to the water on the other side of the street from the fence.
“I noticed a truck when I walked over there. Somebody must have gone in with the dogs, but from where?”
“Where is James?”
“He’s safe. The dogs had to have gone in from the west gate. The Old Highway side. That’s it. I don’t see any other entrance.”
James and I hadn’t even noticed a gate. Once again, our inexperience and lack of attention to detail was evident. I hoped we’d get a little better after we’d been at this for a while.
But this side was the side we’d never seen. Foliage was hiding most of the view, but there were several open spaces as I looked down the fence line. On the other side of the street were those block homes that had ocean access.
I motioned to Em and we crept down to one of the viewing points.
“You think James is safe?” I whispered.
“Doesn’t he usually skate? Your friend gets away with just about everything. He’s probably safe.” There was a sigh.
I stood back from the fence, watching through a small clearing as the long boat bumped the dock. The moon had come out from a cloud cover and I saw somebody was already on the wooden planks. A deckhand tossed them a rope.
Em touched my shoulder and I jumped.
“You guys don’t seem to have bothered them too much. It looks like they’re ignoring the fact that the dogs chased you out.”
I nodded. “They probably get kids who break in. James thinks it’s a place for skinny dipping.”
“Oooh. That would be interesting.”
We kept our voices low. “So they’re used to people being there. And getting run off. At least that’s our theory.”
The boat was tied tight and people started getting off. A lot of people were getting off.
“How big is that boat?”
I know nothing about boats, but I would have guessed forty-six to fifty-two feet long.
“Maybe fifty feet.”
“So far I’ve counted thirty people.”
Another five walked off before the parade ended.
I swatted at a mosquito and wiped sweat from my brow.
“What do you think? A dinner cruise?” The soft voice was behind me and I jumped again. James had approached from the rear and was watching through our clearing.
“You scared the hell out of me.”
“Maybe a hotel shuttle? Late night fishing trip?”
“They’re carrying bags, James.”
“We made it out with our limbs intact, pard.”
“We did.”
“Our surveillance team missed this one.” He glanced in Em’s direction.
“James, I am so sorry. I never saw it coming. You have my apology. I promise you I will be much more attentive when we do this again tomorrow night.”
I shook my head in amazement. I had never heard Em apologize to James. Never. It was unheard of.
“Tomorrow?” James sounded surprised.
“Hey, you guys hit something out there.”
“Skip did,” he said. “You’re right.”
“Well, don’t you want to see what it is?”
“Yeah.” I did.
“Plus there’s another reason you’ve got to go back.”
“What’s that?”
“Your shovels are lying on the ground.”
It was a valid point. I could only hope that no one canvassed the property and confiscated our tools.
The parade of people was walking over to the Ocean Air side of the property. I saw them walk into the dense foliage that hid the fence and every one of them disappeared as if by magic.
James was staring at the far fence.
“Where the heck did they go?”
“It’s like they fell off the edge.”
We’d walked the fence on that side down to the pointy little beach. I hadn’t seen any opening. No gate that I remembered.
“There was nothing there, amigo. Don’t you think we would have noticed some kind of opening?”
“Apparently we didn’t pay enough attention, James.” We never paid enough attention, and it was coming back to haunt us.
James shot back, “She gave me a bunch of crap about me not listening to her or something. I don’t know, I wasn’t really paying attention.”
I knew it right away. But before I could spit it out, Em said, “
She’d nailed it.
“Sometimes when I’m with you two guys I feel like I’m in that movie.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Walking around the fence, we carefully crept by the Ocean Air Suites and down to the beach where I finally turned on the flashlight. Right at the end of the galvanized steel fence there was smooth sand. Someone had raked a path from the fence, across the beach and all the way to the first building.
“Different texture to the sand,” James said. “Now why do you suppose that is? Why rake a path like that?”
I shone the light out farther toward the water. The sand was rough: footprints, seaweed, and sea debris marking its natural state.
“Turn it off, Skip.” Em was waving at me. “Somebody’s going to see that light and send the dogs again.”
I nodded and pushed the switch. Someone could be watching. I had to start thinking a little more carefully.
Walking up to the fence, right where the raking started, I could see no sign of an opening.
“This has to be where those people disappeared.”
“Maybe there’s an underground something on the other side,” James said.
“Like a cave?”
“Yeah. Or a tunnel. Maybe they went down a tunnel and ended up, you know, ended up-”
“Boys, there’s an ocean right there. An ocean. A huge, deep body of water. In the Keys you don’t have underground caves next to the ocean. Unless they’re filled with water. You don’t even have basements. In many cases, you bury bodies above ground. This is sea level. Cave? Tunnel? Underground something? I don’t think so.”
And, of course, she was right.
We silently walked back to the truck, wondering if there was any more to this adventure. We’d already been witnesses to a dead body, had the truck splashed with paint, dug for buried treasure, been chased by dogs, and watched thirty-five people mysteriously vanish into thin air. Pretty incredible.
“Lots of stuff happening today.” I said it almost to myself.
“None compares to the threat on your life.” Emily squeezed my hand as we walked. “That’s the worst part of this.”
