Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

Sea Witch passed between the breakwaters. All the way back, Jack had sat in silence, staring out the open stern while Max talked with Tom. His beautiful boat was gone, destroyed by a madman. So many important moments in his life had occurred on Irrepressible or because of her. What surprised Jack was that he wasn’t despondent. Sad, yes, but not despondent. Irrepressible and all her memories were still speaking to him, and she said that this wasn’t an ending, but a new beginning.

EPILOGUE
    “HEY, MAX, YOU OKAY ?” Paulie asked the same question every time he came into the bar.
    Her answer was always the same. “Yes, Paulie. I’m fine.”
    Then Ralphie would always follow with, “Too bad about Jack’s boat.”
    To which Leo would add, “They never found that guy …” He’d pause and then ask Max his name.
    But today, before she could answer, a deeper voice answered for her. “You know his name was Kurt.”
    Ralphie turned first, followed by Leo, then Paulie. “Jack,” he said, obviously taken by surprise. “That really sucks about your boat. You guys okay?”
    Jack had lost count of how many times he had had this same conversation. “Yes. It does, and yes, we are.”
    “You gonna get a new boat?”
    “I haven’t decided yet.”
    Max handed Jack a beer. The boys never saw the look that she gave Jack, but he did, and he immediately understood. “Hey guys, isn’t it time to call it a night?”
    They didn’t take the hint. In fact, Leo persisted with his line of questioning. “Jack, what do you think happened to …” He paused while trying to remember the name again. “ … Kurt?”
    “I don’t know. What do you think?” Since they weren’t leaving, he might as well roll with the punches and enjoy the speculation that surely would ensue.
    “Don’t know,” said Leo.
    But Ralphie was quick to chime in. “Maybe he’s still alive. You know he was never found. Maybe he was a Navy seal or something like that. As he went under with the boat, the water brought him to, and he used his training to get hold of something that had air in it. Then he used that to remain under the water until everyone was gone. Then he surfaced and swam to shore.”
    Paulie couldn’t sit idly by without adding his two cents’ worth. “Ralphie, you are such a tool. No one could possibly do that.”
    “Hey, those guys are trained. They could.”
    Leo rejoined the discussion. “You’ve been watching too many movies.”
    “No, really! I saw it on TV.”
    Jack could see a heated argument on the horizon, so he stepped back in and said, “Listen guys, we’re not going to solve the mystery tonight. How ’bout we call it a night and leave poor Max alone.”
    Amid grumbling and further attempts to have the last word, the three managed to slide off their bar stools and depart. Their discussion echoed down the front hall before finally fading out of earshot.
    “Poor Max!? What the hell were you trying to say, Jack Beale?” Max smiled slightly and feigned outrage.
    “You know I was just trying to get them to leave,” said Jack, in his own defense.
    “Maybe, but don’t you ever forget who saved your sorry ass out there on the boat.”
    In the month following their rescue, Jack and Max had become inseparable. At first, sleep never came easy. Often one or the other would wake up in the middle of the night reliving those terrible moments when Kurt could have easily killed either one of them. But those nights were getting fewer and farther between. Aside from occasional reminders from the guys at the bar, life was beginning to return to normal.
    Now, properly chastened, Jack gave her the look and she smiled. “So what shall we do tonight?” she asked.
    “You’ve got the late shift, right? How ’bout I pick up some Chinese. When you get home, we’ll have an intimate lo mein dinner under the stars.”
    “Sounds like a plan.”
    * * *
    “Knock, knock,” said Jack the next morning as he rapped on the doorframe to Tom’s office. Driving through town, he had noticed that Tom’s car was already in front of the station. Glancing at his watch, he had decided to stop.
    Jack had been up since dawn. He had already been down to the docks and watched the harbor come alive as the fishermen began their daily exodus out to sea. It was going to be a perfect day to be out on the water: light breezes, flat seas, and highs in the lower seventies. He thought about Irrepressible and wished that he could go sailing. On days like