Page 19 of Nightshade
TWO HARBORS WAS little more than a fishing village at the island’s isthmus. There was a scattering of small independent hotels, restaurants, and markets that catered to the hillside homes, campgrounds, and fishing guides. Duncan Forbes might have moved there in an attempt to fall off law enforcement radar. No driver’s license was needed on the island to operate a boat or golf cart. No marine license was needed if you were crew for someone with the proper licensing. And there was no need for bank accounts and other electronic tails if you were a day player paid in cash for your work on the water.
But with a name like Duncan Forbes, he could not completely escape the grid. There were only two people named Duncan Forbes in the sheriff’s crime-index computer. One was seventy-four years old and lived in Sacramento. He had a criminal record that included convictions for domestic abuse, DUIs, and assaulting a police officer. The other Duncan Forbes was thirty-three years old and wanted on a minor warrant for jumping probation for a marijuana arrest before California legalized recreational use of the drug in 2016. In law enforcement parlance, it was a chickenshit warrant, but it was still on the books and it was all Stilwell needed to talk to Mason Colbrink’s part-time crew member.
After getting back to the island Wednesday morning, Stilwell dispatched Deputies Lampley and Ramirez on the sheriff’s Zodiac to Two Harbors to locate Forbes, arrest him on the outstanding warrant, and bring him back to Avalon. They could have taken one of the sheriff’s two SUVs that were kept on the island for use outside Avalon, but the drive to the isthmus took twice as long as the trip by boat and Stilwell didn’t want to waste time.
While Lampley and Ramirez were following his order, Stilwell cleared out the sub’s one interview room, which was rarely used for its stated purpose and had become more of a storage unit for office supplies as well as a community lost and found. There were paddleboards, fishing poles, life vests, laptops, and suitcases left behind on the ferry docks. Cardboard boxes contained sunglasses, cell phones, and wallets that had been turned in over the past year or so. Stilwell had a strategy for his interview with Forbes and wanted the room to be clean and clear when they sat down face-to-face.
Once the room was prepped, Stilwell radioed Lampley to get his ETA. Lampley replied that they had Forbes in custody but had not left Two Harbors yet. They were heading to the Zodiac now, which put them close to thirty minutes out.
“Any trouble with him?” Stilwell asked.
“Only trouble we had was finding him,” Lampley said. “People out here didn’t want to give him up. But we got him. He says we have the wrong man.”
When the deputies questioned why they had to go all the way to Two Harbors on a chickenshit warrant, Stilwell had told them the real reason, but he hoped they hadn’t shared that with Forbes.
“You mean he says he’s not the guy on the warrant?” Stilwell asked.
“Yeah, the warrant,” Lampley said.
“Tell him I’ll explain it all when he gets to Avalon.”
“Roger that.”
The delay gave Stilwell time to leave the sub and go to the harbormaster’s tower. As he headed out, he told Mercy he’d be on the radio.
After he was buzzed through the door to the tower, he saw both Tash Dano and her boss, Dennis Lafferty, in the control room. Stilwell had only come by to see Tash and tell her he was back, but Lafferty’s presence made the moment awkward. Lafferty knew that Stilwell and Tash were a couple, but he wasn’t keen on seeing it displayed in the workplace. Stilwell kept a professional demeanor.
“Just checking in,” he said. “Wanted to see what the weekend looks like.”
“The season is underway,” Lafferty called from the control desk. “Another full house.”
Stilwell nodded. “Okay, we’ll be ready,” he said. “Anything else happening that I should know about?”
“Not here,” Tash said.
“They figure out who that was in the water last week?” Lafferty asked.
“Not as far as I know,” Stilwell said. “Overtown sheriffs are handling it.”
He gave Tash a surreptitious wink. She suppressed a smile.
“Figures,” Lafferty said. “Happens here, and they investigate from over there. No wonder shit never gets solved.”
“Not my call,” Stilwell said. “Anyway, let me know if you need me.” He said it looking at Tash.
“Will do,” Lafferty said.
“Dennis, I’m going to hit the restroom,” Tash said.
“Go with God,” Lafferty said.
On the stairs down to the lower level, where the restrooms and Lafferty’s office were located, Tash squeezed Stilwell’s arm and whispered, “Welcome back. How did it go over there?”
“Not bad. Got some stuff done. How’s everything here?”
“Same old, same old. Waiting for the weekend crush.”
When they got to the exit, she gripped his arm tighter and then swiveled him into a hard kiss. Stilwell went with it.
When she broke it off, she said, “Just remember, you belong out here.”
“I know,” he said. “Your place or mine tonight?”
“Yours. I’ll be by.”
“Okay, bring more of that.”
She smiled and he smiled back as he pushed open the door. He watched her duck into the restroom, and then, a grin still on his face, he turned to find Lionel McKey waiting for him.
“No comment,” he said before the reporter could speak.
“No comment on what?” McKey asked.
“Whatever you’re about to ask me.”
He started walking down the pier. McKey followed.
“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask you.”
“Okay, go ahead.”
“Anything new on the body in the water?”
“Before I answer that, how did you know I was here?”
“I was just hanging out and I saw you go in.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. So… the body in the water?”
“No comment. Not my investigation.”
“That’s not true from what I hear.”
“Yeah, what do you hear?”
“That you went through all the harbor videos the other day. Probably why you were in there just now.”
The question told Stilwell that McKey had a source. Only Dennis Lafferty, Heidi Allen, and Tash Dano knew about him going through the cams, and Stilwell didn’t think Tash was the leak.
“I was just getting a rundown on moorings for this weekend,” Stilwell said. “But I do have a question for you, Lionel.”
“Okay, ask me,” McKey said.
“How’d the mayor take the front page Saturday?”
“Ugh. Back at you with the ‘No comment.’”
“Now you see how it works.”
“But, speaking of the mayor, are you looking into the Big Wheel proposal?”
That came from left field. Stilwell was intrigued but didn’t want to show it.
“Should I be looking into it?”
“Well… seems like there’s some cozy cousins involved in that deal.”
“What does ‘cozy cousins’ mean?”
“Just a newspaper term, I guess. But I’ve been doing some digging into who exactly is behind the Big Wheel and there’s some smoke there.”
“And you’re hoping that I take the bait and look into whether there’s any fire? Then you get the headline without actually doing the work.”
“Well, there are some firewalls I can’t get through but somebody with a badge can. You could always feed me off the record, you know.”
Stilwell stopped and turned so he was face-to-face with McKey.
“I want to make something clear to you so it doesn’t end up in the paper,” he said. “I am not looking into the Big Wheel project. If you print that I am, then we’re going to have a major problem. Understand?”
“I understand,” McKey said. “I’m not trying to bait you. I’m just saying that… there’s some smoke there, that’s all. And maybe law enforcement on the island should take notice.”
“But last I checked, being cozy cousins wasn’t a crime. So you go about your business and I’ll go about mine.”
“Okay, okay. I was just making conversation.”
They were near the entrance to the pier. Stilwell saw Lampley and Ramirez on the four-seat UTV driving on Crescent toward the sub. A man he assumed was Duncan Forbes was in the second row, his hands cuffed to the bar that ran behind the front seats.
“I gotta go now, Lionel,” he said.
“Sure,” McKey said. “But one last thing. Anything new on the mutilation case? I heard you went across last night. Was wondering if that had anything to do with—”
“No, it had nothing to do with anything. It was a personal matter that I had to take care of and I was back here on the first boat this morning. I have nothing new for you on the mutilation case. Still working it but no comment at this time. I’ll talk to you later.”
He left McKey there and headed to the sub to interrogate Duncan Forbes.