“Good idea,” David said.
“Sorry, I should have thought of that,” John said, grimacing. “I always think of being on a yacht like this and drinking beer and lolling around on the deck.”
“Oh, there’s beer. Help yourself to anything in the galley.” Just stay the hell out of my desk, he thought.
David kept his speed low as he maneuvered the shallow waters by the dock, then let her go. The wind whipped by as the Icarus cut cleanly through the water. Adamson and Seymore had remained topside with him, and both seemed to feel the natural thrill of racing across the incredible blue waters with a rush. When they neared the first dive spot on the reef, he slowed the engine.
“Trust me to take the helm?” Seymore asked him.
“Sure,” David said, giving him the heading briefly, then hopping down the few steps that led to the cabin below.
He glanced around quickly, assuring himself that his computer remained untouched and it didn’t appear Galway had been anywhere near his desk, which was in the rear of the main cabin in a mahogany enclave just behind the expansive dining table and the opposing stretch of well-padded couch.
“Good timing. Coffee’s ready,” Jay told him. Jay knew the Icarus. He’d once gone out with David on a salvage expedition, when he’d been going down to the wreck of a yacht lost in a storm, the Monday Morning. The boat had been dashed to pieces, but she’d carried a strongbox of documents her corporate owners had been anxious to find. It had been a simple recovery, but Galway had been elated to be part of the process.
“Thanks,” David said.
Jay handed him a cup of black coffee. “For a good-looking son of a bitch, you look like hell this morning,” Jay told him.
“I didn’t sleep well.”
Jay poured himself a cup. “Me neither.”
“Dreaming about corpses?”
Jay didn’t look startled by the question. “There was no corpse,” he said flatly.
“Not when you got there,” David suggested.
Jay shook his head. “I asked Alex not to say anything—since we didn’t have a body.”
“She didn’t.”
“Then?”
“It’s an island, a very small one,” David reminded him.
“I was sure Laurie would have the good sense to keep quiet when I asked her to,” Jay said disgustedly.
“Laurie didn’t talk. Things…get around.”
“So you’re not going to tell me where you got your information?” Jay asked.
“Nope.”
“Like I said, there was no body,” Jay told him. He frowned. “How far do you think it’s gotten around?”
“Who knows?”
Jay groaned. “If the guests start to hear this…”
“I don’t think it’ll get around to the rest of the guests,” David assured him. God, the coffee was good.
“It was Len, wasn’t it? And don’t deny it.”
“Doesn’t matter how I know. And I haven’t said a word to anyone else. I know Alex hasn’t either, and I’d almost guarantee Laurie hasn’t. I do have a question for you. What makes you so convinced Alex was duped?”
Jay looked at him. His surprise seemed real. “There was no body there. And corpses don’t get up and walk.”
“They can be moved.”
“I’m not an idiot. I was looking around just like the sheriff. The sheriff. We didn’t just call security and forget it. We called the sheriff. There was no sign of a body ever having been there or being taken away. There were no footprints and no drag marks.”
“What the hell does that mean? Someone strong enough could throw a woman’s body over his shoulder—and there are palms fronds around by the zillions. Footprints on a beach could easily be erased.”
“There couldn’t have been a body,” Jay said.
David watched him for a few minutes. Jay wasn’t meeting his eyes. Instead he seemed intent on wiping the counter where nothing had spilled.
“You look like you’re afraid there might have been. And worse, you look as if you’re afraid you know who it could have been,” David said softly.
Jay stared at him then. “Don’t be insane! I’d never kill anyone.”
“I didn’t say you would. You know, I asked you before about Alicia Farr. You assured me that she hadn’t checked in to the resort.”
“She hasn’t,” Jay protested.
“She was supposed to be here.”
“She called about a possible reservation, but she never actually booked. I didn’t think she would. It’s not her cup of tea. Anyway, that was it. She called once, made sure I had the dates available that she wanted, then said she’d get back to me. She didn’t. That’s the God’s honest truth. She never called back.”
It sounded as if Jay was sincere, but David couldn’t be certain.