It seemed he was reluctant to follow her, and she didn’t care.
He caught up and stood close to her, pointing to the right. “We were swimming over there. There’s coral and it’s shallow.”
“Where did you lose sight of her?”
“She kept swimming to the right. I went toward the left because I saw a turtle. When I looked up to tell her, she was gone.”
“What did you do?”
“I, uh, I searched, and I couldn’t see her anywhere. I swam in, thinking maybe she got out of the water.”
“Then what?”
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. If he were a suspect, Lainie would say that he took too long to answer. Was it grief? It was so hard to read him clearly.
“A woman on the beach screamed that she’d seen a shark. I walked along the sand, that way.” He pointed to where the beach continued to curve around and then gave way to a trail along the water.
“I didn’t see her. I thought I saw blood. Then I found the bit of snorkel and her mask...” His voice trailed off.
Lainie stared at him. Anger swelled up. She simply didn’t believe his story. Was it just that she didn’t like Stan, or were her instincts spot-on? Hands flexing and unflexing, she worked to control her anger.
“When did you call the police?”
“What?”
“How long before you called for help?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. I, uh, I wanted to be sure. I mean, Evie loves the water. She could have been anywhere.”
“Why didn’t you stay close to her?”
His face flushed. “You know your sister. She went her own way. What was I supposed to do, put a leash on her?”
Lainie lost it. She raised both hands and shoved him as hard as she could in the shoulders, pushing so hard he almost stumbled and landed on his backside. “You were supposed to take care of your wife. How dare you blame Evie.”
Fury flashed in his eyes. Lainie saw a hardness there she’d never seen before. Where did the pain and grief go?
“You weren’t here, were you? I did everything I could.”
“I don’t believe you. What was the name of the police officer who responded?”
He looked away. “I don’t know the officer’s name, but there was a Detective Yamada. He’ll be back if the wind calms down. I have his card back at the hotel.”
“I want it.”
“Fine.” He was petulant now.
With the wind whipping her hair, Lainie turned back and stared at the choppy water.
Evie, Evie, what happened?
A lump formed in her throat, and she swallowed hard. “All right, let’s go back.”
She turned on her heel and started back to the hotel, not caring if Stan followed her or not.
CHAPTER 8
Lainie retrieved the card from Stan and called Detective Yamada as soon as she got to her room. Yeah, it was Sunday, but Stan said that the detective would be back if the wind calmed down. He could still be on duty. In her experience, most detectives were available when they were needed. His voicemail answered, and she left a terse message.
