Board Stiff: A Dead-End Job Mystery by Elaine Viets Read Free Book Online Page B

then the blue heelers,” he said.
    “The what?” Phil asked.
    “The ambulance and the cops—the police. Something happen?”
    “A woman fell off her board and was taken to the hospital,” Phil said.
    After an awkward silence, the blond Aussie said, “Hey, it’s beer o’clock. We should get out of the bloody hot sun and into a cold beer.”
    “We like beer,” said the tall office worker in the yellow bikini.
    “Is the woman going to be okay?” Ms. Pink Bikini asked.
    “We hope so,” Phil said. “How was your mental health day?”
    “We’re still crazy,” Ms. Yellow Bikini said, “but now we’re thirsty. We’re going to decide whether the USA or Australia makes better beer.”
    “An important step toward better international relations,” said the blond Aussie solemnly. The group left together, laughing.
    “We can go when we find the last three boards,” Phil told Helen.
    Daniel and Sunny Jim’s boards were still on the beach, next to their paddles. Helen and Phil carried them back. Ceci’s board wasn’t floating near the pier.
    They walked along the beach. The board and paddle had washed up a quarter mile south, sandy but undamaged. There was no sign of the missing life jacket.
    Phil brushed the sand off the board. “I’ll get it,” Helen said.
    “Let me,” he said. “You carry the paddle.”
    Helen found it hard to trudge through the trash-littered sand on this part of the beach.
    “I’m dreading the hospital,” she said.
    “Me, too,” Phil said. “I don’t think we’re going to get good news.”
    At last they reached Sunny Jim’s. Helen helped Phil lean the sandy boards and paddles against the trailer. “I’ll hose these down and lock up,” he said. “We’ll take Ceci’s stuff to Daniel at the hospital.”
    “Let me turn in my beach lounge,” Helen said. “I should take Daniel’s back, too.”
    Helen dropped both lounges at the rental kiosk. Then she gathered Daniel’s book, sunscreen and rolled-up towel. When she grabbed the towel, a white card slipped out. She picked it up off the sand.
    “Riggs Pier Bait Shop,” the card read. “On beautiful Riggs Pier. No fishing license required on the pier.”
    The card had tide tables for May 2013, with high-tide dates and times and strong-tide warnings. One warning was for ten twenty-six a.m. today. The time was circled.
    That was when Ceci went paddleboarding. Alone.

CHAPTER 7
    “C eci’s dead,” Helen said to Phil.
    Sunny Jim didn’t have to tell them. Helen knew by looking at him.
    He sat alone in the ER waiting room at Riggs Beach General, isolated by an almost visible cloud of shock and sorrow. The room’s fluorescent lights gave his tanned skin a greenish tinge—unless the news of Ceci’s death had caused that color. The TV blared overhead, but Jim stared at nothing. He clutched his chair’s wooden arms as if he needed to cling to them to save himself.
    Helen and Phil sat on either side of him.
    “Jim,” Phil said. “Are you okay?”
    “No.” Jim’s voice was as flat and colorless as the tile floor. “Ceci’s dead. The doctors couldn’t revive her. The ER doctor said it was a blessing because she would have been brain damaged. A blessing? She’s dead! Why do people say stuff like that?”
    “I guess they assume she’d want a full life,” Helen said.
    Jim slammed one callused fist on the chair. “She’s dead and it’s all my fault.”
    “Quiet,” Phil said. “Ceci’s death isn’t your fault. If you have to blame someone, it’s Ceci. She insisted on going into the ocean after one lesson. You told her the wind was dangerous and she dismissed your warning. She went paddling in a forbidden area—where you told her not to go.”
    “Her husband should share that responsibility,” Helen said. “He said the life jacket made her look fat and she took it off. Where is Daniel, by the way?”
    Jim nodded at the oak double doors marked EMERGENCYROOM — NOADMITTANCE.
    “Inside there,” Jim said.