“Friday night,” he said softly. “Things are moving”
She looked at him expectantly. “And?” she asked.
“And we’ll catch them.” He grinned wolfishly, reminding her once again that her loving husband and proud father of her children was also a predator.
Chapter 18
Thursday
The sun-kissed sky showed blue and gold. Waterfowl flew low over the flat water, and out by The Shivers seals slipped lithely into the ocean to find breakfast. In the distance there was the comforting rumble of a diesel-powered lobster boat heading out to tend its traps.
The water was streaked with gold and speckled with lobster buoys.
It was three minutes after sunrise, and it was glorious.
Paddling rhythmically, the two kayakers made their way past The Shivers and out towards Enchanted Island. They paddled in comfortable silence, neither one wanting to break the spell of the sunrise on the ocean. A seal surfaced near the lead kayak, barked quizzically, then dove under and disappeared. They went through a shallow area teeming with lobster buoys of various colors and shapes, then came out, facing an island about half a mile in front of them.
“That’s Millet Island,” Calvin said softly. “We’ll go north around it, skirt past Saddleback Island and then Enchanted Island will be ten minutes further on. There are usually a lot of seals around there.”
Gabrielle smothered a laugh. She had been kayaking in these waters since she was nine years old and knew every island within miles, but it pleased Calvin to be the tour guide, and she was content to let him enjoy it. Always treat a boy’s fragile ego gently, her mother said. Not that Calvin’s ego was that fragile, but still, it was the principle that counted.
They spoke little as they paddled, usually one commenting on something they’d seen. Countless seagulls, of course, but egrets and cormorants; two puffins sitting contentedly on a rock; once a Leach's Storm-Petrel, flashing its white blaze just above the tail feathers; a flock of black guillemots; and even a razorbill.
“They come to shore once a year to lay a single egg and incubate it,” Gabrielle told him. “If something happens to that egg, that’s it until next year. Scares me just to think about it.”
Calvin nodded, but was taken by the thought that people were sort of like that, too.
Thirty minutes later they had passed Saddleback Island and swung south to land on the rocky skirt forming Enchanted Island’s outer edge. The gulls screeched at them and grudgingly moved aside as they hauled the two kayaks out of the water. The sun was up now and the sky a cornflower blue. They flopped down on the rock, which was just beginning to warm under the morning sun. Calvin opened the rear storage compartment of his kayak and pulled out a Tupperware container of sliced cantaloupe, two energy bars, and a thermos.
“Lemon and ginger tea?” Gabrielle asked hopefully.
“Black coffee,” he replied.
She wrinkled her nose. “At least it’s hot.”
They ate their breakfast quietly. They were still uncertain with one another, still feeling their way, aware that there was chemistry between them, but not knowing where it might lead. Both were also aware that in a few months they would be separated. Neither one of them knew what that would mean, but it added a frisson to their being together that was simultaneously distracting and delicious.
They were both thinking about sex, though neither would admit it.
After the cantaloupe and an energy bar, they shared a cup of coffee from the thermos’ cup-top thingy. “Want the grand tour?” Calvin asked. Gabrielle looked around. Enchanted Island was a football field wide, slightly more in length, and was smoothly oval shaped, except for a pudgy little foot jutting out from the bottom side of the island.
“Is it big enough to have a grand tour?” She raised her eyebrows. “I think I’ve seen larger phone booths.”
“Great views,” he assured her. “And quiet.”
“School’s at eight,” she reminded him. It was almost six-thirty now. “We will have to leave soon or we’ll be late.” She had no idea why she said that – school was the last thing on her mind today.
“We’re seniors. We can be late. Not the end of the world.”
She jumped up and took his hand. “Lay on, McDuff.”
He smiled. “Not everyone gets that quote right.”
They walked for a minute, each acutely conscious of the other’s proximity.
“Have you decided about college yet?” she asked him.
Calvin grimaced and shook his head. “Just goin’ round and round. I really want to go to college, but I can’t imagine living somewhere else yet.”
“Durham would be closer to Philadelphia,” she offered casually.
Calvin sighed. “Yeah, that’s sort of crept into the mix as well.”
She squeezed his hand and then pointed to the far end of the island. “Beat you there!” And before he could respond, she was off, sprinting nimbly over the rocks. Calvin gaped at her for a moment, then sprinted after her. But Gabrielle was a soccer player, while he was a swimmer. Her muscular system was trained for running, while his was for swimming, and within a hundred feet he knew he’d never catch her.
Then she stopped.
She turned to him, her face stricken. He skidded to a stop beside her. “Gabrielle, what’s wrong?” In response she pointed to the edge of the island a few feet away.
“I think it’s a body,” she choked out.
Frowning, Calvin dropped his hands from her shoulders and stepped around her. There, covered with seaweed, bobbing in the waves in the shallows, was…was…
As he watched, the body rolled over in the waves, revealing the man’s face. Or what was left of it.
Calvin Finley, son of a cop and grandson of a Marine, lurched forward spasmodically and threw up everything he had ever eaten in his entire life. Then he collapsed to his knees and tried to do it again.
“Calvin! Calvin!” Gabrielle pulled him to his feet and turned him away from the terrible sight. “Calvin! It’s okay, just don’t look at it. Okay? Don’t look.” She hooked her arm around him and began to draw him away, but he straightened and stopped.
“Got to call my dad,” he said. Then he looked at her, pale and shaken. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. Once I saw it, I couldn’t help myself.” He looked miserable. He blew air out of his lips. “Christ, it’s awful.”
“Don’t worry,” she assured him. “Just a reaction…” Her voice trailed off.
Calvin pulled out his phone and dialed his father’s mobile number. Then he closed his eyes, saw the face of the drowned man and began to retch again.
______________
Frank Finley’s cell phone began to ring. He and his wife looked at each other. Phone calls at 6:30 a.m. did not foretell good things to come. He picked up the phone and turned it on to speaker mode.
“Yes?”
Over the small speaker he could hear retching and coughing.
“Calvin, is that you?” he said loudly. “Calvin?” There was the muffled sound of the phone being handled or dropped, then a woman’s voice came on.
“Mr. Finley? Mr. Finley?” In the background he could hear someone groan loudly. What the hell was going on?
“Who is this?” he demanded.
“It’s Gabrielle Poulin, Mr. Finley. I’m with Calvin on Enchanted Island.”
Finley frowned. Who? Enchanted Island? What? “Where’s Calvin? What’s going on?”
Gabrielle sighed audibly into the phone. In the background, Finley heard Calvin’s voice: “I’m okay. Give me the phone, Gabs.”
More fumbling, then: “Dad?” His voice was shaky.
“Calvin, what’s wrong?” Next to him, Danielle was looking at him with alarm.
“Dad, listen, we’re at Enchanted Island.”
“Enchanted Island? What are you doing there?” Finley asked. Danielle hit him on the arm. Hard. She glared at him and made a ‘keep moving’ gesture with her hands.
“Calvin, son? What is the problem?”
“Dad, we kayaked out here this morning.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “There’s a body washed up on the rocks here.”
Finley froze. It was unusual to have bodies wash up in the island belt off of North Harbor and Stonington, but the Eastern Maine Coastal Current swept right through here. If… “Wait a minute, Calvin, hold on. I just need to check something. Hold on.” He put the phone to his chest and walked quickly to the wall of their living room, where they had a large map of the area mounted under glass.
“Frank, what is going on? Is Calvin all right?” Danielle asked him.
“They found a body out on Enchanted Island. Cal is pretty shook up.” He bent over the map, putting his finger over the area where they found Henry Mitchell’s boat. Then he traced the flow of the Eastern Maine Coastal Current to Enchanted Island. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath.
“What?” Danielle asked.
“I think Calvin may just have found the body of Henry Mitchell, but if the Cartel hears we’ve recovered him, they might get spooked and call off the drop tomorrow.” He thought furiously, then raised the cell phone again. “Calvin?”
“Yeah, Dad, I’m here.”
“Who is with you?” Finley asked
“What? Gabrielle, from school.”
Finley covered the phone and turned to his wife. “Who is Gabrielle?”
Danielle sighed at his ignorance. “Gabrielle Poulin is a senior in high school with Calvin. They are interested in each other. You know her father, George. He works at Kennebec Savings in Ellsworth.”
Finley considered. “Is she a solid kid or an airhead? Is she reliable?”
Danielle nodded. “Very solid. Very smart.”
Finley went back to the phone. “Calvin, listen to me carefully. Is the body male or female?”
“Oh…oh, hold on,” Calvin said.
Finley could hear voices through the phone. “He wants me to look at the body again to see if it’s a man or a woman. I don’t think…”
And then the girl’s voice: “I’ll look. Stay there.” And a moment later. “It’s a man. He’s wearing waders like a fisherman.”
“Dad,” Calvin said. “It is a man and he’s got clothing like you’d see on a fisherman or a lobsterman.”
“Son, are you okay?” Finley asked with concern.
Calvin sighed deeply. “I got sick a couple of times after I looked at the body. Really got to me. Gabs’ been helping. Sorry.”
Finley frowned. This did not sound like the usual Calvin. “Calvin, can you put Gabrielle on, please?”
More fumbling and a muffled discussion, then: “Hello, Mr. Finley?”
“Yes, Gabrielle. Listen, first, are you and Calvin okay? Calvin sounds pretty shook.”
“I think so. It was a bit of a shock, I have to tell you.” She lowered her voice. “Calvin lost his breakfast and has been sick a couple of more times. He doesn’t want to have to look at it again if he doesn’t have to. Is there something I can do?”
Finley took a deep breath. Whoever Gabrielle was, she sounded solid as a brick wall. But they weren’t out of the woods yet. “Gabrielle, I need you to look at the body, his arm. Got it? His left arm. Tell me if he has a tattoo of an anchor with a mermaid on it.”
There was a moment of silence. The moment dragged on.
“Gabrielle? You there?” he asked.
“You said his left arm?” She did not sound very enthusiastic. Finley couldn’t blame her.
“Yeah, left arm. An anchor with a mermaid sitting on it.”
More silence. Then the crunching sound of someone walking on gravel and, increasingly, Gabrielle’s breathing. The sound of walking stopped, but the sound of breathing increased. Finley could picture her bending over the body. A body, he reminded himself, that had been in salt water for close to three days. By now it would be in bad shape.
Then there was the sound of someone retching violently, followed by a cough and Gabrielle spitting. Then the sound of her panting for fresh air.
“Mr. Finley?” she sounded washed out and subdued.
“Yes, Gabrielle, I’m here.” He spoke calmly, willing her to take strength from him.
“He’s…he is badly eaten over much of his body; a lot of the skin on his arm is gone, but I can see the bottom part of an anchor tattoo and what might be part of a mermaid’s tail. At least that’s what I think it is.” There was the sound of her gagging, then another cough. When she came back to the phone, her voice was weak.
“Mr. Finley, can you come and get us? Please? I don’t think either one of us can kayak back right now.”
“Gabrielle, you did great. Really great. Now listen, Gabrielle, okay, listen close. I’ll be there within half an hour. Got it? Half an hour. I want you and Calvin to sit by your kayaks and wait for me. But listen, this is real important. If someone else comes before I get there, anybody at all, even if you know them, I want you and Calvin to get into your kayaks right away and paddle as hard as you can for shore.”
There was another long silence. “Mr. Finley, I think the man was shot in the head.”
“Why do you say that, Gabrielle?” Calmly, calmly. He waved frantically at his wife, then mouthed the words: Get the boat ready!
“The top of his head is gone, Mr. Finley.” She sounded near tears now. “I saw it, that’s what made me sick. Fish don’t eat the head, do they?”
“Gabrielle, you and Calvin are going to be fine. I’m going to be there in just a few minutes and I’ll take care of everything. I need you to be strong for just a little while longer. Can you do that, honey?”
A deep breath. “Yes, sir. And I’ll take care of Calvin. But hurry, please, Mr. Finley.”
“Gabrielle, put Calvin on the phone, will you, please?”
A pause, then Calvin’s shaky voice: “Dad? Are you coming?”
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes, son. But now listen very carefully. The body on the beach is a murder victim. If anyone gets to the island before I do, you and Gabrielle get into your kayaks and paddle like hell. If you can’t head for shore, go to Saddleback and try to hide there. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Is your boat gassed up?” But even as he asked, he realized it was going to be too small.
“Yeah, I filled it last night at Cadot’s.”
“How much battery life on your phone?” Finley asked.
“It’s good, Dad. More than half.”
“Okay, son. I’m sorry to get you involved in this. Go sit right next to your kayaks and wait for me. But if someone comes, run for it.”
Calvin blew out a breath. “Okay, Dad.”
“I love you, Calvin.” Finley disconnected the call, then entered the number for Howard Honeycutt. Predictably, Honeycutt answered on the first ring.
“Frank?”
“Howard, we’ve found Mitchell’s body. It looks like he was shot.” Finley gave a short terse, report. “We need to get that body out of there, but quietly. Very quietly.”
“Don’t worry,” Honeycutt assured him. “Enchanted Island isn’t the crime scene, the boat was the crime scene. It’s more important to keep this under wraps so they’ll go through with the drop tomorrow night.”
“Okay,” Finley replied. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got two badly frightened kids out there and no way of knowing if someone is looking for Mitchell’s body.”
“What do you need from me?” Honeycutt asked.
“I need you here with a truck to take the body somewhere and put it on ice. Bring the truck right down to the little dock on my father-in-law’s property.”
“You got it. It will be waiting for you when you get back.”
“Tell your guys to show their badges right away or I’ll shoot them,” Finley warned him. “And tell them not to wear their DEA jackets. This has to be low-profile.”
“We’ve moved bodies before, Frank. Don’t you worry.”
They hung up and Finley turned to find his wife handing him his service pistol, plus the Spo
rtical assault rifle they owned. “Let’s go,” she said.
“We need to borrow Luc’s boat,” Finley told her. “Calvin’s is too small to hold the kayaks and four people.” Plus the body, of course.
They were half way to the main house where Danielle’s parents lived when Luc Dumas stepped out of his house. He looked at their taut faces, the rifle Finley was carrying and the pistol on his daughter’s hip, then he grinned wolfishly.
“You guys need some help?”
Finley glanced at his wife, but she shook her head. “Dad,” she addressed Luc, “we’ve got a situation and we need to get there fast. We need to take your boat. Is she gassed up?”
“We can be on the water in five minutes,” he told them, including himself in their plan.
Husband and wife exchanged a look. Dumas’ boat was an Ellis 36 Express Cruiser, designed after lobster boats. There would be plenty of room for Calvin and Gabrielle, three adults, two kayaks…and one body.
Danielle nodded.
“Okay, Luc,” Finley said, “but we have to hurry. The kids are exposed out there and they’re waiting for us.”
Dumas stepped back into his house and came out half a minute later, dressed in a warm, waterproof jacket and carrying a shotgun. They walked briskly down the path to the gargoyle-festooned dock.
Finley gestured to the shotgun. “Luc, you know how to use that thing?”
“Son, I had the greatest teacher there ever was, the United States Marine Corps. That, plus a sunny, all-expenses paid year in the Republic of Vietnam, including the Battle of Khe Sanh. I have more than a passing acquaintance with shotguns.”
“You never told me you were in that battle!” his daughter exclaimed.
“I never told you a lot of things,” he retorted mildly. “Just like there are a lot of things you haven’t told me. But let’s save the intimate revelations until we finish this little mission of yours.” He glanced at his son-in-law. “What are we going to fetch?”
“Calvin and his girlfriend, two kayaks and a body,” Finley answered tersely.
Luc Dumas pursed his lips. “I’ve got some large plastic bags in the boat, will that do?”
North Harbor Page 9