The Inside Passage (Ted Higuera Series Book 1) by Pendelton Wallace Read Free Book Online Page A

Mahmoud picked up his paper again.
    “How can I not? They
affect me, they affect all of us. Maher was detained because his mother’s
cousin was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Ahmad waved the newspaper
at his father again. “They didn’t even prove it; they just threw him in prison
for a year.”
    “I’m sure there
was more to it than that.” Mahmoud flipped his paper open, signaling an end to
the discussion.
    “Sure there was.”
Ahmad ignored the signal. “They turned him over to the Syrian police. He’s a
Canadian citizen and the Americans flew him from New York back to Syria. They knew that the Syrians would torture him. Our beloved government just stood by
and watched.”
    “Things happen in
war time.” His father’s nose was now buried in the newspaper. “We have to give
up a little of our freedoms to ensure our security.”
    “How would you
like it if it was your freedom that they had taken? Something must be done to
stop this.” But his father was not paying any attention to him.
    At that moment
Ahmad knew he must join the fight. If good men like his father could sit idly
by while the world turned a deaf ear on these crimes, then he must do something
about it himself.
     
    ****
     
    Seattle
    Ted took a deep
breath and swung his legs into the lazarette. He dreaded climbing down into the
confined space.
    The lazarette was
a large locker on the starboard side of the cockpit that went all the way down
to the bilge and provided access to the back of the engine, under the cockpit.
    Ted checked the
engine oil and coolant. He fought down a rising feeling of panic. The air was
heavy down here; a flashlight provided his only light. The smells of the oil
and the bilge weren’t so bad, but he felt like he was buried alive.
    “Are you guys
getting hungry yet?” Candace poked her scarf-covered head out of the
companionway hatch.
    “Yeah, I’m
starving.” Ted popped up like a jack-in-the-box and gulped a breath of fresh
air.
    “How about I run
over to Gordo’s and get us some burgers?” With long, trim legs, Candace easily
climbed over the exposed engine to reach the deck.
    “Sounds good to me.”
Ted wiped his hands as he climbed out of the lazarette.
    “Chris, how about
you?” Candace turned to Chris. “You hungry?”
    “Yeah, sure.”
Chris mumbled from the cabin roof where he was replacing some kind of broken
fitting.
    “I’ll take a bacon
cheeseburger and fries,” Ted said.
    “What would you
like, Chris?”
    “Whatever.”
    “Cokes okay for
you guys?” Candace removed her scarf, took the scrunchie from her pony-tail and
shook her long, lustrous black hair free.
    She looks like
a shampoo commercial , Ted thought. “Yeah, Cokes are good.” He brushed back
his unruly hair. All the time, his eyes never left Candace.
    Ted admired the
view as Candace walked down the dock. Her tight jeans and T-shirt showed off
her model’s body. “Man, that’s one fine looking woman. Even in her grubbies,
she looks like a million bucks.”
    “Don’t go getting
any ideas, bro.” Chris interrupted his fantasy. “You’d be like a Chihuahua sniffing after a Great Dane bitch.”
    Ted pictured
Candace at the graduation party. She stood at least a full inch taller than him
but in heels she towered over him. “I’m just sayin’ . . . Man, did she look hot
at the party in her little red dress.”
    “Speaking of the
party, I’ve been meaning to tell you . . .” Chris climbed down from the cabin
roof and sat in the cockpit.
    “Yeah?”
    “I invited Meg to
go with us.”
    “You what?” Ted’s
head swiveled around.
    “Well actually, she
sort of invited herself. She asked if she could come along. I told her it was
OK.”
    “Dude, there’s no
room for a woman on this boat.”
    “Sure there is. My
mom and sister always went with us on our summer cruises. When Dad raced the
boat, Mom manned the galley.”
    “No, you don’t
understand.” Ted shook his head. “I’m saying she’s not the type.