Page 44 of Sunset Cove
“And?”
“Marty is on the list,” she said in a whisper.
Claire leaned in. “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know!” Margie said. “He told me they’d had some excitement and that one of the FBI’s most wanted may be on the islands. I woke up and took the first ferry to tell you. I just had to see you!”
Claire pulled out her cell phone. “Is the list public?”
“I think so,” Margie said, leaning over Claire’s shoulder.
Claire typed in “FBI’s Most Wanted List” and quickly found what she was looking for. She frowned as she scrolled through the names and faces. “These guys look scary.”
“I know!” Margie said. She stuck a finger and stopped on a picture. “Look at that one!”
Margie’s finger accidentally opened the man’s poster. She gasped. “It says he’s wanted formurder!Are they all murderers?”
Claire cleared her throat. “Of course not. Marty isn’t a murderer.”
Margie shot her a concerned look, but said nothing.
“This is the top ten most wanted,” Claire continued, clicking back to the main list. “I doubt that he’s on the top ten people they –”
Just then, she saw him. Her mouth popped open. “There he is.”
“Is that him?” Margie asked. “But he’s so cute! He doesn’t look like a murderer at all.”
“It’s an old picture, but that’s him,” Claire said, clicking on it.
Margie read it aloud. “Marty Coursin, date of birth used: November 7th, 1992.”
Claire stared at it for a moment. “November.”
“Was that before the accident, Claire?”
She nodded, hurriedly scrolling down, past the pictures of Marty with a computer-generated beard, then another with fake-looking long hair. She read the next section. “The FBI is offering a reward of up to $200,000 for information directly leading to the arrest of Marty Coursin.”
“Oh my…” Margie said.
Claire read on. “Caution: Marty Coursin is wanted for espionage. He has connections to Seattle, the San Juan Islands, Spain, and China. Coursin speaks fluent Spanish.”
“Oh, he speaks Spanish!” Margie said, delighted.
Claire almost laughed. This was ridiculous. “What an odd thing to include.”
“Well,” Margie said, dropping her voice again, “they might’ve added that because he could flee to Spain.”
Claire let out a sigh and put the phone back into her purse. “He’s not going to flee to Spain.”
“How do you know?”
Claire looked over her shoulder before responding, voice hushed. “Because he’s staying with me!”
Margie let out a gasp. “Claire, it said he’s a spy. And he should be considered armed and extremely dangerous!”
Claire shook her head. “It’s not true. He’s been framed. He’s just a kid, after all.”
“A thirty-year old kid.”
