Read Stormcatcher for Free Online

engine and the boat began to move away from the quay.
    Wynne went to join Simon at the helm. “Where do you want to search first?” she asked as the shoreline disappeared. Gulls cawed over their heads, and the dull roar of the engine mingled with the sound of the wind and waves. The odor of oil and fuel drifted to her nose.
    Simon whipped the wheel to the right and the boat veered. “Right about here,” he said. “Jerry filed a trip itinerary in this direction.”
    “I would have thought you already looked here then,” Wynne said.
    “I did, but I didn’t look under the water. I thought he might be out here floating around and enjoying himself. I never saw any trace of the Superior Lady .”
    He moved to his equipment and began to fiddle with the controls. Joe slid into the seat at the panel. A beep began to sound as the sonar started to search below the surface of the water.
    Joe stared at the screen. “Let’s troll this meridian first.” His finger jabbed at the screen.
    “I can do that.” She scrambled into the seat Simon had vacated. Watching her speed, she pressed the throttle and the boat began to move slowly through the water.
    By three o’clock, they’d found nothing that showed up on the screen as more than rocks and boulders under the waves. Wynne knew they had a slim chance of finding Superior Lady . And it was going to be a long, hard time of it if Simon didn’t speak. He’d sat beside her all afternoon and barely uttered a word.
    The only sound had been that of the other two men talking in low tones out on the deck. She was tired of his attitude. What had she done?
    She cut the engine, and his head jerked around. “Why are you stopping?”
    “Look, if you want my help, you’re going to have to talk to me. It makes too long a day to stare at the water and say nothing. I might as well be out here alone for all the company you’ve been.”
    His lips tightened. “It’s not like we’re best friends.”
    “True. But I’m not your enemy. We’re on the same team. We might as well be friendly.”
    “I’m not good at small talk,” Simon said as he stared back at the screen.
    “I’m not talking about small talk. Tell me what you’re seeing, talk about how you got interested in the Viking search and where you’ve looked. It will help pass the time.”
    “Maybe tomorrow.”
    “You want to talk about what happened at the morgue?”
    Pain darkened his eyes. “The sheriff thinks I did it. I’m sure if we find the boat, we’ll be ordered not to disturb it.”
    “Oh, surely not, Simon.” Wynne couldn’t imagine Simon in a rage. He’d been morose today, but not dangerous.
    He shrugged. “I’ve been warned not to leave the island. Rooney is on a witch hunt, and I’m the one he has in mind for the stake.”
    “Why would he think that? Just because Amanda ran off with Jerry?”
    “Pretty good motive, don’t you think?”
    “Did you suspect there was anything going on between them before they disappeared?”
    He hesitated and looked away. “No.”
    She had a feeling he wasn’t telling her the truth, and a feeling of disquiet swept over her. She pushed it away. Max considered Simon his best friend. He stoutly defended him. She was probably probing too hard.
    “Why were you so sure then that Amanda was with Jerry?”
    He shrugged. “Someone saw her board the boat with a suitcase.”
    “Do you have any idea where they were heading?”
    He shook his head. “As far as I knew, Jerry was just going out for a few hours to test the Superior Lady . Amanda and I had planned to meet to discuss…things. When she was nowhere to be found, I asked around and discovered she’d gone off with Jerry.”
    He stated the words impassively. Wynne wondered how deeply he’d felt his fiancée’s defection. “Let’s see if we can figure out who might have wanted to harm either of them.”
    “Other than me, you mean?” His jaw tightened.
    “Did Jerry have any enemies?”
    “I’ve been wracking my