“It’s the least I can do,” Maris said. “Especially after everything you’ve done.”
Not to mention, Maris thought, that Claribel had given her a warning. Not only did her magical lighthouse rescue sailors at sea, she also had an unerring way of spotting trouble on land. Something was going to happen in this direction. It was just a matter of time.
After picking up another flyer, Maris regarded the young woman. “So this is your work? Traveling around the world to help out places under threat?”
Julia nodded. “Places, species, water, forests, even ways of life. It’s how I was raised. You might say I’ve been training since I could walk.”
Ryan and Howard joined them, both carrying trash bags that were almost full. As Howard approached, he raised his hand to Julia, who gladly accepted his high five. “You did it,” he said.
She shook her head. “We did it.”
“They couldn’t get away fast enough,” Ryan said, who also gave her a high five, as well as Howard and Maris. “We’ve got them on the run.”
Julia smiled at him. “That’s for sure, but don’t count them out.” She stooped to pick up a sign from a bench they passed, heading back toward the beginning of the pier. The two men fell into step behind them. “They’ll be back. NAP hasn’t invested tons of money to drill for oil here, just to drop the whole thing because of our rally.”
“They’re never drilling for oil here,” Ryan said. “Not as long as I’m here.”
“Over my dead body,” Howard said, with enough vehemence that Maris turned to look at him. He was glowering out at the water, unaware of her gaze.
“Careful what you ask for,” Julia said, suddenly sober as well.
Maris frowned. It was as though her anxiety over the Old Girl’s signal had spread to her companions.
As they passed, Seas the Day, Slick’s fishing boat, he gave them a wave. “You took the wind out of their sails,” he called out to Julia. “Carry on with the good work.”
She grinned and waved back at him. “Thanks for your help, Captain Duff!”
Maris smiled and waved at the old fisherman too, as Ryan cupped a hand to his mouth and yelled, “May the catching be as good as the fishing!” He gave Slick a thumb’s up, and the old seafarer gave him a wave.
As they approached the parking lot, Maris saw that the sheriff’s SUV was one of the few vehicles remaining. For a moment she worried that perhaps he’d been summoned for some emergency. But from the way he leaned against the front bumper and sipped from a travel mug, there didn’t seem to be any rush.
They came to Julia’s rental first. “Here,” she said, popping open the trunk. “Just put everything in here.”
“Are you sure?” Maris said. “We can help you sort through everything.”
“No worries,” the young woman said, putting in the signs. “There’ll be plenty of time later. They’re going to have to regroup, and this won’t be our last rally.”
Maris laid the flyers in next to them.
“I’ll get rid of these at the market,” Howard said, taking Ryan’s trash bag from him. “I’ve got a big dumpster out back.”
“Thank you,” Julia said. “That’d be great.” She closed the trunk, and stood back to regard her three helpers. “You guys have been wonderful. We did good today.”
“Good work, everybody,” Howard said, smiling, seemingly back to his old self.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” Ryan said.
“Will do,” Julia said, and watched them go.
“I’ll see you back at the B&B,” Maris said to her.
“Sounds good,” she said, grinning. “That wine and cheese is going to be good tonight.”
As Maris watched her go, she tried to imagine the Wine Down. More than likely Julia would be in the mood for a bit of gloating. But equally as likely, the two NAP representatives would probably be in the mood for dinner out and to avoid the environmentalist altogether.
As Maris turned back to where she’d seen the sheriff, he was approaching. “Hello, Mac,” she said, smiling. “What brings you to the pier on this beautiful day?”
“Just ensuring the peace,” he said, returning her smile. His gray eyes seemed lit from within as he gazed at her. As usual, his brown and khaki uniform was neatly pressed, and the star badge on his breast pocket gleamed a bright gold. “I’ve been here most of the morning.”
“Oh!” she said, glancing around. “I didn’t see you.”
He smirked a little. “That’s pretty much the point. I expected it to be peaceful, which it was. But I’m paid to be a pessimist, you might say.” He paused for a moment. “‘The past was bad, and the future hid, its good or ill untried, but the present hour, was in my power.’”
She laughed a little. “I see. Expect the best, and plan for the worst, even for Robert Burns.”
He nodded. “That’s it exactly. When you’ve been–”
“Sheriff!” someone yelled. Maris spun around to see Jill Maxwell running in their direction. The nurse practitioner from the Pixie Point Bay Medical Clinic was pointing behind her to the steps that led down to the sand. “Come quick,” she gasped. “There’s a body, under the pier.”
3
Mac crouched down near the body, laying on its side. As Maris looked on, it was hard to make out what was going on in the deep shadows. Beyond them the high tide was rhythmically approaching and retreating, and the sound of the waves seemed amplified under the pier’s massive columns and beams. Maris stood next to Jill, who gripped her arm.
“Did you see who it was?” Maris asked.
Jill nodded. “The woman from North American Petroleum. I don’t know her name.”
“What?” Maris whispered as she went still. “Audrey Graisser?”
“Right,” Jill said. “That’s her name. Audrey.”
Claribel had been right. An icy shiver ran down Maris’s spine. Deadly trouble had literally been brewing right under her feet.
But Audrey?
Maris could hardly believe it. As much as the town didn’t want an oil derrick in the
