Leeward

by D. Edward Bradley

  They got up and went their separate ways.

  It was all Jon could do to tear himself away from Josie as she started to undress for a shower, but they had agreed that discretion was all-important. They both knew what would have happened had he stayed, so instead he went to Bobbie’s room to see how she was managing with Tonto.

  Later that night the storm died down and the rain stopped completely. Josie was exhausted from her journey and immediately fell into a deep sleep. She had weird dreams, which were a jumble of wild animals and planes, and eventually there was one where Jon was making love to her. She felt his hands on her breasts and his body against hers, then realized it wasn’t a dream after all.

  Monday, August 13, Leeward Estate Hotel

  Next morning, the family gathered over breakfast in the main dining room. Jon and Josie decided to become tourists and see as much of the island as possible. Josie wanted to go snorkeling the first day, and the best place for that was some distance away on the south coast.

  “Don’t feel obliged to be home for dinner or anything,” Meg told them. “If you’re here, fine. If not, it doesn’t matter. This really is a hotel, and you can treat it like one without causing any problems.”

  The conversation then moved to Bobbie’s monster. It was generally agreed that the whole business should be put on the back burner for a while, unless of course, something else happened. Meg decided to keep Bobbie indoors after dark.

  As they rose to leave, a tallish black man and a rather heavily built blonde girl came in. Peter introduced them to Jon and Josie as they passed in the doorway.

  “Mark and Jenny Seaker are thinking of buying into Syke’s Hotel.” He turned to the man. “Is it changing hands, Mark?”

  “It’s rather complicated.” Mark had a distinctly Jamaican accent. “The building’s very old and really needs to be completely rebuilt, but that would cost a bundle. A few of us have formed a consortium, and plan extensive renovations instead.”

  “Is it still open?” asked Jon. “We were thinking of going snorkeling in Coral Bay this morning, and maybe having lunch there.”

  “The guest rooms are closed, but the restaurant’s functioning,” Jenny replied.

  During their excursion, Jon finished the film in his camera, mostly of Josie in her sexy swimsuit.

  Late that evening they strolled hand in hand round the pond in front of the hotel, and wondered what they should do on the following day. A really unusual place to visit would be the island’s picturesque but isolated reservoir. Apart from its beauty, it was one of the few locations where you could see the famous doctor bird, with its long streaming tail feathers and brilliant colors. Also, it wasn’t far from the section of The Track where Constable Legrand had seen the animal.

  “After we’ve been to the reservoir, we can drive along The Track and look for clues,” said Jon.

  Josie glanced down when they reached the seat in the shadows where Bobbie had been. “Let’s not sit here,” she said, and dragged Jon past.

  He slipped an arm round her waist. “The entire incident bugs me. Did Bobbie really get chased by something?”

  “We may never know, but I’m beat. Let’s go to bed.”

  “I wish it were together.”

  “Me too.”

  It was difficult to say goodnight outside Josie’s room.

  Tuesday, August 14, St. Barbe’s

  The estate pickup bumped to a halt at the reservoir. It was a natural beauty spot that had required little alteration to serve as the island’s water supply. When they got out, Josie bent down to tighten her sneakers, and the loose white sun top she was wearing fell away to reveal most of her breasts.

  She looked up and smiled seductively at his gaze. “Let’s go for a skinny dip and then you can see everything. You said there was a place just round the corner.”

  Jon remained silent but took her by the hand. The trail left the water’s edge briefly, rejoining it at a small bay bordered by an array of flat rocks. They were just big enough to sit on and dangle your feet in the water. Josie jumped on a rock, kicked off her shoes, and took off her top.

  Jon stood motionless, mesmerized. He wanted to go over and pull off her shorts, so white against the darkness of her skin, but couldn’t move. Josie pushed a lock of hair from her face and smiled again, then she leaned forward and took off the shorts herself.

  “There!” she said.

  Jon removed his shirt and went over to her. Her breasts were cool against his chest when he held her. They kissed and pressed hard against one another. Josie could wait no longer. She quickly unzipped his pants and let them fall.

  They caressed each other frantically, and Josie’s heart began to pound. Jon closed his eyes as unbelievable sensations flowed over him. A few moments later, Josie pulled him to a shady area where there was a patch of soft grass. She lay down on her back and stretched her arms above her head, ready for him. All too soon it was over, and they lay together, resting.

  After a few minutes they kissed for the twentieth time, then Jon helped Josie to her feet and they jumped into the pool. Soon their frolicking ended. Eyes locked, they started caressing each other, their heads just above the surface. The bay was too deep to stand on the bottom so they had to tread water. For both of them the movement of flesh against flesh was intensely stimulating. After a while, they swam to shore and used Jon’s shirt to rub each other down. Then all of a sudden, a cloud passed over the sun, and there was a slight chill in the air. The magic evaporated, at least for the time being.

  “Tomorrow,” said Jon. “Right here. It’s perfect.”

  “Definitely. And wherever we go we’ll make love and it’ll be like today.”

  “But even better. You’ll see. It’ll get better and better.”

  They got dressed and continued to walk round the reservoir. There should be a few doctor birds somewhere, if they were lucky. About a quarter of a mile further on, they came upon another small bay, and Josie’s gaze dropped from the trees to the water.

  “What’s that?” Her voice rose in apprehension as she pointed to what looked like a floating log, except that it wore a sweat shirt.

  “Oh, Jesus!” Jon whispered. “It’s a body!”

  They clung to each other, both trembling as they looked at the thing in the water. It was definitely a corpse, and it was floating face downwards. They could see the feet. One wore a green sneaker.

  Jon let go of Josie. “I’ll find a branch or something, and turn it over. You don’t have to look.”

  “You mustn’t do it alone. I’m going to help.”

  They found a branch that looked strong enough, but despite their combined efforts, they were unable to turn the body. The thing was too heavy and tended to float away. Eventually Jon stumbled, and his momentum partly rolled it in the water to reveal a head without a face, and a neck without a throat. Josie screamed, the echo pulsing eerily back and forth across the water. Jon turned away and retched, but wasn’t sick. He threw away the branch, and they fled to the pickup and got inside.

  “To think that we bathed in the same water!” said Josie. “God, I feel filthy.”

  “At least it was a ways off.” Jon tried to keep calm as they started to drive down the narrow lane back toward The Track. “We’ll go to the police, of course. There’s a constable at Saddles. He sometimes comes up to the hotel for a drink and seems quite competent and friendly.”

  Fortunately Constable Timothy Richards wasn’t out of his office, which was attached to the village Post Office near the junction of the hotel driveway and the main road. Jon and Josie burst in without knocking.

  “Hey, Jon! You look awful. You both do. Has there been an accident or something?” At fifty he needed reading glasses and took them off to inspect at his visitors.

  Jon told their story. He was still shaky, and it was a bit garbled, but he got it across in the end. Josie sank into a chair, her face in her hands.

  “I’ll call Headquarters and we’ll go back and meet the Chief at th
e reservoir.” Richards turned to Josie. “There’s no need for you to come young lady. Why don’t you drive the pickup back to Leeward?”

  “Okay,” replied Josie. She held Jon’s hand for a moment. “See you soon.”

  Richards picked up the phone and called the Chief of Police, whose name was Xavier Green. The Chief asked Richards to wait in his jeep at the entrance to The Track on the south coast road. Green would come in his car since another officer, Sergeant Harris, was using the second police jeep. It was an hour before the Chief arrived and transferred to the Constable’s vehicle.

  Richards drove, and Jon sat in the back. The jeep tackled the bumpy trail round the reservoir without hesitating. Jon directed the policeman past the spot where he and Josie had been swimming.

  “It’s just round the next corner,” he said.

  After a few moments, Richards stopped the jeep and they all got out. The body had gone.

  “Now Mr. Moresby, sir, you wouldn’t be playing a practical joke by any chance?” Green was over six feet tall, heavily built, and with a large beer belly. To Jon he looked menacing.

  “Of course not, Chief Constable. I wouldn’t even think of such a thing. There was definitely a body in the water. We turned it over with that.” He pointed to the branch they had used. “It was hideous. The face was mutilated beyond recognition.”

  “Well it’s not here now, and it couldn’t have floated away without being snagged on that fallen tree.” Green pointed to a rotting trunk with gnarled limbs that effectively blocked off the small inlet. “Are you sure it was dead? Maybe someone was trying to scare you kids out of your young hides.”

  “If so, they did a pretty good job,” commented Richards. “You should’ve seen the state they were in, Chief. I believe them.”

  “You keep out of it, Constable. If I want your opinion, I’ll ask for it.”

  Meanwhile Jon was looking around feeling totally perplexed. Then he spotted something on the edge of a small patch of reeds. It was green. It was a sneaker. He turned to the Chief. “My girl friend saw the body as well, sir, but I can prove there really was one right now. The corpse had a green sneaker on one foot, and there’s the other!” His voice rose as he pointed to the reeds.

  Green took off his cap and scratched his head. “It’s definitely a sneaker and might even be useful,” he admitted defensively. Then for some reason he seemed to brighten up a little. “But on the other hand it could belong to anyone.”

  Jon wandered away from the two policemen. The Chief was quite right to say that the body couldn’t have floated out of sight. It had either been alive and walked away, which would have been impossible with its throat torn out, or it had been removed. Without looking too obvious he scanned the edge of the water carefully. Between them, he and Josie had made a lot of mess in the mud, but he got the impression that there might have been additional activity after they had left. There were no obvious footprints, but any that were made could have been obliterated quite easily by sluicing them with water.

  “Come back here, Mr. Moresby! You’ll destroy evidence!” Green was glaring at him, but Richards was doing a lot more damage as he squelched over to the reeds and picked up the sneaker. “You too, Richards! Watch your big feet! And hurry up, I haven’t got all day!” With that, he strode off in the direction of the jeep.

  They were soon bumping back toward the junction with The Track, and a short time later they reached the Chief’s car at the main road. He climbed out of the jeep, taking the sneaker with him.

  “Now listen,” he said, glaring at Jon again. “Neither you nor your girl friend can leave St. Barbe’s until I’m satisfied you’re telling the truth. Got that?”

  “Yes, sir,” replied Jon. “We’re both at your disposal.”

  “You’d better be!” The big man walked over to his vehicle and drove off.

  “Well, I believe you even if the Chief doesn’t.” Richards disengaged the front wheel drive. “I‘ve known you for long enough to be sure you’re not pulling a stunt. It’s not in your nature. Someone took the body away, and the only person who knew where it was and had enough time to do it, was Harris. What’s more he’s got the other jeep.” The Constable frowned as they picked up speed. “I just don’t understand it.”

  As soon as he was dropped off at the hotel, Jon rushed up to Josie’s room. He knocked softly on the door, but there was no reply so he left quietly to think things through alone.

  Everyone at Leeward was shocked of course, but there was nothing anyone could do except speculate, and naturally the bear-like animal was branded as the killer. Mark Seaker seemed to be overly interested in the affair, especially for an outsider. Peter knew Constable Richards quite well, and phoned him from time to time as the days began to slip by. The result was always the same. The policeman had been told nothing, and there were no reports in the media.

  Friday, August 17, Leeward Estate Hotel

  That afternoon, Meg called a friend of hers who had a contact in the Police Department. It seemed that Chief Green was planning to try and intimidate Josie and Jon into admitting they had removed the body from the reservoir. This would give him an excuse to hold them on St. Barbe’s for a while. They could then be implicated if the story leaked out. Meg thought it was all pretty far-fetched, but as she was well aware, Green was capable of anything.

  Meg asked Jon and Josie to join Peter and herself on the small shaded kitchen patio where they were assured of privacy.

  She told them about the phone conversation. “It sounds like Richards could be right when he said the police took away the body themselves.”

  “And we’re to be the fall guys,” replied Jon.

  “Maybe it would be best if you went back to Boston,” suggested Peter. “There’s something very fishy and dangerous going on, and I don’t like it.”

  “But we can’t leave!” Josie’s voice rose. “Green’s ordered us to stay.”

  Peter tried to reassure her. “As far as I’m aware, you can return home at any time. Unless Green produces a warrant for your arrest and charges you with a crime within forty-eight hours, you’re free to come and go as you please.”

  “Then let’s leave soon,” said Josie turning to Jon.

  “It’s a shame to have your holiday ruined by such a horrible thing.” Meg was sitting next to Josie and covered her hand with her own. Any disapproval she might have had for Josie’s relationship with Jon seemed to have evaporated. “Come and stay for Christmas. By that time all the mysteries ought to be out in the open. And bring your father. I’m sure he’ll fall in love with our little island.”

  “It’s a deal.” Josie turned to Jon again. “Okay?”

  “Definitely. And I’m sure you’re right about leaving. I’ll call the airline at once.”

  Sunday, August 19, St. Barbe’s

  Since it was low season, Jon and Josie had no difficulty reserving seats on a mid-morning LIAT flight to St. Kitts and Antigua. Peter and Meg drove them to the airport, and everyone made an effort to behave as if nothing had happened.

  The small terminal was divided into two halves, the departure side having a lounge and duty-free shop. Passengers had their passports stamped before entering the lounge through a door from the lobby. Jon and Josie checked in their baggage. After that, they said goodbye to Meg and Peter, then went over to the booth to have their passports inspected. It contained two men, one with a shoulder tab marked Customs and Immigration, and the other with three stripes on his policeman’s uniform. Josie felt her stomach turn over. Peter had mentioned that there were very few sergeants on the force, and somehow Josie knew without a doubt that this one was Harris, their prime suspect for removing the body from the reservoir.

  They put their passports on the ledge of the booth window.

  “One at a time please,” said the immigration officer, picking up Josie’s document first. He checked each page carefully, unnecessarily so, then handed it to the Sergeant. He did the same thing, frequently raising his eyes to stare at Josie. T
hen he stepped out of the booth, and pointed to a door marked Police.

  “Follow me please, Miss.”

  By this time Josie was shaking, and Jon moved to go with her.

  “You’ll have to remain outside, Mr. Moresby. As a resident you may check straight through with the immigration officer, but Ms. Winchester is an alien, and must fill out an exit form.” The Sergeant took Josie’s arm and propelled her toward the door.

  Jon had never heard of this, but breathed a bit more easily when it occurred to him that the form was probably just bureaucratic red tape. He sat in the departure lounge, which had large windows opening onto the ramp where the Dash 8 aircraft was parked. After twenty minutes he was sweating. Still no Josie. The plastic seats filled, and some people were having coffee. He looked at his watch just as the wicket gate to the ramp was opened by a stewardess, who announced the flight departure over the address system. When the last passenger had boarded, and the last bag had been placed in the small cargo hold, the stewardess looked at Jon. He went over and she smiled.

  “Don’t worry, sir. We won’t leave until the police finish with your friend. We have our instructions.”

  “Thanks.” Jon relaxed a trifle. “Does this happen often?”

  “This is only the second time. There was a Jamaican couple yesterday. A black man and his wife, who was white. I remember the name. It was Seaker.”

  At that moment, Josie walked into the lounge. She was obviously shaken. They were hustled on board and shown to their seats. Almost immediately the engines started and the plane moved off. Taxiing to the end of the runway seemed to take for ever.

  “I had to fill in this long form,” said Josie. “It was unbelievably detailed, like who was my father? Who was my mother? Were they alive? If not, how did they die? I had to say where I had attended university, and the final indignity was having my fingerprints taken. And now they know everything about me.”

  Jon held her hand. “Oh, my God! And the cop must have been Harris, who probably took away the body.” Josie’s eyes were brimming with tears as the plane gathered speed on the runway and lifted off.