same way it was his and his fathers before him.”
“I get it, I’m a failure. You don’t need to remind me.”
“You ain’t no failure.” Mackay said, glancing to Rainwater then back to the Lisa Marie . “That wasn’t what I was saying. What I mean is, you just ain’t a fisherman. Nothing wrong with it. Hell, some might say it makes you the most sensible of us all.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now anyway. I don’t think I can do this. Hell, I don’t know what to do. You were right, Mackay. I should shut up about this and get on with my life.”
“If you had said that yesterday, I would have agreed. Truth is, I’m starting to think maybe you have a point.”
“What do you mean?” Rainwater said, turning to face Mackay.
“Well, it seems to me this fella who went to see Valerie was asking a lot of questions about the accident. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice about it. Some folk are just nosy, can’t keep out of other people’s business. This guy seemed different.”
“Different how?”
“You gotta remember, I was in the forces for twelve years before I got out and started working for your dad. I know military when I see it, and this guy stank like high end government.”
“What would the government want with you and Valerie?”
“It wasn’t really us he was interested in, it was you. That got me thinking about the stuff you were saying about this thing you claim hit us. Maybe this Andrews guy knows more about it than he’s letting on.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch.”
“Well, there’s more. I called an old buddy of mine from the forces. Served with me in Iraq. Anyhow, he’s pretty high ranking, so I asked him to snoop around for me and look into this guy.”
“How did you know who to look for?”
“The guy gave me his business card. Anyways, this buddy of mine took the info and made some enquiries. It turns out this Andrews guy is working with a slimy piece of shit called Russo.”
“You know him?”
“In a way. He was responsible for funding cuts to my unit when I was serving in Iraq. Long and short of it is that we didn’t have enough body armour to go around. My squad got ambushed during patrol and the three of my guys who didn’t have vests were killed. My CO told me to leave it alone, said it was just a case of casualties of war. I knew Russo was responsible and I ain’t never been good at holding my temper. I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I went to his office and before he could try to worm his way out of it, I punched the motherfucker square in the mouth.”
“Holy shit, what happened?”
“He got a bloody nose, I got kicked. Dishonourable discharge. Thanks for the years of putting your life on the line, Mackay, but this prick in a suit wants you out.”
Mackay grinned, and shrugged his shoulders.
“I was about done with the army by then anyway. Seen too much shit, spent too long fighting other peoples wars. I will tell you this, if this Russo guy is involved, you can bet your ass there’s an angle in it for him.”
“What else did your contact dig up?”
“Well, he couldn’t find much. A lot of it was locked tight, and he didn’t have the clearance. All he knows is that Russo and Andrews have commandeered a ship and the government have thrown a ton of money at them to do whatever it is they intend on doing. He couldn’t say for sure, it seems they are looking for something, which was enough to make me interested as it is, but there’s more.”
“Go on.”
“Well, you know when we were adrift in the lifeboat after the accident, and we assumed we were picked up by the Coast Guard?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it wasn’t. It was Andrews who picked us up. He was looking for something in the exact area where you say something hit our boat. By the time he’d come back to the hospital to question us, we’d checked ourselves out. The only reason he couldn’t find you when he came looking is because you aren’t registered as living here
“I get it, I’m a failure. You don’t need to remind me.”
“You ain’t no failure.” Mackay said, glancing to Rainwater then back to the Lisa Marie . “That wasn’t what I was saying. What I mean is, you just ain’t a fisherman. Nothing wrong with it. Hell, some might say it makes you the most sensible of us all.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now anyway. I don’t think I can do this. Hell, I don’t know what to do. You were right, Mackay. I should shut up about this and get on with my life.”
“If you had said that yesterday, I would have agreed. Truth is, I’m starting to think maybe you have a point.”
“What do you mean?” Rainwater said, turning to face Mackay.
“Well, it seems to me this fella who went to see Valerie was asking a lot of questions about the accident. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice about it. Some folk are just nosy, can’t keep out of other people’s business. This guy seemed different.”
“Different how?”
“You gotta remember, I was in the forces for twelve years before I got out and started working for your dad. I know military when I see it, and this guy stank like high end government.”
“What would the government want with you and Valerie?”
“It wasn’t really us he was interested in, it was you. That got me thinking about the stuff you were saying about this thing you claim hit us. Maybe this Andrews guy knows more about it than he’s letting on.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch.”
“Well, there’s more. I called an old buddy of mine from the forces. Served with me in Iraq. Anyhow, he’s pretty high ranking, so I asked him to snoop around for me and look into this guy.”
“How did you know who to look for?”
“The guy gave me his business card. Anyways, this buddy of mine took the info and made some enquiries. It turns out this Andrews guy is working with a slimy piece of shit called Russo.”
“You know him?”
“In a way. He was responsible for funding cuts to my unit when I was serving in Iraq. Long and short of it is that we didn’t have enough body armour to go around. My squad got ambushed during patrol and the three of my guys who didn’t have vests were killed. My CO told me to leave it alone, said it was just a case of casualties of war. I knew Russo was responsible and I ain’t never been good at holding my temper. I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I went to his office and before he could try to worm his way out of it, I punched the motherfucker square in the mouth.”
“Holy shit, what happened?”
“He got a bloody nose, I got kicked. Dishonourable discharge. Thanks for the years of putting your life on the line, Mackay, but this prick in a suit wants you out.”
Mackay grinned, and shrugged his shoulders.
“I was about done with the army by then anyway. Seen too much shit, spent too long fighting other peoples wars. I will tell you this, if this Russo guy is involved, you can bet your ass there’s an angle in it for him.”
“What else did your contact dig up?”
“Well, he couldn’t find much. A lot of it was locked tight, and he didn’t have the clearance. All he knows is that Russo and Andrews have commandeered a ship and the government have thrown a ton of money at them to do whatever it is they intend on doing. He couldn’t say for sure, it seems they are looking for something, which was enough to make me interested as it is, but there’s more.”
“Go on.”
“Well, you know when we were adrift in the lifeboat after the accident, and we assumed we were picked up by the Coast Guard?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it wasn’t. It was Andrews who picked us up. He was looking for something in the exact area where you say something hit our boat. By the time he’d come back to the hospital to question us, we’d checked ourselves out. The only reason he couldn’t find you when he came looking is because you aren’t registered as living here
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