Page 96 of Homecoming

“That’s right. You two are my whole heart and soul.” He rested his hand on her belly. “I can’t wait for him to get here.”

“I can’t either. Two more months.”

“I hope we’re out of here long before then. I want you home where you belong before the baby comes.”

“I hope so, too.”

“I’m doing everything I can to make that happen.”

“I know, and I appreciate it. We all do.”

“Anything for you, my love. Anything at all.”

Chapter

Twenty

Dan was up earlyto check the headlines. The story about the Ballard family was front and center on theIslanderhome page with a headline that readBallard Family Drama Is Nothing Newand a subhead that said,With two sons charged with murder, the family faces its most difficult challenge yet.

Bar Harbor —Shannon’s Sunrise Café in town was doing a bustling business early Monday morning as the usual cast of locals gathered for coffee, eggs and news after a weekend that saw the area’s first murder in four years. The body of 21-year-old summer resident Tanya Sorenson was found by a fisherman on Saturday on the Bar Harbor Shore Path, shortly after her companions reported her missing following a night out. In town for her future sister-in-law’s bachelorette party weekend, Sorenson was seen at several local establishments during Friday night’s festivities, ending the evening at the Barnacle Lounge.

Later on Saturday, police had arrested local brothers Keith and Kirby Ballard, who were seen with Sorenson by an eyewitness shortly before the time of death established by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

“It’s unbelievable,” said one patron at Shannon’s who asked not to be identified due to his employment at Ballard Boat Works. “The whole town is reeling since the news broke of their arrest.”

When asked if he suspected the brothers had committed the murder, he would only say, “I have no idea.”

Other patrons defended Kirby Ballard, in particular, known around town as a genuinely nice guy.

“The thing is, despite his rough reputation,” one man said, “Keith is a good guy, too. If something breaks in my house, he’s my first call. There’s nothing he can’t fix, and he charges next to nothing for a house call. A lot of people appreciate him for that around here.”

Numerous witnesses placed the victim with Keith Ballard during the evening, in which they were seen drinking, dancing and kissing at the Barnacle Lounge. Witnesses reported they disappeared together for a time before returning for last call. Security cameras in town show the pair leaving the Barnacle shortly after the bar closed, walking hand in hand down Main Street toward the waterfront. According to an eyewitness report, Kirby was seen with Keith and Tanya by the water.

Sorenson, a senior at the University of Connecticut, was the daughter of Mitchell and Deborah Sorenson. She was celebrating her brother August’s fiancée, Jessa Kaul, with a weekend of festivities planned at the family’s Bar Harbor residence. Police would only say that Sorenson had died from a blow to the head and that Keith Ballard’s DNA was found on the body. Other tests, including toxicology, are pending.

Keith Ballard, 37, is well known to local law enforcement after a string of bar fights and DUIs. His brother Kirby, 31, has no previous criminal record. Both brothers are employed by their family business, Keith as a laborer and Kirby as a mastercraftsman specializing in the wood accents that distinguish Ballard Boats from all other brands.

The arrest of the brothers sent shockwaves through Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island and Hancock County. Their parents, Chuck and Judith Ballard, called in their son-in-law Daniel Torrington, a nationally renowned defense attorney known for his work with a Los Angeles-based Innocence Project, which has helped to free more than 60 wrongly incarcerated individuals over the last 15 years.

Torrington is married to Kara Ballard, who runs the BBW’s Gansett Island launch service. She left Bar Harbor almost four years ago after her sister Kelly married Kara’s ex-boyfriend, local attorney Matt Gallagher.

“Motherfucker,” Dan muttered as he read that last paragraph. “They couldn’t resist including that salacious tidbit.”

The Ballards are one of the region’s largest employers and own one of its longest-standing businesses, making their name synonymous with Downeast Maine. You’ll rarely meet a local resident who doesn’t know one of the 11 Ballard siblings. Most know someone who works for Ballard Boat Works. The family and its business are baked into the DNA of this area, and with two of the family’s sons now accused of murder, the family—and the business—faces yet another perilous phase in its long history.

Founded in 1942 by Horace Ballard, Ballard Boat Works has withstood the test of time, producing a wide range of vessels that includes luxury yachts, work boats and everything in between. The family’s Downeaster picnic-style boat has become a fixture in harbors throughout New England and around the world. Ballard Boats are known for quality workmanship and one-of-a-kind designs, and it’s easy to spot one due to the distinctive markings and burgundy canvas thatidentify it as having been designed and built right here in Maine.

Recent estimates put the current workforce at roughly 1,000 employees, covering design, woodworking, sales and marketing, diesel engine mechanics and fiberglass experts.

Chief Executive Officer and President Charles “Chuck” Ballard is a grandson of Horace, who, along with his brother Horace the third, inherited the business from their father, Horace Jr. But the partnership between the brothers encountered rough waters 18 years ago, leading to a contentious breakup that resulted in a permanent rift between their two families.

By all accounts, the brothers haven’t spoken since Horace forced Chuck to either buy him out or sell the company to outsiders. Chuck Ballard has been quoted as saying the thought of the company belonging to anyone other than a member of Horace Ballard Sr.’s family was unthinkable to him—but apparently not to his brother, who harbored no such sentiment toward the company that’d employed three generations of their family.

“I mortgaged everything I owned to buy out my brother,” Chuck said at the time. “I hope he enjoys his retirement. I’ve got work to do.”

The company has grown exponentially under Chuck’s leadership, expanding from a $20 million-dollar-a-year business to upward of $200 million annually. In addition to its luxury boat lines, BBW holds contracts to build boats for the U.S. federal government as well as the governments of Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Now in its third generation, BBW has continued to be a family affair. Seven of Chuck and Judith’s children work for the company in capacities that range from the C-suite to the paint shop to the fiberglass team to business development.

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