Read Online The Girl on the Yacht by Thomas Donahue, Karen Donahue - Free Book Online
Authors: Thomas Donahue, Karen Donahue
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mask surfaced within a minute and motioned to his onboard colleague to give him the underwater floodlight. “Visibility’s lousy. We have to crawl along the bottom.”
“I’m going to be sick.” Dan shivered under the oversized towel.
“Let’s go inside. We’ve got plenty of eyes looking for her,” John said to Dan. “You can dry off and put on some fresh clothes while we wait. I’ve got a pair of shorts and a T-shirt that’ll fit you.” Marin heard dogs barking inside boats. Behind the closed door of John’s salon, Bailey was one of the loudest.
When John opened the slider, the hyper-agitated Bailey charged past.
Marin reacted with a start as the beagle ran at full speed between her legs and jumped off the boat. She watched her agile baby slalom around and through the assembled people until the sprint came to a stop at the end of E-dock.
Marin chased the dog believing the Harbor Patrol boats were the cause of Bailey’s alarm. When the dog pointed, in beagle fashion, tail straight out, front paw up, and nose aimed toward one of the Patrol boats along the perimeter of the marina, she was certain. Except, there was something yellow a few feet underwater near the officers’ position.
While holding Bailey’s collar, Marin signaled to get the attention of the boat’s pilot. “Over there––what’s that just under the surface?” She pointed behind the boat operator to the shallow submerged object. He glided the boat to a stop, and another two divers dropped into the water feet first. A few minutes later, they surfaced on the side of the patrol boat opposite the dock and one spoke to the sergeant in a low voice that Marin could barely make out.
“There’s a body down there––a white female, blonde hair.”
Marin felt her knees get wobbly under her. Bailey sensed the anxiety, stopped barking, and pressed tight against her leg. The words she heard next intensified her distress.
“There’s a weight-belt around her waist. What do you want us to do?”
“Preserve the scene, rope it off, and get pictures before you pull the body up,” the sergeant said.
“There’s no visibility for pictures.”
“Do what you can.”
The sergeant picked up the radio microphone and pressed the button. “Dispatch, have the Newport Beach Police secure the dock. We need the Medical Examiner and a Sheriff’s Homicide Investigator over here for a probable one-eight-seven.”
With shaking hands, Marin dialed her cell.
John answered.
“The divers found a woman’s body at the end of the dock. Where’s Dan?”
“He’s downstairs changing clothes.”
“John, she didn’t fall in. It looks like she was murdered.”
“Oh, God! What do we tell Dan?”
“Nothing, just keep him there for now. They haven’t brought her in yet.”
It didn’t take long for the divers to cordon off the underwater scene. They slowly brought Laura up and placed her in the black body bag. Marin knew at an instant that it was her new friend. She turned away and headed back toward John’s boat—thinking of Dan Douglas.
Chapter 13
On board The Hunter
A woman wearing a cream-colored blouse over cocoa slacks was opening the gate at the top of the ramp more than a hundred yards away. Marin recognized the five-foot-six Homicide Investigator that had been her consulting liaison with the Sheriff’s Department for over two years. Cameron West’s long brown hair pushed clumsily to the side as she paced down E-dock carrying her electronic sidekick––an iPad in a red leather case. With no make-up or jewelry, her only ornament was the carbon black Glock strapped to her side.
With her eyes narrow, lips tight, and the ever present jovial smile missing, she seemed different––even unfamiliar. Marin often imagined that those piercing dark-brown eyes saw right through a suspect. They seemed to say, in a not so subtle way, I’m in charge. But there was more to it than the eyes. Perhaps it was the walk, or possibly her
“I’m going to be sick.” Dan shivered under the oversized towel.
“Let’s go inside. We’ve got plenty of eyes looking for her,” John said to Dan. “You can dry off and put on some fresh clothes while we wait. I’ve got a pair of shorts and a T-shirt that’ll fit you.” Marin heard dogs barking inside boats. Behind the closed door of John’s salon, Bailey was one of the loudest.
When John opened the slider, the hyper-agitated Bailey charged past.
Marin reacted with a start as the beagle ran at full speed between her legs and jumped off the boat. She watched her agile baby slalom around and through the assembled people until the sprint came to a stop at the end of E-dock.
Marin chased the dog believing the Harbor Patrol boats were the cause of Bailey’s alarm. When the dog pointed, in beagle fashion, tail straight out, front paw up, and nose aimed toward one of the Patrol boats along the perimeter of the marina, she was certain. Except, there was something yellow a few feet underwater near the officers’ position.
While holding Bailey’s collar, Marin signaled to get the attention of the boat’s pilot. “Over there––what’s that just under the surface?” She pointed behind the boat operator to the shallow submerged object. He glided the boat to a stop, and another two divers dropped into the water feet first. A few minutes later, they surfaced on the side of the patrol boat opposite the dock and one spoke to the sergeant in a low voice that Marin could barely make out.
“There’s a body down there––a white female, blonde hair.”
Marin felt her knees get wobbly under her. Bailey sensed the anxiety, stopped barking, and pressed tight against her leg. The words she heard next intensified her distress.
“There’s a weight-belt around her waist. What do you want us to do?”
“Preserve the scene, rope it off, and get pictures before you pull the body up,” the sergeant said.
“There’s no visibility for pictures.”
“Do what you can.”
The sergeant picked up the radio microphone and pressed the button. “Dispatch, have the Newport Beach Police secure the dock. We need the Medical Examiner and a Sheriff’s Homicide Investigator over here for a probable one-eight-seven.”
With shaking hands, Marin dialed her cell.
John answered.
“The divers found a woman’s body at the end of the dock. Where’s Dan?”
“He’s downstairs changing clothes.”
“John, she didn’t fall in. It looks like she was murdered.”
“Oh, God! What do we tell Dan?”
“Nothing, just keep him there for now. They haven’t brought her in yet.”
It didn’t take long for the divers to cordon off the underwater scene. They slowly brought Laura up and placed her in the black body bag. Marin knew at an instant that it was her new friend. She turned away and headed back toward John’s boat—thinking of Dan Douglas.
Chapter 13
On board The Hunter
A woman wearing a cream-colored blouse over cocoa slacks was opening the gate at the top of the ramp more than a hundred yards away. Marin recognized the five-foot-six Homicide Investigator that had been her consulting liaison with the Sheriff’s Department for over two years. Cameron West’s long brown hair pushed clumsily to the side as she paced down E-dock carrying her electronic sidekick––an iPad in a red leather case. With no make-up or jewelry, her only ornament was the carbon black Glock strapped to her side.
With her eyes narrow, lips tight, and the ever present jovial smile missing, she seemed different––even unfamiliar. Marin often imagined that those piercing dark-brown eyes saw right through a suspect. They seemed to say, in a not so subtle way, I’m in charge. But there was more to it than the eyes. Perhaps it was the walk, or possibly her
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