Dead of Night

5

In the instant before I plunged through the lake’s surface, I could see my skiff above the bass boat, falling toward it in a ponderous arc. It looked as if I’d timed the intersection perfectly.

In the silence of that micromoment, I heard a woman scream. Or maybe it was the man: a shrill, atavistic sound so energized by fear that it was without gender.

They saw my boat, too. They knew they were about to be crushed.

Then gravity slammed me earthward.

My body had been traveling over the water at more than forty miles an hour. Add another twenty-five miles an hour to that, because, if you jump from a plane, that’s the approximate speed attained during the first second or two of free fall. Mitigate the impact slightly because of the trajectory created by the combined forces of gravity, air drag, and velocity. But it was still one hell of a collision when I hit the lake’s surface. I skipped over the water like a rag doll, and then was augured deep into blackness.

I’ve jumped into dark water many times. Jumped from fast boats, helicopters, and parachuted from planes. But there is only one other time when I’d experienced a water landing as violent-and that was not so long ago on the headwaters of the Amazon.

I tried to swing my legs beneath me but hit hard on my left side, shoulder first. I knew enough to have arms and elbows pulled in tight against my body, chin firmly on chest, both hands shielding my testicles. Hit any other way, arms can be ripped from their sockets, teeth shattered, necks broken.

I didn’t fight it as momentum took me deep underwater. I was aware of burning cold-Central Florida had had a frost or two this December. Was also aware of changing pressure. I let drag slow me before lifting my head upward, hands and arms out, sculling to end my descent. Then I began a slow swim toward the surface, exhaling bubbles as I went.

Surfacing seemed to take a long, long time.

Finally, I was breathing air again; warm, rich air that floated in layers atop the cold lake; my vision blurry because of water and my bad eyesight. Still, I could see sufficiently well to be, at once, disappointed and also relieved.

I expected carnage, the aftermath of a boat collision. I didn’t relish such a sight, but the Russians had invited attack.

But there was no carnage. Nor had they returned to kill me. Instead, all that awaited was the reassuring silhouette of my own skiff floating upright, engine off, not far away.

No sign of the bass boat. For a moment, I considered the possibility that I had hit it and their vessel had already sunk, the two passengers with it.

No. It would not have gone down so quickly.

I searched the distance until I recognized a fuzzy, flickering image caught in the light of the nearby highway: the Russians’ boat disappearing fast, already more than a hundred yards away, still heading south. Somehow, the woman had managed to avoid the unavoidable. Impressive. But why hadn’t they come back to finish the job?

I began to swim, thinking about it. Could the shock of what I’d done scared them into running? They’d managed to scare me into flight. Maybe I’d returned the volley.

I decided that I would discuss it with Tomlinson in a day or two, when we were both back on Sanibel.

I couldn’t get the engine started…

I figured it was because of damage caused by the ski ramp. Or maybe a stray bullet had pierced the motor’s cowling. But then I realized I’d forgotten to insert the dead man’s switch into the little slot next to the ignition. Stupid.

The big engine fired, burbling its Harley rumble as if this night were nothing out of the ordinary.

The skiff seemed okay. A swivel seat was gone, steering wheel bent. That’s all the damage I noticed-until I flicked the bilge switch. A fire hose stream of water began to jettison from the boat’s starboard side. It pumped water for five or six long minutes as I idled toward Night’s Landing.

The hull was damaged. I was taking on water, maybe sinking. Finally, when the pump’s rhythmic whine told me the hull was empty, I jumped onto plane, steering fast toward the island. I’d stop and make certain Jobe Applebee was being cared for, then bust ass back to Dinkin’s Bay.

As I steered, I did some rough calculations. Felony investigations tend to be lengthy. But with a little push, if I kept it simple, didn’t tell the local cops that I’d been shot at-a biggie-I might make it home before midnight.

Wrong.

I tied up at the same slip. Just to be safe, I flipped the bilge switch again. More water inside.

The hull had taken a beating, was maybe too badly damaged to be repaired. The prospect irritated me. Some people-sailors most often-say they feel affection for their vessels. They can become very sentimental, particularly after a few rums.

I don’t share the feelings. I’ve never felt anything close to emotion for the many boats I’ve owned. Yet, the thought of having to switch from this skiff to another was upsetting. I valued it as a tool. I trusted it. I knew how to make the thing perform. It’d kept me afloat through lots of bad weather, and at least a couple of tough encounters. If I believed in luck, I would have considered this skiff particularly lucky.

Watching water jetting from the hull, I realized there was something else I’d have to deal with: The automatic bilge switch was broken. I’d have to get that fixed, too.

Leaky boats sink. I couldn’t risk leaving the thing unattended for long. Which is one reason that I headed off for Applebee’s home at a jog. A more pressing reason was that there were no law enforcement boats here. No sirens or blue lights flashing in the distance.

So maybe EMTs had come by chopper. Possible. But it was also possible that the local water response teams hadn’t had time to scramble. I’d called 911 around 9 P.M. According to my watch, it was now a little after ten. The idea of that terrified little man alone for more than an hour set off the guilt response. Dread, too.

When Applebee’s house came into view, I stopped running, reassured by what I saw. Standing near the front door was a woman in official-looking blue coveralls, a walkietalkie on her belt, plus a noisy, static-loud police scanner.

I took the porch steps two at a time. “How’s Dr. Applebee doing? Have you already transported him to a hospital?”

I could see that the questions confused her. I thought, Uh-oh, moved past her, and tried the door. Still locked.

Shit.

“He’s not in there alone, is he? He has been transported to the hospital? Lady, please tell me someone’s checked on him.”

“Who’s been transported where?”

“Applebee.”

I looked at her for the first time. She wasn’t a woman; she was a kid. Sixteen, maybe eighteen. Pudgy, buttery face, multiple earrings, Cinderella bangs, hair cut boyishly short. But she sounded infuriatingly officious as she replied, “Mister, I have no idea if he’s alone or not, but I can’t let you go inside to check. The sheriff’s department dispatcher told me I’m in charge of this location until they’re ten-twenty. Which means until they arrive. She told me to wait on the porch and not let anyone inside. Especially civilians. That means you.”

I was not in the mood and was already crossing the porch, headed for the rear entrance. “Are you a cop? You’re not old enough to be a cop.”

“I’m old enough. But, no, not officially, anyway.” “Part of some kind of Girl Scouts program or something? I don’t understand why you’re here.”

She didn’t catch the mild sarcasm. “I’m the constable of this island. Of this unincorporated village, I mean. The sheriff’s department contacts me when there’s trouble, but this time I was home listening to the scanner. Now, if you’ll-”

I’d vaulted the porch railing, and was walking fast. Now the girl was trotting after me, calling, “Hey, hold it, mister. Mister? You’re not going into that house. I’m warning you right now, I’ll arrest you.”

“Arrest me? On what charges, for Christ’s sake? How long have you been a constable, anyway?”

I was almost to the back of the house; I could see light angling through broken French doors. The light was bluish where it touched shadows, yellow on palms with their pineapple-ribbed trunks.

“Since the election in November.”

I turned and looked at her for a moment before saying patiently, “A month ago? So maybe inexperience explains why you’re acting like a jerk. Look, Dr. Applebee was in bad shape when I left him. He needs medical attention. So go right ahead and arrest me-but later. Not now. For now, just stay out of my way.”

That inane song was still playing, coming from the open room.

“It’s a small world, a small world…”

Following me through the broken doorframe, the girl had to speak louder because of the music. “Okay, sir, you give me no choice. You have the right to-”

We stopped. Applebee was no longer in the corner where I’d left him balled up like a child. There was a visible spattering of blood on the floor, more on the overturned chair. My cellular phone was gone.

I leaned over the record player and used the edge of my boat key to lift the tonearm off a revolving 45 rpm record. The record was made of glossy cardboard, like something from inside a cereal box. It had to be old.

In the new silence, I headed for a hallway as she found her voice again. “Damn it, you’ve got to stop or I’ll… Oh my God!”

I’d already stopped. Stopped twice. First to pick up my phone, which was lying near the door. Then I halted more abruptly in the hall at a small, walk-in utility closet, louvered doors pushed open wide. From the closet emanated a subtle stink that took me several beats to identify, even though I’ve smelled it too many times.

I knew what was inside the closet without looking.

I stood there feeling a gauzy sense of unreality as, behind me, the girl said it again: “Oh dear God!” Then she made a snorting noise, followed by a low hissing wail that was mostly air. It was the shadow scream we experience in dreams. The dream where we open our mouths to cry out but there’s no sound.

I spun and threw my arms around her, trying to shield her vision by holding her close. Then I steered her away. She was shivering, the earliest stage of shock.

Jobe Applebee, the preeminent field biologist, was in the closet. He was hanging from a galvanized crossbar. There was a section of nylon rope tied to the bar, and also knotted around his neck.

The bar wasn’t high enough to hold him off the floor, so he was squatting, bulging eyes wide, arms dangling. It was as if he’d been in the process of seating himself in a chair only to be pulled up short like a running dog startled by the limits of his leash.

The girl was crying now; crying and babbling: “Oh, this can’t be happening… he’s dead. Is he really dead? I knew him, since I was a little girl. But that’s not Mr. Applebee. It can’t be him. He doesn’t look anything like him.”

True. I’d seen Jobe only briefly, but the combination of strangulation and gravity had transformed him. His head was now oversized on a shrunken body, his skin the color of potter’s clay, black hands engorged, lips blue, dark eyes protruding.

The most striking change was the facial expression. The man had been much tormented. Not now. But before leading the girl outside I took another look to confirm I wasn’t imagining it.

No.

Applebee’s eyes had a glazed, dreamy look, as if he were enjoying himself. His pale lips were contracted into a slight smile. It was the mild, secure smile that you see on the faces of children as they retreat into the arms of a parent. It’s the smile that forms when they realize they’re safe from all harm.

Applebee had retreated to some far, safe place; vanished somewhere inside himself. If the man’s expression mirrored his last, fading sensibilities, then he’d experienced something that pleased him, but also surprised him a little. Maybe it was peace… or just an absence of turmoil, which is another form of liberation.

Later, when I made the dreaded call to Frieda, that’s the way I would describe her dead brother: peaceful.

I talked with her after first speaking confidentially to her husband, telling him what had happened, seeking his advice and permission. I said to Frieda that Jobe looked as if he’d died peacefully, set free in a way that couldn’t have been painful.

I evaded details, and tried my best to comfort her.

But the girl was right. Jobe Applebee looked nothing like the person she said she’d known since childhood. Nothing at all like the terrified man I’d left alone to die.