Read Online Dead Man's Switch by Sigmund Brouwer - Free Book Online
Authors: Sigmund Brouwer
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He was good cop today. Other days, bad cop.
âNice day for sitting in the sun,â King said.
Murdoch reached them.
âAlso a nice day to get outsmarted by fish,â King said to Murdoch. King elbowed Johnson. âShow him the hook.â
MJâs face went a shade white, but he caught on quickly. He raised the rod high enough to show the empty hook tied into the line about four feet above where King usually had a lead weight. MJ left the bottom part of the line in the water. King was glad the water wasnât too clear. The magnet at the end of the line and whatever it might be holding remained out of sight.
King took the rod from Johnson. He slid the rod under his elbow to bring the empty hook in closer without lifting the magnet any higher.
âHand me a worm,â he said to Johnson. It seemed important to really sell Murdoch on the fact that King and Johnson were actually fishing. To Murdoch, King said. âMJ hates worm guts. I always have to do this part for him.â
Johnson dug into the tackle box for a jar with bait. King had prepared for the one-in-a-hundred chance that someone might show up while they were on the dock, and taking along live worms had been part of it. Never got old, being right.
âWanted to talk to you guys about Blake Watt,â Murdoch said. He remained standing, throwing both of them into a shadow.
King held a worm that wriggled uselessly in the air. He jabbed the point of a hook in it and pushed the worm along the metal of the hook. He dropped the line back in the water and kept possession of the rod.
âDid someoneâ¦um, find the body?â MJ asked.
At the funeral, the casket had been empty. King and Johnson both knew that Blakeâs parents were holding out hope that Blake had not drowned, but instead managed to survive the frigid water that no one else had ever survived, cross the dangerous currents of the sound, and run away. It was a terrible thing when parents could only cling to a hope that their son was wandering homeless in the streets of a city somewhere.
âNo,â Murdoch said. âIâm just wondering if either of you knew anything about Blake ever having access to the Internet. I thought maybe youâd speak honestly to me in case you had been afraid to tell hisparents anything when they were on the island. Now that theyâre gone, I promise if you help me with this, no one else will know.â
âSir?â King asked, instead of directly lying.
Murdoch sighed. âWhat Iâm going to talk to you guys about is strictly between the three of us. Itâs unkind to speak ill of the dead.â
CHAPTER 15
âBlake wasnât supposed to get Internet access for the same reason his parents moved to the island,â Murdoch began. âBack in Lincoln, Nebraska, Blakeâs mom was a successful bank executive. His father was a psychology professor. Blake developed computer skills early. When he was 11, he hacked into computers at the university. He could go in and change studentsâ grades if he wanted. Six months ago, he hacked into the computers at his momâs bank. He said he was doing it to protect the bankâto prove that if he could get into it, someone else could. It would have been a good argument, but he transferred some money from a big account to an account he owned. So his father applied for a position here at the prison to isolate Blake.â
King tried to keep his face neutral. He hoped Johnson could do the same. Together, they had given Blake Internet access. And Blake had stolen money from his momâs bank? Hard to imagine what Blake might have done on the island after King and Johnson got him the phone. This alone could put Murdoch into a bad cop screaming fit. And then there was the rest of it, which had led to King and MJ sitting here with a fishing rod and a magnet at the end of the line.
âAnyway,â Murdoch said, âweird things have happened at some of the
âNice day for sitting in the sun,â King said.
Murdoch reached them.
âAlso a nice day to get outsmarted by fish,â King said to Murdoch. King elbowed Johnson. âShow him the hook.â
MJâs face went a shade white, but he caught on quickly. He raised the rod high enough to show the empty hook tied into the line about four feet above where King usually had a lead weight. MJ left the bottom part of the line in the water. King was glad the water wasnât too clear. The magnet at the end of the line and whatever it might be holding remained out of sight.
King took the rod from Johnson. He slid the rod under his elbow to bring the empty hook in closer without lifting the magnet any higher.
âHand me a worm,â he said to Johnson. It seemed important to really sell Murdoch on the fact that King and Johnson were actually fishing. To Murdoch, King said. âMJ hates worm guts. I always have to do this part for him.â
Johnson dug into the tackle box for a jar with bait. King had prepared for the one-in-a-hundred chance that someone might show up while they were on the dock, and taking along live worms had been part of it. Never got old, being right.
âWanted to talk to you guys about Blake Watt,â Murdoch said. He remained standing, throwing both of them into a shadow.
King held a worm that wriggled uselessly in the air. He jabbed the point of a hook in it and pushed the worm along the metal of the hook. He dropped the line back in the water and kept possession of the rod.
âDid someoneâ¦um, find the body?â MJ asked.
At the funeral, the casket had been empty. King and Johnson both knew that Blakeâs parents were holding out hope that Blake had not drowned, but instead managed to survive the frigid water that no one else had ever survived, cross the dangerous currents of the sound, and run away. It was a terrible thing when parents could only cling to a hope that their son was wandering homeless in the streets of a city somewhere.
âNo,â Murdoch said. âIâm just wondering if either of you knew anything about Blake ever having access to the Internet. I thought maybe youâd speak honestly to me in case you had been afraid to tell hisparents anything when they were on the island. Now that theyâre gone, I promise if you help me with this, no one else will know.â
âSir?â King asked, instead of directly lying.
Murdoch sighed. âWhat Iâm going to talk to you guys about is strictly between the three of us. Itâs unkind to speak ill of the dead.â
CHAPTER 15
âBlake wasnât supposed to get Internet access for the same reason his parents moved to the island,â Murdoch began. âBack in Lincoln, Nebraska, Blakeâs mom was a successful bank executive. His father was a psychology professor. Blake developed computer skills early. When he was 11, he hacked into computers at the university. He could go in and change studentsâ grades if he wanted. Six months ago, he hacked into the computers at his momâs bank. He said he was doing it to protect the bankâto prove that if he could get into it, someone else could. It would have been a good argument, but he transferred some money from a big account to an account he owned. So his father applied for a position here at the prison to isolate Blake.â
King tried to keep his face neutral. He hoped Johnson could do the same. Together, they had given Blake Internet access. And Blake had stolen money from his momâs bank? Hard to imagine what Blake might have done on the island after King and Johnson got him the phone. This alone could put Murdoch into a bad cop screaming fit. And then there was the rest of it, which had led to King and MJ sitting here with a fishing rod and a magnet at the end of the line.
âAnyway,â Murdoch said, âweird things have happened at some of the
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