Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

bar for a minute? I really have to pee.”
    “Sure.”
    “Thanks.”
    At the same moment Max was entering the sanctuary of the ladies room, the phone rang. Max didn’t hear it ring, at least not consciously. Nor did she see the expression on Courtney’s face as she listened to the voice on the other end. Max lingered for a few extra minutes, not enough that anyone would notice, but sufficient to enjoy the solitude afforded by the privacy of the ladies room after a hectic night.
    Courtney was tipped upside down, reaching deep into one of the beer coolers when Max returned and announced, “I’m back, thanks.” Courtney stood and before she could say anything, Max moved past her to pull the trashcan liner out of the barrel in the back room as she began the end-of-night cleanup.
    Courtney followed her out back. “Max, I just got the strangest call.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “While you were in the bathroom, I answered the phone. At first there was only silence. I was about to hang up, figuring that someone had a wrong number and just didn’t say anything. You know how that works.”
    Max nodded but didn’t say anything.
    “Anyways, I was about to hang up when I heard a man’s voice say, ‘Wait.’ So I waited and again there was only silence. Then, in this really deep, muffled voice, he said that I should warn you to be careful. Then he hung up. Isn’t that weird?”
    A strange look came over Max’s face. She sat on one of the barstools, staring at Courtney.
    “Max, are you okay?”
    She sat there motionless, her face pale.
    “Max. Talk to me.”
    “I … I’m fine.”
    “No, you’re not. What’s going on?”
    “Oh my God. Daniel,” Max said in a voice barely above a whisper.
    “What?”
    “It was Daniel.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Because. Because I just know it. I saw him today in town.”
    “Today?”
    “Yeah, I was stopped at the lights where Islington Street begins and I saw him on the other corner. He looked thin, nervous. He didn’t see me at first. Then, when the guy behind me hit his horn, he looked over and I’m sure he saw me. I was holding up traffic, so I pulled into the parking lot. By the time I parked, he was gone. I got out and ran around like a crazy person looking for him, but I never saw him again.”
    “That doesn’t make the voice on the phone his.”
    “Yes it does. For several weeks now, I’ve answered the phone a bunch of times here, and there has been no one on the line. Each time I felt like someone was there even though the line was silent. Now, today I see him again, and he looks awful and disappears after I’m sure he saw me. Then, the phone rings here. It had to be him.”
    * * *
    “It’s me.” He took another drag on his cigarette. The night air was cool. He shivered, pulled his collar up, looked down, and turned, facing into the shadows as he listened. Nervously he glanced around to confirm that he was the only occupant of the fish pier before he said, “He’s here. I could do it and be out of this backwater tonight.”
    He took another drag on his cigarette and looked across the water at Ben’s. He knew the speech, so as he half-heartedly listened he watched the reflections from the lights at Ben’s dance on the water. The speech ended and in his guttural voice he murmured, “Yes. I understand.” Then the line went dead.
    “Shit,” he said in resignation as he dropped the cigarette and crushed its glowing ember with his shoe. As he walked to his car he thought about how he would finally recover the disc for his employer. Feeling the knife in his pocket he smiled to himself. Once that was done, he would be able to satisfy his own needs.

CHAPTER 18
    “WHAT IS GOING ON?” Jack wondered. He forced himself to keep his pace easy and his breathing relaxed. Max had told him about seeing Daniel in town and how he had looked nervous and worn. She had also told him about the call that Courtney had taken at Ben’s last night. He had already decided that right after his run, he’d head over to Ben’s to keep an eye on her.
    Jack had been running steadily toward the sun, but now, five miles in, it was sinking lower in the sky. Time to turn back and begin the run back. As soon as the sun was behind him, the light tailwind became a strong headwind, and the temperature began to drop. He shivered, glad that he had chosen to wear tights.
    While the distance to home shortened, those moments in the zone where conscious and unconscious thoughts