Marty Ambrose - Mango Bay 02 - Island Intrigue (8 page)

“We’ve got the marina’s cabin cruiser all gassed up
and ready to go,” Pete said.

“Thanks, pal,” Detective Billie replied.

Pete tried to stroke Kong. He growled. That was
more like the Kong I knew and loved.

“You want me to go with you?” Pete asked Nick.

“No, I need you here to handle the radio and keep trying Sally Jo’s number” Detective Billie turned to me. “I
know this is asking a lot, but could you come along?
Wanda Sue gets deathly seasick, and I think a woman’s
touch might help when we pick up Kevin.”

“Me?” My first reaction was shock. Then a new and
unexpected warmth surged through me.

“If you think you’re up to it.” He paused. “You don’t
get seasick, do you?”

“No, never” Actually, I had no idea if I’d get seasick
or not. I’d never been on a boat, except the Pirates of the
Caribbean ride at Disney World. And I didn’t think that
counted, because it was a small craft on a mechanicallyrun water track in a climate-controlled, totally artificial
lagoon. “I’m sure I’ll be fine”

“Okay, let’s get going. I want to reach Kevin before
sunset.”

“Mallie, please bring my grandson back to me!”
Wanda Sue exclaimed.

I gave her a thumbs-up and deposited Kong into her
arms. “Have somebody take him for a walk soon”

“Will do” Pete handed me a Thermos and a small
paper bag. “Nora sent these over for Kevin. It’s hot tea
and homemade oatmeal cookies.”

I flashed him a brief smile of thanks, then followed
Detective Billie out of the office. We hurried toward
the docks.

“Looks like the wind has dropped, thank goodness.
Not much of a chop on the water.” He looked out over
the small bay. “We should be able to make it out to the
pass in about thirty minutes.”

I trailed him with steps that began to slow the closer
I came to the docks. What had possessed me to agree to
this rescue mission? I didn’t know a chop from a wave.
And I certainly didn’t know anything about boats. I
swallowed hard. Keep it togetherfor Wanda Sue.

We halted in front of a newish-looking, midsized boat
with a small cabin. Painted white with a green strip along
the bottom part, it looked well cared for and seaworthy
to my untrained eye. At least it probably wouldn’t sink
anytime soon.

Detective Billie jumped onto the deck with an easy
grace. I stood rooted on the dock.

“Come on” He motioned me on board.

“Uh … maybe this wasn’t such a good idea” I eyed
the eight-inch space between the dock and the side of the
boat. What if I missed and fell in? I might get hypothermia and-

All of a sudden, two strong arms clamped around my
waist and lifted me into the boat.

“I don’t have time to deal with indecision right now.
Either you’re going with me, or I can put you back on the
dock. What’s it to be?” Nick Billie looked down at me.

“I’m going.” Please don’t let me be seasick, I chanted
silently. If Wanda Sue’s grandson could survive out there
all by himself, the least I can do is help rescue him without barfing.

Detective Billie cranked the engine. It sputtered a few
times, then roared to life. “Undo the line!” he shouted.

I untied the rope connecting the boat to the dock and,
before I could think, threw the entire thing onto the dock.
Oops.

He revved the engine a few times, shifted the boat
into gear, and moved away from the dock. “Okay?”

“Okay.” I joined him under the covered part of the
boat where the wheel and engine throttle were located.
No need to tell him I’d thrown off the wrong end of
the rope.

He zipped up his fleece-lined black leather jacket,
then eyed my flimsy Windbreaker. “Are you going to be
warm enough?”

“I’ve got on a flannel shirt under this and a T-shirt
under that. It’s called layering. Helps with the cold” Actually, I don’t know if it helped or not. But I didn’t
have the money to buy a real coat right now, so I had to
improvise with arctic-coping strategies I’d seen on the
Discovery Channel.

“Some weather for Florida, huh?” He cracked a smile.

“I didn’t expect it, I can tell you that.” I was tempted
to move closer to him-to share body warmth, that’s all.
Purely for survival.

About twenty minutes passed, the boat slapping the
water the only sound that pierced the silence between
us. The sun dipped behind dense, sooty clouds that were
turning the sky a dull, gunmetal gray. I shivered.

“We’re almost at the pass.” Detective Billie steered
toward the far side of the bay. The boat arced in a half
circle toward our target destination, and I gripped the
side to steady myself.

“Why do you think Tom took his son out to fish in
weather like this? That s-seems sort of dumb to me,” I
stammered, trying to let my body sway with the pitching of the boat, but the thumping motion of each wave
caused me to stiffen.

“A lot of men on this island live to fish. Some are
third or fourth generation fishermen. Unless there’s a
hurricane, they think it’s okay to be out on the water.”

“But with a kid?”

“They like to start ‘em young”

I clucked my tongue. It seemed one step removed
from those parents who’d throw their babies into the
water and trust them to surface with an instinctive dog paddle. Heck, Kong could barely stand to put a paw in
water, and he was a dog.

“Well, Detective Billie, what do you think happened
to Tom?” I widened my stance on the deck, bending my
knees slightly. Please let us get to Kevin soon.

“It’s Nick, now that you’re part of my crew.” He
smiled briefly; then his mouth tightened into a thin line
as he straightened out the boat. “Sorry to say it, but Tom
probably had too many beers and fell overboard. It’s
been known to happen.”

Another shiver snaked through me like liquid lightning. “If he couldn’t make it back on board his boat,
then he might have .. ” I didn’t want to say the word.

“Drowned” His tone was flat, unemotional, but the
grim set of his features told me he didn’t hold out much
hope. “There’s the boat” He gestured toward a ramshackle vessel bobbing up and down in the middle of a
channel that separated two mangrove islands. “This is
going to be tricky. I’ve got to get us around the stern of
his boat, then drop anchor to the port side.”

Stern? Port? I was lost.

He must have sensed my confusion. “Here, you take
the wheel, and when I say so, cut back on the speed
with the throttle” He pointed at the stick with a round
knob at the end. “Shift it to neutral”

I took his place, and he moved to the front of the
boat. Then he exclaimed, “Where’s the line?”

“I … I sort of threw it overboard back at the dock”

He cursed in a language I didn’t understand, in all likelihood Miccosukee. But I didn’t need a translation
to get the gist of it.

We drew closer to the other boat. I could see a little
boy standing on the back deck, his face panic-stricken
as he waved his arms up and down.

“Everything’s going to be all right, Kevin. Just stay
put!” Nick shouted. “We’re going to come up alongside
you.”

The boy settled down.

“Okay, ease back on the throttle,” he said to me.

I jerked it downward, and the engine cut out immediately.

“I didn’t mean shut it down. I meant neutral!” He
darted to the edge of the boat. “Try to steer us toward
Kevin. We should drift in that direction.”

I did my best, yanking the wheel, and luckily the
water seemed to push us in Kevin’s direction.

“Kevin, throw me a line,” Nick instructed.

The boy grabbed a thick rope and tossed it to him. Nick
caught it and tied it around the metal thingamajig on our
vessel. In spite of his fast work, our boat still slammed into
the other boat, knocking Nick sideways. He quickly recovered and stretched out a hand to the boy.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t let go of you”

The boy extended five shaking fingers. The boats
rammed each other again, but somehow Nick managed
to grasp Kevin’s hand and hold on. Then he hoisted the
boy onto our boat.

“Way to go!” I enthused.

Our intrepid island cop carried Kevin under the
canopy, where I was. Wow.

“What happened to your dad?” Nick asked, setting
Kevin down and rubbing his hands up and down the
boy’s arms to warm him.

“I don’t know. Like I told you on the radio, I woke up,
and he was gone” Kevin’s teeth chattered as he tried to
blink back the tears.

“Okay. We’ll talk later.” He gave the boy a brief hug.
“This is Miss Mallie. She’s going to take care of you
while I get us home, okay?”

Kevin managed to wag his head, his face pinched
with cold.

“I’ll take him below.” I put an arm around his thin
shoulders. “I’ve got some hot tea and Nora Cresswell’s
yummy oatmeal cookies. Would you like some?”

His teeth chattered around something that sounded
like a yes.

“You two go ahead. I need to stabilize the boat and
check out the area” Detective Billie grabbed a pair of
binoculars.

I led Kevin down the stairs into the small cabin. It held
a mini kitchen, a table with two cushioned seats, and a
pair of bunks in the front, which tapered to a point. Neat
and tidy with the smell of leather dipped in seawater.
Nice.

Wrapping a thick wool blanket around Kevin, I settled him on the seat next to the table. Then I filled a mug
with the steaming liquid and handed it to him.

“Thanks, miss.” He gulped down the hot tea.

“You can call me Mallie.” I took in his short brown
hair, soft blue eyes, and sensitive features. I had never
met Sally Jo, but if she looked anything like Wanda Sue,
Kevin must resemble his dad.

“Is that better?” I sat next to him, slipping an arm
around his quaking shoulders.

“Uh-huh. Could I have some more?” He held out
the mug.

“Sure” I smiled and reached for the Thermos.

As I refilled his mug, I heard muffled swearing from
on deck-this time in English.

“You stay here, Kevin.” I scrambled up the stairs and
moved toward the back of the boat, where Detective Billie stood very still, head lowered. “What’s up?”

He handed me the binoculars and pointed to the
mangroves off in the distance. I held the glasses up to
my eyes. For an instant I couldn’t see anything as my
vision adjusted to the lenses. Then I spotted it-a man’s
body flung against the clawlike mangrove roots.

“Tom?” I mouthed without speaking.

He nodded.

I stayed belowdecks for the choppy trip back to the
Trade Winds Marina, keeping Kevin distracted so he
wouldn’t hear Detective Billie radio the Coast Guard to
pick up his father’s body. We talked about school, his
favorite band-the Jonas Brothers-the latest Harry Potter movie, and what kind of fish he liked to eat.

Coming up with topics proved surprisingly easy,
considering I wasn’t used to kids. Didn’t have any and
didn’t know anyone who did. The world of car pools,
after-school activities, and kiddie films was unknown
to me-if you discounted my brief sojourn at Disney
World, which I tried to do. Those multitudes of Mickey
Mouse worshippers seemed like aliens from another
planet. Not that there was anything wrong with them;
I just didn’t connect.

But sitting with Kevin in the cozy confines of the
boat cabin, I had my first upfront, close, and personal
contact with a kid. It wasn’t half bad. Even if some of
his schoolmates called him a juvenile delinquent, he’d
just lost his father, and I found myself welling up with a
sudden, unexpected maternal desire to protect him.

A strange reaction but not unpleasant. Not at all.

“Mallie, I need your help!” Detective Billie shouted
from above.

“Stay here where it’s warm” I squeezed Kevin’s arm
in reassurance.

“Okay” He turned his attention to the plate of oatmeal cookies I’d set down next to the hot tea.

I emerged from the cabin and realized the weather
had worsened. A cold, hard rain now fell, and the bay
waters churned with small whitecaps, the boat thumping hard on the surface. Somehow Detective Billie, standing at the wheel with his features set in a determined
expression, kept the boat chugging in a steady path toward the marina. His hair plastered to his head, hands
gripping the wheel, he seemed more than a match for
whatever the elements could throw his way.

My heart beat a little faster.

“How’s Kevin?” He glanced briefly in my direction.

“Settling down a bit, but he’s still dazed” I steadied
myself by gripping the back of the captain’s chair. “Don’t
you think it’s odd that Tom went to all the trouble to
take his son on a fishing trip, then drank too much and
fell overboard?”

He groaned. “Don’t start hypothesizing-it’s not
the time or place.” Nick flashed me a warning glance.
“There’s no point in speculating before we know for
sure what happened”

“I’m just thinking out loud.” I watched the birds overhead struggle to fly against the wind, soaring upward,
then dipping low, to find a clear path. “Guess I’m just
nervous.”