Free Deadly Gift by Heather Graham Page A

But not tonight. Tonight he couldn’t stop thinking.
    He was the youngest of the three partners, and he knew he’d been brought in because Eddie and Sean had been starting to get tired of handling everything themselves. Face it, they were both getting older—even if Sean had married a woman half his age. The point was, the two older guys wanted more free time. Hell, they deserved it. They’d worked hard.
    They loved their history, those two. Loved to pore over books and charts, then sail out to the site of some important event and relive it.
    He wasn’t all that into history himself.
    He was still into making money.
    He love sailing, and loved the area. And if he had to learn history to run a successful charter business, then he was glad to do so, but it wasn’t anything he would have done otherwise. He was better when his passengers just wanted a look at the scenery from the water, or even a sailing lesson. He was good at that.
    And no one could tell a worn-out old story and make it sound exciting again the way Sean could.
    It had to be three or four in the morning, he thought, tossing restlessly.
    Why the hell couldn’t he sleep?
    Eddie. That was why.
    They’d found the boat, but there’d been no sign of Eddie.
    He trembled suddenly. He knew why he had awakened. He’d had a nightmare. He’d seen Eddie all covered in seaweed, tangled up in ropes and torn sails. Hungry sea creatures had been clinging to him, were almost a part of him.
    He’d come in with the shriek of the wind, all darkness and menace and…
    He’d stood at the foot of the bed, staring down at Cal, but when he’d opened his mouth to speak, he hadn’t said anything.
    Cal had awakened instantly and sat up, but Eddie, of course, hadn’t been there.
    There was no actual proof that Eddie was dead, he told himself. Eddie had taken out a single passenger and hadn’t come back for the party. Then the Coast Guard had discovered the Sea Maiden. Nothing wrong, nothing out of order. Sails furled.
    Except that neither Eddie nor his passenger had been seen since.
    Cal closed his eyes, exhausted. It was winter, but the weather was good, so people kept wanting to go out, damn them. And with Eddie missing and Sean sick over in Ireland, he’d been left to manage everything himself. Now he was exhausted.
    And he was scared.
    At his side, Marni stirred.
    He didn’t want to wake her.
    Too late.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked him.
    “I don’t know. I just…woke up.”
    She reached out and stroked his face. “It’s all right, Cal. Sean will be back soon. Kat sent that friend of theirs, Zach Flynn, to bring him home.”
    Cal felt a flash of annoyance. His own wife would feel secure if Sean—a sick old man!—came home. She was supposed to feel secure with him . But she doted on Sean.
    Then he wondered if he was annoyed because Zach was coming. Sean, in turn, doted on the Flynns, especially Zach.
    He took a deep breath and told himself to watch it. Jealousy was a curse.
    “Cal?” she urged when he didn’t say anything.
    “I saw Eddie,” he whispered, feeling a strange trembling inside. He had liked old Eddie. What hadn’t been to like?
    “What?” Marni sat up with a jerk. “You saw him? Where? You have to tell the cops. Everyone thinks that…that…”
    “They think he’s dead. I think he’s dead.”
    “Then what are you talking about, Cal?” Marni asked, a quiver in her tone. “You just said you’d seen him. You’re sounding crazy, you know that?”
    “I had a nightmare, that’s all. Go back to sleep.”
    She fell back on her pillow, but he knew she wasn’t sleeping. She was studying him.
    He winced. His wife was beautiful, and he knew he was a lucky man. Sure, Sean was rich and he was just the junior partner, but he should be glad that his wife was so fond of Sean, that they got along so well. He didn’t need to worry about her, didn’t need to be jealous. She was a good wife, and Sean…wasn’t interested in her that way. He had