leaders. God, what a trap.
“And you?” said the waitress.
She was feeling better. “I’ll have a club soda,” she said. “Plain. Is that all right?” Her stomach growled. I should get something to eat. Maybe that’s what’s wrong with me. “No, wait. Do you serve food here?”
“How about one of our hot sandwiches? If you’ve never tried one before . . .”
“Did you order the candles?” said the blond-haired woman. “What a thought! A candlelight procession with no candles.”
“Sure,” said Elizabeth. “That will be fine.”
“All taken care of,” said the curly-haired girl. “Did you get the promotional material over to Stevie at the lighthouse?”
“Signed, sealed, and delivered.”
“You may be a very annoying person, Sandy, but you’re an excellent assistant. I want you to know that. What did you think of the statue?”
“A work of art.”
“Sandy, just be civil to me for another five hours, that’s all I ask. It’s my project and if it falls apart, it’s my ass.”
“Anything you say, Mrs. Williams.”
Elizabeth got a better look at the oversized aquarium behind the bar. A model of a diver hung suspended by an air line over a little plastic treasure chest. Every time the diver leaned forward, a stream of bubbles was released from under the lid, striking his face mask and knocking him upright again. Then she noticed an insane-looking eel lurking behind a lava rock, its beady eyes reflecting the ultraviolet light, which turned them a skin-crawling orange. Lovely, she thought sarcastically. That really whets the old appetite.
“If I can just get through the speeches without yawning. I couldn’t sleep last night.”
“Too excited?” said Sandy.
“No. My husband went out on his boat yesterday and didn’t come home. He still isn’t back. And, on top of that, at twelve o’clock on the nose my dog started barking and didn’t stop until six this morning.”
“I heard the church bells at midnight,” said Sandy, “started to drift off to sleep, and all of a sudden my next door neighbor’s car alarm went off for absolutely no reason. How about that?”
“Last night?”
“Uh-huh. Woke up the whole block. This town sits around for a hundred years and nothing happens. Then one night the whole place falls apart.”
“Please, Sandy. The more you go on like that, the more hysterical I get. I’ve got to talk Reverend Malone into giving the benediction tonight. Life is hard enough.”
“What was he barking at?”
“My dog? Nothing. He was barking at nothing. That’s the thing.”
“You may not see it,” said Sandy, “but it’s always something.”
“He was facing the ocean and growling. What does that tell you? My dog goes crazy and decides to bark at the ocean.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Sandy, do you know something?”
“What?”
“You’re the only person I know who can make ‘yes ma’am’ sound like ‘screw you’!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The drinks arrived and the waitress set them out on napkins shaped like ships’ wheels. “Here you go, Mrs. Williams. Any word yet on your husband?”
“No, thank you, dear. We haven’t heard anything, but Al will probably be waiting for me when I get home. Why, he wouldn’t miss the celebration, would he?”
Mrs. Williams. It dawned on Elizabeth, and she was amazed at herself for not getting it sooner. Al Williams, the captain of the Sea Grass, Nick’s friend.
That means she hasn’t been told. Or if she has, they still don’t know what happened to the other two. The Coast Guard knows about it. I heard Nick and Ashcroft talking to them over the radio on the way back. Nick, she thought. Nick. He’s so sure of himself.
But he can handle it, whatever it is, whatever’s out there and did that and—the other things. Can’t he? He thinks he can. Or is he afraid to say that he needs somebody now? That he needs a friend.
And you, girl, what are you so afraid of?
There’s no easy answer to that one. You
“And you?” said the waitress.
She was feeling better. “I’ll have a club soda,” she said. “Plain. Is that all right?” Her stomach growled. I should get something to eat. Maybe that’s what’s wrong with me. “No, wait. Do you serve food here?”
“How about one of our hot sandwiches? If you’ve never tried one before . . .”
“Did you order the candles?” said the blond-haired woman. “What a thought! A candlelight procession with no candles.”
“Sure,” said Elizabeth. “That will be fine.”
“All taken care of,” said the curly-haired girl. “Did you get the promotional material over to Stevie at the lighthouse?”
“Signed, sealed, and delivered.”
“You may be a very annoying person, Sandy, but you’re an excellent assistant. I want you to know that. What did you think of the statue?”
“A work of art.”
“Sandy, just be civil to me for another five hours, that’s all I ask. It’s my project and if it falls apart, it’s my ass.”
“Anything you say, Mrs. Williams.”
Elizabeth got a better look at the oversized aquarium behind the bar. A model of a diver hung suspended by an air line over a little plastic treasure chest. Every time the diver leaned forward, a stream of bubbles was released from under the lid, striking his face mask and knocking him upright again. Then she noticed an insane-looking eel lurking behind a lava rock, its beady eyes reflecting the ultraviolet light, which turned them a skin-crawling orange. Lovely, she thought sarcastically. That really whets the old appetite.
“If I can just get through the speeches without yawning. I couldn’t sleep last night.”
“Too excited?” said Sandy.
“No. My husband went out on his boat yesterday and didn’t come home. He still isn’t back. And, on top of that, at twelve o’clock on the nose my dog started barking and didn’t stop until six this morning.”
“I heard the church bells at midnight,” said Sandy, “started to drift off to sleep, and all of a sudden my next door neighbor’s car alarm went off for absolutely no reason. How about that?”
“Last night?”
“Uh-huh. Woke up the whole block. This town sits around for a hundred years and nothing happens. Then one night the whole place falls apart.”
“Please, Sandy. The more you go on like that, the more hysterical I get. I’ve got to talk Reverend Malone into giving the benediction tonight. Life is hard enough.”
“What was he barking at?”
“My dog? Nothing. He was barking at nothing. That’s the thing.”
“You may not see it,” said Sandy, “but it’s always something.”
“He was facing the ocean and growling. What does that tell you? My dog goes crazy and decides to bark at the ocean.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Sandy, do you know something?”
“What?”
“You’re the only person I know who can make ‘yes ma’am’ sound like ‘screw you’!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The drinks arrived and the waitress set them out on napkins shaped like ships’ wheels. “Here you go, Mrs. Williams. Any word yet on your husband?”
“No, thank you, dear. We haven’t heard anything, but Al will probably be waiting for me when I get home. Why, he wouldn’t miss the celebration, would he?”
Mrs. Williams. It dawned on Elizabeth, and she was amazed at herself for not getting it sooner. Al Williams, the captain of the Sea Grass, Nick’s friend.
That means she hasn’t been told. Or if she has, they still don’t know what happened to the other two. The Coast Guard knows about it. I heard Nick and Ashcroft talking to them over the radio on the way back. Nick, she thought. Nick. He’s so sure of himself.
But he can handle it, whatever it is, whatever’s out there and did that and—the other things. Can’t he? He thinks he can. Or is he afraid to say that he needs somebody now? That he needs a friend.
And you, girl, what are you so afraid of?
There’s no easy answer to that one. You
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