Chapter 4

As Jarrod was coming around to himself, Jack Stone sat in the sheriff's office in Vallejo, rubbing his forehead. Stone was a man from the same sort of background as Jarrod. He was a successful San Francisco lawyer as well, dark-haired and handsome, but unlike Jarrod he was married. His wife had not come on this trip. Stone too had been slugged and dumped overboard by someone he didn't really see in the dark, but he had managed to get to shore not far from town and made his way on foot overnight and much of the morning. His head had a lump on it, but otherwise he wasn't hurt. What he was was confused. His boat was gone, and his friend was gone. He had no idea what happened to either one of them, or to him. But the sheriff had some idea.

"You ran into pirates," he said.

"Pirates?" Stone said. "How in the world – pirates?"

"We've been having some problems," the sheriff said. "They hit at night. They probably have some little boat they row up to the target they want to hit, and they're never detected until it's too late."

"You don't know where they're coming from?"

The sheriff shook his head. "Not yet. They've only been at for a few months, but they're good at it. They hit smaller boats that look like they have something worth looting, they dump the inhabitants overboard, they loot the boat and let it go adrift. I'll bet we find your boat somewhere today without much of your property left on it."

Stone said, "I don't care as much about the property as I care about my friend. I don't know what happened to him."

"He'll turn up, one way or another."

"What do you mean?"

The sheriff sighed. "We've had four boats hit, counting yours. Ten men involved. Six drowned so far. The odds are not in your friend's favor."

Stone groaned. "I need to contact my wife and my friend's family. Are you about through questioning me here?"

"I am, for now. Let's go get you set up at the hotel for the night and then you can wire whoever you need to."

"I don't have any money."

"Not on you, but I recognize you from the San Francisco papers, Mr. Stone, and I know you have the money to pay the bills. Your friend – what's his name?"

"Jarrod Barkley – of the Stockton Barkleys, and he's a San Francisco attorney too."

"I've heard the name," the sheriff said. "It'll be a real shame if he turns up drowned. I hope he doesn't. But of those six men who drowned, counting your friend, we haven't found three of them."

Stone moaned. Taking Jarrod on this damned trip by water was his idea. If Jarrod was dead – Stone couldn't stomach that thought, not yet. "If he's alive, where might he have turned up?"

"Could be anywhere."

"Maybe someone will bring him in if it's nearby, or he'll find his way like I did."

"Maybe," the sheriff said. "Until we find a body, you can hope, if your friend was a good swimmer."

Stone moaned again. "Let's get going. I gotta send those wires."

XXXXXX

Every word of his last conversation with his older brother came back to Nick when Sheriff Madden handed him the telegram in town, and he nearly fell over right there in the street. He turned so white, and the sheriff looked so wilted, that beside them Heath nearly fell down himself. "What is it?" Heath asked.

Nick handed him the telegram in a daze. Heath read it. "Oh, no."

"Nick, Heath, I'm so sorry," Sheriff Madden said.

"If it happened last night and they're still looking, they could still find him," Heath said. "He might still be all right."

"Why was he going by boat anyway?" Sheriff Madden asked.

"It was a lark, with a law school buddy who owned the boat," Nick said and leaned back against the wagon, so he wouldn't fall down. "He was heading to Napa to get some time away from things, after that Cunningham fiasco. Oh, geez, Heath, how are we gonna tell Mother and Audra?"

"We tell them the truth and we get up there and find out what's really going on," Heath said.

"They're gonna want to go with us," Nick said.

"We best try to talk them out of that," Heath said. "They don't want to see him – " He stopped. He couldn't finish the sentence by saying "if he drowned." Instead, he bucked up and said, "Do they even know if the boat actually sank? There could be trouble up there that we don't want Mother and Audra involved in."

Nick shook his head. "You're right. I knew another law school buddy was gonna be trouble. Come on, we best get home. Jarrod's secretary should know about this too. Fred – would you tell Esther what's going on, but see if you can keep this out of the paper until we know more, huh?"

"How are you gonna get there?"

"The fastest way is probably by train to Sacramento and then to Napa," Heath said. "If we leave now and push it, we can get there by tomorrow noon, maybe just a little more."

"We'll push it," Nick said. "Come on. We gotta get home and get going."

In a while they were home. They got some of the hands to unload the wagon and hurried into the house, hurting like hell, not sure how they were going to tell their mother and sister what they had to tell them. Victoria was arranging some flowers in the foyer. She was right there when they came in. They didn't even have any time to prepare. She looked up with a smile that vanished when she saw their faces. "What is it? What's happened?"

Nick said, "Fred Madden got a wire from the place in Napa where Jarrod was going. The boat Jarrod was on never arrived. They can't locate it and they think there's been some kind of accident."

"Jarrod – " Victoria said, steeling herself but starting to waver. "Where's Jarrod?"

"They don't know," Nick said. "He hasn't been found. The boat hasn't been found."

Heath said, "Nick and I are gonna head up there right away and find out what's going on."

"I want to go," Victoria said.

Nick took hold of her shoulders. "Mother, we don't know what kind of trouble there might be, and we have to move fast. We're gonna take the train. We'll wire you as soon as we get there but it's gonna take us until noon tomorrow at least as it is. You have to stay here. I'm sorry, but you have to stay here."

"Mother, none of this means the worst," Heath said. "We might get up there and find out Jarrod's just fine, and in the meantime he might wire you that he is. You need to stay here."

When Heath said Jarrod might wire home, Victoria realized it made more sense for her and Audra to stay here. She nodded, vacantly. "You're right, you're right. Go pack. Go. Go as fast as you can and let me know as soon as you get there."

Nick gave his mother a kiss on the forehead. "Try not to worry. Pappy has a way of getting himself out of messes."

Victoria just nodded, but Nick could tell her heart wasn't in it. She was a very strong woman, but blow after blow had been coming for a while now. If this one was the worst -

Nick gave her another kiss. "We'll find him."