The Lonely Silver Rain by John D. MacDonald Read Free Book Online

when I began to feel worse, I thought I better come on in. It wasn't enough of an incident to make me memorable, I hoped.
    I cruised ten miles toward home in the pickup before I found a phone booth in the shade, with a door that I could close instead of one of those stupid open shell-shaped things.
    The voice on the other end said that it was indeed the Coast Guard I was speaking to, in person of one rating named Bliss.
    "I want to report a…"
    "I must have your name first, sir."
    "Look, what I want to do is report…"
    "I must have your name and the location from which you are calling before you report the matter to which you refer, sir."
    "Now goddamn it, Bliss…"
    "Those are the regulations, sir."
    "My name is Adam Smith and…"
    "Will you spell that, sir."
    I spelled it. "I am calling from Delancy's Grill in Homestead." And I spelled all that too.
    "What is the nature of the matter you wish to report, sir?"
    "Take this down, Bliss. Take it down carefully because I am not going to spell it. Get your people to take one of the big choppers that have pontoons, and take along three body bags and somebody who knows how to act at the scene of a crime, and tell them to search the small island area ten to twelve miles north-northwest of Big Pine Key, and they'll spot a fifty-four-foot cruiser parked against the mangrove shore of a crescent-shaped island."
    "Is it… "
    "Shut up, Bliss. Just write or tape or whatever you do. The cruiser was stolen last July fourth up on the east coast near Citrina. Its legal owner is William Ingraham. You people have this on record because you've looked for it."
    "But, sir, we…"
    "Aboard that cruiser, renamed the Lazidays, they will find the murdered bodies of Howard Cannon of Citrina and Karen McBride, also of Citrina, and also the body of an unidentified young female."
    "Jesus Chr…"
    "They've been dead a while and it is hot out there, so get on it, Bliss. The island is a crescent pointed north and south, with the open side toward the west. You can tell it by the buzzards sitting in the tree nearby."
    "But…"
    "If they want to go out and tow that vessel in, they'll have to bring it out on a good high tide, right at the crest."
    I hung up on him before his voice changed all the way to soprano.
    After I gathered my wits I went back into the 7-Eleven and got another handful of change. Billy Ingraham was home. I told him I had located the Sundowner. I told him I had put the Coast Guard on it and he was to sit tight until he heard from them.
    "Where is it? I can leave in ten minutes and…"
    "Billy, don't make me sorry I told you. There are three dead bodies aboard her. The two kids from Citrina that were the suspects, and another girl."
    "Good God!"
    "They've been dead a while. It's one hell of a mess. They were killed in ugly ways, Billy. It's something to do with dope peddling or smuggling or counterfeiting. Listen carefully. I want to be out of this as of right now."
    "How bad is my boat?"
    "It would break your heart."
    "Tell me."
    "Okay, structurally she is probably okay. But it will need complete outfitting, above and below. New rugs, upholstery, paint, cabinetwork. I don't know if they can ever get the stink out. New paint and varnish. The heads were clogged. People have been crapping in the bilge. Billy, believe me, you don't want to see her. Lay back, and when they contact you, have her taken to the yard that built her for a complete overhaul, and then I think you ought to sell her after she's clean for whatever you can get."
    "Let me be the judge of…"
    "You be the judge. Okay. But one thing has to be clear, Billy. You never asked me to find her. I never looked for her. I never found her. Clear?"
    "But why?"
    "There has to be some very rough people involved in whatever was going on. And one team knocked off three people on the other team. I don't want anybody to get any idea that it could have been me."
    "Oh."
    "As far as you know, you may have asked me to look for her but I wasn't