Deceived - Laura S. Wharton Page 0,2

settee table was torn from the bulkhead, all of his books were off their shelves, and the finely-cut teak fiddles that had so neatly held them in place were splinters. Every bit of food Sam had stored in box compartments under both bunks was strewn around the galley and salon, and the PVC pipes under the galley sink were slashed.

“They were thorough,” Sam said to no one as he started to pick up the mess in the salon. “Wonder what they think I have?”

By the time he found his clock in a pile on the salon floor, he saw it was four o’clock in the morning. He pushed the books off the V-berth and fell into a fitful sleep.

Chapter three

Three hours passed. Sam’s cell phone woke him.

“Come on in, Sam. We need to talk.”

Rumpled, Sam started on the three-block walk to police station. Any other time, such a walk in the moist sea air would have been almost pleasant, the marina’s halyards clanging like wind chimes. This early morning walk was labored.

A blast of cold air slammed Sam in the face when he opened the door to the overly air-conditioned building for a hastily called morning meeting with the Chief of Police, Dan Singleton.

“Sam, I’ve looked over the reports and talked with the officers. We still don’t see the leads. The media folks are all over this one. They want a suspect, and so do we. Do you have any idea what this was about?”

“We weren’t onto anything, Chief. Just the regular stuff, nothing major.”

“Word is that Lee was caught up in some sort of love triangle gone bad. Know anything about that?”

“Lee? No way! He and Jenny were tight.” Sam rubbed his unshaven angular jaw and leaned back in the wooden chair, rocking it back on its legs to the point of danger. “I can’t believe there’d be anything to that. Is that what the guys think?”

“Nah; we’re thinking it’s a random act of violence. We’re gonna get the killer, regardless of the scenario. I just wanted to know as much as I could before getting started. I got a call into the Wilmington office, too. They’ll want to help, if they can.”

Dan stood up and reached for his coat. Even though he was shorter than Sam’s 6’2” lean frame, his bulk made him appear bigger.

“Have to go address the team now. There will be a service for Lee later this week. If you need to, take a few days off. You look like you could use some rest.” The chief stepped briskly out of the cool of his office and disappeared down the hall to the conference room.

“I don’t need rest,” Sam muttered. “I need answers.”

Walking slowly to the conference room, Sam felt the grip of grief around his neck. He braced himself for the meeting to come by leaning against the doorjamb. Not wanting the attention he was sure would follow, he preferred to stay to the back of the small pale-blue tactics room now crowded with fellow officers. Stoic, they listened as their chief cited how a valiant officer had fallen—one of the brothers who sought to fight crime on the streets of Carolina Beach—for no apparent reason.

“Lee Elliott was a good man, a good husband, and a good officer. He stood for what was right, and he tried to make things better for the people he met. We all knew Lee as a diligent cop, but what some of you may not know about Lee is that in the years he’s been here, he’s gotten involved with the community through charity work. In his off hours, he gave talks at some of the high schools to help keep kids off drugs. He regularly attended church, and he enjoyed taking teens out on his boat to show them there was more to life than just hanging out, looking for trouble. His efforts helped to keep our town safe. That’s why his death is such a punch in the face. Not only have we lost one of our own, but the community has lost a treasure.” Dan measured his words for effect.

“If anyone has information about why this happened, we need to know now so we can nab the killer,” Dan stated plainly. He sat down heavily and took a sip from a glass of water at the head of the table. “Meeting adjourned,” he said quietly.

The officers left the room solemnly. Some did not make eye contact with Sam, while others stopped momentarily to rest a