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“Because he killed Mickey.”

What?

Nick couldn’t believe his ears.  Now Pete had killed Mickey too?  Boy, if Jo’s ideas got any further out there, they’d have to travel by space shuttle.

“Jo, this doesn’t make any sense,” began Nick.

“Because he’s made you believe I’m crazy,” retorted Jo, “hasn’t he?”

Nick hesitated.  “Well, no…”

“Yes, he has,” said Jo, sadly.  “He’s good at that.  He’s a natural born liar.”

“Well, explain it to me then,” said Nick, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice.  “You say he killed Mickey.  How?  When?”

“Before we came,” said Jo.  “Before…”

”Sshh,” said Nick, suddenly standing up.  He turned toward the stairs.  “I just want you to know,” he sang lightly, bounding up the stairs to the deck, “that I’ve been fighting to let you go.  Some days I make it through…Oh hey, Pete!  Did you find Jo?”

Jordana crept back up the hall to the second bedroom and eased the door quietly shut.

“No, I haven’t,” said Pete, “and I’m getting a little worried.”  He peered along the edge of Nick’s boat, looking in the windows.

“Maybe you should call the police,” suggested Nick.

“The police?  Oh, I don’t think it’s got that far yet,” said Pete.  “It’s not the first time she’s done it…I mean, the night I was on your boat so late…you know, when we were ‘talking’…”

Nick nodded.  “Yeah.  I remember.”

“Well, when I got back to the boat, Jo wasn’t there.  She didn’t come back for a couple of hours.  I looked for her and couldn’t find her.  Finally, she just showed up and said she’d gone for a walk. I wondered if maybe she’d…you know…thought about trying something.  That’s why I’ve been keeping such a close eye on her.”

“Hmmm,” said Nick, non-committally.  “Well, um, do you think that’s what’s happened here?  That’s she gone for a walk?  Or maybe harmed herself?”

“I don’t know,” said Pete, with a sigh.  “I thought she was getting better…you know…eating and stuff.  Like today, she had a real lunch and even dinner.  And she didn’t have a nap today, which is great!  I mean, the girl’s been sleeping 18 hours a day.  So, like I said, I thought she was getting better.”

“So maybe it is just a walk then,” suggested Nick.

“Maybe,” said Pete, half to himself.  Then out loud, he said, “Oh, hey, I’m sorry to be bugging you with this, Nick.  It’s just that you’re the only one here that we know, and I thought, you know, she might have come by here.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come and help you look?”  Nick carefully avoided answering Pete’s implied question.

Pete chewed the inside of his lip and looked around.  “You know, I would really appreciate it…if it’s not too much trouble.  I mean, were you heading to bed?”

“Nah, not yet,” said Nick.  “I was just unwinding a little with the guitar.”

Pete looked around the deck and then back at Nick.

“Um…” said Nick, “I just put it away.  I was just…you know, getting that last bit of air, doing a final check…”

Pete’s eyes narrowed a little.  He looked again at the windows of the living room, then back at Nick.  “Well, if you’re sure…”

“No problem,” said Nick.  He jumped up onto the dock and started walking away.  “Where should we go first?  Where all have you looked?”

Nick led Pete away from the Lenore.  They went to the Sunset Voyager, but there was still no sign of Jo.

“Maybe she forgot something at the restaurant,” suggested Nick.

Neither man believed that she had but they walked up there anyway.  Neither the waitress nor the bartender remembered Jo coming back.  The two men walked around the marina, checking the arcade and the other shops.

“What are you going to do if she doesn’t turn up?” asked Nick.  “Will you contact the police?”

“I guess I’ll have to,” said Pete, “but isn’t there some kind of rule about waiting twenty-fours or something?”

“Yeah, I think you might be right,” replied Nick.  “At least, that’s what they say on all the cop shows.”

“Shit!” said Pete.  “If I have to wait around for another day…”  He shook his head.  “Oh, well,” he said, resignedly, “you gotta do what you gotta do.”

He looked up.  They had arrived back at the Lenore.

“Nick,” he said, “I know it’s a long shot, but do you think she might be on the Lenore now?”

Nick certainly hoped not.

“On the Lenore?  Gee, I don’t know,” said Nick.  “C’mon, let’s look.”

Nick didn’t really care if Jo was there or not.  If she was, he’d referee the ensuing battle and take Jo into his care until he could see her safely home.  If she wasn’t there, then his involvement would be thankfully over.

Nick went slowly down the stairs to the rooms below.  He blocked Pete’s view with his body while his eyes scanned the room looking for signs that Jo was or had been there.  He saw with relief that there was nothing. 

“She’s not here,” said Nick, beckoning Pete to come down the stairs and see for himself. 

Nick continued up the hall, checking the bathroom and guest bedroom.  Jo wasn’t there.  Nick nodded back to Pete to come ahead and check to satisfy himself.

Nick moved into his bedroom and looked around.  He picked up one of the throw pillows from the floor and tossed it up on the bed.

“Jeez, I’m a slob,” he said, turning to face Pete.

Pete stood in the doorway, taking in the unmade bed and the clothes littering the floor.  “Yeah, you are a bit,” he agreed.

They stood in silence.  Finally, Pete turned away.

“Okay, she’s not here;  I guess I’ll go check out the Sunset Voyager again.  Thanks again, Nick.”

Nick didn’t know what to say.  He looked around the room one more time and then went out into the hall.  He saw Pete kneel down at the edge of the living room.

“Find something?” asked Nick.

“No,” said Pete, shoving his hands in his pockets.  “Well, see ya, Nick.” 

Nick followed Pete up the stairs to the back deck.  He watched the dark-haired man walk slowly up the dock.  When Pete was out of sight, Nick counted slowly to sixty, never taking his eyes off  the spot where Pete had faded from view.  Then he bounded down the stairs and raced up to his bedroom.  He picked up the throw pillow he’d tossed on the bed and retrieved the piece of paper under it.

He held it up to the light and read, “I am going to find proof.”

Shit! thought Nick.  Now what?

He stood for a moment, looking around.  Was Jo here?  How could she be?  Nick opened the big closet in his bedroom.  She could probably fit herself in there.  No, she wasn’t there. 

Nick backtracked through the boat, checking carefully and feeling foolish at the same time.  He looked in the shower stall and he moved all the pillows around on the upper bunk in the guest bedroom.  He slid back the doors on the laundry room.

Nick walked back into the living room, shaking his head.  What now?  Where was she?  Nick hoped Jo had done the smart thing and grabbed all her clothes from the Sunset Voyager and run like hell to the nearest taxi stand, airport, police station, whatever…some place where there would be other people to help her, to keep her away from Pete if that’s what she wanted…some place safely away from Nick, as well.

Yeah, thought Nick, some place away from me.  He didn’t want to be involved in this.  He still couldn’t figure out which one of them was telling the truth.  Nick didn’t want to be on anybody’s side.  He just wanted to know that everyone was safe, and then he wanted to get the hell out of here.  Nick had provided the opportunity for Jo when he led Pete away from the boat.  He hoped she had taken it!

Nick’s eye was caught by something at the edge of the living room.  It was the same spot Pete had looked at earlier.  Nick walked over and knelt down.  He couldn’t really see anything.  He ran his hand over the carpet and came up with something…long, dark strands of hair.

Jo’s hair.

Jo, who had never been below deck on the Lenore.

Nick had a vision of Pete shoving his hands into his pockets and saying, “No,” that he hadn’t found anything.

Shit!

Nick went back up on deck.  He looked slowly around.  Suddenly, he tilted his head up.  He could hear a voice.  Jo’s voice.  Nick looked around once more, checking the dock carefully for any sign of Pete.

Then he climbed to the bridge.

“…staying at a hotel and leaving in the morning.  No, Pete, you don’t need to know which one.  I’ve been enough of a pain for you…no, Pete, I’m going home…”

Nick looked down at Jordana.  She was huddled on the floor at the back of the bridge, her thin body flattened out against the leather bench so that she couldn’t be seen from below.  She was wearing several layers of clothing.  She had a cell phone clutched in her hand.

“…no, Pete.  I’m not coming back.  Take the boat to Florida, and go home.  I’ll see you there.”

Jordana snapped the phone shut.  “Yeah, I’ll be waiting there with the whole Fayetteville Police Department, you murdering bastard."

She looked up at Nick and burst into tears.