by Gen Griffin
“You sure?” Paul asked. “Boat couldn't have gotten too far. The current isn't real strong through here.”
Ian shook his head and tried not to look too panicked. Paul would know something was up if he started to panic. “I'm so cold I don't even care about that old boat. Maybe this will be my excuse to talk my ol' lady into letting me buy a new one.”
“You have your eye on a new boat?” Paul laughed heartily.
“Yes, sir. There's a real pretty bass boat for sale down at the pawn shop. They don't want too much for it. I'd sure like to have it.”
“Maybe Katie will let you have it now that your jon boat is gone,” Paul said. He turned the boat back towards the landing and pushed down on the throttle. The small boat steadily picked up speed as Ian settled himself on the seat.
“I think she will.” Ian shot Paul a shaky smile that he hoped made him look completely harmless. He kept his bloody hands buried in the pockets of his pants and prayed Paul wouldn't notice the blood as the boat sped back towards the landing.
Chapter 55
“Nothing's biting.” Katie leaned back against Addison's chest and pretended to pay attention to her fishing pole. She was sitting directly in front of him with his long blue-jean clad legs propped up on either side of her. His arm was around her waist.
“Have some patience.” Addison made a very lazy cast with his pole. The bobber plunked lamely into the water beside the boat. “Fishing is supposed to be relaxing. We're relaxing.”
Katie closed her eyes and allowed herself to bask in the cool winter sunlight. Her jacket was more than adequate for keeping her warm on this relatively mild winter morning. Addison had forgotten his cigarettes in the truck and Katie wasn't complaining about the lack of second-hand smoke.
Her pole bobbed in her hand. She opened her eyes and saw the tip of the fishing pole dipping down towards the water. “Darn. I've caught a fish. Now you're going to have to work.”
She passed the fishing pole to Addison. He lazily reeled the fish in, catching in one hand and prying the hook loose from its lip with his other hand. Addy tossed the fish back into the water with a splash. “I'm not in the mood for fish.”
“Me neither.” Katie cuddled into his chest. She could hear a boat approaching from somewhere upriver. She ignored it.
Addy tossed her hook back into the water without bothering to bait it. He set her pole in the rod holder that was permanently fastened to the side of his boat and then kissed her on the top of her head. “Having fun?”
“It's nice,” Katie said with a lazy smile as she looked up into his eyes. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” Addison bent down to give her a light kiss on the lips. The approaching boat was slowing down, idling down the motor as it came closer to where they were anchored near the bank.
Addison glanced up and frowned at the incoming boat. “Oh hell.”
“What?” Katie followed his gaze and then groaned. “Is that Ian?”
“Yeah. Looks like it. Son of a bitch.” Addison sat up and Katie scooted slightly away from him. She felt her shoulders and back tense as the other boat idled up to theirs. Addison stood up in the bow. “Can I help you?”
“Addy, just the person I was hoping to see.” Ian looked like pure hell. His jeans and flannel jacket were caked in dirt and sand. His hair was sweaty and pasted back against his skull. “And Katie. Hi honey.”
Katie blanched and scooted back further across the deck of the boat.
“Ian's lost his boat,” Paul Shepard was smiling as his boat bumped up against Addison's. “I was going to take him all the way back to the landing, but then I saw you here and figured that rescuing stranded boaters is what you get paid to do.”
“I'm off duty.” Addison wasn't smiling.
“Well, surely you don't mind helping your friend out. He's been out here for hours.” Paul's smile was fading into a confused frown. “I would have thought you and his wife were out here looking for him.”
“No. Not exactly.”
Paul tilted his head in puzzlement. “Well, I was hoping to get out to my fish camp before noon. Y'all can take Ian back to his truck, can't you?”
Addison looked Ian up and down. “What have you been doing out here all night?”
“Fishing,” Ian lied automatically. His blue eyes were bloodshot and watery. He had a thick streak of mud running down his left cheek.
“How did you lose your boat?” Addison was making no move to welcome Ian aboard.
“I got off the boat on the sandbar because I needed to...take care of some business.”
“Take care of what business?” Addison pressed him for an explanation.
“Does it matter?” Ian glared at Addison. “You're out here with my wife. Seems like I should be the one asking you the questions.”
“We're just fishing.”
“Sure you are.” Ian reached for the side of Addison's boat. He pulled the two boats closer together. “Paul wants to go to his camp. You can give me a ride.” Ian stepped across from Paul's boat onto Addison's.
Paul smiled at Addison. “I sure do appreciate y'all taking him the rest of the way to the landing.” He waved once at Ian. “It was good seeing you, son.”
“You too.” Ian waved at Paul as the older man motored away. Ian's fake smile faded as Paul disappeared down the bayou and he was left alone with Katie and Addison.
Chapter 56
“Where's Malone at?”
Sully eyed the 15-foot jon boat in front of him. The metal boat had been spray painted badly in an attempt to make it look as if it were camouflaged. The homemade camouflage was doing nothing to hide the blood that had been splattered all over one side of the boat. Blood also covered part of one of the wooden boards that served as seats. “Off duty. Why is everyone so surprised when I show up instead of Addison?” He said the last bit with just the slightest hint of annoyance in his tone.
“It's nothing personal, Deputy Briggs. It's just that Addison's the only cop who ever responds to a call around here.”
“You mean on the water?” Sully leaned down to examine the blood. It was dry, but not by much. It hadn't been there long.
“We mean at all,” said the short, slightly chunky woman who was standing beside the boat and holding the rope that had been used to tow it back to the landing. “Calling 911 is a total crap shot in Possum Creek. You're generally better off handling the situation yourself.” She gave the boat a rueful look. “Can't handle this ourselves. Don't even know what happened to it.”
“You found it floating out towards the sandbars?”
The woman's husband, a man of apparently no words, nodded.
“Have any idea whose boat it is?” Sully carefully stepped into the boat. There was an assortment of junk heaped up on the deck of the boat. He carefully kicked at the tarp that sat over the pile. It flopped to the side with a crinkled and revealed a grungy jacket, a shotgun, and a woman's purse.
“No sir. Didn't see anyone nearby either. We made sure to go really slowly when we were pulling it back here. Thought whoever was driving it might be hurt somewhere nearby.”
“I'm assuming you didn't see anyone.” Sully picked up the purse and opened it. He pulled out a thick designer wallet. Flipping it open, he wasn't all that surprised to see April Lynne Hale's driver's license displayed front and center. He put the wallet back into the purse.
“Didn't see anyone. No one responded to us when we called out.”
Sully wished he were more surprised. “Thank you for towing it in.”
“Not a problem,” she said. “Do you need anything else from us?”
“Let me take down your contact information just to be on the safe side.” Sully reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notebook. He passed it to the woman. She wrote her name and phone number on it and handed it back.
“I hope no one is hurt.” She looked down at the bloody boat. “It's probably all fish blood, don't you think?”
“Hopefully.” Sully wasn't optimi
stic enough to think it was fish blood. He waved his goodbyes to the couple as they headed back out onto the water.
Two minutes later he was dialing Addison's number only to be sent straight to voicemail. “Shit,” Sully muttered as he dialed a second number.
“Hello?” David Breedlove answered on the first ring.
“Where's Malone?” Sully asked.
“Somewhere on the bayou with Katie. Why?”
Sully sighed. “He's not answering his phone. Do you own a boat?”
“Not anymore.”
“Not anymore?” Sully could hear the skepticism in his own voice.
“I sunk it in the creek after I used it to dispose of the last guy I killed. You can't be too careful these days. DNA evidence will get you every time.”
“Haha. You're hilarious.” Sully wasn't in the mood for David's twisted sense of humor. “I need a boat. I also need a separate truck with a boat trailer.”
“I never said I couldn't get a boat,” David said. “I can probably find an empty boat trailer too. Why do you need it?”
“A couple who were on their way back to town from their fishing camp found a bloody jon boat floating alone in the bayou.”
“A bloody jon boat?”
“You heard me.”
“Whose boat is it?”
“I'm not a hundred percent sure, though I have my suspicions.”
“Is it around 15 feet long with a really bad rattle can camo paint job?”
“How did you guess?” Sully asked.
“It's Ian's.”
“I figured it was,” Sully admitted. “April Lynne Hale's purse was in it. You didn't mention seeing her last night when they launched.”
David was silent for a minute before he responded. “I didn't see her.”
“Well, she must have been with them or they picked her up later.”
“Must have,” David agreed. “What landing are you at?”
“South Cypress.”
“Give me about half an hour. I'll meet you down there.”
“I'm not going anywhere.” Sully cast a sideways glance at the jon boat. “I can't risk compromising my evidence.”
Chapter 57
“Funny running into y'all two together,” Ian said as Paul's boat disappeared around the bend in the river.
“Funny you lost your boat on the bayou,” Addison replied. “Decide you better get rid of it after you used it to dump that body?”
Ian's pale, freckled face turned a sickly shade of green. “What did you just say?”
“Who did you kill?” Addison asked.
“N-n-no one,” Ian stammered.
“Where is your boat?”
“I don't know. It floated away.”
“Sure it did.” Addison scowled at Ian. “Sit your ass down. I'll take you back to dry land. Sully Briggs has a few questions he wants to ask you.”
“I ain't talking to Sully.” Ian swallowed unhappily and then turned his attentions to Katie. “Baby, can we talk?”
“Don't call me baby.” Katie wrinkled her nose at him. “I don't think we have much to talk about. Unless you're going to tell me what you did with my paycheck when you withdrew every dime of it from our bank account Friday night. I am interested in knowing where my money is.”
“You could also confess to burning her house down,” Addison suggested.
Ian's shoulders slumped as he sat down in the front of the boat. He looked directly at Katie. “I took your money. I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?”
Katie folded her hands in her lap. “Who burned my house down?”
“It wasn't me,” Ian said.
“Then why weren't you surprised to hear that the house burned?” Katie stared at the man who she'd once loved with her whole heart and soul. “Why aren't you upset that we've lost everything? Why aren't you asking any questions?”
“I...I don't...Katie, you have to understand...”
“No, she doesn't have to understand. You burned your own home to the ground. You destroyed everything your wife and little girl owned. They're homeless now and living with your cousin.” Addison's eyes were flashing with barely controlled anger.
“Why did you burn our home?” Katie demanded.
“Think hard before you answer that question, Ian. I'm still a cop.” Addison folded his arms over his chest. “You aren't getting any more free passes from me.”
“No shit I'm not. You want to sleep with my wife.”
“No-,” Katie started to argue.
“Yeah. I do.” Addison shot Ian a nasty look. “You treat her like shit. I love her. I want to make her happy.”
“See. You're out to get me.”
“David watched you and Joe unload a body wrapped in some kind of tarp or blanket out of your truck last night,” Addison said. “Who did you kill?”
Ian gaped at Addison. “David saw what?”
“Who did you kill?” Addison repeated the question.
Ian swallowed unhappily. “You don't understand.”
“No. I really don't. Enlighten me.” Addy narrowed his eyes at Ian.
“Everything has gone screwy. My life has gone to hell ever since Casey died.”
“And?”
Ian reached out one hand towards Katie. “Please, baby girl. Hear me out. We can still fix our marriage. I want you. I want Hannah Mae. I'm sorry for everything I've done to upset you. I'll change. I promise.”
“Who burned my house down?” Katie stepped back away from him and put her hands on her hips.
Ian stayed silent for a painfully long minute before he answered. “April Lynne and Joe.”
“April Lynne and Joe burned my house?” Katie eyed him skeptically. “Where were you?”
“I watched,” Ian admitted. “I didn't light the fire. I just watched.”
“You watched your girlfriend and your buddy burn our house down?” Katie was horrified.
“They said you deserved it for being such a bitch to me.”
“I deserved it?”
“Well, you have been a bitch.” Ian shrugged his rounded shoulders. He was staring at his feet. “Don't try to deny it. You're as much to blame for all of this as I am.”
“I'm to blame?” Katie knew she sounded exasperated.
“No, you're not.” Addison put his arm around Katie's shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. “Stop trying to make her feel bad.”
Ian's head jerked up. The anger in his eyes was burning as he glared at them. “She's a bitch, Malone. Why don't you see it? She's a fucking bitch. Always chewing my ass. Ian, get a job. Ian, where's your paycheck? Ian, I need a new truck. Ian, why don't you take better care of Hannah Mae?” He threw his hands up in frustration. “Nothing is ever good enough for Katie. Nothing. She can't be pleased. I've tried for years. You'll never be good enough. No one is good enough. Not me. Not you. Not anyone. She's impossible. She pushed me and pushed me and pushed me. She's the one who deserved to suffer. She's the one who deserved to die.” Ian burst into tears. He covered his face with filthy, bloody hands. “Katie should have died. If anyone had to die, it should have been you.” He looked directly at her.
Katie opened her mouth but nothing came out.
“Who died?” Addison asked in a surprisingly bland tone of voice.
“Why do you care?” Ian gasped the words out through his sobs. “You don't care. You don't care about anyone except yourself.”
“Call it curiosity.”
“April Lynne.” Ian wiped his tears away with his filthy fingers. “She's gone. She shot herself in the head.”
“She shot herself?”
“It was an accident,” Ian wheezed. Tears continued to fall from his eyes. “We broke into the safe at Walker Hardware. Cal's gun was in there. We took it. April Lynne was messing with it and it went off.”
“You were dumping April Lynne's body last night?” Addison nearly choked on his own skepticism.
“Joe said we didn't have no choice.”
“One thing
I've learned over the years, you always have a choice.”
“We'd have gone to prison,” Ian snapped.
“I didn't say it was a great choice,” Addy clarified.
Ian swallowed and then doubled over so that his head was nearly between his knees as he was racked by sobs.
Katie and Addison both watched him cry. Neither tried to go to his side.
“We need to get back to the landing.” Addison began pulling up the small anchor he'd used to hold the boat in place as they fished. “Sully's going to love this.”
“Speaking of Sully, have you heard anything from him today?” Katie was purposely ignoring Ian. She didn't want to look at the wreck of a man who she'd once thought she wanted to spend her life with.
Addison shrugged. “I don't have cell service on the bayou. That's why I told him he'd have to leave a message if he needed me. I'll check my messages when we get closer to civilization.”
Katie nodded because it made sense. She wasn't even looking in Ian's direction when he stood up. She barely saw him move out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly Ian had his arms around her. He pinned her against his sweaty t-shirt. She could feel his heart pounding as if it were going to explode out of his chest. He smelled like stale blood and body odor as he jammed something against her throat. She gasped because it was cold and sharp.
A knife, Katie thought with disbelief. He's got a freaking knife.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Addison had one hand on the boat's steering wheel. He was staring at Ian as if he'd never seen him before in his life.
“Jump overboard, Malone.”
“What?”
“Jump off the damn boat or I'll kill her.” Ian choked on the words as they came out of his mouth. He was breathing way too fast.
“You're being an idiot.” Addison took two steps towards them. “You don't have anywhere to go. You're going to jail.”