Page 40 of Wild Fever

I wished I had answers.

Kara deflated. "If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I think I need a little time to myself.”

I showed her to a below-deck stateroom. I wasn’t normally in the business of harboring potential suspects, but I didn't want to let her out of my sight, as per the sheriff's request. We’d already gotten sucked into this mess—there was no turning back now.

“I guess this is as good a room as any to die in,” she said with a sigh as she surveyed the compartment.

“You’re not going to die,” I said.

“You don’t know that.”

“I’m going to do everything I can to prevent that.”

“You might just have to accept that some things are beyond your control.”

I frowned and left Kara to her privacy. I returned to the sky deck and rejoined Jack as the afternoon gave way to evening.

"Think she's gonna make it?" he asked.

"I don’t know what to think about anything at this point. With any luck, Isabella will identify the compound. Maybe there's some kind of antidote or cure. But Kara’s right. I don't think some kid cooked this up in a makeshift lab somewhere. This sounds like it was designed by someone with resources and know-how.”

"That's what scares me," Jack said. "We may be dealing with something bigger than we can handle."

I gave him a doubtful look. My ego wanted to say there's nothing we can’t handle. But the deeper we dug into this thing, the more convoluted it got. We were likely dealing with power players with lots of resources. But it wasn’t the first time we had been the underdogs.

My phone buzzed with a call from Doug Haskins—the guy staying directly across from the Pineapple Cabana.

“Hey, Doug. What’s going on?”

“Sorry to bother you, but I thought you might find this important. I was talking to this girl in the bar. She said she was on the beach the night of the murder with a guy she had met in the hotel. I guess they were out there fooling around. Anyway, she said she remembered seeing the blonde leave the Pineapple Cabana through the patio doors. Then a few minutes later, she saw a guy enter through the patio.”

“What time was that?”

“She said it was late. After midnight.”

“I need to talk to her.”

“I gave her your number and tried to get her information, but she didn’t want to get involved. I think she’s married or has a boyfriend, and the guy she was on the beach with wasn’t him.”

“Did she give a description of the man?”

“She said he was late 20s, early 30s, athletic build, maybe six feet. Bald with a face like a boxer. A square jaw and a dimpled chin. Said he looked like that action movie star. Can’t remember his name.”

“Is she still at the hotel?”

“I think she was leaving today. She had luggage with her. We chatted for a bit in the bar before she hit the airport. I’ll keep looking into this for you, asking around,” Doug said with enthusiasm. “This is kind of fun. Maybe you can deputize me,” he said with a chuckle.

“Keep up the good work,” I said before ending the call.

It was second-hand information, but it was better than nothing. I hoped the witness would call, but I wasn’t holding my breath.

The rest of the evening was pretty low-key. Piper kept working on cracking the encryption. JD and I hung around, had a few drinks, and kept an eye on Kara. She stayed in her stateroom. I didn't blame her. I didn't know her well, but I didn't think she had totally given up yet. But she was dealing with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.

I checked on her before I went to bed. I put a gentle fist against the hatch to her stateroom and asked, "Are you okay in there?”

"I'm still alive," she said.

"I'm going to bed. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask.”