Buccaneer

Chapter 8

“All right! Let’s dam this baby up!” Charlie rubbed his hands together and grinned, the lines on his face crinkling. He paced to and fro along the rocky bluff overlooking tunnel seventeen, his exuberance lending a youthful bounce to his step. The prospect of solving the mystery seemed to have taken twenty years off of him.

Dane had to smile at the old man’s excitement. Matt’s arm was broken in several places but, given time, he’d heal. Once his recovery was assured, Matt had maintained his insistence that Dane and the crew finish what they’d started. He further vowed to be back on the job the minute he was released from the hospital.

After spending much of the night at the hospital, Dane, Bones, and Willis gone back to work. They returned to the passageway and made a failed attempt at opening the trap, after which they used GPS to chart the twists and turns of the tunnel, though their signal crapped out before they got to the area behind the wall. Charlie’s plan was to block up the passageway, pump the water out, if possible, and drill down directly into the chamber. It was far from the craziest thing the man had tried in his lifetime.

“I’m telling you, Charlie, I don’t know what I saw back there,” Bones said. “Not trying to shoot you down, or anything, but it might not be anything big.”

“You’re full of crap, boy.” Charlie dismissed Bones’ words with a gesture like shooing a fly. “Why would anyone put a booby trap in front of a chamber unless they had something they wanted to protect?”

“To be a douche?” Bones volunteered

“Bah! All the evidence says that tunnel’s important. They didn’t carve a Templar cross at the chamber entrance for no reason. And, you said yourselves, it looks like someone dammed it up.”

“How did searchers manage to miss it all these years?” Angel asked. “There have been, what, thousands of people looking for the treasure. You’d think someone would have found it by now.”

“They’ve all been focusing on the Money Pit,” Dane said. “There probably haven’t been too many skilled divers experienced in marine archaeology who’ve explored these channels.” He looked out across Smith’s Cove, where a single boat plied the waters, a white dot on the gray horizon. “Those who did could easily have missed this particular passage, or found it, but were fooled by the debris blocking the way. Matt and I almost missed it.”

“Well, you boys found it and that’s what matters.” Charlie clapped his hand on Dane’s shoulder, his grip strong, despite his age. “We are going to be the ones to finally solve the riddle. I just know it.”

“How long do you think it will take to dam up the tunnel?”

“Should be finished this afternoon. Then we’ll start pumping the water out and see what happens.” He looked like he was going to say more, but something out on the water caught his eye.

Dane turned to see a police boat drift up to shore. Two uniformed deputies sat inside. The pilot gave a curt nod, but that was all. They gave neither an indication of landing the craft, nor leaving.

“Wonder what the hell they want.” Charlie scratched his chin. “They’d best leave me alone. I’ve got work to do.”

“Maybe they heard about Matt’s accident and came to check things out?” Angel said.

“Then why don’t they get out of the boat?” Charlie kicked at the ground with his booted foot. “Meddling government types is what they are. Can’t let a simple businessman go about his work.”

“Uncle, you are hardly a simple businessman,” Bones said.

The sound of an approaching vehicle cut off Charlie’s retort. They all looked toward the road in surprised. It had been closed long before their arrival and had fallen into a state of disrepair. The trucks that delivered Charlie’s equipment were the only traffic they’d seen.

Dane’s instincts told him something was not right, and he keenly felt the absence of his Walther. He hadn’t felt there was a reason to be armed on the island, so he’d left it back at the cottage. The impulse fled as quickly as it had come, and he suddenly understood the reason for the police boat.

“I think we’re about to be paid a visit by the local authorities,” he said.

“What for?” Bones frowned.

“I guess we’ll find out.”

A police cruiser appeared around a bend in the tree-lined road and coasted to a stop near where they stood. Two deputies climbed out, exchanged nervous looks, and approached Dane and the others.

“They look scared.” Bones grinned, his eyes alight with ill intentions. “Should I mess with them a little?”

“Hell no!” Charlie snapped. “This is my work site. Play your games somewhere else, young man.”

“Yes, Uncle.” Bones actually managed a respectful tone, so unlike his normal manner.

The deputies fanned out as they drew closer and stopped ten feet away. One, a short, attractive woman with fair skin and brown hair, rested her hand on her sidearm. Her partner, a tall man with wavy brown hair and a moustache, spoke first.

“We’re looking for Dane Maddock and Uriah Bonebrake.” He fidgeted and ran a hand through his hair.

“You found them.” Dane’s mind raced. What did they want? He and Bones hadn’t done anything wrong, but getting entangled with the police, especially outside one’s home country, was not a good thing. “What can we do for you?” He and Bones took a few steps away from the rest of the group.

“I’m deputy White,” the dark-haired man said. “This is Deputy Boudreau. The two of you are wanted for questioning.”

“Okay, shoot.” Bones smiled and managed not to make it look predatory.

“We’ll need you to come with us.”

“Are we under arrest?” Dane kept his tone easy.

“Not yet,” Boudreau snapped. She glanced at his partner and blushed as he gave a quick shake of the head.

“You don’t have to come with us,” White said. “I can tell you, though, if you don’t, our orders,” he nodded toward the boat, “are to make sure you don’t leave the island until the sheriff obtain warrants for your arrest.

“All right,” Dane said. “Can I ask what you’re going to question us about?”

White shrugged and forced a sympathetic smile. “It’s not allowed. Sorry.”

It was a short ride to the sheriff’s department, but it felt longer thanks to Bones’ need to fill every silence with annoying snatches of song or conversation. When he broke into “Achy Breaky Heart,” Deputy Boudreau whirled around and promised to gag him and put him in the trunk if he didn’t shut up. Bones winked at Dane, clearly pleased he’d gotten under the deputy’s skin, but Dane was grateful for the peace and quiet.

They were taken to separate rooms, and left to simmer for a good twenty minutes before a man in slacks and a blazer, a single button straining to hold back his paunch, entered.

“I’m Detective Williams of the Kidd’s Cross Police Department,” he said, dropping heavily into a folding chair on the other side of the table where Dane sat. He paused, perhaps waiting for Dane to introduce himself in turn, but gave up after ten seconds of silence. “I understand you know a Rodney Meade.”

“The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.”

Williams raised his eyebrows. “The two of you had a fight two days ago. Ring a bell?” He folded his arms, rested them on his belly, and leaned back in his chair.

“The sheriff’s son. Sure, I remember.”

“I understand the two of you were fighting over a girl.”

“Are you telling me you haven’t already reviewed the incident report and the security footage?” Dane took pleasure at the sight of the man’s obvious discomfort. “Or did the sheriff sweep it under the rug?”

“He declined to make a report due to a lack of evidence.” Williams cleared his throat and sat up straight. “I’d like to hear your version of the events.”

“What did you hear from the sheriff?”

“I already told you what I heard…” Williams bit off the sentence, his face now beet red. Clearly he’d just realized he was answering Dane’s questions instead of the other way around. “I’m investigating a crime and I’m asking you for an answer.”

“I’ll be happy to give you one, detective.” Dane folded his hands and rested them on the table. “But you’d do better to forget fallible eyewitness testimony and simply get a copy of the security tape from the owner of The Spinning Crab. I’ll be happy to wait while you go get it.”

“I want to hear your version of events.”

“Detective, I’m sorely tempted to say nothing at all and make you do the detective work you should have done already, but I know how small towns operate and I’m sure you’re doing the best you can, so I’ll indulge you. Rodney assaulted a young woman, and one of his friends put his hands on another young lady who was part of my group.”

“And you decided to beat him within an inch of his life for it?” Williams snapped.

“Actually, my friend fought back against the guy who was trying to manhandle her, and that’s when Rodney and his other buddy started swinging. Like I said,” he raised his voice and held up a hand to forestall the argument he could see Williams was about to make, “don’t take my word for it. Check the video and decide for yourself.”

“So he messed with your girlfriend…”

“Acquaintance,” Dane corrected.

“…and started a fight. I suppose you were pretty mad at him. Maybe wanted to get back at him?”

“For what?” Dane couldn’t stifle a laugh. “Detective, I’m sorry for how this sounds, but those guys got what was coming to them and they didn’t leave a scratch on any of us. As far as any of us are concerned, it was over as soon as the fight ended.”

“Fine. Let’s suppose I believe you.” Williams opened a file folder and made a show of inspecting the contents. “Where were you yesterday between the hours of two and eleven p.m.?”

That was an unexpected question, but Dane had an easy answer.

“At the hospital. One of my crew was injured on the job. We stayed with him until well after midnight.”

“Can anyone verify that?”

“My entire crew and maybe some of the hospital staff. There’s a nurse there with frizzy gray hair and crazy eyes who wouldn’t stop hitting on me. I’m sure she, at least, remembers.”

Williams actually cracked a smile.

“I know her. Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not her first.” He took a deep breath and let it all out in a rush. “You realize I can check hospital security video to confirm your story?”

“I’m counting on it,” Dane said. “I’m guessing something bad happened to Rodney.”

“You could say that.” Williams closed his folder. “Give me a few minutes.” He pushed himself up from his seat and lumbered to the door. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“No thanks.” Dane hoped the abrupt ending to the interrogation, if it could be called that, and William’s sudden bout of courtesy were good signs.

Williams returned twenty minutes later. He opened the door and leaned inside. “How long do you plan on being in town, Mister Maddock?”

“Until the job’s finished. I don’t know how long that will be.”

“All right. You’re free to go.” Williams didn’t seem angry or upset. Whatever follow-up he’d done seemed to have persuaded him that Dane was not responsible for whatever had happened to Rodney.

“I’ll need a lift back to the island. Are the deputies still here?”

Williams’ expression darkened for a moment. “It would be better if I drove you. The deputies are…” He shrugged.

“Out for my blood?”

“Maybe not your blood, but they want a pound of flesh from somebody, and you two were the prime suspects.”

Dane took note of the past tense and nodded.

Williams guided Dane and Bones out of the station. As they exited through the front doors, they heard shouting and turned around. Sheriff Meade, apoplectic, was struggling to escape the clutching arms of the three deputies who held him back.

“You killed my son!” he cried.

“My partner’s going to talk to him,” Williams said, ushering Dane and Bones out the door.

“A horse tranquilizer might help,” Bones said.

Williams smirked and shook his head.

“So, Rodney’s dead.” Bones made it a statement, not a question.

“Very.” Williams’ expression grew grave. “Until we find the killer, I suggest you two steer clear of the sheriff. He’s a powerful man and he can be a dangerous enemy.”

“That’s fine,” Dane said. “So can we.”

Williams stopped and looked at them each in turn. “I believe you.”