JD and I both lifted intrigued brows.
“Is it here now?” I asked.
“Yeah. It’s the black sportbike over there,” he said, pointing.
“Did he keep a helmet here as well?”
Wade shook his head.
JD and I hustled to the parking lot, found the bike, and examined it. There was no helmet attached to it. None of the cameras at Abigail's apartment had captured video of thebike. It really didn't do us any good, but it was just another indicator that Ray might have been the killer.
I really didn't know what to make of the whole thing. It was just bizarre.
I called Denise and asked her to run background on Samantha Thomas. She tapped the keys and pulled up her info. She told me Samantha lived at 1217 Oakmont Court.
I called her, but it went to voicemail. I left a message and told her to call me back.
JD and I hopped into the van and headed across the island to find her. We banged on her door, but there was no answer.
My next call was to Jenna Keating. It had been 15 years, but I wanted to get her account of the attack. A lot of things can change in 15 years. Memories fade, details get fuzzy.
Again, my call went to voicemail. I didn't expect her to pick up a call from an unknown number. I left a voicemail and asked her to call me back as well. With any luck, I'd hear from the two ladies.
As we headed back to theAvventura, my phone buzzed with a call from an unknown number. I thought it might have been one of the two ladies calling me back. But it was someone I didn't expect.
28
"Imay take you up on your offer," Madelyn said when she called.
"Why the change of heart?" I asked.
"Oh, I don't know," she said in a casual voice. “Maybe because two assholes just tried to kill me."
"What happened?”
"I'm just sitting here, minding my own business, when these guys pulled up in a Go-Fast and opened fire. Shot my boat to shit.” Her voice dropped in and out from spotty cell service. “Of course, they messed with the wrong person. I shot back. I think I tagged one of the bastards."
I lifted an impressed eyebrow.
"That was enough incentive for them to take off. Cowards. Might want to keep a lookout at the local hospitals for anybody who turns up with a gunshot wound.”
"I'll notify the sheriff. Where are you now?”
"Well. You know how I don't much like discussing my location over an open channel, but… I'm at Angelfish Key right now. My boat is seaworthy, but I'm not sitting on that thing waiting to be another target. It's anchored in the bay.”
"You're on the island.”
"Yeah. And nobody's going to find me unless I want them to find me. So if the offer still stands, I would like you to come out here and find me.”
"Hang tight. We are on our way.”
"What's your ETA?”
"Less than an hour,” I said. "You want to stay on the line with me?"
"No. I'm running low on battery. Call me when you get here.”
“Can you describe the assailant’s boat?”
