Cast in Stone by G. M. Ford Read Free Book Online Page A

I
smiled. He continued.
    "Then
their credit check came in. Golden, even without the Sundstroms, who
as you're probably aware could buy this whole damn marina and then
some. The kids had more than the boat was worth sitting in the bank,
which makes your tale of the missing money even more interesting."
    "It
was sitting in the bank when they leased?" "Seafirst.
Downtown branch." "What day was that?"
    "I
don't know offhand. But we can find out."
    I
rose with him as he pried his bulk from the bench. I'd been so
engrossed in our conversation that I hadn't noticed that Chipper was
standing thirty feet behind us, midway between the leasing office and
the bench, slapping a black, polished fish billy into his palm.
    Richmond
sighed again. Chipper hopped from foot to foot.
    "Should
I call security, Dad? Or should we handle him ourselves?"
Richmond winced.
    "Get
the Sundstrom file. Make a copy of the lease agreement and of their
credit report and bring them out here," he growled. "And
put that thing back in my desk before I have Mr. Waterman here floss
your teeth with it."
    Chipper,
although visibly crestfallen, scurried to oblige.
    "And
you wonder why some species eat their young."
    "You
said she didn't want to hear about a crew."
    "Yeah.
Didn't seem to me the Sundstrom kid cared much one way or the other,
but the girl didn't want any part of it."
    "That
didn't set off any bells for you?"
    He
chuckled. "Now there, Waterman, just when I was beginning to
think you were a man of the world," he chided. "How many
married men you know are running their own lives?"
    I
thought it over.
    "Exactly
zero," I said.
    "Then
you see my point. If I refused to lease to every guy with a wife
jerking his chain, I'd still be renting rowboats and cutting herring
plugs."
    "Point
taken," I said. "What was she like?" He thought about
it. "Intense," he said after a while. "How so?"
    "Well,
you know, Mr. Waterman, we get quite a few folks who think the ocean
is just a big wet freeway, that they can just sail or motor up to
Alaska, putt around the icebergs drinking margaritas, and then putt
home in time for Letterman. The fact that you might have to know
something, or could very well get your ass killed, never occurs to
them. That's when I come down to the office and have a little talk
with them. I can almost always put the fear of God in them. By the
time I get through running down my list of possible disasters,
they're usually begging for a crew of six and beefed-up insurance
coverage. Not this one, though. She never blinked. Never budged an
inch. Just kept smiling at me and saying no thanks."
    "And
him?"
    "Just
the opposite. Wishy-washy. Sort of along for the ride. I didn't know
he was sick then, but it makes sense now."
    We
were interrupted by Chipper's reappearance. He handed the boss a
sheaf of papers, then stood behind the bench, rocking on the balls of
his feet, as Richmond handed them over to me.
    Richmond
started to speak and then stopped. He turned to Chipper.
    "Who's
minding the store?"
    "There's
nobody—"
    "Go
back inside."
    Reluctantly,
Chipper complied, walking backward, keeping us in view.
    "Thanks,"
I said, indicating the papers.
    "Same
stuff I gave the Coast Guard. You might as well have it too."
    "What
did the Coast Guard think?" I asked.
    "Hell,
she'd been on the bottom for an hour when they got there and down for
nearly forty-eight hours before they brought anything up. Between the
fire, the tides, and the crabs there wasn't a hell of a lot left
other than the engines. They've got what precious little they
recovered down at Pier 50, if you're interested."
    "Still,"
I repeated. "I'd like to thank you again on behalf of my clients
for your cooperation. Most folks would just have blown me off."
    "Don't
worry about it. Fucking lawyers just end up with the money anyway,"
he said. "If the Sundstroms wanted it, all they had to do was
ask. God knows I feel bad about their boy."
    "I
think Mr. Sundstrom did."
    "How
so?"
    I
told him of finding his