The woman whistled. “You shoulda seen the size of that fin. Coulda been a twenty-footer, easy.”
“Twenty? It was twenty-five, at least!” Ron weighed in through a mouthful of fried squid.
“Sure it was, just like that grouper you had on the line last week.” Chuck rolled her eyes and turned back to Frank and me. “You know that old cliché about fishermen always exaggerating? It’s true. Ron was in the little boys’ room when that shark swam by. He didn’t even see it.”
The guy waved her away. “Well, however big it was, I don’t like it prowling around that close to shore. My kids go swimming at that beach.”
“Sharks have been swimming these beaches a lot longer than any of us,” Chuck said. “The way I figure it, we’re the ones dipping our toes into their turf. They have as much of a right to be here as we do.”
Ron harrumphed and went back to his calamari. “I’m with Maxwell on this one.”
This time, it was Chuck who waved Ron away. I didn’t know who Maxwell was, but Chuck didn’t seem impressed.
“Trip and Cap really brought me around on the shark conservation thing. They’re some of the coolest creatures on the planet. Sure would be a shame if they weren’t around anymore. Any sharks you see on the wall are from the old days. I even pulled the mako steaks from the menu. Everything at Chuck’s is local, wild, and sustainable. Like me.”
“You’re wild, all right. I can’t believe you still say that stuff after what happened to your pops,” Ron grumbled.
Frank jumped in before I could ask what he meant. “You’re not worried about Dr. Edwards?” my brother asked Chuck as another crack of thunder rumbled over the island.
“I’m not worried about the shark or the storm. Trip is practically part shark herself. She’ll be fine.”
Cap had said the same thing, but unlike the R/V captain, Chuck didn’t appear to have a hint of doubt.
Her confidence seemed a bit strange, and it wasn’t until Frank and I exchanged a confused glance that it dawned on me why. It had only been after the downpour started and the beach cleared out that we heard the scream. The most alarming part of the day’s shark tale hadn’t reached the Shuck Shack yet.
“We heard a woman scream a few minutes after the fin vanished,” I said, leveling with Chuck. “We didn’t see Dr. Edwards or the shark again.”
I could see Chuck’s confidence waver. “You sure it was her? Not just some hysterical lookie-loo?”
“I guess it could have been someone else, but it definitely came from the water inside the fog, not from the shore,” Frank replied. “Cap and Dougie took a boat out looking for her.”
Chuck was silent for a minute as she stared out the open windows into the storm.
“I’ll have your food brought out when it’s ready,” she said absently, stepping out from behind the bar and heading toward the kitchen. When I looked back, she was on the phone with someone, having what looked like an intense conversation.
Frank and I grabbed seats by the window, near Abby and Randy’s table, where we could see the water. A waiter showed up with our food a few minutes later. In the meantime, Chuck must have spread the word about the scream, because the buzz around the restaurant shot up a few notches. It grew even louder as more people arrived. It looked like Chuck’s Shuck Shack was the center of the Lookout Key universe, and all anyone wanted to talk about now was EEE and the shark.
By the time Cap stumbled in a little while later, the crowd had worked itself into a frenzy. He locked eyes with Chuck first.
“We made it to the mangroves but had to turn back when the storm picked up. Trip—” Cap rubbed a hand down his still-wet face. He looked shell-shocked. “She’s gone.”
3 LOCAL POLITICS
FRANK
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, GONE?” Chuck demanded.
“There’s no sign of her. Her board, either. It’s like she vanished.” Cap looked helplessly at his feet. “Dougie radioed the coast guard, but there are major storm warnings in effect, and they can’t launch a search until morning.”
Chuck narrowed her eyes. “They won’t be the only ones searching. I’ll make sure half the town is out there looking along with them.”
“Not me,” Randy announced from behind us. “I’m not taking another step near the water as long as there’s a marine-biologist-eating shark around. The only place I’m going is home.”
Abby nodded vigorously. “We discussed it, and Randy and I are getting on the first flight back to Bayport.”
“That’s probably for the best.” Cap sighed heavily. “We’re not going to be able to do the research we had planned, and Trip isn’t here to lead you.”
I didn’t even have to look at my brother to know we were on the same page. We’d suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a missing persons case, and the prime suspect was a shark. There was no way we were going back to Bayport now.
“We’re staying to help you find Dr. Edwards,” I said.
Cap put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. “I appreciate the sentiment, guys, but there’s really nothing you can do.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Joe replied. “Our suspects usually have legs instead of fins, but this isn’t our first missing persons investigation.”
“Marine biology is just a sideline,” I explained. “Our real hobby is private detection.”
Chuck rubbed her chin while she contemplated the idea. “Huh. Well, consider yourselves hired. I can pay you in shrimp.”
“Deal!” Joe enthusiastically shook Chuck’s hand. “We would have done it for free, but we’ll definitely do it for free food!”
“Joe can eat a lot of shrimp,” I warned her.
She smiled. “I’ll take my chances.”
Cap eyed us skeptically. “Teenage private eyes? They’re only kids, Chuck.”
“So was I when I started running this place. We need all the help we can get. Hopefully, Triple E just got blown off course in the storm and took shelter somewhere down the coast, but she’s a friend, and I want all hands on deck until she’s back safe.”
Cap didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he looked too drained to argue.
“I was thinking we could go up to the top of the lighthouse with binoculars first thing in the morning to get a bird’s-eye view of the entire coastline,” I said.
“It’s a good thought, but that place is abandoned for a reason,” Cap warned. “It’s basically a death trap with a broken light on top. The town condemned it years ago. You boys go in there, and we’ll probably find ourselves looking for three people instead of just one.”
“Pretty amazing it’s still standing, actually,” Chuck mused. “I keep waiting to wake up one morning after one of these big storms and find it swept into the sea.”
Cap scowled. “The mayor and his flunkies on the council figure nature will do the job for them eventually. Save them money on demolition.”
Ron cleared his throat and aimed a piece of calamari in Cap’s direction. “Maybe the town would be able to afford to do that kind of stuff if your Shark Lab wasn’t so set on sinking Maxwell’s new development. A lot of folks are mad about Trip saying she’d use her vote on the town council to reject it. A big, fancy resort like Mangrove Palace could have all us locals swimming in clams, what with all the jobs and tourism business and beneficial economic whatnots.”
Ron pointed a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of a corner table toward the back, where a tall, well-dressed man appeared to be holding court. He had a business-tropical look in his fitted, open-collar linen shirt, with rolled-up sleeves exposing a fancy gold dive watch. Most of Chuck’s customers were some combination of soggy and windswept from the storm, but the man’s expensive haircut was perfectly in place. It looked like he’d just come from the stylist. And from the way people were hanging on his every word and stopping by to pay their respects, he could have passed for the local Mafia don. Cap and Chuck both eyed the guy wearily. I had a hunch that this was the Maxwell that Ron was talking about.
>
“Dr. Edwards is on the town council?” Joe asked.
“It’s a good thing, too,” Cap confirmed. “The Mangrove Palace development plan is an ecological disaster for the mangrove swamp. It threatens a whole list of species, including the lemon shark pups that nurse there. It puts the whole lemon shark population at risk, and he knows it. That’s why he’s trying to ram it through the council before Trip can even finish her environmental impact study.”
“I’m all for Lookout Key prospering, Ron, but this resort thing is shortsighted,” Chuck said. “This island is a tourist destination because of its natural beauty and sea life. You bulldoze over it to build a resort, and you’re destroying one of the big things that makes us special.”
Cap nodded. “Trip’s vote is the only thing keeping Lookout Key from spearing itself in the foot.”
“Easy for you to say, with that fancy boat of yours, but a lot of us could use the money Maxwell’s promising,” Ron shot back. “Some folks might even say that shark did the town a favor. Without Trip around to put the kibosh on it, sounds like the council’s gonna give Maxwell the green light.”
“Take that back or it’s gonna be you that’s battered instead of those squid,” Cap snapped, balling his hands into fists.
Ron held his hands up defensively, nearly toppling off his stool in the process. “Hey, whatcha picking on me for? I said some folks might say that, not me. Sheesh.”
“There’s still no evidence Trip was even attacked by a shark,” I reminded him. “Shark attacks may get a lot of press—they make a good story—but in reality, they almost never happen.”
Ron looked at me like I was delusional. “Everybody saw that fin, and now the lady’s gone. What more proof do you need?”
“You’re mixing up proof and suspicion,” Joe informed him. “Just because a suspect is seen in the neighborhood where a crime may have happened doesn’t automatically mean they did it. A lot of times in missing persons cases, nothing fishy happened and the person turns up fine.”
Ron didn’t seem swayed by Joe’s logic. “Well, I sure do hope you’re right about Trip being okay. But maybe you could wait until after tomorrow ’s council meeting to find her? The whole town will be better off if that resort gets built. Then we’ll be able to buy all the fancy new lighthouses we want!”
“The town doesn’t need some big, toxic resort’s money,” Chuck scoffed. “With all the bribes the mayor’s been pocketing for himself, the cheapskate could have easily ponied up the cash to renovate Alligator Lighthouse a few years back when it could’ve still been saved, and paid for a lot of other stuff around town too.”
“That’s pure hearsay!” a voice bellowed from the door. We turned to see a large man in an ill-fitting white linen suit. “As everyone knows, I divested myself of stock in every local business that might present a conflict of interest with my mayoral duties.”
“Sure, you did, Boothby,” Cap said, his voice drenched in sarcasm. “After the state opened an investigation into you trading political favors to beef up your business interests for personal gain.”
“Lies! It’s a hoax by my political enemies to distract the good people of Lookout from the real threats facing our community. Like—” Boothby paused a little too long, as if he was still trying to figure out what to say. “Like—like sharks!”
Cap’s and Chuck’s mouths dropped open. There was a rumble of approval from a number of Chuck’s other patrons, though. Boothby soaked it in and stood up a little taller.
“I’ve long been a law-and-order mayor, and it’s high time the fish played by the rules too. In fact, I’m thinking of making it a cornerstone of my reelection campaign. Attacks on our citizens will not be tolerated.”
“Hold your seahorses there, Mayor,” Chuck cautioned. “Like my young friends said, we don’t even know there was an attack. It’s a lot more likely Trip got blown off course in the storm.”
Boothby ignored her. “The safety of our citizens is paramount, and I won’t rest until our beaches are safe again.”
“Ain’t the first time a paddleboarder been eaten either,” Ron chimed in approvingly.
Chuck gave Ron an eye roll. “Dad wasn’t eaten. The shark took a chomp out of his board, decided it wasn’t a seal, and moved on.”
Ron’s comment earlier about something happening to Chuck Sr. suddenly made sense. Chuck’s dad had been attacked by a shark too, and while paddleboarding, no less! Chuck didn’t seem bothered by the possibility that something similar might have happened to EEE.
“No harm, no foul,” Chuck went on. “The shark gave Dad a good scare and one of his all-time favorite stories. I’d say, in that encounter, he came out on top. Besides, that was, like, thirty years ago. There hasn’t been a single attack on Lookout Key since.”
“You see?” the mayor plowed ahead undeterred. “We’ve been under siege for decades!”
“Wait a second. That’s not what I—” Chuck began to reply, but the mayor was on a roll.
“It’s long past time we put a stop to this aggression, and I’m going to be the one who finally does something about it!” Boothby pounded his fist on the bar. “I want this shark caught! Councilwoman Edwards will be avenged!”
“Avenged?” Cap cried, gripping the bar so hard, his knuckles went white. “Trip is one of the Keys’ biggest shark advocates! Going after them is the last thing she’d want.”
Mayor Boothby snapped his fingers as if he’d just had a brilliant idea. “You can relinquish my reservation for the evening, Chuck.”
“Been consulting the thesaurus again, huh, Mayor?” Chuck asked with a smirk.
If Boothby realized she was making fun of him, he didn’t show it.
“I’m going to prepare an anti-shark initiative to present at the town council meeting.”
The mayor turned and marched back out of the restaurant into the rain. Cap looked sick to his stomach. Between the vote on the shark-endangering resort, the mayor’s new anti-shark platform, and the missing shark-loving council member, the town council meeting everyone was talking about was shaping up to be a doozy.
Chuck covered her face with her palm. “I’ve known Boothby since I was a baby. He’s practically family. But how this town keeps reelecting that windbag as mayor, I will never understand. I don’t think he knows what half the words coming out of his mouth mean. And he doesn’t even bother to learn the rules, let alone play by them!”
Joe and I sat back and watched the local drama unfold. Sometimes, a detective’s best tool is simple observation. We were still getting the lay of Lookout Key’s land, and the social scene at Chuck’s was giving us a good primer on who was who. Hopefully, it would help us figure out who we could count on to help in our search the next morning. From the sound of it, Mayor Boothby was going to be too wrapped up in his own agenda to make the list. So much for public service!
“I think Mayor B. is onto something with this one,” drawled a voice from the other end of the bar. Ron quickly scooted over to make room the second he saw the man swaggering up.
“That’s right, Captain Diamond. That’s right!” Ron nodded along so enthusiastically, I thought he might hurt himself. His voice quavered as he made a show of cleaning off a space at the bar. From the way he was acting, I’d say he was scared of Diamond. I’m not sure I blamed him.
The man had long, dark hair streaked with gray and tied back with a bandanna, and a thick beard, also graying. His eyebrows arched at sinister angles, and a sneer looked like it was permanently imprinted on his lips. Instead of a shirt, he had on a salt-worn leather vest festooned with nautical pins, patches, hooks, and lures. A tattooed shark hung upside down by its tail on each exposed bicep, a tiger shark on the left and a great hammerhead on the right. One forearm was adorned with a harpoon, the other a huge fishing hook. EEE had worn a shark’s-tooth necklace; Diamond had an enormous bloody shark’s tooth tattooed right on his chest like a permanent pendant. The overall look was basically biker pirate, and it appeared Captain Diamond
had the attitude to match.
Cap’s face drew into a scowl. If looks could kill, Cap’s would have. I understood why when Diamond placed his hands on the bar. There was a single word tattooed on the back of each hand. Together, they read SHARK HUNTER.
Diamond smirked back at Cap, appearing unbothered by the hostility radiating from across the bar.
“I know who we can’t count on to help us find Trip,” Chuck muttered, throwing Diamond a side-eye glare.
“It ain’t that scientist we need to be searching for. It’s the monster that done snatched her outta the water,” Diamond announced to the room.
“Your line’s just twisted because Trip and I got you fined for catching protected hammerheads,” Cap shot back.
Diamond gritted his teeth. “Seems to me sharks ain’t the ones need protecting. Kinda ironic, your lady scientist friend getting gobbled up by one of her precious little guppies. Cosmic justice, if you ask me.”
“No one did, and if you don’t watch your mouth, you’ll be hanging on your wall along with all those sharks you murdered,” Cap spat, stalking toward Diamond’s end of the bar.
“Bring it on, Rogers,” Diamond replied, cracking the knuckles on his tattooed hands. “I’m running low on chum, and you’d make mighty tasty Jaws bait.”
There were gasps and murmurs from the crowd as everyone in the restaurant stopped to watch the two men march toward each other with clenched fists.
They only made it one more step before a loud CRACK sounded from behind the bar. Both men froze and turned to Chuck, who was now gripping a short wooden oar.
“Knock it off, or the next thing I paddle won’t be this bar top. One more step, and I’ll bend you both over the bar and turn your behinds into captain fillets. You know I will too.”
Apparently, they did know, because they both backed off instantly.
Diamond dropped some cash on the bar before swaggering toward the door.
“Gotta go on home and get my beauty rest, anyhow,” he said with an exaggerated yawn. “Got a big day tomorrow. While y’all are wasting your time looking for your little friend, I’ll be doing the hunting that really matters.”
A Treacherous Tide Page 2
