Bluewater Killer: A Serial Murder Mystery Set In Florida and the Caribbean (Bluewater Thrillers Book 1)

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Bluewater Killer: A Serial Murder Mystery Set In Florida and the Caribbean (Bluewater Thrillers Book 1) Page 22

by Charles Dougherty


  She quickly put it back in the locker where she had found it. Running her hands through her hair in an agitated fashion, she made her way back to the galley. She busied herself, bustling around in the lockers, to give herself time to think. She had to digest this information. She couldn't come up with an explanation for that purse being in the locker, at least not one that didn't make Mike look a bit suspicious. She recalled the personal history that he had related in their brief acquaintance. He had said that he hadn't dated or had any women friends, even, since his wife had left him. That was years ago. That by itself seemed strange to her; he was handsome enough, and pleasant company, if a bit odd at times. Had he found the purse somewhere? If so, why had he not turned it in to the police wherever he found it? Had he stolen it? He didn't seem the type to be a petty thief. She couldn't imagine that this Michelle Devereaux had been on board the boat and left without her purse. That was not something a woman would do, not accidentally, anyway. It dawned on her that Mike must know Michelle, or must have known her at some point, because he had called her Michelle this morning. Unless he was accustomed to using that name frequently, why would he use it by mistake? The way he said the name, it was clear that it was one that he was accustomed to saying. As the implications of that registered with her, she wondered who Dani might be. If Mike knew Michelle well enough to use her name by accident, he must know this Dani equally well.

  What a puzzle this man was turning out to be. For the most part, he was a perfect host. Occasionally, he seemed to drift into some sort of detached state, but only when he was alone. When she had heard him talking to himself, he seemed to be carrying on a conversation with someone. Now, she realized that she had overheard him talking to both Michelle and Dani, usually one or the other, but sometimes both in one conversation. The times when she had approached him after hearing him talking to himself were the times that she had noticed that he was spaced out. A few of those times, earlier today being one, he had seemed surprised to see her. Those were also the times that he seemed most likely to use the wrong name, too.

  She wasn't alarmed by this, but it worried her a little. The other thing that troubled her about Mike was that he was hinting that he wanted her to stay aboard indefinitely. While she found him pleasant enough company most of the time, she wasn't interested in a long-term relationship with him. For that matter, she wasn't interested in any kind of relationship with him beyond their current shared passion for sailing. When she first met him, she had been looking for a little diversion, and he had seemed attractive enough. She had also noticed that he was on a yacht, so she had assumed that he would be moving on at some point, as she would herself. In her view, he had been a candidate for something longer than a one-night stand, but nothing with a future. Oddly, in her experience, he had seemed interested in her only as a fellow sailor. Romance had never entered the picture. She might have found that frustrating, since a brief affair had been her original goal, but the love of sailing together had turned out to be quite satisfactory. She was getting the feeling, though, that it might be as difficult to end their sailing relationship as it sometimes was to end a romance when one partner was ready and the other wasn't. She already had her guard up on that account, and his increasingly frequent bouts of strange behavior made her glad that they had not progressed beyond sailing together.

  Mike had the sails up and the diesel was quiet. Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed until just now. He was accustomed to single handing Sea Serpent, and didn't need her help to get under way. Liz wondered how long she had been fumbling in the galley lockers. She decided to go up on deck and enjoy the sail. Whoever Dani and Michelle were to Mike, she didn't intend to let them spoil her pleasure.

  "What's wrong, Dani?" he asked, when she came into the cockpit.

  "Who is Dani, Mike?" she asked, deciding to bring this strange behavior into the open. Maybe if she called him on it, he would pay more attention.

  "What?" he asked. "What did you just ask me?"

  There was no hostility in his look, but she saw intense concentration on his face. "You called me Dani again. I just wondered who Dani is, that's all."

  "I called you Dani?"

  "Yes, a couple of times this morning."

  He shook his head, perplexed. "Sorry. Can't think of why I'd do that."

  "Well, do I remind you of someone named Dani? Someone you used to know?"

  "No. I don't know anybody named Dani," he said, avoiding her gaze.

  "Was Michelle your wife's name?" she asked, thinking that if she had come this far, she might as well keep going.

  "No," he said, holding eye contact with her this time. "Andrea."

  "So Andrea was your wife. Did you maybe have a girlfriend named Michelle, sometime?"

  "No," he said, looking away again. "Why? Did I call you Michelle, too?" He was looking her in the eye again.

  "Yes, earlier this morning. Sorry, Mike. I can tell I'm making you uncomfortable. I don't mean to pry. It just made me feel a little odd that you called me by both of those names and didn't seem to remember my own.

  "I'm sorry, Liz. I can't explain it. Maybe some book I read recently, or a movie or something. My memory's been playing tricks on me, lately. Please don't be put off. I'll concentrate on doing better with the name thing. We've been getting along so well, I don't want to chase you away over something dumb like that. I'm looking forward to sailing together for a long time. You know, you don't have to stop in the Virgins. We could keep going. Head south down to Grenada next summer for the hurricane season, or maybe to Colombia. I hear it's really nice there."

  "We'll see, Mike, okay? I do want to get to Antigua to catch up with my friend Suzanne. I haven't seen her since university. I want to spend some time with her, maybe even work in her art gallery for a while. I might take up painting, again."

  "Sure," he said. "You told me that. Don't worry. I'm not in a hurry. We can stay in Antigua as long as you want. I fact, I can work there. I've done it before. Just have to keep it quiet, because I don't have a work permit, but with all the big, crewed charter yachts there, there's plenty of business for me. We could stay there the whole winter if you want."

  Frustrated now, she stood up. "I'd better go make a few sandwiches for us, before it gets too rough to work in the galley. We'll get hungry before we get to Les Saintes." She went below and started rummaging in the lockers again, taking her time. He was starting to annoy her with his assumptions about a longer-term relationship. Maybe she should just move in with Suzanne and hope he got tired of waiting for her.

  While she made the sandwiches, she listened to Mike murmuring, consoling somebody, it sounded like. He's probably talking it over with Dani, she thought. Or maybe Michelle. Guess he's explaining that they may have to stay in Antigua longer than they'd planned.

  ****

  Paul and Dani were both on deck and alert as Phillip steered Kayak Spirit through the Passe du Sud, into the protection of Les Saintes. They examined the boats in the anchorage at Pain de Sucre, to their starboard side on the way in. He pulled the tiller to the port, bringing her up on the wind a bit, as Dani and Paul trimmed the sails. He had the diesel idling, just in case the wind was fluky around the islands, but so far, they were doing nicely under sail. He held her close hauled on the starboard tack until they could get a good look at the boats anchored in Îlet à Cabrít. As they passed the outermost boat, the breeze died. He used Kayak Spirit's momentum to come about, and a gentle puff filled the sails on the port tack. Sea Serpent wasn't in this anchorage, either. They sailed on to the east, into the anchorage off Bourg de Saintes, and came about onto the starboard tack, making their way through the anchored boats and out through the Passe de la Baleine. He shut the diesel down without ever having put it in gear. Sea Serpent wasn't in Les Saintes. It was noon, and they were 30 miles from Deshaies. They would be there before sunset. They could check the harbor in the morning, clear into Guadeloupe, and decide what they should do next.

  Chapter 34

  Philli
p woke up and looked at his watch, surprised to see that it was 7 o'clock already. He sat up in his berth and peered out the porthole, to see the sun just peeking over the mountains behind Deshaies. He had forgotten how the close-in part of the anchorage here was shaded from the morning sun. It was well past sunrise, but the gray, dawn light that normally served to awaken him came later in this spot. Just as well, he thought. They were all tired from that long day yesterday; they needed a solid night of sleep. He got up and quietly went back to the galley to put on a pot of coffee. By the time it had perked and he had taken a cup up into the cockpit, Dani and Paul were stirring. Dani appeared in the cockpit first, mug in hand. Paul was less than a minute behind her.

  "Great way to wake up," Paul said. "Nothing like the smell of fresh-perked coffee and salt air to get the juices flowing."

  Dani was on the foredeck with binoculars, scanning the anchorage, before Paul and Phillip had finished their first cups of coffee. "No sign of Sea Serpent," she said. "They're either south of us somewhere, or they've gone on to Antigua. I think we should push on, guys." They had hugged the west coast of Guadeloupe yesterday afternoon, checking the common anchorages along the way. At Sandrine's last report, Sea Serpent had not cleared out with customs, so Reilly was probably still somewhere along the south coast of Guadeloupe. They had already decided that there were too many places down there, and too many other boats, to make it worthwhile to look for him there, when they knew he would eventually head north, either to Deshaies, or maybe all the way to Antigua. Dani just didn't like sitting still.

  "If you can wait a few more minutes, I'll call my friend in Antigua and find out if they've cleared in," Phillip said.

  "Okay, but why not just go?" Dani asked.

  "Because you know how picky they are in Antigua, Dani. Our clearance from Martinique showed us stopping in Guadeloupe, and unless we discover that there's a reason to hurry, we can go ashore here, clear in and out at the Internet café and eat breakfast. It's less than 50 miles to Antigua. If Reilly's not already there, we can leave late this morning and get in this evening, and we'll still beat him there," Phillip said. "That way we'll have fewer questions to answer in Jolly Harbour when we clear in. Besides, we old folks need to conserve our energy. We'll need it when we catch him."

  "Yeah, that makes sense," Dani said, "I just want to get my hands on him, just for about 30 seconds." She went below, refilled her cup, and passed the coffee pot up. Once everyone had another round in the cups, she brought Phillip's cell phone up and joined them in the cockpit.

  By ten minutes after eight, they knew that Sea Serpent had not checked into Antigua. They launched the dinghy and motored into the small boat harbor, where the local fishing boats were berthed. They tied the dinghy to the concrete wall where the Deshaies River flowed into the harbor, and walked into town along the main street. They stopped at the Internet café, where they were the first customers, and the man there cleared them in and out, all for the fee of three euros. Phillip chatted with him a bit, remarking that it was much easier since he had become an agent for customs.

  "Used to have to walk all the way up the hill, on the way out of town," he said, explaining to Paul. "Strange place for a customs office, I always thought."

  "Yeah, and then half the time, they had a sign in the window, saying that they were closed, and no indication of when they might open again," Dani said.

  "There. All finished," the man behind the counter said, handing the stamped papers to Phillip. "Enjoy your breakfast, and bon voyage to Antigua."

  As Phillip put the documents back in his waterproof folder, Dani caught a glimpse of the snapshot of her with Reilly. "Wait," she said, reaching for the picture. She showed it to the shopkeeper. "Have you seen him?" she asked, holding the print, folded to show only Reilly's face, and wrinkled from handling.

  He took the picture from her and put on a pair of reading glasses, studying it carefully. "No," he said, shaking his head. "Sorry, but I have not seen this man." He handed the picture back to Dani.

  They had a quick breakfast at the café on the corner, and went back to Kayak Spirit to dismantle the dinghy and bring it aboard. By 9:30, they were out of the harbor, on the way to Antigua. It was a beautiful, clear morning with a solid 20-knot breeze, just a little south of east. Their course to the southwestern corner of Antigua was five degrees magnetic, and they were on perfect beam reach, making a little over seven knots. Everybody was in the cockpit, enjoying the sail. This would be a day trip; they wouldn't need to rotate standing watch.

  "If we keep this up, we'll get to Jolly Harbour and have the hook down before sunset," Phillip said, a grin on his face, his bare foot resting lightly on the tiller. The tiller felt almost alive as Kayak Spirit surged over the big, smooth, evenly spaced swells.

  "Look, Paul. That's Montserrat, over there, 20 miles or so. Looks like the volcano is acting up a bit," Dani said, pointing to the northwest, where a plume of ash trailed out across the sky, borne by the upper level winds.

  Paul studied the direction of the upper level winds for a minute. "Looks like the wind up there is out of the northeast. Does that mean we're going to see the wind back?" he asked.

  "Maybe, but probably not right away. The trades back over the fall months. They're south of east in the summer and north of east in the winter, so the wind will surely back over the next few weeks," Phillip said. "We'll probably keep what we have for a day or two, though. Not to worry. We won't have to beat to Antigua today."

  ****

  Sea Serpent was having a nice sail, as well, some sixty miles to the south. They had arrived in the Saintes at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon, and had gone ashore to clear out. They had found a mooring available off Bourg de Saintes. They picked it up and made a quick trip to the town hall, where the one policeman had explained that he could only handle inbound clearances by faxing the forms to Pointe-à-Pitre. To clear out, they must go to Pointe-à-Pitre, or Deshaies. He spoke no English, so Liz had translated for Mike.

  "That's okay, he said, when he grasped the problem. We wanted to go there anyway."

  He had slept in the cockpit last night, enjoying the stars overhead until he fell asleep on the cushions. Liz had stayed up late reading, and was still asleep this morning. She had roused when he fixed coffee and commented that she hadn't slept well, so he encouraged her to sleep in. He had enjoyed the solitude while the wind vane steered Sea Serpent across the channel into the lee of the big island of Guadeloupe. He had an easy sail up the west coast of Guadeloupe until he lost the wind north of Basse Terre. He stowed the sails and started the diesel, engaging the autopilot for the rest of the run up the coast to Deshaies. He figured the diesel would wake her up now, but at least she got some extra sleep. "Wouldn't want her to sleep through all of such a beautiful day, anyway," he said. "If she doesn't wake up, I'll just go right on to Antigua. Get there about dawn. By the time I get to the customs dock at Jolly Harbour, they should be open. I'll check in, and go back out to the anchorage. Sleep for a while." He took a sip of coffee. "Then I can go get some of that fried chicken at the grocery store. Best damn fried chicken in the islands."

  Liz woke up to the droning of the diesel. It took her a minute to orient herself. She felt the motion of the boat, and remembered talking to Mike this morning and then crawling back in her berth. She had been wound up last night, and she had read until the wee hours of the morning. She knew when she did it that she would regret it this morning, but reading was better than lying there wishing she could sleep, her idle mind churning. At least the book had held her attention so that she didn't worry about how to part ways with Mike without a scene.

  She got up and made two cups of instant coffee, taking them up into the cockpit. She handed one to Mike and sat down across from him.

  "Good morning again," she said with a wry smile.

  "Good afternoon, Liz." He was careful to get her name right, proud of himself.

  "What time is it?" she asked.

  "A little after one o'clock. Desh
aies is just around that point up ahead. We'll be anchored and ashore in less than an hour."

  "I can't believe I slept so long."

  "It's fine. Guess you needed it."

  "Yes, but I hate it when I do this. Now I won't sleep tonight, either."

  They finished their coffee in companionable silence and stowed the sails, getting ready to go ashore. As Mike had predicted, they were in the Internet café by two o'clock. Mike was at the counter, dealing with clearing out, and Liz was looking at the local crafts on display. As she joined him at the counter, the man was explaining that if Sea Serpent left within 24 hours, no further paperwork would be necessary. Customs in Antigua would accept the stamped document he had just given Mike as his outbound clearance.

  "Oh, by the way, did Dani find you?" The man asked Mike.

  "What?" Mike asked.

  "Dani. A French girl. She was in here visiting with two Americans who were clearing for Antigua this morning, but I don't think she was sailing with them. She was French, you know. I can tell. Probably she met them on the walk, and told them where to check in, so I think that she is maybe in one of the hotels. She had a picture of you together with her. She showed it to me, and asked if I had seen you. I told her I had not, of course, and they left to have breakfast together before the Americans sailed to Antigua. Perhaps she's still around town. Pretty girl."

  Liz pretended not to hear that exchange, but she could see that Mike was shaken. He was eager to get back to Sea Serpent. She figured he was worried that he would run into this Dani if they lingered ashore. She wondered why the prospect seemed to worry him. She was well rested and eager to get to Antigua, so when they got back to the boat, she suggested an overnight trip.

  "I know you must be tired, Mike, but I'm feeling great. We've got a nice southeast wind, and the sea is quiet. I think we should go. I'll take us out; I'm good until midnight or so. You can sleep, and when you get up, we'll trade off."

 

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