Death in Cold Water Read Free

He was whistling when he walked out of the skybox.”
    â€œThen why the concern? He probably didn’t feel like driving all the way back after his appointment. I assume he’d been drinking at the game and maybe had more later on. If so, he may have not wanted to be on the road. Probably checked into a hotel along the way.”
    â€œThat’s just it, Sheriff. He might not tell me where he was headed or who he was meeting if he was meeting someone, but at some point he’d let me know where he was.” Andrew paused. “My father is a cautious man. He knows he has the kind of money that makes him a target.”
    â€œFor what?”
    â€œWho knows? Whatever? Kidnapping. Extortion. This kind of thing is on the news all the time. And I’m guessing it happens more often than the public is told.”
    True enough, Cubiak thought.
    â€œHe didn’t want me to be snatched either. Some time back we agreed, or should I say he insisted, that we keep in touch, let each other know where we are. A call. A text. This is the first I’ve lost track of him.”
    â€œAnyone else you can check with? Your mother?”
    â€œMother died twenty years ago. And there is no one else. No girlfriends in case you’re wondering.”
    Andrew had touches of gray at the temples and the facial lines of a man well into middle age. “How old is your father?” Cubiak said.
    â€œHe’s eighty-two, but at his last physical his doctor said he had the body of a man ten years younger, and he’s sharp as a tack. No issues with dementia, if that’s what you’re implying.”
    â€œOther health problems?” Rowe said.
    â€œYou mean like a bad heart?” Andrew shook his head. “My father was an orphan. He never knew anything about his birth parents, but whoever they were, they had golden genes and they gave them all to him. Never sick a day in his life. He’s got a good ticker, low blood pressure, low cholesterol. The whole shebang.”
    Cubiak pulled a notebook from a kitchen drawer and slid it toward Andrew. “Write down whatever information you can about your father’s car. Model, color, year, license number if you know it. Rowe will call the state police and have them issue an APB, see if they can locate it anywhere. Meanwhile, I’ll go change and we’ll take you up to the house.” He dropped the blanket over the back of the chair. “Oh, and now that we know your name, Rowe can write you a ticket and you can pay your fine while I’m getting ready.”
    Andrew started to protest but Cubiak cut him off.
    â€œYou’re getting away easy on this. Don’t push your luck.”

DRIVING NORTH

    A few minutes before midnight the trio climbed into the sheriff ’s jeep and took off. Navigating the ebony interior of the peninsula on a network of narrow blacktop roads, they drove north to Ellison Bay. The cloud cover had thickened and erased the moon, leaving Door County awash in inky black. An occasional yard light blinked through the darkness and then faded from view as they rolled past sleeping farmsteads and acre after acre of orchards and fields that had given up their fruit and crops to the harvest of human hands and machines.
    The sheriff rode shotgun, cradling the thermos of tea Rowe had made for him. Earlier in the kitchen, Cubiak had finally shrugged off the chill from his plunge into the bay but he felt the residue cold creeping back, bone deep. He was grateful for the hot drink, and once again surprised by the deputy’s thoughtfulness.
    Andrew dozed in the back seat. When they were about halfway, he jerked awake and began to thrash around.
    â€œYou sure this is an unmarked car?” he said, leaning forward, his breath more rank than before.
    â€œYep.” Rowe’s response was clipped.
    â€œGood.” Andrew dropped away again, kicking the back of Cubiak’s seat as he crossed his legs and settled in.