Chapter 45
I jumped over the gunwale, into the surf, and splashed up to the sand and jogged toward him. "Excuse me," I shouted, flashing my shiny gold badge.
He stopped and gave me a confused look. "Is there some kind of problem, Officer?"
"No problem, just a few questions for you. Planning on doing a little treasure hunting today?”
"That's not illegal, is it?”
I flashed a disarming smile. "No.”
"I'm not trespassing or anything. This is public land.”
"Looking for anything in particular?”
He shrugged. "You never know what you might find out here." With an excited smile, he said, "You wouldn't believe what I found the last few days.”
“Oh, I have a pretty good idea.”
“It's like a goldmine out here. People bury all kinds of stuff. I found coins, empty artillery shells—“
"You find a briefcase?”
His brow wrinkled with confusion. "Yeah. How did you know?"
"By the split tree?”
His face tightened. "Hey, I found that fair and square.”
"Well, it doesn't belong to you.”
"It does now. It didn't have anybody's name on it. Finders, keepers.”
"Where's the case now?”
"I don't have to tell you?”
My eyes narrowed, and I gave him a stern look. "I buried that case out here.”
"You shouldn't have done that.”
This guy was starting to get on my nerves. “A man was killed for that case, and a young woman was kidnapped. I need to know where it is."
Pudgy hesitated for a moment. "I don't have to tell you.”
"What's your name?”
"I don't have to tell you that either.”
My patience with this guy was wearing thin. I waved the sheriff over.
JD dropped anchor, and they disembarked and marched toward us. The sheriff didn't look happy, and he could be an intimidating presence.
"I don't think I've made myself clear,” I said. “This is a matter of life and death.”
"I know my rights. You can't bully me around."
"Is that your boat?" the sheriff said, pointing to his center console.
"You saw me pull up in it, didn't you?"
"We're going to need to do a routine compliance inspection.”
The guy glared at him. “Everything is in order."
"Great, then there will be no problem.”
The guy huffed, then set his stuff down on the beach. We followed him as he marched back to his boat.
"You're wasting your time."
"I don't mind," Sheriff Daniels said. "I've got nothing better to do.”
"You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, harassing me about something that I'm perfectly in my right to do."
He climbed aboard his boat, and so did we.
The sheriff looked around and inspected the craft. He had the requisite personal flotation devices and a throwable. He had a fire extinguisher and a horn.
"I need to see your registration," Daniels said.
The guy fished it out of a compartment and handed it to him. With a smug grin, he said, "See. I told you. Everything is in order.”
"Okay, Todd," The sheriff said, reading from the registration. "Let's see your flare gun."
Todd stiffened, and his skin went pale. "I've got one."
"Let's see it.”
Todd moved to a compartment by the helm and carefully opened it just a sliver. He reached his hand inside and felt for the flare gun, being squirrely about it.
The sheriff forced the lid open with the flick of his hand. It was obvious what Todd was hiding. A small bag of weed in the compartment next to the gun. A slight smirk tugged the sheriff's lips. "Now what do we have here?"
Todd frowned and said nothing.
The sheriff pulled out the baggie and dangled it in front of the man. By and large, we weren't typically prosecuting marijuana cases in the county. But in a situation like this, it gave us leverage. "I don't suppose you've got a medical card?”
"No, sir.” Todd changed his tune abruptly. Now it was all no, sir, and yes, sir.
"This gives me probable cause to search the rest of the boat. I've seen watercraft seized over less.”
Todd's eyes rounded. "Seized? For what?”
"Drug trafficking," the sheriff said casually.
"I'm not drug trafficking!"
"How do we know you didn't stash a supply out here. Maybe that's what you came out here to dig up.”
"That's total bullshit," Todd said.
The sheriff was just trying to rattle his cage. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. If you can magically materialize that case that you dug up, I might be willing to forget about our little encounter here today.”
"Are you extorting me?”
"No, you little shit. I'm trying to save a young girl's life, and you're being an asshole." Daniels had reached his limit.
Todd deflated and hung his head. "I’ve still got the case. I can take you to it. But we will forget all about this, right?”