Page 121 of Fire Island
CALLUM
The officer at the Bay Shore station stares at me like I have five heads.
“What do you mean, the case is closed?” I snap.
“No further evidence was brought forward, so the case was closed out.”
“You mean, you let them get off without bothering to chase it up. Find the assholes who did this to her.”
“Sir, we have limited resources and too many cases of women beingassaulted...” He sighs, like I’m the waste of time. “If anythingsubstantialarises, report it to the officer on duty.”
“I’m giving you this.” I hand him the note that was left on Firefly’s console. “This is further evidence.”
“It’s a note. Not exactly hard evidence of a serious crime.”
The officer bites into his sandwich, which is obviously more important than the life of the woman I love. “I want to talk to your supervisor. Now.”
“He’s away for a training for the rest of the week.”
“Maybe you should have gone with.” I snatch up the letter and stalk from the police station.Useless motherfuckers.
I’ll handle this bullshit myself.
If these clowns think they are getting anywhere near Evie, they’re fucking delusional. And their lifespan just got a hell of a lot shorter.
I march my way back to the docks to find Em and Evie by Firefly. Em’s in uniform, arms crossed, chatting away about god knows what. He’s done a great job of occupying her while I paid the police a visit, as much of a waste of time as it was.
“Errands all done?” she asks with the sweetest smile.
“Yep, all done. Shouldn’t you be working, bud?” I say to Em.
He rolls his eyes at me and slaps me on the shoulder as he starts to head back to the watchhouse. “See you later, Miss Evie.” He waves at her.
“Bye, Em.” She returns the wave, and we board Firefly. The sooner we make it home, the better.
“Can I drive?” Evie says.
I’m taken by surprise. She’s never asked to captain the boat before. But she should learn and get her license if she’s going to be staying. The last thing I want is for her to feel trapped or dependent.
“If you want.” I haul in the mooring lines and head for the cabin.
“So, ropes off. Then engine check?”
“Lines, but you got it.”
She looks damn excited.
Who would have figured . . .
“Throttle down and guide her in by the jetty. I’ll dump the fenders.” I leave the cabin, tossing the long, soft tubes over theside to keep Firefly from crashing into the rickety old structure. The engine dies down to a low idle as we come in close to the jetty. Back in the cabin, Evie checks the dials of the console like we spoke about on the way home before killing the engine.
She’s a natural.
“Pretty good for a first-timer,” I say.
She grins at me, and I sweep her up in my arms, depositing her on my waist.
“Can I drive next time?”
