by Lee, Rachel
“Why crazy?”
“What’s the point of diving out past the reef? Not much to see, is there? Jimbo said they just wanted to dive deep, say they had. Men.” She shook her head.
Callie felt her heart beating faster, and she looked at Chase. The intensity in his eyes was almost frightening.
“Did Jimbo tell you anything else about them?”
Pearl cocked her head, thinking about it. “Only that they knew exactly where they wanted to go. Usually tourists let the captain guide ‘em, you know, but these guys had a chart and marked the place they wanted to dive. Said it was some kind of contest with a coupla friends, and they had to go to the same place. Jimbo didn’t care.”
Callie leaned forward, so tense she could hardly stand to sit. “Did Jimbo mention their names, Mrs. Rushman?”
The older woman shook her head. “Not that I recall. Now he mighta written it down on the account books, but I doubt it. They paid cash, and Jimbo didn’t like to record cash sales.”
“Where are the account books?”
“The cops took ‘em. Reckon they want to know who those two guys are as much as you do.”
“Somebody knew about those diamonds,” Chase said. They had left Mrs. Rushman’s house, and were driving back to US 1.
“Can we stop at the cemetery?” she asked impulsively.
He glanced at her. “Sure. Where is it?”
She gave him directions, and three minutes later they were pulling into a cemetery with a view of the Gulf of Mexico. It was a quiet little place off a narrow road, with a few above-ground crypts, a few headstones, and a lot more flat marble markers.
Chase pulled the car to a stop and Callie climbed out, walking across the grass to her mother’s marker. It was simple, flat in the ground. Her dad hadn’t been able to afford anything bigger, but it was fine as it was, she thought. Lily Pendrick Carlson was all it said. Thirty-three years old. So young. Not much older than Callie was herself now. There’d never be a marker here for her dad. Impossible as it seemed, his body had never washed ashore.
She stared at the stone for a few minutes, thinking of her mother and remembering so very little. That hurt. Why couldn’t the memory claim more of the past than a few snatches?
Lifting her head, she looked out to sea. The water was mint green, and the sun was hot on her face. Her mom would have liked the view. Lily Carlson was as tied to the sea as her husband. “It makes the rhythm of my days,” she’d told Callie more than once. “I couldn’t live anywhere else.” Fishing was good, and food was plentiful, and everything else, from mosquitoes to hurricanes, was just something to be endured.
Callie shook her head, and wondered why she couldn’t be as accepting.
“Your mother?” Chase had come up beside her and was looking down at the marker.
“Yes.”
“Pretty name.”
“She was a beautiful woman.”
“You take after her?”
“I guess. Except I got my coloring from my dad. Mom was dark-haired and dark-eyed.”
“If she looked anything like you, she was a knockout.”
All of a sudden the heat in her cheeks was not entirely from the sun. “Thanks,” she said awkwardly.
“Just telling the truth.”
She stared at her mother’s marker a few minutes longer, wishing she could talk to Lily about this mess, and about Jeff. But some wishes couldn’t come true. Finally, she sighed and turned for the car. “Thanks for bringing me. I don’t come often enough.”
“Glad to do it.”
He still looked like a pirate, she thought as she glanced his way. Today he wore a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves and khaki shorts along with a blue ball cap, not a pirate’s costume at all, but she still felt he needed a cutlass.
Back in the car, he turned to her. “The diamonds,” he said, bringing them up again. “Somebody knew about the diamonds.”
“I’m beginning to agree with you.”
“So unless there’s something else you want to do, I’m going to go home and start calling places I know that can provide heliox. There aren’t a whole lot of them, and they don’t do it all that often. Maybe somebody will know something about these guys.”
“Sounds good. And I’m going to call Jeff’s lawyer. I want to know what they found in that account book.”
Chase headed them homeward. “Of course,” he said, “they might have simply used compressed air, in which case I’m not going to find out a damn thing.”
“But what you told me… it would be stupid to use straight air, wouldn’t it?”
“Depends on what they were expecting, and how much they intended to do. The wreck is marked by a buoy because the insurance case isn’t settled yet, so they wouldn’t have to spend any time searching for it. All they’d need to know is exactly where the safe is. If they did, they could use compressed air because they’d be planning on being on the bottom for only a few minutes. They’d still have to face narks, though.” He shook his head. “I think it’s stupid, especially since you can’t be sure nothing’s going to go wrong and keep you down longer, but people do it. For really short trips.”
“Oh.” She felt a burst of frustration. “Damn it, I wish there was just one thing that was clear-cut and obvious to follow up on.”
“There is. Two divers went out on that boat. Two divers didn’t come back. If they were left out there, or killed out there, somebody ought to be raising a cry by now. Ergo, those divers aren’t missing.”
“Which is all well and good, except we don’t know who they are.”
“We’ll find out something, Callie. One way or another, we’re going to find out something. Because I’m not going to rest until I find out what the hell is going on here.”
She should have been reassured by his determination, except that it was easy to talk about solving this mess and entirely another matter to actually do it.
When they got home, he dropped her off and went to his place, promising to come over after he’d made some phone calls. Inside, Callie found Jeff lounging at the kitchen table, wearing nothing but shorts, his arms and chest speckled with paint. He was drinking water and eating a peanut butter sandwich.
He scowled at her when she came in.
She tried smiling, although she didn’t at all feel like it. “Hey,” she said. “You started painting?”
“Nothing else to do,” he grumbled.
“I appreciate it.”
“Where were you
“Out trying to discover who went out on the Island Dream the day Westerlake and Rushman were killed.”
He straightened and, as she’d hoped, his scowl faded. “Did you find anything?”
“Two divers went out with them, but we couldn’t find out who they were. Chase is making some calls.”
“Divers?” He straightened even more, and his tone became excited. “Chase was right about the diamonds?”
“Maybe. We don’t know for sure.” She tossed her purse on the counter and grabbed a glass from the cupboard, filling it with ice and water. “We talked to Jimbo Rushman’s widow. She said she doesn’t believe you killed anyone.”
A flicker of appreciation passed over Jeff’s face, then gave way to sour gloom. “She must be the only person in the Keys then.”
“Uh…” She hesitated, then decided to take the bull by the horns. “What about Chase and me? What about the girl you met last night?”
Jeff tossed his sandwich on the plate. “What about her.” His tone was truculent.
Callie sat beside him. “What happened, Jeff?”
“Did I say anything happened?”
“You don’t have to. Or are you still mad at me about last night?”
“Oh, come off it, Callie. You’re not the center of the universe. Why would I waste all this time being mad at you?”
She didn’t know quite how to take that. Jeff had sometimes, even in recent memory, stayed mad at her for days. “So something else happened,” she said, deciding to ignor
e the implied insult he’d just thrown at her.
“Nothing that matters.”
“Okay.” If he didn’t want to talk, she wasn’t going to push him. He’d probably get around to it sooner if she pretended disinterest anyway. “I’m going to call Shirley. Is there anything you want to ask her?”
“Oh, I don’t know. How about when am I going to get my life back?” He shoved back from the table and left. A few moments later she could hear the sounds of him working on the far side of the house.
She felt a strong urge to throw something. His attitude stank, and while she could understand he was suffering from a lot of stress and fear, so was she. If he could have a minor temper tantrum, why couldn’t she?
Except that no matter what she threw, she’d have to clean up the mess. Instead she settled for throwing Jeff’s sandwich in the garbage and rinsing his plate and glass. It wasn’t as satisfying, but at least it wasn’t destructive.
Then she called Shirley’s office, and to her surprise was put right through.
“I was just about to call you, Callie,” Shirley said. “I got the paperwork from the sheriff, and all it lists as being taken are Jeff’s clothes and the logbook from the boat. Have you noticed anything else gone?”
“Nothing.”
“Good. Okay. I’ll need you to come by here in the next few days and sign this so I can get it back to them. I raised Cain about you being told they hadn’t taken anything at all, but they said it was a miscommunication with the officer who spoke to you. Things happen.”
“Sure. I’m not really worried about it, Shirley.”
“Well I am. Mistakes are my meat and drink. Meantime, I’m working on the state attorney. I pointed out to them that until they could prove the other two people who went out on that boat have turned up missing, they’ve got a paper-thin case against Jeff. I mean it wouldn’t take much to raise a reasonable doubt in a jury’s mind about who actually killed these two guys. The fact that the guys who chartered the boat haven’t been reported missing is as suspicious as hell.”
“I agree with you. And that’s what I called about, Shirley. I talked with Pearl Rushman this morning. She says the men who chartered the boat were divers. I was wondering if anybody has their names.”
“Divers?” Shirley was silent a moment. “You know, that boat was found three or four miles out beyond the reef. I could see a fisherman wanting to go out there, but what the hell was a diver doing so far out?”
“Treasure hunting maybe?” She didn’t want to mention the diamonds to anyone, not until she had something more than a string of coincidences. She didn’t want Shirley to think she was going off the deep end, especially since they had no proof that those diamonds had ever been on the boat. ‘There are an awful lot of wrecks out there that have never been found.” Which, she realized suddenly, could well account for the divers without Chase’s ten million in diamonds. Her stomach lurched and sank. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was getting them anywhere with this.
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time,” Shirley said. “I wonder why the state attorney didn’t mention they were divers.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know.”
“If you found that out, and he doesn’t know, I’m going to give him hell over the quality of his investigation.” Sylvia suddenly laughed. “It’ll make my day. Let me get at it.”
“But wait, Shirley. Does anybody know the names of the men who chartered the boat?”
“Nope. Dead end there. And that’s making me really suspicious, Callie. These missing guys are like phantoms. Nobody’s looking for ‘em, nobody knows who they were… Most people don’t go through life leaving such a thin trail. You’d at least expect one of the hotels to report that a client had overstayed his reservation without making arrangements, and the bags were still in the room.”
“You would expect that.”
“See what I mean? There ought to be something. An abandoned hotel room with luggage, a relative calling frantically, something. And the state attorney knows it, too. That’s the reason Jeff and this other kid haven’t been charged with four counts of murder instead of two.”
“One count is more than enough,” Callie said grimly.
“Well, I’ll badger them for the names of these two guys, Callie. It’ll make ‘em nervous. And by the way, don’t talk to Pearl Rushman again. I don’t want there to be any hint of witness tampering, okay?”
“Okay. I didn’t think.” Butterflies fluttered uncomfortably in her stomach. “Jeff wanted to know if he can visit Eric in jail.”
“Absolutely not. Don’t even think of it. Anything he and Eric discuss will be listened to and noted, and you’d be amazed how even the most innocent statement can be twisted in court.”
“All right. I’ll tell him. Do you know if there’s any chance that Eric will make bail?”
“He’s not my client. If you want to do something about that, call the public defender’s office. As far as I know, the kid’s still in his cell.”
Callie tried to call Chase, but his line was busy. Needing to keep herself occupied, she made a pitcher of lemonade, then carried two glasses outside. Jeff was high on a ladder, painting beneath the eaves at the peak of the roof. Creamy white paint was rapidly replacing the old, chalky white.
“Lemonade?” she called up to him. “Then I’ll help you paint.”
“Sure.” He climbed down from the ladder, bringing brush and paint can with him. He took a moment to tap the top onto the can, then wiped his hands on a rag. ‘Thanks.99
She watched him drain the glass in one long draft, so she passed him hers. “I can get more,” she said.
“Thanks. Listen, I want to paint the shutters black instead of green this time. Okay?”
“Sure.” She nodded agreeably. It was a small enough concession to make him happy. The shutters on the house were real ones, designed to let air circulate through while keeping the sun out, and designed to withstand high winds. Painting them was a job all by itself. “Did you get the paint for it?”
“No, I wanted to make sure it was okay with you first.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you, Jeff. But it’s fine with me. I’ll even paint them while you do the rest of the house if you want.”
He smiled back at her. “Great. I hate painting those things.”
“You certainly complained loudly enough about it last time.”
He laughed and drained the second glass of lemonade. “What did Shirley say?”
“Not much. You can’t visit Eric, though. She said they’d be listening to everything the two of you said, and things could get twisted. She also said she doesn’t think he’s going to make bail.”
“How could he? A quarter of a millions dollars is a lot of money. If we didn’t have this house and land free and clear, I’d still be rotting there, too.” He sat on the porch step and wiped his brow with the back of his arm. “Life’s unfair, Cal* lie. And don’t give me that crap you always do about my birth certificate not guaranteeing life is fair.”
“Okay, I won’t” She sat beside him and watched as he took an ice cube and popped it into his mouth to suck on. “Want some more lemonade? I’ll get it for you.”
He tucked the ice cube up in his cheek. “Maybe in a minute. So you and Chase didn’t find out anything useful this morning?”
“Only that these guys were divers and wanted to go out past the reef into deep water. And apparently nobody has turned up missing yet.” She hesitated, then decided Jeff was old enough to share her concerns. “There are a lot of reasons divers could have gone out beyond the reef, though, Jeff. There are a lot of wrecks out there.”
“Yeah, I know. I used to dream about being a diver and hunting for a sunken treasure ship like the Atocha” He rolled the ice cube around in his mouth and bit on it, crunching it.
“I imagine a lot of kids dream about that. And be careful. You don’t want to break a tooth.”
He grinned and crunched again. Callie didn’t have the heart to scold once mor
e. At least he was smiling. Finally. “Yeah, and some even grow up to do it. I really thought about it. But then I figured that was too much of a long shot. I mean, I could hunt for years and never find anything. Fishing is more practical. At least I bring home something to put on the table, or to sell at the market.”
Callie was surprised, and ashamed to admit it. She’d always seen Jeff’s desire to fish as willful and selfish. Never, ever, had she viewed it as a practical choice he might have made so that he could help out at home. Never had it occurred to her there might be something he wanted to do even more, but was out of his reach.
“Do you still want to hunt treasure?” she asked almost hesitantly.
“You better believe it. Eric and I found a couple of places that look really promising from reading stuff at the library. But it’ll have to wait until we can afford the gear and every thing.” He shrugged. ‘Those wrecks have been down there for four hundred years. They’re not going anywhere.”
Somewhere along the way, Callie thought, she had missed the fact that Jeff had grown up. Treasure hunting might sound wild, but his approach to the practicalities of it was fully mature.
Not that she liked the idea of his diving any more than she liked the idea of his fishing. Either way he was going to be at the mercy of the merciless sea. But regardless of how she felt about that, she was mortally ashamed to realize that she had never guessed her brother cherished bigger dreams, or that he and Eric had actually been researching the subject. She had honestly thought Jeff hadn’t opened a book since his G.E.D., except for his studies for his captain’s certificate. Now she found out he was researching the distant past at the library.
“I wish you’d use your brains on more than that,” she said.
“I know.” He shrugged. “Let’s not get into that again, okay? I’ve heard everything you have to say. But this is what I want to do.”
“You can always come back to it after college.”
“If there is a college,” he said grimly. “What if I get the death penalty?”
Her breath stuck in her throat, and she wished she’d never said anything about him wasting himself. She was never going to win that argument. Why couldn’t she just leave it alone? “It doesn’t matter,” she said finally. “You’ll do what you want.”