said. “Most we could do was a bit of salvaging, you know, a few things we probably shouldn’t have left out there in the first place.
“So, you know. We figured since we was out, maybe we should stop on our way back south and see if any of our neighbors needed help. You’re the first person we run in to. So, you OK, Mr. Freeman? Is there anything we can do?”
I thought of Sherry on the cot in the room behind me. Yeah, these guys seemed a little hinky. Their approach, seemingly surreptitious and planned, put me on edge. Their appearance, like a band of salvagers at sea, was not altogether unrealistic out here in the Glades. I’d spent time with some far-flung Gladesmen and to call them a rough bunch could be considered a kindness. When the Morris guy had turned to point where they’d left their airboat, I had studied the swing of his loose shirt and seen no lump or catch to indicate he was hiding a weapon in his waistband. And out here those willing to use a firearm were more proud to show them than to be sneaky about it. I checked each of their eyes one more time, not that I had a choice.
“Yeah, you could,” I finally said to Morris. “I’ve got a friend inside who is badly hurt. She’s got to get medical help as soon as possible.”
They filed into the room behind me and I wasn’t sure what look was on my face when Sherry watched me lead them in. She had forced herself up onto one elbow. Maybe she had been listening. Maybe she’d heard my reticent voice. She was faking alertness, I knew, because the glossiness in her eyes did not match the relative strength of her posture.
“This is Sherry Richards,” I said. “We got knocked around quite a bit by the storm and she’s broken her leg. It’s a bad fracture and I’m not sure how much blood she’s lost but we’re going to have to get her to a hospital.
“Do you guys have a way to call in a rescue helicopter? They could probably get out here before it gets too dark.”
Morris touched the bill of his baseball cap and stepped forward. “I am really sorry to see your pain, ma’am. We will surely do whatever we can do.”
Morris could see behind Sherry’s front of strained focus. He could tell she was hurting and stepped forward again, not enough to be pushy or in a way that could be taken as impolite, but seemingly out of concern. He let his eyes move from her face down to the heavily bandaged leg.
“Y’all think you’d be able to move, ma’am? If we could get to the boat, I mean. She’s a bit of distance through the hardwood yonder.”
Sherry was watching the man’s eyes, just like I had, just like any cop, assessing, with whatever lucidity she had left.
“I’ll do whatever I need to do, Mr., uh, Morris, was it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said and men turned to me. “You see, Mr. Freeman, we done lost a lot of equipment over to our place. All our radio stuff was dunked wet and lost. And the only cell phone we got, we ain’t had much luck with. Figure that the towers and all were probably knocked down by the storm.”
He was looking past me at the boys when he said this, as if for confirmation. When I turned to see their reaction I caught one of them, the thicker one, looking at the metal door to the other half of the cabin. He could not have missed the electronic locking mechanism next to the frame and was perhaps puzzled by it.
“Well, sir. We do have some fresh water on board we could bring in and we can take a look for anything we might use for some kind of a stretcher or something,” Morris said. “Is there anything inside the other room there that you figure might help us on that account, Mr. Freeman?”
I hesitated, and then lied, not knowing for sure whether a guy like Morris was perceptive enough to recognize the hesitation.
“The door is locked up,” I said, nodding to the obvious mechanism that none of them had missed by now. “So I’m not sure what’s in there. And to be honest, with your boat we could probably be to the state park ramp in just over an hour so I’m not sure we’re going to need anything more, Mr.