Authors: John Strauchs
She was still badly shaken by what had happened over the past few hours. Heck,
her whole life may have changed.
She was determined, however, to not let Jared down.
He was hurt badly and he looked like he could pass out at any moment. She wasn’t going
to let him see that she was frightened. If he sensed it, so be it, but she wasn’t going to let
him see the signs. He is the one who needed help now. She was dieing to ask him questions about the attack, but not now.
Jenny was watching Jared, at least when he wasn’t looking.
His eyes were halfclosed. The cold was working on both of them now. She helped Jared get dressed again
and she put on a few more layers of whatever she could find, including a ratty tarp she
found in the fish locker. She didn’t look glamorous but she was keeping out the cold.
Despite all her feelings about protecting the environment, she threw his bloody clothes
into the bay. She watched as the clothes drifted back into their wake until the dark water
and the dark night hid them.
She had no notion of how many people had died tonight. The loss of the beautiful
house made her sad. Her chest, arms and legs were soaked with Jared’s blood. It was all
so depressing. She tried hard to be upbeat for his sake, but it wasn’t working.
It was half past five in the morning and everything was dark and silent. Even the
lobstermen weren’t up and around yet. Nautical twilight was just beginning. Jenny saw
that Jared was asleep, so she didn’t wake him to ask. It was still too dark. She turned on
the running lights and a spot light so she could see where they were going.
She lost all
track of time. Jared woke from time to time to give her directions. Finally, he pointed to
a bright spot on the horizon and told Jenny to go there.
Jared was slumped over, but righted himself as they approached the Ovid Marina.
He cut the engine and drifted the boat toward the center dock. It was a small marina. He
saw someone in the security guard shack stirring, but whoever it was, sat back down out
of sight after peeking through a small window. The smoke rising out of the stack meant
that the guard had a small stove going. He wasn’t going to leave his warm fire. This was
all good. He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.
Jared climbed on to the dock, tied off the boat, and helped Jenny climb out.
His
leg gave way and he almost fell. They didn’t speak but she tried to do everything for him
as soon as she realized what he wanted. She jumped back into the boat and grabbed everything that they brought.
“Is there anything else we need?” she asked.
“No. Everything we need will be on the cruiser.”
He led her across a maze of ramps.
“Here.
Throw the stuff on board while I get the lines.”
He was limping badly.
Jenny saw the security guard watching them from his window.
She hoped that Jared’s
infirmity wasn’t so obvious that the guard would decide to investigate. He didn’t
Jenny glanced over to the stern. The name of the boat was StarWind.
“
What a beautiful name
,” she thought. She didn’t know that stellar wind was the
strongest as a star neared the end of its life. Jared knew.
Jared managed to climb on board and pull in the gangway.
He suppressed the
pain, but it was obvious to Jenny that he was in trouble. She wanted to help but on reflection, decided not to. He would resent it. She understood that he had the sin of pride, but it
was difficult to watch him work.
He went up to the fly bridge. The engines started immediately. He paid the marina well to keep his boat clean, maintained and fueled. He revved the engines and slowly
pulled out of the slip and into the channel. He reversed engines and slowly accelerating,
entered the bay.
He throttled to half power.
He checked to see that all of his running
lights were on. They were well into marine nautical twilight and it was easier to see.
Jenny came up to the fly bridge with an armful of jackets and sweaters.
She was
wearing a heavy Navy pea coat and a watch cap. Everything was too big for her but she
looked cute. Jared did a double take.
“I found these in a closet in the large cabin,” she said.
“Thanks.”
Jared grabbed a heavy jacket and put it on. “It will take a little time for the cabins
to warm up.”
“They are frigid,” said Jenny. “I’m not that tired yet.
I think I found my second
wind.
Go down and get some sleep. I think I can take it from here, but where are we
going?” she asked.
“I’ll do that,” said Jared. “Stay on this heading. The sea is pretty flat tonight. It is
a one to two-foot sea.
When you get into open water just steer south and hug the coastline. You sure you can handle this? Wake me in two hours.”
“Get out of here. The Captain has spoken.”
Jared wasn’t in the mood for the levity.
He climbed down from the fly bridge and down again into the cabin level. He
walked into the first cabin he came to and flopped on the bed. He went to sleep almost as
soon as his head hit the pillow. He didn’t bother to pull back the cover.
About an hour later, Jenny thought the boat was in clear open water and that it
was safe to leave the bridge. She found Jared.
The cabin was warm. She began to pull
his clothes off. She winced when she saw the duct tape over his wounds. He never stirred
as he was being undressed. She got all of his clothes off. She managed to pull the cover
out from under him and with some clever rolling, got him under the sheet.
She covered
him with a blanket and pushed a pillow under his head. He was pale and looked terrible.
She felt his forehead. He didn’t seem to have a fever. That was a relief. Still, Jenny was
worried and thought about getting on the radio to call for help. Maybe she should call the
Coast Guard. The gun shot wounds would be impossible to explain. Finally, she reconciled with her conscience and agreed to do as Jared wished.
They would handle this on
their own.
The sun was coming up on the eastern horizon. The sky was clear. It was another
cold day, but it was a rebirth nonetheless.
No matter how many times she had seen the
sun come up over the ocean, the beauty was always startling.
It is something she could
never tire of.
She set the course and walked down to the galley. They were still relatively close
to Portland. Perhaps the TV could pick up Channel 6. She turned it on. The picture was
snowy but the sound was clear.
“At least seven bodies have been found so far, killed by last night’s massive explosion on Eagle’s Head Island. The source of the explosion is still
under investigation.
The medical examiner’s office has not determined
whether reclusive millionaire, Jared Siemels, is among the dead. The police said that more victims are likely to be found. Reportedly, it may be
days before all of the bodies are identified.
None of the victims had any
form of identification on them. The Maine State Police confirmed that
Siemels is a person of interest in the recent homicide of MIT professor
Ivan
Smolenskiy
in
his
apartment
in
Boston.
Dr.
Smolenskiy
was
found….”
She had enough and turned it off.
They found bodies. What happened? If they
think Jared is dead, maybe they won’t be searching for him. What’s this about Professor
Smolenskiy? Could he really be dead? She had to ask Jared later.
She needed to make
notes. She had a lot of questions.
“
Smolenskiy. Smolenskiy
,” she repeated until she dropped down into the galley to
find some paper and a pencil so she could write down the details.
She pulled open a
drawer near the sink. A gun! She saw a gun in the drawer. She wasn’t all that interested
in guns but she often hunted with her father and brother and they liked guns.
This was
the famous James Bond gun. What was it? Yes, she remembered. It was a Walther PPK.
It was a 9 millimeter. The bullets were copper-jacketed hollow points. Why was the gun
there?
People died on the island.
A lot of people. Did Jared kill them?
She didn’t’
know. He might have.
He probably did. Why was the gun there?
Her mind was spinning. Jared wasn’t like that. He wasn’t a killer. Well—that’s not right. He killed those
men at Old Orchard Beach. He was a killer. And they ran then too. What was going on?
Maybe she didn’t know Jared at all.
Why did they keep running from the police?
Did
Jared also kill Professor Smolenskiy? She began writing her thoughts on the pad.
She wasn’t sure about anything. He was moody and she suspected that he was
suicidal. Was she alone at sea with a killer? No! No! She had to stop thinking these terrible thoughts.
He had a way of sensing what she was thinking.
She had to clear her
mind of these ideas. Still, there were questions that had to be answered. Later!
Jenny went down to the cabin to check on Jared.
He was lost to the world.
He
was breathing regularly and some color was coming back into his face.
She kept a vigil
over him for hours. The sun was setting in the west before he woke.
She wanted to sleep
She walked into the
cabin and found him tending to his injuries. He had already showered, shaved and combed his hair. He looked like a new Jared.
He was shirtless.
“Jenny, I want you to go to bed, but there is one thing you can do for me before
He had already sewn the entry wound in his shoulder and dug out the Claymore
pellets from his leg before she came down.
“I’ve never done this but I guess I know how to sew. Is there any kind of special
stitch I should use?” she asked.
“Take a look at the front and try to match it. It’s not that important so don’t worry about it. This is nonabsorbable thread.”
Jenny looked on the bed and saw that Jared had a complete medical kit spread out.
The guy was like a doctor. It looked like he had already given himself some kind of shot.
He was amazing.
“Do you have any anesthetic before I start?” she asked.
“Wash the area with the Betadine solution.
After that you would normally use
Xylocaine as an anesthetic. I have it, but I really don’t need it. I’m not being Macho for
you. Honest! The anesthetic would merely slow down the healing.”
“OK! If that is how you want it. You ready?” She gritted her teeth. Sewing into
human flesh was distasteful. She wasn’t going to be weak. She had to do this.
“You really look tired. Let’s get this done and then you go to bed,” he said.
Jenny started sewing the opening in his shoulder.
She was careful and slow.
Jared never flinched as she sewed. She was doing all of the wincing. After she finished,
she grabbed a small mirror from the bed and held it up as he walked over to a small vanity.
“That looks perfect.”
She was proud of her handiwork.
This was the first time she had ever done
stitches and it really did look good. She was definitely an expert now on repairing bullet
holes.
“
Wait until Krissy hears about this
,” thought Jenny. “
I did bullet holes
.”
She helped him clean the sewn area and apply a large bandage.
Jared finished
dressing as Jenny undressed.
the remnants of the duct tape.
He started to pack up the medical supplies and gather up
He glanced up to watch a completely naked Jenny walk
over to the small shower stall in the corner of the cabin.
She stepped in and pulled the
curtain closed. Jared pulled the curtain open.
“We don’t carry that much water so if you want another shower later some time,
I’d make it a quick shower.”
Rubio was picked up by helicopter at Lyman Landing. As they flew over
Eagle’s Head, he noticed that the boat house was in tact.
Jared must have found the explosive charge.
The island was swarming with police, as well as a number of local fishermen. They would be searching for Jared soon. They might have already started.
The helicopter was kept at 2000 feet.
It attracted little attention.
It had
been several hours so Rubio guessed how far Jared might have gotten if he took the cabin
cruiser. They picked up some more altitude and flew to Stephen King Island, then to Pea
Island, and then out into the Atlantic Ocean, going south. Rubio put on his infrared goggles and it wasn’t long before he began to see the flashes from the firefly he planted on
the boat. This was going to be easy.
Jared checked the GPS and determined that they had rounded Cape Cod
and were heading for Nantucket.
He changed course and headed toward Martha’s Vineyard.
He cut across the sound and passed Nonamesett Island on his way to Newport.
He needed to get fuel and to dock the boat for the night.
It was late, but Buzzards Bay
was still alive with boaters.
He went into Narragansett Bay and decided to anchor for the night off of
Fort Adams State Park. He would pull into Bannister’s Wharf Marina late in the morning
after he and Jenny were fully rested.
He started to plan the day for Jenny.
What would
she like? He decided he would take her to Christie’s for lunch. It was a great restaurant
that had relocated in the late forties to Newport from the Manhattan theater district. One
of their special appetizers was stuffed quahog.
Of course, maybe Jenny was tired of
clams.
They have a marvelous seafood pie.
She would love it. Maybe a little wine.
Maybe a Clos du Bois Chardonnay? Jared was looking forward to it.
He checked the chronometer.
It was almost midnight.
He dropped anchor and
closed up the boat. He checked the generator and made sure that they had enough gas. He
went down into the cabin. Jared opened the door slowly and peeked in. Jenny was sleeping. It was a deep restful sleep.
A soft red glow came through the red curtains, illuminated by the deck lights.
The cabin was too warm now. She was beautiful. She was nude. He was expecting that, but he surprised himself that he realized that he could never tire of it. He watched her for a while.