Warehouse Discovery

The next day.

At Carter's Marina, Jake knew he would need a rental boat in order to check out the Marble Head Island. But he also wanted to get his hands on the keys to the Future Wave, if possible, because he wanted to see if Bradford Green was hiding anything in his yacht that Jake might need. Jake knew that he would have to be discreet about this, and not leave any evidence of his having been there, due to not having a search warrant, so he prepared himself to be ready to cover his tracks in every situation.

On his way to the boat rental office, Jake picked up a fishing net someone had left on the dock. He still had the hook he had taken from the firebox, and he hoped it would prove useful, too. He went inside. Mr. Carter was still at his counter. Jake asked him about Bradford Green.

My goodness, Ryan," Carter said, "I haven't seen your smiling face around for quite a while."

"I developed a severe case of road rash when a speeding idiot proved he could hit a rookie motorcycle cop," Jake explained. "Now, how about Mr. Green?"

"He's been a real gentleman so far," said Carter, "He runs his boat in and out a lot, but nothing really out of the ordinary."

"Has anybody been seen hanging around with him?" Jake asked.

"No one out of the ordinary," said Carter, "Except one, who was wearing a suit, which seemed a bit weird. Most of the jerks Green hangs out with are slobs like him."

"I see," said Jake with interest, "Would you be willing to look at a few mug shots? It might be a real break if we could identify this guy."

"Sorry, Ryan," said Carter, "I don't like to mess in other people's business. Not interested."

"Oh," said Jake, "Well, thanks anyway."

"No problem," said Carter.

"However, I would like to rent a boat," Jake continued.

"Sure thing, Ryan," said Carter, picking up a box full of boat keys on a rack. "Just pick the keys marked 'Rent.'"

Jake did so. He also saw the keys to the Future Wave, but he needed a distraction to get his hands on those.

"If you run into any treasures while you're out there, be sure and save some of them for me," said Carter.

"Yes, Mr. Carter," said Jake, "But it looks like you already have quite a coin collection."

"Yeah, I've been collecting them a long time," Carter replied, "It's a great hobby. You ought to try it."

Suddenly, Jake had an inspiration. He could find out how much that coin he took from his dad's safe was worth, and he stood a chance at getting the keys to the Future Wave. He showed Carter the coin, saying it was from his dad's coin collection.

"Let's have a look. I've got a pricing guide in the back," said Carter, and he took the coin into the back with him to check it out. While he was back there, Jake quietly snitched the keys to the Future Wave.

Carter came back and said, "That's a pretty nice specimen. It's worth about fifty dollars."

"Thanks, Mr. Carter," said Jake, "I appreciate it."

"No problem," Carter repeated.

"I gotta go now," said Jake, "See you later."

Before getting going on the rental boat, Jake knew it was time to check out the Future Wave. He walked over to it and entered it. He knocked on the back door, and when he got no response, he used the keys and unlocked it. Inside, he quietly and extensively searched the yacht. By the time the search was over, he found another key hidden in the dirt of a potted plant, and nothing else of note. He didn't feel altogether good doing this, because a cop without a warrant should never do something like this, but seeing as he was working with P.I. Lyle Jamison right now, and he was hot on the trail of some killers, he decided it was justified.

He left the Future Wave and walked to the small, yellow rental boat, turned it on, and sailed to the Marble Head Island, which was not too terribly far away from the land. At the shore where he parked his boat, he found a crate full of a carton of diesel fuel and a pile of rags. His instincts told him he might need them too, so he took them. There were also some pieces of wood nearby, and a pile of ashes, but there was nothing to do with them, so he started to walk up a path that led from the shore into the island.

The path led a pretty fair distance into the jungle that was the island's ecosystem. At the end of the path, he found the island's warehouse, with a locker door, a locked gate, and a vicious Rottweiler blocking the way. He had to think quickly before the dog alerted the people on the island. Taking out the fishing net, he threw it over the dog, trapping it. Then he opened the gate, and then the door, with the key from the Future Wave, and went inside the building.

The room he stepped into was filled with wooden crates, insulation material, long pieces of wood, and several machines, but he discovered this only after he inched his way to a light switch and turned on the lights. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary in the room, but his ingenuity told him that if he experimented with the machines a little, there could be a hidden room or a secret passageway somewhere nearby. So he took a couple of cords from a loadlifter, and proceeded to pull a few switches and plug in the cords in certain ways to the machines. His persistence paid off in the end, because suddenly, one of the walls opened up, revealing another, hidden room.

He went in the room cautiously, and found more crates and boxes piled around the floor. He quietly opened one of them and found…automatic weapons!

"This must be the stuff from the Strathmore Armory heist!" he whispered to himself. He took one of the guns as evidence. "This should be enough to convince the ATF to help us on this case. Now all I have to do is cover my tracks and make it back to the dock before anyone sees me."

So he closed the box and returned to the other room. He played around with the machines in the reverse order that he had used before, and the secret room was closed again. He put the cords back exactly as they were, and shut off the lights. He went outside and locked the door. He closed and locked the gate. Remembering the Rottweiler, Jake used his fire hook to pull the fishing net off of it. Then he raced back down the path to the rental boat, and took off back to the Marina.

When he made it, he parked the boat and went back to the boat rental. He handed the rental boat keys back to Mr. Carter, using a little sleight-of-hand trick to cover his deed as he slipped the Future Wave's keys back on the rack as well.

"Thanks for letting me use the rental boar, Mr. Carter," he said. Then he left. He headed back to Jamison and Ryan to talk with Lyle about his discovery.

At the office, Jake asked Lyle how it went with the ATF.

"They're reluctant to step in without more proof," said Lyle.

Jake showed him the automatic rifle. "I've got all the proof the ATF will need right here," he said, "That weapon could only have come from the Strathmore Armory heist!"

Lyle took in the gun, and his eyes widened in pride. "Good work, Jake! The ATF office will be closed by now. I'll have to leave a message for Special Agent Forbes. We can't wait for the ATF. We'll have to settle this on our own. You go home and get some rest, Jake. Rent a boat at Carter's in the morning. I'll meet you there."

"Sure thing, Lyle," said Jake, "I'll see you in the morning." And with that, Jake returned home to Grandma Frannie, and went to bed for the night, but for a long time he couldn't sleep. He was too excited about solving this case and making it possible for his parents' souls at peace for good.

There will be blood tomorrow!