Part 2 (1/2)

”Alex!” cried the voice again, and this time there was more than a little desperation in his voice. cried the voice again, and this time there was more than a little desperation in his voice.

I grabbed Heath's arm and tugged. ”Come on! We've got to go help him!”

Heath nodded and we surged forward, running and slipping as we went, and all the while, ahead of us the voice cried the name Alex over and over. ”h.e.l.lo!” I shouted at some point when we'd gone at least a hundred yards and still there was no sign of the owner of the voice.

A sob drifted out of the cool night air. ”Alex! Oh, Alex!”

”h.e.l.lo!” I shouted as loudly as I could. ”Sir! Where are you?” My heart was thundering in my chest as I thought about who this man was and wondered if perhaps he was looking for his son, Alex.

But then my feet began to splash, and squinting into the darkness and fog, I could see that the tide was really coming up now, and at the pace Heath and I were racing along, we were sure to slip if we continued. Grabbing his arm again, I pulled us to a stop. We both stood still for a minute, the silence broken only by our winded breathing. ”h.e.l.lo?” Heath called after several seconds pa.s.sed, and we heard no more from the desperate man lost somewhere out in the fog.

”Where'd he go?”

Heath shook his head. ”I don't know, but we need to really consider turning back, because we're about to be in serious trouble.” For emphasis he pointed his flashlight down. My toes were now almost completely submerged.

”d.a.m.n!” I swore. ”This tide comes in quick!”

”M. J.!” we heard behind us. ”Heath!”

”We're here!” I called to Gopher's shouts.

”We've got to get off the causeway!”

With one last look to the north, I said to Heath, ”Let's go. We can alert the authorities back onsh.o.r.e, and they can send someone out to help him.”

Heath nodded and we picked our way quickly through the deepening water. We found Gopher just a bit later and he seemed frantic. ”Where're Kim and John?” I demanded.

”I sent them back. And we've got to hurry before we lose sight of the causeway and get swept into the channel. I've read that the currents here are deadly.”

”Not to mention that the water's freezing,” I added, s.h.i.+vering again with cold as the frigid water now encased my feet from the ankle down.

”Come on,” Heath urged. ”Let's move.”

Hurrying along as quickly as we could, we finally slogged our way back to the beach, and it was without a moment to spare, as by the time we reached terra firma again, the water had moved all the way up to my calves and we could barely keep our footing or make out the causeway under our feet.

John and Kim were s.h.i.+vering on the beach and waved at us when we finally emerged from the fog. ”We were about to send for help,” said Kim.

”Wish you had,” I told her. ”We need to send someone to see about that man looking for Alex.”

”Why would anyone be out on the causeway this late and given these weather conditions?” Gopher asked.

The four of us looked at him pointedly.

”Besides us,” he said. ”I mean, at least we have a legitimate reason.”

I turned away from Gopher with a bit of disgust and waved everyone to the van. ”Come on, guys. We've got to send help.”

With the aid of a local man out walking his dog, we finally found a coast guard station, and alerted the authorities, who took down every detail we had to offer before sending out a skiff. More than once they'd asked us what we were thinking by going for a late-night stroll along a dangerous path during midtide. ”Everyone knows you don't go walkin' round the causeway after dark,” said the coast guard officer taking our report.

This elicited several more pointed looks in Gopher's direction, but he ignored us and focused on getting help for the stranger.

Once we were sure help was on the way, there was nothing left for us to do but head back to the B&B.

This was a good thing because it was late and I was s.h.i.+vering so hard my teeth were rattling. My pants, shoes, and socks were all soaked and I couldn't wait to get out of them.

No one said much on the ride back. Once we were there, we all mumbled our good-nights and turned in. When I entered the room I shared with Gilley, I was a little surprised to find him awake and munching on a late-night cheeseburger and fries. ”Hey!” he said when he saw me. ”Your pants are wet.”

I looked down in mock surprise. ”They are are?”

He gave me a smart smile and popped another fry into his mouth. ”What'd I miss?”

Before answering him, I walked over to my suitcase and unzipped the lid. After fis.h.i.+ng around for my pj's, I held up a finger and headed for the bathroom. Once I'd changed and draped my jeans and socks over the shower curtain, I came back out and filled Gilley in. ”Whoa,” he said when I'd finished. ”Who'd be crazy enough to go out on the causeway in the dark and dense fog?”

”You mean other than us?”

”Yes. Other than you fools.”

I chuckled, and reached over to pick at some fries. ”I've no idea, but he wasn't a local.”

”Well, duh,” Gil said. ”I doubt anyone who lives around here would do something that dumb.”

”No,” I told him, ”you're not getting it. What I mean is that the guy sounded Australian or South African.”

”Ah,” Gil said. ”You knew by the accent.”

”Yep. We should ask Anya in the morning if she knows of any other foreigners staying in town. In a village this small, I've gotta believe that the locals keep track of outsiders.”

”Do you think they'll find the guy on the causeway?”

”G.o.d, Gil, I really hope so. You should've heard him crying out for Alex. It was heartbreaking.”

”I wonder who Alex was to him.”

”Might be his son.”

”Might be his lover,” said Gil, and when I looked at him in surprise, he added, ”Hey, you mention one guy looking for another and I immediately think gay.”

I rolled my eyes at him and he gave me a winning smile. ”By the way,” he added, ”Teeko sent you an e-mail.”

Gilley routinely went through my e-mail, even though I routinely changed the pa.s.sword. ”Did she get Wendell off the plane okay?”

On our last bust I'd adopted a homeless black pug. As most of our ghost investigations tend to be in locations that aren't exactly pet friendly, I'd thought it best to send him home and place him in the care of my best girlfriend. ”She got him all right, and he's safe and sound and already making doggy friends in Teeko's neighborhood.”

I felt my shoulders relax. I'd been worried about such a long journey for a little puppy. ”Any word on Doc?” I also had a parrot back home, being looked after by another dear friend of mine.

”You mean the other e-mail you got from Mama Dell?”