Death Sight: A Will Castleton Novel

Death Sight: A Will Castleton Novel: Chapter 2

2

He should have seen Candice’s betrayal coming. Okay, so “betrayal” was too strong a word. “Games” certainly wasn’t. If it hadn’t been for Candice’s games, then he might have gotten the jarheads to take the boat back into port before it was too late.

Boomer and Will had been changing into their spandex running shorts in their bedrooms. They both came out when the girls started squealing and laughing. The kitchen’s side window overlooked the driveway between the two big houses. The interior walls of the rental house were done in cool shades of blue, now awash with yellow light from the Florida sun, which was just starting to kiss the horizon of Gamer’s Key. Shimmers of light bounced off the waves, weaving strange patterns on the walls.

The girls were in their bikinis, already starting in on Coronas as they prepped for the night’s cookout. Sandra, Bradley “Boomer” Boerher’s girlfriend, had been cutting a lime; Candice had been chopping celery for a salad. The big black F-150 that had just pulled in next door was hauling an even bigger speedboat - sleek and black and sparkling. The four guys unloading suitcases, boxes and coolers appeared to be cast from a single mold: they were uniformly crewcutted and robust, appearing as chiseled and streamlined as their vehicles - they all drove big pickups; there was also a huge blue Dodge Ram and a bright red Toyota Tundra.

“Bet you two hundred bucks they’re Marines,” Boomer said. “And the guy with the foreign truck is the runt of the litter.”

“Not taking that bet,” Will said. “I’d lose. Jarheads for sure.”

“How can you know?” Candice made a scrunchy, frowny face under shoulder-length curls the lemon color of the setting sun.

“Hell, they don’t look all that different from you guys,” Sandra put in. She was tall, her black hair cut short, flapper-style. “Do people automatically think you’re in the Marines?”

“Look at the way they walk. The way they move. The attitude. You can just tell. But they’re like us in that they’re just out of boot camp too.”

“Are they going to peg you two for U.S. Marshals the minute they see you?” Candice asked.

Boomer shrugged. “Marshals, no. Cops, yes.”

“Yup,” Will said. “They walk like Marines. We walk like cops. They’ll be able to tell.”

“Believe me, girls. You want a cop in the bedroom. Jarheads…” Boomer winked at Will.

Will grinned.

“What about jarheads in the bedroom?” Sandra asked.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yes, we do!” Candice said.

“Hey, Will. We were going running, weren’t we?”

“Tell us!” Candice said.

“Hey, that’s right!” Will said, grinning at Candice. “We’d better get going before the sun starts going under.”

“Damn it! Tell us about Marines in the bedroom!” Candice picked up the knife she’d been using to chop and, imitating an evil grin, pointed it at Will.

“You don’t want to know. Does she, Boom?”

“Oh, God, no!”

“Honestly, I hope you never find out.”

“Well, maybe we’ll just go over there and find out firsthand while you guys are off doing your macho running thing,” Sandra said.

Boomer embraced Sandra around the waist.