Twelve Mile LImit by Randy Wayne White

Author:Randy Wayne White [White, Randy Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery & Suspense
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Published: 2014-06-03T07:00:00+00:00

16

It was impossible to sleep after a dream so terribly vivid, so I went outside and took a cold shower, using a double ration of rainwater from my wooden cistern. I dressed, slipped into my sandals, then I went to work in the lab, writing up our report.

It was long before first light, just after 4 A.M. Fish and octopi in their tanks were watching me. Outside, there were stars in a black sky, and familiar, back bay sounds: the distant tapping of a halyard, the sump and whine of bilge pumps, the cornfield rustle of wind through the mangroves.

I wrote all morning. The only breaks I took were to walk to the marina for coffee, as I do almost every morning, then I returned there again around noon to pick up mail. On this particular day, I decided to have lunch at the marina. So I was sitting in the shade near the bait tanks, eating one of Joyce’s excellent fried-conch sandwiches, when Mack stepped out of the office door and called to me, “Hey, Doc! There’s some bloke here says he’s got a package for you. Won’t let me sign, won’t leave it at the desk. It must be important because he says he’s got to put it directly into your hands.”

Which is how I happened to receive the reinforced box from Bernie Yaeger that I now opened.

Inside was a Styrofoam cover, which I removed, then a layer of bubble wrap. Beneath, fitted into another cradle of Styrofoam, was a small, silver video camera not much bigger than my hand. There was a brand name and model designation on the side—Sony DCR-TR—and a typewritten note taped to the camera.

It read: “Doc, these directions are so simple even a lug like you can’t mess it up. Notice the wall bracket. Mount it no more than ten feet from the area you want videotaped. The camera has an infrared component, and it operates just fine at 0 lux, otherwise known to you hermit types as total darkness. The timer has already been programmed, and the memory stick has been inserted. Don’t touch anything! After you have mounted the camera, plug in the 12-volt converter. In the event you have a power outage down there in Hurricane Land, there is a info lithium battery backup. Try to install this beautiful little camera without crushing it in your big paws or dropping the damn thing!”

My attention intensified as I then read, “Also, I enclose several photographs that may be of interest. I’m sorry the series of images is not more complete, but these are the best data available. I wish your lost friend only good things, though I fear the worst. There is no doubt in my mind how you will react, and so I wish you safe travels as well. Ours is a dangerous world. It would be good to have you back working with us again. We need you. Shalom!”

He wished me “safe travels”? What the hell did that mean?

There was a final, short paragraph and no signature: “The container is vacuum-sealed.

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