He listened nearly half a minute but there was nothing. He quietly stepped back into the hallway and looked up the stairway. He stood stock still and listened again while trying to weigh his options. The only way out besides going back up the stairs was the deck hatch in the roof of the forward stateroom. But it would be foolish to think that whoever was topside didn’t have that escape route covered.
“Buddy,” he called. “Is that you?”
The answer came after a long beat of silence.
“No, Terry, it’s not Buddy.”
A female voice. McCaleb recognized it.
“Jaye?”
“Why don’t you come on up?”
He looked back into the head. The flashlight was inside the duffel bag, illuminating little else but its contents. Otherwise he was in the dark.
“I’m coming up.”
She was sitting on the cushioned swivel chair near the teak coffee table. He had apparently gone right past her in the dark. He slid into the matching chair on the other side of the salon.
“Hello, Jaye. How’s it going?”
“I’ve had better days.”
“Same here. I was going to call you in the morning.”
“Well, I’m here now.”
“And where are your friends?”
“They’re not my friends. And they definitely aren’t your friends, Terry.”
“Didn’t sound like it. So what’s going on? How come you’re here and they’re not?”
“Because every now and then one of us dopey locals turns out to be smarter than the bureau boys.”
McCaleb smiled without humor.
“You knew I’d have to come back for my medicine.”
She returned the smile and nodded.
“They figure you’re already halfway to Mexico if you’re not there already. But I saw that cabinet full of drugs and knew you had to come back. It was like a leash.”
“So now you get to take me in and get the bust and get the glory.”
“Not necessarily.”
He did not respond at first. He thought about her words, wondering how she was playing this.
“What are you saying, Jaye?”
“I’m saying my gut is telling me one thing, the evidence something else. I usually trust my gut.”
“Me too. What evidence are you talking about? What did you people find in here today?”
“Nothing much, just a baseball hat with the CI logo on it. We figured out it means Catalina Island and it matches the description James Noone gave of the cap the driver of the Cherokee was wearing. Then nothing else-until we opened up the top drawer of that chart table.”
McCaleb looked over at the chart table. He remembered opening the top drawer and checking it after the intruder had been scared off the night before. There was nothing in there amiss or that could hurt him.
“What was in it?”
“In it? Nothing. It was underneath. Taped underneath.”
McCaleb got up and went to the chart drawers. He pulled the top drawer out and turned it over. He ran his finger over the adhesive residue left by pieces of heavy tape. He smiled and shook his head. He thought about how quickly the intruder could have come in, taken a pretaped package and slapped it up under the open drawer.
“Let me guess,” he said. “It was a plastic-”
“No. Don’t say anything. You say anything and it could come back to hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you, Terry.”
“I’m not worried about that. Not anymore. So let me guess. Under the drawer was a bag-a Ziploc type of bag. Inside it was the cross earring taken from Gloria Torres and a photograph of James Cordell’s family. The one taken from his car.”
Winston nodded. McCaleb returned to his seat.
“You left out Donald Kenyon’s cuff link,” she said. “Sterling silver, in the shape of a dollar sign.”
“I didn’t know about that. I bet Nevins and Uhlig and that asshole Arrango put on six inches apiece when they found that bag.”
“They were strutting all right,” she said, nodding. “It made them very happy.”
“But not you.”
“No. It was too easy.”
They sat in silence for a few moments.
“You know, Terry, you don’t seem very concerned that evidence linking you to three murders was found in your boat. Not to mention the obvious motive you have for those murders.” She nodded toward McCaleb’s chest. “No, you look like, at best, you are maybe moderately annoyed. You want to tell me why?”
McCaleb leaned forward, elbows on his knees. This brought his face more fully into the light.
“It was all planted, Jaye. The hat, earring, everything. Last night somebody broke in here. He didn’t take anything. So he must’ve left things. I’ve got witnesses. I’m being set up. I don’t know why, but it’s a setup.”
“Well, if you’re thinking Bolotov, forget it. He’s been in Van Nuys jail since his parole officer picked him up Sunday afternoon.”
“No, I’m not thinking Bolotov. He’s in the clear.”
“That sure sounds like a different tune.”
