Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

they held onto each other for balance. He looked down at her, and she up at him, while time seemed to stop, and then they kissed. Soft and tentative at first, then harder as the pent-up emotions of the last few days consumed and overwhelmed them.
    * * *
    “Mmmm.” Jack moaned and looked over at Max, lying next to him. She returned the look and smiled. Sweat still glistened on her face, and the blush of excitement remained on her neck and chest. The aroma of love was still faint in the air and neither moved, nor said anything, as they each savored the moment.
    It was then, in that moment of silent understanding, that the phone rang. Jack jumped and began to climb out of bed to answer it. Max reached out and touched his arm. “Let the machine get it.” But she knew that Jack couldn’t not answer a ringing phone.
    “I’ve got to get it,” he said as he left the bed. She rolled onto her side and watched his naked backside as he walked across the room and disappeared out the door. She flopped onto her back again and smiled as another rush of desire came over her.
    “Hey, Tom.” Jack tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. “What’s up? … Nothing, just getting the day started … Sure. When? … How about in an hour or so … Okay. Bye.”
    Jack hung up the phone and wondered exactly what Tom wanted to see him about. When he returned to the bedroom, Max could tell from the look on his face that there would be no round two. “Who was that?”
    “Tom. He wants to see me.”
    “Did he say why?”
    “He didn’t.”
    * * *
    “Hey, Jack, come on in.” Something subtle in Tom’s voice made Jack instantly wary.
    “Hi, Tom. What’s up?” He struggled to rein in his imagination.
    “Come in. Have a seat.”
    Jack sat and looked at Tom, his eyes asking the questions.
    “I just heard back from Felicia.”
    “The computer pro?”
    “Yes. She just called to give me an update. She’s still working on the disc, but it was badly damaged, probably from when you jammed that second CD into the player. Or it could’ve happened before. From what little she’s been able to see, it looks like it might be encrypted, as well. She’s still trying, but I didn’t get the sense that she was very optimistic. She indicated that she may need to get some outside help, but she wasn’t giving up. She’s stubborn. I told her to do whatever she thought was best.” He paused. “I thought you’d like to know.”
    “And this is why you called me over?”
    “Partly.” He hesitated, then said, “I also called because I just got word that a pharmacy in Amesbury was robbed last night. It must have been right at closing time. The pharmacist and the store clerk were found dead. Throats cut.”
    Jack’s face went white. He managed to ask, “Was it Kurt?”
    “I don’t know, but my best guess is that it was.”
    “Have you talked to Amesbury Police?”
    “I did.”
    “And?”
    “And they have very little right now.”
    “Aren’t there surveillance tapes or something?
    “No. Whoever did this took his time and removed the tapes, very professional. They don’t know what was stolen yet. They’re doing an inventory right now.”
    “So let’s assume it was him. What’s next?”
    “We wait.”
    “We wait? What are we waiting for? Come on Tom. It has to be him.” Jack’s voice betrayed his anxiety as disturbing images flashed through his mind.
    “Evidence. Jack, we need evidence. Look, this pharmacy thing may be totally unrelated. In fact, it probably is, but I just thought you should know in case it was him. We have nothing we can use. Take the bloody shoeprint at your place. Until we have a shoe to compare it to, it hardly counts. And he left no fingerprints.”
    Jack interrupted him. “But what about the photo in the paper, and the canoe? Gladys ID’d him.”
    “True. But one photo and a statement don’t give us much except confirmation that he’s been around.”
    “Courtney and I have both seen him. Hell, I even bumped into him.”
    “True, but there’s no crime in any of that.”
    “What about the bug?”
    “That could be important but only if we can tie it to him.”
    “Come on, Tom. You know he planted it. We know he’s after that CD. We know that he killed Daniel. What more do you need?”
    “Jack, we need evidence! We need hard evidence, and until we can find him and talk to him, we really have nothing.”
    Jack thought about this for a minute. “The pharmacy. Remember that Cat left a claw in