Madelyn chewed on his words a moment.
Captain Ernie slowed down, shifting the attention to the water around them. “I suppose they’ve already told you about the fishing industry here in town?”
Madelyn shook her head. “Only that it’s booming.”
“You should tag along with one of the fishermen sometime. It’s pretty amazing the work they do. They know how to plant the oysters in beds where they’ll prosper. They have to know exactly when to harvest them and how many they can harvest. And you’re here in town at just the right time. It’s oyster season.”
“Lucky me,” she said. The oyster industry really had nothing to do with her article, though she was sure it might be interesting to some people.
Just then, she felt something shift beneath her. The entire boat stopped. Then the motor died.
In the middle of the bay.
* * *
Zach looked up from his desk at the sound of someone knocking at the door. His friend Chris Kent stood there. Chris was a coastguardsman that Zach had become friends with during Zach’s time as sheriff over in Smuggler’s Cove. The man was five foot ten, stocky and dedicated. The two of them got together for coffee every couple of weeks, and Zach had asked him to come by today.
“Thanks for coming,” Zach said.
“I heard you’ve been busy here.” Chris shut the door and sat across from Zach. His frame took up most of the chair.
“Unfortunately, something messed up is going on here in Waterman’s Reach, and I wanted to get your input.”
He’d called his friend last night because he was one of the few people Zach trusted completely. Zach recounted to him now everything that had happened over the past several days.
“What do you think this is about?” Chris asked.
Zach let out a long breath. “That’s the question of the hour. This somehow ties in with the new reporter in town.”
“Did you look into her background?” Chris leaned back in the chair, laid-back and acting like they were talking about Fantasy Football or something else that wasn’t life threatening. It was because he dealt with issues like these every day. He’d learned how to cope with the stresses of small-town crime.
“I did look into her background, and she seems squeaky- clean, which brings me back to why I asked you to come.” Though the only other person in the office was Lynn, Zach lowered his voice. “I wonder if someone has become aware that I’ve asked you to keep an eye on our coast.”
Chris stared in the distance for a moment before shaking his head. “Not on my end. I haven’t mentioned it to anyone, so all of my colleagues simply think I’m doing my job. Did you tell anyone else here about your concerns?”
Zach shook his head. He’d kept his quest silent so he wouldn’t tip anyone off. He suspected that drugs were being brought into the country through the secluded coastline off the barrier islands. He couldn’t prove it—but he was trying.
He felt certain the drugs used up in the Baltimore drug bust could be traced back to this coastline and this town.
“No, I haven’t trusted this information to anyone else.”
“Not even Tyler?”
“Not even Tyler. The fewer people who know, the better.”
“I don’t blame you for staying quiet. News like that would be the talk of the town.”
“So there’s been nothing out of the ordinary out there lately?” All Zach needed was one lead to give him hope. But that one lead was proving harder to come by than he would like to think.
Chris shook his head. “We had that drug bust out there about two months ago. Huge shipment of marijuana. But it wasn’t the heroin you’re looking for. Those barrier islands are like a playground for anyone wanting to be secretive. It’s one of the most underdeveloped coastlines on the East Coast. But that makes catching people even harder. We patrol the waters, but there are a lot of waters to patrol and we can’t be everywhere at once.”
Zach thought about his words for moment, leaning back in his chair as his mind raced. “If not on one of those container ships, how are they getting these drugs into this part of the country?”
“If it is on one of the container ships, there’s not much of a chance that we’ll find them. Border patrol’s dogs will sniff out the shipments, but they don’t find everything.”
“I know these drugs are coming out of Waterman’s Reach.”
“You could very well be right. But good luck proving it. I’ll continue to keep my eyes open.”
Zach reached out to shake his hand. “I appreciate it. Thank you.”
Zach remained in his chair after Chris left, chewing on their conversation. He’d hoped for more. But he had to learn to be patient. He’d never find any answers if he wasn’t.
The crime spree in town had lessened the amount of time he had to look into the drugs anyway.
As soon as Chris left, Zach’s phone rang. It was a man named Caleb Feldman from the state crime lab.
“I was going through your new evidence. The report says that there are three bullets. However, only two came in as evidence.”
“What are you talking about? That’s impossible.”
“I’m just telling you what I’m looking at right now. One of the state police officers brought everything in to the lab for us to test. But, since there was a discrepancy, I wanted to let you know.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
“In other news, these bullets match the one you sent me earlier—the one imbedded in the tree.”
So the man Zach had chased through the woods was the driver of the white truck.
“It appears to be from a standard-issue Glock, not a rifle, as it might have been had it been a hunter out there in the woods.”
“Interesting.”
“One more thing,” Caleb said. “That blood you sent in? It was from a pig.”
Zach leaned back in his chair and raised his eyebrows. He bounced a pencil on his desk calendar as he processed that. “A pig?”
“You can buy pig’s blood at Asian markets and other places. It’s used to make blood pudding or blood sausages, so it’s pretty easy to obtain.”
“Good to know.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but does that help?”
Zach continued to bounce the pencil as he mulled over the new information. Someone wanted to make Zach look like he was a bad guy. Was this person making it a point to do it in front of Madelyn? She’d been the only one to see it.
But that didn’t make sense. No one could have anticipated that Madelyn would swing by his house that day.
Only two people knew about the ride along—the mayor and Eva. What if one of them had left the door to his house open, knowing he’d be called in to check it out? Then Madelyn would see the blood there. He didn’t want to believe that either of those people would be behind the acts, though.
The only other option seemed to be that someone was playing mind games with Zach. Maybe someone was trying to distract him from the other issues going on in the area, to keep him busy with mindless cases so he’d miss something bigger.
“Zach?” Caleb repeated.
“Sorry. Yes, that information does help. Thank you for pushing this ahead of your other projects. We have a situation going on here in town, and it’s very timely.”
“No problem, man.”
With the prevalence of the internet, Zach knew it would be nearly impossible to track down who in town had purchased pig’s blood. It would end up being a colossal waste of time. Perhaps another distraction so he’d miss something else.
His gut told him that the answers rested with Madelyn. She may not even realize it, but what if all of this linked back to her somehow? Maybe he needed to dig deeper into her background.
“Thanks again. I’ll look into t
hat third bullet and see what I can find out.”
Zach hung up and leaned back in his chair. What had happened to the third bullet? Tyler had helped him log the evidence. He, Tyler and the state trooper were the only ones who’d handled the information. So what had happened?
At that moment, a shadow appeared in his doorway. Tyler. Just the man he wanted to see. He must have returned from patrol.
“Any updates on the shooting yesterday?” Tyler asked.
“A bullet’s missing. Know anything about it?”
Tyler gawked. “That’s impossible. I collected those bullets myself.”
“Did anyone else come in contact with them?”
Tyler shook his head. “No, no one.”
“Was there anyone else lurking around as you were collecting the evidence?” Zack asked.
“No one. Except the Mayor. He stopped by, just for a few minutes.”
“Mayor Alan?”
Tyler nodded. “I don’t know what happened to that bullet, Chief. But I know I collected and bagged three of them.”
That thought gnawed at Zach’s gut. He prayed that the mayor wasn’t involved in all of this. Because, if he was, then Zach wasn’t sure who he could trust.
* * *
“We’re taking on water,” Captain Ernie said.
Madelyn stared at the liquid that poured in from the back of the watercraft. It was coming in fast and already puddled at her feet. Her heart raced at the sight of it.
How had this happened? It just didn’t make sense. “What’s going on?”
Ernie stomped to the back of the boat and pulled the hatch off the engine. Steam shot out from inside. “Looks like a cooling system leak. Right before the engine shut down, the end cap burst and it caused the hull to split.”
“What does all of that mean?” To Madelyn, he might as well have been speaking another language.
“It means this boat is of no use to us anymore.”
“Can we make it to land?” She sounded breathless, even to her own ears.
Ernie grimaced. “It’s doubtful. We’re going to go under.”
Her back muscles tightened as she glanced around. The nearest land she spotted was a barrier island that appeared to be at least a half a mile away. In between there were marsh grasses and oyster beds.
She shuddered at the thought of trudging through the water, or swimming against currents over her head, in order to reach safety. Even worse, she spotted dark clouds in the distance. Was a storm coming their way?
Ernie picked up his radio and pressed the button. Nothing happened. He tried again.
There was still no response.
Ernie tapped it with the palm of his hand. “This radio worked yesterday. Something’s wrong with it now.”
Madelyn knew what that meant: no Mayday calls.
And that couldn’t be a coincidence. Someone had sabotaged the boat. Someone knew she was going on it today and wanted her to sink out here. This nightmare was never going to end, was it?
“I can use my cell phone,” Madelyn said.
“Good luck getting a signal out here.”
She stared at her screen. Sure enough—they were out of range.
Captain Ernie threw her a life preserver. “Put this on.”
Madelyn’s hands trembled as she pulled the bulky orange vest on and fastened the straps.
“You don’t want to walk through those marshes,” Ernie said, nodding toward a thick expanse of grass. “We’re going to have to swim.”
“Why can’t we walk through the marshes?” It would keep them out of the chilly water and keep their body temperature more level. That made sense to Madelyn.
“There are still land mines there left over from when the government used this as a test area for their bombs. We can’t take that chance.”
Madelyn’s stomach dropped.
She glanced toward the barrier island. There was a visible divider where the bay met the ocean. Angry waves crashed there, signaling waters that weren’t always tranquil. Based on the force of those waves, Madelyn knew it was going to be dangerous trying to get to that island. She’d be fighting the strong current, and she’d never been the best swimmer.
“We have to make it to that island. The life jacket will keep you afloat. Okay?” Captain Ernie said.
Madelyn nodded. With the captain’s guidance, she jumped into the frigid water.
She forced her arms to move. Slowly, surely, she got closer to the island in the distance. Captain Ernie, to his credit, stayed with her.
Her entire body shivered. She couldn’t feel her fingers. And the clouds in the distance grew darker, came closer.
Finally her feet hit sand. She breathed a sigh of relief. The ground seemed to suction her feet, though, as she trudged toward the island in the distance. Finally, she fell on the shore there.
“We should try to find shelter,” Ernie said. “It looks like we have a storm coming.”
“There’s shelter on this island?”
He shook his head. “There are trees on the far side. That’s about as good as we’re going to get.”
Madelyn nodded, pulled herself to her feet and stared out at the island a moment.
She took in the vast expanse of land before her. There were no houses or other structures, only the rolling bay behind her, the mighty Atlantic in front of her and patches of marsh grass.
When they crested the slight sand dune, she saw a grove of trees on the far side. They were low and gnarled and huddled close as though they had to stick together or perish.
Ernie had told her earlier about the barrier islands and about how some boats were chartered as beach taxis for people who wanted to come and enjoy the sandy shores. Lodges and houses used to be located here, until people discovered just how treacherous the land was.
Finally, they reached the trees. She and Ernie huddled underneath one and braced themselves to wait this out until someone found them.
She picked up the conch shell at her feet and smiled despite the situation. She had a lot of memories of going to Ocean City, Maryland, for family vacations when she was a child. She and her dad would scour the beaches in the morning, trying to find all of the treasures they could. If they were really lucky, it would storm one day during their stay. She always found the best shells after the waves churned during storms coming from the east.
Those times with her family had felt like another lifetime ago. There was so little she had to hold on to from that part of her life. Not her family house. No heirlooms even. Not really. Her parents had both been teachers, so they didn’t have much of value. Her mom hadn’t even liked jewelry.
But it wasn’t the material items that bothered her. It was the emotional connections. The support system. The safe net.
When she’d lost her parents and walked away from God, she’d lost all of that.
Was it too late to change? Did she even want to?
She wasn’t sure where all the thoughts were coming from, but they were making her misty-eyed. She had to get a grip of her emotions.
It was all one cop’s fault. If Darren Waters hadn’t been gung ho about catching a thief, her parents would still be alive. He walked away from her tragedy unscathed.
Just like Zach had walked away from the Baltimore incident without consequence.
That shouldn’t happen. When people messed up—whether out of carelessness or poor planning or apathy even—they should have penalties.
As a chilly wind blew over the land, she shivered again. The dark clouds were directly above them now, and Madelyn knew she needed to prepare for the worst. A storm had formed these islands; a storm could take them away.
ELEVEN
Why hadn’t Madelyn returned yet? Zach had called her to no avail—the line had gone straight to
voice mail each time. His impression was that she’d be back by now, and he’d wanted to convince her to move over to the bed-and-breakfast. He couldn’t handle too many more sleepless nights of trying to stay outside her apartment to make sure she was okay.
Something didn’t feel right in his gut. The woman always had her phone with her. She’d told him that Ernie was taking her out on a tour of the area’s waterways today. Maybe she was out of range. Zach knew from firsthand experience that was entirely possible.
But he couldn’t relax until he knew for sure. He grabbed his gear and headed over to the marina. Ernie Blankenship was the resident boat captain whom outsiders liked to use for charters. The man understood the rise and fall of the tides and knew how to traverse the waters and not get stuck on a sandbar, like so many outsiders tended to do.
Zach pulled up to the docks and saw that Madelyn’s car was still there. He supposed that was a good sign. It meant she was most likely still out on the water. Given everything that had happened lately, he wanted to make sure.
Zach strode across the docks until he found Rod, the marina owner. He was sitting near a shack reserved for cleaning and scaling fish. The man was short and wrinkled. Zach had thought he was in his seventies when he first met him, but apparently he was only in his fifties. The sun and cigarettes had done a number on the man’s skin, and his white hair only added to the effect.
“You seen Ernie?” Zach asked.
Rod shook his head and continued to clean a fish. “Not since he left this morning. You need to get up with him?”
Zach nodded, staring at the dark clouds in the distance. “I thought he’d be back by now.”
“So did I. He told me he would just be out for a few hours. It’s probably been closer to six, if I had to guess.”
A wind brushed over the water, sending with it the scent of the sea. “There’s a storm coming.”
Rod put the fish down and propped his leg up on one of the pilings, leaning against his knee like he had all the time in the world. “He’s out with that reporter.”
Zach nodded. “I know. I’m afraid something is wrong, and I need you to take me out to check on them.”
Dark Harbor Page 9
