Jukebox Time Machine - A New Day#30
Boating and a Surprise
We stayed up late last night, and I was determined to sleep in, but it was not to be. The sounds of the bayou drifted in through the open window, calling me to consciousness. I slipped out of bed, trying not to wake Pam. In the kitchen, I put a pot of Luzianne Coffee and Chicory on. During the process, Pam slipped silently into the kitchen. It startled me when she slid her arms around my waist.
“The coffee smells good,” she said, after we enjoyed a morning kiss.
“I thought we could have our coffee on the porch before breakfast.”
“Sounds wonderful,” she said, putting two cups on the counter.
The sun had climbed high enough to burn the fog off the bayou. A pleasant breeze stirred, helping to temper the heat and causing some ripples in the water. We sat for a while, sipping coffee and admiring the view. I tried not to let either the situation in Durham or the upcoming battles sully my mood.
“Do you want to have breakfast here or go to that cafe on the highway?” I asked.
“I’ll fix it. I don’t feel like getting dressed,” said Pam, standing.
“I’m going to check on the boat and get it ready to go out.”
With all the details Sammy took care of while renovating the cabin, I expected the boat to be ready to go. The pontoon hung from the ceiling of the boat shelter. It took me a few minutes, but I figured out the mechanism that raised and lowered it. Once it was in the water, I hopped aboard and checked the gas tank - full, as I expected. I turned the key in the ignition and heard a growl as the motor came to life. Someone had stored life vests and a first aid kit in a compartment. I smiled at Sammy’s attention to detail. It would not have surprised me to find a six-pack of beer in a cooler already aboard. Satisfied, I headed back to the house for some breakfast.
After breakfast, Pam was packing us a picnic lunch, and, yes, some beer in a cooler. I walked back onto the porch. As soon as I sat, my phone rang. It was Sammy. After answering, I put it on speaker and walked back into the kitchen. Pam stopped what she was doing when she heard Sammy’s voice.
“Hey Bobcat and Pam,” Sammy said, by way of greetings. He knew he was on speaker. “I hope you guys are having fun.. I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news, and I won’t ask which you want first. The good news is that the heat is off; you can return to Durham as soon as you’d like. Shellie went back to the police station yesterday afternoon and withdrew her objection to the suicide ruling.”
“I’m happy to hear that, but I don’t see how they ruled it a suicide.”
“My professional opinion is not to look a gift horse in the mouth. No murder investigation means no chance that they’ll find any evidence of you and Pam being in Justin’s house.”
“What was the bad news?”
“The bad news is that I suspect Felix was responsible for Shellie’s change of heart. She was raising hell yesterday morning, but by the afternoon, she was calm and apologetic—quite a change when it comes to the possible murder of your father. Clement’s had the body at the funeral home but drove it to the airport last night, where a private plane was waiting. While they were loading the coffin, four men escorted Shellie and Rafael to the plane. The plane took off at ten o’clock. They had filed a flight plan for Louis Armstrong International in New Orleans.”
We talked for a few more minutes before hanging up. I told him we would be back either late tonight or tomorrow morning. Once the call was over, I asked Pam what she wanted to do. She wanted to go out on the boat. That made me happy.
I’ve never owned a boat, so while my level of enthusiasm was high, my level of boating skills was extremely low. All of this resulted in us being the slowest boat on the water. Not that we weren’t having fun. Sammy had a GPS mounted on the boat, so I didn’t have to worry about getting lost. Still, I stayed pretty close to home.
We had moved along the shoreline until our cabin was out of sight. Another boat came around another corner and stopped. This was the only other vessel we had seen. It stopped several hundred yards away. We were having our picnic lunch and a beer, so I didn't think much of it. Two men were standing on the back deck. I didn’t want to be paranoid, but I felt like they were watching us. My feeling must have been wrong because they left after about fifteen minutes. Pam and I both laughed at my suspicions. We cruised around for a while longer and then headed back to the cabin.
When we came within sight of the cabin, I saw a strange SUV parked in the driveway. It was compact and didn’t look intimidating. I turned the boat toward the boathouse and slowed the boat to a crawl, so as not to ram my new pontoon boat into the dock. That’s when I saw the door to the cabin open. I looked at Pam, and she was staring. An older woman came from the cabin. She paused on the porch when she noticed the boat coming her way. We were almost at the boathouse. She hurried down the steps, got into her vehicle, and drove away quickly. When I turned to Pam, she only shrugged.
I coaxed the boat into its shelter and tied it off. We could get our things and raise the boat out of the water after I checked the cabin. We both headed for the cabin. When I opened the door, everything appeared to be in place, but going into the kitchen, I saw a note attached to the front of the refrigerator. The note read: G-10 with a capital P beneath the number. Pam had come into the kitchen and was reading the note over my shoulder.
“That lady must have been Mikaela,” said Pam.
I didn’t know what to say. My emotions were in hyperdrive. Yes, that must have been Mikaela. The implications of her delivering the note were mind-boggling. The note indicated she was still in New Orleans and that my uncle was very much alive.