Page 10 of Dead Calm
“Yeah, when the floodwaters retreated back to the sea, they found her in the Taphouse. She’d drowned, at least that was one story that got around.” As Lainie spoke, two couples walked into the bar and waved for service.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about what Lainie was about to say.” Jude drained the last of his soda and set the sweating glass on the bar.
“Ditto,” Ronan agreed.
When the new patrons had been served, Lainie came back to Ten’s end of the bar. She leaned in close, as if what she’d been about to say was a secret. “Like I was saying, word got out that maybe Walt had killed Vivienne andnotthe hurricane. She’d been seen around the hotel with bruises and rumor had it Walter was the cause. When asked about her injuries, she’d told management that she’d hurt herself dancing in the speakeasy and no one ever mentioned it again.” Stiffening, fear flashed in Lainie’s eyes. “Anyway, it was a long time ago and no one knows for certain what really happened to Vivienne. Excuse me.” Shestraightened up and walked to the other end of the bar where a young man dressed in a suit was waiting for her.
Ten watched as the man grabbed Lainie’s left arm and gave her a shake. His head bent low and his face darkened as he spoke. He gave her one last shake and strode away. Ronan and Jude moved toward the bartender. Ten and Cope were right behind them.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Ronan asked.
“That’s my boyfriend, Kurt. He’s just upset that I overstayed the end of my shift, but Hank isn’t here to relieve me, so it’s not like I can leave with customers needing to be served.
“He’s got a funny way of showing he’s upset,” Ronan said, gently. “We’re detectives from Massachusetts.” He pointed back and forth between himself and Jude. Ronan pulled out his wallet and grabbed a business card from inside. “My cell phone number is here. Call if you need anything or feel like you’re in danger.”
Lainie took the card and stuffed it into her back pocket. “Thanks for the offer, but Kurt was just put out that I was late. We have reservations at an expensive restaurant in Newport. He was upset that we have to cancel.” She walked back to the bar and picked up the receiver of a landline phone, most likely to check on the whereabouts of her replacement.
“Let’s head upstairs and rescue the kids from Fitz’s awful dad jokes.” Jude reached for Cope’s hand. “Our sailing trip starts at nine tomorrow morning. Make sure you take Dramamine if you think you’re gonna blow chunks.”
“I’m glad you reminded us. I think I’m gonna give some to the kids, just in case.” Ten saw that Ronan looked a world away. “You okay?” He gave his husband’s shoulder a little shake.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Ronan sighed. “I fucking hate men who think they can put their hands on women like that. From the resigned look on her face, this wasn’t the first time Kurt had acted this way.”
Ten had a feeling Ronan was upset over what they’d witnessed. He was surprised Ronan hadn’t gone after the boyfriend. “You did all you could do. Let’s head up to bed.”
“Maybe,” Ronan said, starting for the elevator.
Ten knew Ronan wanted to do more for Lainie, but if the girl was insisting she was fine, what else could be done? The options were few and far between. None of them sat well with Tennyson. He’d keep his eyes, ears, and sixth sense open for any other signs of trouble.
5
Ronan
The next morning dawned bright and sunny. It was the perfect day to be out on the ocean. At least Ronan thought it was. He’d never been sailing a day in his life. He’d been on a cruise ship before, but never a sailboat.
Fitzgibbon had driven the van down to the dock and thankfully had given the kids a talk about wearing life jackets. They had to wear them, no matter what. So did the adults. None of the kids complained. Neither did any of the adults. It was a world gone mad as far as Ronan was concerned. Either that, or everyone knew not to talk back to Fitz.
Ten and Everly both looked well rested. Ten had slept through the night, something Ronan hadn’t seen him do since Ten had lost his gift for a time several years ago. Ronan spoke with Fitz who said Everly had a quiet night as well. If this was what living without spirits putting demands on his husband and daughter was like, he never wanted to leave this magical place.
With one problem behind him, Ronan came back around to Lainie the bartender. She hadn’t texted him last night. Not that Ronan had expected her to. In all likelihood, she’d thrown away his business card before Kurt saw it. She wasn’t ready to see the light yet when it came to her abusive boyfriend. Not that Ronan was one to talk. He’d stayed with Josh after the man had cheated on him dozens of times, hit and kicked him and verbally abused him every chance he got. If Lainie wanted help getting away from Kurt, Ronan would do any and everything he could to make sure she got back to Boston safely.
“Here we are!” Fitz called out, parking the van in the marina’s lot. “All ashore!”
“I can’t wait to see our ship!” Aurora said.
“I hope it’s not theS.S. Minnow,” Ronan said, making Ten laugh.
Standing at the dock was a man in a crisp red and white shirt and navy pants, holding a sign that read, “Fitzgibbon.”
“That’s us,” Fitz said, pulling out his wallet and driver’s license, which he showed to the man holding the sign.
“I’m Sean Matthews, first mate ofBreaking Wind. If you’ll all follow me.” Sean waved everyone forward.
Jude snorted and started to laugh. Ronan joined in. Soon Ten and Cope were cackling like loons.
“If he’s the first mate that would make you captain of the poop deck, right?” Ten asked Ronan.
“Is that really the name of the boat?” Ronan asked, when he’d finally stopped giggling.
