Free Saratoga Woods 02 The Edge of the Water by Elizabeth George Page A

Ratatouille.
I have no clue. I left them there with popcorn, M&M’s, Junior Mints, and Milk Duds. If I play my cards right, someone’ll abduct them for the candy. I can’t hope they’d be abducted for themselves.”
    Jenn chuckled. “You’re evil.”
    “Hey, the babes
all
want evil guys. Nice guys like me when I’m the normal me? No one’s interested. Except you, of course. That kindergarten milk-sharing thing we’ve got going.”
    “Or something,” she told him.
    “When you figure it out, let me know what it is.” He got to his feet.
    “Where to now? Want to check out the meeting?”
    “That seal,” he said with a shake of his head. “I think I’ll go peep into windows instead.”
    He sauntered off, hands in the pockets of his jeans. There wasn’t much to do to kill time in town, aside from reading the public announcements on the bulletin boards in the coffeehouses, the post office, and the vestibule of the Star Store. But she figured that didn’t bother Squat Cooper. He’d probably just work a few calculus problems in his head.
    There was nothing for it but to return to the Commons. Inside, Ivar Thorndyke had set up his computer. He was showing everyone the most recent picture of the seal that had been taken. He was telling everyone that she hadn’t been close to shore yet, but this picture had been taken up north from the beach at Joseph Whidbey State Park and she swam near enough for people to tell it was Nera.
    Ivar’s concern was Nera’s health, he said. Showing up early might mean she was sick. They’d had a pod of bottlenose dolphins in the sound that one year, did everyone remember? They were out of territory and all of them died and no one knew why. “Now, we don’t want that happening to Nera,” he declared.
    That’d definitely ruin the seal festival, Jenn thought, unless they wanted to do the taxidermy thing on the seal and carry her through the village like some saint in a big glass coffin. Jenn worked her way over to Annie Taylor, who was squinting at the picture of Nera as if trying to see the seal more clearly. She said, “Any idea of her age?”
    Several heads swiveled in Annie’s direction. She was a stranger, and it was odd for a stranger to turn up at one of the seal spotters’ meetings. Jenn thought about introducing Annie to the people but she didn’t have to, for Annie introduced herself. She told them she was a marine biologist, and if there was something she could do to help . . . ?
    Ivar’s face lit up at that one. He picked two brochures from a nearby table and passed them over to her. “You might be the answer we need,” he told her. “Let’s talk after the meeting and see ’f that’s the case.”
    The meeting ended with commitments made on the part of the seal spotters. Now that Nera was in the area and a photo proved it, there had to be regular watchers along her route, which followed the west side of the island. They needed daily reports at specific times. They needed to know where the seal was sighted, what time she was sighted, what she appeared to be doing, how long she lingered wherever she showed up. Anything unusual needed to be reported, Ivar told them. Use the Web site.
    What
ever
, Jenn thought. She was starving to death. Village Pizza was over on First Street, and she was ready for a large one with sausage, olives, and mushrooms. But when the meeting broke up, Annie approached Ivar.
    She got all over the topic of Nera’s early arrival, telling Ivar that if the seal was sick, there was only one way to help her. She’d need medication, and a wildlife specialist had to be brought in to deal with this. An evaluation of her health could be made and while they had her in captivity, it would be an excellent opportunity to take a sample of her DNA.
    Ivar Thorndyke reared up at that one. Jenn had been drifting away but his roar of “No one’s touching that seal!” not only got her attention but also rendered Annie mute for ten seconds. Finally,