Read Online Follow the Evidence (A Mac Everett Mystery Book 2) by Nick Vellis - Free Book Online
Authors: Nick Vellis
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you’ll keep that
between us.”
“Between us and Captain Duke,” I
replied.
“The captain called me again a few
minutes ago. He’s not having a good Friday. Do you anticipate litigation in
this case?”
“I don’t know what to expect,” I
replied. “The family of one of the missing girls hired me to see if I could
make sense of what happened. They don’t seem the type to haul you into court,
but you never know.”
“You work for their attorney?” he
asked.
“No sir,” I said. “I work directly
for them. Look, I served a couple tours in Iraq. I left a lot of friends over
there. It’s not my intent to do a hatched job on the Coast Guard. I’m trying to
find out what happened to a missing girl.”
“You understand our hesitance
then,” Swift replied.
“I do,” I said, “No one likes some
civilian looking over their shoulder, questioning their conclusions, but the
facts are murky and my clients want some answers. Together, I hope we can give
them some.”
“The family deserves answers,” the
commander said. “I hope we can give that to them, Mr. Everett. We’ll do what we
can to assist you. It never hurts to have a fresh pair of eyes on a situation.”
I’d won a small victory, but I had
to play until the final whistle.
“I appreciate your cooperation.
I’ll be sure to let my client know how helpful you’ve been. From what I read in
the report, the Coast Guard did more than I’d expect.”
“How so?” my host asked.
“Well, the follow up in the Bahamas
for one. Your man did a first class job tracing the movements of the missing
people before they left Nassau. The information from the harbor master placing
the three people on the boat at the time of departure was good work.”
“The Coast Guard’s Investigative
Service has some good people,” Swift replied.
“There’s a reference to interviews
with a man and a boy, but I didn’t get the connection. There’s the mention of
this boat, Danny-L , but I don’t know what that’s about either. It’s not
adding up.”
“The Danny-L was a
fifty-four foot aluminum sport fisherman. I’ll get you a copy of that report.
She left Bimini for Cape Canaveral trying to beat the storm. Conditions
deteriorated rapidly and the vessel capsized. Fortunately, the accident
occurred relatively close to shore. The boat was equipped with an EPIRB and one
of the people aboard, a boy, had a personal locator beacon and a water activated
strobe.”
“An EPIRB?” I asked.
“Sorry, that’s an Emergency
Position Indicating Radio Beacon. It’s normally located on the highest section
of a vessel. It activates when immersed in water and transmits on the 406 MHz
distress frequency via satellite. Our ground stations and aircraft can pick up
the signal.”
“Oh,” I said. “That has to help in
a rescue.”
“You bet! Sector Jacksonville was
able to locate the EPIRB and a PLB, a Personal Locator Beacon. The helo crew flew
to the coordinates and spotted a strobe. Both people from the Danny-L were recovered.”
“How does that relate to the Wind
Dancer ?” I asked.
“While the helo was on scene
affecting the rescue of the Danny-L crew, they observed the Wind
Dancer . The rest is in the report I sent to you. It’s an enigma. Three
people don’t just vanish, but at sea, it happens all the time. People vanish;
things appear out of the mist.”
“Things like a phantom boat?”
“Exactly,” he replied. “I wouldn’t
put much store in that though. Even trained people see things under stress.”
“Can I talk to the helicopter
crew?” I asked.
“The pilot and copilot are on leave
until next week, but Senior Chief Fox and Rescue Swimmer Webber are on post. I
spoke to them this morning. They’ll talk with you. I’ll let them know you’re
here.” Swift picked up the phone and said, “Winter, come in, please. If there’s
nothing else,” Swift said returning his attention to me.
“I don’t want to take any more of
your time Commander.
between us.”
“Between us and Captain Duke,” I
replied.
“The captain called me again a few
minutes ago. He’s not having a good Friday. Do you anticipate litigation in
this case?”
“I don’t know what to expect,” I
replied. “The family of one of the missing girls hired me to see if I could
make sense of what happened. They don’t seem the type to haul you into court,
but you never know.”
“You work for their attorney?” he
asked.
“No sir,” I said. “I work directly
for them. Look, I served a couple tours in Iraq. I left a lot of friends over
there. It’s not my intent to do a hatched job on the Coast Guard. I’m trying to
find out what happened to a missing girl.”
“You understand our hesitance
then,” Swift replied.
“I do,” I said, “No one likes some
civilian looking over their shoulder, questioning their conclusions, but the
facts are murky and my clients want some answers. Together, I hope we can give
them some.”
“The family deserves answers,” the
commander said. “I hope we can give that to them, Mr. Everett. We’ll do what we
can to assist you. It never hurts to have a fresh pair of eyes on a situation.”
I’d won a small victory, but I had
to play until the final whistle.
“I appreciate your cooperation.
I’ll be sure to let my client know how helpful you’ve been. From what I read in
the report, the Coast Guard did more than I’d expect.”
“How so?” my host asked.
“Well, the follow up in the Bahamas
for one. Your man did a first class job tracing the movements of the missing
people before they left Nassau. The information from the harbor master placing
the three people on the boat at the time of departure was good work.”
“The Coast Guard’s Investigative
Service has some good people,” Swift replied.
“There’s a reference to interviews
with a man and a boy, but I didn’t get the connection. There’s the mention of
this boat, Danny-L , but I don’t know what that’s about either. It’s not
adding up.”
“The Danny-L was a
fifty-four foot aluminum sport fisherman. I’ll get you a copy of that report.
She left Bimini for Cape Canaveral trying to beat the storm. Conditions
deteriorated rapidly and the vessel capsized. Fortunately, the accident
occurred relatively close to shore. The boat was equipped with an EPIRB and one
of the people aboard, a boy, had a personal locator beacon and a water activated
strobe.”
“An EPIRB?” I asked.
“Sorry, that’s an Emergency
Position Indicating Radio Beacon. It’s normally located on the highest section
of a vessel. It activates when immersed in water and transmits on the 406 MHz
distress frequency via satellite. Our ground stations and aircraft can pick up
the signal.”
“Oh,” I said. “That has to help in
a rescue.”
“You bet! Sector Jacksonville was
able to locate the EPIRB and a PLB, a Personal Locator Beacon. The helo crew flew
to the coordinates and spotted a strobe. Both people from the Danny-L were recovered.”
“How does that relate to the Wind
Dancer ?” I asked.
“While the helo was on scene
affecting the rescue of the Danny-L crew, they observed the Wind
Dancer . The rest is in the report I sent to you. It’s an enigma. Three
people don’t just vanish, but at sea, it happens all the time. People vanish;
things appear out of the mist.”
“Things like a phantom boat?”
“Exactly,” he replied. “I wouldn’t
put much store in that though. Even trained people see things under stress.”
“Can I talk to the helicopter
crew?” I asked.
“The pilot and copilot are on leave
until next week, but Senior Chief Fox and Rescue Swimmer Webber are on post. I
spoke to them this morning. They’ll talk with you. I’ll let them know you’re
here.” Swift picked up the phone and said, “Winter, come in, please. If there’s
nothing else,” Swift said returning his attention to me.
“I don’t want to take any more of
your time Commander.
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