I figured he’d been like this for 6 to 12 hours, but Brenda would make a determination. He wasn't totally ripe yet, but that fishy smell of death lingered.
I placed him in his mid-30s, but he had a boyish look to his face. His shaggy, sandy-blond hair hung in curls past his ears.
The boat pitched and rolled with the swells.
The sheriff just frowned and shook his head. "Dietrich, get down here and take some photos."
He joined the party and started snapping away. Camera flashes bounced off the bulkheads.
I glanced around, taking an inventory of the scene, then climbed back into the cockpit to question the woman. I flashed my badge and made introductions.
"When did you find him?”
“This morning,” Lacey said. “I’d been trying to get in touch with him last night. But sometimes cell service can be spotty out here, and he moves around a lot. He’d been anchoring here for the last week or so.”
"What's your relationship with the deceased?" I asked.
Lacey shrugged. "I don't know. I guess he's my boyfriend.Wasmy boyfriend." Her eyes filled again. "I mean, we've kind of been off and on lately."
"What's his name?"
"Wes. Wesley Oliver.”
"How long had he been using?"
Lacey shrugged. "I'm not really sure. That's kind of how we met.”
I gave her a curious look.
"I got clean. I told him I couldn't be around him if he was still doing that stuff. He went into rehab. Sobered up. He'd been clean for a few weeks. I told him we'd ease back into our relationship." Her eyes filled. "I really did love him. I thought…”
She choked up and couldn't finish.
"You know where he got the stuff?"
Lacey shook her head.
"I'm sure you know who his dealer was before he went into rehab.”
She nodded but didn't say anything.
"I need a name."
Lacey bit her bottom lip and thought about it for a moment. "Tad. But you can't tell him I gave you his name."
"Does Tad have a last name?”
After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Vickers.”
"When was the last time you saw Wes?" I asked.
"A couple of days ago. Like I said, we were taking it slow.”
"You know if he saw anyone else yesterday?"
"I don't know. I talked to him in the morning." Her eyes filled, and her throat tightened again. "We were supposed to spend the day together today." She sobbed for a moment. "Something must have happened to set him off. Last time I talked to him, he sounded so optimistic. He talked about all his plans. How he wanted to make everything right. Start over."
I gave a sympathetic frown. "Did he have a job?”
