Dog Tags

CHAPTER 53

WILLIE AND HIKE WERE NOT THE PERFECT TRAVELING COMPANIONS. They were in first class from New York to Miami, which Willie found to be “really, really, cool.” The seats had elaborate entertainment systems, with a television, DVDs, and video games. The flight attendant seemed happy to quickly bring Willie pretty much anything he wanted, and in normal circumstances he would have been content if the flight went on much longer than it did.

That’s if he hadn’t been sitting next to Hike.

Hike thought the cabin was too cold, the chicken stringy, and the bloody Marys watered down. He mentioned all of this to Willie, who didn’t share his viewpoints and told him so.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Hike. “We’re going to die on the next flight anyway.”

Once they boarded the small plane for the Miami-to-Nassau flight, Hike really kicked it into gear. His we’re-going-to-die fear became a chant, annoying all the passengers and prompting a warning from the flight attendant.

By the time they landed in Nassau, Willie had decided that he would rather swim back to New York than fly with Hike. They got their bags, and then Willie rented a car while Hike covered himself in bug repellent and suntan lotion.

They went to the local headquarters of the Royal Bahamas Police, where they had an appointment with Inspector Brendan Christian. Christian had investigated Donovan Chambers’s disappearance, and had spoken to Laurie on the phone.

Hike conducted the interview after getting Christian’s permission to turn on his tape recorder. He took him through everything that Christian knew about the Chambers case, which was little more than he had already told Laurie. During the interview, Willie showed the sketch of M that Cindy had provided, but Christian had no recollection of seeing him.

When they were finished, they had four and a half hours until their flight, and Willie wondered to himself if he had time to buy a gun to shoot Hike during the flight back.

“I was just thinking about something,” Willie said. “They say that this guy is a shooter only… that’s how he hits. And Chambers was a combat soldier, so he could probably handle himself.”

“So?” Hike asked.

“How did he get a gun onto the island? He wouldn’t try getting it through airport security, would he? That would be taking a chance.”

Christian nodded. “And he wouldn’t have purchased one on the island. That would call attention to himself, and we’d know about it.”

“Which explains the fact that you haven’t found a body,” Hike said. “He came in by boat, and dropped the body at sea. And he would have needed a car to get around.”

Christian held up the sketch. “I’ll have this shown at all the rental car agencies and piers where the boat could have docked. But even if we get an ID, it doesn’t help catch him. He’s long gone.”

“We can use it at trial,” Hike said.

When they were back at the airport, Willie called Andy in New Jersey, while Hike went into the bathroom to wipe off the lotion and repellent.

Willie told him about the deposition, and the idea that M might well have come in by boat if he was there at all. “The cop is going to show the sketch around. Will it help if someone IDs him?”

“Absolutely,” Andy said. “As long as I can figure out a way to get the judge to admit it.”

“Cool.”

“You’re not half bad at this detective work,” Andy said.

“Nah… I still don’t know a lot of legal stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Well, like… what if I throw Hike out of the plane between here and Miami? Which country would I be charged in?”