Murder in the Merlot (Ray Elkins Thriller Series) (Ray Elkins Thrillers Book 8) by Aaron Stander

Author:Aaron Stander [Stander, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Writers & Editors
Published: 2015-03-29T23:00:00+00:00

26

Ray retrieved Simone from the Jeep and walked south along the water to the Cedar Bay Boat Works. He found Clark Montgomery, the owner of the business, working on an outboard engine attached to a scruffy pontoon boat that had seen better days.

As Ray approached, Clark slowly pulled himself off a stool, holding onto the side of the boat for support as he worked to straighten his tall frame. After wiping the grease from his weathered hands, he extended the right one in Ray’s direction.

“Sheriff, that a new deputy you got with you? You should get your friend a vest and a badge.”

“How are you today, Clark?” asked Ray.

“Not so good, Ray. This getting old is a bitch. I’d tell you to avoid it, but, well, you know.” He waved off in the direction of the marina. “And seeing that boat go, I can’t put it in words.”

“Where were you?”

“Right down there,” he looked toward the water at the end of the paving. “We were waiting for him. Had the crane in place. I saw him over there on the dock near his boat. Then a few minutes later there was a big bang. Me and the boys, we grabbed some fire extinguishers and ran over in the pickup to see what we could do. We were spraying the area before the fire truck arrived. He musta had it close to full when it blew, fire on the water. Boat was down to the waterline in a couple of minutes. Dock was starting to go, too. I’ve been working at this since I was a kid, and I’ve never seen anything like it before. If there’s a good thing, that poor SOB never knew what hit him. When it blew, you could feel it in the ground.”

“Was Mouton a regular customer?”

“No. This was the first time we were storing his boat for the winter. He always did it himself, trailering it back up to his place for the winter. Came by a few days ago to check on how much it would cost. Said it was getting to be just too much of a hassle for him.”

“Had you done other work for him?”

“He started coming around a coupla years ago about the time he began restoring that boat. He’d come down here, bring his father along most times. His father seemed to need some looking after. He was pretty frail and seemed to be failing a bit.” Clark pointed to his head with his forefinger. “Greg was searching for parts and information. I could tell the man was over his head right from the beginning.

“I even went up to his place to have a look at the boat when they were just beginning. It was in rough shape, lots of rot in the bottom and some damage to the engine compartment. Greg said at one point they had started on a rebuild and then didn’t get back to it. Lots of parts had gone missing. Anyway, I sold them caulk and finishes and some of the mechanical parts over a couple of years.

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