Penelope intercepted her. “Are you all right?”
Gretchen jumped and huffed, breathing heavily, her eyes damp, muscles tense. “Shit, I didn’t see you there, Penelope.” She exhaled and then smiled. “I’m fine.”
Penelope nodded back towards the kitchen, but the man was gone. “Was he giving you trouble?”
Gretchen paled but shrugged. “Just a guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer. It’s fine. Let’s get back to the others.” She walked away.
Penelope scanned the restaurant, but she couldn’t see the man anywhere. She frowned. She’d keep an eye on Gretchen, make sure she had a lift home.
***
Sam had all the gear packed and ready to go on the rubber tender by the time Brandon arrived. He took Brandon straight through the house and out the back door to where the tender was tied up to his jetty.
“What did you tell Amy?” Sam asked.
“I told them I was staying the night here and helping you on the boat tomorrow.”
Sam raised his eyebrows. “Amy wasn’t suspicious?”
Brandon winced. “She told me to be careful.”
So no, they hadn’t fooled her. At least she hadn’t tried to stop them.
He motored out through the canals into the gulf. They’d jagged a still night, so he accelerated across the water, the purr of the engine too loud for conversation.
When they eventually arrived at the island, the wind was causing the moon’s light to ripple across the water and in the distance, clouds were incoming. Sam bumped his way around the reef, doing a wide lap of the island with all lights onboard turned off. On the northern side, they hit the jackpot. The large luxury boat Penelope had stopped was anchored close to the shore and there was a small dinghy on the beach.
Brandon brought the night vision goggles to his eyes while Sam cut the engine.
“No movement,” Brandon reported.
Someone might still be on board, but all the lights were out. “Boat or island?” Sam asked.
“Island’s going to give us the best chance of catching them in the act,” Brandon said.
Sam turned the tender around and returned to the location he’d gone to with Penelope the other day after their initial run in with the men.
Brandon anchored them while Sam grabbed his backpack. They’d passed only a couple of boats on the trip and no other lights shone on the water or land to signal people were around. He put on the night vision goggles and scanned the area, checking for something they might have missed in the dark.
“Anything?” Brandon asked.
“Not yet.”
They moved together, years of practice making each of their roles second nature. The island was long but not overly wide and it didn’t take them long to reach the centre. From there, they turned north, looking for traces of whoever was on the boat.
After only a few minutes, they spotted the torches. Three lights, all pointing towards whatever it was they were doing. Sam scanned the surrounding area to ensure no one else was around. Light wind tickled the grasses, but no heat signatures showed.
Brandon got out his camera and they moved closer, coming from downwind. The incoming clouds had obscured the moon, making it dark and whoever was there wouldn’t have great night vision because of the lights, so they moved as close as they dared, before crawling the remaining distance. Murray and Grant were digging a hole and nearby the grass was burnt. Must be where Penelope had found the disturbed earth. Either they didn’t know the police had found it, or they were burying something else.
Sam guessed the former, which gave him hope there wasn’t a spy in the local police force.
Neither man worried about keeping his voice low.
Murray stopped digging and leaned against his shovel. “This is a stupid idea. What if the police come back for more evidence?”
“Boss doesn’t think they will. They got everything the other day.” Grant wiped sweat off his brow and then continued to dig.
So they knew the police had found it. That was interesting.
