Cooper's Deale Part 20

"What is it, Frank?" Abel ran up beside him and into the water. "How come our boat is running, Frank?"

Clarence pulled up and splashed into the water. "What are we gonna do now, Frank?"

Frank turned to them and stared. Water dripped from his nose and a cold rivulet traveled down the back of his collar to his spine. How he'd ever figured he could do anything with these idiots was beyond him. Did he have to think of everything?

He stared at the boat again. Had the cops somehow found it beforehand? Yet he couldn't see a police boat, or anything else for that matter. They were being chased from behind and were now committed to the water, so their only chance was to get back on the boat. He hesitated only an instant, then plunged in and began to swim.

Karen raced to the sh.o.r.e and joined Liberty on the beach as three figures in the ink-black water swam toward the boat.

"They're getting away," Liberty shouted. She raised her gun and fired two shots, which only made the swimmers dive under water.

Scanning the sh.o.r.e, Karen saw the Cooper boat down the coast at the dock, too far away to reach now. She stood helplessly as the intruders escaped. Footsteps behind her made her turn around, and Addy staggered toward them.

"I heard gunshots." Addy panted. "Where's Tommy?"

"I don't know, but I don't think he's out there." Karen gestured to the men in the water.

Someone yanked Addy's arms behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Liberty gripping her wrists.

"You're under arrest," she barked.

"What?" Addy shrieked.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" Karen asked. "You know d.a.m.n well Addy doesn't have anything to do with this."

"I don't know anything of the sort," Liberty said smugly. "And don't get in my way, Deputy. I know you have a special interest in this suspect. Any interference on your part and I'll have to a.s.sume you're involved as well."

Addy gazed out into the pouring rain, unable to discern where the sky ended and the sea began. She could barely make out a boat being tossed by the waves and three figures splas.h.i.+ng toward it. Even though her hair was plastered to her head and the water cascaded down upon her, she could feel hot tears slide down her cheeks. Where was Tommy? What was going on and who were those men? Hopeless, wet, and tired, she broke down and sobbed.

Suddenly the engines on the boat roared to life and the boat took off. Addy stared unhappily toward it, knowing that perhaps the only chance she had of discovering what had happened to Tommy was leaving on that boat. The rain and her tears blurred her vision, but something in the water drew her attention and she blinked rapidly to clear her vision.

"They're still in the water," Karen said. "I don't get it."

"It's an accomplice," Liberty snapped. "He's leaving his buddies to fend for themselves."

The boat angled off out to sea, then abruptly changed course and headed toward sh.o.r.e.

"He's going to run over them," Karen shouted, and headed for the water.

"Karen, no," Addy screamed.

The swimmers dove under the waves, but at the last second, the boat spun in circles.

Frank kicked to the surface, gasping for air and keeping his eye on the boat. What the h.e.l.l was going on? He was positive he had turned off the engines before they left-had they malfunctioned?

Surely not. And it couldn't be the cops. They would just come and arrest them. That left only one other possibility-the kid.

"What the f.u.c.k is going on?" Clarence shouted. "Somebody's tryin' to kill us."

"What're we gonna do, Frank?" Abel coughed and spit up water.

"Here it comes again," Frank said.

He dove as far as his lungs allowed and hoped the others had enough sense to do the same, then he scrambled for the surface once the boat had pa.s.sed. For several minutes the game continued, with the boat circling and them diving. Finally, gasping and spluttering for air, Clarence began to swim for sh.o.r.e, and Abel followed him.

"Get back here," Frank shouted above the din of the engines.

But apparently neither Clarence nor Abel heard him. They were too busy swimming for their lives. After glancing at the boat barreling down on him, Frank hurried after them. But the boat was following him to sh.o.r.e, so he panicked and swam as fast as his bad leg allowed, swallowing salt water and choking his way to land. When his feet touched bottom, he stood and stumbled to the sand.

"The boat's not stopping," the deputy shouted, and she grabbed Frank by the arm and yanked him out of the way. The other woman shoved Abel and Clarence to the ground and the boat whined, its engines out of the water. It crashed into the tall gra.s.s and thudded to a stop, wedged between two loblolly pines, its engines still spinning noisily.

Addy watched Liberty pull herself up into the boat and disappear. Soon the engines stopped and the silence contrasted starkly to the dripping rain. In a few minutes Liberty reappeared, pulling Tommy by his s.h.i.+rt.

"Tommy." Addy ran to the side of the boat, and he leapt over the side and flung himself into her arms.

"What the h.e.l.l is going on?" Karen asked.

"Tommy!" Fern clapped her hands and laughed. Her curlers bounced around her head like a Slinky, and Chauncey stood next to her, drenched and covered in mud and leaves from his forays into the woods.

Liberty eyed them all suspiciously, then announced, "Don't anybody move. You're all under arrest."

"Are you insane?" Karen asked. "What are you talking about, McDonald? Who's under arrest?"

"All of you." Liberty gestured to everyone standing within the circle by the boat. "Including you, Deputy. I believe you're aiding and abetting Ms. Cooper and her brother. And I think Miss Bush and Mr. Velasquez are also somehow involved."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Fern said with a huff. "You must have hit your head, Miss McDonald."

"I almost did, Miss Bush." Liberty pointed to the boat with her pistol. "Tommy was aiming the boat right at me but failed. Only through my quick thinking was I able to jump out of the way at the last minute. Otherwise, I'd be seriously injured, or worse."

The scrawny leader of the escapees started edging into the gra.s.s and weeds, but Liberty noticed him and pursued him as he plunged into the woods.

"That's far enough, Gripp," Cheatham muttered as he appeared and held a gun in his face.

As Liberty walked out of the shadows with Cheatham and Gra.s.sley, she faced the group of criminals and smiled at her fellow agents smugly.

"Gentlemen, I've captured the whole lot of them. Your timing is perfect. Let's take them in."

"This is ridiculous," Addy said. "We're all innocent, except for those men."

"Forget it," Liberty said. "Just give it up, Addy, and confess. It'll go easier on you."

"I-" Addy spluttered. Everyone began to shout and argue their innocence. She clung to Tommy, refusing to let him go.

"We found the film," Cheatham shouted, holding the canister up for all to see.

The clamor gradually petered out until all was silent and Cheatham repeated himself.

"That doesn't prove anything," Liberty and the leader of the three men said simultaneously. She stared at him.

"Not at the moment," Cheatham went on. "But very shortly, we should have the answers to who killed Scott Vinson."

Addy sat at the bar in the Happy Harbor a week later, drinking her second b.l.o.o.d.y Mary as Chauncey taught Tommy how to throw darts. Fern perched on a bar stool across from her, tossing down shots of Jim Beam and detailing the steps of how to repair a Harley carburetor to a tattooed woman next to her. Addy leaned back on her stool, knowing Karen was there to prevent her from falling.

"Man, and here I thought I knew all the gossip in town," Dee-Dee said. She pulled the lever back on a draft she was pulling and slid it in front of Karen.

"I'm just glad it's all over." Addy sighed as Karen's arms wrapped around her. "And it's so good to have Tommy back."

His quick toss of four darts circled the bull's eye perfectly.

Tommy's curiosity had saved them all, for who knew if and when the Gripps would have returned to search for the film. The roll clearly showed them working on what the FBI called a "dirty bomb," intent on poisoning the Chesapeake watershed. Vinson had also managed to snap a few photos as he ran away from his pursuers. Addy shuddered.

"Are you all right?" Karen kissed the top of Addy's head.

Addy tilted back and looked up at her. "I am now."

"It's your turn," Tommy told Karen. He sat on her stool next to Addy and took a big gulp of his c.o.ke.

"Are you okay?" Addy ruffled the hair on his forehead.

"Yeah. "This is a lot of fun. Can I do it again?"

"Anytime you like." Addy was thrilled to see him so happy.

He had told her about his dream on the boat, and how he felt their father was there with him, guiding the boat. She didn't quite understand what it all meant, but she felt closer to Tommy than she had in years. And the fact that he was at the Happy Harbor, and not afraid, was nothing short of a miracle. They weren't alone anymore.

"And can I play with Chauncey too?"

"Of course, if he wants to. But why?"

"He's not very good," Tommy whispered. "But don't tell him, okay?"

Addy smiled. "Okay, I won't."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

end.