I had a terrific headache when I came to. I blinked around in the dark, found my hands tied. It took five minutes to work out of the rope. I switched on a light.
Two of Finlay’s men were gone!
I cursed myself out of the ropes tying my feet and raced upstairs.
Hamphill lay exhausted, in deep sleep. He didn’t stir, even when I called his name. I shut the door softly and went to Sherry’s room.
The couch where Sherry Bourne had lain was empty. Sherry was gone.…
* * *
The ocean came and dropped itself on the sand and slid out with a foaming sigh as my feet crunched the sand down.
Squinting out, I saw the rowboat—a gray rowboat, barely visible in the moonlight just breaking through the fog.
A large man stood in the boat, with long thick arms and a big head. Willie.
Mark stood on the beach where the waves didn’t quite touch his small dark shoes. He turned as I walked up. I looked at Willie in the boat. Mark looked as if he hadn’t expected me to show up.
“Where’s Willie going?” I said.
Mark looked out at Willie too. “He’s got a load.”
“A load of what?”
“Canvas with chains around it and bricks inside.”
“What’s he doing with that at four in the morning?”
“Dumping it. It’s Finlay.”
“Finlay!”
“I couldn’t sleep downstairs with him there. And if you didn’t like my plan, I wanted to get him out of the way. One corpse less, if the cops came.” He looked at my head. “Somebody hit you?”
“About half an hour ago, and tied me up. While you were down here fussing around, two of the Finlay boys got free and whacked me.” I smiled a little, too, to be friendly. “Then they took Sherry and drove off, just a few minutes ago. What do you think of that story?”
“They stole Sherry!” Mark’s eyes widened, his jaw dropped.
“You’re a damn good actor,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, why didn’t they shoot me and the boss? We shot Finlay, didn’t we? So why’d they hit me over the head when a shot in the guts would be better? It doesn’t click. It’s too damn convenient, you being down here, twice now, when everything begins to pop. Too damn neat you being down here with Finlay’s body, giving them a chance to lam.”
“I don’t get what you’re squawking at,” snapped Mark. “If you ask me, you should be glad Sherry’s gone. Now we won’t have to stay here nursemaiding Hamphill!”
“You’re just a little too glad,” I said.
Willie was way out in the night now, looking back, waving at us.
Mark and I watched as Willie lifted the canvas thing and dropped it over the boat side. It made a big splash with ripples.
“Oh, God,” I said. I took Mark quietly by his lapels, holding him close so I breathed in his face. “Know what I think?” I breathed. I gripped him. “I think you wanted to get out of here, bad. So you hit me on the head, tied me up, then you took Finlay’s men, toted them out to their car, pushed them inside, drove the car down the road, parked it off behind some shrubs, lights out, left them, and came back. A good setup. You tell the boss they slipped their ropes, swiped Sherry and escaped.” I looked at Willie in the boat. “All while you were dropping a body in the ocean—only, not Finlay’s body!”
“Yes, it is!” He struggled, but I held him.
“You can’t prove anything. I don’t know anything about Sherry!”