Read Online Trawling for Trouble by Shelley Freydont - Free Book Online Page A

this.” It pinged. Chaz looked at it. “Let’s go,” he said and tossed the phone into the water.
    It disappeared in an instant.
    He climbed up to the helm. Liv crushed the trash, stuffed it in her pocket and followed him up.
    It seemed to take forever to get back to the fish camp.
    The sky was just lightening when Chaz cut back the throttle and cruised back into the dock. Everything was quiet. The
Seaworthy
sat at the other side of the pier, just like it had when they left. There were no cars in the lot, no sign of movement in the woods.
    Liv blew out a relieved sigh.
    Chaz tied up the
Truth
and climbed out of the boat. “Stay there.”
    â€œNo way,” Liv said. “I’ll take my chances with you.” She scrambled up to the pier and hurried after him.
    She knew before she even crossed the pier to the
Seaworthy
that something was wrong.
    â€œDamn,” Chaz said as she reached him.
    Damn was right. The old boat looked like a battlefield. The storage cabinets had all been opened, and doors were torn from their hinges, the contents spilled on the floor. Someone had been really mad. The old, dank cushions had been slashed and disemboweled.
    Chaz jumped down. He did a quick inspection of the deck, looked in the cabin, then disappeared inside. Liv crossed both fingers that he wouldn’t find Seamus and Gus dead on the
Seaworthy
. Maybe they had gotten into some bad company, but they didn’t deserve this, and they certainly didn’t deserve to die over whatever Jimmy the Snail might have stolen. She stayed on the pier, looking in all directions. Was sure she heard a car; then a boat; then footsteps; but they were all figments of her panic.
    Chaz’s head appeared from the cabin, then the rest of him. “The place has been tossed.” He frowned at her.
    â€œWhat?”
    He shook his head, climbed out of the boat, and headed up the pier toward land. He was going toward the office, but, panicked, Liv ran past him.
    â€œLiv, wait.”
    She stopped with her hand on the knob. What was she thinking? They could be inside right now. And if Chaz hadn’t stopped her she could have walked right into the culprits, whoever they were.
    Chaz eased past her and opened the door.
    â€œI could have done that,” she said and followed him in.
    They walked into a scene worse than what they’d seen on the
Seaworthy
. Whatever had been on the shelves was on the floor. Rods were snapped in two; reels, gears, lures, were all jumbled in a pile. Seat cushions and life preservers had been slashed and strewn across the floor.
    Liv rushed to the freezer. The key was missing, and so was her note. She looked frantically around.
    â€œThe note I left is gone.”
    Chas dropped to his knees and began rummaging around the floor.
    He found the key, but not the note.
    â€œStand back.”
    â€œStop bossing me around.”
    â€œYou want to open the chest and see if Manny’s frozen body is in there?”
    Liv stepped back.
    Chaz unlocked the freezer, lifted the top. “Whew. Nothing big enough to be Manny.”
    Liv didn’t mention the possibility of body parts. She’d seen those mob movies. And she was pretty sure Chaz had, too.
    She moved into the office. It was dark. She felt around the wall and found the switch. The desk had been ransacked, the drawers forced open; papers, pencils, a pack of cards littered the floor. The chair had been turned upside down.
    Liv searched through the papers looking for her note. “It’s gone. They must have taken it. But why take a note about a fish?”
    â€œMaybe since they couldn’t find whatever they’re looking for they decided to try another lead.”
    â€œOh no.” Liv fumbled in her pocket for her cell and frantically tapped in the sisters’ number. On the fifth ring, Chaz grabbed the phone and hung up.
    â€œThey’re probably out walking Whiskey or going to the bakery for breakfast. Why