Page 56 of Presumed Dead

“It’s about a person.”

“All right.”

“Sloane.”

“I’m not asking.”

“I know you’re not.”

“I’ll wait the two weeks. But right now, I want you to know, I had no idea any of this was going on. I'm not part of it.”

"We know you aren't."

"We?"

He nodded. Once. Slowly. "I'm part of a team."

She nodded slowly as the information began to settle in her head. "A team." She said it softly, testing it out for herself. "A team of special agents has been watching my marina for illegal activity that may or may not involve the trafficking of people for eight months, and a captain who rents a slip from me is likely involved. Anyone else here I need to be made aware of?"

His voice was softer than before, the formal edge now removed. "No."

She got off the stool and walked to the back counter and put a pot of coffee on. Her legs were steadier than she had initially thought they would be.

The questions continued to barrage her brain. “What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing different from what you have been doing. Go about your business as usual.”

“Nothing. But that will require me to come in contact with Doyle.”

"You've been in contact with him all this time."

"But now I know."

"Yes, you do. And I'm sorry. But you asked."

"I did, didn't I?"

Ethan's eyes stared into hers. His brown eyes and that green fleck now looked at her with concern. Also, something else. Something she wanted to name but refused to think about now. Time and place. This wasn't either one.

“He’s going to ask me about you.”

“He will. Remember, he'll be paranoid. He's lying and committing crimes; he'll think everyone either knows or is trying to figure it out."

“What about Catherine?”

“Catherine has decided I’m the kind of man on this dock who ought to know things. She volunteered intel on a white pickup and a visitor to Doyle on Monday night. She decided, separately, not to tell you.”

“She didn’t tell me.”

“She said you were carrying too much by yourself already and didn’t want to hand you another problem. She trusted me with it instead.”

Sloane took that in. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Does she know who you are?"

“She doesn't. We’ll talk about Catherine later.”

“Later.”