Page 120 of The Session

“What can we be doing?” Tru asked.

“I want you and Mark focused on the CEOs,” Lightman told her. “We need to get our numbers up. We also need good news to bring to Conclave. Everything is going to be on the line.”

“I’ll also check with the local police in Eleuthera and Nassau to find out why they didn’t look more closely into Kevin’s accident,” Morris told Lightman.

“I’ll help with that,” Mark volunteered.

“You’ve got your hands full with the sales event,” said Morris. “Getting CEOs on board will be enough of a challenge.”

“I can do that. I want to help with this too,” Mark insisted.

“I understand, but let us take it from here,” Morris replied.

“No. Mark found things out nobody else did. I think it’s a good idea. And Kevin was his brother,” Lightman said.

“All right,” Morris agreed.

“I’ve got to go talk to Marnie.” Lightman sprang from his chair and bustled out the door.

Authority Figure

“Over there, right?” Morris asked, confirming where Kevin’s body had been found.

The two were standing on the deck of Kevin’s beach house overlooking the bay, waiting for the local constable to arrive.

“Yes, according to Tru, plus the local newspaper ran a photo of the jetty, so we can assume that’s where it happened,” Mark replied.

Morris shook his head. “It’s just hard to believe,” he muttered. “Do you think maybe he could have fallen out and pulled at the straps? That broke it?”

“I don’t know. It’s possible. The bottles make me wonder, though,” Mark reminded him.

“Well, hopefully the constable can explain why they overlooked that. That is very disconcerting.”

“I imagine you have a tight relationship with the police here,” Mark said.

“I haven’t been here in years. We don’t have any business here. Back on Exuma and in Nassau, we know more people.”

“Are they just not that competent?” Mark asked.

“Some are, some aren’t. It’s really more of the system that’s the problem,” Morris explained. “But when they get here, let me do the talking. It’s kind of a delicate situation because they might be a bit offended if we imply that they overlooked something.”

“Well, they did.”

“I understand that, but island politics is its own thing and we’ve got to be delicate. We’ll find out what we need to know, but if we want them to do anything for us, we have to treat them respectfully.”

The two men looked toward the beach as the sound of tires on gravel grew louder.

“I get it,” Mark assured him.

A white pickup stopped at the edge of the drive next to the SUV that had driven them there. An older man got out first, followed by a uniformed constable. They walked across the gravel lot to the deck.

“That’s Sweeting,” Morris said quietly to Mark. “He’s on the island council, and he’s been around forever. When something needs to move or not turn into a problem, he’s usually the person people talk to first. And that’s Constable Rolle. He works out of the local station. He’s sharp.”

“Nathan, good to see you,” Sweeting greeted as he and Rolle walked up the stairs to the deck.

“Likewise, Mr. Sweeting. Thank you for coming,” Morris replied. “I don’t believe you have met Mark. He’s working with us now.”

Sweeting looked at Mark closely. “You related to Max?”