Free An Inner Fire by Jacki Delecki

went down.
    “Is the captain part of the family?”
    “Mom’s brother.”
    “Seems like a good guy…trying to help you out.”
    “Uncle Burt’s all right.”
    “What kind of work did you do in Alaska?”
    “Fishing, processing.”
    “Tough work.”
    “I don’t mind hard work.”
    “Yeah, that’s what your uncle said.” Davis sat back in his chair, maintaining his relaxed posture. “Did you see the guy loading the crab boxes?”
    Mike shifted in his chair and blinked rapidly, several times. “I didn’t see anything.”
    Davis leaned forward. “Are you sure?”
    Mitzi pushed her head under Mike’s hand. He looked down at his plate then around the room. Avoiding eye contact, he stared back at the food on his plate. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
    Davis leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He had his answer.
    “Tell me more about catching crabs. I know there’s Dungeness around here.”
    A flicker of relief flashed across Mike’s face before he added more ketchup to the fries. The kid thought he had dodged the bullet.
    “What about king crab? Is it all from Alaska?” He needed to learn a lot more about crabbing if he was going to solve this case.
    “Alaska and Russia.”
    “Interesting. Tell me about Russian crab.”
    “Russian Red king crab, caught in the Sea of Okhotsk, ships out of Vladivostok.”
    Davis nodded. He didn’t have a clue about the Sea of Okhotsk. “You know a lot about Russian crab?”
    Mike sat up straighter in his chair. “You pick up things.”
    “How does the crab get shipped from Russia?”
    “The frozen crab is packed inside poly liners, and then into cardboard cases.”
    “Big cases?”
    “Not that big, somewhere between twenty to sixty pounds.”
    Not big for burly Mike. “So no crab comes to the terminal. It goes to Pier 91 or down to the South End, right?”
    Mike took the final bite of his burger and nodded.
    “So what’s the big deal about a guy stealing some crab and taking a cut for himself?”
    He had a pretty good idea of what was in the box and it wasn’t crab. The kid didn’t answer. “The guy didn’t have crab in those cases, did he?”
    “Have no idea.” Mike’s eyes went left and he blinked nonstop while he lied.
    The kid could be videotaped for training investigators. He was that easy to read.
    Mike gulped his Coke.
    No doubt that the kid knew and was afraid.
    “Have you done business with the Russians?” Davis asked.
    “Business?” The high pitch of Mike’s question was hilarious. His anxiety made him sound like he was twelve and back in the throes of puberty, his voice cracking.
    Davis cleared his throat to stop himself from laughing. “I meant fishing business.”
    “Nah.” Mike sat back in his chair.
    “I’ve heard the Russians can be intimidating.”
    Mike snorted.
    “You and your uncle don’t look like you scare off easily.”
    “You learn not to mess with them. You don’t wanna end up in the brine tank.”
    “Brine tank?”
    “Where they freeze the crab, before it gets shipped out.”
    “The Russians give their competitors a swim in the brine tank, huh?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Sounds like a tough way to go. You ever see anyone go into the tank?”
    “I gotta get back to the boat. You need anything else?”
    No need to scare the kid off. “That’s it. Stay around. I might need to talk with you again.”
    Davis watched Mike walk out of the bar. The kid definitely knew the contents of the crab cases or had a pretty good idea. He needed to talk to someone who knew about the criminal fishing business. Was it the FBI or the Coast Guard?

Chapter Fourteen

    Grayce took the office steps two at a time. Drug addicts, Hollywood stars and the attractive Ewan Davis had converged on her usually calm life. Sheesh! At least James was going to be highly entertained. And before her trip to California to meet a movie star, she needed to talk with Hollie about drug addiction.
    “Mornin’ Boss.”
    Today, Hollie wore a white concoction