“It’s me Ann. It’s James.” The figure backed beneath the ridge of concrete seawall and was swallowed by thicker shadow. His voice had sounded familiar.
“Let me see your hands,” Ann ordered. As James raised them into the beam of her flashlight she began to recognize them. He’d always bitten his nails down to the quick. And there were the same chicken-scratch scars where he’d accidently cut himself while fishing. It occurred to Ann that something was missing.
“James wears a class ring. I don’t see one on your left hand.”
“I traded it for two bottles of tequila,” James said.
“You traded it for booze?”
“It’s a long story. Jesus Ann, it’s me. Put the gun down before something happens.”
Ann brought the flashlight up into his face again and made him squint. She took a few steps forward and noticed the pale welt next to the corner of his right eye, the scar he’d received back when they’d lived in Portland. It has to be him, she thought. Already feels like another lifetime ago. When she shoved the pistol into her coat pocket she could hear him sigh deeply.
“What are you doing here?” Ann said. She felt short of breath, floaty. For a few moments she wondered if she were talking to a ghost, if she’d truly begun to lose her mind. He seemed to sway a little, as if he’d been drinking.
James relaxed and moved closer. “I got your letter that Duane was dead… The navy finally forwarded it to me.”
Before she had time to resist, he opened his arms and Ann fell into them. Once they touched she felt herself wrapping up close. It was like her body was rushing ahead of her, anxious to return to a place it had been to hundreds of times. She buried her face under his chin and smelled his neck, the whiskey coming from his breath. It was him. The last person in the world I’d expected to see tonight. They held each other on the creaking dock, listened to the roar of a semi truck as it vanished around each new bend in the highway like a dying tuning fork.
“God I’ve missed you Ann,” James said. “I thought this day would never come.”
“What happened to you?”
“I was discharged. They couldn’t get my shoulder fixed so they cut me loose. I get a small disability check and a chance to go back to school.”
“How long ago was this?”
“Back in March.”
“You’ve been out since March? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I was feeling sorry for myself and needed time to think. So I went to Mexico and stayed drunk until I almost ran out of money.”
“Did you figure things out?” Ann said. She felt tears trickling down her cheek, and when James discovered them under his palm he smoothed them away.
“Some of it I guess. I decided I needed to come back home and face a few things, that if I didn’t do something about it now they’d be pulling me down forever. Then when I got your letter, it all seemed to come together, that the time was right. I thought I was coming back to something I knew. But I was wrong. Everything here is totally screwed up.”
“Tell me about it,” Ann said. She took his hands in hers and they both sat down on a bench. The wood was cold and sparkled with fish scales. It reminded her of the sequined dress she’d worn to her senior prom, of James introducing her to cocaine.
James was shivering. He hadn’t had time to grab his jacket, was lucky he’d slept with his shoes on.
“You’re freezing,” Ann said.
“I’m okay,” James said.
Ann took her jacket off and threw it around them both like a shawl. She rubbed his arms with her hands, kneaded his tight muscles to bring the blood back.
“Where have you been staying?”
“Over at dad’s fishing shack. Until tonight that is. A van showed up with a hanging front bumper and crushed headlight. It looked like it had been in an accident. I could see where a tree limb had gouged the side. Some guys with guns got out and one of them smashed the bulb above the shack. I was barely out the window before they kicked in the door.”
“Who were they?”
“I wasn’t sure at first. All I knew was they weren’t a bunch of kids looking for a place to party. Luckily dad still keeps this boat stashed under the dock. I would have started the motor but I was afraid of drawing attention. Later on they walked out on the bank looking for me, but by then I’d already paddled too far out on the bay for them to see me. I just drifted in the dark for a long time afraid of making too much noise. Then I saw them get into the van and drive away. When it got quiet again I started to hear other voices coming from the shack. Unless I’ve gone completely crazy I’m sure it was Tammy, Mitch and the sheriff. And it didn’t sound like they were just getting ready for a fun day of fishing either.”
Ann felt an icy chill spread up the back of her neck and into her scalp. “Are you sure it was them?”
“It had to be, Ann. You don’t forget people you’ve grown up around that fast. Now tell me what’s going on.”
“All I know is that I’ve been up all night looking for them, ever since I went by to visit Tammy after closing the store. From what I could tell there’d been a struggle, and some blood was left on the sink. But no Tammy. And then later when I tried to find Mitch and the sheriff I found their wrecked patrol at the edge of Dead Man’s Point. Something horrible has happened, James. Now after what you’ve said I think they could have been kidnapped. If it’s really them, then we need to go help.”
“Are you sure we should get involved?”
“What are you talking about? Tammy and Mitch are my friends, our friends.”
“All I’m saying is it’s not safe. Those guys could come back any time and then we might become their prisoners-hostages or whatever. Haven’t you tried calling anyone else for help?”
“There’s no way to reach anyone. The storm even knocked out cell phones. A guy working for the power company told me a landslide has closed 101 above Buoy, and just south of Traitor Bay it’s buried by downed trees. He said no one is going to be able to get through until late this afternoon, and that’s only if another crew can make it over the old road.”
“Then I guess we don’t have much of a choice,” James said, lighting a cigarette. “I just hope we have time.”
They climbed into the boat and James started the motor. Ann leaned in close so she could keep him warm with her body heat. She wanted to ask him when he’d taken up smoking but she didn’t want him to think she was a nag.
“What do you think this is all about?” Ann said. “No one who lives here is rich.”
“I couldn’t imagine there’d be a ransom involved. But it wouldn’t surprise me if this was somehow Dawkins fault.”
“I know he’s weird, but why would he be behind something like this?”
“I think you know-just like the whole town has always has known for years. And it’s not because I’ve never liked him. This town has cut him too much slack and now the birds are finally coming home to roost. I saw him out here this morning with some scary Russian dudes. He looked really nervous too, like maybe he was in way over his head.”
“Did you say the sheriff was looking in the bay for something?”
“Who told you that?”
“Janet at the 101. She knows about everything that goes on.”
“Did she know I was back too?”
“I don’t think so. But I saw Chad and he said that one of his brothers might have spotted you a few days ago.”
James shook his head. “And I thought I was being so careful. It’s amazing Ann. Nothing like being in a place like San Diego where you can disappear, where your only connection to the past becomes a post office box that’s empty most of the time.”
As the boat glided across the bay the outline of the shack began to slowly take shape, the scent of wood smoke its only hint of life inside.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” James said.
“We can’t just leave them there.”
“Then I guess what we have to talk about will have to wait until later. You do remember, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. And we will… I promise.”
“That’s good,” James said, lowering his eyes to the gun back in Ann’s hand. “Have you been practicing with that thing much?”
“Enough,” Ann said.