Page 36

FAITH

H oping I’d catch Coulter after a charter, I jumped in my Charger and drove straight to the marina. Coulter was nowhere to be found on the dock, but I ran into his dad coming out of the bait shop.

“Mr. Rodman?”

He looked me over with kind eyes. “Call me Spencer.”

“Okay, Spencer, I’m looking for Coulter. Have you seen him?”

“Yeah I’ve seen him,” he said, shading his eyes against the sun. “He’s been moping around here like his life is over for days now.”

I winced. “Can I talk to him?”

He shook his head. “He had a morning charter, left here around two. He’s probably back in bed, if I had to guess.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling dejected.

“Yeah, he’s been in a pretty dark place this past week, Detective.”

I shifted on my feet, ashamed for my role in it. “That bad, huh?”

“I’ve seen him down several times in his life, but never like this.” Spencer’s head tilted, and he asked softly, “Do you know what’s got him so depressed?”

“Yes sir, I’m afraid I do. He wasn’t treated fairly. But I want to make it right.” I bit my lip, guilt weighing heavy. “You know him better than anyone… do you have any suggestions?”

“Any time I needed to make something up to my wife–and there were quite a few of those in over forty years,” he chuckled as he continued, “I took her out for a sunset cruise. Doesn’t get much more romantic than that.”

“I couldn't agree more,” I smiled, my cheeks warming with the memory of our day out on the water. Coulter had a boat, and sunset was in an hour and a half. “Maybe I can convince him to take me out. If he’ll talk to me.” I reached out my hand. “Thanks for the advice.”

Mr. Rodman shook my hand firmly. “You’re welcome.”

I started to turn but his grip tightened around my hand.

“Wait. I have an idea…Come with me.” I followed him down to the dock to a small Boston Whaler with “Ellie” in red cursive letters along its side.

He held out his hand proudly, a twinkle in his eye.

“This is the boat I had when Coulter’s mom and I fell in love.

I named it for her and kept it all these years, for that reason. ”

“That’s really sweet,” I said, shifting nervously and wondering why he was telling me this .

“We had a secret spot,” he continued. “A private place in the mangroves. Take him there.”

“But I don’t know how to drive a boat,” I said.

“We need to remedy that,” he chuckled, “but another time. Tell you what…meet me at Coulter’s house in half an hour. I’ll run it over there, and get him out to the boat for you.”

“Really? You’d do that?” I couldn’t help but smile at his kindness.

“To get Coulter out of his funk, of course I would,” he said with a warm smile. “You don’t have kids yet, but when you do, you’ll understand.”

“Thank you Mr. Rodman, I mean, Spencer. Your son is the most amazing man I’ve ever known.”

“I think he’s pretty great myself. I hope you two can work it out. I’ll be rooting for you.”

I quickly drove home, and changed into my favorite tiny hot pink bikini.

If anything could sway Coulter to forgive me, it was this bikini.

I threw a gauzy cover over it and rummaged through my fridge, finding a bottle of bubbly I’d gotten for New Year’s Eve that Laura and I never drank, and a carton of strawberries that were on the verge of being too ripe.

I rounded up a jar of olives, a pack of prosciutto, two blocks of cheese, and a box of crackers.

I shoved it all into the old wicker picnic basket that my mom always used to take to the beach.

Nervous butterflies swarmed in my stomach as I raced to Coulter’s house.

Tiptoeing past Coulter’s truck and the door of the house, I made my way down to the dock.

I found Spencer tying the little Whaler up on the other side of Coulter’s boat.

The Whaler was weathered and puny compared to Coulter’s fancy flats boat, but the sentimental value made it priceless, and perfect for this occasion.

Spencer smiled, speaking in a low tone. “Perfect timing.” He peeked into my basket as he loaded it onto the small boat. “Good choice,” he said, giving me a wink. “Alright, I’ll go get him.”

When Spencer hopped onto the dock with the spryness of a man half his age, an unexpected endearment washed over me.

There was no need to wonder what Coulter would be like in thirty years.

He’d be exactly like that hell-of-a man who was trotting across the yard trying to make sure I had a chance to be there to see it.

I followed several feet behind Spencer, hanging back at the corner of the house while he knocked at the door. “Coulter?” he called, knocking harder. “You home?”

He knocked again before turning the knob. The door creaked open. Didn’t anyone lock their doors in the Keys? “Coulter?” His dad called, disappearing inside. “Jeez, you’re back in bed again? Get up son, I need your help,” I heard his dad say in a stern tone.

I inched closer to hear better, and peeked in the door.

My mouth dropped open at the sight of the house in complete disarray.

Dirty clothes and pizza boxes on the floor.

Beer bottles littering the coffee table.

It was a disaster and I felt terrible knowing it was a reflection of the wreck I’d made him.

“Leave me alone Dad!” Coulter groaned from the bedroom.

“I said I need your help. Now get your ass up,” Spencer ordered him from the doorway to his room .

“Help with what?”

“The Ellie. Come on, I’ll explain. Bring your truck keys.”

Spencer glanced back at me peering in the doorway and waved me away.

The pea gravel crunched under my flip flops as I pranced back to the dock as fast as I could. I crouched down in the skiff beside the picnic basket.

“What the hell is going on? Did you sink the skiff?” I heard Coulter say.

“Give me your keys. The skiff is down on the dock,” his dad replied.

“Where are you going?” Coulter asked.

“Home. Have fun,” his dad said, which made me snicker under my breath.

“What do you mean ‘have fun’? I thought you needed help?” Coulter called after him.

“Quit arguing and go to the damn dock, son,” his father demanded.

“Oh, so by help you meant you need me to fix it on my own? Thanks, Dad.”

“I can’t fix everything for you. Now it’s on you. Just remember, go West, young man.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Coulter yelled but Spencer didn’t answer.

A moment later, I heard the engine of Coulter’s truck start.

“I didn’t break the damn thing. Least you can do is help fix it.

” Coulter’s grumbling became clearer as he got closer.

“You could’ve left it on the dock and not make me climb across the flats boat, for fuck’s sake.

” When I heard his feet land on the deck of the flats boat, I popped up in the skiff tied alongside.

Coulter startled, his eyes as big as saucers, and he stumbled, nearly falling into the canal. “Jesus fucking Christ. You scared the shit out of me.” He blinked, catching his breath. “Faith, what are you doing here?”

“Trying to apologize,” I said, a nervous smile on my lips.

“What’s changed?” he asked, hopping down into the skiff.

“Everything’s changed, Coulter.” I took a deep breath, standing so I could look him in the eye. “It's over. We finally caught Kylie’s killer. The feds have him in custody.”

He blinked in disbelief. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Who is it?” His eyes darted, like he’d go after them if they were close enough.

“They won’t release his name because he’s part of another investigation. But the suspect confessed and he’s going away for a very long time.”

He stared at me, dumbfounded for a few seconds, then finally said, “Wow. That’s amazing. Did you tell Doreen?”

“Oscar is giving her the news right now.”

He crumpled onto the small seat at the helm of the skiff. “She will be so relieved.”

“Are you?” It was hard to tell. He seemed stunned.

“Yes, of course. It’s just…I don’t know… too good to be true?”

“It’s true. And it’s really good. We got justice for Kylie, and you’re free. ”

He looked up into my eyes, and a glimmer of hope flickered. “So that means…”

“We can be together now,” I said cautiously. “If you’ll have me.”

“Losing you was the worst part of the nightmare I’ve been living,” he said with a trembling voice.

“I’m sorry, babe.” I stepped closer, reaching my hands around his neck.

“I’m confused…why exactly did my dad bring the skiff here?”

“So that you could use the boat that means the most to him, to take me here,” I said, handing him a folded paper that Spencer had given me.

Coulter’s brow crinkled as he looked at the paper. “GPS coordinates, but to where?”

“He said it was his special secret spot, where he always took your mom.”

The corners of Coulter’s mouth turned up in a smile. “How’d you get him in on this?”

“I went looking for you at the marina and asked his advice. This was his idea.”

He shook his head, chuckling. “Son of a gun.”

Coulter punched the numbers into the boat’s GPS.

I snuggled next to him on the small seat at the helm.

The little outboard hummed as we skipped over the light chop toward a mangrove island.

The closer we got, I began to understand why the place was special.

It was isolated in a shallow turquoise sea.

The colors were sublime. Coulter pulled back on the throttle.

The water was only inches deep ahead of us.

A baby nurse shark not much more than a foot long swam out from under the boat while Coulter studied the GPS.

“No wonder I never found this place. There’s no way to get in there. ”

“There must be a way,” I said. “Unless he made a mistake on the coordinates.”

“Well the waypoint he gave us is right in the middle of this island, and there’s no way to get in there.” He squinted at the map while pressing buttons to zoom in. “There’s not even a foot of water around the whole damn thing.”

“We’re on the east side of the island. Didn’t your Dad say ‘Go west’ just before he left?”