Dark Cay: A Chase Gordon Tropical Thriller (Chase Gordon Tropical Thrillers Book 2) by Douglas Pratt

Author:Douglas Pratt [Pratt, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

20

The seagulls were squawking and swooping over a little blond-haired boy tossing bits of cookies into the air. Most of the marina’s denizens hated the flying rats. Cleaning bird shit off the same spot three times a day grows weary. The giggles emanating from the child almost made it bearable, not to mention that he was a good 300 feet from my slip. The mother was taking pictures with her phone of the boy as the braver gulls came closer. If she wasn’t attentive, the damned things might swarm him, that would end the fun.

Mom glanced up as I passed by, and I offered a smile. She was a young mother, probably in her late 20s, and her smile back was filled with a joie de vivre that widened mine with just a glance. The cackles from the toddler echoed behind me as I walked along the dock toward Carina.

“Chase!” a raspy voice shouted from somewhere. The water and boats bounced the sound waves around, and I spun in a circle looking for the origin.

Randy waved at me from another dock. He was on a ladder operating a drill. He descended quickly and walked around the boats.

I waited as he vanished from sight for a few seconds. He reappeared at the end of the walkway I was on.

“Chase, glad I saw you.” His breaths were short and quick after his rushed approach.

“What’s going on, Randy?”

His eyes diverted over my shoulder at the boy and his mother feeding seagulls. He groaned, “I hate it when they do that.”

My smile was still covering my face, and I assured him, “It won’t cause any trouble. The kid’s having a ball.”

He shrugged. “Still,” he dragged out the word slowly, “maybe I should go talk to the mother.”

“Randy,” I rebuked, “don’t be creepy.”

His eyes retreated with a snap. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he lied.

“What’s up?” My question redirected his attention to the moment.

“Oh,” he remarked, “yeah. I chased a guy away from Carina today.”

“He was on board?”

Randy shook his head. “Just looking around her. He told me he was an old friend of yours. Said he tried to call you but decided to surprise you instead. I knew something was up after what happened earlier. Plus, anyone would know you don’t have a phone.”

“What did he look like?”

“Like he used to be military. He was short but muscular. Dark hair.”

“He give you a name?”

“Just said he would surprise you later.”

“I have a feeling he might try that.”

“Be careful, Chase. I didn’t like how he looked.”

As I climbed aboard Carina, it occurred to me that in the future, I needed some security that no one had slipped aboard unnoticed and was waiting on me in the cabin. Climbing below, I pulled a clean shirt from the hanging locker and changed.

Joe Loggins was on my mind. The visitor today could have been one of his guys. Ex-military, the old man said. Whoever Loggins was, he had some dangerous employees.

I don’t carry a gun. Not because of any noble principle.

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