Below the Surface

by Tim Shoemaker

  Cooper stared after him until the car was out of sight.

  “What do you think he saw that made him so sure?” Gordy asked.

  Cooper knew what he was really asking. Did the girl’s murder get captured on the memory card?

  “I know what he saw,” Hiro said. “At least the first few images.” She gazed out toward The Getaway as though she was reliving the moment. “Kryptoski took a picture of Pom-Pom. Then Pom-Pom grabbed the camera from him and took a picture of the two of them together. Officer Tarpy saw that Lynn Tutek wasn’t in the boat that night. It was the missing girl: Wendy Besecker.”

  “Proving that Lynn was lying the whole time,” Gordy said.

  “Exactly,” Hiro said. “Then Kryptoski took a picture of me on The Getaway. That would help establish the timeline. After that . . . who knows what Officer Tarpy saw.” She shuddered.

  Hiro got a faraway look in her eyes. A sad look.

  “But now we know that Kryptoski definitely phoned Lynn,” Cooper said. “He told her what to wear. Told her to get soaking wet and walk down to the beach.” And it had almost worked.

  “She’s toast,” Lunk said. “Tarpy will pick her up next.”

  Hiro nodded. “She’s an accessory.”

  “Gee, Hiro,” Gordy said. “You were right all along.” He looked over the water, shielding his eyes against the rain. “There really is a body out there. Somewhere. Under the surface.”

  Hiro dropped to her knees on the narrow strip of beach. She looked weak. Small. A siren wailed in the distance. “Poor Wendy. I wish I’d been wrong.”

  The moment he turned onto Gage Marine property, he spotted a cop car. Make that three black and whites. No lights were flashing, though. Strange.

  He pulled Black Beauty into a nearby parking space, killed the lights, and watched. The cops stood in a cluster looking at something. A phone? He recognized one of the men. Tarpy — and he seemed to be doing all the talking.

  Another squad car peeled into the lot. Okay, what was this all about?

  He dialed off the dome light so it wouldn’t turn on when he opened the door, and slid out of the pickup. He inched closer to the cops, sticking to the shadows. He was good at that.

  Minutes later, he’d learned everything he needed to know. Tommy Kryptoski wasn’t going to need a ride from him tonight — or any night in the near future. The cops were here to pick up Kryptoski — and cuff him too.

  Tommy’s old man would not be happy about this. Not one bit. And Jerry Kryptoski would find a way to blame him for not handling things properly. He’d probably even send a couple of the enforcers over to deliver the message personally. There was no going back now. He glanced at Black Beauty. If he didn’t get moving, he might find himself doing synchronized swimming routines with Tommy’s girlfriend at the bottom of the lake.

  The Gage Marine boat approached with Tommy’s boat in tow. The cops hustled down to the dock to meet it. The police boat appeared from around the bend, its lights flashing and the motor throwing up spray.

  Time to go. He carefully worked his way back to the pickup and climbed inside. He reviewed his options. Figured the odds. He’d have to leave town — that was a given. But he’d prepared for that. He’d known about the murder and helped cover Kryptoski’s rear end afterward. That made him an accessory of some sort. The cops would want to question him at the very least — and then everything would change.

  He needed to slip away, but there was some unfinished business to take care of first. His plan was all worked out, down to the last detail. First he’d initiate the little distraction at the casino. Actually, it was gonna be a big distraction. Big enough to ensure that Kryptoski’s old man — and the police — would be too busy to look for him.

  After that, he was gonna pay one last visit to the kids before hitting the road. And he was really, really looking forward to that visit. What kind of guy would he be if he didn’t say a final good-bye?

  Hiro sat on the edge of the bed in the condo. She was still in a bit of a fog. She should have celebrated more with the guys. After they’d pulled all three bikes from the bottom of the lake, they’d gone to Olympic Restaurant for some pizza and then over to Scoops for dessert. They’d done their best to include her. Even after she’d received Officer Tarpy’s phone call confirming that Tommy had been arrested and that they were picking up Lynn Tutek next, Hiro still didn’t feel like doing cartwheels. Officer Tarpy had no idea where Fat Elvis was — and Hiro sensed he was the most dangerous of them all.

  She rubbed her Chicago Police star necklace. Why couldn’t she shake off her intuition or fear, or whatever it was, for just one night? The guys deserved better than that.

  And sitting alone in the condo at The Cove wasn’t helping things. Right now, Hiro wished her mom were here. She needed to talk to her. Maybe that would make Hiro feel better. Mom could lift her out of this mood.

  But deep down, Hiro knew she wouldn’t be able to rest easy and truly celebrate until Fat Elvis had been picked up. Then they’d know for sure if that man was actually Joseph Stein. She eyed the door for a moment. The security locks were set. Still, she walked over and pressed on the door — just to be sure.

  She padded back to the couch, pulled out her phone, and scrolled through her list of contacts. Should she call Detective Hammer again? Maybe he’d found some info on Fat Elvis. But if he had, wouldn’t he have called to put her mind at ease? Had he even come to Lake Geneva today? If so, then Detective Hammer was really good at shadowing. She’d never seen him — and she’d been looking.

  No. She wasn’t going to bother Detective Hammer with this. And she didn’t want to call her mom, either. She and Coop’s little sister and the other moms would all be sitting inside the movie theater by now anyway. Hiro was just tired. That had to be it. In the morning everything would look different.

  He felt like a spy on some covert mission. He’d been sneaking around undetected since watching Tommy get arrested. And it had been a busy night. He’d set the fires at the casino like a pro. The cops were going to be way too busy to come looking for him tonight. And by the time they did, he’d be long gone.

  The water was chilly, but wearing Tommy’s wetsuit helped. It gave him all the buoyancy he needed too for the swim from the Geneva Inn’s pier. The black neoprene made him blend in perfectly with the water, and the waves and wind would mask any noise he might make once he got to The Getaway. He wasn’t just an ordinary spy. He was a regular Jason Bourne. Smart. Efficient. Deadly.

  No lights shone from the portholes, but that didn’t mean the kids were asleep. He climbed onto the swim deck, hesitated for just a moment, then carefully climbed over the transom rail.

  The way the wind was howling, he probably didn’t have to worry about being quiet, but he didn’t get to where he was by leaving things to chance.

  He tiptoed over to the cabin door, listened for a moment, then pulled a padlock and cable out from were he’d stuffed it inside his wetsuit. Less than a minute later, the job was done. There was no way anybody was getting out of that cabin tonight.

  Within seconds he climbed over the transom rail and was back in the water. He couldn’t help but smile. This was going exactly as he’d planned. Now came the tricky part. He bobbed under the swim platform and felt along the boat’s transom until he found the threaded brass plug — just like he’d seen in the drawings. Even with the help of the wrench he’d brought with him, it took a little effort to break the plug loose. But once he did, he was able to finish unscrewing the plug by hand.

  He thought about dropping the plug to the bottom of the lake but decided he’d keep it as a little souvenir. He tucked it inside his wetsuit and dropped the wrench instead. He held his hand in front of the hole to make sure the water was going in and was surprised at the powerful suction. It was like the boat was thirsty. He smiled again. The boat would fill quickly and silently. And with the wind and rain and waves, there was no chance they’d hear it. By the time water seeped above the floorboards and the boys n
oticed it — there’d be too much water for them to bail out.

  One last detail. He swam to the front of the boat. The old cruiser was bucking and pulling at the anchor. Holding the line that connected the boat to the buoy in one hand, he slid the knife out of its sheath and started sawing away at the rope. The instant the rope broke, The Getaway started drifting toward the middle of the lake. He treaded water for a minute, watching the boat rock and pitch in the waves.

  Oh yeah, he was a spy just like Jason Bourne. And Bourne was more than just an ordinary spy. He was an assassin. How perfect was that? He saluted the boat. “See ya, fellas.”

  By the time he made it back to the Geneva Inn pier, it was hard to pick out the boat as it moved like a silent shadow farther and farther away from the shore. He climbed onto the dock feeling totally energized. Which was good. There was one more stop he needed to make before he left town. He couldn’t wait to see the look of surprise — and terror — on her face when she saw him.

  Cooper laid in his berth with his hands beneath his head, listening to the storm still blowing out of the southeast. Every time a lightning flash lit up the sky, he got a glimpse of those clouds through the rain-streaked porthole. Dark. Angry. And a greenish color that reminded him of the seaweed he’d been tangled in just hours ago.

  At least they’d made it back to The Getaway before the storm kicked in again. Every lightning flash blinded him for a moment. Then his eyes readjusted to the shadowy darkness of the cabin. He could make out Lunk and Gordy just fine. Lunk still wasn’t wearing his lifejacket — even with the storm raging outside. What was up with that?

  And Cooper still hadn’t found his phone. It was probably buried in the growing piles of stuff that littered the cabin floor. “We’ll have to do a little picking up before my dad gets here in the morning.”

  “No problemo,” Gordy said. “Right after breakfast.”

  Lunk shifted in his berth until he was facing Cooper. “Looking forward to him getting here?”

  “Yeah. I really am.”

  Lunk was quiet for a moment. “Me too.”

  Cooper swallowed the lump in his throat.

  “Bet he was really proud of you when you told him about the camera,” Lunk said.

  It had been a great phone call with his dad. One that Cooper would never forget. “He said he was proud of all of us.”

  Lunk leaned up on one elbow. “Really?”

  “Yep. He wanted me to tell you guys to be ready for a lot more celebrating. He’s stopping by the Donut Shop in Hebron on the way here.”

  “Best donuts in the world,” Gordy said. “We’ll have to save a couple of them for Hiro. Maybe that will help.”

  Cooper figured it would take a lot more than donuts. “She’s not going to rest easy until Fat Elvis has been picked up.”

  “That weasel?” Lunk snorted. “He’s probably in Minnesota by now.”

  The cabin got quiet. The truth was, Cooper wouldn’t feel totally at ease until he knew that creep was gone for good.

  “Listen to the wind howling,” Gordy said. “I’m surprised the waves aren’t a mile high.”

  “The trees from the state park shield us here,” Cooper said. “And we’re too close to the beach.” It was a good thing too. If they were moored on the other side of the lake, the boat would be bucking them out of their berths.

  Frantic pinging came from every sailboat anchored around them. The sound of metal clips banging against the aluminum masts.

  “Sounds like Morse code,” Lunk said. “The sailboats are tapping out a warning.”

  “Oh, there’s a comforting thought,” Gordy said. “Anybody up for a scary story? The weather is perfect for it.”

  Cooper wasn’t in the mood. Their underwater salvage operation was too recent and way too intense. What he really wanted was more laughter. But something still bothered him.

  “When Lunk and I were underwater . . .” Cooper began. Did he really want to go there?

  “Yeah?” Gordy said. “Keep going.”

  “I heard . . . something.”

  “What was it?” Gordy propped himself up on one elbow. “What did you hear?”

  Now Cooper wished he hadn’t said anything. It was bad enough he’d had those panic attacks underwater. Would they think he was losing it?

  “The screams?” Lunk said.

  Cooper’s stomach twisted. “I was afraid it was just me.”

  “Creepiest thing I’ve ever heard,” Lunk said. “All I could think about was that missing girl. I actually wondered if it was her.”

  Gordy slapped his mattress and laughed. “That was me and Hiro. We stuck our heads underwater and screamed. We were trying to signal you two so you’d get your bearings.”

  Cooper stared at his cousin. “Seriously?”

  “Honest!” Gordy said. “Remember that old TV show, Flipper — the one about the dolphin? Whenever they wanted Flipper to come, they signaled him with this horn thing — underwater. Sound travels super-well underwater.”

  “You’re an idiot, Gordy,” Lunk said.

  “With all that talk about bodies in the lake,” Cooper said, “did you really think a scream was going to make us swim toward you?”

  They laughed until they couldn’t laugh anymore. Lunk was wheezing.

  Cooper finally stopped and tried to catch his breath. His side ached, but if felt good. The cabin got quiet. He listened to the storm. Was it just his imagination, or was the storm gaining intensity? Maybe the other guys sensed it too. Lunk gripped the side of his berth. Gordy used his legs to brace himself so he wouldn’t roll off the mattress.

  “I know Hiro was doing her best to celebrate tonight,” Lunk said, “but she’s still wondering about Fat Elvis, isn’t she.” He said it like it was a statement. A fact, not a question. “She still thinks he’s Joseph Stein.”

  That was exactly what was bothering her. No . . . bothering wasn’t the right word. Scaring her. “Honestly?” Coop hesitated. “I think she’s right.”

  Lunk whistled softly. “The truth comes out.”

  “And you don’t think she is?”

  “Actually, I think I do,” Lunk said. “She had Kryptoski figured. And she was dead on about the missing girl.”

  “Dead on?” Gordy said. “I get it.”

  “What about you, Gordy?” Cooper said. “What do you think?”

  He didn’t say a word.

  “Gordy?”

  “I’ve tried not to think about it,” he said. “At the fair, I didn’t really give her Stein theory a chance, you know? I mean, if I don’t admit there’s a problem, maybe there isn’t one, right?”

  Cooper wasn’t so sure about the logic of that. But there was something more going on here, and Gordy had just cracked open the door so they could see inside. Gordy had been stuffing his fears too.

  “But when the bikes were missing this morning, my first thought was Stein. I remembered how his hired muscle almost caught you last October . . . a couple days after the diner had been robbed. How you scrambled over the fence, and the guys took your bike.”

  Cooper shuddered. “And later dropped the bike by the bell tower — all twisted up.”

  “They were sending you a message, Coop,” Gordy said. “Just like they were sending all of us a message this morning. Both times they used bikes.”

  Cooper hadn’t thought of that — the similarity.

  “That is a creepy connection,” Lunk said. “You love scary stories. Why didn’t you say something about it this morning?”

  “I like scary stories,” Gordy said. “But this is real life.”

  “So,” Lunk said, “you keep your brain busy planning pranks or having fun or making up scary stories — so you don’t have to face what’s really scaring you deep down inside.”

  Gordy was silent for a moment. “Something like that. Yeah. I guess so. I like life with a lot of noise. When things get quiet, sometimes I think too much.”

  Maybe Gordy’s abduction did have more of an effect on him than
Cooper thought. “Anything else you want to talk about? Other deep-down fears?”

  “Maybe,” Gordy said. “But not tonight. Next week . . . when my dad is here.”

  Fair enough. But he’d opened the door, and that’s all Cooper would need.

  “Do not tell Hiro I said all this,” Gordy said. “She’ll make it her personal mission to get inside my head and figure out what’s going on in there.”

  “And she could do it.” Lunk laughed. “She’s done a pretty amazing job of figuring out things these last few days. And do not tell her I said that.”

  All three of them laughed.

  “I can say this only because Hiro isn’t here right now — ’cause I don’t want her to get a big head or anything,” Gordy said. “But I think she’s going to make a really good cop someday.” He rolled onto his stomach in his berth. “I’m going to cheer her up right now.” He whipped out his phone, typed out a text, and sent it. “There.”

  “What did you say?”

  Gordy held up the phone. “Coop has a surprise for you. Guaranteed to make you feel better.”

  Cooper wasn’t sure what he was referring to. “Surprise?”

  “Yeah,” Gordy said. “Donuts. The ones your dad is bringing in the morning.”

  Lightning lit up the tiny cabin for an instant. The boat rolled and pitched. Rain drummed steadily on the deck overhead.

  “If Fat Elvis is Stein, it’s kind of freaky that he ended up here,” Lunk said.

  Cooper propped himself up on his elbows. “Maybe not as freaky as you think. Stein has a gambling problem. He borrows money from the wrong guy — somebody involved in organized crime. They demand payment. So to save his own skin, Stein set up the robbery of his own diner. Right?”

  “That pretty well sums up the events of last fall,” Lunk said.

  “But a week later his secret gets out. And somehow, in all of the confusion and gunfire, he slips away. There’s a warrant out for his arrest in Illinois. He can’t go home. He can’t access a bank account. He can’t get a legitimate job.”