Atlantic Ocean The group of seagulls found their way back to the boat. Christopher lay on his back on the bow and looked up at the infinite baby blue sky. He watched the circling gulls and wondered it would feel to be a bird-soaring high and free. Hell, any kind of bird would do, he mused. No mortgage, no taxes, no money problems-and no maniac stalking your life. The only real concern would be where to crap.
He rolled onto his side and listened as the waves lapped against the side of the boat. He could not remember a time in his life when he had felt more useless. He was a man in trouble, his married life was on the rocks, and his daughter was slowly turning into a stranger before his very eyes. Yet where was he? Floating around on the ocean's surface like a useless clump of lint and doing absolutely no good at all to anyone.
"You there?" Spencer's voice crackled over the little speaker on the radio down in the cabin.
Christopher got up and bounded down the two steps into the cabin. He picked up the hand-held. "Go ahead."
"Just relax. I haven't seen him yet."
"What else can I do?" Christopher remarked with irritation evident in his voice. "The seagulls are back."
"Fascinating."
"Not really."
"You don't want it to get much more interesting than this. Believe me."
Christopher shook his head. "I know. Just feeling sorry for myself again, I guess."
"Need anything?"
"Not that I can think of."
"All right. I'll call you back tonight," Spencer said, and then he was gone.
Christopher replaced the hand-held and moved to pluck a bottle of beer from the cooler under the table. Spencer had checked in three times a day over the past forty-eight hours. He was so accurate, in fact, that Christopher could set a clock by his calls. He took the beer out onto the bow and sat down, then leaned against the metal railing that circled the front end of the boat.
Looking back toward the beach, he tried to picture Spencer. The man would either be incognito and sitting out in the open or he would be hidden just out of view, where he could see all activity around him. So, what would Spencer do if he actually spotted Matthew Fox in the crowd of people who swarmed the beach and marina area? Christopher could not help but wonder if the man had some sort of personal vendetta to settle with his boss. There had to be a reason for him to come all this way and just wait for the mysterious millionaire to show up. He was also strangely opposed to the idea of contacting the police.
