Rip Tide (A Ripple Effect Cozy Mystery, Book 2) by Jeanne Glidewell Read Free Book Online Page A

Milo probably felt some degree of responsibility for our welfare, too. Or at least one would hope so.
    In a trembling voice, Milo said, "I'm going to put the boat on the lift at our dock so I can head back out as soon as I'm able in the morning. I usually keep it there until I need to take on   fuel, which we did this morning. But just to be safe I should probably top off the tank before going out tomorrow, anyway."
    "I'll go with you in the morning, son," Rip volunteered. "If you haven't got the funds right now, I'll cover the fuel. Again."
    I'm not sure if Milo noticed the faint hint of sarcasm in Rip's final word, but I did. After Milo had trimmed down the motor and thrust the throttle forward, the boat came up on plane in a split second. I looked to my left to judge the amount of daylight remaining in the sky and saw a ray of sunshine glint off a speck of red floating on top of the water two or three hundred yards away from us. I quickly tapped Milo and pointed in that direction. He swallowed hard, nodded, and sped full throttle toward the object.
    Milo's face paled more and more the closer we got to what even I could now identify as a body. He nearly fainted when it became apparent it was the body of Cooper Claypool. He explained to us. "I recognize his red inflatable life belt because I have an identical one. We both always wear a safety belt when we go spear-fishing, in case we find ourselves in trouble underwater. They have a manual CO2 inflation system. But it looks to me as if there's something embedded in his chest. Perhaps that's a good sign."
    "And just how could that ever be a good sign?" Rip asked.
    "Well, I wasn't referring to the 'something embedded in his chest' part. I just thought he may have passed out and was still aware enough to inflate his life belt when he started feeling faint. He could just be unconscious, maybe stayed out in the sun too long. I know too much sun exposure makes me light-headed sometimes."
    It was apparent to both Rip and me that Milo's rationalization was more wishful thinking than a realistic probability. Milo was trying hard to convince himself that Cooper Claypool was still alive as he navigated the boat toward his bobbing buddy. I'm pretty sure all three of us already knew mere unconsciousness wasn't the case. And that fact became blatantly obvious when we drew up beside the body, which was encased in a scuba diving wet suit. Cooper was floating face up, and he did indeed have something protruding from his chest. It was a spear, as if another spear-fisherman had mistaken him for a large grouper.
    There appeared to be a dark greenish bruise on the man's left cheek that contrasted with his pale, blue-tinted face. His eyes were open and his cornea had a cloudy, opaque appearance that I found extremely creepy. I had to look away when bile rose in my throat.
    "Oh, my God!" Milo cried out. "Coop's been shot with a spear-gun. His own, most likely. How could this happen? Who would do such a cruel thing to him? I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that to another person, much less a guy like Cooper."
    "What makes you automatically assume the spear was fired from Cooper's own gun?" Rip asked, after he and Milo had hoisted the body aboard the boat. He was already in detective mode, accessing Cooper's body for evidence. "That would indicate his assailant had been close enough to Cooper to gain control of his spear-gun."
    "Yeah, I guess you're right. Coop and me, as well as another fishing buddy, Pinto, all bought new spear-guns at a hunting and fishing expo in Corpus a few months ago. The only difference was that Pinto and I bought top of the line pneumatic models with reels and a lot of power. But Cooper told us he was a bit short on funds, and he bought a cheaper model with only a nineteen-inch barrel. It does have strong bands, but is very hard to load."
    "How do you load a spear-gun?" Rip asked curiously.
    "You hold the butt of the gun up against your chest. I use a chest