Page 4 of Spring Break with a Pilot

3

Silk

“What’s going on,” Dax asks as soon as we’re out back.

“A couple nights ago I was walking home from the pier. It was late and I saw her dart out of an alley with a guy hot on her heels. He grabbed her and dragged her back between the buildings. She was trying to fight him off. I got behind him and put him in a choke hold. She must have thought we were a tag team because she lashed out at me—nearly caught the family jewels—then took off.

“She lost her water bottle and phone.”

“And...”

“Before I got to him, I heard the guy say, ‘he wants you back’. When he regained consciousness, he said we were both dead for messing up his retrieval assignment.

“I got the phone to I-Tee. He was able to get her name and save most of her stuff. He checked for a driver’s license and her listed address is on MyLand Island. The most interesting part, he found a very high-tech tracker installed on her phone.

“I’ve been trying to find her for two days.”

Dax shakes his head. “Boots found her sleeping on the Landon’s Dairy Cheeses’ stoop about two weeks ago.” He nods to the back entrance where Boots and Daisies shares the entrance with the other side of the building. “She took her a coffee and a Danish from the bakery down the street. After they talked a bit, Boots offered her a job.

“She’s staying at that piece of shit boarding house where Boots was. I changed the locks on her door and put deadbolts in the bathroom. Made sure she could move the dresser in front of the door when she slept.”

“Diesel is bringing his family back with him, so he’s looking for a rental,” I say thinking out loud. “My spare room is empty.”

“I don’t think she trusts you.”

I shrug. “What time does she get off?”

“She’s leaving at four to catch a ferry to somewhere. Probably that island she’s from. What are you thinking?”

“The same thing you are. Something’s wrong. She’s running or hiding. Or both.”

“We got any transportation on that island?” he asks.

“Nothing of ours. They do have those electric bike rentals. I could follow the ferry in the speedboat. When I’m sure that’s her destination I could go ahead and be ready with a bike. It’s not that big an island. I’ll stay in the shadows unless she needs me.”

“I’ll text you when she leaves and I’ll follow her till she boards. Take your comm unit and keep in touch.”

“Roger that.”

Dax was right, she boarded the ferry stopping at her home island. I’m following at a reasonable distance when another speedboat jets by me, the HIN numbers conveniently obscured. I quicken my own speed, veering off when I’ve got a good idea where the other boat is headed. I don’t like coincidences and two of us following the same ferry sets off my warning bells.

Docking, I pick up the rental bike and position myself to watch people disembark. I see her. Good girl, she’s hidden her hair under a ball cap and has changed her shirt from what she wore onto the ferry. She knows she’s being watched. Does she know by who?

Problem is if they’re professional, they picked her out just like I did. She heads for the bike rental with several other passengers and rents one of her own. Joining at the rear of the stream of bikers hitting the road, I keep her in sight. One by one the riders breakoff going down separate roads or paths to their personal destinations.

Melia glanced back a couple times in the beginning, but I kept my head down. After a couple miles in she lost herself in what’s obviously an enjoyable exercise for her. I keep my head down letting my own ball cap shield my face.

The whole island is only ten miles long. The address on her driver’s license pins her home somewhere in the middle.

I glance back as a car approaches from behind. Blacked out windows, expensive model, obscured license plate. Damn, could they be more obvious? Speeding up I pull abreast of her. “Do you know someone with a black Beemer who’d be following you?”

She glances over her shoulder and pales. “What are you doing here?”

“Watching your back. Someone else is following you. Can we cut through that stand of trees?”

“Yes. Its a little rough, but doable.”

“Lead the way, I’ll follow.”

---