by Lynn Ambers
Chapter Nineteen
The alarm on my phone went off.
“Darn it,” I said. We fell asleep on the boat.
“Mathew, we fell asleep,” I said. He made a muffled sound. He lifted his head and stared at me.
“It’s Sunday,” he said.
“Oh my god. I am an idiot,” I said.
“No worries get some coffee going and we need to head on back anyway to get back to work,” he said. I watched him lower into the down pillow.
I rolled over in my bed and closed my eyes and wished I could go back to sleep for a few more minutes. Instead, I popped up and headed for the little galley.
I measured out the light fresh ground coffee into the brown paper filter. I filled the coffee pot with the filtered water from the on-board system.
I walked up to the deck area. It was still dark. I looked to the east and saw a small orange glow on the horizon. It was about forty-five minutes until sunrise. It was a beautiful morning. The salty sea smelled fresh and new. I walked down to the galley to get some coffee.
I got my favorite coffee cup from the cup rack and took out vanilla creamer. I enjoyed the wonderful aroma of coffee that filled the cabin. I poured my coffee and added the cream. I then took my coffee with me up on the deck. I know the boat belongs to Mathew, but it still feels so homey to me.
I went up to the deck and sat down on one of the benches at the back of the boat and felt peaceful in the warm air. The morning birds were up calling each other, and a slight breeze with a touch of cool added to the loveliness.
I could hear small waves lapping on to the natural rugged and rocky shore of the nearest land. It was mostly dark all around as the land was covered mostly by mangroves with little inlets where you could find solid ground.
“I need some coffee,” I heard Mathew say.
“In the pot, come check out this beautiful morning sky,” I said. He popped his head from down below and looked around.
“It is beautiful,” he said but kept looking at me and not the surroundings. I blushed.
“Oh wow, it is low tide. I said trying to move on from the blushing.
“Yeah, it is low, “Mathew said smiling and walked to the side of the boat to realize something was possibly wrong. He went to the helm to start the engines which did not start because they were probably in muddy sand.
“Are we going to have enough,” I didn’t even have the chance to get the words out when I felt the boat jolt. Then I saw Mathew trying to reverse the boat.
“Damn,” he said. I did not want to rub salt into the wound, so I pretended not to notice that we were stuck in the sand. I went to the back to get my flippers and snorkel on to see if maybe I could dig out the propeller. We had this happen once before. It ended in having to flag someone down for a tow. Our only other option was to wait until the tide came back in.
“Felicity, “I hear Mathew say. “I believe we have run aground.”
“I was just going to jump in, do you want me to check the prop,” I said.
“Yeah, could you,” he said.
“I’m on it,” I said. I finish fastening my gear and jumped overboard on the side only to be stopped by the hard bottom of the lagoon floor. The water only went up to my shins. I dunked down to get a good look under the boat, but just as I suspected there was no getting under there. The prop had already dug into the muddy bottom. There was no way to get to it. I popped back up from the water.
“Sorry, that thing is dug in.”
“We are gonna have to wait for the tide or get some help or both whichever comes first.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. It’s Sunday early morning. I hope we can find someone going in. There won’t be as many people as there were yesterday.
“While we wait, do you mind if I just dive out a little when it gets lighter and cut some of the seaweed for Stan at the Reef. He was looking for something new to put on the menu. I had learned from a couple of those top restaurant shows how people were using the local stuff to put on their menu.”
“Seaweed sounds a bit strange but yeah go-ahead, be careful,” he said. “For now, we can just enjoy the coffee and the beautiful morning.”
“That is a great idea.” We both got our coffee and sat at the table at the back of the boat and relaxed.
When the sun came up further and the water was easy to see I hopped to the back of the boat to get a small knife and a bag for the seaweed collection. Mathew went to the map for coordinates and to start calling for help.
I could hear Mathew on the radio waves looking for some help. I came up from down below. Mathew was still calling out and waiting. If he had to, he would call the towing company, but that would just cost a lot. We had helped people before, so hopefully someone would come around. I looked at him and he was deep in what he was doing so, I made my way to the back of the boat and jumped into the sea.
Chapter Twenty
I landed in the sparkling turquoise water. The water was still warm from the summer heat, but it felt good. I looked around to figure out which way to swim. I figured I’d make my way to the best place to gather the seaweed.
The sea’s color changed in the keys from day to day. On the days when the sea was churned up, the water was murky and looked like almond milk. Especially when a hurricane was brewing the water would become choppy and sometimes violent. On still days like today when everything was settled the water could look anywhere from an emerald stone that was shined and polished to light green glass windows.
Today it was clear, almost still, clear and turquoise. I did have the advantage of high visibility. The waters had been calm for about a week now. The cold fronts from the northwest would not start making a huge impact until mid-November through February.
I swam towards the area where I knew the seaweed grew the most. There was a shelf that dropped a little way and was a perfect spot to gather the seaweed. This spot was far enough away from the deeper waters where the boats would pass through.
I dove down with my bag and knife. I swam down to the shallow sea floor and had to differentiate between the three different types of seaweed. The one I wanted looked more like a lettuce.
There was grass all over the Key’s shallow waters, but this was not what I was looking for. I needed enough edible seaweed for Stan to experiment with. We did have enough of adventurous locals and tourists who would want to try a dish with seaweed.
I got a rhythm of diving down, cutting seaweed, popping up for air, and diving down again. Some curious fish would swim along with me and little ones scattered as I cut through the small seaweed. I put a collection in my bag and heard a loud rumble in the water that startled me. The bottom of a boat was approaching. The boat stopped not too far away from me.
It was a large boat I could tell from the size of the bottom. I popped up to the surface of the water and looked to see what was going on. It was Blake Dalefort’s boat. Blake Dalefort’s fishing boat was approaching Mathew’s with the tow rope.
I guess Blake Dalefort was the only one available to help. That was genuinely nice of him to help us out. There is a boat code among boaters that you have to help stranded boaters.
Satisfied everything was okay and knowing better than to get in the way of the guys. I continued my seaweed search. Although, I knew I had to hurry it up because Mathew would want to go soon. I shot down to the sea floor again and continued gathering. I ventured near the edge of the reef and marveled at the beautiful rainbow fish, clown fish, and other tropical fish I didn’t know the name of.
It was moments like these I felt close to god. Needing air, I popped up to the surface. Taking a quick breath, I inched closer to the reef and beautiful schools of fish were swarming in circles for their daily feeding.
I went up for some air and popped down again. I could see the bottom of Blake Dalefort’s boat clearly now. I noticed some weird tracklike structures on the bottom of the boat. I had washed a few undersides of boats and never seen tracks like those before. I swam a little closer to take a
better look. The tracks looked like they were custom made. I was rather curious as to what those were.
I could only see one side, but there were four sets of tracks. Two on each side as if to create balance. Two of the tracks had boxes attached to them. I figured I’d ask Mathew what those were.
I jumped at the roar of the engine. I figured Blake was going to start pulling us. I swiftly swam back towards our boat to stay clear of danger. I popped up for air every so many minutes. The tide had come in thankfully.
I looked to see where the boat was, and it looked like we were finally on floating water and not stuck in the ground. Mathew was shaking Blake’s hand as he handed him the tow line back. Mathew waved to Blake and gave him a salute.
Mathew shaded his eyes and was looking around the water for me. I waved my hand up and he gave me a thumbs up. I smiled and got closer to the boat. I got the rear of the boat and jumped up on deck.
“Ready to go,” Mathew said.
“Yeah,” I said. I sat down on the back seat and started to rinse everything off. The sun was shining bright and felt great on my skin. Mathew had the motor up and going and set us on course back to the marina.
Chapter Twenty-One
I was in the office when someone shouted,
“Felicity.” I walked outside and looked across the field and saw David in handcuffs. Mathew was reading him his rights as Shawn the deputy was holding his arm. I rushed over to them.
“What is going on,” I said.
“Well Felicity, you were right. Valerie did not commit suicide. She was murdered by this drug addict,” Mathew said.
“No way,” I said. “First, he has been clean and sober for a while now. Second, he was working when Valerie was murdered. I am sure you have the wrong guy.”
“Yeah well, we found his fingerprints all over the needle,” Mathew said. “Apparently, Valerie had a little drug problem too. The two of them were little drug buddies and with her reputation who knows what else.”
“Well, what would be his motive. He loves Sophia there is no way?” I looked at David.
“I didn’t do it Felicity. I swear to you,” David said.
“I know,” I said.
“Save it for the judge, Romeo, your fingerprints say you did,” Mathew said.
“But,” I said.
“But nothing Felicity.” Mathew said, “let us do our job. justice will be served if he is innocent.”
“Without David my whole operation can crumble,” I said.
“Sorry to disturb your farm today, but we have the arrest warrant with the prints,” Mathew said.
“Felicity what do I do?” David said.
“I don’t know give me a little time. I’ll figure something out,” I said. “This is not right. Something else is going on. This means there is a murderer on the loose in this town. People need to know.”
“Felicity try not to be to upset,” Mathew said. I just looked at Mathew as he was taking David into the police car. All of us from the farm looked stunned. We just watched helpless as they all got back into the police cars and drove down the driveway.
I was hurt. Maybe it was true I thought. Maybe he did do it. Maybe he relapsed. People relapse all the time. Valerie had to be up to something.
I wondered how Sophie was going to take it when she found out. Maybe she could shed light on what was going on. Nothing made me madder than innocent people taking the punishment for something someone else did.
I had a farm to run. I just lost my farm manager. We had finally gotten everything working on the farm like a well-oiled machine. We were still on the edge of finances, but I felt sure season would keep me afloat. I needed everything to work to get into a stable financial situation.
I loved our police department and Mathew was my friend, but they were not use to something like this. I felt in my heart I was going to have to do a little digging to see exactly what Valerie was involved in.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I pulled up to my cottage on the other half of my farm on the other side of the road. David and Sophie lived here for now until they saved enough for their own place. I walked up to the door. I knocked.
I could hear Brownie, their lab, bark from the inside. John and I had lived had here a few years when we first moved to the farm. It was the original house that came with the land. The house was a small two-bedroom just enough for two people and a cute pup.
“Just a second.” I heard Sophie from the inside. The door opened swiftly.
“Hi Felicity,” Sophie said, “is everything alright?”
“Well, no Sophie, I said” maybe we should sit down. I motioned to the two white Adirondack chairs on the porch. I held her hand and said, “Sophie, how well does David know Valerie Ceres, the baker in town?” Sophie looks down.
“Well, I promised not to tell anyone, but David told me Valerie and David used to do drugs together before he was sober. They would hang out and get high together,” Sophie said.
“Valerie, really, a user,” I said.” She showed no sign of it.”
“I know she was particularly good at hiding it, David would say,” Sophie continued, “He only hung out with her a couple of times at her house before he overdosed that one time. This was right before we came to you guys for help. He said that he did not have any other contact with her except if he had to deliver for the farm.”
“Well, I am sorry to tell you this, but they just arrested him for her murder,” I said.
“What David,” Sophie said in shock, “no, why, why would he?”
“I know. I know he is innocent. I know he was delivering something for a customer at the time of the crime, so no one saw where he went. The two things I am worried about is who murdered her and how are we gonna prove it so we can get David out of jail?” I said.
“I know this is delicate, but before he got together with you did, did he have a relationship with her, I mean like sexual in any way,” I said.
“No,” Sophia shook her head, “that was sort of the thing. He wanted to be with Valerie, you know just look at her. What guy wouldn’t, but she said that she was involved with another guy. She didn’t tell him who.”
“Did he harbor any ill will against her, I said?
“No, no, Sophie said. “He was way past that. He loves me very much as far as I know. We have talked about it and gotten through all that. We are in a great place with you guys here on the farm. I, I just don’t understand. How could they possibly think he would do such a thing.” Sophie started crying. I gave her hug and tried to soothe her.
“I don’t know, but we will find out,” I said. Sophie straightened up and rubbed her eyes.
“Whatever you need me to do, I can do,” Sophie said. “I noticed that he brought the stuff to that pretty lady’s car, but I didn’t think much of it. Like I said, I know he loves me and to help a pretty lady to her car, I mean I could be all angry, but he said the pick-up was blocked and he didn’t think it was far,” she said.
“The weird thing is I didn’t notice he was gone at first. He was gone for some time it seemed,” I said.
“Do you think,” she said and put her fingers up to her face. “No, it is just coincidence.”
“The odd thing is,” I said. “He knows we have a strict no walking to people’s car policy, because of insurance. The only place we are insured to deliver is in our one designated space.”
“I know it is a little odd. He was acting weird that day,” she said. “I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to him.”
“They are holding him downtown,” I said, “but they will transfer him to Miami eventually. If we could find some evidence soon, then we can get him released.”
“Well, I can take on some of his extra work,” Sophie said. “If you want. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do, just please don’t fire him.”
“Not to worry,” I said,” your help will be great, and I can hire a temp worker. We just need to find out what is going on and who is behind her murder.
“I am going
to head over to the farm now and get an early start on work.”
“If you need to take the day, I understand,” I said.
“No, no I want to keep my mind busy. Thank you, Felicity, for understanding,” Sophie said.” I won’t let you down and I know David won’t either. I know he is innocent. He loves his life right now.” I give her hug.
“Don’t worry we will get it all worked out,” I said. “Make sure to lock your doors and keep Brownie close.”
“I will, I’m gonna get ready and I’ll be over,” she said.
“Okay,” I said. I walked out and looked at the north to south rows of crop ready to burst. We would be harvesting over here this week for next week’s market. I jumped in the car and headed back to the farm.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I drove downtown to our police station. I hoped they had finished filing the paperwork for David so I could talk to him. I walked in and Gina was at the front desk with her perfect hair and nails. I had gone to school high school with her..
“Hi Gina,” I said.
“Is that you farm girl, Felicity,” she said.
“Yes, hi, how are you?” I said.
“Oh, just fine, I just had a little baby?”
“Oh really, congratulations!”
“Thanks, her name is Lilly.”
“Gina, I would love to catch up, but am in a bit of a rush to get back to the farm. Is there any way I can talk to David? I know they just brought him in for Valerie’s suicide,” I said. “No, I mean suicide or maybe murder by someone else. Not David.”
“Well, I don’t know?” she said
“Am I able to talk to him. I only have so much time. You know the fruits and vegetables need me,” I said.
“Okay well, let me make a call and see if it is okay yet.”
“Okay, thank you.” I looked around at the police station lobby. There were a couple chairs and a table with magazines. Gina was behind a big desk with phones and such. There was just a door to the back. The room was plastered with public service announcement posters. Missing person posters that were from different places in the country were hung haphazardly and some quite straight.