Traverse Bound

by Jack Gibby

  “Understood,” said Dunn.

  “All right,” she said, looking back to the boat. “Now I’m going to show you how to raise the sails and we’re going to go out where I can explain more to you. Any questions so far?”

  “No,” Dunn said with a smile. “I’m ready.”

  Some hours later, Dunn and Missy sat next to one another on the sail boat. Missy had taken him through her instruction, and now Dunn was manning the tiller and holding the main sheet, steering the boat through the water as the wind filled the sail. Specks of water lightly splashed up as they maintained course through the deep blue water. There was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was a gorgeous day, a perfect day to learn to sail.

  “You’re doing great,” called Missy over the sound of the waves. “I want to see you tack one more time and then I’ll take over once again and sail us in. Got it?”

  “Yep,” said Dunn. He recalled everything he’d been taught throughout the day, and made sure he was in position. His grip tight on the main sheet, he loosened slightly and then pushed the tiller toward the main sheet. The boom began to come their way, and together both Dunn and Missy ducked under the boom and moved to the port side of the boat.

  Dunn had the tiller behind his back now, he straightened it, and then he swapped his hands around so that his left hand gripped to the main sheet, his right on the tiller. It was all a bit clunky, this movement, but it wasn’t bad for just his third go around. Missy watched with a straight face, her eyes darting back and forth between Dunn’s movements and the boom. Dunn held tight to the main sheet and he resumed pulling the sail.

  “Not bad,” shouted Missy with a smile, offering Dunn a pat on the back. “You’re a natural.”

  Dunn smiled at her. Missy could tell that Dunn was quite pleased with himself, so she let him have his moment before instructing him to swap with her. It had been a long day.

  Back on the dock, after the two had secured the boat and taken the sails down, they stood together and reminisced about Dunn’s time on the water, what he did right, where he could improve. Dunn’s trepidation about Missy’s instruction had completely disappeared. He was quite happy with how his new retirement was working out. He’d be a real sailor in no time.

  “I think you did great for your first time,” said Missy. “You’ve got one more class, then you take the certification test, and then you can move on to some of the more intermediate classes.”

  “Do you teach the next class?” Dunn asked.

  “It really depends on what day you’re scheduled to come in,” said Missy. She smiled.

  “Look,” said Dunn. “I just want to apologize again for how I acted when we first met. It was out of line. Not a good start.”

  “It’s okay,” said Missy. “Really. I understand. But I’m glad you had a good time.”

  “I learned a lot,” said Dunn. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Missy. “Let’s head back into the office.”

  The two walked together along the dock and back toward the building. It was still quite sunny out, despite it being after five in the afternoon, and the parking lot of the building had cleared out more than it had been when Dunn arrived. Off to the side of the lot, however, Dunn spotted two black cars that looked out of place. He focused his eyes on the scene and raised his brow.

  He stopped walking. Missy looked to him, saw the urgency in his face, and she stopped as well.

  “Everything all right?” Missy asked.

  Together they watched as a man in a suit got out of the backseat of one car. He approached the driver side of the other car. He started speaking harshly. Dunn and Missy couldn’t hear what he said, he didn’t seem to be yelling, but he looked angry and he gestured with his hands. It all felt very strange.

  “Do you know who they are?” Dunn asked.

  “No,” said Missy. “I don’t recognize him, or the cars.”

  They continued to watch. Then, out of nowhere, the angry man pulled a handgun from his suit jacket. He pointed it into the car and he fired. The shot rang out over the bay. Dunn and Missy jumped, Missy making a bit of a squeaky yell when the shot went off. The man stepped back from his work and he looked to his left, in the direction of the pier and out toward Dunn and Missy. It was obvious they had seen the entire thing. He began walking toward them.

  “Fuck,” said Dunn. “He’s coming this way. There’s nowhere to go,” he said, looking around and seeing boats on either side.

  “There’s a boat back here that I have a key to,” said Missy. “We can hide inside.”

  But before they could make another move, the man pointed his gun in their direction. Just as he fired, Dunn pulled Missy by the shoulders and the two of them fell down on to the dock. Again, the sound of the gun going off reverberated over the bay. The man, knowing he was pushing his luck, hopped back into the car and sped off with the squealing of tires. Dunn and Missy watched, absolutely stunned, lying flat together on the dock.

  “I’m not sure,” said Dunn, standing with his arms crossed next to a police officer. “I would say over six foot. Definitely not under. Maybe as tall as six five. I don’t know. There was a distance between us.”

  There were a handful of police cruisers in the marina parking lot, as well as an ambulance. The body was being dealt with, a sheet over the gurney as it was wheeled toward the ambulance, and the police officers were speaking with a number of people. Dunn and Missy among them.

  “Any defining features you can recall?” asked the officer, scribbling Dunn’s words down into a notebook.

  “It happened so fast,” Dunn replied, trying to recall the experience. “Dark hair. I said that, right?”

  “You did.”

  “Well, dark hair,” said Dunn. “I think a bit of a beard. Maybe a goatee.”

  “He had a goatee?” the officer said, raising a brow.

  “I’m not completely sure,” said Dunn. “Aren’t there surveillance cameras around this place? I’m sure they’ve got them here with so many expensive boats around.”

  “They were not operational,” the officer replied evenly.

  “That’s odd,” said Dunn. “The cameras were broken?”

  “Not recording,” the officer corrected.

  “Wow,” said Dunn. “All right. Well, like I said, he was tall, dressed in a dark grey suit, dark hair, maybe a goatee.”

  “Did you catch the plates on the vehicle?”

  “I did not,” said Dunn. “Sorry.”

  “Mr. Dunn,” said the officer, handing over a business card. “Here’s my card. If you can remember anything else about this man you saw, please call me immediately.”

  “Sure,” said Dunn, taking the card and looking at it. He slipped it into his wallet.

  “Thank you for your cooperation,” said the officer. “We’ll be in touch.” Just as he began to turn away, Dunn spoke up again.

  “Officer,” he said. “Do you know anything about the man, you know, over there?” Dunn pointed off toward the ambulance.

  “Mr. Dunn, that’s not really your concern,” said the officer. “Have a good day.”

  Dunn’s lips flattened as he watched the officer walk away.

  Looking around the lot, Dunn spotted Missy. She, too, had finished speaking with a police officer and was now standing next to an older man, probably in his sixties, with thinning hair and a bushy mustache. Pushing his hands into his pockets, Dunn walked over to them. The two looked up as Dunn approached.

  “Hey,” Dunn said.

  “This is Mr. Dunn,” Missy said to the man with whom she was standing. “The student I was with.”

  “Gannon Dunn,” said Dunn, sticking out his hand. The man took it and shook.

  “Peter Heaney,” said the man. “I’m on the yacht club board and manage some of the programs around here.”

  “I see,” said Dunn. “Cops have any information to spill to you two?”

  “No, we didn’t really hear anything,” said Missy. “And I barely got a good look at
the guy.”

  “Me either,” said Dunn.

  “I can’t believe our cameras were off,” said Peter. “I’ve called my IT company to see if they can find anything out. They’re supposed to manage this stuff, but we didn’t get any notice the cameras were malfunctioning.”

  “If they can’t figure it out,” said Dunn. “Maybe I could be of service. In my previous life, I was chief technology officer of an investment firm. I’ve got a lot of experience with security and all that.”

  “Yeah?” said Peter. “I might take you up on that, Mr. Dunn. These guys I’ve got now are clowns. You wouldn’t believe how ticked off those cops were at me.”

  “Sure,” said Dunn. “I should be in your system. Just give me a call if I can help.”

  “Thanks,” said Peter. “I’m going to take off and go call some of the other board members. This is going to be all over the local news. A shooting at our boat club. What a crock. Missy, if you want to take some time off, feel free. The two of you had a pretty rough day.”

  “It was going well up until the shooting,” Dunn said with a half smile. Missy looked to him and rolled her eyes.

  “I’m sure,” said Peter. “Beautiful day out there on the water. Well, you two try to have a good evening. And Missy…”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t talk to the media, all right?” asked Peter. “If anyone tries to get in touch with you, just send them my way.”

  “I will,” she said.

  “Thanks,” said Peter. “Nice meeting you, Mr. Dunn.”

  “Likewise,” said Dunn. With that, Peter walked off and back toward the building, leaving Dunn and Missy standing there together.

  They were both silent for a beat.

  “I never thought my introduction to Traverse City would be like this,” mused Dunn. “This kind of thing happen often?”

  “Not that I know of,” said Missy. “It’s usually pretty quaint.”

  “I moved here from Chicago to get away from this stuff,” said Dunn.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Dunn,” said Missy.

  “You can call me Gannon,” said Dunn. “Or just Dunn. Whatever you like.”

  “All right,” Missy said with a small smile.

  “Do you need a ride home or anything?” Dunn asked.

  “No, I have a car,” said Missy.

  “All right,” said Dunn.

  “Here,” said Missy. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pen. Taking Dunn’s hand, she quickly wrote on the back of it.

  Dunn watched, just letting it happen.

  “That’s my number,” she said after she had finished, capping the pen and putting it away. “If you need to talk about what happened today, just call me.”

  “If I need to talk?” Dunn retorted.

  “Yeah,” said Missy. “You don’t strike me as someone who’s too comfortable with guns. And what happened was pretty messed up.”

  “And you… you’re comfortable with guns?”

  “Well, I don’t like being shot at,” said Missy. “But yeah, I’m pretty comfortable with guns.”

  “Okay,” said Dunn, looking down into his hand at Missy’s number. He nodded and smiled. “Okay, if I need to talk, I’ll give you a call. Missy the gun-toting sailor.” Missy laughed softly.

  “Maybe I am that Hemingway type you were looking for,” she said with a smirk. “Hang in there, Dunn.” Missy offered him a warm smile.

  “I will,” said Dunn. “I’ll see you around, then.”

  “See you around,” said Missy. She paused for a moment, and then she turned and trotted off toward the building.

  There was something different about that girl, Dunn thought to himself. He looked down at her number once more. Then he looked back up to catch another glimpse of Missy but she had disappeared inside. After a moment of standing in the parking lot alone, Dunn headed for his car.

  Chapter Two

  “Thank you very much,” Dunn said, holding the cellophane-covered pie, standing in his living room opposite both Walt and Liddy. “It looks very nice.”

  Looking around for a moment, Dunn set the pie down on a table near where they stood.

  “I was so shocked to hear what happened to you,” Liddy said with empathy in her eyes. “You just move here and you witness a shooting.”

  “You get shot at,” corrected Walt.

  “You know, I’m fine,” Dunn assured them. “It was a little unexpected, but I didn’t get hurt.”

  “You should get yourself a gun,” offered Walt. “You’ve got to protect yourself.”

  “Maybe,” said Dunn.

  “Certainly,” Walt said.

  “Does a person really need to carry a gun around here?” Dunn asked. “I mean, come on. Where I come from, sure, I could see some people thinking it a necessity. But up here? I just don’t buy it.”

  “You never know,” Liddy said, eyes glazed over and staring off, as though she were considering it.

  “Do you carry a gun, Walt?” Dunn posited.

  “I don’t,” said Walt. “But after what happened to you, I just might.”

  “Look,” said Dunn. “I moved here to retire, to get out of the city, and get out of that city mentality. This is a quaint, up north, resort town. I want to eat good food, meet good people,” he said, motioning toward his new neighbors. “Drink good wine, meet a good woman.”

  “That reminds me,” said Liddy, her face brightening up and a refreshed smile coming across her lips. “I’ve got the perfect woman for you.”

  “See, now we’re talking,” Dunn said, mirroring her smile. “Let’s forget about the incident and move on.”

  “We’ll see,” Walt grumbled, crossing his arms.

  “Her name is Brooke Green,” said Liddy excitedly. “She is a very pretty lady. A nurse. She works at the hospital in town. I know her from volunteering there.”

  “Ah, yeah,” said Walt, nodding his head. “Brooke Green. She is a pretty lady.”

  “Okay,” said Dunn. “I’m listening.”

  “I think she’s around your age, Gannon,” Liddy continued. “She’s blonde, she’s fit—probably from running around that hospital all day—she’s just so sweet. And she does have a young boy. That’s not a deal-breaker for you, is it?”

  “No,” said Dunn. “That’s all right. How young?”

  “I’m not entirely sure,” said Liddy. “What do they call them now? A tween? I think he’s a tween.”

  “A tween,” repeated Dunn. “Well, that’s okay.”

  “I think you’ll just adore Brooke,” said Liddy. “I know I do.”

  “Does she know you’re doing this?” Dunn asked. “Does she know you’re setting us up?”

  “She does,” confirmed Liddy. “I told her about our new neighbor. A very handsome, well-rounded gentleman who just moved here by himself.”

  “You’re too kind,” said Dunn.

  “Did you tell her my man Gannon is successful?” asked Walt. “That’s an important thing to relate.”

  “I was successful,” said Dunn. “Now I’m just sort of floating and trying to figure out what’s next.”

  “I think she could infer that from what I told her,” Liddy said to Walt. “I told her that Gannon had retired quite young.”

  “That could mean many things,” said Walt.

  “Oh, skip you,” said Liddy, giving Walt a light smack on the shoulder. “Gannon, dear, she’s eager to meet you and a very lovely woman.” Liddy reached into her pocket and retrieved a small piece of folded paper. She handed it to Dunn.

  Dunn took the paper, he unfolded it, and looked down into it. Brooke’s name and number was written there.

  “You give her a call,” said Liddy. “And then please do not forget to tell me how it goes.”

  An amused smile moved over Dunn’s face.

  “I’ll be sure to let you know,” Dunn said.

  “Thank you, Gannon,” Liddy said in a pleased tone.

  “Liddy, darling,” Walt said. “We should re
ally be going. I’ve got to make my tee time and I’m sure Gannon can’t entertain guests all day.”

  “Fine, fine,” said Liddy, waving him off with both hands. “Enjoy that pie, Gannon.”

  “I will,” said Dunn. “Thanks again. And thank you for this,” he said, holding up the piece of paper.

  “Let me know how it goes,” Liddy said once again. Walt took her by the shoulders and began guiding her toward the door. “I would really love it to work out between you two.”

  “Thank you,” Dunn said. Walt opened the front door, as Dunn followed them to see them out.

  “We’ll talk guns later,” Walt said to Dunn as an aside from Liddy, though Liddy was still within obvious earshot. “Maybe we’ll go to the range together.”

  “Thanks, Walt,” Dunn said. The two men shook hands.

  “Have a blessed day, dear!” Liddy called back as she and Walt made their way down the front steps of Dunn’s porch.

  Dunn waved and smiled. After his neighbors were far enough along the sidewalk, he closed the door.

  Sitting down at his office desk, a surface that was mostly clear but for a small aluminum laptop and his phone, Dunn looked down into the piece of paper that Liddy had given him and he thought. Liddy had said that this Brooke woman was blonde, and that reminded him of his ex-wife Amy. He didn’t know what to expect from this setup. It had been a long time since he’d gone on a date. He had tried to meet women during the time between his divorce and his move, but it never seemed to work out. Now, thanks to his affable-to-a-fault neighbors, he supposedly had a prescheduled meeting with a ‘pretty lady.’

  Taking up his phone, Dunn navigated to his address book and he entered Brooke’s information there. He had plans to call her, but he didn’t want to call right away. Besides, it was the middle of the day, a weekday, and she was probably at work. A nurse wouldn’t be able to step away from their job to chat to some new guy on the phone. Dunn would call her later.

  Almost as soon as he set his phone back down on the desk it started to ring. Dunn looked down into the screen to check the caller ID. It was the sailing school. He furrowed his brow, he picked up the phone, and he answered.