Chapter 21
It looked like we had woken him when he poked his head out of the salon. Wade looked at us with sleepy eyes. "What's going on? Is there some kind of problem?"
"I'm afraid we've got bad news," I said.
I told him about Ray, and Wade's face tightened with sorrow and confusion. "What happened?”
"I can't go into specifics, but he was murdered on a job site.”
"Murdered? Who would want to kill Ray?” he asked, like it was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.
“That's what we're hoping you can help us figure out.”
Wade stepped out of the salon, and we joined him in the cockpit. He was in his late 40s with wavy blonde hair that had mostly turned gray. It hung past his ears. The sun had given him a swarthy tan, and his skin had a leathery quality to it. Wade kept himself in good shape for his age.
The moon glowed overhead, and the boat gently rocked in its slip, waves lapping against the fiberglass hull.
"When did this happen?" Wade asked.
"A few hours ago now,” I said.
"You have any suspects?”
“A few,” I said. "How long have you two been friends?”
"I guess a couple of years now. We hit it off right away. My son’s the same age as Matthew. They’ve been on the same team for a couple of years now, and Ray has been coaching them as they advance. He sponsors the team.”
"What can you tell us about Ken and Bobby Boyd?"
A look of disdain twisted his face. "You think Ken did it?”
I shrugged. "You’d know more than I would.”
"To tell you the truth, I wouldn't put it past either one of them. They're both a little crazy. Ken’s trying to live vicariously through his boy. He pushes that kid way too hard. Bobby’s gotta be under an immense amount of pressure. I don't know how you live up to something like that. Ken is on the kid’s ass for every mistake he makes. It’s no wonder he’s a little rebellious. ”
"Beating up a kid and putting him in the hospital seems more than a little rebellious," I said.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Ken beats Bobby,” Wade muttered. “The kid’s gotta learn that behavior somewhere." He frowned and shook his head in disgust. "Can you tell me how Ray was killed?”
"I can't share those details at the moment."
Wade gave an understanding nod. "You know, Ken was spending thousands of dollars on private coaching for Bobby. He hired a PR firm. He was doing everything he could to make sure that kid got national exposure. He wanted him to get into a top college.” Then added, “I can understand that.
We all want what's best for our kids. But Ken had a lot riding on that championship game.
I think he had coordinated scouts to come see Bobby play, but he sat on the bench the entire time.
Ray wouldn't put him in. I gotta give Ray credit. He stuck to his guns under a lot of pressure. He told Ken and Bobby that the kid was going to be benched for the rest of the season because of his behavior, and he held to his word.”
“Isn’t 13 a little young to be scouted?”
“Not at a championship game. They like to get an idea of who’s coming up. It’s a different world now.”
"When Bobby beat up that kid, were the police involved?” I asked. “Was a report made?”
"I don't think so. Ray promised the parents of the victim that he would discipline Bobby.”
"Were they on the same team?”
Wade nodded. "I don't think the family wanted to rock the boat. They didn't want to go through all the hassle and publicity. They just wanted Bobby disciplined. He basically ended Timmy’s season." Wade paused. “From what I understand, Timmy’s making a good recovery.”
I changed directions. "How was Ray's marriage?”
The question caught him a little off guard. "I think it was fine. Why?”
"Was there any infidelity? Was Ray seeing anyone on the side?”
Wade shook his head. "Ray wasn't like that.”
"What about Dana?”
He shrugged. "I don't know what she did on her own time, but I imagine Ray would have said something to me if he thought his wife was fooling around."
"You two were pretty close, right?"
Wade nodded. "Yeah. Ray was my boy. Good guy, man. Always there when you needed him.” He frowned, and his eyes misted. He wiped the tears away before they spilled over.
"I know this is difficult,” I said. “I appreciate you speaking with us.”
"Anything I can do to help," Wade assured.
"What about gambling, drugs, etc.?”
"No. We’d go to the Salty Dawg. I'd put back a few beers, and Ray would drink nonalcoholic beer. I never once saw him touch the real thing.”
“You’ve been on the boat all evening?”
“Yeah. I grabbed dinner at TJ’s Crab Shack around 7:00 PM, then came back here. My ex has the kids.”
“When was the last time you saw Ray?”
Wade thought for a moment. “I guess it was a couple of days ago.” His face tightened. “We were supposed to go fishing this weekend.”
“Was there ever any animosity between you two?”
Wade laughed. “No. Like I said, we were thick as thieves.“
I gave him a card, and we left the boat.
JD and I strolled back down the dock to the parking lot, discussing the case. I didn’t think Wade had any involvement, but I wasn’t ruling anybody out at this point.
We hopped into the van and headed back to Diver Down. We grabbed a seat at the bar and chatted with Teagan. By that time, she'd heard the news that an AC repairman had been shot, but the name hadn’t been released yet.
"So, did you see this one coming?" JD asked.
She sneered at him. "No. I try not to focus on negative things. Do you have any idea who killed him?”
I shook my head.
Teagan poured a couple of glasses of whiskey, and we shot the breeze for a bit before returning to the Avventura. I took Buddy out for a walk, then settled in for bed.
Teagan buzzed my phone. "Was the victim's name Ray?"
I usually didn’t discuss ongoing investigations, but this was Teagan. "Yeah. Where did you hear that?"
She sighed. "I didn't hear it anywhere. It just popped into my head. I lied earlier. I did have a vision, but it didn't make sense. Did he get killed near an air conditioning unit?”
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that an AC repairman might get killed near a unit. But I gave her the benefit of the doubt. "Yeah.”
"He was shot with a small-caliber pistol. Probably a .22 with a suppressor threaded to the barrel,” she said.
"Okay, this is getting a little freaky," I said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were on the scene.”
"No. I've been here all night,” she said in a cutesy voice.
"I think we need to recruit you into the department," I teased.
"No. Absolutely not. You need me behind the bar anyway.”
That much was certain.
"Listen, I gotta get back to it. We'll talk later," she said before ending the call.
I didn’t really buy into the whole thing, but there was no denying she had the details right.
I tried to clear my head and let it all go. I dozed off and woke in the morning with the sunrise. The amber rays filtered through the blinds.
I pulled myself out of bed, went through my morning routine, and headed down to the galley to fix breakfast. I rousted JD out of bed, and we chowed down on the sky deck. We crunched on bacon and shoveled scrambled eggs into our mouths and sipped gourmet coffee. Not a bad way to start the day.
Sufficiently caffeinated, we pulled ourselves together and headed out to find Cliff Pollard.