Read Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals for Free Online Page A

like a raptor. Well, I saw him, or at least someone like him, in the park the day we were having our picnic. Courtney had already noticed a guy like that in town, and then again last night out behind Ben’s. I never made any connection, but now with you seeing Daniel, maybe …” He paused. He had barely heard the words he was saying. It was as if his subconscious was channeling through him and he had no control over his words.
    “Stop. Jack. What are you talking about?” Max’s voice broke the spell.
    Courtney chimed in. “Jack, that’s a real leap you’re making. I only saw him briefly. He was probably just some schmuck who was having a bad day. And the guy last night, I can’t be sure.”
    Jack continued his monologue. “No, I don’t think so. Not now. I know what I saw in the park. I saw those eyes. I’m sure it was him. Why else would he be hanging around? I didn’t say anything when I first saw him because I hadn’t made the connections, but now it’s different. Max, you say you saw Daniel. Court and I have seen the same creepy guy. Throw in all of those hang-up calls you’ve been getting at the bar―well, it all makes sense.” His voice tailed off.
    When Max finally spoke, there was an edge to her voice. Her eyes darkened, and the look she gave him seemed to bore right through him.
    “Why didn’t you ever tell me about seeing him?” She looked back and forth between them.
    Jack spoke for both of them. “I don’t know. It didn’t seem necessary. I didn’t want to worry you. We each only got brief glimpses of him, and it took us this long to make the connection, if there even is a connection. This is all speculation, remember.”
    “You bastard,” she spit the words at him, then looked at Courtney as if to say something, but didn’t, instead she just shook her head in disgust, then returned her attention to Jack.
    “Max, there may be a bigger problem,” he said softly, not answering her question.
    “What?” she said sharply.
    Courtney remained silent.
    “Look, before he was just some creepy looking guy Court and I had seen. We didn’t give it a whole lot of thought. Now with you seeing Daniel, it’s different, and besides, I didn’t want to upset you, you know how you get.” As soon as he uttered these words he regretted them.
    “No Jack. I don’t. How do I get?”
    “Max, come on. You know you get all conspiracy theory with things like this and your imagination goes wild.”
    “And you’re not!...You both suck.” Max glared at Jack, then Courtney, and back at Jack. Her silence said more than any words could express.
    Courtney, trying to recover, spoke first. “Max, come on. You know how busy we’ve been and we really haven’t had much time to talk lately. It just didn’t seem all that important. Maybe I should have told you, but now, with you thinking that you saw Daniel, I maybe wish I had.”
    Max said nothing. She just glowered.
    As their conversation chilled, so did the air, which now felt foreboding despite the blue sky and bright sun. The sea breeze was in full effect blowing in off the water, and the sound of the surf seemed amplified.
    Max pulled her arms in close, in effect hugging herself as her arms covered with goose bumps. Courtney stood. “I’m getting cold. Anyone want to join me inside?”
    Max shook her head from side to side while continuing to stare at Jack. “No.” “You want a sweatshirt?”
    Max shook her head again.
    “Fine. Be that way.” Courtney went in, leaving Max and Jack out on the porch shivering throughout their staring match.
    “Were you going to tell me?” Max spoke first.
    “I would have.”
    “I thought you were the one person who I could go to. The one person I could trust totally. I come to you with this and first you belittle me, then I find you’ve been keeping things from me. Jack Beale, you are a son of a bitch!”
    “Max …”
    She turned her back to him. He thought he heard a sniffle. Then she wiped her face with her