a plan to me. Lucy and I will have to call our bosses and let them know what’s happened so they won’t be expecting us in to work the next few days.”
Mary thought about her dog, Prince, and called her neighbor to convey what happened and to see if she could continue taking care of Prince a few days. The neighbor, a sixty-nine year old widow, understood and said that she would be glad to have Prince a few more days and for Mary not to worry about anything. Mary had so many emotions catapulting together that she didn’t really know how she was feeling at this moment. In one way, she felt like a fugitive who was escaping the law; yet, she had not done any wrongdoing. In another way, she felt relief and pride reveling in the fact that John could keep a cool head and serve as a “protector” for all of them. In the end, she decided to just relax. She had not been on the boat since their discovery on Tiger Island. It was such a beautiful boat, and it cut through the water so smoothly, that one barely felt a rocking sensation from the waves hitting the side of the boat. Lucy and Logan were below deck. Mary was sitting in the white leather chair beside John in the cabin. John put the boat on “automatic” and stood behind Mary as she was gazing out at the moonlight dancing on the water.
“It’s a beautiful sight. For some unknown reason, I never tire of looking at the moon. When I was about ten years old, and a Boy Scout, I was often terrified of camping out because I didn’t know if bears would be lurking around ready to pounce on me and claw me to death. Lying on the sleeping bag inside my tent, and trying to calm myself to the point that I might be able to sleep, I would look at the moon and find it comforting that ‘old man moon’ was up in the sky watching out for me. I would soon drift off to sleep.”
Mary turned and looked at John. “You are really a very sensitive, caring, and self-sufficient man. Thank you for allowing us to seek refuge on your boat. It’s like a nightmare! We have gotten ourselves caught in a quagmire of a situation that may take some time to go away.”
John lifted her chin with his finger and said, “Trust me. It will, soon.”
He then put both of his hands on the side of her face and slowly bent his head down and kissed her.
Mary savored the softness of his lips on her lips. The kiss became more intense with both partners wrapping their arms around each other, and with hands exploring the contours of each other’s bodies. Finally, the kiss ended and without saying a word, John went over and turned off the engine. He dropped the anchor from the boat, and then went to Mary. Mary watched him walk confidently toward her. He took her hand and led her down the steps to the king-sized bed.
Tacitly, and knowing what was inevitable, they slowly began to undress each other. Fervent kisses were rendered to each other and when all clothes were discarded lying on the floor, they fell upon the mattress. Mary let the tingling sensations reigning from his kisses engulf her. Her mind stopped thinking, and her body took control. They made love several times before dawn. The sun’s rays slowly began filtering through the portholes in the bedroom.
John woke up first and without waking Mary, took a quick shower and went quietly up the steps to the upper deck. Mary rolled over and woke up. Realizing where she was, and that John was no longer in bed, she quickly showered and dressed, and began her way to the upper deck. Once she reached the kitchenette, she smelled coffee brewing. She could see John in the captain’s chamber steering the boat and sipping on coffee.
Mary poured herself a cup of coffee and sat in the white leather chair beside John. She said, “Good morning.”
John stood up, went over to Mary, bent over and kissed her sweetly and said, “Now, that’s a ‘good morning.’”
Going back to his position behind the wheel he asked, “Did you sleep well?”
Mary smiled and said, “Yes, I did. Did you sleep well?”
John replied, “Indeed, I did. I haven’t felt this energized in many years. You give me a shot of adrenalin every time I look at you.”
Mary blushed.
Logan and Lucy had made their way to the upper deck, and Logan called out, “Coffee smells good. Would you happen to have anything of substance to eat in your pantry?”
John replied back, “Sure. Help yourselves to any crumbs available.”
They reached Port Lucy about four hours later. John refueled the boat while Mary, Lucy, and Logan went to the convenience store and bought more provisions and odds and ends.
There was a great hamburger joint a block away from the pier, so they ate lunch there and then decided they couldn’t hide from the press forever and that it was time to go back to Fernandina Beach. Mary was worried about Prince being a nuisance to her kind and generous neighbor’s hospitality. Lucy and Logan were worried about taking too much time off from their jobs. They got back in the boat and travelled north to Fernandina Beach, Florida
Chapter Eleven
A week later, the closing of the sale on Mary’s house took place in her attorney’s office at the prescribed time, and John Fielding was now the owner of Mary’s home. Because of the incident on Tiger Island, Mary did not want to be alone, nor did she have the motivation to look for another place. John suggested that she just stay at the house until the murder was solved. The two of them could share the costs of food and electricity. That sounded like a wonderful deal to Mary. Plus, she was beginning to like John more and more as she spent time with him. Any eligible female in her right mind would. He was handsome, caring, attentive, great in bed, and “rich to boot.” Even her dog thought the man “hung the moon.”
John would fly back to Boston every other weekend, but when he was in Fernandina Beach, the two of them would go out to dinner or the movies, or just take walks on the beach, talk, and enjoy each other’s company. John told Mary he also was engaged once before. Both he and his fiancé had gone to Harvard and had dated all four years in college before they got engaged. When he decided to stay in Cambridge, Massachusetts and earn his MBA at Harvard, she decided she was tired of Massachusetts. She had been accepted to Yale University located in New Haven, Connecticut and wanted to become an architect. She moved to Connecticut, and they kept up their long distance relationship for about six months until one day he got an e-mail from her saying she had met someone who was also majoring in architecture who had stolen her heart.
She could have told him face-to-face, which might have been less painful. Either way, it sucked. John told Mary it had taken ten years, but that he had gotten over this. He had put all of his energy and focus into becoming a prosperous businessman, and he had succeeded. John was a patient and prudent man. He was just waiting for the right woman to come along and make his heart “sing” again.
Chapter Twelve
The Sheriff’s Office and detectives found out the identity of the young deceased woman. Her name was Joanne Marie Jones. She was twenty-three, a graduate student at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida studying to be an actress, and living in Callahan, Florida, which is still in Nassau County, Florida. She still lived with her parents, James and Sarah Jones, so she could save on tuition costs and commute to school. Her dad had just retired from the Rayonier Paper Mill where one-third of the men in Nassau County, Florida worked. She had a brother, Gabe, younger by five years, who also lived at home. The family and Callahan community were devastated by the loss of Joanne. She was a talented actress who was very ambitious. Her goal was to get a job acting at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida, and later possibly teach drama in a college.
Her funeral took place on a rainy Sunday afternoon at the Callahan Presbyterian Church. Nothing,
