Page 33 of Against the Wind

“Thanks, Doc.” Ed flexed his arm carefully. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date with a chainsaw and what’s left of my oak tree.”

“Pop, no.” Bree’s tone brooked no argument. “You’re going home to rest. I’ll call the tree service.”

“Ain’t no formal tree service gonna be operating normally on this island for at least a couple of weeks.”

The sound of their bickering faded as they made their way to the exit.

I sat back, pausing to chug down a bottle of water myself. They were probably right. Willa was probably fine. I was just antsy not being able to confirm the safety of one of my people.

Shrugging off the sense of lingering disquiet, I went back to work.

TWENTY

DANIEL

By early afternoon, we still hadn’t found the stern of the drug runner’s vessel. But the scene had been secured. Additional parcels had been recovered along the beach as far as two miles up the length of the island. A team would remain in place for a while, as we expected more to turn up with the changing of the tides. Hopefully, some part of the boat with the HIN or other identifier would be found and give us a lead on who the boat actually belonged to. Given the evidence we had, it was unclear whether the drug runners had actually been attempting to make a run during the hurricane, or if the vessel had gotten loose and damaged. We might never know for sure, unless a body or an owner turned up to connect to it.

I’d handed over incident command to Bradley so I could get to the Sutter’s Ferry Police Station for Mickey Doyle’s interrogation. Maybe he’d have more light to shed on the situation. Assuming we could motivate him to talk.

Police Chief Bill Carson was waiting for me. A weathered guy who could’ve been anywhere from fifty to late sixties, his face was set in lines of grim irritation. “Shame this asshole couldn’t have waited for a better time to do this. We got biggerthings to worry about after this hurricane than the likes of some opportunistic tweaker.”

That attitude was likely what had allowed Doyle to make it this far. But I knew my role here. “That’s the damned truth. But our intelligence suggests he may be more than that. I’d appreciate it if you’d let me assist with the interrogation.”

He fixed me with a narrow-eyed glare. “You one of Hayes’?”

“Yes, sir.”

He nodded. “Reckon you can be there, then. But let me take the lead.”

“Understood.”

I followed him into the interrogation room. Mickey was already seated at the lone table, his hands cuffed to the table. Given his extreme look of boredom and annoyance, I wondered how long he’d been there. I didn’t expect this station had much in the way of holding facilities. Probably not more than a couple of cells.

Mickey’s eyes fixed on me and narrowed. “You again.”

Carson settled into the chair across from Mickey, his movements unhurried. “So. You want to tell me what you were doing at the clinic during a hurricane?”

Mickey slouched in his seat. “Man, I was just looking for shelter from the storm.”

I leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “By jimmying the back door?”

“Look, I ain’t talking to you, Coast Guard.”

Carson’s weathered face cracked into something between a smile and a sneer. “Son, you’re already looking at breaking and entering during a state of emergency. That’s a felony. Add attempted theft of controlled substances, plus this handy list of outstanding warrants we’ve got for you on other drug charges, and you’re facing some serious time.”

Mickey’s face went pale. “How’d you?—”

“We found your previous attempts to get in. Left some nice prints.”

“Can’t prove that was from before and not last night.”

“Doesn’t matter. We both heard you muttering to yourself when you figured out you couldn’t get into the drug room without the power being up.” I pushed off from the wall. “Your bosses know you’re this sloppy?”

His shoulders hunched. “They ain’t my bosses no more.”

“No?” Carson’s voice stayed casual. “What happened there?”

Mickey’s leg bounced under the table, his gaze ping-ponging all over the room before he finally admitted, “Lost a shipment. Twenty-five grand worth. They said I had to pay it back.”

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