Читать онлайн «Once Taken»

Pierce Blake

Once Taken (A Riley Paige Mystery – Book 2)

Blake Pierce is author of the bestselling RILEY PAGE mystery series, which include the mystery suspense thrillers ONCE GONE (book #1), ONCE TAKEN (book #2) and ONCE CRAVED (#3).

Prologue

Captain Jimmy Cole had just finished telling his passengers an old Hudson River ghost story. It was a good one, about an ax murderer in a long, dark coat, perfect for a foggy night like this. He sat back in his chair and rested his knees for a moment, too creaky from too many surgeries, and pondered, for the millionth time, his retirement. He’d seen nearly every hamlet the Hudson had to offer, and one of these days, even a small fishing boat like his, the Suzy, would get the best of him.

Done for the night, he steered his ship for shore, and as it chugged steadily for the dock at Reedsport, one of his passengers called out, jarring him from his reverie.

“Hey, Cap’n – isn’t that your ghost right over there?”

Jimmy didn’t bother to look. All four of his passengers – two young vacationing couples – were pretty drunk. Doubtless one of the guys was just trying to scare the girls.

But then one of the women added: “I see it too. Isn’t it weird?”

Jimmy turned toward his passengers. Goddamn drunks.

The second man pointed.

“It’s over there,” he said.

His wife covered her eyes.

“Oh, I can’t look!” she said with a nervous and embarrassed laugh.

Jimmy, exasperated, realizing he wasn’t going to get any rest, finally turned and looked where the man was pointing.

In a gap between the shoreline trees, something did catch his eye. It glistened, he thought, and it had a vaguely human shape. Whatever it was, it seemed to float above the ground. But it was too far away to see clearly.