She changed direction and walked toward him. “Detective Yamada?”
He met her gaze, a neutral cop expression on his face. “Detective Jensen.”
“Yes.” She held out her hand and he took it.
“A pleasure to meet you. Sorry it is under such tough circumstances.”
“What is the plan today? There’s hardly any wind.”
He nodded. “The helicopter is on the way. Also, two Jet Skis.” He pointed and she and saw a couple of men farther down the beach dragging two Jet Skis down to the water.
He looked over her shoulder, and she turned to see her father and Stan coming toward them. “I’m going to go out in a kayak.”
“You won’t be able to go as far out as the Jet Skis as they follow the current, but please, paddle out if you wish.”
Dad and Stan joined them. Stan reached out and grasped Yamada’s hand with both of his. “Thanks for coming back out, Detective.”
Lainie left them to talk and went to the kiosk to rent her kayak. While the attendant was unlocking a boat, her father caught up with her. When she turned to face him, she noticed that Yamada was now on the phone as Stan trudged off down the beach.
“Lainie, can I have a word?” Her father was not happy.
“About what?”
“Don’t you think you’re being a little too hard on Stan?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you tell Detective Yamada you thought Stan was lying about the shark attack?”
Lainie stared at her dad. “I just asked if he was sure Stan was telling the truth.”
Dad shook his head. “Evie is his wife. The mother of his children. He’s devastated. You accused him of letting her die.”
“I didn’t—I... ah.” Her heart pounded in her chest. Raw emotion erupted to the surface. “Dad, it’s so suspicious. How could he swim off, get out of the water, and leave her to die?”
Dad leaned close. “We’re all in shock. We’re all hurting. There’s nothing here that says it’s Stan’s fault. Lashing out at him won’t bring Evie back. Please be a little more sensitive.”
Lainie turned away, squeezing her eyes shut as tears threatened. “I hate this. All of it. Most of all I hate thinking of Evie in the past tense.”
Her father pulled her into a tight hug. “Me too, baby, me too,” he whispered, emotion clear in his voice. “All I’m asking is that you don’t take it out on Stan. Try to be a little less police officer and a little more sister.”
All Lainie could do was nod and swallow back tears as she stepped away.
“Renting a kayak?” he asked.
“Yeah, I need to do something.”
“Want company?”
Lainie shook her head. “I need to do this on my own.”
He threw his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Okay.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I’ll hang out with Stan.”
The kiosk operator explained the boundaries—basically Lainie was not to take the kayak beyond the bay. Lainie only half listened. She pushed the kayak into the water and hopped in.
CHAPTER 10
The longer someone was missing, the less chance that they would be found alive.
