Dark Harbor (Stone Barrington 12)

“Caleb inherited the house?”

“They both did, but Dick signed his half over to Caleb, said to me he didn’t want any part of it; the place was filled with unhappy memories for him.”

“Why did he stay on the island?”

“Oh, he loved the island, he just didn’t love the old house. I think he took some pleasure in sticking Caleb with it.”

“Have you ever heard Caleb express any animosity toward Dick?”

“Caleb’s whole attitude toward most everybody is animosity, I guess. He was nice to those folks he had to get along with, which were most of the summer people. After all, he wanted the yacht club and the golf club, so he was nice to the members. The year-rounders hated him pretty good; he had trouble keeping help and all that. When he wanted a new roof, he had to go to somebody on the mainland, which cost him more money. He puts away the booze pretty good, and so does his wife.”

“How did the locals feel about Dick and his family?”

“Oh, Dick was a sweetheart, and everybody knew it. Barbara and Esme, too. If Mabel and I weren’t doing this job, folks would be lined up to get it.”

“I expect there’s a pretty good grapevine on the island among the locals?”

“There is.”

“I’d like to know what you hear on it.”

“Folks are real interested in

you, Stone.”

“Well, I don’t have any secrets, so feel free to talk. In particular, you might let it be known that I’m not very happy with the murder/suicide theory held by your state trooper.”

“Me, neither,” Seth said, “and nobody who knew Dick is going to put much stock in it. Folks start arriving tomorrow, and they’ll have seen about it in the Boston papers, so there’ll be a lot of curiosity.”

“Well, let’s not starve them for information, but don’t give anybody the impression that I think Caleb is in any way responsible. He and his family hadn’t even arrived on the island at the time, so let’s not hang it around his neck.” Then they got up and went back into the house.

THAT NIGHT, after dinner, the group enjoyed coffee and brandy before a crackling fire in the living room.

“Lance,” Stone said, “there’s a possibility we haven’t talked about.”

“What’s that?”

“Could these murders have been work related? Dick’s work, I mean.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve thought a lot about it. I’ve reviewed the threats Dick received in London over the years. There were more of them than you might think, but most from nuts or the ineffectual. Generally speaking, terrorist groups don’t tell you they’re going to kill you; they just kill you. Anyway, there was nothing in the file less than a year old. The other thing is that it just doesn’t happen that foreigners murder Agency personnel in the U.S. I can’t think of a single case when that’s happened. Add to that fact that Dick and his family were in, if not an inaccessible place, then one very difficult to access without being noticed.”

Dino spoke up. “We haven’t talked about the possibility of someone arriving in a small boat to do the job. A team, or even an individual, could have pulled a rubber dinghy out of the water less than thirty yards from this house.”

“I grant you that,” Lance said. “A commando-style raid, in the middle of the night, would have been the way to do it, if you wanted to do it, but nobody’s claimed responsibility, and these groups usually do. Nobody at the Agency has been able to detect the slightest sign that a group had or was about to conduct an operation of this sort. I’ve checked the weather that night, and there was thick fog all night and into the morning, and believe me, the fog gets really thick up here.

“Frankly, in my own mind, I’ve ruled out the possibility of an incursion from outside, and my report will so state. I’m more inclined to think that somebody local had it in for Dick.”

“Seth tells me that Dick and his family were very popular locally,” Stone said.

“And Caleb is accounted for,” Dino said. “We’re getting nowhere fast.”

“Well,” Holly said, “I’m going to turn in, I think.” She got up. “Good night all.” She headed for the stairs.

After a few more minutes of chat, the others headed for their rooms, too.

STONE WAS PLEASED to find Holly in his bed, and when he slid in beside her, even more pleased to find her naked. He snuggled up to her back and nestled between her cheeks. Holly reached back between her hands and fondled him, bringing him erect. “I thought you’d never come upstairs,” she said, guiding him into her. She rolled over on her stomach, pulling him with her, and they kept that position until they had both come. Finally, she turned over, slung a wet leg over his and snuggled into his shoulder.

Stone reflected that it was nice to have her sleeping beside him. He didn’t fall asleep for a long time, though, because he was running every possible permutation of the events in the house through his head and getting nowhere. He resolved to get to the bottom of Dick’s and his family’s death. It was the last thing he could do for them.