”

  Before she could frame an answer, Officer Barton emerged from the room Hayden used as an office. She headed out the front door to the van that had just pulled up. Hayden followed her out, unmindful of her bare feet. Crime scene investigators poured from the van. Hayden overheard Barton ask them to powder the front door, office, and the second bathroom window. Hayden intercepted the tall officer as she turned away from the van.

  “Ms. Kent, how are you feeling? That was quite a blow you took to the head. Should you be up? I thought the paramedics were going to take you to Fisherman’s Hospital.”

  “Blow to the head?” Her hand felt her scalp. She felt something sticky on the back of her head near the crown.

  She had no recollection of getting hit. Hayden laughed. Officer Barton looked at her strangely. For some reason that made Hayden laugh harder. She laughed until tears flowed down her face. “I fell, no one hit me. Whoever was in the house cut off my air and I fell.”

  The crime scene technicians walked a wide circle around the laughing woman. The two paramedics came out and each took one of Hayden’s arms. Hayden overheard Officer Barton suggest that they take her inside and make her comfortable.

  The two paramedics led her back inside. Mallory was waiting for her in the living room.

  “Hayd, sit down. Let me get you some tea, or coffee, or a drink, considering…”

  One of the paramedics interrupted, �
�No. Don’t give her any alcohol. She’s had a blow to the head. She needs to get to the hospital. Alcohol thins the blood.”

  Pain, beginning at the top of her head and ending in her eyeballs clouded her vision. Hayden gratefully allowed Mallory to point her in the direction of her recliner.

  “Maybe some water, Mallory. That would be good. Can you find Tiger Cat?” Hayden operated the lever that tipped the chair back. There was a loud scream followed by a blaze of brownish yellow running from under the chair. Mallory dropped the water glass she was carrying and took off in the direction of the streak.

  Tiger Cat had been hiding under the recliner.

  When Hayden pulled up on the lever, the chair mechanism must have compressed or caught him. In any event, it was better than what Hayden had thought happened to him. Mallory came back into the room carrying a squirming ball of angry fur. Tiger hated being held by anyone but Hayden and he wasn’t shy about letting his preference be known.

  “Hand over that slinky toy.” The cat filled Hayden’s arms and she buried her face in his soft fur. The cat responded by purring.

  When she looked up, Officer Barton stood next to the recliner, a reporter’s notebook clutched in her hand. “What do you remember?”

  “Sirens, I remember sirens and not being able to breathe and seeing spots and the alarm sounding. It’s all jumbled in my mind. I can’t put one thing or another first. It’s like it all happened at once. How did they get in?”

  “They? How many people were here?”

  “I don’t know. I only felt one. There could have been more. I didn’t see anyone. I was in a deep sleep. When I first heard the alarm and the phone, I thought it was all part of a dream. I remember trying to wake up.” She looked at the officer. “You know the kind of dream where the present intrudes. Where you can’t tell the difference between being awake and asleep.”