by Al Turner
Reluctantly, Tripp raised his hand.
“Good.”
The sound of a silenced pistol going off made everyone jump. Derrick’s back was to the rest of them. He realized he had been shot and stumbled backward. After one final step, he dropped against the captain’s chair and slid down it. The gurgling sound he made as he choked on his own blood was gruesome.
***
Tripp quickly assessed the situation. He wanted to assist the dying man, but he served as a barrier between the gunman and his sister. Carson was pale and petrified, while Nikki had dived into the bow near the seats and assumed a fetal position.
“Now that I have your attention, throw your phones overboard,” said Mark, motioning with the pistol.
One by one they complied. Nikki’s was the first in the bay; she tossed it like a hot potato and returned to her fetal state. Tripp tossed his carefully over the starboard side and reached over to retrieve Carson’s from the purse wrapped around her body. She was unable to look away from their captor. With the final plop of a phone hitting the water, Mark stepped down from where he’d been standing. He motioned for Tripp to take control.
As Tripp made his way to start the engines back up, he heard something. Mark heard it too, and he swiveled in the direction of the noise. It was the unmistakable sound of a jet-propulsion watercraft closing in.
“Start us up,” he said and lowered his pistol, so as not to garner attention. “Everyone find a seat and act natural.”
Tripp reached over and sat his shaken sister in the starboard side console seat. He’d never seen her quite like this; she was in shock. He glanced down at the motionless body right behind him. He started to reach down to check on the man but was stopped by Mark.
“Leave him.”
“He needs help.”
“You will too if you don’t do as I tell you,” Mark said, glancing at the approaching wave rider, who was almost upon them. He held the gun closely to his body as he sat, trying to give the appearance that all was fine, though his discomfort was obvious. Had the rider seen him shoot Derrick? Had he heard the muffled shot? Mark seemed ready to shoot again, if need be.
Tripp pushed forward on the throttle and they started to move again. He kept one eye on the red watercraft, which bounced along the bay’s small waves, spraying water around. Judging by its speed and direction, it would pass behind them, probably no more than twenty yards away. It was a two-seater but had only one rider.
As the rider drew closer, Tripp saw he was well tanned and had dark hair, and a white shirt flapping in the wind. His choice of khaki pants certainly seemed odd, as they were soaked from the spray. If only it was who he hoped it was.
Tripp continued to track the small vessel as it passed behind them. He noticed that Mark took a brief interest but seemed convinced it was just someone joyriding and turned his attention back to the others.
“Turn around and watch where you’re going,” Mark yelled.
Tripp had to adjust course to avoid getting too close to the shallows. “What’s our destination?”
“It’s around that point.”
Tripp did as he was instructed and glanced over at his sister. She seemed understandably tense but not physically harmed. The sight of someone being murdered was traumatic.
“You okay?” he asked.
Carson nodded. She glanced up and shifted her attention toward Mark, who sat at the stern. She motioned something, but he didn’t understand what she was trying to convey. Then he realized her right hand had formed into a gun.
“Yes,” Tripp said. “He’s still holding it.”
She promptly shook her head and pointed to him. He realized then what she was asking. Tripp had his concealed carry license. As a private investigator, he thought it was the right thing to do. However, he hardly carried it and that day was no exception.
“No,” he said and immediately saw hope fade further from her face.
Mark glanced over and barely had time to react before the wave rider broadsided them. He brought the pistol up with one hand and held the other one up in a defensive posture.
With well-timed precision, the rider leaped from the vessel as it slammed into the larger craft. He sailed over, foot extended, and caught Mark square in the chest, who immediately fell backward into the water.
The other man bounced off the backseat and hit the floor. The rest of the occupants were jolted as the cruiser listed back and forth from the impact. The boat’s tethered kill switch, which should have cut the engines when Tripp fell from the captain’s chair, hung unattached to its driver. The vessel continued to propel itself forward until Tripp got up and stopped it manually.
A familiar head popped up from the stern. Daniel’s dark feathered bangs hung over his brow. He swept the hair aside and looked straight at Tripp. “Why are you stopping, dude?”
“After a collision like that, we need to check structural integrity.”
“Forget that. Put some distance between us and that other guy.”
“Good call.” Tripp started the engines back up and pushed the throttle forward cautiously.
“Daniel!” yelled Carson, both surprised and thankful to see him. She tried to calm herself before she grabbed and hugged him. But her joy turned to horror as Mark’s hand came over the transom and he lifted himself into the moving vessel.
Daniel turned to see the man rise to his feet. He rushed him and tried to kick him back in the water, but this time Mark was ready. He blocked the kick with his left hand and reached behind to pull out a white-handled dagger. He must have lost his pistol when he went overboard.
Mark swiped at him with the blade, but Daniel hopped backward and held a defensive stance. The two fought, with Daniel, to his friends’ amazement, easily matching the other man’s martial arts skills.
Tripp throttled down and tried to determine how to assist his friend. The two men were all over the boat, using better hand fighting skills than he possessed. They made their way toward the bow.
Daniel was too quick for Mark and caught the wrist of the hand that held the dagger. With his other hand, Daniel fluidly twisted the man’s arm behind his back by controlling his wrist and elbow. With another quick motion, something popped in Mark’s arm and the weapon dropped into the water. For good measure, Daniel swept Mark’s knee in a painful motion.
With a groan, Mark went headfirst into the boat’s deck. He tried to struggle, but with a bruised knee, dislocated shoulder, and an arm pinned behind him, it was useless. Ultimately, it was the metal fire extinguisher that met his skull with a dull thud that brought things to a conclusion.
Carson stood over the man, still holding the old extinguisher. She raised it to bring it down for another strike, but Daniel stopped her.
“He’s had enough.” He lifted the unconscious man and let him drop back to the deck.
Carson, convinced Mark was no longer a threat, lowered her newfound weapon. Her breathing was so heavy, Tripp feared she was hyperventilating. He tried to comfort her, but she brushed past him and grabbed Daniel in a tight embrace. Daniel must have been in heaven.
Carson released him and studied his face, as though ensuring he was real. He was slightly taller than she was, perhaps a couple inches. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving your butts,” replied Daniel. “I guess next time you’ll invite me.”
“You have an open invitation from now on,” said Carson and hugged him again.
Afterward, Tripp, Carson, and Daniel decided to go through Derrick’s pockets. They found another knife, a thin wallet, a wad of money, and—after searching the boat—Mark’s cell phone.
With a unanimous vote, they decided Mark was too dangerous to remain aboard. Without fanfare, they tossed him into the bay. The boat started her journey again and left him floating in the distance, faceup.
“Should we have given him a life preserver?” asked Tripp as he continued to pilot the vessel.
“That prick tried to kill us,” Carson said, pointing at hi
m. He bobbed like a human cork. “What do you think?”
“An emphatic no, it seems.” Tripp turned the boat over to Daniel while he checked on Nikki, who was still too scared to move from her huddled position in the bow. After he calmed her down, he took on the morbid task of confirming what he already feared.
Derrick was dead. He had bled out from being shot in the heart. Tripp shut the man’s eyelids, found a tarp in one of the storage compartments, and covered his body.
“Now what?” asked Carson.
“We should call the authorities,” said Tripp as he took over piloting the boat again.
“With what, genius? Our phones are in the water and that bunghole’s phone is locked.”
“I have a phone,” said Daniel. “Tripp’s Smartwatch also has its own number. In fact, I used the GPS to find you guys.”
“Oh,” said Carson. “Wait . . . you tracked us?”
“Of course,” Daniel said as he fiddled with Mark’s phone.
She seemed to be the only one surprised that their whereabouts could be tracked. “You knew about this?”
“I counted on it,” Tripp replied. “Daniel gave me the watch as a security measure in case I was ever injured on a case. To get here so quickly, however, he had to already be trailing us.”
“What prompted you to do that?” asked Carson.
“I follow you all the time when I’m not invited,” Daniel said with a shrug.
Carson seemed confused. “Why? And how the hell did you do all that other crap? Since when did you become our personal Bruce Lee?”
“Long story.”
“Oh, I see. You go from nagging friend who always flirts with me to mysterious hero. Do I really know you?”
“You’ve known me for years.”
“Okay,” Carson said. She looked unconvinced she had gotten a real answer and turned to Tripp.
“I’m just as surprised as you,” he said. “I was aware Daniel knew martial arts, but that was completely unexpected.”
“Guys, I’ll explain everything later. For now, we have to all agree on a few things,” said Daniel. “One, we don’t go to the police. Two, we ditch this boat and the body. And three, we all stick together from this point forward.”
“We can’t exactly hide what just happened,” Tripp said. “Someone might think we killed Derrick. Also, we need to get Nikki to safety.”
“I don’t want you guys to leave me alone,” Nikki said with panic in her voice. She walked over to the helm where Tripp was. He placed a reassuring arm around her, which seemed to help.
Carson looked critically at them, and Tripp realized she considered them an odd pairing. Perhaps she thought Nikki didn’t measure up to him. “Okay, number four, we get Nikki safely to shore and she can explain to the Coast Guard what happened.”
“I want to stay with you guys,” Nikki said.
“You don’t get a vote,” Carson said dismissively and then addressed Daniel. “Just where do you think we’re going?”
“A safe place, for starters,” said Daniel.
“Why shouldn’t we call the Coast Guard ourselves?” asked Tripp.
“Because this wasn’t a random attempted kidnapping. That guy’s a professional. There are more like him, possibly close by. When Mark doesn’t show up with you, they’ll come looking. We need to disappear.”
Obviously, the idea was absurd to Carson. “Why would anyone come looking for us? It’s not like we’re rich or famous. Ever try to get ransom from a family on a preacher’s salary?”
Daniel stopped what he was doing and faced her. “You ever bother to ask how a guy like your dad, on a small-town preacher’s salary, owns several buildings, a bar, a boat, and who knows what else?”
Carson knew about these assets from an earlier conversation with Tripp. “Dad inherited money and made some good investments. Why? Are you implying he’s involved in some type of shady business? If so, you don’t know him as well as I thought you did.”
“Your dad is a good man,” said Daniel. “I don’t have all the answers, but trust me when I tell you there’s far more to the Page family than what’s on the surface. This was no mistake. Whoever tried to grab you wanted leverage.”
“That sounds like a conspiracy theory, Daniel,” said Tripp. “I tend to agree with Carson. I can think of no reason why someone would want to harass our family. If you have something to share, then do so, but don’t retreat to saying it’s a long story.”
Daniel looked disappointed, as if his line had been stolen. “Okay, listen. I’ll tell you everything I know once we get to a safe place.”
“Then let’s be on our way.”
Daniel directed them to an inlet outside of a residential area. Tripp started to tie off the boat but Daniel stopped him. Instead, he pointed the vessel back into the bay and rigged it to throttle away from the shore.
As Daniel leaped back onto the short pier, Tripp confronted him. “Why did you do that?”
“We need to buy time,” Daniel said. “Let’s go.”
“You owe us an explanation,” Tripp reminded him.
“We’ll talk in the car.”
“What car?” asked Carson, just before she spotted a blue sedan arriving on the street behind them.
“That one,” said Daniel. “I used the Uber app. We need to keep moving.”
“What about Derrick?” Tripp asked.
“He’s dead. His condition won’t change.”
They all climbed into the waiting vehicle. The car drove away while the boat carrying Derrick’s corpse continued its slow journey back out into the bay.
BUMP AND GUN
As Jack drove home, the ten-inch monitor on his truck’s dash switched from soothing landscape images to an alert to an incoming Skype call. The image of his lovely yet upset wife appeared as he accepted it.
“Hello, Mrs. Page,” he answered cheerfully.
Kate seemed anything but pleased. “Jack, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I ended up calling the church, and Julia said you’d been gone for a while.”
“Sorry, my love,” Jack said as he searched for his phone. “I must have muted it. I had to run an errand. What’s wrong?” He could tell she had been crying.
“Carson’s upset at me. She took off, and neither she nor Tripp will answer their phones. It’s so unlike Tripp not to answer. I’m used to Carson ignoring me—”
“Whoa,” said Jack. He had absolutely no idea what his wife was rattling on about. “So Carson’s upset. How is this an emergency?”
“I’m sorry,” Kate said as she wiped her tears. She sobbed briefly and tried to collect her thoughts.
“Okay, Kate,” he said with forced calm. “I’ll be home in a few. Where are you?”
It took a moment for her to collect herself. “I just closed up my shop and am heading home too.”
“We’ll talk soon.”
“Please hurry.”
“I’m on my way. Love ya,” Jack said. With a bleep, the image of Kate disappeared, without the customary “Love ya.” The only time that occurred was when his wife was upset at him. Thankfully, that wasn’t often. He concluded she and their daughter must have had quite the disagreement.
Jack thought about how terrible Kate was at trying to explain something when angry or tearful. Like the time she was involved in a minor fender-bender several years back. It took him forever to figure out that she and everyone else was alive and well. Kate had lost her temper when the other driver, who had caused the accident, had the audacity to yell obscenities at her.
She was typically a very even tempered, lovely woman—that is, until she became upset. The day of the accident, Jack hadn’t been sure if half of her words were even part of the English language. In retrospect, the story made him smile, though he would never let his wife know he found it amusing.
But today, with Shelby’s sudden appearance at the church and his wife being upset, there was little humor to be found. He decided to try to give the twins a call. He used voice commands v
ia his truck’s Bluetooth to call Carson, then Tripp. Both times, it went to voice mail.
Carson’s voice mail was an old recording she had used while on her grandfather’s ship a few years ago. It was such an exciting experience, she continued to use it. Her voice could barely be heard over the howling wind and pounding waves. She had proudly recorded it while watching the waterspout, from a “safe” distance, off the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Tripp’s recorded message, on the other hand, was a simple one. The only thing that gave it any character was Daniel yelling, “Voice mail bomb,” in the background before the prompt to leave a message.
Daniel, he thought. Jack brought up the custom application on the touchscreen console of his truck. He pushed the question mark icon and waited as a map materialized on the screen. Daniel had mentioned the app a few months before and Jack liked the idea, so the young man installed it for him. It tied into the twins’ Smartwatches and Kate’s fitness bracelet. It was loosely based on other applications in existence but had customized benefits. While not all of Daniel’s ideas worked out, this one had been built on already-proven technology. Jack had copied the app and used it in other devices.
A menu popped up with icons representing his wife and two kids. They were pictures Daniel had picked out, not ones he would have chosen himself. He decided to select Tripp, since he was the more likely of the twins to be wearing his device.
A blue screen appeared, with nothing but a flashing dot. Jack watched it momentarily before he realized he needed to keep his eye on the traffic in front of him. Ahead, a white utility van with no windows was going slower than the speed limit. If he hadn’t been on a winding two-lane road that led to his hometown, he would have passed it already. He glanced back at the screen and tried to zoom out.
He could see it was a body of water, a bay. So Tripp was on the water. “What bay?” he said. Jack studied the map a moment longer—it was Choctawatchee Bay. He went back and chose Carson’s picture. The flashing dot on the screen showed the same location; they were together and close to shore. He adjusted the map, trying to determine where they were heading.