The Savage Son (A Nick Williams Mystery Book 6)
Page 18
I walked around to his side of the bed and picked up the little plastic directory we kept by the bedroom phone. As I looked up the captain's number, Carter started rubbing the back of my left leg.
I picked up the phone, dialed the number, and said, "You can tease me all you want, fireman, but we're gonna be cruising the bay in an hour."
Carter sat up and pulled me in between his legs. After six rings, I heard the captain's soft Irish voice, "O'Reilly, here."
"Captain, this is Nick Williams."
"Yes, Mr. Williams. Good morning to you."
"Morning. Any chance we can make a run out through the Golden Gate this morning?"
"Well, now. I was just thinking about doing the very thing. Not a lot of chop and the wind is favorable. It's been a while since the engines have had a good run so, yes. You meet us at the marina and we can be out by 9:30."
"Thank you, Captain. We'll see you then."
I put the receiver back on its hook and said, with a lilt to my voice, "He was thinking about the very thing."
Carter stood up, kissed me, then swatted my behind. "We better get moving, then."
. . .
The wind was cold but the sun was warm. There wasn't a cloud in the big blue sky. As we moved under the shadow of the Bay Bridge and approached the Ferry Building, the captain slowed down to let one of the ferries from Oakland pass by. They had the right of way.
Carter and I started off standing in a little spot just forward on the starboard side near the bridge. This had become one of my favorite spots. We were as close to the prow as we could get but weren't in the way of the crew.
We were both bundled up in sweaters, overcoats, and scarves. As the ship cruised past the end of the piers and where Fort Mason started, we sat down to a small breakfast that the crew had rustled up for us. As we liked to do, we sat on the bench and small table that was located aft.
By the time we were finished eating, the Presidio had come in full view. That meant we were getting close to the bridge.
We walked up the steps to the top deck and sat down on the big pile of rugs that Carlos, one of the crewmen, had arranged for us on the deck. We could have sat on the benches, but staying down on the deck blocked most of the wind.
As usual, when we sailed under the bridge, the Captain pulled the horn and gave out a couple of toots. There were a handful of tourists looking down from the walkway and we got a number of friendly waves, which we returned.
The Captain had told us he wanted to move out into the open ocean, make a big circle close to the Marin Headlands, and then head back into the bay from there. We watched, for a while, as the rugged coast passed by. Once the ship began to turn towards port to make the big circle, Carter stood up and offered me his hand.
We walked down to the lower deck where our suite was located. After closing the door, Carter said, "I need to get warmed up, Boss."
I smiled at him and said, "Me, too."
With that, we proceeded to do our favorite thing to get warm and stay warm.
Author's Note
Thank you for buying and reading this book!
The plot and flow of this story came out of thin air, as with all the Nick & Carter books.
Many thanks, as always, to everyone who has read, reviewed, and emailed me about the Nick & Carter books. It means so much to me and I deeply appreciate it.
Acknowledgments
Thanks, once again, to the wonderful Marc Echeveste for his help with legal aspects of this story. Thanks to his keen insight and helpful research, I re-wrote part of the book to bring it in line with the fact that there is no bail in capital cases in California. Because of his help, this is a much better story.
Thanks, as well, to the brilliant Margaret Sisk for reviewing the historical aspects of what emergency care for a heart attack would have been in 1953. Her insight and suggestions really rounded out this part of the story.
Any mistaken assumptions or descriptions in either case, legal or medical, are completely mine.
Finally, I've come to rely on the many amazing members of the Facebook group "San Francisco Remembered," for sharing a number of interesting memories and facts that get pulled into these stories, particularly this one. Many thanks for your generosity.
Historical Notes
The events in this book take place between Tuesday, December 15, 1953, and Thursday, January 7, 1954.
The primary characters are all fictional. There are, however, historical persons and locales portrayed in a fictional manner.
Petervald (correctly spelled Petřvald in Czech) is a village in the Czech Republic that sits between the city of Ostrava on the west and the Polish border on the east.
From 1815 until 1945, the area that includes Petervald (generally referred to as Silesia but properly known as Cieszyn Silesia) changed hands several times: Poland, Austrian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. In 1993, the area became part of the Czech Republic following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
The City of Paris Dry Goods Store was founded by Felix Verdier in May of 1850 when he arrived in San Francisco harbor on a ship of the same name (Ville de Paris) full of luxury goods from France that he hoped to sell to the newly-wealthy gold miners. The department store was built in 1896 at the corner of Geary and Stockton across from Union Square and re-built after the Earthquake and Fire of 1906. After a fabled existence, the store closed in 1972. The original building was demolished in 1981, despite community protests. A Neiman-Marcus store is now located at that corner where you can see the original stained glass skylight as you enter the building from Geary.
More Information
Nick Williams Mysteries
The Unexpected Heiress
The Amorous Attorney
The Sartorial Senator
The Laconic Lumberjack
The Perplexed Pumpkin
The Savage Son
The Mangled Mobster
The Iniquitous Investigator
The Voluptuous Vixen
The Timid Traitor
The Sodden Sailor
The Excluded Exile
The Paradoxical Parent
The Pitiful Player
Nick & Carter Stories
An Enchanted Beginning
Golden Gate Love Stories
The One He Waited For
Their Own Hidden Island
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