Read Online The Taken by Inger Ash Wolfe - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Inger Ash Wolfe
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his fingertips brushed up against the bottom of the corpse’s foot, it had been as if a wave of electricity shot through him. He thought he’d light up like a fluorescent tube.
“Okay,” he said, sitting against the gunwale and panting forbreath as his son puked onto the deck beside him. He laid the hand that hadn’t touched the body against Gus’s back. He felt like the other hand would never be clean again. He had the urge to cut it off and throw it away so it could not reproach him with what it knew. “It’s okay. We’ll calm down and we’ll call the police.”
“Aw Jesus. Jesus Christ,” sobbed Gus. He threw up again. “Who would do such a thing?”
“It’s not our job to figure it out,” said Dale, his hand moving in slow circles against his son’s back. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
He helped Gus to his feet and sat him gingerly on the cooler. He took out his cell and saw he could still get a faint signal on it. He dialled a number and spoke to someone, keeping one eye on Gus to make sure the kid didn’t faint. He folded the cell and put it back into his pocket. “Someone’ll be here soon,” he said. “We just have to keep it together until then.”
Gus nodded, his eyes locked to the decking. Dale stood against the railing, looking out over the water and trying not to look down at what was secured against the hull, that sad, wrecked form.
A half-hour later, the two of them hadn’t moved from their positions, both of them lost in their thoughts. The sun was pouring down its light from a sharp angle, and Dale had to pull his cap down over his forehead to keep his eyes from watering. He heard the boat first before he saw it, and then, coming around the point of one of the larger islands, it turned on a direct heading toward them. Gus stood up. “Jesus, that felt like it took two hours.”
Dale dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out his car keys. “Listen to me, Gus. You can get the boat back to the dock, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going to go with this guy, okay? Answer some questions if they need me to. There’s no reason for you to get mixed up in this.”
“I’m not leaving you, Dad.”
“And then you get in the car and go home and you tell your mother I went to the Super C to get lemons, okay? I’ll be home after lunch.”
The approaching boat had cut its motor and the driver was angling the wheel to pull up sideways against them. The boat moved in a slow, unnatural skid toward them. The man in the boat wasn’t in uniform. “What’s going on, Dad?”
Dale took his son by the shoulders. “I want you to trust me. Tell me you trust me.”
“I do.”
“Can you get the boat back and then get home?” Gus was looking over his shoulder at the man standing in the other boat. Dale put his hand under his son’s chin and tenderly brought his attention back to him. “Gus?”
“Yeah.”
“I know you wish you never saw this, but I have to do the right thing, and you’ve got no place in it, do you understand?”
“No. But I’ll do what you tell me to if that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want.” He released his boy and then stepped to the railing and put his foot on it. The man in the other boat held his hand out, and Dale gripped it and leapt the space between the two crafts. “Hand me the other end of that rope, Gus,” he said, and his son untied the rope where they’d secured it to the railing. Dale caught it and began to draw it in, hand over hand. The body bobbed in the water and then sank a little under the weight of being dragged. The other man leaned over, bracing his knees against the gunwale of his boat, and gripped the arm furthest away from him, and the two men began to lift the inert form into the other boat. And as it came out of the water, resisting them, magnetized to its resting place, Gus saw the corpse turning and his heart seized in his chest. It was a woman.
“Go!” said Dale, and Gus started from his staring
“Okay,” he said, sitting against the gunwale and panting forbreath as his son puked onto the deck beside him. He laid the hand that hadn’t touched the body against Gus’s back. He felt like the other hand would never be clean again. He had the urge to cut it off and throw it away so it could not reproach him with what it knew. “It’s okay. We’ll calm down and we’ll call the police.”
“Aw Jesus. Jesus Christ,” sobbed Gus. He threw up again. “Who would do such a thing?”
“It’s not our job to figure it out,” said Dale, his hand moving in slow circles against his son’s back. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
He helped Gus to his feet and sat him gingerly on the cooler. He took out his cell and saw he could still get a faint signal on it. He dialled a number and spoke to someone, keeping one eye on Gus to make sure the kid didn’t faint. He folded the cell and put it back into his pocket. “Someone’ll be here soon,” he said. “We just have to keep it together until then.”
Gus nodded, his eyes locked to the decking. Dale stood against the railing, looking out over the water and trying not to look down at what was secured against the hull, that sad, wrecked form.
A half-hour later, the two of them hadn’t moved from their positions, both of them lost in their thoughts. The sun was pouring down its light from a sharp angle, and Dale had to pull his cap down over his forehead to keep his eyes from watering. He heard the boat first before he saw it, and then, coming around the point of one of the larger islands, it turned on a direct heading toward them. Gus stood up. “Jesus, that felt like it took two hours.”
Dale dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out his car keys. “Listen to me, Gus. You can get the boat back to the dock, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going to go with this guy, okay? Answer some questions if they need me to. There’s no reason for you to get mixed up in this.”
“I’m not leaving you, Dad.”
“And then you get in the car and go home and you tell your mother I went to the Super C to get lemons, okay? I’ll be home after lunch.”
The approaching boat had cut its motor and the driver was angling the wheel to pull up sideways against them. The boat moved in a slow, unnatural skid toward them. The man in the boat wasn’t in uniform. “What’s going on, Dad?”
Dale took his son by the shoulders. “I want you to trust me. Tell me you trust me.”
“I do.”
“Can you get the boat back and then get home?” Gus was looking over his shoulder at the man standing in the other boat. Dale put his hand under his son’s chin and tenderly brought his attention back to him. “Gus?”
“Yeah.”
“I know you wish you never saw this, but I have to do the right thing, and you’ve got no place in it, do you understand?”
“No. But I’ll do what you tell me to if that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want.” He released his boy and then stepped to the railing and put his foot on it. The man in the other boat held his hand out, and Dale gripped it and leapt the space between the two crafts. “Hand me the other end of that rope, Gus,” he said, and his son untied the rope where they’d secured it to the railing. Dale caught it and began to draw it in, hand over hand. The body bobbed in the water and then sank a little under the weight of being dragged. The other man leaned over, bracing his knees against the gunwale of his boat, and gripped the arm furthest away from him, and the two men began to lift the inert form into the other boat. And as it came out of the water, resisting them, magnetized to its resting place, Gus saw the corpse turning and his heart seized in his chest. It was a woman.
“Go!” said Dale, and Gus started from his staring
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