Page 33 of Wild Oblivion

We waited for the sheriff to arrive on the scene and caught him up to speed. He gave me one of those looks as I recounted the details.

“You expect me to believe that nonsense?” Daniels said.

“I don’t know what to believe myself,” I replied. “Obviously, Henrik has something people want. We can’t exactly bring him back to the Blissful Shores. They don’t have adequate security. They’re not prepared to deal with this kind of thing.”

“Does he have any next of kin on the island he can stay with?”

“As far as I know, he’s got a granddaughter. But I doubt she is equipped to deal with any threats.”

“What are you suggesting?”

I shrugged and shared a look with JD. We were both on the same wavelength.

“We can look after him for a few days,” I said.

Daniels lifted a doubtful eyebrow. “You two nincompoops don’t know the first thing about caring for the elderly.”

“Well, Jack’s elderly,” I deadpanned.

He shot me a scowl.

“Henrik is our only connection to Rudolf Weiss, or Heissler, or whoever he is, depending on what you believe,” I said.

“It’s not your call,” the sheriff said. “Talk to the granddaughter. Work it out with her. And for God’s sake, Wild, keep him out of trouble.”

Henrik was a little more coherent now.

I approached and laid out his options. "I don't think you're safe at the Blissful Shores.”

"I don’t think I’m safe there either. Everybody who goes into that place dies sooner or later," he said, not having lost his sense of humor.

"How do you feel about staying with us on the boat for a few days? We can look after you while we solve this case.”

He considered it for a moment. “What kind of boat?”

“A nice one.”

“You got internet?”

I chuckled. “Yes.”

“What about girls? You got girls?”

“At times.”

He thought for another moment. “Anything is better than the Blissful Shores. Ought to call it Bed Sores.”

I smiled. “What’s your granddaughter’s number? I’ll give her a call.”

Henrik thought about it for a moment. “I don’t really know. It’s in my phone, but I don’t seem to have my phone.”

“No worries. I’ll figure it out. What’s her name?”

He told me.

I called Denise and had her run background. It wasn’t too hard to pull up his granddaughter’s DMV info.

“She’s cute,” Denise said, looking at Giselle’s picture with a hint of jealousy in her voice. “Are you sure this is related to the case?”