Dark Harbor (Stone Barrington 12)

AT THE HOUSE, Lance went directly to Dick’s secret office and got on the computer. Stone watched as he loaded a stack of acetate sheets into the printer.

“Now we wait,” Lance said. “Is lunch ready?”

They sat down around the kitchen table, while Mabel served the food and Stone took everybody through every step of the past two days.

“Any questions?” Stone asked, finally.

Ham spoke up. “Is it true that after forty-eight hours the chances of getting a missing person back are about nil?”

“No, it’s not true,” Stone said. “Not in this situation, at least.”

“Why not this situation?”

“First, because it’s Holly, and she is much more capable of dealing with these circumstances than your average abductee. If she has even the slightest opportunity, she’ll kill her abductor and get out of wherever she is. It’s unlikely that he has any notion of how much danger he’s in.”

Ham nodded, seeming to take some comfort in that idea.

They were on coffee when Lance looked at his watch. “Excuse me, I want to see if I’ve had anything from Langley yet.” He got up and left the table.

Seth came in from outdoors. “Stone, can you come down to the dock for a minute? There’s something I want to show you.”

“We’re expecting Sergeant Young shortly, Seth. Can it wait?”

“I don’t think so,” Seth said.

Stone got up and followed, and everybody else followed Stone. Seth led them down to the dock where Dick’s yacht and the Hinckley picnic boat were docked.

“This is what caught my attention,” Seth said, pointing at a corner of the picnic boat’s stern. “Did you do that by any chance?”

The corner was damaged, as if it had been hit from above by something heavy.

“No, I didn’t,” Stone said. “This boat was pristine the last time I was aboard.”

“I didn’t think so,” Seth said. He produced a bucket with a Plexiglas bottom. “Come over here and take a look.” He put the bottom of the bucket in the water astern of the boat and held it while Stone looked into it. The six-foot-deep water, which was clear but dark, became even clearer. A cubical object about eighteen inches on each side came dimly into view, half sunk into the muddy bottom.

“It’s got to be the safe,” Stone said.

“What safe?” Dino asked.

“Dick’s safe from the study. Somebody got into the house and sawed it out of where it was bolted to a shelf in a cupboard.”

Seth said, “I reckon the feller muscled it down here to the dock to load it on a boat, and he slipped up and dropped it, hitting the boat’s transom. The safe went into the water, and nobody could get it out of there alone without some equipment.”

“Seth,” Stone said, “is there a wet suit among Dick’s stuff?”

“Yes, in the garage,” Seth said, “but it’s Dick’s size, and he was smaller than you or me.”

“Would it fit Dino?”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Dino said.

“I reckon it would,” Seth replied.

“Will you take Dino inside and get him into the wet suit? Hit him over the head, if you have to. Then find some rope and a shovel.”

DINO STOOD ON THE dock wearing the wet suit, a mask and a snorkel. “Now what?” he asked.

“It’s going to be just like that time you told me about in the Bahamas,” Stone said. “Remember how much you enjoyed the snorkeling?”