COFFIN COVE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 1)

by JACKIE ELLIOTT

  “I don’t remember exactly what happened.” Joe’s voice was almost a whisper, and Andi moved nearer to catch everything he was saying.

  “I know that Sarah screamed at Brian and threw something, I think. She said that she had suspected all along and would tell Mason and everyone. Brian just lost it. He grabbed hold of her, and I tried to pull them apart . . . I don’t know, I don’t know.” Joe’s voice rose and he cried, “I pushed her, I pushed her so hard and she fell, and . . . and . . .” He collapsed in sobs again.

  Andi closed her eyes, feeling her emotions well up, as Joe cried like a baby.

  “It was an accident, Joe. You didn’t mean it,” Harry said, his voice thick, and Andi could tell he was grief-stricken.

  “Brian said he could sort it. He would put her in the hatchery, everyone would think it was an accident. And it was an accident,” he said fiercely. “I didn’t know . . . I didn’t know . . . she was still alive . . .” He was forcing each word out now. “Not until they found her all tied up. They said she drowned!” he wailed. “My little girl, she must have been so frightened . . .”

  “Why didn’t you go to the police?” Harry asked in disbelief. “Why didn’t you turn that fucker in? Why did you protect him all these years?”

  “He’d already told some story about Sarah and Mason to the police. He told me that Mason was suspicious, and that he did it to help me. He threatened me too. Said that if he went down, so would I. I threw him off the property, told him that if I ever saw him again, I’d turn him in, I didn’t care anymore.”

  “You let us all feel so fucking sorry for you.” Harry practically spat the words out. “We searched for your little girl. My sister cried tears for you. You even told us that Sue was a madwoman.” Harry shook his head. “You’re pathetic, Joe. Pathetic. I looked up to you, man.” He turned away in disgust. “I’ve heard enough — let’s go to Vega, Jim. He needs to hear this.”

  Joe rocked back and forth, crying. Tara stood by his side, with a hand on his shoulder. She didn’t protest.

  Jim sighed. “I’m sorry, Joe . . .”

  “Hey!” Harry shouted suddenly. At the same time, Andi saw a movement in the undergrowth near the deck. Harry ran, taking the steps off the deck in one bound, and dove into the shadows. A moment later and he dragged Brian McIntosh into the light.

  “He’s been here all the time?” Harry shouted angrily at Joe. “You’re still protecting this shit? What’s the matter with you, man?”

  “It’s all fucking lies,” Brian whined. “Joe killed her, not me. I was just tryin’ to help my bro, it’s not fuckin’ fair.”

  Harry shook him. “Shut the fuck up.”

  In the distance, Andi heard a truck rumbling up the track. She could see the headlights glinting through the trees.

  “Is that Vega?” she asked Jim. “Did you call him?”

  “I—” Jim started to say, but at that moment, Brian McIntosh twisted out of Harry’s grasp and took off running into the dark. Harry ran after him, and as the truck rounded the corner into the yard, Andi saw Harry tackle Brian McIntosh to the ground and pin him there easily.

  The headlights of the truck blinded her. She expected Vega to call out, to have brought his officers, but only one figure got out of the truck. The engine was still running, and the lights were on full beam. Andi shielded her eyes.

  “Inspector?” she called above the growl of the diesel engine.

  The figure didn’t answer. Instead, he held his arm out straight. A gun, Andi thought, not comprehending, and at the same moment she realized it wasn’t Vega, the man pulled the trigger and fired at Harry and McIntosh.

  “Harry!” Andi screamed.

  “Get down!” Jim dragged her onto the deck and pushed Tara back into the house. “Turn the light off!” The deck plunged into darkness.

  “What the fuck?!” Andi heard Harry’s voice in the darkness and nearly cried with relief.

  “Well, thanks for doing all the work, Harry,” the figure said. “You seem to be turning up everywhere. Hand him over. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want Brian.”

  Hilstead, Andi thought.

  To her surprise, Harry laughed.

  “You’ve killed two people already, Hilstead. You’ll kill me in a heartbeat. You want McIntosh? Come and fucking get him.”

  “What is he doing?” Andi said frantically. “He’ll get himself killed!”

  “Shut up,” Jim muttered to her. “He knows what he’s doing.”

  Hilstead strode away from the truck. Andi’s eyes readjusted to the dark. From where she was lying, stomach down on the deck, she could make out the outline of Harry’s bulk. She could hear Harry grunting and guessed that he was dragging McIntosh with him. She hoped that Tara was calling the police.

  Hilstead was advancing slowly, his gun — Nikos’s gun, Andi thought — held in a firing position. He stopped. Andi guessed that he was listening, trying to hear movement. Harry must have stopped still, because she couldn’t see him anymore.

  Andi heard a click, followed by a loud quick flash of light. In that second, she saw Harry holding on to Brian, right in the line of fire. She heard Hilstead laugh, and before he could fire again, she pushed herself to her feet and started running towards Hilstead.

  “Stop firing, you fucker!” she screamed.

  “Andi!” she heard Jim shout behind her, but she kept running.

  She heard another click, and she swerved to her right, as the gun flashed in front of her and the sudden loud noise made her ears ring. But then one leg crumpled under her.

  I’ve tripped, Andi thought, as she fell — in slow motion, it seemed — to the ground. But her leg didn’t move with her body and she felt a searing pain in her thigh.

  Oh, Andi thought to herself, as her head hit the ground, I’ve been shot.

  A dark shadow loomed over her.

  Hilstead, Andi thought. He’s going to kill me. I hope my phone is still recording. And for some reason, that thought made her giggle.

  She heard another click over the buzzing in her ears.

  He must be near.

  This is it.

  In the distance, Andi heard gunfire. But she felt nothing, except the burning in her left thigh.

  She felt the ground vibrate beside her. The movement made her leg hurt more, and although she just wanted to close her eyes, she put her hand down and pressed hard. Somewhere she’d read that this was the right thing to do.

  Her hand was wet.

  There were shadows above her. They faded in and out of sight.

  Andi was getting cold.

  And then lots of shouting. Was that a truck? Was Hilstead getting away? Andi tried to turn her head. She felt a presence beside her. Harry?

  “Are you OK?” a voice asked her.

  Andi recognized the voice, but it wasn’t Harry. It was a woman.

  “Sue?” Andi said. “I think I’ve been shot.”

  Sue’s face came into view. “Stay still. You’ll be fine. Help is on the way.”

  “What are you doing here?” Andi wondered, her voice sounding like it was coming from far away.

  “Settling a debt,” Sue said.

  “Oh. OK. I see,” Andi said, although she didn’t.

  And then it all went very quiet.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Andi was surprised to receive flowers at the hospital.

  Hope you get back to writing soon, best wishes for a speedy recovery, Andrew Vega, the card read.

  He’d been as good as his word too. He’d visited Andi and allowed her to ask as many questions as she wanted, with the one stipulation that he got to read the story before it went to print.

  Vega’s team had Hilstead in custody. He’d been charged with the murder of Pierre Mason and Captain Gerry Roberts. He’d first hired Dunn and Grant Associates as his lawyers, but had possibly been persuaded, as Vega put it, that if he cooperated and handed them some decent information on Paul Nguyen, he might not serve life in prison. His decision was still pendin
g. Nguyen’s influence was everywhere. Even in prison, Vega explained to Andi.

  Brian McIntosh had been charged with Sarah’s murder. He’d known she was alive when he tied her up and left her to drown in one of the abandoned, flooded hatchery buildings. He was also charged with stealing Harry’s gun. McIntosh was busy trying to blame his brother, Vega said, sadly.

  “And Joe?” Andi had asked.

  Vega shook his head. “No charges. Joe has liver cancer. He only has weeks, maybe days to live. His life has been a torment, a living punishment. I can’t imagine. Punishment harsher than the court system can hand out, I think.”

  “What about Hades?”

  “We’ve left that up to the DFO. But I think after the embarrassment with Captain Roberts, they’ll not pursue charges. I think Nikos Palmer is going back to help his son.”

  “And you’ll be glad to hear that I’m not charging you with anything,” he’d said with a smile that Andi found quite charming.

  “That’s because I didn’t do anything,” she had replied.

  “Really? How about impeding an investigation, conducting unlawful surveillance, being a pain in the ass?” He’d laughed. “When you come to Vancouver, I’ll buy you lunch.”

  Andi had agreed. She liked him. He had a dry sense of humour and he wasn’t bad-looking when he smiled, she thought.

  Jim hadn’t been enthusiastic about Andi going to Vancouver.

  “Is that a date?” he asked suspiciously. “Haven’t you had enough of Vancouver men? Can’t you find a date on the island?”

  “Sure,” Andi said sarcastically. “I’ll learn to fish and skin squirrels, OK? Then I’ll have to beat off Coffin Cove men with a stick.”

  Jim laughed. “C’mon, we’re not that bad.”

  He didn’t want her to leave, Andi knew that. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. The gunshot wound was healing, but she’d had a long time to think about her future while she lay in that hospital bed.

  “I can’t promise anything long-term,” Andi said to Jim when he visited, “but I’ll stay until the Gazette is on its feet. But we have to make some changes if it’s going to work.”

  Jim listened to her. “I can’t make promises either,” he said. “We’re . . . well, I’m practically broke. We’ll try what you suggest and see what happens. Let’s say we give it a year. Let’s reassess where we are then. Does that work?”

  “It’s a deal,” Andi said, glad to kick this decision down the road. And it was settled.

  * * *

  It was her last day in hospital. Andi was surprised to see Harry.

  He looked uncomfortable, sitting in the small metal visitors’ chair with his arms crossed.

  “Are those from that newspaper guy?” Harry asked, nodding his head at the flowers by Andi’s bedside. “Your old boyfriend?”

  “No,” Andi said, and smiled at Harry. She wondered why he had come. Just to make nosy comments about her flowers and sit there looking grumpy?

  “How’s your girlfriend?” Andi asked, breaking the awkward silence.

  “Who?” Harry said, looking startled.

  “Brenda,” Andi said, “I thought you and she . . .”

  “No, no . . . well, not now. Once upon a time we . . . well, that was years ago,” Harry said, stumbling over his words. “She’s leaving Steveston and moving out east to live with her sister. She’s renting out her apartment and might even sell up. Says she needs a fresh start.”

  “Oh, I see,” Andi said, amused to see him so flustered. “So, did you bring me some of Hephzibah’s muffins?”

  “Er, no, I . . .”

  “No flowers, no muffins, why exactly are you here?” Andi said, wanting to laugh, but frowning at him.

  “OK, I wanted to say something,” Harry said. He looked serious and Andi wished she hadn’t teased him.

  “That night, when you got shot, you were running towards me and Hilstead, do you remember?” He leaned forward and took Andi’s hand.

  She nodded slowly. “Yes, I remember.”

  “What I wanted to say . . . well . . . Andi,” he looked at her, and said slowly, “that was the most unbelievably fucking stupid thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  Two Months Later

  “You know, there’s one thing I never did find out,” Andi said as she accepted a mug of coffee from Harry.

  “Oh? What’s that?” Harry sat on his faded canvas chair and looked at Andi perched on an old upside-down fish container, her arm resting on her crutches.

  He handed her one of Hephzibah’s Morning Glory muffins, still warm.

  Andi accepted it. Her appetite was coming back. She was sleeping better and had stopped drinking wine. Well, not so much anyway. Her leg was healing slowly, and she’d managed to clamber onto the deck of the Pipe Dream that morning without help from Harry.

  He’d been surprised to see her.

  Andi had been planning the visit. She needed an answer to a question that had been niggling her for a while.

  “I never found out who shot the sea lions.”

  Harry took a moment before he answered.

  “Maybe Mason shot them himself?” he suggested.

  Andi considered for a minute.

  “I guess that’s possible. He wanted to create some drama so he could whip up some outrage.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” Harry replied.

  “Hmm.” Andi wasn’t convinced.

  They both sat for a moment in the morning sun.

  “The DFO have announced a study,” Harry said, breaking the silence. “To find out if there is any evidence that the sea lions are depleting fish stocks.” He rolled his eyes. “I could have saved them the cash.”

  Andi laughed and winced a bit. “I suppose that’s a start.”

  “After all the publicity about Mason and Gerry Roberts, I guess they thought they’d better do something. At least they are listening to our side this time.”

  Andi looked at Harry.

  “You should thank that person who shot those sea lions then,” she said, her gaze steady. “In a way, he started all this.”

  He turned his head to look at her.

  “I suppose he did,” he said, and smiled.

  THE END

  Acknowledgements

  This book and the Coffin Cove series would not exist without the encouragement and support of my family, especially my husband, Bob.

  Thanks also to my husband and other people in the commercial fishing and forestry industries who have corrected my terminology, explained processes and generally added to the authenticity of the story. Any errors that exist are mine alone.

  Author’s Note

  The War in the Woods as referred to in this book is a fictional event. The real War in the Woods, also known as the Clayoquot protests, took place in 1993 on Vancouver Island.

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