Page 70 of Stone Coast

"My flight leaves soon. I can cancel. Do you want me to come to Pineapple Bay?”

"No," I lied. “I'm fine. This is just another normal occurrence in my strange new life.” I sighed. “There’s something else.”

He waited for me to continue.

“I think someone stole one of my guns.”

“You think, or you know?”

“I’m pretty sure it was in the drawer with the others.”

“Well, your memory has been a little… questionable lately,” he said, treading lightly.

“My short term is fine. I don’t have any gaps after the incident. Just before.”

“You need to report that.”

“I’ll do it in the morning.”

“It is the morning. Were there any signs of forced entry?”

“No.”

“None?”

“None.”

“Could the gun have been stolen before, and you’re just now noticing it?”

I hesitated. “I guess anything is possible.”

“Could you have misplaced it?”

“I looked everywhere.” I paused. “Scarborough has two of my guns. My Bösch-Hauer XK9 is missing.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to get out of town for a minute? You could come to Europe with me.”

It sounded enticing. "No. I’m fine. I should let you go back to sleep. I'm sorry I bothered you.”

"I’m up now.”

“Sorry.”

“I really think you should come to Coconut Key. At least stay here for a while.”

"And miss all of this excitement?”

He chuckled. "Just throwing it out there.”

"I appreciate the invitation. Who knows? I may take you up on it at some point.”

"It's an open door.”

"Thank you.” I asked him to look into Raymond when he had a chance.

“Look, I’m going to be out of touch for the rest of the day. But I’ll get in contact when I get settled,” Tyson said before he ended the call.

I made my way back to theIntrepid, climbed aboard, and locked myself inside. If any intruders did try to board the boat, I wouldn’t hesitate to put holes in them.