Always Ready (16 page)

Aven leaned forward and asked, “Who told you about the job?”

“One of the men working on the
Molly K.
”

“Spruce Waller?” Eliot asked.

Herman swiveled and stared at him. “Yeah. How. . .”

Eliot shrugged. “He’s the only other one of Andrews’s crew who lives in Kodiak. How did he connect with Andrews, do you know?”

“No. I think he’d been with him awhile, though. I was hard up for work, and I heard Spruce at a bar one night, talking about leaving to go salmon fishing, so I asked him if they needed help. He said his boss might be hiring and to go with him the next morning. That was that.”

“Okay,” Eliot said, scribbling in the notebook. “And what’s Spruce doing now?”

“I don’t know. Haven’t seen him since the hearing.” Herman’s eyelashes lowered and screened his dark eyes.

“Are you sure?” Aven asked.

The young man jerked his head around to look at him. “He went to jail. I was glad I didn’t, except for that one night. Since I heard Spruce was out, I’ve stayed away from places I thought he might be.”

“Bad blood between you and Waller?” Eliot stopped writing and arched his eyebrows.

“Not really. But I don’t want there to be. Waller’s trouble.”

“In what way?”

Herman clamped his lips together and shook his head.

Aven bent toward him and clasped his hands together loosely. “Terry, if you know anything it would be in your best interests to tell us.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Not at all. But we’re going to talk to every man who was on the
Molly K
the day of the fight. We know Captain Andrews didn’t have the money to buy the boat back. But he came up with it, and we
will
find out where he got the cash.”

“And if we find out you knew,” Eliot growled, “you can kiss your wife and baby goodbye, because you’ll be doing time for obstructing justice.” He rose and stood over Herman, his notebook dangling from his hand. “If you know anything at all, now’s the time to speak.”

“Terry, tell them about Spruce.” The young woman stood in the doorway behind Eliot. She held the baby up against her shoulder and patted his back as she spoke. “If you don’t tell, you could get in worse trouble from them than you will from the Wallers.”

❧

“Hey, that’s great. Hold it!” Caddie snapped the shutter. “Fantastic.” She bounded the few steps to Lindsey and showed her the last few shots on the digital camera’s small screen.

Lindsey nodded grudgingly. “Not bad. You’re a good photographer.”

“Thanks. And that necklace is perfect for you.” Caddie smiled through gritted teeth and whispered, “Too bad it’s only four hundred dollars.”

Lindsey chuckled and took the silver and carved wood necklace off. “Yeah, it’s really sweet.” She went to the counter and handed the necklace back to the shop owner. “Thank you very much.”

“I’ll be sure to mention your shop in the article,” Caddie said, tucking the woman’s business card into her pocket.

As they walked outside into the cool sunshine, Lindsey zipped her jacket. “It would be easy to spend a lot of money in a hurry here.”

They ambled down the sidewalk in Homer. Most of the tourists had left a month ago, and many of the shops had closed for the season.

“I’m glad we got a chance to have some time ashore together,” Caddie said. “If we get enough pictures today, I may be able to finish putting the article together while we’re docked in Kodiak next week. Maybe I can send it off before we put out for the long cruise.”

“That’d be great.” Lindsey paused to study a window display of embroidered sweaters.

“Just don’t get your hopes too high,” Caddie reminded her. “There’s no guarantee the magazine will buy it.”

Lindsey shrugged. “It’s been fun doing it anyway. And I’m glad we got to know each other better.”

“Me, too.” Caddie smiled at her.

Getting to know Lindsey had turned out to be the best part of this deployment. For the past three days, they had studied the Bible together during their off-duty hours. Caddie had shown her friend several scripture passages about sin, forgiveness, and salvation through faith in Christ. Her curiosity whetted, Lindsey had asked if she could borrow Caddie’s compact Bible and started reading through the Gospels on her own.

“Hey, look,” Caddie said, nudging her. “Cups Café. Isn’t that the one Dee and Vera were going to have lunch at?”

“Yes. It’s darling.” Lindsey tilted her head back to look at the wildly painted teacups and saucers on the roof of the little building. “We’ve got to eat here. Let me snap your picture under the sign first.”

After she took the photo, they went inside and paused just inside the door to exclaim over the stained glass panels and handcrafted objets d’art throughout the crowded room.

“There they are!” Caddie had spotted Dee and Vera at a table in a far corner, waving frantically. “Let’s join them. I don’t see any other free tables.” She and Lindsey squeezed between the diners and reached the other two young women.

“Imagine, the entire female contingent of the
Wintergreen
here at the same time,” Dee said with a laugh. She gestured to the ornately decorated dining room. “Like it?”

“Love it,” Caddie said.

“We’re about finished,” Vera told her, “but you two can have our table.”

“Thanks.” Lindsey picked up a glass-beaded napkin ring. “I think I want to live here.”

“Order the Cobb salad. It’s great.” Dee slid out of her chair. “We’ve got to head back now. See you later.”

As the lunch traffic in the café thinned, the chatter quieted, and Caddie and Lindsey picked up the conversation they’d begun that morning on the way into town.

“I read the last two chapters of Matthew this morning,” Lindsey said. “I couldn’t stop reading. It was so. . .powerful.”

“The Crucifixion and Resurrection?”

“Yes. I wish I knew as much about the Bible as you do. I can’t believe I’ve lived this long assuming I knew what it was about but never read any of it. When do I get to the part about the Ten Commandments?”

Caddie chuckled. “That’s in the Old Testament, way back near the beginning. You’re reading about the time when Jesus lived, which was much later than Moses.”

“Oh.” Lindsey’s brow puckered in a frown. “Why did you have me start reading near the end?”

“Because I wanted you to read about Jesus. You had so many questions about why He came to earth and how His death could help us.”

“Mmm. I get it. And what I read this morning. . .I mean, if the part we talked about before is true, about Jesus being God, then”—Lindsey’s eyes shone with unshed tears—“it makes sense to me now. He
had
to be the one to pay for our sins.”

Caddie reached over and squeezed her hand. “Just wait until you read John. There’s so much there about Jesus’s nature and His ministry. Oh, I’m going to ask the waitress if there’s a bookstore near here. I want to get you a Bible of your own and see if I can find a good, basic study book. That will help answer your questions.”

“You’re teaching me a lot. I appreciate it.”

“Thanks, but I seem to be going at it in a haphazard fashion. I keep wondering if I’ve skipped over something important. Maybe we should start reading Genesis at the same time. Begin with creation. A chapter each of the Old and New Testaments every day.”

Lindsey’s laugh burbled out. “I was sure you were a fanatic of the worst kind. Do you know, I avoided being alone with you in our cabin because I was afraid you’d try to preach to me?”

“Really.” Caddie swallowed hard.
Thank You, Lord, for helping me not to have that impulse.

“Yes. But now I can’t wait to have an hour free to talk about the Bible with you. It’s crazy.”

“Not crazy. It’s God’s doing.”

Lindsey nodded, her eyes glinting. “I believe that now, but a week ago I’d have used that statement as proof that you were off your rocker.”

The waitress came to take their orders, and for a minute the friends turned their attention to the menus. When they’d made their decisions and learned where to find a bookstore, Lindsey looked across the small table at Caddie. “I never thought I’d say this, but would you ask the blessing, please? And. . .I’ve decided to call my folks when we get back to Kodiak. Would you please pray for me, that I’ll know how to talk to them and what to say?”

“Of course. And when you think of it, maybe you can pray for me. I’ve started a new correspondence course for the next rating.”

“Still figuring to follow in your dad’s footsteps?”

“Unless I feel God’s leading me otherwise. So I need to keep with the program—you know, keep studying and learning.”

“How will you know if God wants you to do something else?”

Caddie pursed her lips. “Well, I know He wants me to stay with the Coast Guard for at least another year and a half, because that’s the obligation I have left. But afterthat. . .who knows? I’ve decided to keep on as though this is my career for the next fourteen years or so. I want to be ready if it is. And if He has something else for me, He’ll show me how to prepare for that.”

“Like going to work for a magazine, maybe?”

“I doubt it, but. . .you just never know, do you?” Caddie wondered if Lindsey longed for a family and a real home. The question was on her list for the article, but she hadn’t quite had the nerve to ask it yet. Voicing the question would force her to face her own yearnings, and they seemed to be stronger since she’d met Aven.

A woman bustled into the restaurant and joined a young man at a table near Caddie and Lindsey. Her smart black jacket and pants, paired with a lavender silk shirt, pegged her in Caddie’s mind as a businesswoman, not a tourist.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said to the man.

He jumped up to hold her chair. “You’re not late. I got here a few minutes early. I was going to stop at the Hailey Gallery down the street, but they’re closed. I thought they were staying open this fall.”

“Didn’t you hear?” the woman asked. “They’ve been robbed.”

Caddie raised her eyebrows at Lindsey to see if she had overheard. Lindsey pulled a sympathetic face.

“That’s awful,” the man said. “What happened?”

“It was in the paper. Someone hauled over twenty thousand dollars’ worth of scrimshaw and carvings out of there sometime Sunday night.”

Lindsey leaned toward Caddie and whispered, “That’s fifty of those necklaces I modeled for you.”

Caddie nodded. It wouldn’t take long for thieves to snatch up a valuable inventory in this neighborhood.

“Hey,” said Lindsey, and Caddie snapped back to attention.

“You said something?”

Lindsey grinned. “Yes. Dessert is on me.”

❧

Terry Herman’s face clouded and he scowled at his wife. “Shut up, Crystal.”

Aven wished he were elsewhere.

“No.” She stepped forward. “This is what got you arrested in the first place.”

“How do you figure?” Terry asked.

“You knew stuff was going on, but you kept quiet. So instead of getting arrested for drugs, you got pinched for assaulting fisheries cops.”

“I couldn’t rat on guys I worked with.”

Crystal scrunched up her face and shook her head. “You could have just quit and tried to get on a better boat. One where they did things legal.”

“I told you to shut up.”

Eliot held out one hand in supplication. “All right, folks. Let’s stay calm.” He sent Terry a meaningful look. “Mr. Herman, as I said before, if you have information that could help our investigation, now is the time to speak. Because withholding stuff like that is a crime.”

Terry lowered his head into his hands. “Man, oh, man. Why can’t you shut up, Crystal?” He looked up at Eliot. “If I talk to you, Spruce Waller and his brother will find out. No telling what they’ll do.”

“They won’t do much if they’re in jail,” Eliot said.

Aven glanced over at Crystal. “Mrs. Herman, would you have any coffee?”

She stared at him as if he’d asked for champagne, but after a moment her tight features relaxed. “Sure.” She crossed the room and laid the baby on a blanket in the playpen. He stirred and whimpered, then lay still. Crystal went into the kitchen, and Aven heard water running.

Eliot arched his eyebrows at Aven, as though inquiring if he wanted to speak.

Aven nodded and said quietly, “Terry, your wife is right. Talking to us is the best thing you can do right now.”

“What if I say no? Are you going to arrest me again?”

Eliot sat down again and let out a breath. “Not today. But I can make it difficult for you to find work, and I’d really like to see you working again. You’ve got a nice family. You should be bringing home a paycheck, not bouncing in and out of the court system.”

Terry stared at the threadbare carpet for a long moment, his lips twitching. At last he looked to Aven. “Listen, you gotta believe me. I don’t really know anything, just things I heard the other guys say on the boat, you know?”