By the time we made it to Whitefish Bay, they had closed the gap to a half mile. I kept waiting for the first bullet.
Then I saw my second beautiful sight of the day. It was a Coast Guard patrol boat, forty feet of nautical authority, in gleaming white with the distinctive orange stripes. There was another boat right next to it.
Bennett.
“We have to dump these weapons!” Leon said. Before we got any closer, Leon and I rounded up the four taped-up rifles, along with my revolver, and slipped them off the back end of the boat. As we did, we could see Isabella’s boat doing a quick U-turn. They were close enough for me to see two men at the rail, looking right at us. They were both dressed in black, with black sunglasses.
“I never thought I’d say this,” Vargas said, “but thank God for the U.S. Coast Guard. If you don’t mind, I’d rather not thank them in person. Those boys can get a little nosy.”
He set a new course to the southwest, tracing a mile-wide circle around the two boats. When the Coast Guard boat finally pulled away and headed for the river, Vargas took us closer to Bennett.
He was nowhere to be seen. It was just Ham and Gill, calmly sitting at the controls, waiting for us to pull up to them. The rough water made it hard to get close.
“What happened?” I said to them. “Where’s Bennett?”
On cue, the cabin door opened. Bennett poked his head out, his forehead wrapped in bandages. “Are they gone?”
“We ran out of gas,” Gill said. “We had to radio the Coast Guard. We were afraid you might miss us coming back in. Bennett went down below so they wouldn’t ask too many questions. As it was, we had to explain this shattered windshield.”
“We just got ourselves a first-class reaming, too,” Ham said. “All the time they’re filling us up, they’re bitching at us about being out here in the open water, with the weather turning bad, and running out of gas. They must think we’re the biggest fucking idiots on the lake.”
“I’m not sure I’d argue with them,” I said. “Come on, let’s go home.”
We headed down the bay, toward the river. With nobody chasing us now, we could take our time. I went in and checked on Jackie. He was wrapped up in the blankets, and snoring.
“Are you telling me he slept through all that?” I said.
“As soon as the bouncing stopped,” Jonathan said. “That’s when he went out.”
“We’ll be home soon.”
“When do I start thanking you, Alex?”
“Next time you pull out my bar tab.”
He gave me a tired laugh. I slapped him on the shoulder and went back up to the deck.
Leon had taken over the wheel. Vargas was sitting by the back rail now, rubbing his left shoulder.
“You’re gonna be hurting tomorrow morning,” I said.
“Yeah, well, considering the alternative, I’ll take it.”
“How much of a problem are you gonna have now? With Isabella, I mean.”
“I think I’m done with that gig now,” he said. “I just retired.”
“Will they let you do that? Just walk away?”
“They’ll have to. I’m done.”
“All that talk about building houses up here, the new Bay Harbor-Isabella was behind that, too, wasn’t he?”
“He was. I think that’s done now, too.”
“Maybe that’s for the best.”
He looked at me. “Yeah, I suppose it is. It obviously wasn’t doing me any good. All it did was make me a target.”
“I don’t know how this day would have gone without your help. I don’t think it would have ended well.”
“I figured it would be in my best interest to keep you all alive. Somebody’s got my money, after all. You promised me the full story, Alex. I’m waiting.”
I told him what I knew, about Bennett and his son, about the money being long gone now. “You’re gonna have to take this up with Bennett,” I said. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“We’ll have a little chat about it.”
“When we get back to his place, why don’t you come in and have a drink?”
“I’ll catch up to you later,” he said. “Maybe tomorrow I’ll stop by.”
“You sure?”
“I want to go home and let Miata out. He’s been inside all day. Cynthia just will not take that dog for a walk.”
“Maybe you should go somewhere else,” I said. “You know, lie low for a while. Hell, maybe you should hire Leon again. After today, I think he can take care of anything.”
“I appreciate the thought,” Vargas said. “But don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
When we got to Bennett’s place, we all climbed down off the boats. Jackie was awake now, and none too happy about making his way down a ladder wearing only a blanket. When we were all on the dock, Vargas gave us all a long look, nodded once, and then pulled away.
“Hey, Alex,” Bennett said. “Whatever happened to the money bag?”
“Excuse me?”
“You know, the bag with the two thousand dollars in it?”
“I must have dropped it in the lake, Bennett. I’m real sorry about that.”
“Don’t even worry about it, Alex. I’m not saying you should’ve held onto the bag. I was just asking.”
“I need a drink,” I said. “I think we all do.”
I was the last one off the dock. I looked down the river, saw Vargas at the wheel of his boat, just before he disappeared around the bend.
It was the last time I’d see him alive.
Chapter Twenty-three
We had our drinks. We had Margaret’s world-famous beef stew. I looked at each man, one by one-Jackie sitting there wearing some clothes Bennett had given him, the sleeves a good six inches too long. Jonathan, sitting next to his father, his left hand on Jackie’s back. Gill, who had come along to help his friend, without ever questioning us. Leon, his orange hair in complete disarray from the wind and the spray off the lake, still wearing his black windbreaker, sitting there with a weary smile on his face. My partner.
I couldn’t help feeling something for everybody there, even Bennett, the jackass who started this whole mess-sitting there with his head in bandages, telling Margaret all about the rescue, getting just about everything wrong. I could only imagine what the story would sound like a year from now. Bennett kept looking up at Ham, who was pacing around the room, still riding his adrenaline high. The look on Bennett’s face made me almost forgive him. Whatever was going through his mind when he started all this, none of that seemed to matter much now. Bottom line, Bennett did this for his son-his other son, Sean, the one who had gotten himself into so much trouble. It was a stupid, dangerous thing to do. But I didn’t have a son. Maybe there’s no way I’d really understand it unless I did.
The sun was going down when we finally left. I took Jackie and Jonathan home in my truck, with Jackie in the middle, falling asleep once again. We practically carried him up the back stairs, took Bennett’s oversized clothes off him, and put him in bed.
Jonathan and I went downstairs to the bar. We had another drink together.
“Tell me something,” I said. “Did Jackie ever tell you about his father?”
“Oh sure. My grandfather Eli. I never got to meet him, of course, but I’ve heard some of the stories. He had a million of ’em, I guess. Those years out on the north Atlantic, hunting U-boats.”
“He’s out there right now, huh? In that lake?”
“My father never told you any of this?”
“No,” I said.
“You should ask him about it.”
“I’ll do that.”
I watched him drain his glass. He looked so much like Jackie, on this night more than ever. At least to my eyes.
“What do you say?” he finally said. “Think he’d mind if we didn’t open for business tonight?”
“Just tell him it was my idea,” I said.
We kept the “Closed” sign on the door. Jonathan went up to his bed. I went home to mine.
I drove down to the end of my road, got out of the truck and looked at the ashes. I stood there in the dying light, trying to feel something, but I had nothing left. I went back to my cabin and crawled into bed. I could still feel the pitch and roll of the water as I fell asleep.