Black Tide Rising Read Free Page A

answers there either.
    â€œShe says she does.” Jens’s voice, when he finally answered, was still soft. Remote. Unsure. Whatever else might be going on, Dan figured the man was genuinely worried.
    Mary brought the coffee over and sat down again. “Drink your coffee, Jens. Then we’ll go down to your house. Maybe she’s come home and is wondering where you are.”
    She pushed a cup toward him, and when he didn’t respond, she took his hands and wrapped them around it, urging him to drink. He gave her a wan smile, but didn’t look any happier.
    They didn’t have far to walk. The assistant’s house was just steps away, across a cement pad that connected both houses to the light itself. The whole place looked like a postcard. The square wooden houses, both painted white below red metal roofs. The matching light tower, topped by a red housing for the constantly turning lens. The blue ocean beyond, stretching out to the distant horizon, and, to the east, the perfect curve of the cove itself, with its fringe of golden sand.
    It looked idyllic, but Dan figured the reality would undoubtedly be something different. Living on a remote island on the edge of the Pacific would not be for everyone. Maybe Margrethe had simply decided she couldn’t take the isolation anymore. But she couldn’t simply walk away. She would have needed a boat—and Jens said she hated boats.
    The inside of the house was much like the one they had just left: simple but functional. There were only five rooms including the bathroom, each with minimal furniture, but clean and neat and obviously cared for. It took the four of them less than a minute to determine that Margrethe had not returned, but that was long enough for Dan to take in the disturbed bed, the clothes hanging neatly in the closet, the hairbrush and makeup bag sitting on the vanity, and the cups that had been rinsed and placed beside the sink to drain. If Jens’s wife had decided to walk away, she might have left her clothes—probably would have—and she might even have rinsed out the cups before she left, but Dan didn’t know any woman who would leave her hairbrush and makeup behind.
    â€œIs there anything missing, Jens? A jacket, maybe? Boots?”
    Jens looked at him for a moment, a kaleidoscope of emotions flashing across his face, and then he turned, walked back to the doorway, and opened a closet. He stared into it for a minute, then turned back.
    â€œYes. Both.”
    So it looked like Margrethe had left the house voluntarily sometime in the early morning, but had planned to return.
    â€œWhen did you notice she was gone?”
    Dan realized he had taken over all the questioning, and it seemed Gene and Mary were happy to let him do it. Maybe he still wore that cop persona people talked about, even after a couple of years away. Something to think about. He didn’t know if he liked the idea. He didn’t feel like a cop anymore, although there were still times when he missed the job.
    â€œI was working down in the generator shed most of the night,” Jens replied. “I came up here around seven this morning and made myself a cup of tea. I don’t know what time I went to the bedroom. Maybe seven thirty, maybe eight. But she wasn’t there.”
    Jens’s voice wavered. He was near tears, maybe near collapse. Mary went over to him and put her arm around his shoulders.
    â€œCome on, Jens. We’ll find her. Come on back up to the house and I’ll make you some breakfast. Gene and Dan can go down to the cove and see if she’s there.”
    She cast a meaningful look at Dan and Gene as she nudged the distraught man past them. They were almost out the door when Dan thought of another question.
    â€œDid you pull the bedding down, or was it like that when you went in this morning?”
    Jens turned and stared at him. “I didn’t touch it. I guess it was like that.” He frowned.