an adult, a talented one. An unusual one,” Andrew added softly, and then he turned, hearing tires on the track leading to his house.
“Nigel is here,” he said.
Nigel pulled in and exited his car, frowning at the two of them.
“What are you doing out here? Did something happen?”
“Nope. We’re just waiting for you. Raina took Wild Thing for a ride,” Andrew said.
“Oh,” Nigel said simply, looking at Axel. “So, I have officers asking all the local businesses for any security footage they might have. I’ll be able to see whatever they get in a few hours. Then, I assume you’re going to a pub with me tonight to see if anyone is hanging around looking for his date?”
Axel nodded.
“Do you have anything else?” Nigel asked him.
“Let’s go in,” Andrew suggested. “You have a lot to say, Axel, don’t you?”
“Well, we should have kept Raina here. I can only tell you what I know, but I’ll try to do so. And who knows if it will really get us anywhere or not?”
“You can’t keep staring down that path,” Andrew said.
“Yeah, I can,” Axel said.
Both men were silent.
Axel looked at them and spoke quickly, telling them everything he could regarding the fundraiser, his take on the interviews they had done that morning at Dr. Wong’s and then what Raina had said about her longtime friend Jordan Rivera that morning.
Then he said, “Excuse me. Jacob could use a little attention, too, you know.”
He headed straight to the stables and bridled Jacob.
Then he started down the path Raina had taken.
* * *
There was no safe place along the trail to allow Wild Thing to break into a good run. But she let him canter and trot, loving the feel of the air, the redolent smell of the earth and the feel of the animal beneath her.
Titan was happy, too, running ahead of her, then running behind.
She saw a few alligators drifting just off the embankment when she crossed a pond; they didn’t move. She hadn’t expected them to. They weren’t beasts she felt particularly warm and cuddly about, but they were creatures of the Everglades and she was on their land.
It was a good ride and she was about to head back—she didn’t want to worry Axel—when Titan suddenly ran ahead, barking vociferously.
“Hey, Titan!” she called.
He was by a mangrove tree with deep roots that stretched out into one of the narrow, grassy waterways.
“Titan!” she called, but he barked again and then looked back at her, whining.
Almost as if he were afraid but insistent.
She paused, thinking she just needed to head back. But Titan, always obedient, ignored her call.
She wasn’t leaving her dog.
Sliding from Wild Thing’s back but keeping her grip firmly on the reins, she moved forward.
There was something just under one of the thick mangrove roots. Something that appeared to be white and shiny beneath the afternoon sun.
Wild Thing didn’t want to come forward. She held on the very tip of the reins and bent to stoop down and see what was making Titan act up.
She stretched out her free hand, dusting a splash of mud from the large root.
The object became clearer. For a moment, she froze.
It was as if she were in a theme park, one with a section in the deep, dank swamp. Because she was certain the thing she was seeing was a skull.
A human skull.
She stared, blinked and looked up. She wasn’t alone. A man stood there, and yet he didn’t. He wasn’t real. Couldn’t be real.
He had long gray hair and a grizzly beard to match. He was bowlegged and wearing breeches, a puffy-sleeved shirt and a worn vest.
“You’re all right, lass. There’s no one out here now. This I’ve never seen before. Time and nature...they hide sins, and sometimes reveal them.”
She stared; she wasn’t seeing the man. She couldn’t be seeing the man. It was just that there was a skull in the earth, and she’d heard all the tales about the pirate ship.
She’d seen the pirate ship on a foggy night. Seen it in her mind’s eye, at any rate.
Titan whined. She looked quickly at the dog.
Titan, too, was staring at the pirate. He was seated right by her side. Her protector, no matter what his own fear.
“Dear lass, it’s all right. I’m trying to help, to watch over you!”
The pirate came over and knelt down before her. He seemed so real. “I know they come, those who do evil. We try to watch. We try to atone. We can’t see all. We can’t