“If he was a bad fisherman, he wouldn’t need that boat anymore.”
“But what would motivate a fisherman to take a large sum like that?”The ones he had met were prideful people.It wouldn’t matter how much money someone was offering them, they likely wouldn’t take it.
“Maybe he saw Miles do something and bribed him to stay quiet?”Mac suggested.“But saw him do what?Bottom trawling?Or perhaps Miles hired him to do it.But still, why get rid of the sharks in the cove?To what end?What would getting rid of sharks do?”she continued theorizing, more to herself but speaking out loud.She really did have a detective brain.It was what made her a great researcher, questioning things and working out possible reasons.
“Maybe tourists?People would feel safer in non-shark-infested waters.”
Mac rolled her eyes at the suggestion.“I don’t think it has anything to do with that.Besides, his hotel won’t stay erected long enough to host guests.Plus, there is no easy access to the beach from the hotel.You’d have to go to town.If anything, it hurts this area rather than improve it.”
“How so?”
“The ecosystem.Sharks are vital to it.As apex predators, they keep the species below them in check.They prevent species from overpopulating in some areas.They stop the spread of disease amongst fish and other species.If sharks left, other species would move in and take over.Disease would spread amongst them and pollute the oceans.It would hurt fish markets and fishermen trading.”
“So that takes out that option.And leaves only one other.”
“And what’s that?”
“Maybe it’s all about fishing, and sharks are just a side effect.”Mac stared at him with a blank expression.“Fishing is a lucrative business, especially if you catch enough.You can sell to restaurants and hotel chains.Fishermen in the area have been complaining of a decline, even on the north side, forcing them to move on to other waters.”Barry stopped in his pacing to face Mac.“What if he’s controlling the fishing waters?Forcing the competition out so he has sole jurisdiction.He starts on the southeast side which he owns and overfishes it—”
“The sharks won’t come,” Mac finished for him.“So, their disappearance isn’t necessarily him hunting them, but forcing them out of their migration path, forcing them to look for food elsewhere.”
“The shark you found today, was that the only one?”
“No, I actually found quite a few.”Her face tilted up into a smile.“We went further to the west into deeper waters.I was cage-diving, and they were all around me.”
Her face turned into a full grin as if the thought were wonderful when it sounded terrifying to him, being surrounded by sharks with only a metal cage kept their sharp teeth from ripping you apart.
“So, they did move on.”
“Deeper waters, but yeah.They are still somewhat close.”
“There’s only one way to prove it though, and end it, so the sharks can come back.”
“And how’s that?”Mac asked, looking eager to finish solving the case.
“Follow Miles’s money.If he paid someone a million dollars to keep silent, he could be paying off people to overfish.”
“Or this fisherman just took the money and ran.His death could have been to set an example to not double-cross him.”
There was that possibility too.“Anything is possible.Miles would have to be taking out large sums of money to pay these people, and he would be getting a large paycheck back too.There’s also the invoice for the million dollars.”
“Shouldn’t that be proof, the invoice?”
“To paying off one person, but who knows how many are involved?His bank records would have all of the information I need.”
“And how are you going to get a hold of his bank accounts?That thing has to be protected like Fort Knox.Millionaires go out of their way to protect their financial information and have people monitor it.”
Good conundrum, one he didn’t have a solution for—yet.“I don’t know.I have to get close to him or get on his actual computers.I’ve tried everything remote, but he has so many firewalls.”
“So do that download thing you did with the secretary Angie?”
Barry knew Mac was purposely mispronouncing Annabelle’s name due to her jealousy.Though she had nothing to be jealous about.The woman didn’t hold a candle to Mac.No woman did.Not even Emma.
There was a fire in Mac he had never seen in another woman, not even the doc.Emma was always calm and serene.Mac was like a tiger in the jungle.Sweet and relaxed, but one false move, and you were dead.
That thought might deter other men, but not him.He liked that about her.He didn’t like a ‘yes’ woman who just went along with everything.Mac wasn’t afraid to show her emotions or tell him what she was thinking.
She would be a woman who would lead instead of follow.That was the kind of woman he was looking for in a partner.Not that he had plans with Mac beyond the next few days.He was saying just in general; Mac was the kind of woman he could see a future with.Someone who would challenge him.
