Romance on the Edge 01 - Hooked

windows. “If you haven’t noticed, it’s miserable out there. We, including Aidan and Lana, were taking a break from the weather. Warming up with a game of cards and having mug-up.”
    “How much do you know about Earl Harte?”
    The swift change in subject knocked Sonya off course. “He’s cranky, mean, and not a nice guy. Why?”
    “Were you aware that your mother took out a restraining order against him?”
    “My…mother?” Where was Garrett headed? She felt like he was leading her through a fogbank. “No.” Her brow furrowed. Why hadn’t anyone told her about this before? “When?”
    “Before your parents married. From what we could tell, your mother dated both Earl and your father the summer she was employed as a cannery worker for Trident. Your dad won out, but Earl wasn’t willing to let her go.”
    “Yeah, but that was…Thirty some odd years ago.” Who holds onto a grudge that long?
    “The Harte brothers have also spent many a night in jail for criminal mischief, drunk and disorderly, domestic assault, and the list goes on,” Judd added, reading from his notes.
    “Is this all you have?” Another big wave hit the boat, and she grabbed the edges of her chair. A sloshing sound echoed and distracted her until Garrett’s next words interrupted her speculation.
    “There’s more. We received the preliminary report back from the medical examiner in Anchorage. Kendrick’s cause of death is being ruled as a homicide. You were right. He’d been in the mud for a time. They found traces of it in his lungs. His blood alcohol level was over the legal limit. He probably never knew what hit him.”
    “Also,” Judd added, “with his blood alcohol level so high, he probably didn’t have a lot of fight in him.”
    “Meaning, anyone, including me, could have easily gaffed and helped him overboard,” Sonya said.
    “The gaff stab wouldn’t have killed him,” Garrett revealed. “The incoming tide, mixed with the alcohol, did. Drunk as he was, the man was beyond helping himself. I’m thinking now the person who attacked Kendrick hadn’t planned on killing him. Chances are Kendrick never knew who stabbed him. The attacker probably figured that when Kendrick pulled himself back onboard his boat, and found your sunglasses, he would have retaliated. Not many fishermen have jeweled dragonflies on the frames of their sunglasses. We know you didn’t do it, Sonya.”
    “Yeah, but until you find the real person, I’m all you’ve got.”
    “Not with me as your alibi,” Garrett said, iron in his voice.
    “There is more than one way to be prosecuted, Garrett.” Sonya cocked an ear as that same strange sloshing repeated when the boat rocked again with the waves. It sounded like it was coming from below deck. That couldn’t be right unless—
    She was taking on water.

C HAPTER T HIRTY- T HREE
    Garrett paused in what he’d been about to say as Sonya suddenly went whiter than the condensation clouding the inside of her windows, and jumped to her feet.
    “Out of my way.” She pushed passed him, out into the rain, and slid down the steps to the deck. Garrett and Judd followed in time to see her lug off the metal manhole cover to the engine compartment.
    Sonya swore, but it sounded more like a desperate prayer. She stood, turned, and tried to push through him and Judd again, but Garrett caught her in his arms, the rain making his hold slippery. “What’s going on, Sonya?”
    “We’re sinking.” The shock of her words lessened his hold, and she slipped through, running for the pilot house.
    Garrett turned to look down into the hold. Sure enough, water was filling the compartment. After a few cranks of the engine, Sonya got it started. She leaned through the window and hollered, “Garrett, grab that hose. Yes, there, wrapped around the hook. Submerge that end into the water while I turn on the pump.” She engaged the pump, and water began spraying out of the other end of the hose into the ocean.
    “What’s going on over there?” Skip shouted from the Calypso .
    “The Double Dippin’s taking on water.”
    “How bad is it? Do I need to untie?”
    “Don’t know yet,” Garrett returned. “Hang tight. We’ll keep you posted.”
    Sonya leaned back out the window. “Judd, get up here.”
    Judd looked to Garrett. “Who’s in charge here?”
    “She’s the captain. Now get your butt up there and see what she needs.”
    Judd grumbled about the messed up chain of command, but made his way