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ALEX WAS WAITING FOR me by the fuel dock at Trout River Marina, just a few feet from where one of the Dock Hands, Jack Richards, tossed empty pallets onto a forklift.
Jack stopped and looked my way when I stepped out of the red Lincoln with the white roof.
“Hey Jack,” I said with a nod.
He kept his eyes on me for a moment before he said, “I didn’t know it was you driving that thing. How goes it?”
I shook his hand as he gripped mine hard, squeezed it like a vice.
“Any plans to move back here?” he said. “I know I speak for everyone when I say you’re missed around here.”
I smiled. “Appreciate that, Jack. But I don’t know. Not sure I can swing the cost of a new boat.”
“No insurance on your boat?”
I shook my head. “Actually, that wasn’t my boat I was living on. I was taking care of it for a friend. He’d been living on it when it exploded.” I looked out toward the St. Johns. “I do miss it.”
Jack wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his forearm. He reached down for another pallet and tossed it onto the forklift.
Jack was older—past sixty with gray creeping up the side of his head—but he was built like an ox. And from what he said, he’d never even stepped foot in a gym. He worked hard, that’s all.
His eyes moved down to my bloody jeans. “What happened to your leg?” he said.
I looked down. “Just a little mishap.” I glanced back at Alex and again turned to Jack. “Jack, mind if I ask you a favor?”
He tossed another pallet onto the forklift. “Whatever you need.”
With my thumb I pointed toward the Town Car. “Got a wooden crate in the back of that car, can’t lift it myself.”
Jack looked out toward the lot. “The Town Car? Is that yours?”
I shook my head. “Actually, no.” I turned toward the Impala, the steel peeled off the frame on one side, the windshield one bump away from being shattered. “The Impala’s mine. But the crate’s inside the Lincoln.”
Jack rubbed his chin. “I know they’re all over the place, those older Lincolns, but I’ve seen that one around. Almost sure of it.” He paused a moment. “Late one night, recently, if I remember correctly. Might’ve been when I was coming out of the restaurant, likely a little after midnight.”
Alex and I exchanged a look.
“You sure it was that car?” I said. “Any chance you saw who was driving it?”
He scratched his head. “Young kid. In fact, crossed my mind to call the Sheriff’s Office. Not just because’uh the color of his skin.” He straightened the baseball hat on his head. “See a young man in here late at night, driving around like that...they gotta be up to somethin’, no?” He reached down and picked up another pallet.
I looked around the marina, over toward the dock where Philip’s boat had been when the bomb exploded, some of the wood still charred from the fire.
Jack said, “Well, let me help you with that crate. I’m taking off in a bit.”
We walked to the Lincoln and together pulled the crate from the trunk.
“Christ,” he said as we both strained. “You’re not kidding. This thing’s heavy. What the hell is it?”
“I’m not exactly sure. Haven’t had a chance to open it.”
We carried it over to my car. Alex popped the trunk as Jack and I placed it inside.
I reached for Jack’s hand. “Appreciate the help.” I looked around the marina. “If you don’t mind...if anybody asks, you never saw me here.”
He gave me a nod and walked back toward the dock.
I moved the Lincoln to a space at the far end of the lot, around the corner of one of the buildings.
As soon as I stepped around the corner, two Sheriff’s vehicles drove slow into the lot. A spotlight shined along the parked cars as it moved toward the docks.
I stayed low and ran between a row of cars as I made my way toward Alex, waiting for me in my car.
The sirens chirped. One of the vehicles accelerated across the lot and stopped right at the dock where Jack was loading pallets. An officer stepped from his vehicle and stopped to talk to Jack.
I watched him shake his head and shrug his shoulders as I ducked into the passenger side of my car. “Go!” I said. “Get out of here...”
Alex put the car in drive and took off for the exit. I turned in my seat toward Jack and the officer as we left the marina, turned onto Trout River Drive headed for the Main Street Bridge.
My phone was still on the front seat when I picked it up for the first time since we were at Rebel Storage. I had the ringer off, as I usually did, and missed a handful of calls. Three of them were from Billy, all within the past half hour.
His message said to call him back. And that it was urgent.
I called him back and he answered on the first ring.
“She took off,” Billy said.
“Who?”
“Kathleen. She’s gone. I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“Yeah, I was a little hung up,” I said.
I glanced over at Alex as she rolled her eyes.
“I heard her on her phone out on my deck. She came back in and said she had to go. I don’t know where she went...or who she was talking to...”
“Her husband?”
“I wish I knew, Henry.”
“Kind of strange, isn’t it?” I said.
“Very. And she was in a hurry.”
“Did someone pick her up?”
“She jumped in a cab.”
We were both quiet for a moment.
“Sorry, Henry. I tried to—”
“Forget it. It’s not your fault. I just hope she’s okay.”
“I should’ve followed her.”
“Don’t sweat it.” I hung up and looked over at Alex. “Kathleen took off.”
Alex kept her eyes on the road, not showing much concern.
“You like this car, don’t you,” I said.
She laughed. “Yeah, it’s a beauty.”
The window was smashed on the passenger side, the fenders two different colors, and now missing much more paint than before. The rear bumper was held on with wire and duct tape, and the engine—I was sure—needed a complete rebuild. At least the radio worked.
“Maybe you were right about her,” I said.
Alex looked at me then turned her eyes back to the road. “Do you know where she was staying?”
I shook my head. “The only time I asked, I got the feeling she didn’t want me to know. Like she pretended she didn’t hear me.”
––––––––
ALEX AND I WERE BACK at Billy’s house, the three of us stood around the island in the middle of Billy’s kitchen.
Billy said, “So this call you got...it wasn’t from whoever gave Chloe that key?”
I shook my head. “I’m pretty sure it was Charles. But he’s not who called me. Why would Charles give me a key, then have someone call me to deliver what’s inside that crate?”
Alex and Billy both nodded in agreement.
Billy said, “Did you call him?”
“I left him a message. I was hoping he would’ve called back by now.”
“What about the crate? Where is it now?” Billy said.
“In my trunk. Problem is, the damn thing’s too heavy to lift. Had to have one of the deck hands over at the marina help me lift it. But I don’t like having it in my trunk.”
“Why don’t you leave it here?” Billy said.
I shook my head. “I might need it to get Victoria back.” My phone vibrated on top of the kitchen counter. I looked down at the screen and answered the call.
Before I said a word, the voice on the other end said, “Bring the sculpture to the Evergreen Cemetery at midnight tonight. Come alone. And you tell the cops...she’s dead.”
The call disconnected.
I looked at my watch and looked at Billy and Alex. “I have an hour.”
Billy pulled an old .38 Special from a drawer in the island. “I’ll go with you. I’ve been eager to use this...I just picked it up at an auction. And if whoever you’re going to meet had something to do with blowing up my restaurant...”
“No,” I said. “I can’t take the chance. He said if anybody else comes with me...he’ll kill her.” I started toward the door.
But Alex grabbed me from behind.
“No way I’m letting you go alone. I’ll go with you.”
We looked each other in the eye.
“You can’t,” I said. I looked at Billy. “I’d love to have you both come. I’m sure it’ll be fun, but...”
Alex wouldn’t let go of my arm. “Just listen to me. I have an idea...”