Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

seriously either. After all, it’s all just a series of speculations and circumstances built upon what a dead man told you.”
    Jack interrupted, “I was thinking …”
    Before he could continue, Tom cut him off. “Jack, we just had this conversation a few hours ago. Nothing has changed.”
    “Come on, Tom.”
    “Jack, I’ll call you when I have something to tell you.” Tom said sharply. Then he softened his tone. “Right now, nothing has changed. Go. Take care of Max and let me do my job. We’ll find him.”
    They said goodbye and hung up. Jack’s good mood was somewhat dampened, but he was still looking forward to his evening on the boat with Max. First he’d go open up the boat, followed by a quick trip to get some appetizers and a bottle of wine. He was sure he could be back by six-thirty.
    * * *
    By late afternoon, their carnal appetites sated, Holly fell asleep on the bed. Kurt sat on the chair and watched her sleep. She wasn’t the youngest or most attractive indulgence he had ever experienced, but she was experienced, creative, and fearless.
    He looked down at his hand as it began to throb again. The antibiotics he had stolen along with the pain pills didn’t seem to be having much effect. The red streaks were darker and even more pronounced as they ran up his arm. He unwrapped the bandage and studied his swollen hand, thankful that it wasn’t the one he did all his creative work with. There was a little ice left in the small Styrofoam cooler they had bought, and a couple of beers remained. He got up and put his hand in the ice water in an attempt to make the swelling go down. While his hand soaked, he cracked a beer and downed it.
    When he felt he had iced his hand long enough, he dried it off and rewrapped it with a clean bandage. He glanced at his watch. It was time. He washed down several more pills with the last beer in the cooler and quietly began to gather his things, taking care to make sure that nothing remained that could identify him. He was just about finished when a sleepy voice startled him. “Hey, Sugar. You’re not gettin’ ready to leave me, are ya?”
    “No, Babe, I’m not. It’s okay. Go on back to sleep.” He barely looked at her, as he said this while he continued to pack up what little he had brought into the room. Then, almost as an afterthought, he picked up the handcuffs that she had used so creatively, and he took them as well.
    “Okay,” she said in that dreamy voice. Then she closed her eyes again, for the last time.

CHAPTER 94
    KURT DROVE NORTH on Route 1-A at quite a leisurely pace. The line of cars heading south over the bridge at the Hampton River was bumper to bumper with people leaving the beach. The northbound lane was not yet so crowded. He crossed the bridge slowly and drove into Hampton Beach proper. As he approached the center of the entertainment area, his progress was slowed to a crawl as all the sunburned day-trippers who lived to the north began their exodus home. Added to the mix were an equal number of cars cruzin’ the strip in search of some action.
    He took a deep breath and forced himself to be patient. Even though the pills and beer had deadened the pain in his hand, they had also increased his anxiety, and he could feel his heart racing. He kept replaying in his mind what he was going to do and how he was going to do it. He smiled at his cleverness. It wouldn’t be long before the disc would be his, Jack would be eliminated, and then he would indulge himself one more time, as he had with Holly.
    As slow as the line of cars was moving, progress was steady, and he kept telling himself that it would all be over soon. His boss would be happy and he could disappear back into the city.
    Even though his windows were rolled up and the a/c was on, he could still hear clearly the clanging of bells coming from the arcades beside the car, and the twittering and squeals of young girls as they jostled each other, alternately seeking and then avoiding attention from the boys in the cars that drove slowly up the strip. He thought back to his one night down here and how easy it had been to find what he had desired.
    As he finally got past that central entertainment zone, the road widened and speed increased slightly. To the right, in front of the beach, there were hundreds of parked motorcycles along with a large contingent of police. Even though he knew that there was no reason for anyone to pay attention to him, his anxiety increased. He was