“Ted, ships get lost, planes go down, and many so-called victims of the so-called Bermuda Triangle have been found. Ships have sunk.”
“Aha! But throughout the years, they’ve found ghost ships out there, too. Ships with absolutely nothing wrong with them—but no one aboard. Hey, come on! You can order DVDs from the educational channels on the Bermuda Triangle,” Ted argued.
“The Bermuda Triangle did not decapitate two people and leave their heads and arms in the sand,” Sean said.
“Ugh. Scary!” Jaden said.
“Who says that there isn’t some form of really vicious creature making its home in the Triangle?” Ted asked. “They’re finding new species of fish constantly—things like the megamouth shark that was supposed to be extinct. They know that giant squid exist, but they know almost nothing about the habits of the creatures,” he said triumphantly.
“A giant squid didn’t do it either, Ted,” Sean said.
“Ah! But what happened to the boat? If there’s an explanation, go ahead—you find it!”
“A half-dozen law enforcement agencies, including the Coast Guard, couldn’t find it—I’m not so sure I’m going to,” Sean said.
“And what about the killer? If it’s a man, he’s out there somewhere. Or, like I said, he’s a victim of the Triangle. The Bermuda Triangle harbors some form of evil, and that evil got into the man, and then the man killed the actor and actress.”
“You sure it wasn’t aliens?” Sean asked dryly.
“Evil aliens living in the Triangle!” Ted agreed.
“I don’t think that Sean’s accepting any of your theories, my love,” Jaden said. “Sean, before he starts to argue UFOs, I suggest you get out of here. I’m going to get right on this piece—I’m really excited, it just might be something unique and historic. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Be good to that young woman,” Ted advised. “Poor thing!”
“Yes, be kind,” Jaden admonished.
They were staring at him like a pair of proud parents on prom night. “I’ll do my best,” Sean said. He offered a grimace, waved and left the shop.
Key West was a small island. Pretty soon, everyone would be talking. And like Ted, most people liked to believe there was something about the Bermuda Triangle. Or aliens.
As he headed out, his phone rang. It was Liam Beckett. “I’ve checked out everything possible on your Miss Loren.”
“She’s not exactly my Miss Loren,” Sean protested.
“Well, she came to you,” Liam said. “Anyway, she appears to be everything that she claims on paper. She went to college, and she’s worked on prestigious projects since. Apparently, she invested about fifty thousand dollars into filming the movie and her partner, Jay Allen, did the same. But it doesn’t seem that she’s in any financial trouble—in fact she was recently very well paid for a project. I have a list of her work, some of which can be pulled up on YouTube.”
“I don’t know why I had you do extensive work on her background,” Sean said. “I didn’t think that you’d find anything.”
“She’s the real deal, so it seems.”
“Thanks.”
“So?”
“So?”
“So, if you’re doing this—I want in on it. I have to apply quickly for the time. Hey, you two are going to need me. Yeah, yeah, you’re tough guys, but I’m a cop, and three of us who completely trust each other are better than two. You need me,” Liam repeated.
“You were always invited, whatever the end choices. I just didn’t think that you could get off with everything that has gone on lately.”
“Oh, no. I’m there,” Liam said. “I’ll see you later.”
“You will?”
Liam laughed. “Katie-oke at O’Hara’s. David sips a beer and munches on conch fritters every night she works, as if he’s still afraid to let her out of his sight.”
Yes, I understand that feeling. So why am I even considering doing this?
Because he knew, too, what it was like not to know the truth, to mistrust your best friends and wonder as the years rolled by.
“You are going to be following the route of the film crew, aren’t you?” Liam asked.
He wanted to protest again that he wasn’t working alone, that the business venture was between him and David Beckett.
But David had already handed the decision over to him.
“Yes,” he said simply. “I’ll see you later tonight.”
He headed over to the Beckett house; that afternoon, they were interviewing for positions for the shoot.
One, he knew, was already taken. Two. Liam was in, as well. And if they were all going, well, then, he could guarantee that his sister would be with them, as well.
There would be two boats, as always planned.
It occurred to him that the film crew who met the tragic and traumatic fate had also started out from Key West with two boats. Wasn’t that the point? He mocked himself.
They were re-creating history. Seeking the truth.
And they were probably fools.
But, he determined, they’d be fools who came on the journey aware and alert—and well armed.