Mermaid Charade: Blue Moon Investigations Sacramento Book 7 by Alex Gates & Steve Higgs

Author:Alex Gates & Steve Higgs [Gates, Alex & Higgs, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Part Three

The Ariel. Tuesday, October 31st. 0752hrs.

“Watch your step.” Officer James Billings reached out a pudgy, ballooned hand—a father waiting to catch a wobbly toddler climbing a tree. “I wouldn’t trust those rungs with my weight.”

Officer Billings of the Yakutat police department resembled a bear more than a man, complete with head to toe hair covering his body. For the sake of accuracy, he resembled a teddy bear. Rather hairy, with beady eyes, a pinched face, and a soft, inviting physique.

Maya considered having him as company in her basement apartment. The nights in Alaska proved cold and lonely, and Billings appeared a warm, cozy body to snuggle with.

She climbed the rusted steel ladder without spurring a single creak or groan from the old metal. She stepped over the guardrail and onto the Ariel’s afterdeck.

Sixteen years ago, Charles, William, and Thomas had sat on that deck. Had looked over the black ocean in the dead of night. Had heard a strange, haunting song. Patricia had stood over the guardrail, watching the storm-stirred waters churn, and she claimed to have seen a mermaid.

Now, Maya occupied the afterdeck. Instead of a violent, malicious ocean full of wonder and mystery, she had a view to a warehouse. One filled with a variety of impounded vehicles.

Apart from the ocean scenery, not much had changed with The Ariel, at least compared to Charles’ video recording. The exterior paint had faded, but it remained on the shinier side of rusty and the paler side of new.

Officer Billings grunted and huffed as he stumbled over the guardrail onto the deck. “I don’t look forward to climbing down. I’m not much for heights.” He lurched to the deck’s center, as if a terrible wave had tossed him off balance, and he leaned against the companionway’s closed door.

Maya pushed out her lips. “Oops.”

“Oops?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Well, you see, I wouldn’t mind doing this alone.”

“I’m not supposed to leave you alone. We’re standing within a crime scene.”

“From sixteen years ago.”

“I can’t leave you alone on the ship.”

Maya tapped her pouted lip with her pointer finger. “What’s the harm in it?”

“You could tamper with evidence.”

“Isn’t it all recorded and archived?”

“It’s an unsolved crime. If additional evidence appears, or a new lead opens up, we’ll need this ship undisturbed for further investigation.”

“Sixteen years.”

Billings lifted his pillow-shaped shoulders and frowned. “I don’t make the rules.”

Maya exhaled a flurry of air through her vibrating lips. “Can we… I don’t know, work out a deal?”

“It’s illegal to bribe an officer.”

“Not bribery. See, I’m a podcaster investigating the incident. If you allow me access to the ship—”

“We have allowed you access. With supervision.”

Maya chewed on her cheeks. She hated working with rookie officers. They had a reputation to build, and they often refused to bend or fudge the rules of the game.

“My podcast could reach thousands, possibly millions, of listeners. Imagine the potential for new leads? Use me as a tool to break open the unsolved case.”

“That’s why you’re on the ship, Ms. Adler.”

“I thought it was because Detective Hale urged you to let me in.

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