Stolen Child (Coastal Fury Book 13), Matt Lincoln [ebooks children's books free TXT] 📗

seemed to kind of enjoy it to a degree. Like some families played board games together, this family argued about small stuff like this. Well, it sounded like it might not be too small if the store was actually going to go out of business, but Nina was right that that was none of our concern, really.

“Look, Mr. Samuels… er, Dan, and Danny, if you’re both absolutely certain that this boat wasn’t lent out to someone you know, then that means that it’s likely the boat we’re looking for,” I continued. “So could we see where it was taken from?”

“Sure, sure, follow me,” Danny said, beckoning for us to follow him back out the shop doors.

“I did not lend it out!” Mr. Samuels cried from behind us, and it became clear quickly that he was tagging along. “I would remember something like that. I remember everything about my boats. Everything!”

“I’m sure you’re right, sir,” Nina said, a little wearily, as she helped him follow us out toward the bay and all the collected boats where we had talked to Marty earlier that day.

Danny led us to an empty slot amidst all the boats, close to where Marty’s boat was.

“Here she is,” he said, gesturing at the space right next to the shore. “Or was, I guess.”

“I don’t see a lot of blank spaces,” I said, glancing out across the area. “No other ones, actually. Do you not have a lot of boats out right now?”

“Nope, not a one,” Danny confirmed, shaking his head. “All of ‘em got returned in the last day or so when people started clearing out of town. Marty’s was the last one back today. I hope things pick up again soon. Erm, I mean, I mostly hope you find that poor boy, of course.”

“I get what you mean,” I chuckled, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I hope business picks back up for you again soon. And in the meantime, we’ll see what we can do about finding Mikey.”

“You’re sure it was the boat named Lucy?” Nina asked the men. “A lot of these look the same to me. It couldn’t have been one of the other ones?”

“Nope, I always make sure the boats go back in the right spaces,” Danny said, gazing out across the docked boats almost proudly. “Never switch ‘em up, not a single time since I started here.”

“He was always anal-retentive, ever since he was a boy,” Mr. Samuels added, and Nina and I both had to suppress another round of laughter.

“Well, without my anal retentiveness, this place wouldn’t run,” Danny snapped back. “You remember how bad it was before I moved back here. The place was practically in shambles.”

“Ah, the good old days,” Mr. Samuels lamented, gazing wistfully out across the sea. Nina let out a real chuckle then, but neither of the men seemed to notice or care.

“Alright, so can you describe Lucy for us?” I asked the man.

Both men went on to describe the motorboat in almost excruciating detail, all the way down to little dents, scratches, and general wear and tear from the years it had been in use. It seemed like Danny wasn’t the only one who was anal retentive, in a way. I decided it must run in the family.

As they spoke, I pulled out my notebook and began scribbling down all these details to pass on to the Coast Guard later on. Nina just looked mystified by the whole thing, like she wondered how anyone could pay that much attention to the little details on an old motorboat, especially in an area absolutely full of them, almost identical to one another.

“Thank you. This is all really helpful, guys,” I said quietly when they were finished, scribbling down the last detail that Mr. Samuels mentioned, a large dent on the back left bumper of the boat from a run-in with a cruise ship during a storm many years ago.

“You really think this could all help find that little boy?” Danny asked hopefully.

“It definitely could,” I said, nodding to them as I returned my notebook and pencil to my jacket pocket. “You never know what details will end up being important in these kinds of cases, and we’re as certain as we can be that Mikey is out there somewhere on this boat.”

“What little boy?” Mr. Samuels croaked, looking between us in confusion. “Who the hell’s Mikey, and why’s he on my boat?”

“Uncle Dan, don’t you remember what we saw on the news at dinner last night?” Danny asked gently. “That little tourist boy who was taken at the mall? That’s why we haven’t had any customers all day and why those people were cleaning up that blood earlier. One of the kidnappers was shot.”

“Oh, right,” Mr. Samuels said, though he didn’t really seem to remember. “Wait, you’re tellin’ me that some creepy kidnapper’s on my boat?”

“Way to miss the point, Uncle Dan,” Danny sighed, looking at Nina and me apologetically again, but we both just laughed.

“It’s alright,” I chuckled. “We’ll do our best to get Lucy back to you, Dan. I know how important the relationship is between a man and his boat.”

“I like this one,” Mr. Samuels said, pointing at me. “Don’t you like this one, Danny?”

“You have a million boats, Uncle Dan. Why is this one so special?” the nephew sighed.

“All of my boats are special!” Mr. Samuels cried. “Why do you think I named ‘em after my exes!”

“You barely remember your exes,” Danny pointed out.

“Well, I remember my boats,” Mr. Samuels shot back stubbornly, and I didn’t even try to stop myself from laughing this time.

“Well, thank you again for your time, guys,” Nina said, nodding to both men in thanks.

“Hold on. You’re saying that some guy is taking this kid to another country or something?” Mr. Samuels asked.

“You remember what you heard pressing your ear against the wall when I was talking to them before I went back to get you, but you don’t remember seeing all that blood when we