Haunted (Michael Bennett 10)

Seamus clapped his hands and said, “That’s the spirit.”

That was the day I taught the kids the difference between a cannonball and an atomic cannonball.

The wake of my splash washed Ricky onto the floating dock, much to the delight of all the kids. Even Sadie was cautiously hanging on to a float in shallow water, taking part in the family fun.

Then I saw a speedboat sitting on the lake off in the distance. I hadn’t noticed it putter into position. It’d come down from the wide North River, which entered the lake between the forest in the foothills.

I couldn’t see who was piloting the boat. It looked like a man. The engine was off, and he was just drifting. I imagined him staring at us.

I tried not to let my paranoia get the best of me. But the longer he watched us, the more angry I became. I stepped off the dock into the old rowboat that was moored alongside. It was clunky and awkward. We’d used it to fish a couple of times, and the kids liked to sit in it and rock back and forth. Now I was on the middle bench with both the oars firmly in my hands, and I pulled with all my might.

The rowboat was surprisingly agile and cut through the water directly toward the speedboat. If nothing else, I wanted this idiot to realize I was paying attention. No one could watch my family without my taking some sort of action.

As I got closer, I heard the speedboat’s motor roar to life. The operator was a middle-aged man with short dark hair. I didn’t recognize him. He hit the throttle, and the boat jumped to life. He made a sharp U-turn and came past me at close to full speed. The wave from his boat soaked me and threatened to swamp my rowboat.

Then the speedboat made a pass toward shore. Not too close to the kids, but aimed directly at the house. He made another sharp turn, and the maneuver kicked water up onto the yard. It also destroyed the pen the boys had made for the catfish.

They shouted at the man as he pulled away from shore and headed directly at me again. He buzzed my rowboat, and this time the water was so deep that when the stern of my boat dipped, the lake almost flooded over the sides.

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nbsp; The man turned the boat and headed back toward the wide stream. He gave me a jaunty wave as he disappeared behind a clump of trees. I could hear the motor for another twenty seconds after he was out of sight.

Even if I wanted to, I knew I couldn’t ignore what was going on in this town. I had to help Sandy with this crazy case and these ungrateful townspeople.

Chapter 74

I was antsy. I was supposed to be on vacation and enjoying my family, but instead I found that the only thing I could think about was the mess in Linewiler. For my entire career, I could never relax when a partner was working. It didn’t matter who that partner was. Apparently it didn’t matter where that partner was, either.

Mary Catherine, bless her heart, understood exactly what I was feeling and gave me a nod to let me know it was okay to leave for a few hours.

Sandy was happy to see me when I pulled up in the front yard of Dell Streeter’s compound.

She gave me that familiar wide grin. “Look what the cat dragged in.”

I said, “This is some shitty duty. Protecting a dope dealer from irate townspeople. Sounds like the plot of an old horror movie.”

Sandy said, “I have my extra blue light on the roof so there’s no mistaking that this is a police car. We’re sort of acting like a big dog. Anyone who sees us doesn’t want to fool around.”

“It’s too bad you have to waste any time protecting this scumbag.”

Sandy just shrugged. She was always better than I was at accepting a situation and just moving on. She had kept me from saying stupid things to the bosses before, when we worked the streets together.

She said, “The lab is working overtime. I pray to God we’ll have something to link him to the bodies soon. Until then, we can’t let anything stupid happen. Every politician in Maine has made it clear they don’t want this to be on the news.”

“I hate to be cynical, but guys like Dell Streeter ruin neighborhoods and towns all the time. I can’t say I’d be too upset if the town decided it had had enough.”

Sandy said, “You saw that crowd at the fire station. What’s scary to me is that I know all those people. Until last night, I never had a reason to think they could do something crazy, like shoot someone for revenge. Now I have to rethink everything I believed. Now I have to look at my neighbors with suspicion. It’s the exact reason I left New York.”

“We could call in sick and forget this whole nasty business.”

Sandy laughed and said, “You always could cheer me up, Bennett.”

“Seriously, why is the town’s only detective sitting on a midnight shift?”

“The truth is, a couple of the patrol officers refused to do it. They’re close with some of the angry residents. And some of the cops are locals and have known the families their whole lives. I didn’t want to take the risk that they would allow something to happen.”

As usual, her reasoning was sound.