Chapter 11

Eleven

T he back of my neck prickled.

The woman was moving in a way that I had spent much of my childhood: that walk that was intended to appear oh-so-casual and unhurried to the observer, but underneath, adrenaline was firing, and urgency was rampant.

"Can you guys tell who it is?" I whispered.

"No," Hattie said, equally softly. "It's too dark."

"I can't either," Lucy said.

King Tut knew who it was, but since I wasn't a cat, that wasn't helpful.

"We need to follow her." But I didn't move. Did I want to follow a possible murderer into dark, shadowy woods? No. No, I did not. Especially one who had taken down a very large, mean man. We were three sweet women with an attack cat.

"She probably has a boat stashed," Lucy said. "My family installs the Ugly Man docks. There's an inlet around to the left where she could have tied up."

"We'll never get to her before she gets to the boat," I said, feeling quite relieved with that realization. "We need a boat." We could quietly follow her to her destination, then assess. "Beau's boat is fast." Fast enough to chase down anyone, and also to get away if, for example, a killer fleeing in a boat decided to come after us. And it was sitting in the first slip, pretty much offering itself up to our adventure.

"We need his key," Hattie said. "He'd never leave his key in there anymore after it got stolen."

The woman disappeared into the shadows, and urgency coursed through me. No way was I letting the murderer vanish into the night while Hattie took the heat. I called Beau instead of Devlin.

"This body is fantastic," Beau said. "I?—"

"We found a second body by the back deck," I interrupted. "We're calling Devlin so you have about one minute until you can't get to it. Come around the outside, and be quiet!"

"I'm on my way!" He hung up.

Hattie raised her brows. "Operation pickpocket?"

I grinned, feeling a little less terrified. Pickpocketing was my zone of genius. It was a great confidence builder before heading out onto a dark lake in search of a murderer. "You bet."

"We'll distract," Lucy said excitedly.

I was perfectly capable of distracting and grabbing without their help, but I was proud of them for embracing the pickpocketing lifestyle. "Why don't you guys go untie Beau's boat and have it ready?" I paused. "Was that a boat engine starting up?"

"Son of a biscuit. Yes!" Hattie spun toward shore. "We need to be able to see which way she goes. Let's go, Lucy!" She took off toward the docks, but Lucy paused.

"You're sure you don't need help?"

"I got it. Go!"

"All right." Lucy turned and ran toward the lake as I heard a boat engine continue to rev.

My heart was racing. Where was Beau? King Tut sat by my foot, waiting. Did he sense a threat, and he was trying to keep me safe? Entirely possible. For all his crankiness, he was undeniably loyal, and I loved him for it.

The boat engine lowered to a low hum, and I knew our mystery woman had shifted into gear and was starting to head out onto the lake. Where was Beau? Didn't that man know how to run?

Lucy and Hattie made it to Beau's ski boat, and they were quickly untying it, moving with practiced expertise. Hattie paused and stared down the lake, then gestured at me to hurry.

Crap. We were going to miss her.

Moments kept passing, and Hattie and Lucy were ready. Hattie was keeping watch down the lake, and Lucy was holding onto a piling to keep the boat from floating away.

I clasped my hands on my head, pacing back and forth. I felt so helpless. Maybe I should have told them to check other boats to see if anyone had left their key. Stealing a boat was an outright crime, and I knew we could go to jail for it. I didn't want to do that. But what if a murderer got away? We didn't even know who it was!

Hattie waved at me frantically, and I held out my hands in helplessness. Where was Beau?

"Where's the body? Where is it?" He came puffing around the corner in his flipflops. Running in flipflops? No wonder he'd been slow.

"On the ground behind me!" I didn't have time for subtlety. I just jumped in his path, caught him around the waist to keep us from falling, and yanked his keys out of his front pocket. I held them up. "The murderer is escaping on the lake. We're taking your boat."

"What? No!" He grabbed for his keys, but I was already out of reach.

"We have to! It's Hattie's corkscrew in his neck!" I didn't wait. I just took off for the docks, King Tut on my heels.

Behind me, I heard Beau shouting about making him choose between hunting a murderer and photographing a body, but I didn't stop. I ran down the ramp, skidded around the corner, then leapt onto the bow of the boat and tossed the keys to Hattie, who was already in the driver's seat.

King Tut leapt onto the boat beside me, and the boat engine roared to life.

"Wait! Wait!" Beau was shuffling down the dock in his flipflops, waving his notebook.

"We can't wait," Hattie said. "She's already around the bend."

Beau looked so funny shuffling down the dock, trying to move fast but unwilling to ditch his flipflops. His gray hair was askew, his ratty sweater hanging off him like a sack, his scrawny legs like little toothpicks. My heart turned over. This man was so tough and cranky, but he'd been there for us even when he was pretending he wasn't.

And he was smart, smarter than we were when it came to solving murders.

I grabbed the piling. "Wait for him."

"Dammit, Mia." But Hattie put the boat in neutral. "Hurry up, you old crazy bastard!"

"I'll file charges, you dangerous old bat," Beau yelled back.

"He called me old. I'm leaving."

"You called him old first." Lucy and I reached out for him as he neared. "Hurry up, Beau!"

He grabbed our hands, and we hauled him on board as Hattie shifted into reverse, almost pulling away before we could get him in. His feet dragged in the water, but he got them in, flipflops still on, before Hattie shifted into forward gear.

"Hang on!" She hit forward, and we all flew backwards as the boat took off. King Tut yowled and fell off the seat, then dug his claws into the carpet. I crashed into Lucy, and we both hit the back seat.

Beau was on the floor by Hattie's feet. "I'm driving!" he shouted.

"No way," she yelled back. "I'm the only race car driver here. My freedom is at stake, so I drive!"

Beau climbed to his feet, still bellowing at her to get away from the wheel. I ignored them as I got up. Lucy and I made our way to the front of the boat, scanning the lake for any sign of the mystery woman.

I saw nothing but dark water.