48

The next morning, Leo woke to cloudy skies and a stiff breeze blowing in his open window. He dressed himself, and went out into the sanctuary. To his surprise, he found the Moma boys sitting sullenly on the back row of the sanctuary. They were still dressed similarly but in the daylight, Leo could see that Jimmy was taller and Joe was a bit more muscular and solid. They stood up when he approached, and he registered the thought that someone had taught them manners, even if they had sometimes strayed back and forth across the line between doing good and doing ill. Based on what he’d heard, they had never really done anything with the intent to hurt someone else, but they had certainly done things that had cost other people time and money. 

“Good morning, gentlemen,” said Leo, greeting the boys. “I hope you’ve thought about the prank you pulled last night. Do you have anything to say?”

The brothers exchanged glances, and both of them stood up. Jimmy spoke. “We’re sorry that we startled you, that we kidnapped that dog, and that we didn’t respect the chapel. We understand if that’s not good enough and we need to do something to make up for it.”

Leo nodded. He glanced around the sanctuary and saw that only a few hymnals had been knocked out of their spots by the dog the night before. “Well, it doesn’t look like there’s much damage,” he said, watching as the boys stood up a little straighter. They were sensing a hopeful ending. 

“How about we pick up things in here and work in the garden for a little bit? Then we’ll call it good,” said Leo.

The boys were sure they were experiencing some kind of mercy and immediately agreed. With Leo’s supervision, the boys put everything back in order within the sanctuary and moved their efforts outside. As they worked, Leo asked questions and gave the boys a chance to share their thoughts with him. He wanted to know about their family, and why they kept choosing to break rules that ended up getting them in trouble. He was happy to see that both of the boys took to the garden in a way that showed some natural ability and a willingness to work. 

Joe did most of the talking. He explained about the way that he and Jimmy had been the older siblings of a baby girl named Jamie. She had suffered from childhood cancer and passed away before her tenth birthday. Their parents had been devastated, but they continued to do their best to provide love and attention to their two sons. Their father worked on a fishing boat and their mom had jobs around Tranquility cleaning for others in their homes. She also took care of the Bed and Breakfast. 

One day, their father went out on the fishing boat and never came home. The crew of the fishing boat were reluctant to talk to their mother about what had happened, but she figured out that something had gone wrong with the net and their father had been hung up in it. Dragged underwater, he had drowned before the crew could reverse the process and get him out. Their mother had become absentminded and standoffish, her grief overpowering her and driving a wedge between her and the boys. The boys started to act out and find ways to entertain themselves, and they found themselves farther and farther from the path that their parents had started them on. 

Leo realized that the garden had become silent, and he looked up from weeding at the two boys. Jimmy had tears in his eyes, and his brother had an arm wrapped around him. Leo dusted off his knees and went over to them, gently laying a hand on each young man’s shoulder. He closed his eyes and prayed silently. When he opened them up, the boys were staring at him. 

“Mister, I know you don’t really know us, but you’re the first person to ask us why we did things we shouldn’t,” Jimmy admitted. “Most people haven’t even been by to see our mom or to ask how we lost our dad.” Joe nodded. 

“I’m sorry that’s been your experience,” Leo said, slowly. “Sometimes people don’t know how to deal with things they don’t understand, that they haven’t experienced for themselves. People should’ve stood up for you both better, and your mom, too. But you have to start to make decisions for yourselves that are better for you, regardless of what everyone else says or does. You can’t control them, but you can control your own actions.”

The boys nodded, and Leo put his hands in his pockets, looking carefully at each boy. “Sometimes, it just doesn’t feel like there’s much of a point,” said Joe slowly. “Like, if our dad could die like that, then what good is it trying to be good all of the time?”

“You’re just going to end up dead anyway,” added Jimmy. 

“Well, it seems like the best we can do is love the people in front of us,” Leo said slowly. “I can quote scripture to you, but you can read that yourself. It seems like our best lives are lived when we put other people first, and we try to find ways to serve those who are less fortunate than we are.” He saw the boys glance at each other, and then they sort of nodded in unison. 

“We could probably do a better job of that,” Jimmy said, elbowing Joe, who shook his head in affirmation. “We’re sorry we messed up the chapel, and we haven’t been acting the way we should.”

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Leo replied, “including me. Don’t be too hard on yourselves.”

Surveying the garden, Leo realized the boys had achieved more in an hour than he could have hoped. They certainly seemed to have a knack for the work of the garden. 

“Let’s go grab some breakfast and then you can get on with your day,” he said. Following him out of the gate, the boys went with him to get something to eat. 

49

The sun looked like it was trying to come out, but the storm hadn’t completely given up its hold of the island yet. The remnants of the storm seemed to be lingering, with occasional bursts of rain peppering Main Street, but owners had reopened shops and business seemed to be returning to normal. A few of the cruise ship’s tenders were bringing people to shore, and Captain Benjamin had apparently decided that the passage was clear enough for him to get through. Leo practically bumped into Noah entering Ocean’s Spray. 

“It’s a good day to be an islander!” Noah exclaimed. “Try the pigs in a blanket if you haven’t already. It’s the best dish for breakfast.” He looked over his shoulder at the Moma boys who were following Leo and raised an eyebrow, but Leo just smiled. The first mate clapped him on the back and headed out down Main Street.

Leo pushed through the crowd to a vacant table near the bar next to Gillian. She was already pushing sausage wrapped in pancake around her plate, clearly having received the same advice. She was staring intently off into the distance while absentmindedly drowning her sausage in a giant pool of syrup. 

“I guess that’s what everyone is having today,” Leo said with a chuckle. “How’s the story business?”

“Well, with the storm gone, I think I can go back and type up some of the things folks have told me here,” Gillian said, shaking herself out of her reverie. “We’ll see if that’s enough. I thought I’d go say my goodbyes to Miss Isabelle and maybe see Red one more time before I take the ferry back this afternoon.” 

“Give me a bit to eat and I’ll walk up there with you,” offered Leo. “I should check on Red again.”

Leo ordered plates of pigs in blankets for three. When they arrived, all three of them dove into the plate of pigs in blankets that Fred slapped down in front of them and covered it all with syrup. He had to admit that the starch and meat went well together, and the sweet syrup made it nearly dessert-like. He would certainly take it over a hotdog in a bun. After mopping up the rest of it, he said goodbye to the Momas, paid his bill and went back to Gillian, who was now shoulder to shoulder with Cindi, who had come in to grab breakfast before heading to work. A few other women joined them while Leo watched amused by the way Gillian had been included in the circle. When she finally extricated herself from the gossip, Gillian winked, and told him that she had plenty of background on Tranquility now. Leo decided he didn’t need a haircut badly enough to walk by himself into that lion’s den. 

An hour later, Gillian and Leo crested the hill. They’d seen trees damaged by the storm, and a  few of the lights along the path had been knocked down, too. But the mansion looked as pristine and decadent as it always did, looming at the top of the hill, a few scattered storm clouds highlighting the sky.

David answered the knock at the door, welcoming the two into the mansion. He exchanged a few pleasantries with them, and told them that he and Johnny were headed down to the beach to fish. He invited them to come try their luck fishing, telling Leo they owed him for the other day, and then went to gather his gear. 

Gillian went hunting on the first floor to find Carol or Miss Isabelle, and Leo went upstairs to check on Red. 

The door hung wide open, and the bed was empty, sheets and pillows bunched and tumbled on the floor. Red had clearly felt well enough to get out of bed, but Leo didn’t think he could’ve made it far. 

Down the hall, Leo heard a toilet flush. And Red opened the door, his face still bruised but now covered in dashes of shaving cream. “Good morning,” Leo said, waiting to see what kind of response he would get from the big man that day. Somehow, even in silk pajamas and wincing with every step, the man still looked like a behemoth that could’ve thrown Leo down the stairs. 

Red softened when he saw that it was Leo, and turned back to wash his hands and rinse off the rest of his face. “Telling you that story has really helped me,” Red admitted. “I slept like a baby last night, and I haven’t slept that way in years.”

Leo reached out his hand to squeeze Red’s shoulder. This time the retired ship captain didn’t flinch or pull away. “You’ve been convincing yourself again and again all these years,” said Leo. “You have to let it go and be willing to move forward. You make amends as best you can. How other people respond is up to them.” 

Red smiled wanly, his abrasions and bruises lingering, and sagged against the doorframe. “I’m still not quite up to speed, but I’m getting there. I have some thoughts about what happened to me the other day, too. I remember being hit in the back of the head, but I don’t remember why. Maybe something fell on me. I don’t know.” 

Supporting some of Red’s body weight, Leo helped the injured man back to his bedroom, where he puffed up some pillows and rested in a seated position. Leo pulled open the blinds and Red gazed wistfully out to sea. 

“I heard the boys are going fishing,” Red said. “I wish I could go down there with them today but I’m just not ready. I do think it’s time I start to get to know them better and learn who they really are. But I’ll have to wait. I don’t think I could make it down to the beach right now.”

Leo agreed with the assessment, but he decided even with the new and improved Red, he wasn’t going to put himself in harm’s way. He patted Red on the arm, and said, “I think I’ll go check on them. Maybe I’ll even try my hand at fishing, too.”

Red chuckled, wincing as his chest shook. “It’s called fishing not catching for a reason, so don’t beat yourself up if you don’t catch anything on your first try.” 

The older man sat down in his armchair and stared out at the sea below. Leo patted him on the shoulder one last time, and left him to consider how to help his heart and mind heal. 

50

Walking down the stone steps to the cove, Leo marveled at how different the beach looked at low tide, as the storm was ebbing away. He saw that David and Johnny were laughing, casting their lines out past the break into the deeper water. As he approached, he saw a few splashes from the bucket they had positioned behind them in the sand. Apparently they had experienced some good luck so far. 

There was still light rain falling, but the tide’s ebb and flow was returning to something soothing and calm. Farther out to sea, there were less whitecaps than the day before, even if the ocean itself wasn’t completely placid. 

“Hey, you joined us!” David exclaimed, clapping Leo on the back. “Thanks for coming down. Maybe you’ll be a good luck charm.”

Laughing, Leo replied, “I don’t know if that’s how it works. And it looks like you’ve already had some good luck yourself.”

Over the next hour, the three took turns baiting and casting, with moderate success. Leo found that he enjoyed the rhythm of the process, and appreciated that the two friends would include him in their outing. He reeled in the line and this time found that he had been cleaned out by something that had been too smart to get hooked. He shook his head, and turned back toward the tackle box the fishermen had set up to get some more bait. 

As he walked by, he realized that David was straining against something on the other end of his line, digging in deep with his heels and pulling back on the rod. Reeling it in, he groaned, and held up a broken tree limb wrapped in seaweed. “That’s so not worth it.”

Johnny looked over, chuckling, and said, “Leo, David could fish all day regardless of his luck but I still need a break. Let me try one more cast and then the rod is all yours.”

Leo nodded and began to wander around the beach, inspecting seashells, and other debris washed up on the beach. He went to inspect what appeared to be the carcass of a sand shark tangled in the shallows around some rocks, farther away from the fishermen. Looking at its gills, rapidly moving in and out, he realized that the animal was still alive. Gingerly, he reached down and felt it jerk as he wrapped his hands around its tail. Its teeth snapped, but he continued, picking it up and carrying it to the edge of the water. 

As he let the shark swim away, Leo looked at the cliff wall, where the water had worn away the rock wall in incremental steps over time, and the distance up to the mansion seemed even more impressive. The power of the ocean couldn’t be more apparent looking at the massive rock worn away over time. 

Stepping closer to a bend in the wall, where the ocean, sand, and rock met, Leo saw that there was an opening in the wall. In fact, a few feet off of the edge of the sand, an inlet had been carved into the rock. 

“Where does that go?” Leo asked, calling out to David and Johnny. 

David had been baiting his hook for another cast, and he came over to see where Leo was pointing. “Oh, we call that The Cave,” said David. “When I was little, Carol and Red used to forbid me to climb around in there. I used to try anyway, but the last time I went, I almost got stuck when the tide rose. You could hang out there for a while I bet, but I think at high tide, you’d run out of oxygen. There’s a shelf up in there that we used to try and hang out on for awhile though. It’s fun, but a bit dangerous. 

As the tide continued to recede, Leo watched as a rubber box floated, catching on the top of the cave and almost popping through as the tide ebbed away. “What is that?” Leo asked, loudly enough that David and Johnny abandoned their rods to come find out. 

Without thinking, David waded into the water, reached into the opening of the cave. The tide went out again, and the box banged up against the upper part of the cave. David grabbed onto a protruding handle and pulled it the rest of the way out of the opening and then aside to the shore. He had to work to get it across the sand, but managed well enough to get it back to Leo and Johnny. 

Popping the clasp on the box, David’s eyes widened as he turned it to show Leo. Bags of white powder were stuffed into the box. “Uh, guys, I don’t think that’s sugar,” Johnny whispered.

David swatted Johnny on the arm, his eyebrows raised at the amount of drugs contained there.

“Who would’ve put that there?” Leo asked. 

“We need to tell Red. But I need to check something first,” said David, as he waded into the water. Leo and Johnny watched as he submerged himself to fit through the half-filled cave opening. They waited, nervously, until they saw him re-emerge and surface again, shaking his head grimly. 

“There are at least ten more of those boxes inside the cave. It looks like they were tethered but a strap broke,” he explained. “There’s a radio and a lamp in a waterproof box, too, with some other records, I think. That’s a crazy amount of drugs that someone has hidden here. You know they’re coming back for them, too.”

Leo nodded toward the mansion high above them. “We need to go ask Red what he knows about the cave, and how to get a message off of the island to law enforcement.” Numbly, the other two nodded, and picked up a handle of the rubber box. They broke a sweat carrying it up the stairs, stopping periodically to catch their breath. Halfway up the stairs, Leo took a side of the box himself to give one of them a break. Somehow, this was harder than dragging three hundred pounds of O’Rourke up the stairs. Maybe that was because O’Rourke had been on a mission of rescue and mercy, and the realization of the sheer magnitude of all of these drugs filled their hearts with dread. 

Finally back to the mansion, Leo reached the door first, pushing it open, and turned back to say that he would go get Red to come downstairs so that they didn’t have to carry the box any farther. The sound of a gun cocking made him stop where he was, hands automatically going into a raised position. 

Stepping out of an alcove, his right arm around Johnny’s neck and his left hand holding a gun to David’s head, Dr. Steinman stood, smirking and taking it all in.

“It’s a shame for you that you had to be the people to find that.”

51

Leaving the box in the entryway, the three prisoners marched up the stairs with Dr. Steinman waving his gun behind them. At one point, he was sure that the doctor had started whistling showtunes, but he wasn’t sure, the sound of his own pulse pounding a beat in his head. 

“Do you really think you’re going to get away with it?” asked Leo, incredulously turning to the doctor. 

“You have no idea what I’m capable of,” Dr. Steinman replied, “now be quiet and go sit in the corner over there.” 

Leo did as he was told, and sat beside David and Johnny, their backs up against the wall. Dr. Steinman pulled an old pager out of his pocket and sent a message, and then pulled a chair away from the men on the floor. 

Crossing his legs, Steinman sat back, and looked at each of them steadily. When he got to Red, he realized that the mansion owner was awake. “Ah, Red, you’ve decided to join us,” Steinman said with a wry chuckle. “Too bad you couldn’t just go away painlessly.”

The veins in Red’s forehead throbbed, and he gritted his teeth. “You! You’re the one that hit me. I caught you messing around on the beach, didn’t I?”

At first, it didn’t seem that the doctor was going to reply. But Leo could tell that Steinman was enjoying himself, reveling in the opportunity to be in charge and to control the discussion. “When you announced that you were going to be touring the library with the people from the mainland, I knew the drugs had to be moved out of there. It took forever but we get it done, before you all decided how to renovate that place. That old dump had served me well for awhile.”

O’Rourke started to speak up but a wave of Steinman’s gun silenced him.

“I was loading the boxes into the cave, and you just had to take your pre-breakfast walk with the dogs. Apparently you saw me and came down to see what was going on there. I tried to make something up about finding my missing golf balls, but you said you knew I had been smuggling things off the island. You told me that you were going to report me, and started to walk away, so I gave you a good whack with a piece of driftwood. I figured the ocean would finish you off and people would think you’d fallen on the steps. I slipped those ridiculous dogs a tranquilizer and they didn’t cause me any problems.”

“But I thought you and Red were friends!” David blurted out from the floor. 

“Friends? We were never friends,” Steinman laughed sarcastically. “Your uncle kept me here to take care of your saintly mother. I don’t know what happened to her, but I know he believes it’s his fault. I was the ship doctor that night, and he paid me to follow him back to Tranquility to take care of her. I was supposed to keep everything quiet on the island about her. Everyone worships the ground he walks on, and I’m the most educated man on the island. He’s a nobody with a broken heart but everyone always treated me like I was just the good doctor they could call for everything they needed.” 

“But what about the drugs? Why would you do that here, instead of just asking Red for more money?” Johnny asked.

“You all have no idea what I’ve been through since setting foot on this island,” Steinman’s voice rising. “When my wife got sick, we didn’t have the insurance we needed to pay for everything she needed. I couldn’t get your uncle to pay me any more than he already was, and my education didn’t matter out here on this deserted island. When one of the guys on a cruise ship approached me about selling prescriptions, doctoring medical records to write prescriptions for ship passengers who didn’t really need them, I figured that was my opportunity. It kept increasing bit by bit, and I was able to cover most of the bills. But my wife got worse instead of better, and I’m still paying her bills even though she’s been dead for six months.”

“One day, a year before she died, a man came to see me. He made it abundantly clear that they had taken plenty of photos and kept records, too. Every transaction, every malfeasance. I was on the hook, caught like a fish. He told me that during the annual migration, a shipment of drugs would be brought out to the island, and I needed to send them in smaller quantities to the mainland.”

“I told him I didn’t know how to do that, but the man just laughed and told me that he was sure I was resourceful. He threatened to expose me, to tell my wife where I’d gotten the money, and to bring down my whole life. So I started using the dead body shipments as a means of getting them to the mainland via the coffins. No one ever noticed anything. And no one got hurt until that steroid-pumping idiot showed up a few days ago demanding that he get a bigger cut. He had no idea that I haven’t seen any money in years because it all goes to the insurance company. They’re still collecting on my debt even though my wife is gone. He helped move the drugs to the cove and then tried to force me to give him more money.”

“When we got up the stairs, I shot him and pushed him off of the side of the cliff. I never thought his body would get stuck on the island. I figured it would get sucked out to sea and no one would ever know.”

Steinman seemed to run out of energy, emotion overtaking him. But then the beeper chirped, and he seemed to snap out of it. “Looks like my helper will be here soon. Sit tight and don’t go anywhere, okay?” he laughed, stepping out into the hallway.

As he shut the door behind him, Leo heard the click of the lock. They were stuck in Red’s bedroom, with a crazy man out there. He turned to look at David and Johnny, and then to Red. Red’s face was a mashup of tormented thoughts, and he was fighting for control. 

Leo looked around the room and didn’t see anything that would obviously be used to cut the zip ties or that they could use to overpower Steinman when he returned. He closed his eyes, and willed away the anxiety that bubbled up inside of him.

“I think we need to have a plan when he comes back,” David said, “but I don’t know what it is.”

Chapters 52-55 coming June 14!