The Harbor

Thirty-Three

Christina stumbled out of her car and started to collapse, but Bruce was there, grabbing her around the waist and keeping her on her feet. He and J.B. were at the lobster pound, waiting, as instructed, for the police to get there to take custody of Shelton 's arsenal. They'd watched her speed into the lobster pound's dirt lot, so fast J.B. half expected her to drive straight into the water. She'd braked hard and threw open the door, then fell apart.

"Chris," Bruce said gently. "What's wrong?"

She made eye contact with him, her face white. She choked back a sob. "Stick's got Zoe." She couldn't get her breath and thrust a sheet of paper at J.B. "He killed Dad. It's right here."

J.B. took the paper but stayed focused her. "Where are they now?"

"He took her in a Zodiac. Luke's, I think. I was on my way to the police-I saw Stick take her. I didn't know what to do." She was gulping in air. "I don't know who to trust anymore. I didn't want to do anything that would make her situation worse. So I came straight here."

"Stick doesn't know shit about boats," Bruce said. "He's out in this fog? Never mind on purpose, he'll kill Zoe by accident."

Christina, still in Bruce's grasp, seemed steadier. "They headed north."

Bruce dropped his arm. "Come on, McGrath. Let's go. We'll take my boat." He held Christina by the shoulders and gave her an encouraging shake. "You know what to do, right, Chris? Get in your car. Drive back to town. Raise hell."

J.B. thought Bruce did fine with his instructions. "Tell the police Stick took Zoe as a hostage. He's going after Kyle and Shelton.He'll kill them and frame Shelton if he can. He's had time to work out a plan. He'll keep Zoe as his hostage as long as he needs her-"

Bruce coughed, hiding his own shock and fear. "Got it, Chris?" She nodded. "I-I don't think Stick knows I saw him."

J.B. started to help her back into her car, but she told him she was okay. "Find my sister."

By the time J.B. charged down to the dock, she was backing out quickly and Bruce had his boat untied. J.B. was relieved it wasn't anchored in deep water-they didn't have to waste time with a dinghy. Unlike the heap he'd rented to J.B., it was a new boat with radar, GPS, a proper radio, good traps, fresh paint. The same old orange rain gear hung on a hook in the pilothouse.

Within seconds, they were on their way across the mouth of the harbor. Clouds, fog and mist had descended on the gray water, reducing visibility, keeping in the pleasure boats and even many of the working boats. Bruce was undeterred by the weather. He got on his radio and learned from a lobster boat heading back toward shore that he'd seen the Zodiac zip out to the islands off the Olivia West Nature Preserve.

He shouted to J.B. over the sounds of the boat's engine. "Marine patrol will send a boat out, but it's a big goddamn ocean. You going to get into trouble for doing this?"

"It'll take an hour for the tac unit to get here. They'll take over once they're in place. Meanwhile, we isolate the incident and wait for help, do what we can to keep Kyle and Zoe alive." And Teddy Shelton, he thought. Stick would kill him, too. Dead, he couldn't argue with Stick's version of events.

"I like my life as a lobsterman," Bruce said.

But his mouth was set in a grim line, and he cranked up the engine and set across the harbor.

Stick had too many balls in the air. Zoe could see it as he tried to steer the Zodiac and keep her from killing him. He had his Colt in one hand. One false move, one falter, and she'd be on him. "Your father almost had Luke convinced to tell him about Teddy Shelton. He really put the pressure on."

"What did you care?"

"Luke had already confessed to me."

The hush money. "You'd kill my father-your friend-because you didn't want it to get out that Luke paid you to keep quiet about an illegal gun sale? Come on, Stick. That doesn't make sense."

"Insufficient motive? I tried a murder where a man killed his own brother because he didn't like the way he was chewing his steak."

Zoe didn't let him divert her. "You didn't want your connection to Teddy Shelton to come out. That's why you didn't kill him this past year-you didn't want to draw any attention to him. You must have just prayed for the day he'd leave town."

They were among the small islands off the preserve, but the conditions were difficult-fog, low tide, more drizzle. Stick didn't like boats or the water. His control of the Zodiac was tentative at best. It was a small boat, fast and maneuverable, not as likely as a speedboat or lobster boat to get hung up on rocks or stuck in shallow water at the hands of someone with Stick's lack of experience.

"Teddy Shelton wants me dead," Stick said, almost blandly.

"Then why hasn't he killed you?"

"He had to toy with me first. Get under my skin. Play out his string with Luke and make some money. He had to be careful your father's murder wouldn't get pinned on him."

"If you knew," Zoe said, "why haven't you killed him?"

He grimaced. "Because I'm not a killer."

She could have jumped up and gone for his throat then. "That's not why. Teddy must have something on you. What?"

"I went to see him in prison. I offered to set him up with a new arsenal after he got out if he would keep something that he knew secret." Stick seemed unable to stop himself, as if it was cathartic to tell her-or he just wanted her to know why he was killing her before he pulled the trigger. "He came up here before his trial- he was out on bail. I should never have set bail for him. He snuck into my house and found a very small stash I had-not much, just a few pictures…" He didn't go on. Zoe felt her stomach lurch. "Child pornography?"

"I've never touched a minor. Never."

"What did you do, tell Teddy it was for research purposes?"

"Yes. Exactly. That is what it was for."

"He tried to get you to let him off?"

Stick nodded. "It was too late. I'd only make both our situations worse. He's convinced I favored the prosecution and basically made sure he was convicted."

"Not true?"

"No, of course not. I looked for any legitimate way to get him off. He'd have fared even worse with another judge."

Zoe was sickened, stunned. "So you visited him in prison and offered to set him up with a new arsenal."

"That's why he came to Goose Harbor, but it wasn't enough-not enough guns, not enough to make up for seven years in prison. Teddy wants my hide, too." Stick's voice was matter-of-fact, as if he'd resigned himself to what he had to do.

"How much of this did my father figure out?"

"Most of it. Not all. He wanted Luke to come clean about selling the gun to Teddy and how I manipulated Luke into paying me."

"You scared Luke into keeping quiet, didn't you? What does he know?"

"Nothing. He's not as worried about selling the gun to Teddy as he is about Kyle. He thinks it's all been about saving his son."

The boat slowed, and they were within only a few yards of Stewart's Cove before its horseshoe-shaped beach came into view.

"Patrick was in uniform that morning because he planned to take me in. I stopped in to see Olivia. She couldn't hide it, Zoe. She knew everything." Stick took in a breath, but Zoe didn't detect even a flicker of regret. "He never saw it coming. That's how I've consoled myself this past year. Knowing he didn't suffer."

"Bastard."

He beached the bow of the boat on the sand and made her get out first. She sank up to her knees in the cold water but slogged to shore as he splashed behind her with the same gun he'd used to murder her father.

He gave her no opportunity to escape or wrestle the Colt from him. She had to be patient. Keep him talking.

He stepped out onto the beach, sand sticking to his bare calves. "Teddy! Come on out. Luke sent me. I've got your bonus money. Let's finish this up and all go home."

Teddy Shelton emerged from the pines with Kyle shielding him, a gun leveled at Kyle's head. Stick seemed unsurprised. "Put the gun down, Teddy. Luke wants his kid back in one piece. Come on. We're all on the same side now. I think a hundred grand will put a lot of things right, don't you?"

"What's Zoe doing here?" Teddy asked, keeping his gun where it was.

"She's my insurance card."

"It was you on the phone earlier, wasn't it? Not Luke. I thought he sounded funny. What about the kid?"

"I'm not here to answer questions," Stick said.

Zoe tried to make eye contact with Kyle, but he was too frightened to focus on anything. He was rigid, just his teeth chattering slightly. She pushed back a wave of sympathy for him and concentrated on the tactical situation. What could she do?

Without warning, Stick stepped to her left and fired the Colt. Zoe immediately dropped to the ground and rolled, saw Teddy fall backward as he yelled out in pain.

Kyle staggered forward, in shock.

"Kyle, run-take cover," Zoe shouted at him.

He obviously didn't know what she meant and dove face first into the sand, as if that'd protect him. But it was better than standing there.

"No one move," Stick ordered. He stood over Zoe, pointing the gun at her. "I'll shoot you, Zoe. Don't think I won't. I can pull this off with you dead right here, right now."

Zoe went still and sat up in the wet sand. Teddy was shouting obscenities and grabbing his left arm. His gun had gone flying, but she couldn't get to it and didn't know if Kyle could see it. She didn't want him trying for it and getting himself killed.

Stick walked over to him and kicked him in the side. "Up."

Kyle obeyed, his front covered in clumps of gray, wet sand, his face ashen. He looked at Zoe, then turned away as if he was embarrassed by his predicament, or maybe just couldn't watch Stick Monroe shoot her.

"You fucking asshole," Teddy spat at Stick. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Delivering a murderer to the police," Stick said.

"Me? You're going to pin Patrick West's murder on me?" Teddy snorted in disbelief. "How?"

"I have the murder weapon. You, in your zest to own weapons of all kinds, stole it from Luke and intended to kill Kyle with it, but he instead used it to kill you- after you shot him with your own weapon, mortally wounding him. You'll both be dead, but the evidence will tell the story."

"You'll never pull it off," Teddy said, "not with DNA, blood spattering, all that forensic shit they have nowadays."

"You forget that I'm familiar with all of it."

"What about Zoe?" Kyle asked hoarsely. "What are you going to do with her?"

Zoe was wondering the same thing. But she knew. Stick was going to use her as a hostage to ensure his getaway. Then he'd tie a brick to her feet and dump her in the ocean.

That was what Stick was going to do with her.

He was just smart enough, arrogant enough, to think such a complicated plan, contingent on so much going his way, would work.

"Stick," she said.

"Don't try your negotiating skills on me, Zoe. You never made it to the academy, remember? You quit. You ran away."

Even now, knowing what he'd done, the contempt of this man she'd known and loved for so long stung. She had to steel herself against the affection and respect she'd had for him. Child porn. Extortion. Blackmail. Murder. He'd been living a lie for a long time.

"Screw this," Teddy said, and dove for his gun.

Stick shot him again, hitting him in the thigh but giving Zoe a split second to go for Teddy's gun herself.

But Kyle rolled between her and the.380, and that was that. Stick grabbed her by the hair and jerked her to her feet, sticking the Colt against her ear. "Always so full of yourself."

Kyle surprised her and scooped up Teddy's gun. He was shaking and clearly had no idea what to do now that he had it.

"You can't hold off Teddy and me both," Stick said. "Teddy wants to get the hell out of here, don't you, Teddy?"

Zoe thought Teddy wanted to kill Stick, but she let the judge think he'd succeed in manipulating him again.

"Don't do anything stupid, Kyle," Stick said. "I have a gun to Zoe's head. You know I'll shoot her even if you shoot me. A simple matter of reflexes. And if you take me on, you risk giving Teddy his opening. Don't you think he wants his gun back? If he gets it, you're dead. So if I were you, I'd point that gun at Teddy and let me go."

Kyle was sobbing. "Zoe…"

"Stick's right," she said gently, calmly. "Hold the gun on Shelton. Someone heard those shots. The police must be on their way. Stick won't get far with me."

Kyle nodded, crying openly now. He turned and redirected the gun at Teddy, who'd sunk back onto the beach, holding his bleeding thigh.

Keeping the gun leveled at her head, Stick marched Zoe back to the Zodiac. He left her no opening this time. Even when he pushed the boat back out into the water and climbed in, he managed to keep the gun on her.

The boat jerked and bucked as he got it up to speed.

The fog was thick now, and Zoe doubted Kyle could even see them ten yards out from shore. He wouldn't be able to tell the tac unit which direction Stick had taken her.

"On your stomach," Stick ordered.

"If you shoot me, J.B. will hunt you to the ends of the earth. He likes that sort of thing."

"Do as I say, Zoe, or I will shoot you."

She turned over onto her stomach on the boat's wet bottom. He used a length of rope to tie her hands behind her back, then his web belt to tie her feet together.

"I should have done this to begin with," he said.

"I would have."

He ignored her gibe. "You don't think I can get out of this, do you? I'd have preferred plan A. It would have made everyone happy. The police, the town and the West family all would have their killer. I could go back to my garden and resume my life there. It's all I ever wanted, you know. A simple life in Goose Harbor."

"With your kiddie porn."

He inhaled sharply, but said nothing.

"You were shocked my father was on to you, weren't you? You wanted him dead, for the insult of it." She remembered to control her breathing, tried to keep her muscles relaxed, her hands and feet from swelling against their binds. "You thought you were better and smarter and more worldly, and you assumed you could get away with your games right under his nose. You couldn't. He found out."

"Moral superiority will get you nowhere, Zoe." He sneered at her, and she recognized his arrogance now for what it was-a cover for everything he wasn't. "You're trussed up like the proverbial Christmas goose."

She managed to sit up in the bottom of the boat. She could smell the fog, its dampness seeping into her. Gulls, ubiquitous to the shore, cried in the grayness. Her father hadn't died in the fog. He'd died on a beautiful, cloudless morning.

"I don't owe anyone anything," Stick said, as if he were talking to himself.

"Yes, you do. You owe a debt to society for killing a police officer in the performance of his duty."

Stick lurched suddenly and kicked her in the stomach. She moaned, doubling over in pain. She hadn't taken a kick like that since training for the state police.

"Don't you dare talk to me about debts to society. Do you know how many people I've had go through my courtroom in my life? Criminals. Lowlifes. Scum. Dirtbags. Sociopaths, drug addicts, alcoholics, murderers, terrorists-" "Pedophiles?"

He kicked her again.

"Go ahead. Keep kicking me. Give yourself a heart attack. You're not young anymore, Stick. How many more years do you think you have?"

This time he ignored her. They were on the northwest shore of Sutherland Island. She saw the rocks where she and J.B. had taken their break. She thought of him among his ancestors' tombstones, touching their names as he must have tried to absorb their connection to him.

She remembered what he'd said about the boathouse with the new lock. She stared up at Stick. "You've got another boat."

He didn't deny it. "Didn't you think I had a contingency plan? I've had a year, Zoe. A quick change of appearance, a new boat-I'll be long gone before anyone even realizes I have you." He eased back on the speed, taking the Zodiac around a rocky point, toward the boathouse. "Zoe, I want a simple life. The bad times are over for me. My trip to the dark side. Now I'm back."

"You just pumped two bullets into a man. You intended to kill him, and Kyle, and you still intend to kill me." She tried to move, but winced in pain. "You just kicked the hell out of me. Your bad times aren't over, Stick. Don't delude yourself."

"When I was on the bench, I sent people away for the rest of their lives who would never kill anyone again if they were set free. They were no longer a danger to society. That's me, Zoe. I don't need to be in prison. After today, I won't be a danger to anyone."

"Today's a pretty big day, Stick."

He reddened at her sarcasm, but didn't kick her again. When he thought he'd escaped and didn't need her as a hostage, he'd pitch her overboard. Zoe had no idea how long she had, but she hoped Special Agent McGrath was good at what he did and at least bought her some time, gave her an opening, to save her own skin.